Group Build 6 month- open class (9-1-08) $$PRIZE

[flammpanzer]

hello people been very busy at school will be posting leopard pics soon. Flammpanzer

[MAGNA]

Great - A Leopard. Nice choice.

The Gotha is going along beautifully too Whiterook. A wild and uniquie colour scheme by the looks too. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[Whiterook]

Thanks Mag! I do love the lozenge camo look!

Flamm...can't wait to see your tank...sounds like an excellent build, mate!

The latest on the Gotha...on my middle post above with the single picture, you probably noticed I had to decal the fuselage in two separate pieces, one currently on the aft section, the next was for the fore section. This happened because Roden gave me only the three little sheets, as mentioned earlier. Well, I did the fore sections last night (a thunderstorm rolled through, so off went the TV amd on went the decals!). I'm happy to say that I was able to match up the lozenges between sections to a level I am happy with.

Further, Roden actully wants you to decal the sides, top and bottom of the fuselage in separate swaths...that made no sense to me, so I "wrapped it around" the sides, top and bottom with a single piece. It maybe made a little more work with trimming, but easier than matching lozenge edging! I choose my battles, you know?

Technically, I guess I should have wrapped the decals around the wing edges too, but I really wanted to avoid having to match up lozenge patterns, even on the uderside of the wings. When trimming, a bit of white from the base coat peeked through in a couple spots, but the spots are so small, that a little touchup paint will carry the day, and no one should know...except for all of you, of course....you won't tell anyone, will 'ya???

[Geek44]

Are the colours the same on the top surfaces as on the bottom?

[Whiterook]

Heeee heeeee...

OK Nick, I'll confess to you and the rest of my mates here, I've been known to be a tad gullible (alright, extremely gullible...can you believe it?)...so I'll take this as a serious question. Yuppers! Same colors on the lozenges all the way around. I actully wondered that when first seeing the bird, as Wquite a few WII birds in particular had a darker earth color on top, and a lighter sky color on the bottom. From what I can tell from photos, this wasn't true of the Gotha...then again, I saw relatively few Gotha's with this camo scheme. Most were solid, dark paint.

PS...congrats on the Butter Bar mate...I'm right behind 'ya!

[Geek44]

Thanks for the congrats...I just noticed.
I just wondered about the colours. I guess your Gotha is in night camouflage. I love lozenge camo and have a Dragon kit of a Fokker DVIII with lozenge decals for the fuselage. You're inspiring me somewhat. It has a bust of Boelke included. Hey do you fancy that as well as Guderian and cactus?

[Whiterook]

Yup, night camo on the Gotha lozenge...dipicting the camo used in the Night Raider missions, I imagine. You've inspired me with you aitcraft pics...I almost forgot what a fondness I have for them. The WWI era is totally new to me, but it is incredibly interesting. If you need a good home for Boelke, I'll certainly adopt him, mate!

Hey, and advice on scratchbuilding seat belts? I know I'm dealing with 1/72 here, but that Pilots chair is screaming for a set! I saw a 1/48 Gotha pictured with them, and my eyes widened like saucers! I was also so very impressed with the increased detail level with the 1/48 versus the 1/72!

[Duncan]

Paint a strip of masking tape and then cut to size and shape.

Originally Posted by Whiterook

Hey, and advice on scratchbuilding seat belts? I know I'm dealing with 1/72 here, but that Pilots chair is screaming for a set! I saw a 1/48 Gotha pictured with them, and my eyes widened like saucers! I was also so very impressed with the increased detail level with the 1/48 versus the 1/72!

[Geek44]

Hiya Duncan...good to see ya mate.

Em, Duncan is right. Masking tape works really well, I use Tamiya tape. I also mess around with making buckles and adjusting thingies out of copper wire, but I work in 1/48 usually. I have a jig that I made out of thicker copper wire that I use to make the metal parts. In 1/72, you might get away with painting them on.

Belts 1.jpg

Belts 2.jpg

Belts 3.jpg

[Whiterook]

Holy Cats, Batman! Those are amazing! Would have not thought of using copper wire like that initially. Great tip! I think I'd like to try my hand at fashioning belts from masking tape, as suggested...at 1/72, maybe not the buckles, but who knows. Thanks guys!