Comparison build: 1/48 Monogram He-111 H, and ICM 1/48 He-111 H3, Stab/Stg.3 North Africa 1942/’43

Started by Louis Gardner · 207 · 5 years ago
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    david leigh-smith said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Hi Pedro (@holzhamer). I hope it’s ok if I answer your question on behalf of Louis. I had a look at your blog and I can see your problem.

    First, upload all the photos you want to use (I can see that you are fine with this stage).

    You will see that each photo is assigned a number, (pic1) for example . When you want a photo to appear then write that number in square brackets below your text.

    So this is what your article would look like…I have used regular brackets here because if I used the square ones the program will look for photos that in this case don't exist. Make sure when you post you use the square brackets [ ] not the round ones.

    Hi, my name is Pedro and I want to show you some photos of my model Hurricane.

    (pic1)

    As you can see in the photo below I started with the wings.

    (pic2)

    Then I had a beer or two.

    (pic3)

    And this is a photo of me asleep at my bench.

    (pic4)

    When you press ‘post’ then all the numbers in square brackets will upload to the thread as the corresponding photo.

    Hope this makes sense. I would send this in a private message but I don't want other members to send advice if you are already 'fixed'.

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    David (@dirtylittlefokker), what a great help your little tutorial is, now I’m sure next time I post it will be a lot easier to control the sequencial flow of text and image. Thanks you very much my friend! I’ll definitly post some beers 😉

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Thanks gentlemen for the compliments.

    Yesterday I didn't get much done other than the wet sanding using 2,000 grit paper. I am really happy with how it's shaping up. As long as the clear bits fit well on the nose, I think that I am done with the seams.

    The next step is to complete the cockpit and install it along with the greenhouse nose.

    I think that I am going to venture out of the usual with this build. I have never attempted to spray paint any of my builds using pre shaded panel lines.

    Since it's going to be a different single monotone color on the top and bottom sides (RLM 79 and 65), I thought I'd give it a try.

    Steve I have been using this sand able primer by Model Master. It's a lacquer paint like you mentioned.



    I have been using this stuff for about a year now and it works great at filling in blemishes. I normally spray it on super thick , to the point where it looks horrible and has tons of runs, and let it set up overnight.

    The next day I sand it down. It's pretty much like using putty from a tube but you spray it on instead.

    As far as the parts being undersized I think that it might be possible to install a spreader bar inside the engine nacelles to get them to fit a little bit tighter into the wings. The parts may just have been slightly warped, just enough to cause the gaps.

    I agree with you on how the Monogram engineers did such a great job back in the day. Now we have computers doing the majority of work for us, so we are spoiled.

    Thanks David for answering the questions that Pedro asked. You're the man ! I'm telling you that you missed your calling and could have been a stand up comedian. The line stating here's me after a beer caused me to erupt with laughter. Thanks ...

    Now we need someone to build up a Motörhead He-111 ... That would really be cool !

    I never knew that it was on an album cover either.

    Pedro I am going to get busy with finishing up the ICM kit next. I simply wanted to concentrate on getting the Monogram kit done so I can post it in the headlines section for the Kasserine Pass GB which ended earlier this month.

    I'll continue to use the Monogram kit as a standard of measure for the ICM model.

    Later today I will try to get something done on this one so please stay tuned for updates.

    Thanks again everyone,

    As usual comments are encouraged.

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    David A. Thomas said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Great posts everybody. I apologize for the marginal involvement at this point. I’m on the road and working, so I’m mobile. Fabulous work as usual, Louis. I wish I could stand at your elbow as you wet sand. I need to get that skill down.

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Lemmy collected German memorabilia from WW2, so we can guess who had the brainstorm for the album cover 😉

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    Paul Barber said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Good idea with the preshading Louis, I think ‘one colour’ surfaces are tough without some type of variation. I think it will add to the weathered look for the KP build too. I can’t say I know much about the He-111s that went South - I’m guessing they’d seen some action before and were not pristine?

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    David,
    it's good to hear from you my friend. Safe travels buddy...

    Pedro,
    that makes sense now with the memorabilia...

    Paul,
    This will be my first ever attempt at pre shading. I don't know how it will look once completed, but I'm going to give it a try.

    Late last night, I managed to complete the cockpit and install it.


    The Monogram kit has the pilot's seat belt harness molded in and they look OK after a little painting.

    The instrument panel that was directly in front of the pilot was a little tricky to get in place. It's supported only by a small tab located on the end of another gauge panel that is mounted on the Port side wall of the cockpit. There is still a little touch up work to do with the painting after these bits were glued in place. I'll probably add a little wash to it as well, and possible paint the wiring coming out of the back of the instruments.

    Then the rudder stops were installed.

    and I turned my attention to the clear canopy parts. Here you can see the instrument panel has been mounted using "Future" as an adhesive. I was worried the plastic glue might fog the clear bits.

    Next up was the center overhead console instrument panel. This one is mounted next to the pilot and runs lengthwise along the canopy.

    I gave these clear parts a test fit, and the results are not too good for the overhead part. There is a considerable gap where it joins against the fuselage. I started sanding the egdes down just a little to try and close it up some.

    This helped, but more work will be needed.

    Well I have to go and find out what caused the "check engine light" to come on with the Misses car. It's a little MINI Cooper and she loves the car. Hopefully this will be an easy fix...

    As usual,
    comments are encouraged.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    It's been a busy day... I diagnosed the wife's car problem. Thanks to a scanner tool, I found out one of the O2 sensors is bad. So I ordered one today and it should arrive Thursday. Not too bad... so far, but I have yet to remove the part, and I'm afraid it could be a real bear to get to...

    On the He-111 things were better.

    I started out by painting the MG's. These look really good considering how old they are. In some ways they are better than the ICM offerings, since they have a charging handle for the bolt mechanism, and a leather strap on the twin drums. The ICM kit parts don't have these if I remember correctly. Plus the barrels look a little better to me too. So for me, the Monogram kit wins with the crew served weapons...


    I fiddled around with the clear nose parts a while, and worked at them to get the best possible fit. Here's a photo showing the nose parts installed.

    and another MG was added to the rear of the gondola...

    Here's the bad: There is a fairly large gap on each side at the rear on each side of the cockpit glass.
    Starboard side.

    Port side:

    and how it looks from the top. These nasty glue seams should disappear when the canopy frames are painted... Let's hope so.

    I'll have to fill these spots in and do some re scribing work. I have started work on the dorsal gunner "B position" parts. maybe tomorrow I'll get them installed too.

    Then a little pre shading and were off to the races !

    I'll leave you with these two photos... It's starting to look more and more like a Heinkel each night...


    As usual,
    Comments are encouraged.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    The clear bits look pretty good Louis, the gaps on either side of the cockpit windows are quite glaring. But not impossible to fix. Though it will take some care and some ingenuity. I am already planning a solution as if it was my project. Which right now I have none at the moment. But will see what you come up with. This is where a WIP is so valuable when you come across an issue such as this.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Glad your going to try the pre-shading technique. At first it will feel a little tedious trying to follow each panel line. Don't worry about trying to be perfect. Take a breath and go. Have fun.

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Louis, facing a similar gap problem here’s what I would do:
    1- mask the canopy, it must cover all not just the window panels.
    2- fill the gaps with small stretched sprue bits, adequately sized and bent to the shape of the parts. This should would be made in 2 steps: shape the thin sprue bits using liquid glue and while at it glue all bits if the gap needs more than one to be filled.
    3- after it dries, shape it to become one solid part and trim to fit the gap
    4- carefully insert the shaped plastic part made in the gap and use some white glue or Kristal clear (in this case use a wet cloth to wipe the excess before it dries). It should be ready to paint with seamless shape.

    Not sure if this helps you, but hey, it might be useful somehow.
    Usually I would prefer to glue some plastic sheet to the plastic before glueing the canopy, but since it looks like you already glue the canopy then the above process would be by next great plan 😉

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Thanks gentlemen for the tips. I did something very similar to what you mentioned.

    I started out with filling in the gaps using square stock plastic that measured .020 in by .030 inches. I worked it around the canopy until most of the gaps were filled in.

    Here's the Starboard side


    Followed by the Port side.

    It worked very good using the liquid glue to melt the plastic strip into the gaps.

    Next step was to mask off the canopy and add some putty.


    While this is drying I'll be working on re scribing the lost panel lines and the dorsal gunners "B" stand.

    Thanks again for the tips on how to get this taken care of. In the future I'll try the method you brought up with filling in the areas first before committing to glue.

    Points well taken... that's something I never thought of before.

    Thanks again.

    As usual comments are encouraged.

    Maybe later tonight I'll spray some pre shading lines on it.

    Believe it or not out of all the models I have built over the years I never tried this pre shading thing.

    I'll give it a go.

    Wish me luck ...

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    Paul Barber said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    I'm learning a lot here gentlemen, thanks so much for all of the tutorial content! I am almost looking forward to my next ill-fitting canopy!

    And Louis, it needs to be said - you have made those old guns look fantastic!

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Thanks Paul for the kind words. The old MG's cleaned up rather well. The hand grip / rear stock is the weak spot on these parts. Other than that they are pretty nice. Very nice of you consider the age of the kit.

    I managed to get the canopy squared away. It took me longer than I thought it would but isn't that how it works ?

    Here's how the putty looks after the masking tape was removed.

    I added masking tape to prevent accidental sanding scratches on the clear parts. This tape was removed and replaced with each application of primer paint and wet sanding.

    Then I gave it a sanding with 600 grit wet / dry paper. The next step was to spray on some of the filler primer I mentioned above.


    If you look closely you can see that I removed the sliding canopy rails. This was done to help get everything nice and flat.

    This next picture shows how it looked after a few rounds of wet sanding and spraying on more primer paint. The final wet sanding was done using 2,000 grit paper. It gives the plane a slight shine when viewed from certain angles.


    In this latest photo you can see how I added new canopy slides using .010 in by .020 inch plastic stock. It looks better to me than the molded on kit parts since they looked too big.

    The new rails are smaller in size and should look good once painted.

    The next step is to re scribe the lost panel lines and hopefully spray on some pre shading later tonight.

    As usual comments are encouraged.

    Thanks for looking.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 10 months ago:

    Today I finished the re scribing of the lost panel lines and added a few more small pieces on the He-111.

    Here's a few quick pictures of some of the restored lines: I hope they will look more acceptable once a little paint goes on them...



    I added these parts. I'm not certain what they are but they look like some sort of vent ? I used a few photos of actual planes to determine the location, as the kit instructions were a little vague to me... They are indeed offset to one side a little.

    I painted the dorsal gunner "B" stand and installed it. The MG is ready to go too, but I'll add it later once the plane has been painted.

    I still need to mask off the windows. I'll be using liquid mask on the small ones. The larger nose section may be "fun" with all of the individual window panes.

    So I'm headed back out to the hobby room and hope to get some more done tonight. If not, tomorrow's another day.

    As usual,
    Comments are encouraged.