Beginnings of my 1:144 aircraft fleet

[Dauntless]

Yeah got the JU-290 Amercom remake, still missing the HE-115 and DO-24. Want one of those ME-264 Amerika bombers and the JU-188 too.


Thanks Aferg, the JU-388 is very cool. The pinnacle of the JU-88 development.
Really sleek looking with some sort of rear gun.

I read on Wiki there's one left at the Smith waiting to be put back together.

[Dauntless]

Put together the F-Toys A-26 Invader.

Fairly easy build. All the parts hold good without little dabs of glue to hold them in position. Decided to have it in flight for now. Can always put it with gear down and bombay doors open option later.
My example has glue or some kind of cloudiness on the bombardier canopy though.

I like the F-Toys stands the best as the aircraft is positional at different angles.

Question, what's the best decal fixer out there? Bought a can of the Testors, but it is semi-gloss.
Looking for something that dries flat finish like most of these aircraft are.

[Epap]

Put together the F-Toys A-26 Invader.

Fairly easy build. All the parts hold good without little dabs of glue to hold them in position. Decided to have it in flight for now. Can always put it with gear down and bombay doors open option later.
My example has glue or some kind of cloudiness on the bombardier canopy though.

I like the F-Toys stands the best as the aircraft is positional at different angles.

Question, what's the best decal fixer out there? Bought a can of the Testors, but it is semi-gloss.
Looking for something that dries flat finish like most of these aircraft are.

If the cloudy canopy is detachable, I'd try to give its insides a light brushing with a diluted mix of toothpaste and water. Then, I'd follow with several brushed applications of Future polish on the inside only. This often---but not always---works. Re the second question, I usually seal in a decal with a light brushing of Future diluted with water. Once that dries thoroughly, I mask the obvious areas---canopies turrets, etc. and spray the entire surface area with DullCoat----usually several coats are needed. Looking at the Pictures, I don't think that this step is needed in this case as the paint used for the insignias often were slightly shinier than that covering the rest of the planes.

[JollyRoger]

OK That looks nice, gotta get a few of those. As far as decals what we use is a product called Solvaset. To really make it work right there are a few steps. The glossier the surface the better the decal will lay down. Remember all aircraft started out glossy, time and the sun and weather faded the paint to a dull finish. Here are a few shots of a Skyraider. I shot it with a semi gloss. Patience is the most important thing. I let it dry for a few days. Then I put the decals on. I would do one side. at a time. Put a dot of water on the model, put the decal on the water it helps you move it around to position it, once in place and some of the excess water is removed with a tissue put on the solvaset. You almost have to end up with a bead of the solvaset and float it around on top of the decal without touching it. Once you put it on you don't have much time to play around becasue it actually melts the decal. Once wetted and set in place soak up a little of the excess liquid with a tissue. After all decaled and a few days pass for them to dry you lightly wipe of the areas with a damp tissue. Once dry shoot again with a semi gloss or gloss or flat. I would practice just to get the feeling. No matter how good you are some decals just don't work with it. But when they do they look like their painted on.

[Dauntless]

Thanks for the advice guys.

The bombardier canopy came glued on Epap. I think this is why the vapor residue on the back part of it closest to the cockpit. Tried gingerly to take it off but was afraid to break it. Perhaps another attempt.

Does the future diluted with water help the decal go on better?
The upper wings have painted tampos as does the fuselage insignia. The tail, fuselage numbers, wing undersides and nose art are decal.
In the second picture you can kinda see how the tail decal looks as though it's got air under it despite sliding it on correctly and using a q-tip to carefully squeeze out the water.

It's kinda too late to go through the process you used JR, but I will keep that in mind the next time. I'm sort of impatient to get instant results.

I figure maybe drop a little solvaset or the testors I have and perhaps a dullcoat afterwards now?

I just coincidently bought one of those dark blue Skyraiders a few hours ago. The decals do look like they were painted on. Nice work.

[Epap]

Thanks for the advice guys.

The bombardier canopy came glued on Epap. I think this is why the vapor residue on the back part of it closest to the cockpit. Tried gingerly to take it off but was afraid to break it. Perhaps another attempt.

Does the future diluted with water help the decal go on better?
The upper wings have painted tampos as does the fuselage insignia. The tail, fuselage numbers, wing undersides and nose art are decal.
In the second picture you can kinda see how the tail decal looks as though it's got air under it despite sliding it on correctly and using a q-tip to carefully squeeze out the water.

It's kinda too late to go through the process you used JR, but I will keep that in mind the next time. I'm sort of impatient to get instant results.

I figure maybe drop a little solvaset or the testors I have and perhaps a dullcoat afterwards now?

I just coincidently bought one of those dark blue Skyraiders a few hours ago. The decals do look like they were painted on. Nice work.

I'd try Microscale's Micro-set solution brushed on several times on that tail decal. it might help to puncture the film in a few places first. The solution softens the decal and it may settle in better. If this doesn't work, I'd try painting around the lettering with matching paint, to cover the silvering. Paint the entire tail so your colors match. Then, once the paint is cured, apply water diluted Future to the tail, let dry and spray with DullCoat until you get a uniform matte finish. Needless to say, you mask off the rest of the model---I'd use a paper towel, with a cut out for the tail----and check to see if the reflection from the tail is close enough to the rest of the model's appearance as you do your spraying.

The reason I dilute Future with water is that you don't need a super glossy finish to apply a decal to; a decent sheen will do quite nicely in most cases and you don't have to spray with DullCoat as much, afterward, to get a uniform matte finish because there is less shine in the decal area.

[JollyRoger]

Another tip is to cut away as much of the clear carrier film as possible. Cut as close to the decal as you can. This means your one piece tail decal would become 3 pieces. You would have the "L" the "US AIR FORCE" and the "NUMBER". I'm sorry i did not say that earlier, I forgot. Thats what I do, cut everything as close as possible so there is not any clear decal.

[Dauntless]

This is why maybe get diecast sometimes. but it won't stop me from getting these relatively cheap F-Toys, Cafereo put togethers. Just a little more work.
Thanks again for the tips guys.

After the conversation about German bombers, I found a store in Great Britain that had all three of the hard to find DO-24 Floatplane, HE-115 Floatplane, and the ME-264 Amerika Bomber. Ordered all three.

[aferguson]

how much was the Me-264? Can you post a link to the store.


i just found a new series of magazine planes that have been released in the Uk and i think Italy. A few interesting 1/144's. They will probably be hitting ebay and online etailers soon.

http://www.ayrey.co.uk/reframe.asp?item ... 4&pageno=1

[Epap]

how much was the Me-264? Can you post a link to the store.


i just found a new series of magazine planes that have been released in the Uk and i think Italy. A few interesting 1/144's. They will probably be hitting ebay and online etailers soon.

http://www.ayrey.co.uk/reframe.asp?item ... 4&pageno=1

These are some of the GE Fabbri/LeoModel models, AF. I strongly recommend the Fiat CR.42 night fighter version for 1:72nd scale fans.

[aferguson]

yes i thought they were. So, none of them are new then i gather, it's just a reissue?

[Epap]

yes i thought they were. So, none of them are new then i gather, it's just a reissue?

I guess so. The good news is that these models will now start popping up all over, especially, via Bay. A few of them are pretty good values.

[aferguson]

oh yeah, F Toys Heliborne series 5 is hitting Ebay now. I picked up the AH-64D, an Israeli AH-1F Cobra and a US marines V-22 Osprey.

The Osprey is the special and going for about $20 already. That's a bargain compared to what the earlier F Toys Ospreys go for, though.

[aferguson]

well goody, i just picked up 3 of the 1/144 Italian aircraft in that series i posted above.

I got the Cant Z 1007 twin tail, the SM 81 and the star of the show, the S.55X flying boat. I got them off a UK based ebay dealer who had them up for auction. I emailed him and negotiated a buy it now price for the 3. I got all 3 shipped for 41 Pounds, which is about $63.50, or about $21 each. Not bad.

I probably could have saved a bit of money by waiting til more dealers had them but, well, i didn't want to wait...heh. It's especially not bad considering last week i was contemplating getting just the SM 81 off of another dealer for a cost of over $50.

[Warbird Kid]

yeah a british version, odd choice. There were glass nosed a-26's used in wwii i think.

the Nell with green surrender crosses is interesting. I've seen Betty's with those but never a Nell.

I scanned these from the museum's collection. They apparently surrendered on Moratai.

\

[Dauntless]

....Noticed they took the rear gunners station off these Helens are they?
The most feared part of the Betty was the 20mm cannon in the back. Wonder if the F-Toys surrender Betty has that removed?

how much was the Me-264? Can you post a link to the store.


i just found a new series of magazine planes that have been released in the Uk and i think Italy. A few interesting 1/144's. They will probably be hitting ebay and online etailers soon.

http://www.ayrey.co.uk/reframe.asp?item ... 4&pageno=1

Got it here, http://www.planecrazy.biz/models/non%20other.php
...though just looked and the price went up from 15 pounds to 20 or so for the ME-264 after I bought mine. Anybody ever bought from him before?
Don't know where else to find all three in one place.

[aferguson]

i see Wings Of Glory are going to release 4 new 1/144 WWI fighters soon. No new bombers yet, although i saw a Zeppelin-Straaken and Handley Page mentioned in an article somewhere. I was hoping they'd make some 2 seaters but nothing so far. Scroll down to see the new fighters for pre-order.


http://www.aerodromeaccessories.com/ind ... -sets.html

[jlspec]

Does anyone have an opinion on the Doyusha f-14 Tomcat and F-18 Hornet?

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

Ok, I just got to Missouri 2 days ago most of my stuff is still packed but I got the Ju-88 out and opened it, I'm starting to think altaya has the better model,

F-Toys may have 2 better schemes, but it's missing all the windows across the bottom, and the gun, plus the 2 guns in the front,


Does the altaya Ju-88 have what the F-Toys lacks?

[Epap]

The Amercom JU-88 looks like a scaled down copy of the Corgi model. If so, it should have much more detail, including the missing bomb bay doors, among other things. I don't have one, but when they do copies like this---the DO-17Z, for example---they seem to mimic everything.

[aferguson]

so the Do-17z is good is it? From the pics it doen't look so hot.

THP, from what i've read the F toys Ju 88 is better than the Altaya.

[Epap]

The Amercom JU-88's quality should be about the same as its DO-17Z, which I do have. Here is a topside shot of the DO-17Z:

[Epap]

Here's the flipside of the DO-17Z:

[aferguson]

looks ok i guess....some of the details are pretty thick and heavy looking. What should be schwarzgrun looks almost like brun violet. This is a battle of britain era plane, well before brun violet was being used. Did it come with the swastikas on the tail? They're backwards. But it's the only game in town and with a bit of work should look pretty decent.

Thanks for the help, as always, Epap.

[Epap]

As you can see, AF, I haven't made my usual mods on the Amercom DO-17Z. The swastika is on backwards only on one side and there are glue blobs where the vertical stabilizers are attached to the tail plane. Also, the lower windows in the bombardier's position and ventral gunner's spot aren't painted nor are the landing gear bays and portions of the gear as well need some work. Still, if the required alterations are made the model looks pretty good on a display shelf, though the trench lines are certainly much too visible in my close-ups. On the plus side is the sturdy nature of the model----no seam gaps-----and the fact that Amercom corrected Corgi's mistake of angling the right vertical stabilizer inwards to account for engine torque-----a practice that applied only to earlier DO-17 marks, not the Z.