L-39ZA 1/32 HPH Models
Hi all,
Back to the hobby after a long break, I decied to finished what I have started a long time ago: the L-39ZA 1/32 from HPH models.
Includes here are some work in progress pics that I took along the battle. Yes, I called it the Battle as this is my first resin kit and oh boy...
A/The Kit:
For the price tag, you will get lots of resin, PE both in color and brass, fabric seat belt, masking for canopy, clear resin canopy and formation lights, vacumm form for wing tips lights cover and round up with 2 decals sheets.
The fit: quite nice in some place and horrible in many places. Watch out for these cons:
- The intake or you can call it the nightmare. It took me ages for sanding and swearing to make the damn things fit properly.
- Wings to fuselage, a better nightmare compare to the intake but still...It's better if you attach the wings to fuselage before attach the intakes as you will have more spaces for sanding the joints.
- The boarding ladder is a very nice touch and well detailed. However, you have to sand the cockpit tube then test fit then sand again to accommodate the PE boxes for the ladder.
- The canopy is made from resin and must remove from the casting block with care as they are really fraglie.
- The inner frame for the canopy is another drama, somehow the fit really out of places.
- There are no location pins but there is location holes so all I have to do is made location pins from brass tube
- There are some details HPH required the modeller to scratch-build.
- Rivets everywhere but very sallow and couldn't hold a light wash so I have to punched every single rivets with a sharp needle (I won't ever ever do this again)
Pros: - Stunning cockpits, outsanding details especially the seats. The fabric seat belt took me 2 hours for each seats.
- Decal are really thin but fragile
- Resin, PE, farbric seats belt, nice decal, stunning details on most of the resin parts..etc. you really don't need any after market parts for this
- And most important, this is the only L-39 1/32 in the market for the time being.
The Build:
Paint: gunze all the way, weathering used Mig product and color pencil for all the chippings
Scratch build items: the avonic bays as I always love the look of it. FOD cover, ground equipment from Lego blocks, the base is from Noy minatures with extra homemade grass and extensive weathering. The background is picture found from the internet, printed out by laser printer then repaint some sections for a better look.
All figures are from unknown source, I'm understand those figures may incorrect to use in this scence. These figures is to add some human touch and acts as a size comparison to the L-39 which is really small.
Out of those scratchbuild items, the avonics bay took a lot of time and effort, however I'm pround that I did that as this will help my L-39 stands out from other 1/32 L-39 out there ( for the time being )
After 5 months on and off, here I am with the completed model and some final though:
Am I happy with the result ? Yes, I did my best.
The kit worth the hard earned money? Yes !
The fit of the kit is good ? Hell no !
The details is good ? Outstanding !
Will I build this kit again ? Maybe in the next 3 years.
Hope you like this as I do.
PS: So sorry for so many pics, I just want to share everything, hope you guys don't mind
Fantastic job "taming the beast"...it turned out wonderfully IMO. Very nice work!
Hi Craig,
You're correct, this is really a beast as I spent over 2 years on and off for finishing. Some time along the road I just want to give up due to the bad fit of the kit.
Well worth the wait a real gem of a build,the backdrop makes the scene so real.really enjoyed all the pics,it reminds me of a dio I did years ago I cut an old oil painting up and used it as background.Thanks Nguyen had a great time viewing this build.
Fabulous build. Love the range of nuances in the aircraft and the rest of the scene. A couple of things make me wonder though...the oil drums will hinder the aircraft from going forward and the tall grass may be a bit too tall that close to the taxi way/hard stand...just a thought. Love the back drops, they really get you a feeling of old airfield. Well done!
Hi Stellan,
Thank you for pointing out those things. The drums has been fixed to a better position and the grass was cut shot 🙂
Good looking model and excellent presentation.
Great project, and I love the weathering/finishing on the aircraft - it looks just right!
Nice!
I have a few HPH kits with the Il-28 closest to being done. They are expensive, but they do look fantastic when completed. (I don't build much in 1/32, but I REALLY want their Helldiver!) Glad you gave us some shots of the cockpit and seats before everything was buttoned up! I do have a question about the drums though.They look like they started life as a ferrule for a large gauge electrical cable and if you made them, how did you get the two ridges around the circumference? They look really nice when beat up and painted! (And nothing looks better than dented metal than dented metal!) Fabulous job on the Albatross! I'll be seeing a bunch of them at the end of the month during EAA!
Hi Josh,
I used metal foil taken from a bottle of wine, the two ridges was created by a template:
1/ I used a round-shaped pen marker as a body for the drums with ideal radius.
2/ Straped 2 strings of thin cooper wire around the marker. You can adjust the wide between these 2 wire
3/ Wrap the foil around the pen, use some force to form the ridges on the metal foil
4/ Create the lid by the same material
I'm not sure if you understand what I mean as English is not my mother language or please pm me so I can send you a picture
2
Got it! Much easier than what I had envisioned!
Nguyen, you can tell that you put the time(prison for some) and effort in this project and it shows. There is so much detail in your build that taking some build photos is a added bonus. I like the landing gear detail,cockpit and the detail in the nose. The photo of the real aircraft and the model are a added bonus. A solid,strong build and a excellent candidate for model of the month. Looking to see more of your work in the future.
Hi Stephen,
I spent 2 years on and off for this build and I'm feel really good when it's over
The avionics bay at the nose is the top of the to do list even though it made the build extended a couple of weeks
Very well thought out scene, and excellent modelling, I'm so glad you finished it.
Me too !
Hi all,
Thank you very much for your kind words !
Hi Nguyen. Your Albatross is one of the best models I have seen for a long time. Attention to detail, paint, beautiful weathering, photography & above all, the imagination to make the completed work a standout success. Congratulations!
Hi Toni,
Thank you for your comment
Very nice work indeed. One thing, which I learned long ago when most kits were collections of parts that didn't fit that well: run some white glue around the base of that windscreen and the gap will magically disappear. It's the only "jarring note" in an otherwise-wonderful symphony.
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the tip, I'll give a try right away. The canopy is really made from clear resin and really fragile so I couldn't dare to putty and sand the wind screen even the gap bother me a lot. Now with white glue tip I feel much safer.
Great build &diorama
Nguyen, this is excellent, an overall very realistic look. Well done !
Once again, thank you all for your kind word. I'm the guy who sometime not happy with the build but always love to receive comments whenever i finished a kit. Just think that people spent precious time to leave comments/compliments/feedback for improvement make me want to start a new project right away.
I'm building scale model not because it's my hobby but it helps to connect with people from around the globe.
Well, you'll find plenty of friends here. I also think a lot of my building is a wish to 'connect' - there are very few people to discuss models with in the 'real' world so all the comments feel more special.
Glad to meet you and I'll sure I'll be leaving plenty of comments on your future builds.
Hi David, nice to meet you too. Thank you for your comments !
Stunning diorama mate, very well executed!
Thanks Richard !