Dial 1 700 I N S A N E. Flyhawk Bismarck.

[ausf]

I bought the kit on a whim, but once I cracked the box I knew I had to jump right in.

It's 1/700, incredibly cast model, sharpest detail I've ever seen, styrene parts crisper than resin. Includes 8 PE frets and turned barrels and mast.

To get the ball rolling, I wanted to test out how thin I had to paint and still maintain detail. I grabbed the Arado 196 sprue and the Zeiss headloupe and got to work.

No primer, extremely light coats of Vallejo Air, thinned in half. No clear, decals set with MicroSet right on the flat paint. They give you plenty in the kit, so I wanted to test if it would work without gloss and I was surprised to fine it did. All airbrushed, light weathering and besides some touchups when it goes on the ship, it's done.

By far the tiniest masking I've ever done.

Let me know what you gents think. Keep in mind, it's 1/700.

Even got some exhaust staining in:

And for size comparison:

 

[razordws]

Yowzers!!! hmy: hmy: hmy:

 

[moon puppy]

That's crazy man. Sharp paint job, I guess parts get bigger from here right?

 

[sharkman]

What, no rigging?????

That is crazy good! Must be as big as a fingernail. I can't imagine masking something that small.

Excellent job!

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Get the STRONG optivisors out and go to town Jeff! Looks like you will be having all kinds of fun.

The Arado is looking mighty fine.

 

[Brokeneagle]

:coolio Amazing - what a shock that last photo is with it in your hand!

Ian.

 

[ausf]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind words.

I'm really stoked about this kit although it only gets crazier from here.

I couldn't build the second Arado. These parts are so small, while cleaning the sprue tab of the pontoon support, it flexed and disappeared. Later in the day I tried that trick of putting something over the vacuum nozzle to catch small bits, I stuck a tissue on the Dyson and just raked it across the floor. Incredibly, even after a day of walking and rolling a chair around, it was found intact. I proceeded to build the second, now armed with experience from the first, so I opted for the wings folded version. If you even look at the prop too hard, it twists, but I managed to get it in place. Sanding the parting lines is just a matter of lightly dragging 2000 grit paper across it, so after about an hour of cleaning and prepping, it was going together smoothly. I'm using Tamiya Extra thin in the spray booth. I had one pontoon left, reached down for it and 'click' goes the tweezers hold the plane by the fuse. The booth is 32" x 18", completely enclosed. Theres only two opening, the front and a 1" x 32" slot at the top rear that leads to the fan plenum. Where do you think it went? It was amazing, it actually catapulted and is still probably patrolling the skies of my backyard.

Paul, I have a really good Zeiss set. Not too much magnification, but good focal length and crystal clear optics so I can wear it for long periods without fatigue.

MP, there is PE (and styrene) so small in this kit, I chose to do the ARado first because it seemed the easiest.

And yes, there will be plenty of rigging.

 

[moon puppy]

And yes, there will be plenty of rigging.

:frantic

 

[JSteinman]

 

[Iron Mike]

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!

 

[ausf]

Thanks all.

I'm hashing out the base and testing an idea to add main gun firing. I sculpted and casted quick fireball to see if I can use it to get a nice lighting effect.

Here's the first attempt, will need a bunch of refining:

And a closeup of the waves texture. This'll be cast in tinted clear resin. This section is a bit under 2 inches for an idea of scale:

 

[Iron Mike]

 

[moon puppy]

Both are clear resin? How did you get the wave effects?

 

[ausf]

Both are clear resin? How did you get the wave effects?

The fireball is clear(ish) resin, still working out things there.

The wave base is just wax now. I'll need a whole lotta hours of sculpting the rest. This is a sketch out to plan the layout. The closeup above is just the very front left corner. If I do the firing, I need the pressure waves, so until I'm convinced of the way to go, I'm not investing the time making tiny waves. :gogo

 

[moon puppy]

OK not the waves, the ripples in your previous photo. It is a very tight and consistent pattern.

 

[errains]

BOOM Baby!!...Looks like the real deal on the firing solution.
:v

 

[ausf]

OK not the waves, the ripples in your previous photo. It is a very tight and consistent pattern.

After messing around, I found that if I keep the my hand at a consistently angle to the base and lay down an area, I can add some that are a bit off to break it up. The idea is they are wind blown as opposed to the swells.

In this scale, they'd be about 2-4 foot seas in 15 foot swells.

I tried a few different tools until I decided on this one, it's rounded with a teardrop tip. I put on a CD, put my head down and tap tap tap.

 

[ausf]

Heres another angle.

Cast in levels of clear the texture won't stand out too much, but if it was smooth, it'd look odd.

 

[jknaus]

The Arodo looks great. I saw this and some of the Fly PE and you're insane lol. That would finish driving me around the bend. Cant wait to see more.
James

 

[moon puppy]

In short.. by hand. As James said...