AIR Modeller - Issue 71 (2017 04-05).pdf

MENGAIRMODELLERApril/May2017 APRIL/MAY 2017 • £6.50 UK $15.99 www.mengafvmodeller.com 71 PHANTOM MENACE ALBERT TUREKZEK’S OLD SCHOOL 1:72 F4 AIR 71 cover.qxp_Layout 1 10/03/2017 10:32 Page 1

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1 Meng AIR Modeller welcomes contributions from interested parties, but cannot accept any responsibility for unsolicited material. The contents of this publication including all articles, drawings and photographs originated by AFV Modeller ltd become the publishers copyright under copyright law. Reproduction in any form requires the written consent of the publisher. Whilst every care is taken to avoid mistakes AFV Modeller ltd. cannot be liable in any way for errors or ommissions. Meng AIR Modeller is published Bimonthly by AFV Modeller ltd Old Stables East Moor Stannington Northumberland NE61 6ES Tel: 01670 823648 Fax: 01670 820274 email: david@mengafvmodeller.com Editor and Designer: David Parker Deputy Editor: Mark Neville Sales Director: Keith Smith ISSN 2059-5964 We are now on Facebook, ‘Like’ us to follow what we are doing and follow our build projects. 2 Fw190 D13 Emmanuel Pernes models the long-nose yellow ten. 12 Short Sterling Part 7 Megas Tsonos continues to scratchbuild the heavy bomber in 1:48. 20 Zero Hero Tamiya’s 1:48 kit detailed by Renzo Bortolotto. 28 Phantom Menace Albert Turekzek’s vintage 1:72 F4. 36 P-39 Aircobra Kevin Futter tackles the 1:32 Kitty Hawk kit. 44 Air Borne New releases. 56 Digital Snake Skin Mac Patterson’s 1:35 Supercobra CONTENTS AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 10/03/2017 12:05 Page 1

The Focke Wulf 190 D is one of my favourite aircraft of all time with it's pure and aggressive lines. Amongst all the types and versions, the D 13 must surely represent the ultimate ‘Butcher Bird’. More so, for a modeller like me who loves to paint with the airbrush, the most emblematic D 13, Yellow 10, is the ultimate painting challenge. The only long-nosed Fw 190 D-13 to have survived the war is now part of the Flying Heritage Collection in the U.S. It entered service in March of 1945 and served with the JG 26 with Major Franz Götz. In May, 1945, after the end of the war, Major Götz flew this D-13 to the RAF base in Flensburg, Germany, and surrendered. The ‘Dora’ has been restored close to flyable condition but remains on the ground due to it’s rarity. To replicate this aircraft I've chosen the Hobbyboss kit. Far from a ‘snap-fit-kit’, it's a well designed and complete model. It sits in between the Eduard and Tamiya kits for ease of build and level of detail. However, be careful if you want to do a D 11, the dedicated box from Hobbyboss doesn't allow you to build a D 11, but to keep me happy is a perfect match for a D 13. 2 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 10/03/2017 10:40 Page 2

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A few years ago I scratchbuilt an engine bay for the Tamiya ‘190D, having taken moulds from the parts I cast them in resin for this project although little is seen on the finished model. The Hobbyboss cockpit is very close to the Tamiya version, seatbelts from HGW were added. I’d heard good reports about Akan paints and chose their RLM 66 for the cockpit which I found required lightening to suit my taste. Some wiring detail was added and an old Verlinden MG151 was mounted in the ‘V’ of the Jumo 213E engine, again barely visible on the finished model but I know it’s there! The Hobbyboss kit builds precisely and easily with minimum fuss or filler, good news as I knew the paint scheme would take most of the time on this project. Brake lines are always a worthwhile yet simple addition. Exhaust outlets were detailed by drilling and carving with a sharp blade, liquid cement provided a final smoothing My reference showed unpainted wheel wells towards the end of the war. 4 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 10/03/2017 10:40 Page 4

First, I painted the fuselage and part of the undersides in RLM 76. The wooden panel in the middle of the fuselage is painted in RLM 65. Wings are finished in a bare metal with some panels darkened with graphite powder while others are lightened with a metallic watercolour crayon. RLM 75 is applied on the uppersides. The colour goes over the edges of the wings. Then, the RLM 82 light green is applied. It’s a long process with a highly diluted mix and many breaks are necessary to rest the hand and to clean the airbrush, all necessary when replicating such a tight and fine pattern. The finished camo pattern has a very random appearance but tests your airbrushing skills to the max! 5 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 10/03/2017 10:41 Page 5

Masks are done with ‘Oromask’ to airbrush the white crosses on the wings. They will be masked again when dry before we continue to apply the pattern around them. The RLM 81 Braunviolett is a mix of Gunze H 421 and Gunze H 84, because the Gunze braunviolett is too green for me. You need to strongly dilute the paint, chose a low pressure setting on the compressor and work close to the surface. Don’t worry if you overspray a little bit the mottling, you’ll be able to go back to your work later with the lighter shades. To remove the overspray, I worked back into the patterns with very highly diluted mixes ot the lighter shades. I began with the green along the brown spots of the pattern. As it’s highly diluted and lighter than the brown any slight overspray here won’t show. Grey tones finishing with the lightest were applied last. The squadron white and black stripes were painted, then the top oversprayed with light green. I left a transparent appearance in places as the actual aircraft. working back-in with previous colours to eliminate any overspray is time-consuming but the final result gives well defined edges. 6 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 10/03/2017 10:41 Page 6

The model is gloss varnished before applying the decals. They come from various manufacturers (Aeromaster, Kommandeur, Eduard…). Oil streaks are made on the propeller and spinner with a thin felt pen. The exhaust stains are airbrushed with a diluted mix of Gunze brown and black. Many passes are necessary to keep the transparency of the stains as they get further from the exhaust outlets. The centre of the exhaust stain is airbrushed with a light cream. You need to stay close to the surface and near the centre of the last exhaust pipe. The last step is delicate. With a stiff brush soaked in alcohol, streak the exhaust stains from top to bottom. Working closely with reference images helps with the realism on features like this, we rarely see bright orange rust and pure black exhaust stains. The gloss varnish applied before the decals will help protect this subtle work. My references showed the aircraft had heavy weathering to the underside. Note the fluid stains and streaks. Flaps were often made from wood at the end of the war to save on strategic materials. After an all-over matt varnish dirt and footsteps on the wing root were created with pigments removed with small pieces of masking tape. 7 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 10/03/2017 10:41 Page 7

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SHORT STIRLING The fuselage end frame was added and I made the first dry fit of the rear turret to check that all was well. Indeed the fuselage was complete and ready for painting. The turret was removed again and was glued in place shortly before the model entered the showcase. Modelling the turret rotated like this allowed the access doors to be open to show the interior details. In part eight the final details of the construction process are covered before we move on to the start of the painting process as well as the all important weathering of the Stirling. 12 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/03/2017 10:10 Page 12

MEGAS TSONOS SCRATCHBUILDS THE HEAVY BOMBER IN 1:48 part eight As for the turret itself, this is the Tamiya Avro Lancaster Nash and Thompson Type FN20 rear turret cupola, married to a fully revised interior, which converted the turret to the previous Type FN4 with which the Stirling Mk.I series I was equipped. The principal difference between the two rear turret types was that the Type FN4 used ammunition boxes located in the turret itself, while the Type FN20 used an ingenious system of feeding its guns from boxes located in the centre of the fuselage via the bottom of the turret through its rotating ring. I modelled the ammo boxes and installed them on the floor immediately behind the transparency. I used the Master brass gun barrels for the .303 guns, which are of exceptional quality. A bath was prepared that consisted of a part of brass surface corrosive liquid (which is used to patinate jewellery) to five parts of water. Extreme care was taken as the chemical used is strong, and the area was well ventilated during this process. The immersion lasted for exactly two minutes. Then the gun metal looking barrels were cleaned in water... The gun barrels were suspended on a piece of styrene and immersed in the solution. By brushing them gently, I made sure that the solution penetrated all parts of the barrel’s surface to obtain a uniform finished appearance. ... and wiped dry. I buffed them slightly and a metallic shine emerged. 13 I also deployed the flap which opened to counter the aerodynamic effect felt on the aircraft by the turret rotation in the opposite direction. To complete the picture, I added a diagonal stiffening frame, made from a length of photo- etched rivet strips from Eduard (prod. code # 00 099). The frame mentioned was peculiar to the Type FN4 turrets only. AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/03/2017 10:10 Page 13

The barrels were ready for installing on both turrets. I used tweezers with caution in order to not scratch the patinated surface of the barrels. Whilst on the rear fuselage area, we should look at the emergency exit hatch. Contemporary photos show that on the inner side of the hatch, the rear gunner’s parachute was stowed as well as a cylindrical container for the stowage of an oxygen bottle or a fire extinguisher. The hatch was suspended by a cord when opened for maintenance.The hatch and its interior details were made of styrene as seen on the real hatch Seen in position, the DF loop was painted in two tones of scale black. In front of the DF loop, the astrodome was made of a piece of clear acetate heated and simply pressed over a mould. In the same photo, one can see the antenna mast complete with its anti-vibration and support cables which formed an inverted Vee and which sported the early Stirling installation of the pitot tube on top. The antenna mast was made of wood and the pitot tube from a piece of stainless steel tubing (Scale Caliber Hard Tube 04). I suspended the hatch (after painting) in much the same way as the real thing, using white coloured copper wire to simulate the cord used. The entry ladder was made of Evergreen rods and cemented in place after the door. Out of a piece of modelling board, I crafted the Type 3 DF loop aerodynamic fairing and using a brass pin I installed it on the fuselage. The entrance door to the rear fuselage was opening inwards and to the rear. As it would not be entirely visible, I only used a plain piece of black plasticard cut to shape; after the decal ‘S’ was applied I glued the door in place. 14 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/03/2017 10:10 Page 14

As one of the first ten Short Stirlings to be produced at Shorts Belfast factory, N6004 was equipped with de-icer boots. Clearly noted by Mr. M.J.F. Bowyer in his book ‘The Stirling Bomber’ (Faber & Faber Ltd, 1980, p.43), it signified N6004 was a rare bird; but the de-icers were (and still are) a piece of equipment, an aeroplane can fly without. The long service history of N6004 ensured the de-icers were not on-wing for long. I decided in favour of installing them rather belatedly, as the painting was already done, to show the model at an earlier stage in the flying career of N6004. As the leading edges were scribed and riveted, I used Tri-Foil Malleable Lead sheet, which is thin enough to simulate the de-icers and cover the previously detailed areas at the same time.Then I masked and airbrushed a mix of Humbrol Matt Black 33 and White Ensign Models ACRN22 R.A.F. /F.A.A. Red (Matt). This mixture created a dark chocolate colour, peculiar to the rubber de-icers. When thoroughly dry, the de-icers were lightly buffed to become more satin as their rubber surfaces go matt only after prolonged on-wing service. Moreover, I stained them with artists’ oils (mostly black) in the vicinity of the engines. The navigation (front) and formation (rear) lights is clear styrene block. It is drilled and painted to simulate the light bulb. Then it was cemented in place and sanded to the wingtip shape. Finally, a closer look at the twin landing lights. I made a cut into the modelling board comprising the leading edge, and modelled the visible part of the wing structure into the recess. When the structure was finished, I sanded down the surrounding area as indicated by the yellow line, deep enough to glue the acetate clear part flush and as far as possible from the area that was to remain transparent; this area was masked and the surrounding acetate was finished as the rest of the wing. The finished landing lights are shown in the right photo. One of the small details and therefore easily missed are the IFF lights, and the F24 camera. The lights are clear 1,5mm ‘little-lenses’ (modellingtools.co.uk), cemented with CA glue in recesses and covered by clear acetate discs (cut with a punch-and-die tool), and painted in the appropriate clear colours of green, red and amber. The F24 camera came from a Tamiya Mosquito, and its lenses came also from the ‘little-lenses’ range. I considered it is appropriate for the Stirling to be put in my showcase alongside some ground equipment so the size of the aircraft could be better appreciated. For this purpose I modelled the access panel for the electrical socket in the opened position, along with the ground power electrical cable plug. I hope some time in the foreseeable future to connect the trolley accumulator and the electrical cable to complete the picture. The Lorenz Beam Approach antenna was made of a brass tube as its position on the fuselage makes in prone to damage by mishandling. I used a small piece of wood for the front end and a small quantity of styrene molten in polystyrene cement, to create the antenna attaching fairings on the fuselage. The finished antenna was painted in the fuselage colour. 15 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/03/2017 10:10 Page 15

16 The engine blocks, the undercarriage and the canopy were masked as single units with plastic wrapping. For the transparencies I used Mr. Hobby Mr. Masking Sol R. I left the model for two days to allow for the paint to dry thoroughly. It usually takes much less time but it is advisable to be on the safe side, as the model was to be entirely masked with Frisket film prior to the next colour application. The Frisket film was cut to the camouflage pattern as per the Short Bros. drawing, and sprayed with the second colour, Xtracolor X1 Dark Green. I removed the masking film immediately after painting while the dark green was still wet. Then the strict line between the two colours was made ‘sprayed’; I used an Iwata Custom Micron B airbrush, its hairline spraying abilities being second to none when it comes to airbrushing demarcation lines. Right The glossy undersides are looking much darker than they really are, but the shade was restored when the model was varnished in Xtracolor XDFF Matt Varnish. Before commencing with the weathering of the model, the Type B roundels were painted so as to be weathered along the rest of the wings. The first step was to airbrush the entire upper surfaces with Xtracolor X2 R.A.F. Dark Earth. An Olympos HP101 was used which combined the wide, high quality spray pattern I needed, with a constant colour thickness. PAINTING THE STIRLING The painting added two long months to the build. I say long because it is NOT what one might think as a ‘boring green/earth/black’ or, the even more naive –“oh, one more typically British R.A.F. scheme” – way of approaching the subject. The early Stirlings were painted in a more or less standard disruptive temperate land scheme of Dark Earth and Dark Green (of the ‘type S’ formula which was then coming into use). Following the January 1940 adoption of the RDM2 Black or Special Night for the painting of all night bombers, the first Stirlings were painted in a very matt, sooty black underside colour which was unstable and peeled badly after only a few months of service. A detailed factory drawing containing all dimensions with regard to colour demarcation lines was prepared by Short Bros. and is reproduced in J.M.F. Bowyer’s book ’The Stirling Bomber’. Photographic evidence proved that the scheme described in the drawing was worn by even and odd-serialled aircraft alike; no ‘A’ or ‘B’ patterns (reminiscent of the pre-war directives issued) were found to exist. I went as far as to check for possible reverse printed photographs in the books as this is a hidden danger that can lead to erroneous conclusions as regards ‘A’ and ‘B’ patterns. The fuselage sides (down to the wings leading and trailing edges) of a number of early Stirlings were painted in the upper camouflage colours, which led the Squadrons to repaint them with Special Night; this, in turn, led to some interesting paintwork, slowly giving way to the standard camouflage application as more and more bombers were entering service. N6004 was an example of Squadron repainting, its new black, hastily applied Special Night clearly standing out in relation to the already worn factory-applied paint. As can be seen in the contemporary colour photos the Stirling the upper camouflage colours on the rear fuselage top were suffering from intense discolouration, a fact I had to attend to very carefully. With the objectives being set, I went on with the task of masking the model. AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/03/2017 10:10 Page 16

17 In this stage, I gave the entire upper surfaces a wash of A. Mig No.1614 Neutral Brown. The airbrushed wash was quickly wiped with a soft napkin, leaving just enough to bring out the scribed details. Note that the final coat of ‘new’ black is not applied yet. Darker colours were also airbrushed on the panel lines and rivet lines to good effect. I also used the Tamiya Weathering Master sets of pastel colours, after the upper fuselage was matt-varnished. The wash technique to the undersurfaces was done with caution, as it has no impact on black-coloured surfaces. It was done on the model only because from the start it was planned to be painted in greyish shades so the contrast between the basic colours and the wash was to be almost nonexistent. I used a rich amount of Mr Hobby Mr.Color No.30 Flat Base mixed with No.46 Clear and thinned with Mr. Levelling Thinner; I airbrushed it randomly, and the solution - being rich in flat base- dried white. In this way, I brought out some rivet detail in the form of paint flaking, instead of using the more intense-looking aluminium paint. As the photo reveals, the work described previously was kept to a minimum. The upper fuselage discolouration was done with the gentle airbrushing of lighter shades of the dark earth and dark green between the frame and stringer scribed lines. The second step was to paint the model’s black undersides. It must be remembered that the Stirling I was modelling was repainted at Squadron level with a new coat of Special Night on the fuselage sides. So I had to: (a) keep the undersides lighter but NOT deviate from the dark appearance a bomber presented, (b) indicate the contrast of the two shades of black on the fuselage sides, (c) observe the scale effect on all shades. Considering the fact that sunlight makes a given colour appear lighter on the sides of an object in relation to its undersides, I made two different shades of worn black, and airbrushed the darker one on the undersides of the fuselage and the wings. Then I painted the lighter shade on the fuselage sides. I finished the painting of the ‘blacks’ with the application of the ‘new’ black; though it was done after the weathering of the model. In this way I gained the much- needed contrast between the old and new colours. I made three different mixes of Humbrol 21 Gloss Black, each time with a different percentage of Xtracolor X219 RLM61. As I am not the drops-counting type, I only kept an even contrast between the three mixes. The weathering would do the rest. AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/03/2017 10:10 Page 17

Before the model was matt-varnished, I gave it a heavy wash on the wing upper surfaces, behind the engines using a 50/50 mixture of black and raw umber artist’s oils diluted in white spirit and airbrushed. Then I wiped some of it, leaving the rest to appear as oily dirt. The procedure darkened the camouflage colours in the area considerably. Then I applied a first layer of oil leaks, this time by brushing on black oil streaks; I masked the area in front of the main spar so when the masking tape was removed, the leaking oil could be seen emerging at the joint of the main spar with the wing rear section. This was exactly the case on the real Stirlings as well. I left the oils to dry and I airbrushed the model with Xtracolor XDFF Matt Varnish. The area in front of the main spar was also affected by the engines; so following the varnishing of the model, I went on to simulate the exhaust stains. I took care not to make the stains too close to the engine exhausts, as the wings dihedral in relation to the position of the exhaust outlets made four different exhaust marks on their surface; not to mention the starboard ones being closer to the leading edge than the port ones! 18 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/03/2017 10:10 Page 18

THE PROJECT CONTINUES IN THE NEXT ISSUE 19 The oil staining procedure was also applied to the lower portion of the flap upper sides which are exposed when the flaps are retracted. On the wing undersurfaces of the Stirling Mk.Is the oil leaking from the oil coolers (located inside the wings between the engines) was making enormous staining. The situation was made better after the introduction of the Mk.III into service when the oil coolers were relocated under the engines. On the model, I used enamel gloss varnish to simulate the leaking oil. I directed the ‘leaking oil’ towards the fuselage as was imposed by the wing dihedral. AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/03/2017 10:10 Page 19

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JNAF Ace Takeo Tanimizu’s A6M5a Renzo Bortolotto 21 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 10/03/2017 11:27 Page 21

A LITTLE ABOUT TAKEO Takeo Tanimizu (谷水竹雄 his name in Japanese) is the pilot of the aircraft I wanted to replicate, stationed in Japan in 1945. In the last months of WWII Tanimizu flew the latest version of the Zero, the A6M5c, this is the earlier ‘a’ version. When discussing the ‘Rising Sun’ pilots, it is almost important to mention Saburo Sakai, even though other pilots like him have distinguished themselves by performing heroic acts, as did Tanimizu. For example, on October 31st, 1944 chasing a formation of B-24s, Tanimizu shot down one of the bombers and seriously damaged another. Finding himself in difficulty the damaged bomber attempted a forced landing on the return flight but crashed in the mountains not far away from its base. Takeo Tanimizu only received notice of this in the 1950s. At the end of the conflict in WWII the valiant sergeant of the JNAF was credited with 32 victories. THE TAMIYA KIT Tamiya’s brand is a guarantee of quality, no doubt about it. This kit appears reduced from the 1:32 version, already rich with details I still wanted to add some missing parts, such as various pipes and wiring inside the cockpit, making small changes and adding some components to the interior taken from an Eduard detail set. The joint of the fuselage halves can sometimes be the making of it kit, this proved excellent with 'green cap' Tamiya cement being the only thing required. After drying I sanded the fuselage joint without the need of fillers. So even though we have Tamiya’s legendary quality and fit, there’s still a few things that need addressing and date the kit somewhat. For example, I had to correct an inaccurate fitting of the upper wing roots with the fuselage (a common kit problem). Strips of Evergreen and continued dry fitting overcame the gap so it needed little more than a wipe over with Mr Surfacer. For added interest to the finished display I cut all the movable control surfaces so to place them in different positions. The main wing and tail sections were attached to the fuselage, I then placed the moving parts which had any hollow areas blanked with styrene strip. A few drops of liquid filler (Gunze Mr Surfacer 500) diluted with 'Tamiya Lacquer Thinner' were brushed along the joints of the wings, tail surfaces and between fuselage and wings. Once dried, I removed the excess of filler by using a solvent designed to remove nail varnish for people with sensitive skin. Liquid grey surface primer from Tamiya was sprayed only on areas which I worked- on the most; it usually helps me locate imperfections and, sometimes, it helps sealing the parts once sanded. To conclude construction, I sanded the whole model with fine abrasive and painted it allover with Gunze H-11 Matt White. I always paint my models starting from a white base finding it helps the colours become more vivid and easily controlled. After the white acrylic was dry, I sanded it all again with 2600 grade paper, making surfaces super-smooth to prepare for the next step. Eduard’s pre-coloured instruments add a great element of sharp detail Tamiya XF-71 looked a little bright but a dark brown wash toned it down to my liking. Some wiring and home- made details enhance the cockpit a little. 22 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 10/03/2017 11:27 Page 22

In order to place the 20 mm cannons (Master Model product AM-48-020), I created a support to hold the barrels allowing me to paint them separately and place them in the final fitting stage. To add a more dramatic look to the zero control surfaces were separated to be replaced at angles. Any visible gaps were filled with styrene strip. An annoying groove was evedent at the wing root. A strip of Evergreen was added to the wing and shaped until a perfect join was achieved. CA gel allows more time to position the flaps exactly. Both wings required the root joint correcting. Thinned Mr Surfacer will deal with most fine gaps. I remove excess Mr Surfacer with a nail polish remover designed for sensitive skin; regular remover would cause the styrene to melt. Tamiya surface primer is thinned and airbrushed on the areas I’ve modified or filled to check for inperfections. 23 AIR 71 Apr/May 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 10/03/2017 11:27 Page 23