Mim 2023-04 PDF

Aircraft Edition - April ‘23 139 Military Illustrated Modeller
military illustrated
139
modeller
Aircraft Edition - April 2023
ISSUE
Eduard’s 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf 110 E

EASTERN
WESPEN
Kinetic 1:48 Mirage 2000D • Tamiya Ki-61 Hein Pt.2 •
Clear Prop 1:72 Lavochkin La-5 Pt.1 • MIM Time Machine and more…
£6.95 - April 23 (issue 139)
FREE GIFT 180maskingmetrestape!of
Aircraft edition
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Contents modeller
ISSUE No.139 APRIL 2023
4 NEWS
New release announcements
6 6 DUSTY MIRAGE
Kinetic 1:48 Mirage 2000D by Jakub Chlodek
20 PREVIEW
Aerocraft 1:32 Messerschmitt Me 209 V-1
22 KAWASAKI’S EAGLE Pt. 2

Mark Casiglia builds Tamiya’s 1:48 scale
Ki-61Hien
COVER STORY
36 EASTERN WESPEN
Eduard’s 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf 110 E by
Brett Green
46 THE LOVELY LAVOCHKIN

PT. 1
Clear Prop! 1:72 Lavochkin La-5 by Kamil
Feliks Sztarbala
60 MIM TIME MACHINE

A look back at issue 11, March 2012
65 NEXT ISSUES
What’s coming up in the next issues of Military
Illustrated Modeller
66 TAILPIECE
Estonian Defence League (EDL), French and
UK troops conducting training with Chinook
(CH47) helicopters of the Royal Air Force’s
Aviation Task Force (ATF) 28th January 2023,
in preparation for Exercise WINTER CAMP
22
36
Aircraft Edition 3
News
AIRFIX 2023
RELEASES
Airfix has launched their 2023 range with the
highlight being an all-new 1:48 scale Fairey Gannet
C
onsidered one of the most distinctive aircraft ever to be seen
in service, the Fairey Gannet was as capable as it was unique
during the post-war era. Its unconventional design was in
response to a 1945 Royal Navy requirement for an advanced
carrier-based turboprop and capable enough to withstand operation at
sea. The Gannet was equipped with all manner of the latest electronic
detection, all intended to counter the recent expansion of the Soviet
submarine fleet at the start of the Cold War era.
The kit will feature wings folded build option, three fully detailed
cockpits, deployed or stowed radome option and various stores.
We’ll have more details as we get closer to release. •
Thanks to Airfix for the information and images www.airfix.com
ALSO ON THE WAY...
SWORD NEW RELEASES

Sword has announced two new releases
and a re-release:
• Item No. SW72146 1:72 scale F-84F
Thunderstreak - 3 markings for : USAF,
Italian Air Force, Royal Netherland Air
Force. Kit includes resin ejection seat
and masks.
• Item No. SW72147 1:72 scale
F-84F Thunderstreak - 4 markings
for : USAF,France,Belgian Air
Force,Luftwaffe. Kit includes resin
ejector seat and masks.
Back in stock - limited edition 500pcs:

• Item No. SW72116 RF-84F
Thunderflash - includes new masks!
Thanks to Sword for the information

and images www.swordmodel.cz
4 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

FEATURE ARTICLE: Kinetic 1:48 Mirage 2000D • Kit No. 48120
R
DUSTY MIIR
Jakub Chłodek depicts Kinetic’s 1:48 scale
Mirage 2000D in characteristic weathering
seen when operating over Afghanistan.
E
ven though the 1:48 scale Mirage
2000D from Kinetic has no real
competition, this doesn’t mean it’s
a perfect kit. In fact, it cried out for
improvement in several areas. So before I had
started its construction, I obtained a number
of aftermarket products including Quinta’s 3D
cockpit decals, Eduard’s photo-etched sheets
and masks, Pavla’s resin wheels and an
exhaust nozzle set from Aires...

RAGE
Aircraft Edition 7
Construction Next, I installed some plastic and photo-etched

details. The control sticks were enhanced with
buttons that had been punched from some 0.6
mm styrene sheet using the ‘Punch and Die
Tool Set’ from RP Toolz.
My first step was to prepare the

cockpit area for the application
of Quinta’s 3D decals. For this
purpose, I removed some raised
details using a portable electric
sanding pen from DSPIAE.
Although resin aftermarket seats would

probably offer better detail, I chose to
enhance those supplied with the kit with
Quinta’s parts. However, I first had to cover
some surface irregularities and gaps. For
this task, I used pieces of styrene sheet
which was easier and faster than filling and
sanding. I also added a few photo-etched
bits from Eduard’s interior set and lengths
of 0,3 mm lead wire.
The details of the plastic instrument panels were also sanded down.
Since the 3D decals from Quinta are quite rigid and don’t stick to the
surface in the same way as normal decals, the surface where they
are to be applied doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth.
All the cockpit sub-assemblies could

now be primed with ‘Mr. Finishing
Surfacer 1500 Black’ from Mr. Hobby.
Next, I gave them their appropriate
colours. I used Mr. Hobby H335
‘Medium Sea Grey’ for the seats and
H82 ‘Dark Grey’ for other surfaces.
Quinta’s 3D decals were attached using ‘Ultra Glue’

from Ammo. Various details were brush painted with
AK-Interactive and Vallejo acrylics.

As the surface of the applied decals seemed too glossy for
my taste, I decided to alter their finish by applying Mr.Color
GX114 ‘Super Smooth Clear (Flat)’. I must admit that I was
a bit worried about how the decals may react with this quite
aggressive varnish, so I airbrushed it in a few very thin
layers. Fortunately, no problems emerged. The details were
subsequently emphasized with Ammo 1602 ‘PLW Deep Grey’.
I also added some dirt to the floor using Tamiya Weathering
Sticks, namely 87081 ‘Mud’ and 87086 ‘Sand’.
The seats were also given a layer of

flat varnish and finished with enamel
products from AK-Interactive and Ammo.
The cockpit was now

ready for the installation
within the fuselage.
Aircraft Edition 9
The nose wheel bay required some particular Upon closer comparison with my reference photos, I noticed
attention. The ejector pin marks were located some fairly significant differences between the real radome
in places with fairly limited access so I again and the two alternative parts supplied with the Kinetic kit. As I
decided to use pieces of thin styrene sheet to had a spare, I could try reworking one of the kit radomes. The The landing gear legs were
cover them. In this case, I also added some rivet missing panel lines were scribed with an JLC razor saw, whilst detailed with photoetched
detail to these parts. The wheel bay was then the access panel was added using the MRP scriber and U-Star parts from the Eduard set
furnished with different lengths of copper and scribing template. The stringers were made of lengths of styrene and lengths of wire.
lead wire, and some photo-etched parts. strip. The final step was to add the rivet detail and attach the tip.
At this stage I also

glued the photoetched
Although the rivet detail is reproduced on most
details for landing gear
of the kit surfaces, for some reason the wings
covers and external
are missing this feature at all. To sort this out
fuel tanks.
(and also correct the panel lines here and there),
I used a number of tools including MRP scribers,
Hasegawa rivet scriber and a riveting tool from
Galaxy Tools. I worked with the latter for the
very first time and I must admit that it met my
expectations. The large riveting wheel allows for
easy guiding the tool, but one must bear in mind
that due to its size the access to some areas may
be limited, and plan the work accordingly.
Next, I put the fuselage together…
…and test-fitted the wings. To reduce the size of the gap

that emerged at the wing roots, I glued two struts from the
inside which slightly widened the bottom of the fuselage.
The gaps were then small enough to be filled with black
super glue. I subsequently sanded the joints, restored the
damaged surface details and attached the vertical tail along
with some photoetched parts from the Eduard set.
To correctly represent the nose of the D variant, I had to fill a redundant panel line and scribe small The landing gear bays required further detailing even after installing the relevant photoetched parts
access panels on both sides of the forward fuselage. from the Eduard set. For this purpose I used pieces of thin styrene sheet and lengths of sprue
runners and wire.
Once I’d masked off the cockpit interiors, I primed the adjacent …and subsequently base coated them with Mr.Hobby H68 ‘Dark The HUD glass was attached with Ammo’s ‘Ultra Glue’.
areas that would be hidden under the canopy with ‘Mr. Surfacer Grey’. Some damage to the paint layer was added with Vallejo
1500 Black’… 70992 ‘Neutral Grey’.
The clear parts

were fairly good,
but I thought that
some polishing
and finishing with As I intended to build the model
Tamiya’s ‘Modelling with open canopies, the movable
Wax’ won’t hurt. parts were only temporarily
attached with ‘Ultra Glue’.
The refuelling probe was affected

by a short shot. I therefore had
to reproduce its tip with a few
plastic discs that had been
created using the ‘Punch and Die
Tool Set’ from RP Toolz.
Afterwards, I assembled the pylons and external stores, and prepared the airframe and various subassemblies for the painting stage.
Aircraft Edition 11
painting
My first step was to apply Mr.Hobby H77 ‘Tire Black’ over the outside of The landing gear bays were primed with …and subsequently airbrushed with a layer of Mr.Color C8 ‘Silver’.
the canopy frames. This colour will be seen from the inside. Alclad II “Black Glossy Base”…
Once the paint had dried, I

masked off the landing gear
bays and primed the entire
kit with ‘Mr.Surfacer 1500’.
Next, I pre-shaded the airframe with

different colours from the Mr.Hobby
range, accentuating the chosen areas,
panel lines and rivet detail.
My chosen paint scheme consisted of two colours, a green and a grey. I used Mr.Hobby H305 for The green camouflage colour (Mr.Hobby H420) was applied in the same manner. Both paints were
the latter. The paint was heavily diluted and sprayed in transparent layers, allowing the pre-shading sprayed free-hand since my reference photos showed soft colour demarcation.
pattern to show through the camouflage layer.
Afterwards, I darkened the chosen Further discolouration to the

panel lines with a darker green green areas was added by
shade, namely Mr.Hobby H302. airbrushing a misted application
of Mr.Hobby H59 ‘IJN Green’.

I then turned my attention to the grey
surfaces. Mr.Hobby H56 ‘Intermediate Next, I airbrushed some highlights using
Blue’ was used to emphasize the chosen Mr.Hobby H51 ‘Light Gul Grey’.
panel lines and rivet rows.
The radome was sprayed with Mr.Hobby …whilst various details were brush painted
H303 ‘FS34102 Green’… in their appropriate colours using vinyl-
The effects were based acrylics from Vallejo.
toned down with a
transparent layer of
the grey base colour
(Mr.Hobby H305) which
acted as a filter.
The paintwork was subsequently

sealed with a layer of Mr.Color
GX100 ‘Super Clear III’.
The decals supplied with the kit had been printed by Cartograf which usually means a trouble-free Once I’d sealed the decals with another layer of Mr.Color GX100 varnish, I could accentuate
application. I only had to use Microscale decal solutions. the surface detail with enamel panel line washes. The grey areas were treated with
A.Mig-1602 ‘PLW Deep Grey’, whilst for the green ones I used AK-Interactive
AK2071 ‘Paneliner for Brown and Green Camo’. The excess enamels were
removed with a dust-free cloth.
Afterwards, I sprayed
most of the airframe with
Mr.Color GX114 flat varnish.
In accordance with a number of

reference photos I’ve seen, a small
section of the forward fuselage
was treated with Mr.Color GX100
varnish to represent a distinctive
glossy finish. Aircraft Edition 13
Now it was time to paint the engine

nozzle. To replicate the ceramic coating
and the distinctive staining inside the
nozzle, I airbrushed its inner surfaces
with Alclad II ‘Black Glossy Base’ and
subsequently masked those areas
where the exhaust stains would appear.
Next, I applied a layer of …and sprayed a misted

Mr.Hobby H313 ‘FS33531 application of Mr.Hobby H313
Yellow’ to the inside of the in such a way that the dark
nozzle, removed the masks… exhaust stains remained visible.
The assembled nozzle

was installed within
the fuselage.
Once the remaining parts of the engine and nozzle had been given their
appropriate colours, I brought out the details by applying an enamel
wash with AK-Interactive AK014 ‘Winter Streaking Grime’.
The airframe was ready for the weathering stage.

Weathering
Whilst browsing the web in search for inspiration, I found several photos of heavily weathered Mirages operating over Afghanistan. Although the markings that I’ve already applied to my kit didn’t pertain to
any of these machines, I just couldn’t resist trying to depict the effects seen on the aforementioned photos. I firstly dealt with the lower surfaces. I emphasized the chosen panel lines and edges of access
panels and other movable parts of the airframe with tiny quantities of ABT002 ‘Sepia’, ABT035 ‘Buff’ and ABT155 ‘Light Sand’ oils from Abteilung 502, and subsequently distributed the oil paints with a
brush that had been dampened with white spirit in order to create the distinctive stains and streaks. To add further variety to the effects, I also used a cotton bud to distribute and remove the excess paint
in a rolling motion.
The dirt effects on the upper surfaces were added in a number of steps. I began by applying
AK-Interactive AK4061 ‘Sand Yellow Deposit’ into the selected panel lines. Once it had dried, I
additionally accentuated the chosen panels and details with ABT035 ‘Buff’ and ABT155 ‘Light
Sand’ oils from Abteilung 502. These were distributed across the fuselage with a cotton bud
that had been slightly dampened with white spirit and moved in a rolling motion. When the
thinner had vaporized, I applied WP02 ‘Mud White’, WP04 ‘Mud Yellow’ and WP05 ‘Mud Red’
products from the Mr.Hobby ‘Weathering Paste’ range. In this case the texture effect created
by these products was unnecessary, so I wiped the surfaces with a dry cotton bud, distributing
the products over the surface at the same time. The final touch was to recreate the remnants of
powdery sand using the pigments from Tamiya 87079 ‘Weathering Master Set A’.
Aircraft Edition 15
The missing navigation lights were reproduced with Crystal Glass paint from Ammo. Once they had
fully dried, I painted them with red and blue colours from Tamiya’s Clear range.
The wheels were painted and

weathered in accordance with
my reference photos.
As meanwhile I also finished

the remaining parts and sub-
assemblies, the kit was now
ready for the final assembly.

The seats were
attached with
super glue.
Aircraft Edition 17

“Whilst browsing the web in search
for inspiration, I found several
photos of heavily weathered Mirages
operating over Afghanistan.”
Aircraft Edition 19
KIT PREVIEW Aerotech from Marsh Models Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 Limited Edition Kit • Kit No. AT32023
SPEEDY ME
The Editor gets a close-up look at Aerotech’s
new 1:32 scale Me 209 V1 racer.
Structural detail is cast ontos the

inside of the fuselage halves.
The fuselage halves. The pale

patch does not affect the quality
or texture of the resin.
is cast as a single part with ailerons in the
T
he first Messerschmitt Me 209 was Casting quality is very good with only one
a single-engine racing aircraft that air bubble in the bottom of each tyre. neutral position.
was designed for and succeeded in These will be fast and easy to fill. There is a Horizontal stabilisers and elevators are cast
breaking speed records. piebald pale patch on one of the fuselage sides in the neutral position too.
This Me 209 was a completely new aircraft but this will disappear under a coat of primer. The flaps are separate made from photo-
whose designation was used by Messerschmitt There are no casting blocks on any of the etched parts and may be posed dropped or
as a propaganda tool. Although the resin parts. Cleanup retracted.
aircraft was designed only to break will be minimal - just Wheel well detail is very nicely done and
speed records, it was hoped that its a little bit of fettling cast directly into the bottom of the wing.
name would associate it with the Bf along the joins of the White metal parts are flawlessly cast and
109 already in combat service. major parts. appear to be ready to assemble straight from
The designation Me 209 Surface textures the box. These parts include undercarriage
was given for propaganda are recessed and legs and covers, exhausts, propeller blades,
purposes to cause confusion pretty scarce as you rear skid, floor frame, cockpit details and more.
with the Messerschmitt Bf 109, would expect from a The photo-etched frets offer flap structure
the Luftwaffe's primary fighter The one-piece, full span wings have puttied and polished and rib detail, harness straps, windscreen and
throughout World War II. undercarriage bay detail cast in place. record setter. canopy frames, instrument panel, trim wheels,
It was later reused for the actual The fuselage rudder pedals, perforated cover for the oxygen
proposed successor to the Bf 109. halves are cast as bottle, pilot's rear upper bulkhead and more.
Aerotech is a new name to me. one piece each with One of the photo-etched frets is much
It is the aviation offshoot of Marsh the rudder and fin thinner than the other.
Models, which has been a producer being present on The canopy is supplied as a single vacform
of 1:43 hand-made limited edition one side. part. A second part is supplied as a spare.
model cars since 1981. Pleasantly Decals are high quality and in register. A
More recently, Marsh Models has surprising in a decal is supplied for the dials of the instrument
been producing 1:32 scale aircraft genuine limited run panel - nice touch.
White metal parts.
racer models, but the subject kit, the fuselage Instructions are printed on a single sheet.
matter has been expanding lately has locating pins One side has a large illustration while the
to include prototypes and rare and holes to ensure other has photos of cockpit parts and flaps in
subjects. accurate and robust place.
The latest release under the alignment. I test The golden age of modelling marches on
Aerotech label is a 1:32 scale fitted the major parts with this high quality 1:32 scale Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt Me 209 V1. Two photo-etched frets are included. and the locating Me 209 V1 from Aerotech.
This is a multi-media kit with a holes may need If you have a couple of multi-media, limited
genuine limited run of 150 kits. to be reamed out run kits under your belt, you should not have
Aerotech's 1:32 scale slightly to allow many problems building this one.
Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 comes the pins to be fully This is a great subject for racer or Luftwaffe
packed in a stout carton with inserted. fans.
individual resin parts ensconced in Cockpit sidewall It's not cheap, but you are paying for quality
bubblewrap and the box filled with detail, a mount and rarity and this is likely to be the only 1:32
foam peanuts. Flaps and cockpit details. for the instrument scale Me 209 that we will see for some time
The kit comprises 11 parts in panel and the to come.
grey cast resin, 30 parts in white engine firewall are Only 150 of these kits will be produced so if
metal, two lengths of brass rod, all cast directly onto you want one, get in now! •
two photo-etched frets (around 30 the inside of the
parts); one clear vacform part and fuselage halves. Thanks to Marsh Models / Aerotech for the
decals for one subject. The kit decal sheet. The resin wing sample www.marshmodels.com

Price (including postage):
UK -£13.40
Europe -£15.40
World -£17.40
FEATURE ARTICLE Tamiya 1:48 Kawasaki Ki-61-Id Hien (Tony) • Kit No. 61115
KAWASAK I ’S
EAG LE
Mark Casiglia paints,
weathers and finishes
Part Two - Painting, Weathering and Finishing
Tamiya’s lovely 1:48 scale

Kawasaki Ki-61-Id Hien

N
ow that this early stage of decaling paint, such as the hinomarus, wing leading above the flaps but having a closer look, the
was completed, I applied two coats of edges and blue horizontal stripe, I needed decals were much better resolved so I chose
Alclad Aqua Gloss to the metal areas, to make sure that I painted those areas in to use them instead. The camouflage hugs
for no other reason than to protect exactly the right place. I had a plan for the blue these characters closely so it was critical to
the metallic paint from masking, painting and stripe and yellow wing leading edges which I position correctly. I used a photocopy of the
weathering later. I learned the need to do this will detail later, but my plan for the hinomarus 1:1 painting instructions, cut that section out
on a previous project, when unprotected AK was simply to use a photocopy of the HGW and carefully cut the characters out to create
Xtreme metal paint was lifted by vinyl masks. camouflage transfers, cut out the hinomaru windows. This was then taped into position to
Aqua Gloss performs beautifully over metal areas, place the photocopy onto the model in correspond exactly with underlying borders and
finishes which is unsurprising given it was the correct position, then place the hinomaru panel lines in such a way that it was a flap that
designed for this very purpose. The next major vinyl masks accordingly. As the tail section also could be folded back on itself. The decals were
part of the process would be painting the tail needed to be painted red, I masked around then applied, again by the same method, using
section as well as any decal substitution areas some complex curves with Tamiya tape. the flap to verify correct placement. I then
before embarking upon the daunting task of I chose Mr Color C327 as my choice of sealed over them with Aqua Gloss and the tail
the green patchwork camouflage pattern. I red here since it was a little deeper in colour decals were coated with X-35.
had purchased a sheet of HGW wet transfers than something like XF-7 and more closely The fuselage hinomarus have a white
for this, but soon realised I wouldn’t be happy resembled the red of the decal sheet. As a border and these were next on the paint list.
with the end result because the demarcations second pass I added a little C92 to the mix, I used AK Real Colors RC222 Insignia White
would have been too perfect which wasn’t heavily diluted with Mr Levelling Thinner and since it isn’t as stark as a pure white such
representative of the original. So my plan was post shaded mainly along panel lines as well as XF-2. White is always a difficult colour to
to scan the HGW transfers and produce a as the roots of the stabilisers. I then sealed apply without excessive thickness building
vinyl mask through Silhouette software and these areas with X-35 Semi-Gloss Clear. It was up so several thin coats were applied to try
a Portrait 2 cutter. At this stage, I still wasn’t now time to place the tail decals, which I felt to mitigate this problem. Once the masks
sure how I would use the mask, other than were too fine to consider painting. They were were removed, despite my efforts there was
for guidance as a bare minimum. Because applied by the same method as previously. My a thicker lip around the border so these were
the camouflage pattern comes in very close initial plan was to paint the three Japanese carefully sanded with 3000 Tamiya sponge
to other major areas which I was planning to characters on the upper surface of the wings which evened them out.
Aircraft Edition 23
I scanned the decal sheet and cut custom masks using

Silhouette software and a Portrait 2 cutter.
To start work on the blue stripe which I was planning to paint, I Having used the vinyl decal analogues as a guide, Tamiya tape
placed vinyl mask equivalents into position as per decal positions was positioned and the vinyl was removed
Black was next. This included the anti-
glare panel and the wing root walkways.
Tamiya tape was used for masking, with
the round fuel cap being masked by picking
the right size from a sheet of prefabricated
circle masks. These are very useful, either
using the inner circles as in this case, or their
borders for other tasks as the case dictates.
My sheet has assorted circles from 1.0 to
2.8mm, made of washi sheet by HIQ Parts.
The first layer to go down was AK Real Colors
AK001 Flat Black, with AK022 Rubber Black
airbrushed through a spatter mask to produce
I found Tamiya XF-8 Flat Blue was a very good match to the blue Multiple light layers of blue were applied until a sufficiently
a weathered patina. This is essentially a of the decals opaque coverage was achieved
very dark grey and creates a great result
against the pure black beneath to deaden the
pureness of the colour. Once again, a coat of
X-35 was applied to seal it in and to equalise
the finish to match other painted areas.
The blue horizontal fuselage stripes were
the next task to tackle. Straight lines aren’t
difficult to mask, but I had a scan of the decal
sheet and it was easy to cut some vinyl masks
to help the process along. I removed the
sections of vinyl corresponding to the blue
stripe decals and placed them onto the model
in the correct positions to guide subsequent
positioning of Tamiya tape. The vinyl was then
removed and the stripes were airbrushed
using XF-8 Flat Blue followed by X-35 as I
had done before.
For positioning of the yellow wing leading
edge masking, I laid down vinyl decal
analogues as I had for the blue stripes. This
included parts of the gear bay doors and the Removal of Tamiya tape revealed a pleasingly clean and crisp edge
custom yellow mix of XF-3 and XF-7 that
I had previously used for the propeller tips
was utilised again. Following a sealing coat of small places. Some final stencil decals to run some experiments on. I cut a vinyl
of X-35, I removed the masks and set about were placed on the gear bay doors and the mask from scans of the HGW transfers and
planning the red walkway markings on the project was ready for the moment of truth: The tried a few approaches. My first was a very
upper wing surfaces and the red gun port camouflage pattern. light overall green, perhaps 25% opacity,
stars, as well as the blue number 24 on each I still hadn’t quite resolved how I was going right to the edges of the mask, followed by
main gear bay door. to approach the camouflage. I had the HGW filling in a more solid colour manually inside
Again I used my scan of the decal sheet to wet transfers but I decided early on not to use the edges. Despite the graduation of shade,
remove some sections for the walkway masks them since the edges of the green patches the edges were too crisp. I felt my only hope
whilst applying Tamiya tape for the remainder. would be unrealistically crisp and clean. was to go freehand to avoid hard edges,
I used vinyl masks from the Montex set for Reference photos show very solid colour on but I wanted the ease and guidance offered
the gun port stars, again avoiding the decals the patches with a mixture or hard and soft by the vinyl masks. In the end my solution
for these markings. They were more precise edges. Most scale models I have seen of this was to use enamel paint so excess could
than those from my decal sheet scan. The aircraft show the patches with either uniformly be easily removed with odourless solvent
gun port openings were also masked and the soft or hard edges but never both. Further, I without damaging the underlying Aqua Gloss
lines and stars were painted using the same felt that at 1:48 scale, the soft edges needed to or surrounding X-35 surfaces, using the vinyl
C327 as other red areas. Montex masks were be very tight as most I have seen, even at 1:32 masks to guide the initial pattern placement
used for the number 24 markings and they are too fuzzy at scale. The soft edges needed with a view to the manually completing each
were painted using XF-8. The customary to be tighter than my 0.2mm Sparmax SP20x patch. So the process began.
X-35 coat was applied to all newly painted would be able to deliver even with the nozzle I laid down all of the camouflage masking
areas and I inspected the result once the cap removed. Lastly, it was imperative that at once, cut into sections to aid precise
masks were removed. Some minor touch ups there be no evidence of overspray and that if placement. I then applied Tamiya XF-13
were carried out on the red lines, mainly to that did occur, that it would be easily removed. enamel paint, mixed 1:1 with X-20 thinner,
address differences in thickness in a couple I had a piece of Corflute which I decided and sprayed with my 0.2mm airbrush, minus

The yellow wing leading
edges were masked, again
using vinyl decal analogues
to inform correct positioning
of Tamiya tape
A custom yellow mix was made

using Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow with
a touch of XF-7 Flat Red to produce
the richer shade of yellow needed
The yellow paint was laid down in several light layers to Removal of masking tape again has confirmed lovely
prevent flooding and leaching of paint under the masks clean borders and even coverage
nozzle cap, at 15 psi which my trials showed two things bothering me. Firstly, there was an range and their Dark Dirt was perfect for the
me was the pressure sweet spot. I was unevenness to the surface sheen of the green job. I was careful to stir the bottle thoroughly
cautious to stay inside the mask borders to enamel paint ranging from dead flat to almost as a thick sludge will develop at the bottom.
prevent clean edges but realised it wasn’t satin. Second, some of the hard edges were The wash was brush painted onto all the panel
too critical because I would reiterate all perhaps too hard. The answer was simple and lines and dried quickly. The excess is easily
the patches manually anyway. Once the something I always had in mind as a possible removed with damp cotton buds and soft rags
masks were removed I went back over and final step: Sanding with a Tamiya 3000 sponge. taken from old cotton t-shirts and the dried
did precisely that, making sure there was I cut off a small rectangular piece, folded it wash has good opacity and holds very well in
sufficient opacity in most areas to match back onto itself and clamped in with self- the panel lines and recesses.
references which didn’t really show any fuzzy, locking forceps. Constantly dipping the small Chipping was next. I decided against the
low-coverage spray patterns. sponge in water, I methodically rubbed each hairspray approach since the randomness
My next step was to clean things up and green patch until the edges softened off a little, that gives the effect its authenticity also
try to find the right balance between soft and taking comfort that there was literally no effect takes away control and predictability. I used
hard edges on the green patches. I used fine at all on the surrounding paintwork. With this AK11209, which is Silver from their new 3rd
Mr Hobby cotton tips with odourless solvent simple step the effect came together nicely. generation acrylic paints. This performs very
and cleaned up all the overspray. This worked well and was easily applied with a sharpened
as well as expected and I was able to come PANEL LINES, SHADING AND bamboo skewer. Once dry, selective sanding
in close to some edges and stay away from FABRIC EFFECT with a 3000 sponge blended the result and
others. My choice was simple. If I saw a tight I proceeded with a panel line wash at this dull off some of the chipped areas giving them
spray edge, I left it. Conversely any edges stage and it was important to choose a water- a more aged appearance. I added chips to the
which were too fuzzy were wiped back which based product to avoid disturbing the enamel black antiglare panel, the wing leading edges,
ended up creating the harder edges I was paint of the green camouflage. I have a few the gear day doors and edges and finally the
looking for. So far so good, but there were washes from the Ultimate Modelling Products propeller, on both the front leading edges
Aircraft Edition 25
The gear bay doors were masked, once

again using vinyl decal analogues to Nice, solid layers of the custom Confirming the desired result has been
guide positioning of the Tamiya tape yellow paint mix were applied achieved after removal of masks
I had a choice of the number 24 from the Montex After the masks were removed,
set or the masks I cut myself from the decal sheet. Tamiya XF-8 was applied in a dry, decals were applied to complete
In this case I chose the Montex masks even and solid series of coats the result
and the rear trailing edges. Finally I used a flatness. I feel this thinner was way too hot So I went back and masked the green patches
sharpened Prismacolor silver pencil to add for either the Aqua Gloss or the AK Xtreme with Mr Masking Sol Neo and reapplied a
finer chips and add density of silver colour to Metal beneath, or both. Interestingly, the green thin dusting of LP-38 to cover the overspray.
areas of heavier wear. patches didn’t craze, only the surrounding silver The masking was removed with a soft rubber
The next stage of the project caused a areas. I had a repair job on my hands. The sculpting tool which works very well and
mini disaster. My simple plan for the fabric only viable approach was to completely redo prevents damage to surrounding paintwork.
ailerons was to mask them and airbrush a the ailerons, both upper and lower. Lower was Obviously I now had very hard edges on the
dead flat clear coat to distinguish them from simple- I sanded back with fibreglass pen and camouflage patches which didn’t match the
the surrounding bare metal areas. The plan 1500 sponge, then masked and sprayed with rest. So I choose a 000 brush and manually
was good and the early results looked great, Tamiya LP-38 Flat Aluminium thinned with Mr created some roughness to the edges
for a few seconds, before I noticed significant Levelling Thinner, which is less aggressive. This to match the rest, which was more than
crazing developing on the surface. Hindsight gave a lovely surface which I was happy with. acceptable although not quite as good as my
is always clear, and given my time again I The upper enamel camouflage patches original failed plan. I finished with a light coat
would’ve used an acrylic flat coat rather than were redone but the difference this time was of GX113 to dull to green enamel patches and
GX113, especially since I thinned it with Mr that being against a dead flat surrounding finally painted with wing tip navigation lights
Rapid Thinner in an effort to achieve maximum surface, overspray couldn’t easily be cleaned. using X-27 Clear Red and X-23 Clear Blue.
Going back to red, I elected to paint the no-walk borders rather than use the decals which would Mr Color 327 was once again used within the combination of vinyl and Tamiya tape masks
have been tricky to remove carrier film borders and almost impossible to handle thereafter. Montex
masks were also used for the gun port red stars

The end result was confirmed and a couple of areas were retouched after this photograph to equalise
the width of some of the lines
An overall impression of the

main airframe, fully painted prior
to application of camouflage
The entire airframe was covered in

vinyl masks produced from a scan
of the HGW wet transfer decals
Despite having purchased HGW 248062 wet transfers for the green camouflage patches,
I elected to paint them instead. I used a scan of these transfers and subsequent home
cut vinyl masks and experimented on a piece of Corflute to work out the best approach
UPSIDE-DOWN KILLS
I had one more task to perform prior to
weathering and final assembly: The kill marks
decal on the port side adjacent to the cockpit.
This decal is a symmetrical rectangle so
very easy to place upside-down if not
careful. In a complete oversight, I lost the
50-50 bet and placed the decal the wrong
way around. To my eye, it just made
sense that the little aeroplanes should
be pointing upwards and I went with instinct
rather than checking as I should have. I didn’t A closer view of the starboard
discover the error until the decal was well and wing shows the camouflage
truly set. I felt I had three options: Leave it and pattern positioned correctly
hope nobody noticed, buy another kit just for
that decal, or attempt to paint it. There was
no way I was going to leave it because it was
simply. I wasn’t going to shell out for another kit
either, or even wait for postage had requested
a replacement. I had a scan of the decal sheet
so I thought painting would be worth a try. With
that decision made, I removed the decal with
several applications of Solvaset. The scrubbing
damaged the underlying paintwork which was
repaired with both the previous aluminium and
green shades as required.
Aircraft Edition 27
I chose to use Tamiya

XF-13 enamel paint thinned
1:1 with X-20 thinner and
airbrushed at 15 psi. This
approach was decided after
trial and error experiments
at a prior stage
The initial patches were added using

the vinyl masks as a guide and trying
to stay inside the borders to prevent
unrealistic sharp edges
A detail view of the starboard wing

shows the initial application inside
the mask borders
After removal of all the vinyl

camouflage masks, the basic
shape and position of the
patches looked promising
The detail view shows good

positioning of patches and confirms
the ease of this method as it prevents
the need to constantly refer back to
references and making mistakes
In the decal sheet scan, fortunately the rest as it has a diagonal plane going through authenticity. The process is very simple, using
Option B the kill marks are the same size but the main one. Once a mask was cut, it was black coloured fly-tying wire in 0.3mm thickness
printed in a dark colour. The white versions placed into position and sprayed with RC222. and CA to secure it into place. The landing gear
for Option A weren’t suitable as the tracing The tiny red diagonal detail was then masked assemblies go together precisely and fit into
function in Silhouette can’t see them without and sprayed with XF-7. The result was rather long square slots in the gear bays. Obviously
sufficient contrast, and my skills with the stark but I realised that subsequent weathering care must be taken to ensure good alignment,
software aren’t nearly good enough to trace would probably tone it in nicely. Looking at the but this is virtually perfect if the parts are are
little aeroplane shapes out from scratch. new kill marks, they were certainly more basic allowed to slot into place without forcing them
So in the cutter’s software, I picked out the in shape than the decal, which in hindsight into directions they don’t want to go. I used
best-shaped little plane, did some minor was way too detailed and precise than Revell Contacta cement to give me control and
improvements, copied and pasted it another references of the original plane suggest and time and I walked away for a while once the
twelve times and assembled the plane outlines my preference went towards the new, painted landing gear was bonded, just to make sure
as per the kill marks on the original plane and version. Mistakes can be blessings in disguise. they set securely into the perfect position. At
decal. I then placed the fourteenth kill mark I assembled the landing gear components at this stage the tail wheel was also placed.
into position which was different from the this stage and added brake lines to add some

Each individual patch was
refined and broadened which
also increased the density of
the green paint areas
The detail view shows the main benefit of this

approach, which was the ability to clean up
overspray with white spirits whilst leaving some
soft edges and creating some harder edges
Chipping was added manually

to retain control. I used new
generation AK acrylic paint in
silver, applied with a sharpened
bamboo skewer for the main
work. A prismacolor silver
pencil was used to fill in
spaces and refine finer details
I chose to use a water-based

panel line wash, in this case
Ultimate Modelling Products
Dark Dirt, to protect the enamel
paintwork from likely dissolving
The final chipping result of

the antiglare area looked
convincing to my eye
The propeller front leading edges,

back trailing edges and spinner were
given some chipping treatment by
the same method
Aircraft Edition 29
My initial plan for the ailerons was to paint Mr Color GX-113 thinned After an initial layer of LP-38, the green camouflage patches A rubber sculpting tool is very good for removing liquid mask
with Mr Rapid Thinner to produce a dead flat result. Unfortunately were resprayed before being masked with Mr Masking Sol without damaging underlying paintwork
this caused significant crazing so the areas were sanded and Neo, after which another very light coat of LP-38 was applied
repainted using Tamiya LP-38 Flat Aluminium which gives a lovely, to deal with overspray
flat metallic result
Sharp green patch edges were brush touched

with XF-13 enamel to produce random roughness
to edges to mimic the rest of the camouflage
scheme. Whilst not as ideal as the failed original
flat coat plan, the rescue was acceptable
WEATHERING inks. The exhaust stains were deepened with camouflage patches. From Set B, I used Soot
The first stage of weathering was to produce pure black dry brushing and the wing roots, to further enhance the exhaust stains and add
some subtle shade variations with Liquitex especially immediately aft of the fuel filler a hint of shading to the gun ports, and from
acrylic inks diluted heavily with X-20A thinner caps, were brushed with mostly burnt umber. Set A, Mud was very useful around the landing
and airbrushed around exhaust areas, wing The freshly painted white kill marks were gear and gear bay doors.
roots and tail roots. Trailing edges of the wings dirtied up with dry brushing until I felt their The final stage of weathering was to use
were also included, with particular emphasis brightness didn’t stand out and command pigments, both wet and dry. I used Vallejo
around the landing gear. I used a 1:1 mix of undue attention. pigments 73.104 Light Sienna and 73.109
Carbon Black and Transparent Raw Umber. I brought out my Tamiya Weathering Natural Umber and my pigment fixer was
There is little to no setting time so it was easy Master pastels, which I find very handy. AK Pigment Binder. Being an enamel based
to proceed straight to the next treatment which Again the idea is to offload excess from the product I was again aware that I needed to
was dry brushing of oil paints. I used different sponge applicator. Incidentally I keep many avoid upper areas of bare enamel paint. I
mixes of black and burnt umber but again, spare applicators which I purchased from a used the pigments mainly around the landing
because of the unprotected enamel paint, I department store makeup aisle. The idea is gear. When mixed into a wash consistency
used the oils only in a dry-brushing manner to apply hints of colour with the pastels. You and painted roughly around the wheel hubs
instead of my usual practice of being liberal can always apply more, but if they’re overdone and inner gear bay doors, once dry the finish
with odourless solvent to create streaks and from the start they can be hard to remove. is dead flat and resembles dirt build-up. By
blend the colours. By making sure virtually all Once on, they have a lovely flat finish and are using two different shades the effect is more
the paint was removed from the brush, the tenacious enough to not require protection. convincing and suggests build-up over a
dry brushing was a very controlled process. From Set E, I used grey to introduce some period of time. Excess is relatively easily
I concentred on then usual areas of grime patchy colour variation on the horizontal blue wiped away once dry, which is good, but also
buildup, similar to where I had just applied stripes and green for the same purpose on the means care must be taken when handling

In an unthinkable but easy mistake, the kill marks decal was placed Unable to accept the incorrect kill marks, I removed the decal by The masks were produced from a prior scan of the
upside-down with the planes pointing upwards instead of downwards dissolving with Solvaset, retouched the paintwork underneath and applied decal sheet and released with a sharp scalpel
a home-cut vinyl mask. AK RC222 was once again used for the white
The small red diagonal mark was added with Tamiya XF-7 Flat Red The final painted and weathered result looks less detailed than the decal, which in hindsight looked
too precise. I feel this was the lucky mistake as it looks more authentic
the parts afterwards to ensure that pigment wells to bring the sheen down where I felt this Rigging was carried out using Infini Model
isn’t accidentally wiped away. Wheel spatter was needed. I then removed the masks from 1:32 Aero Black Rigging 0.135mm and Zap
was achieved by using separate shades of the landing light and canopies. The immediate medium CA. This fine elastic thread is ideal
pigments again, this time using a large flat result was quite good but I tidied any rough for the purpose as gluing under slight tension
brush loaded with pigment wash and dabbed edges with a sharpened skewer dipped in creates a convincing result with no sagging.
to remove most of it before placing it next to X-20A thinner. I used the same product on I brush touched the clear CA joins with paint
the wheels, bending the bristles back and a cotton tip to remove any excess masks of the relevant colour and where necessary,
flicking them with a toothpick to create the adhesive before polishing the clear parts with some AK Ultra Matte clear to take the shine of
spatter pattern. Larger and smaller areas of a dry lens cloth, inside and out. The sliding those spots. As with most aeroplane projects,
flicked up dirt are created by varying the force canopy was then positioned, with the expected the pitot tube is the most fragile part and was
of the flicking and the amount of pigment wash perfect fit and bonded with Mig of Ammo Ultra the last to go on. Once placed and positioned
on the brush. Glue, sparingly applied at the undersurfaces. with Contacta cement, it was allowed to dry
This dries clear and ensures no chance of fully before a little X-11 enamel was used to
FINISHING TOUCHES styrene damage or fogging, so a great choice brush touch the joint.
Now that the weathering was complete, I went for clear parts. The mast was bonded into This completed the project of a wonderful kit
around and spot-applied some GX113 to some place with Contacta cement and allowed to with a most challenging scheme. •
areas such as the tail, hinomarus and wheel dry for some time before resuming work.
Weathering was carried out with a range of products, firstly airbrushed inks (not pictured), dry- 0.3mm black fly-tying wire was used to add brake lines to the landing gear and Infini 0.135mm elastic
brushed oil paints, pigments both loose and combined with fixer, and finally Tamiya pastels rigging was perfect for rigging the aerials.
Aircraft Edition 31
“The first stage of weathering

was to produce some subtle
shade variations with Liquitex
acrylic inks diluted heavily with
X-20A thinner and airbrushed
around exhaust areas, wing
roots and tail roots...”

MODELSPEC
Tamiya 1:48 Kawasaki Ki-61-Id Hien (Tony)
Kit No. 61115
Adhesives Used:
- Tamiya Extra Thin Cement
- Revell Contacta Cement
- Zap-A-Gap Medium CA
- Madworks black CA
- Mig Of Ammo Ultra Glue
Paints and Finishing Products Used:

- Mr Surfacer 500 Black
- Tamiya acrylic paint
- Tamiya lacquer paint
- Mr Color lacquer paint
- AK Real Colors lacquer paint
- AK Xtreme Metal paint
- AK 3rd Generation acrylic paint
- Tamiya enamel paint
- Molotow Liquid Chrome
- Mr Color Levelling Thinner
- Mr Color Rapid Thinner
- Tamiya X-20A thinner
- Tamiya X-20 thinner
- Tamiya acrylic paint retarder
- Alclad Aqua Gloss
- AK Ultra Matte varnish
- Tamiya acrylic clears
- GX113 UV Cut Flat clear
- Oil paints- various brands
- Odourless solvent
- Tamiya Weathering Master sets A, B and E
- Liquitex acrylic ink
- Mr Weathering Color
- Ultimate Modelling Products washes
- Prismacolor Silver Pencil
- 2B lead pencil
- Vallejo pigments
- AK Pigment Fixer
- Mr Masking Sol Neo
- Tamiya masking tape, all widths
- Silhouette Portrait 2 cutter
- Oramask 810 adhesive frosted vinyl
- Tamiya Decal Adhesive Softener Type
- Tamiya Mark Fit Strong
- Walthers Solvaset
- USB cup warmer
- Metal pie dish
Materials Used:
- 0.3mm black Fly-tying wire
- Infini Model 0.135mm Elastic rigging
- SMS ceramic scraper
- Tamiya Handy Craft Saw II
- Number 11 Scalpel
- Tamiya files
- Vallejo diamond files
- Ultimate Modelling Products sanding sticks
- Infini soft sanding sticks
- Tamiya sanding sponge 3000 and 1500
- Fibreglass pen
- Mini craft pegs
- Soft padded clothes pegs
- Artool spatter masks
- Metal ruler
- Mr Hobby fine cotton tips
- Rubber sculpting tool
- Sable brushes- various brands and sizes
- Bamboo skewers
Airbrushes Used:
- Sparmax SP-20x 0.2mm airbrush
- Sparmax max-4 0.4mm airbrush
- Hseng AS186 Air Compressor
Aircraft Edition 33
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FEATURE ARTICLE Eduard 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf 110 E ProfiPACK • Kit No. 8203
EASTERN
WESPEN The Editor builds Eduard’s
1:48 Messerschmitt Bf 110 E
almost straight from the box.
I
t is amazing to think that Eduard's 1:48 incredibly subtle rows of rivets. I like the Eduard also supplies the C/D nose.
scale Messerschmitt Bf 110 E was released treatment of the fabric control surfaces too, The cockpit is well fitted out with a
around 16 years ago. My how time flies! with rib tape detail being the most prominent combination of delicate plastic and colour photo
The original release was made up from feature - no massive sagging of fabric. I could etched parts. The lower fuselage cannon are
314 parts in olive coloured plastic (later not find a single sink mark or ejector pin in any visible through the fuselage floor, and plenty
boxings were a more conventional grey area that will be visible on the finished model. of spare ammunition is provided. The rear
plastic); 12 parts in clear; two parts in brown The fuselage is broken down into the main gunner's seat can be made to swivel, while the
resin; one colour photo-etched fret and halves with a separate nose (upper and lower) navigator's seat may be posed up or stowed.
another fret in bare metal; a masking sheet plus an insert for the deck immediately aft of The nose is fully equipped with four MG
and markings for five aircraft. the cockpit. The tail is moulded as a single 17 machine guns and ammunition feeds plus
Moulding quality is very good. Crisply piece. In addition to the Bf 110 E nose (easily oxygen bottles. These may be displayed by
recessed panel lines are partnered with distinguished by the rectangular intake), posing the separate gun cowl open.
Eduard’s Bf 110 E cockpit combines plastic and Even before painting and the addition of colour photo-etched All cockpit components were given an overall coat of Flat Black.
photo-etched parts. First, the plastic parts of the parts, the cockpit detail is outstanding. This acted as a pre-shading coat, remaining in deep shadow areas
forward cockpit were assembled. The various after the main interior colour has been applied.
handles on the pilot’s quadrant are very delicate.

Fit of the cockpit parts was excellent
with only minor trimming required. In this
photo, the cockpit floors and bulkheads
are not even glued in place.
Contrary to the instructions, the sidewalls were glued to the inside of

each fuselage before the cockpit parts were assembled. Gunze H70
RLM 02 Grey was sprayed over the black base coat. This acrylic paint
was a good match for the colour of the pre-painted photo-etched parts.
A wash of thinned oil paint

helps the sidewall and
floor detail leap out of the
plastic. Although it seems
overemphasized now, the
advantage of this technique
is that the detail will remain
visible even when trapped
between the fuselage halves.
Aircraft Edition 37
A couple of inserts on the bottom A little trimming around the

of the fuselage looked tricky at edges of the lower nose
first, but ended up fitting very well. joining lip was needed to
Regardless, the rear insert will be obtain this perfect fit.
completely covered by the ETC
centreline bomb rack
Full detail, including the machine

guns and feed chutes, is supplied for
the interior of the nose. However, I
wanted to maintain the streamlined
profile of the Bf 110 by closing the
upper gun cowl, so not all the detail
parts were installed.
The wings are moulded with the flaps and of construction steps and four pages of full-
leading edge slats in the closed position. This colour marking guides, each with a four-view
may disappoint some, but I did a quick check illustration plus scrap views.
of several books and nearly half of the Bf 110s the Bf 110’s character, and Eduard has done Markings are supplied for five aircraft, all
were parked with the slats and flaps up. If an especially good job on the complex rear with different schemes.
you really want to drop the flaps and/or slats, clamshell. If the rear canopy is to be depicted The painting instructions call out RLM
the kit engineering will make this task fairly open, separate parts are supplied for the 74/75/76 Greys for most of these aircraft, but
straightforward with the bulges behind the clamshell and the sliding top rear sections. If the I would have expected at least some of them
nacelles moulded as part of the bottom of the canopy will be closed, a totally separate single to be finished in RLM 02/71/65. In fact, the
kit flaps. part is used. A separate piece of armoured box art appears to suggest this too. The actual
Ailerons are provided as separate parts. glass is also depicted, with an alternate photo- colours and camouflage transition on Bf 110s
Wheel well detail is excellent. The engine etched frame if the modeller prefers. The is far from an exact science, but it would seem
nacelles are supplied separate from the wings. side and top canopy parts are also individual that the new RLM 74/75/76 scheme was not
Ample options are supplied including ETC pieces to permit posing in the open position. actually applied at the factory until March/April
racks, 50kg and 250kg bombs. Many other Furthermore, alternate styles of rear canopy 1941, well after the commencement of the Bf
options are marked as "not for use". These are offered - with the machine gun cutout and 110 E production run. Having been finished
include 300 litre and 900 litre drop tanks, air without. Handles and other canopy details are in RLM 02/71/65, it is unlikely that these
to air rockets and the small 75 litre auxiliary supplied in both photo etch and plastic. Eduard aircraft would have been repainted until major
oil tank sometimes fitted to the bottom of the masks are also included to ease the pain of overhauls.
fuselage. The massive "dachshund" belly tank painting that maze of canopy frames. The 2007 debut release package is topped
for the Bf 110 D is also included. Instructions are supplied in a colour 20 off with two resin Dachshunds in recognition of
Two sprues of clear parts are included. The page booklet, with a historical summary on the their association with 1.(Z)/JG 77. These are
prominent glasshouse is an important part of front page followed by a parts list, 13 pages tiny but perfectly formed!
The authentic parts breakdown for the landing gear legs looks I used the same painting and weathering techniques for the wheel A few oil stains were added from the oil wash mix, and chipping
delicate, but after the engine nacelle is installed it is quite well as I did for the cockpit. was represented with a dark brown artist’s pencil.
robust.
A close fit did not look hopeful while test-fitting these parts but, The large flat mating surfaces of the wing and the fuselage at The bottom joins were almost completely free of gaps and steps.
with the help of a couple of stout clamps, the engine nacelles the wing root were ground back using a round dental burr in my
mated quite successfully with the wings. Dremel motor tool. This ensured a gap-free fit.

After the fiddly assembly of the cockpit
and engine nacelles was out of the way, the
balance of construction was incredibly fast
and relatively trouble free.
GETTING STARTED
Eduard’s 1:48 scale Messerschmitt Bf 110 E
is a sophisticated and well detailed kit. It is
highly advisable to familiarize yourself with
the 20 page instruction booklet before you
commence building the model.
I started in the cockpit. Be aware that there
are some genuinely tiny components here,
and extreme care is required to ensure that
the parts are not launched into space when
they are cut from the sprue, or broken when
cleaning up. This is especially true of the
oxygen equipment (parts G53 and G55), and
the throttle quadrants (parts G47, 49, 50 and
51), which are all separate parts with only very
shallow locating positions.
I chose to assemble and paint all the plastic
and unpainted photo-etched parts before
adding the colour photo-etch. I also deviated
from the instructions by gluing the long
sidewalls (parts C12 and C18) to the interior Lower surface fit is pretty good. There was a noticeable gap between the upper rear join of
of the fuselage halves instead of assembling both engine nacelles and wings, and a small step outboard of
the rear cockpit as a long “tub”. This made it each nacelle. The latter may have been the result of my overly
aggressive clamping!
easier to obtain a seamless paint job without
the risk of join lines or glue marks. However,
it does demand precise positioning of the
sidewalls, otherwise the cockpit floor and
bulkheads will not fit.
The instructions also suggest that the pilot’s
forward cockpit should be glued to the rear
cockpit assembly before it is installed in the
fuselage. However, I found that it was easier
to align all the parts by leaving the forward
and rear cockpits as sub-assemblies until the
fuselage halves were joined.
Only minor trimming was required to the
bottom of the sidewalls to deliver a snap-fit. Tailplanes fitted precisely – the fins almost snapped into place. Milliput, a two-part epoxy putty, was used to address the engine
Six spare ammunition drums are supplied nacelle gaps and steps, plus a few smaller alignment issues.
Masking tape was used to ensure the Milliput did not spread
for each ammo rack in the back of the cockpit. beyond the area requiring filling.
I found that five on each rack was a more
comfortable fit.
With all the plastic and bare metal painted
and weathered, the colour photo-etched parts
were glued in place using Micro Krystal Kleer.
This white glue easily handled the lightweight
photo-etched parts and permitted adjustment
before the adhesive set. The colour parts really
add an air of authenticity to the cabin, especially
the instrument panel and harness straps.
The only after-market additions to the
cockpit were a few cockpit placard decals
from Reheat, positioned strategically in bare
The step outboard of the engine nacelle was also filled with Milliput. While the putty was still pliable, the remainder was used to
areas of the sidewalls. smooth a tiny step at the lower wing joins.
Aircraft Edition 39
The fit of the fuselage halves was so good that the spine panel A half an hour was spent sanding the putty and polishing the The canopy and wheel wells were masked using Tamiya tape to
line virtually disappeared. Self-adhesive Dymo tape was used as a overall airframe in preparation for painting. prevent unwanted overspray.
guide to restore this panel line.
Tamiya AS-5 Light Blue (Luftwaffe) was decanted into a glass Yellow paint is notorious for poor coverage. To ensure a vibrant For the RLM 04 Yellow, Tamiya spray lacquer was once again
bottle, then sprayed using my Aztek airbrush over the lower and finish, white undercoat was sprayed on the mid fuselage and lower decanted into a glass jar for application with the Aztek airbrush. I
side surfaces of the model. This lacquer paint provides a tough, wing tips, which were destined to receive yellow theatre markings. used Tamiya TS-34 Camel Yellow for this colour.
smooth base coat which resists fingerprints and wear.
One potentially troublesome area was the revealed a potential gap. It seemed that the The fit of the fuselage was so good that it
installation of two shell ejection panels (parts large flat mating surfaces on the inside of completely eliminated the centre seam which
B9 and B16) between the fuselage halves. the wing and the fuselage wing root were should be there. Dymo tape was used as a
These inserts would have to be aligned at interfering with the fit, so I ground down the guide, top and bottom, to rescribe the centre
the same time as the cockpit, but the actual plastic on the fuselage and both wings. This panel lines.
installation proved trouble free with minimal greatly improved the fit. Only a small gap was
sanding after the parts had set to eliminate a now present PAINTING
small step. Once the wings and fuselage were Camouflage of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 E
The fuselage halves were joined and assembled, the balance of construction was is not perfectly documented, and is further
sealed with Tamiya Extra Thin Liquid Cement lightning fast. The tailplanes were almost a confused by the fact that camouflage orders
run sparingly along the seams, successfully snap fit. changed late in the production run of this
trapping the cockpit and shell ejector panels. The lower nose required minor trimming of variant. Although Eduard’s instructions suggest
The instructions suggest that the MG 17 the locating ridge around the rear of the lower that this subject should be finished in the mid-
machine gun should be installed in the rear of nose part resulted in a gap-free and stepless war grey tones, RLM 74, 75 and 76, I thought
the cockpit at this point, but I decided to leave join with the fuselage. I did not glue the upper that it was more likely that the aircraft left the
this delicate sub-assembly for later assembly. gun cowl (part B7) in place until the lower factory in RLM 02 Grey, RLM 71 Dark Green
My model was destined to be displayed with nose had set. I found that the upper nose and RLM 65 Light Blue.
the gun cowl closed, so only the parts required fitted better after the gun bay rear bulkhead After the cockpit and wheel wells were
to mount the machine guns were installed. (part C10) was removed. If you are building masked, the model received a base coat of
The main wheel bays are another highlight your Bf 110 with the gun cowl closed, you can Tamiya AS-5 Light Blue (Luftwaffe). To my
of this kit. They are authentically deep and easily omit this part during construction. eye, this ambiguously labeled colour looks
lavishly detailed. However, assembly does The separate ailerons were a bit tight when somewhere between RLM 65 Light Blue and
require some care. Make sure that you label offered to the wings, but a few swipes on RLM 76 Light Blue, but can suffice for either.
your undercarriage and nacelle parts before the sides with a Mastercaster sanding stick The advantage of this spray can paint is
you cut them from the sprue, as most of them resulted in a tight and precise fit. I glued mine that it is a tough, fast drying lacquer. The
are handed left and right. I would also suggest in the neutral position. disadvantage is, if sprayed straight from the
that the rear nacelle bulkheads (parts J5 and Once again I deviated from the instructions can, the paint can display a slight orange
J11) should be installed after the main nacelle by skipping installation of the undercarriage, peel finish. This problem can be avoided by
halves have been glued and set. instead gluing all the other elements to the air- decanting the paint from the can by spraying it
Test fitting the wheel well sidewalls (parts frame including the ETC and wing bomb racks. into a small container. The light blue paint can
C36, C25, C35 and C26) is advisable before Eduard’s instructions recommend that the then be poured into a paint cup for use in your
you commit to glue, so that you understand exhaust mounting plates are glued to the regular airbrush.
exactly how they are supposed to fit. Keep in engine nacelles before the stubs are installed. One of the appealing aspects of this
mind that the hinges moulded to the sidewalls I thought that this would make painting more scheme are the RLM 04 Yellow theatre
should protrude slightly from the bottom of the difficult, so I glued the stubs to the plates markings. Yellow paint, however, is notorious
nacelle if installed correctly. before they were fitted to the nacelles. for poor coverage. To ensure a vibrant finish,
The engine nacelles looked like trouble Although this did, indeed, make painting white undercoat was sprayed on the mid
when they were dry-fitted to the wings, with easier, installation of the delicate exhaust fuselage and lower wing tips, which were
gaps along the edges and behind the rear of assemblies was a bit nerve racking. Next time destined to receive yellow theatre markings.
the nacelle. I applied liquid glue then used I think I will follow the instructions! Once the white base coat was dry, Tamiya’s
clamps to squeeze the nacelles to the correct With so few gaps and steps, puttying did spray can colour TS-34 Camel Yellow was
width, closing the gaps at the sides, but a not take long. I used White Milliput for the join decanted into a container and sprayed in the
narrow gap remained at the top rear join. at the top of the engine nacelle and the lower appropriate places. I like this high gloss, rich
Test fitting of the wings to the fuselage wing seam. shade of yellow.

I was not satisfied with the look of the
fuselage sides in general, and the mottling
in particular. I therefore revised the mottling,
first with a random overspray of RLM 65 Light
Blue, then with a selective re-application
of RLM 02 and RLM 71 mottling. The
demarcation line of the RLM 71 Dark Green
was also lowered down the fuselage. It is
quite normal for me to revise a camouflage
finish several times before I am finally happy The yellow fuselage band and lower
wing tips were masked, as were the
with it. It is never too late to make a change! inward facing surfaces of the fins
With the basic camouflage finished, Polly
Scale Gloss acrylic was sprayed over the
entire model. This tough top coat serves
the dual purposes of preventing damage to
the soft Gunze paint, and providing a useful
sheen for the application of decals.
The glass house canopy of the
Messerschmitt Bf 110 would be a nightmare
to paint if it were not for Eduard’s die-cut, self-
adhesive masks. The masks, supplied with the
kit, were fast to apply and conformed almost
perfectly to the frames of the plastic
canopy. The first paint coat was RLM
02 Grey representing the interior frame
colour, followed by RLM 71 Dark Green for
the exterior
Gunze acrylic H70 RLM 02 Grey was
MARKINGS AND sprayed onto the fuselage spine and
the upper wings and tailplanes.
WEATHERING
When I compared the deep yellow of the
painted theatre markings to Eduard’s decals,
there was a marked difference. I decided to
repaint the yellow indivisual aircraft letter, “H”,
in Camel Yellow. The yellow decal letters were
surrounded by
Tamiya masking tape and resprayed while
they were still on their backing sheet.
The decals behaved flawlessly on
application, even the complex three part
Wespe decal over the compound
curves of the nose. There was,
however, a gap between the top
and bottom halves of the Wespe
along the gun cowl join (the decal
assumes that the gun cowl will be open, in
which case this would not be a problem). I cut
a circular mask the same size as the white of Gunze H64 RLM 71 Dark Green was used for
the disruptive upper surface camouflage.
the Wespe’s eye, and sprayed Tamiya XF-1 The pattern was sprayed freehand in a fairly
Flat White to hide the gap. While I had tight-edged demarcation. This view also
the airbrush loaded, I also sprayed the shows the initial mottling in RLM 02.
white of the wings to match. This left
a slight overspray on the black outline,
so I touched this up with a fine black
Sharpie.
As long as I was redecorating anyway, I
thought I should repaint the head, body and
the tail of the Wespe in a yellow that
would match the theatre markings
and the identification letter. A fine
brush was used to cover the old
yellow with the new yellow, and
a Sharpie was once again
used to repair the black
outlines as required.
Polly Scale Flat acrylic was
applied once the decals had set,
then weathering commenced. I only wanted a
hint of weathering on the wings and fuselage,
so panel lines were carefully built up with very
subtle applications of a thinned black-brown Additional mottling has been added
in RLM 71 Dark Green. The striking
mixture. This same black-brown mixture was contrast of the yellow Eastern Front
sprayed along selected structural features. fuselage band is evident once the
Panel lines were then treated to a thin wash of masking tape has been removed.
Tamiya X-18 Semi-Gloss Black paint.
Aircraft Edition 41
FINISHING TOUCHES
Returning to an earlier page of the instructions,
I first painted then assembled the main
undercarriage parts. The landing gear looks
terrific, but construction is a bit tricky. A third
hand would be helpful in places. Once again,
try to label your parts when they are cut from
the sprues as they are handed left and right.
Although the whole assembly looks delicate,
it is actually quite robust when finally glued
The yellow of Eduard’s decals was to the base in the wheel well. Just take your
noticeably paler than the Tamiya
Camel Yellow used for the fuselage time and don’t commit to glue until you are
and wing tip markings. The yellow absolutely sure where the parts are supposed
Eduard supplies self-adhesive masks for the intricate glasshouse canopy.
individual aircraft letter was therefore to go! Eduard offers the option of a single
carefully masked and sprayed with piece tail wheel or a three piece assembly. I
These fit perfectly, saving hours of tedious work. the Tamiya lacquer paint.
The camouflage on the fuselage sides was

revised. The demarcation of the RLM 71 Dark
Green was lowered, and the mottling was
modified by overspraying RLM 76 and lightly
respraying with RLM 02 and RLM 71.
The Wespen decal on the nose of the

aircraft was also touched up with yellow
and white paint, followed by a fine black
marker to restore the crisp black outlines.
Weathering was applied over a coat of

Polly Scale Flat acrylic. Panel lines were
progressively built up with very subtle
applications of a thinned black-brown
mixture, then emphasized with thinned
semi-gloss acrylic paint.

took the easy path with the single piece, which The main wheel hubs received a coat of will install parts J17 and J18 at the same time
looks great when painted and weathered. Gloss Black, while the tyres were painted with as the gear doors.
The propeller assemblies are little jewels, the ubiquitous black-brown shade. The sides The canopy parts fitted very well. I was
with excellent pitch collar and starter dog of the tyres were “dusted up” with Tamiya especially pleased with the impression of
detail visible through the spinner cap. It is pastel chalks. depth provided by the separate armoured
well worth the extra time it takes to mask and Final assembly took a bit more time than I windscreen glass. This was secured to the
spray the propeller silver to highlight these expected, mainly due to the need to accurately front of the windscreen using Krystal Kleer.
details. I also applied a dark oil wash to this line up the main undercarriage legs. I had I replaced the trailing FuG 25 antenna on
area. The bombs and machine guns are glued the gear door openers (parts J17 and the bottom of the fuselage with a thinner piece
equally good. J21 - I am not sure of their official designation) of brass rod.
The lower part of the aerial mast was to the front of the undercarriage legs earlier, The aerial wire was cut from a piece of
painted in a base coat of Buff, followed by a but this turned out to be a mistake as they smoke coloured monofilament (invisible mend-
streaky application of Red Brown representing were not correctly aligned with the gear doors. ing thread), and secured with super glue to the
woodgrain. A thin coat of Tamiya Clear Orange The front of the gear doors should rest against starboard fin. A tiny hole was drilled into the
sealed this miniature paint job. the sides of these delicate parts. Next time I starboard fuselage side for the aerial lead-in.
“The only after-market additions to the cockpit

were a few cockpit placard decals from Reheat.”
The various smaller assemblies were painted and

weathered separately prior to finishing the model.
Aircraft Edition 43
CONCLUSION
Eduard’s 1:48 scale Messerschmitt
Bf 110 E has been around for some time
now but it is still a very well detailed
and accurate model. It does demand
the modeller’s attention but, with care
and adequate time, even a moderately
experienced modeller should obtain a very
impressive result straight from the box. •

“Eduard’s 1:48 scale
Messerschmitt Bf 110 E
is a sophisticated and
well detailed kit.”
Aircraft Edition 45
FEATURE ARTICLE Clear Prop! 1:72 Lavochkin La-5 (Late Version) Advanced • Kit No. CP72015
THE
Kamil Feliks Sztarbala takes us step-by-step
through assembly and detailing Clear Prop!’s
LOVELY
1:72 Lavochkin La-5 (Late Version) kit.
T
he kits from Clear Prop! have some
peculiarities. It is clear that their
designers strive for perfection and
are actually really successful in this,
but not without a price as their models do not
forgive even the smallest assembly errors. It is
so important because although the parts look
great, they do require precise prep work since
they are manufactured using short run mould
technology. Due to this, I tried to test-fit as
many parts and sub-assemblies as possible
during every assembly stage. •

LAVOCHKIN
PART ONE: Construction and Detailing
Aircraft Edition 47
First I checked the fit of the main

parts of the airframe.
As no problems were evident, I could proceed with

assembling the fuselage interior. In accordance with the
previously mentioned rule, at this stage I removed all the
main parts that make up the inner structure of the kit from
the sprues instead of dealing only with those parts were
shown in the next step of the instructions.
Once I’d carefully prepared each part, I temporarily attached the main cockpit formers to the Afterwards I could focus on details. The kit offers I took the third way and combined both these
floor in order to check how they would fit between the fuselage halves. It turned out that some optional plastic and photo-etched instrument panels. parts which, in my opinion, was a better
further sanding was necessary. representation of the real thing.
The seat and rear

armoured plate had a
bit bulky appearance.
I therefore sanded down the

seat both from the inside and
outside, making the back seat
cushion more pronounced.
As the mounting rails had

disappeared during the
sanding process, I had to
restore them using lengths of
thin styrene rod that had been
made from stretched sprue. The rear armoured plate was treated
in similar way. In this case I also
tried to additionally emphasize the
headrest upholstery.

To make the latter more rigid,
Stretched sprue found further I glued them to the mounting
use when creating the rudder brackets of the seat. This way
control cables. the joints would not be visible
after installing the seat.
Next, I furnished the seat and
rudder pedals with photo-
etched belts and straps.
Clear Prop! follows the path of popular Czech brands and offers aftermarket accessories for their I then had to thin down the edges of the cowl flaps and enlarge the slots for the exhaust stacks
kits on their own. One of the items dedicated for the 1/72 La-5 is a set of resin exhaust stacks which within them.
do not differ in shape or size from the plastic parts from the kit, but feature hollowed out ends.
I glued them to the fuselage.
At this stage I could deal

with more fragile interior
details. I firstly fixed the
chosen plastic parts.
Aircraft Edition 49
The installation of photo-etched replacements

of the remaining equipment required more
attention. The plastic axle of the trim wheels
turned out to be too small, so I had to embed
them on a length of styrene rod.
One of the levers had been

attached to the aforementioned axle
before I separated it from the sprue,
allowing for easier handling.
Once I’d ensured that the details

do not collide with the cockpit
floor and seat, I glued them in
their relevant positions.
The instrument panel also required

test fitting before I could fix it to the
front cockpit former.
I then added a number of scratch built details

which I spotted on my reference photos, including
the radio installation in the rear cockpit.

The edges of the upper
decking of the instrument
panel had to be thinned down.
I only left a thicker portion of plastic

at the middle of the decking which
would act as a part of the gun sight
base. As I chose to use a resin gun
sight from Clear Prop! aftermarket set,
I had to recreate its base on my own.
The interior sub-assemblies

were subsequently prepared
for the painting stage.
My first step was

to apply a primer
layer of Mr.Color
C8 ‘Silver’.
Taking advantage of working with the airbrush

intended for metallic colours (I use a separate
airbrush for this purpose which allows for less
careful cleaning…), I also painted the engine with
Mr.Metal Color MC212 ‘Iron’ which gives a nice
iron finish upon polishing.
The base cockpit colour was

AK-Interactive RC319 ‘A-14 Interior
Steel Grey’. To add some highlights, I
used a strongly diluted mixture of the
base colour and RC253 ‘Light Grey’.
Aircraft Edition 51
The details were brush painted with waterbased

acrylics from the AK-Interactive 3rd Generation range.
Mixtures of AK11012 ‘Sky Grey’ and AK11016 ‘Grey

Green’ were employed for creating stronger highlights
and retouching the paintwork where necessary as they
matched well the cockpit base colour.
Next, I applied the wash, using

Citadel’s ‘Nuln Oil’ that had been
thinned with a tiny quantity of
Citadel’s ‘Contrast Medium’ to
enhance its usability for this task.

Some fine damage to the paint layer was added
with AK-Interactive AK11012 ‘Sky Grey’…
…whilst stronger
chipping effects
were reproduced
by scratching the
surface in order to
reveal the silver
undercoat.
The final touch was to

replicate some dirt on the
cockpit floor using Tamiya
‘Weathering Stick Mud’ as
usual. The compound was
applied with a wet brush.
Before I sealed the

fuselage halves, I attached
the rear side windows.
Afterwards, I glued the cockpit sub-

assemblies to the starboard fuselage half…
Aircraft Edition 53
…and subsequently mated the

latter with the portside half. I
held them with clamps and left
them dry thoroughly.
The engine installation wasn’t a walk in the park. To maintain

the correct shape of the forward fuselage I had to glue these
parts little by little, securing the correct connection with
clamps for the curing time after each step.
The wing trailing edge proved to be quite thick. To sort out this issue, I firstly deepened all the panel lines in the This allowed for the easy removal of the excess plastic. During
relevant area. this process I gradually switched to finer grit sanding material…
…and eventually polished the surface with the excellent double- Some panel lines required retouching with a scriber… …or a razor saw.
sided sponge files from AK-Interactive (ref. AK9029).

The fuselage and wing were
now ready for assembly.
However, I chose to firstly attach the

windscreen as the fuselage alone
was easier to handle, especially
considering that some sanding with
micro files was necessary to ensure
correct connection.
At this stage I also had to add the engine

cowling ring which required some
improvement. This included emphasizing
all the panel lines with a sewing needle…
…and hollowing out

the gun troughs.
Although the rear part of the wing fitted the fuselage almost perfectly… …and the joint area needed just a few passes with a metal file to became smooth…
Aircraft Edition 55
…things were a bit worse at the other end. Above all, I had to carefully adjust the edges in order to
allow the wing to correctly settle in its place.
As the division of parts did not fully resemble the real thing in
this area and a few panel lines were missing, I neatly smoothened
the whole area using a fine diamond cutter and files.
Next, I scribed the correct panel lines… …restored the damaged rivet detail… …and installed the radiator housing.
“…although the parts look great, they do require precise prep work
since they are manufactured using short run mould technology.”
Afterwards, I prepared and put together some

of the parts that build up the propeller.
The instructions recommend to glue a

ring located between the cooling fan and
engine to the latter. I went the other way
which not only allowed for easier painting
of this sub-assembly, but also for using
the aperture in the engine as a slot for a
holder whilst painting the airframe.

To correctly install the canopy hood, I had to smoothen and deepen the recess in the fuselage… …and thin down the edges of the clear part.
Now it was time to deal with the undercarriage. My first step was to glue the tail wheel covers to the In the case of the main landing covers I chose to use the photo-etched replacement parts. Before I
fuselage. removed them from the fret, I added the necessary embossment using a ball pen.
Next, I soldered the

parts together.
The landing gear legs required a Although the photo-etched fret included the scissor links, I found them to be too flat.
careful clean up and removal of
fine moulding seams.
Aircraft Edition 57
The relevant plastic parts were fairly bulky, but this could be sorted
out using a metal file. I also drilled out the necessary apertures.
…and subsequently glued in place.
The main landing gear was then

furnished with brake lines that had
been made from lengths of tin wire…

…but I wasn’t worried about this as I
wouldn’t use it anyway. I separated its
base and drilled out an aperture for a
finer replacement…
Similarly to the main landing gear, the tail wheel The pitot tube in my kit turned out to be broken…
mechanism also required some tuning.
…which had been created

using lengths of brass
tubing from Griffon Model.
“The landing gear legs required a careful clean

up and removal of fine moulding seams.”
NEXT TIME: Kamil describes painting and weathering
Aircraft Edition 59
MIM TIME MACHINE Issue 011, March 2012
ONCE UPON A TIME

IN MIM
We take a walk down memory lane to see what was happening between
the covers of Military Illustrated Modeller magazine more a decade ago.
PAINTING GREAT WALL HOBBY’S measured, die-cut masks, but I was to have green interior colour. As discussed in the last
1:48 SCALE NORTHROP P-61A no such assistance. Oh well. Perhaps several installment, it appears that Northrop used a
BLACK WIDOW nerve-wracking hours hunched over small clear darker paint shade for the cockpit than the
One of the downsides of building a brand parts with a new scalpel blade and Tamiya standard US Interior Green. I carefully mixed
new release is that there will probably be few masking tape is character building. Fortunately this shade from Tamiya XF-5 Flat Green,
aftermarket accessories available. With its for you, though, Eduard now offers a die-cut XF-4 Yellow Green and XF-26 Deep Green.
multiple glasshouse canopies, it would have self-adhesive masking set for this kit. However, after I had lovingly concocted this
been really nice to have a set of Eduard pre- The wheel wells and other exposed areas custom colour I realised that the result was
were sealed off with Tamiya tape before virtually identical to Tamiya XF-5 Flat Green
the canopy frames was sprayed with the straight from the bottle!

ONE STEP FORWARD, Further inspection revealed small but an unrealistic caricature if overdone.
TWO STEPS BACK noticeable steps between the forward I have found the best way to strike a
The whole model was now sprayed with fuselage and the clear nose section. These balance between these extremes is to use
Tamiya Grey Primer straight from the aerosol were also dealt with using Milliput and Tamiya wartime photographs as a guide to weathering.
can. This revealed a few minor flaws that masking tape. Fortunately, I discovered a very nice colour
needed sanding. I also thought that I had photo of a Black Widow in flight taken from
better fill the gaps in the wings outboard of DRAB? NOT REALLY! a high angle, showing off its weatherbeaten
the inner flaps, which I planned to pose in the When I returned to modelling in the 1980s, I upper surfaces quite nicely. With this reference
dropped position. A small batch of Milliput was thought that the most challenging finish was in hand, I started the paint job.
mixed up, pressed into the empty areas and Luftwaffe mottled camouflage. The lower surface was sprayed Tamiya
smoothed with a damp fingertip. Once set, the Over time, however, I have come to believe AS-7 Neutral Grey straight from the aerosol
putty was sanded flat. that simple finishes, in particular US Olive can before being broken up with patches,
Around this time I noticed a gap in front of Drab and Neutral Grey, present the greatest streaks and spots of a 50/50 mix of XF-53
the turret on the upper fuselage pod deck. The challenge for a realistic paint job. Although Neutral Grey and Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey.
join seam must have popped due to excessive mottling can be a technique that is difficult to The darker disruptive shade was mixed from
pressure from the interior, and handling while master, the large dark areas of Olive Drab acrylic paints and applied with my Iwata
painting. I suspended the paint job to repair run the risk of looking either uniform and HP-CS airbrush.
this very obvious gap. First, Tamiya tape was uninteresting if not weathered sufficiently; or The straight, hard areas of camouflage
laid down on either side of the popped seam demarcation at the bottom wing roots, nacelles
to preserve the surrounding surface detail, and the lower horizontal tail surfaces were
then Milliput was rolled into a thin sausage masked with Tamiya tape. The less regular
and pressed into the gap. The tape was demarcation lines near the bottom of the
removed straight afterwards to avoid the dried fuselage pod and engine nacelles were
putty being lifted by the tape at a later stage. masked with white paper, cut to shape and held
Once the putty had set, the whole area was in place with small blobs of Blu-Tack holding
sanded flat. them slightly off the Neutral Grey surface.
Aircraft Edition 61
MIM TIME MACHINE Issue 011, March 2012
With no commercial masking sets available at the time Prior to camouflage colours being applied, the masked greenhouses were sprayed
that I built my Black Widow, I had no choice but to in the interior green shade. Note that the radome has also been masked to retain its
bite the bullet and cut out the myriad of masks myself. glossy black finish, painted earlier on the inside of this clear part.
Tamiya masking tape was used for this tedious task.
The base colour for the upper surface a website called “Fine Art of Decals” at www. lines and other structural details were subtly
was Tamiya TS-5 Olive Drab. This is another fineartofdecals.com highlighted with Tamiya acrylic Semi-Gloss
aerosol can lacquer colour. On this occasion PYN-Up decals contain traditional screen- Black, thinned heavily with water and used as a
I decanted the contents into a wide-mouthed printed decals for the national markings and pinpoint wash applied with a fine brush.
glass jar. I rested the top on the jar, allowing other solid-coloured elements; plus ALPS- Reference photos of this particular aircraft
the bubbling liquid to de-gas for a half an hour printed decals for nose art and half-tone showed a couple of large chunks of paint
before carefully pouring a quantity into my shaded artwork. ALPS decals are notoriously missing at the rear of the boom where it meets
airbrush paint cup to spray onto the model. translucent, so PYN-Up thoughtfully provides the fin. This paint damage was depicted with
Freshly decanted, Tamiya’s spray paints don’t screen printed white backing decals for all the a Prismacolor silver pencil The bare metal
generally need to be thinned although they ALPS markings. patch was simply drawn onto the flat Olive
can thicken up a bit if stored for long periods. Testor’s Flat Clear was applied over the Drab paint and coloured in. I have used a
If this happens, you can use lacquer thinners decals and the glossy paint, immediately coloured pencil for tiny paint chipping before,
to improve the paint flow through your airbrush. improving the appearance of the Olive Drab but never an area this big. It seemed to look
finish to my eye. The upper wings and part okay though.
ACID RAIN of the fuselage were post-shaded with panel A few final paint repairs were made
While cleaning the Olive Drab paint from highlighting, chordwise streaks and random before the finishing touches were added.
my airbrush, I managed to spill a few drops spots using a very thin mix of Tamiya Red The masking tape had lifted the paint from a
of lacquer thinner onto the model. This Brown and Flat Black. couple of the canopy frames, so these were
immediately stripped off several chunks of restored with strips of painted decal film. I cut
paint and primer, revealing the bare plastic LET’S GO CRAZY these a bit too thick, especially for the port
beneath. I resisted the temptation to take Although they did not see lengthy service, the side of the canopy, so it looks like some of the
immediate action, and waited a few minutes panel structure of these heavily weathered clear panels are too narrow. This is my fault,
for any thicker streaks of lacquer thinner to Black Widows is very obvious in my reference not Great Wall’s!
evaporate. Inspecting the damage suggested photos so I felt that I was given license to go
that this setback was fixable, so I sanded the slightly crazy. But just slightly. THE HOME STRETCH
damaged area until the edges were smooth The chalky exhaust stains were first applied Entry hatches, aerials, undercarriage legs
and level with the surrounding painted plastic. as narrow streaks of Tamiya XF-57 Buff, and wheels were all painted and weathered in
The area was then resprayed with another thinned heavily and sprayed straight behind preparation for final assembly. I also sprayed
couple of coats of TS-5 Olive Drab. each exhaust ejector, then gradually built up the leading edges of the flaps Tamiya AS-12
Next time I will be more careful about where and flared out to finally join as one large stain Bare Metal Silver, as these areas would be
I load my paint cup with lacquer thinners! at the ends of the top and sides of the engine exposed when the flaps were glued into the
The uniform Olive Drab was broken up with nacelles. Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan, an even dropped position.
pale streaks and oversprays on the upper paler colour, was then used to emphasise The undercarriage parts were a positive fit
surface. A lighter version of the colour was also the more directed stains directly behind the and a strong join. I was relieved to find that
sprayed onto the control surfaces, as the fabric ejectors. The ubiquitous Red Brown / Black the model sat down on its three wheels after
faded much faster than the rest of the airframe. mix was applied very lightly at the edges of undercarriage was fitted as I wasn’t certain that
The base colours were sprayed with a the pale stain and in a couple of streaks. there was enough nose weight for the task.
couple of coats of Future floor polish in Later, I decided that I should make the I accidentally broke off the pitot tube
preparation for the decals. exhaust streaking even more prominent close moulded to the clear nose cone earlier in
These were from PYN-Up Decals Item No. to the ejectors, so Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan construction, so a new one was fashioned
PYND48014 – “Black Widow Babes Part 1”. was mixed with XF-2 Flat White and sprayed from brass rod and glued into place.
Although PYN-Up’s parent company, Meteor precisely behind the upper and side engine The black Vector propeller blades were
Productions, closed its doors some years ago, cowlings. chipped using the hairspray method, but in
some PYN-Up decals are still available from The control surface hinge lines, scribed panel retrospect this looks overdone. I attached the
A small step where the clear nose cap meets the forward fuselage The hard lines of demarcation between the Neutral Grey lower The softer, irregular lines were masked with custom-made paper
was dealt with using a smear of Milliput. The whole area was surfaces and Olive Drab uppers were first masked with various masks applied with Tamiya tape and held slightly off the surface of
sanded and polished after the putty had set. widths of Tamiya tape. the model with small balls of Blu-Tack.

I managed to spill a few drops of lacquer thinner on
the tail surfaces of the model while I was cleaning the
airbrush. This immediately ate through the layers of
paint and primer.
The Olive Drab upper surfaces were MIM 011 - MAR’12

treated to a similar disruptive coat Let’s take a look at
as the lower Neutral Grey surfaces.
what was in Military
Illustrated Modeller
magazine more than
ten years ago. This
was the eleventh
issue overall.
• REFERENCE –
Masterton FE.2b by
Dave Johnson
• THE FIGHTING FEE –
Wingnut Wings’ 1:32
scale FE.2b Early
Version by Dave
These decals are supplied in multiple layers, with Johnson
the top layer being delicate ALPS-printed nose • MAGIC HALIFAX
art. The extra work required to prepare and handle Part One – Revell’s
these decals is well worthwhile, as the shading is
PYN-Up Decals Item No. PYND48014 excellent. The faint white outline to the lettering is 1:72 scale Halifax
– “Black Widow Babes Part 1” - were not poor registration, but a separate backing decal B.Mk.I/II by Brett
applied over a coat of Future Floor Polish. to depict this unusual feature of the real aircraft. Green
• DEFENDING
FORTRESS EUROPE
– Hasegawa’s 1:32
scale Bf 109 F-2 by
Chris Wauchop
• BUILD BRIEFING –
HobbyBoss 1:48
scale Furies by Mick
Robertson
• PREVIEW –
Kinetic1:48 scale
A-6E Intruder
• HELLUVA CAT! –
Eduard’s 1:72 scale
F6F-3 Hellcat by
Detail parts can be fun to paint and weather. The propeller blades were chipped using the hairspray method. This was far too
heavy and unsubtle in retrospect. Rafe Morrissey
• PREVIEW – Revell
1:72 scale Junkers
spinners to the engine crankcase with Blu-Tack. Ju 88 A-4
Small mounting posts for the aerial wire Mean, but not lean. The Black • DERELICT DORA –
were cut from painted copper rod and glued Widow is a large aeroplane. Tamiya 1:48 scale
The Great Wall kit captures its
to the top of the menacing stance Focke-Wulf Fw
fins. Two 190 D-9 wreck by
lengths of James Davies
invisible • NOCTURNAL
mending NEMESIS Part Two –
thread were glued Great Wall Hobby’s
into a piece of Albion 1:48 scale P-61A
Alloys Micro Brass Tube Black Widow by
– 0.8mm (exterior) by 0.4mm Brett Green
(interior) – Item No. MBT2 M. The
brass was painted white, cut to Order back issues of
length and glued into a hole drilled MIM from
into the rear of the fuselage pod. www.doolittlemedia.com
With the final details added to
the model, my 1:48 scale Great
Wall Hobby P-61A Black Widow
was complete. •
The fit of the undercarriage legs is very

positive and quite solid, which is just
as well for this big, heavy model.
Aircraft Edition 63
modeller
modeller Next Issues
ISSUE No.139 April 2023
Editors; Aircraft Edition - Brett Green Military Illustrated Modeller

AFV Edition - Marcus Nicholls
Publisher; Alan Harman Issue 140 AFV Edition
Graphic Design; Alex Hall
Advertising Manager; Alan Harman
on sale 20th April 2023
Administration; Gordon Angus
MIM Website; Doolittle Media SEVENTH HEAVEN
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Military Illustrated Modeller is published

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images for
Reproduction in part of any text, photograph, the Tiger I
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Military Illustrated Modeller
Illustrated Modeller is accurate, the publishers
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Issue 141 Aircraft Edition
errors and omissions. on sale 18th May 2023
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Media’s standard terms of acceptance of
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Subscription rates:
Option 1: 12 Issues (AFV & Aircraft) - BOOM BOOM KARL HOPF ALBATROS
1 year UK - £76/Europe - £90/World - £100 The Editor converts the Airfix Wingnut Wings 1:32 Albatros D.V/DVa “Jasta
(prices include shipping) 1:48 Vampire FB.5 into an F.30 5” Green Tail Trilogy by Gary Edmundson
Option 2: 12 Aircraft Editions -

2 years UK - £76/Europe - £90/World - VAMPIRE THE LOVELY LAVOCHKIN
£100.00 (prices include shipping) REFERENCE Kamil Feliks Sztarbala paints
A close-up pictorial
Option 3: 12 AFV Editions - and weathers Clear Prop!’s
study of an RAAF
2 years UK - £76/Europe - £90/World - £100 1:72 scale Lavochkin La-5
Vampire F.30
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For all orders, please call;

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© Doolittle Media 2023
...AND MORE! AFV Edition 65

Tailpiece
EXERCISE WINTER CAMP
E
stonian Defence League (EDL), the lead component of the NATO multinational respond to facing armoured capabilities.
French and UK troops conducted enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup Exercise WINTER CAMP was a two week
training with Chinook (CH47) (eFP BG) with French troops being deployed long multinational exercise that took place
helicopters of the Royal Air Force’s as part of a temporary surge to ensure more in February 2023. It was intended to bring
Aviation Task Force (ATF) on 28 January French military are trained in operating in a together the combined arms capabilities of
2023, in preparation for Exercise WINTER multinational environment in Estonia. the multinational eFP Battlegroup and the 1st
CAMP. Concurrently, British Army Challenger 2 tank Estonian Brigade. A further surge of troops
Troops had to learn how to tactically and crews conducted armoured training with EDL from the French Army and CH47 helicopter
safely embark and disembark the CH47 prior to continue their training in anti-armour tactics. assets from the Royal Air Force’s ATF were
to doing this in a tactical environment on EDL are preparing to act as enemy forces incorporated into the training. •
exercise WINTER CAMP. The UK troops are during WINTER CAMP and are training to Crown Copyright 2023

NEW from the ‘HOW TO BUILD...’ series
How to Build...
TAMIYA’S 1:48 LOCKHEED P-38F/G
LIGHTNING
By Marcus Nicholls
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an iconic US fighter from the Second World War.
Its twin Allison V12 engines were mounted in booms to free-up the nose so it
could house a fearsome array of four M2 Browning machine guns and a 20mm
cannon. The twin-boom airframe became a sight feared by enemies wherever it
served, with good reason.
In 2019, after several years of painstaking research, Tamiya released an all-new
kit of this sleek aircraft and it has taken its place proudly in the 1:48 Aircraft Series
as No.120 in the range.
In this new ‘How To Build’ book, Tamiya Model Magazine’s Editor, Marcus
Nicholls, presents no less than four built-up examples of Tamiya’s fantastic
model; one Lightning each from Brett Green and Spencer Pollard, plus two from
Marcus Nicholls.
The second of Marcus’s models incorporates resin and photo-etched super-detail
sets from Eduard, showing how they can be used within the build to take the
detail to an even higher level. New photos of the other models show how Brett
Green and Spencer Pollard built and painted the models in their own styles.
The book includes four complete builds, covering the following topics:
n Adding photo-etched parts
NOW IN
n Using resin upgrade components
n Extending the nose undercarriage leg
n Upgrading the cockpit detail
n Weathering the airframe
n Alternative decal sets Only
£15.95
plus p&p
STOCK
Also available
SOLD OUT
Order online at www.doolittlemedia.com or on 01525 222573

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Aircraft Edition - April ‘23 139 Military Illustrated Modeller

Eduard’s 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf 110 E

ISSUE No.139 APRIL 2023

22 KAWASAKI’S EAGLE Pt. 2

46 THE LOVELY LAVOCHKIN

60 MIM TIME MACHINE

Thanks to Airfix for the information and images www.airfix.com

ALSO ON THE WAY...

SWORD NEW RELEASES

Back in stock - limited edition 500pcs:

Thanks to Sword for the information

4 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

6 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

Construction Next, I installed some plastic and photo-etched

My first step was to prepare the

Although resin aftermarket seats would

All the cockpit sub-assemblies could

Quinta’s 3D decals were attached using ‘Ultra Glue’

8 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

The seats were also given a layer of

The cockpit was now

At this stage I also

Next, I put the fuselage together…

…and test-fitted the wings. To reduce the size of the gap

The clear parts

The refuelling probe was affected

Once the paint had dried, I

Next, I pre-shaded the airframe with

Afterwards, I darkened the chosen Further discolouration to the

12 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

The paintwork was subsequently

In accordance with a number of

Now it was time to paint the engine

Next, I applied a layer of …and sprayed a misted

The assembled nozzle

The airframe was ready for the weathering stage.

14 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

The wheels were painted and

As meanwhile I also finished

16 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

18 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

Structural detail is cast ontos the

The fuselage halves. The pale

is cast as a single part with ailerons in the

20 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

Tamiya’s lovely 1:48 scale

22 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

I scanned the decal sheet and cut custom masks using

24 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

A custom yellow mix was made

The gear bay doors were masked, once

26 Military Illustrated Modeller - April 2023

An overall impression of the

The entire airframe was covered in

I chose to use Tamiya

The initial patches were added using

A detail view of the starboard wing

After removal of all the vinyl

The detail view shows good