He-111Z-1 Zwilling, 1/48 ICM Kit

Started by Walt · 150 · 2 years ago · 1/48, Glider Tug, HE-111, ICM, Luftwaffe, Zwilling
  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Not a bad word about those seatbelts, Walt.
    They are a great improvement.

  • Profile Photo
    Walt said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Been making progress on this project, my goal is to have the fuselages glued together this week. The interior builds up nicely and test fitting of the fuselage parts show that with careful assembly I should go together very nicely. Only for pieces of tape and clothespin holding this together now.

    7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Looking great, my friend @luftwaffe-birdman! A lot of this interior detail will hopefully be visible, especially at the front glazed area.

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Awesome interior, twice, Walt.
    Must have been a spectacular view for these pilots with that full glas nose.

  • Profile Photo
    Colin Gomez said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    The cockpits look great, Walt. I like they way you have painted the details for leather and cloth elements of the seats, which adds interest to the all grey cockpit. The belts look good too. I see you have not done belts for the folding nose gunner's seat. I could see how it might have none but I had at least one photo of a museum bird with a lap belt in place so I did that on my version. It is very interesting how differently ICM tackles the glazing for the canopy, compared to the Monogram version. Looks like a multipart system, compared to just two large pieces for the Monogram. No doubt the ICM clear parts will also be thinner with better transparency. I plan to polish the transparencies on my He-111 carefully before masking to compensate for their thickness.

  • Profile Photo
    Tom Cleaver said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Excellent work on this Walt. It's going to be impressive when completed.

  • Profile Photo
    Walt said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Colin, @coling, I didn't want to purchase the photoetch belts so made my own for the pilots seat. I looked at a number of pictures and like you found one for the bombardier/gunner position with a seat belt but most did not show it. Chalk it off to laziness and the fact that I am trying to do this kit as much as possible 100% out of the box. It really does look like it will build up to a really nice detailed build without added details. The lack of seat belts either molded or as a photoetch fret was a real disappointment in the kit. Otherwise I have to say this is not as refined as a Tamiya, but an extremely well engineered and made kit.

    For anyone following this build, I highly recommend you see some high class building on Colin's He-111 build here. https://imodeler.com/groups/imperial-german-air-service-luftwaffe-group-build-may-1st-1910-to-present-day/forum/topic/heinkell-he-111-1-48-revell-monogram/

  • Profile Photo
    Walt said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    As I am getting closer to gluing the fuselage halves together I had looked at my paint supply and realized I did not have any RLM 71, Black Green. I have been using Model Master Enamels for as long as I can remember and they are just no longer available. I did a lot of looking around on line and in different forums trying to figure what to do. I did not want to go acrylics, but my choices for enamels were limited. I finally decided to try MrColor paints. I ordered white, black, RLM 70, RLM 71 and RLM 65 along with a bottle of the MrColor Leveling Thinner. Tonight I gave them a try. I have to say I think I have found my new Paint! This stuff works great! Not only is the paint very pigment rich, it sprayed out very nicely, light coats or heavy coats it just seems to flow out nicely. It dries to the touch quickly too. In my sample panel shown in the pictures I painted the RLM 65 Blue, and by the time I cleaned my airbrush and mixed the RLM 71 Dark Green I was able to mask the blue with a post it and then the same was true when I painted the RLM 70 Black Green. I am not an expert on colors, so can not attest to accuracy, but will say the RLM 71 Dark Green shade closer to OD than the Model Master color I have used for years. The RLM 65 is also I think a little greener than the Model Master RLM 65 but it is hard to tell. The RLM 70 looks just about exactly the same. I really like how nicely it sprays, I could easily spray fine lines and there is almost no ridge at all between the colors.

    The fact that I was able to spray those three colors in 15 minutes is something new to me. I usually paint a color and have to leave it for a day then move on to the next. Some of my older bottles of paint were taking days to dry. I really think this paint will work out well, and probably will be making it my new main paint to stock.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

  • Profile Photo
    Pedro L. Rocha said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Lacquers are the best option when it comes to airbrushing, just be careful to keep the room ventilated when spraying.
    There are several threads in other forums discussing the most accurate RLM 70/71 and it seems many people find Gunze (acrylic and lacquer brands) not the best. Personally I think they are just fine

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Seems that not only you found replacements for the now obsolete ModelMasters, but also the "replacements" work better, @luftwaffe-birdman!
    I also believe that there is no absolute color accuracy in modeling whatsoever, but "looking right to the eye" is something that the modeler can depend on...

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    @luftwaffe-birdman

    With lacquers it is indeed required to ventilate as much as possible.

    Personally I prefer acrylics for airbrush. When starting to use an airbrush I tried with lacquer at first but that didn't work to well, changing to acrylic improved my airbrushing a lot.

    I think it is a personal preference.

    Do agree with our friend Spiros @fiveten, color accuracy is sufficient when it is a "looking right to the eye" result.

  • Profile Photo
    Walt said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    I appreciate the concern John, @johnb, and Pedro, @holzhamer, I have been spraying with enamels and solvent based paints since I started painting. Ahh the fond memories of youth, my bedroom smelling like glue and fresh paint as I took one last look at my current project before turning out the lights for the night. We didn't much worry about it then, and I always had my windows open, but with the wife and not wanting to fumigate the house I built various iterations of a spray booth or ventilation system over the years. Bellow you can see my current work station and stray booth that ventilates out the window of the room for me. I find Testor's Dulcote about the most offensive smelling thing I spray so I turn the fan on early and leave it running over night.

    I will would rarely be inclined to argue over color with anyone, and as Spiros, @fiveten, I just try to get it to look right to me. They keep updating and changing the colors anyways, plus with scale effect who knows.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  • Profile Photo
    Pedro L. Rocha said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Walt, wish I could have a such well equipped workbench. Right now I’m still struggling with the loss of my old workplace thanks to a tecent house renovation, and well wife & daughters know best right?
    My ongoing Stuka and the Henschel 129 will be painted with Gunze acrylics

  • Profile Photo
    Walt said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Well my timeline for IPMS Nationals is a little off, but we will see. Took a week to go see my parents and celebrate my mom's 81st birthday. Now that I am back, back to work on the Zwilling. The fuselages fit together nicely and they will require minimal seam work. Just a brushing of Tamiya White Surface Primer and some sanding. The surface details are a little soft, so the good fit will reduce the amount of scribing that will have to be done. The antennas on the belly are modeled in, and in the way of seam clean up. I shaved them off and will reinstall after the seam work is done.

    It is starting to look like a plane, and it really will be nice and big when all together.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Looks spectacular, Walt @luftwaffe-birdman! ICM external details tend to be at times on the soft side.
    Cutting the molded on antennas to the fuselage is a definite good move. Weird that ICM molded them like this.
    Looking forward to this superb build!
    Happy Birthday to your Mother! Wishing your Parents the best of health!