![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-fledermaus\/FledermausColors.jpg\")
<\/p>\n07.15.05 \u00c2\u00bb Concepts
\nand Source Materials<\/p>\n
So next on the to-do list is the
\nFledermaus from the Nitto Maschinen Krieger line.
\nA friend of mine Fulcy is going to eventually
\ndo his Fledermaus in a bare metal finish. Eventually…
\nperhaps a decade from now. LOL! After he mentioned
\nit to me I had a hard time picturing it. After
\na while though the idea started to grow on me
\nso I worked up a scheme and asked him if he’d
\nmind me doing mine in a bare metal as well since
\nI didn’t wanna just outright take his idea. He
\ndidn’t mind as his will be VERY different from
\nwhat I’m doing.<\/p>\n
My Fledermaus will have a dull almost
\nflat aluminum feel to it with minimum shine. I
\nwant it to have an overused\/undercleaned look
\nabout it. This will be an interesting challenge
\nthough as bare metal seems to be something difficult
\nto pull off in a nice way. I think weathering
\nit in the typical Maschinen Krieger style will
\nhelp in that respect. Bare metal will show off
\nevery flaw while the weathing will help hide them.
\nHere’s a picture of my intended scheme:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I found some great tutorials on
\nbare metal detailing that I’ll be using as reference.
\nHere’s the links:<\/p>\n
The main thing to show on this page is the weathering All of those were chock-full of 07.15.05 \u00c2\u00bb What the I got started on the kit and as The first thing that was screwey The next issue was the intakes on Next is the seat and inside of the Next is the burner nozzels. Big Finally for this update is the supports
\non the tail of this<\/a>
\naircraft. That’s how most of my Fledermaus’
\nbody will look.<\/li>\n
\nMetal Finishes Part 1: The Basics<\/a> <\/strong>(HyperScale)<\/li>\n
\nMetal Finishes Part 2: Advanced Techniques<\/a><\/strong>
\n(HyperScale)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\ngreat information and I highly recommend reading
\nthem.<\/p>\n
\nFledermaus!?<\/p>\n
\nusual there were plenty of parts fit issues. That’s
\nnot so bad usually, but when you couple that with
\ninstructions that are missing pieces, air-vents
\nthat you can see into the hollow innards of the
\naircraft through, seams down the middle of very
\ndetailed boosters, and parts that just could not
\npossibly be intended to fit where they’re supposed
\nto according to the manual, you’re in for a challenging
\nbuild.<\/p>\n
\nwas the two halves of the cockpit. These were
\nslightly warped (at least I hope they were warped
\nand not actually produced this way) and didn’t
\ngo together very well. Thankfully the nose helped
\nguide them into position, but there’s still some
\nshift to deal with when the canopy is in place.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-fledermaus\/FF-Progress-Fled-01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nthe sides of the cockpit. These were completely
\nnon-detailed and left huge openings to see into
\nthe crafts body. To seal these up I cut some “V’s”
\nfrom styrene and glued them together to make something
\nresembling a sliding intake cover. I’ve seen pictures
\nof similar things on real aircraft. When I glue
\non the top half of the body, these will be bent
\nforward, pushed back, and glued to close up the
\ngaps. In the first image below you can see how
\nit is bent, but not pushed back into position
\nthus leaving a small triangular gap. In the second
\nimage you can see where I added styrene to close
\nup some HUGE gaps in the intake that would be
\nvisible after adding my intake covers.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-fledermaus\/FF-Progress-Fled-02.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-fledermaus\/FF-Progress-Fled-03.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\ncockpit. This will actually fit after everything
\nis painted so I can add it afterwards and not
\nworry about masking it. Sadly it’s pretty underdetailed
\nand has a goofy piston thing sticking into the
\nback of the headrest. I’ll be skipping that piece
\nand detailing up behind and around the seat to
\nlook more like an ejection seat. I’ll also be
\nadding more details to the cockpit, instrument
\npanel, and making some fixed-pose hinges for the
\ncanopy to keep it in an open position. I may even
\nsplit the canopy into two opening halves. Front
\nand back.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-fledermaus\/FF-Progress-Fled-04.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nand pretty, but they’ll need a lot of work. All
\n5 of them have seams running right down the center.
\nThis can’t be helped though as it’s a trade-off
\nbetween detail and ease of finishing. The nozzels
\nhave 2 halves and one “fan” insert apiece.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-fledermaus\/FF-Progress-Fled-05.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nfor the front landing skid. In the red circled
\narea you can see a peg that is supposed to magically
\nbend into that large hole. Never gonna happen.
\nSo I’ll be doing so modifications there to make
\nit look natural and like it belongs there.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-fledermaus\/FF-Progress-Fled-06.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n