{"id":1739,"date":"2006-03-13T06:09:14","date_gmt":"2006-03-13T14:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1739"},"modified":"2009-02-12T06:10:53","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T14:10:53","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-junker-plane-mosquito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-junker-plane-mosquito\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb Junker Plane ‘Mosquito’"},"content":{"rendered":"

02.19.2006\u00c2\u00bb Concepts
\n\/ Intro<\/p>\n

Well, now I have 2 projects on hold
\nso I’ve randomly decided to start a 3rd. This
\nstarted out as a German Me-109 for an IPMS Group
\nBuild where you could basically do anything you
\nwanted to a 109 as long as it resembled a 109
\nin the end. I had started cutting it apart to
\nmake it look like a robot that had transformed
\nfrom a 109, but wasn’t going to meet the deadline
\nso I put it away. Then at the IPMS X-mas party,
\nI recieved another 109 in the white elephant game.
\nI really wasn’t sure what to do with it as I’m
\nnot big on building WW2 aircraft. I like looking
\nat them, just no real motivation to build one.
\nBoth 109’s are exactly the same except for color
\nand quality. The gray one has far more flash than
\nthe green.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the other day I was trying
\nto figure out what to start next that I wouldn’t
\nneed to worry about waiting on parts and ending
\nup with another on-hold project. I found the 109s
\nand remembered playing a PS2 game called ‘Sky
\nGunner’. I didn’t like the gameplay much, but
\nI did like the open-seat single pilot aircraft
\ndesigns. Based on that I started playing with
\nideas for making a MaK-like aircraft that’s ridden
\nlike a motorcycle.<\/p>\n

Story-wise… These style aircraft
\nwere initialy manufactured as racers. Later when
\nthe war broke out, Mercenary pilots began using
\nthem as scouting craft due to their high speed,
\nagility, and ability to fly low and fast to avoid
\nradar detection. They were eventually equiped
\nwith a gatling-gun mounted underneath, but were
\nnot all that useful in combat due to the lack
\nof pilot protection. The mercs nicknamed the craft
\n‘Mosquitos” as they were annoying to enemy
\nforces, but easy enough to swat down.<\/p>\n

I started playing around with the
\nchopped-up 109 first (gray) then eventually decided
\nto start cutting up the green oe to use as well.
\nAs you can see below, this craft will be sort
\nof a bi-plane in the front. Ignore the tape and
\nwire as i just used them to put the wing into
\na rough position. I think I want it forward a
\nbit more. Eventually I’ll make some nice rigging
\nand booms to hold the front wing into place. The
\nseat and other smoothing was done with Magic Sculpt.
\nI still need to make the contour on the top-front
\nthat meets the instrument panel and the motorcycle-handle-like
\ncontrols. I’ll also need to sculpt most of the
\npilot fig as the one shown is just sticy-tacked
\ninto a rough position. The final pilot will have
\na flight-cap, goggles, parachute and a nice scarf.
\nAnyway, it’s a work in progress and here’s some
\npics:<\/p>\n

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02.21.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Seating
\nfor One<\/p>\n

Based on advice from Zerobxu I changed
\nthe position of the pilot to ride more comfortably.
\nHe’s into motorcycles and suggested this would
\nbe better and I agree. It looks better and adds
\nmore of an element of speed to the pose. This
\nwon’t be the final figure as I’ll need to scratch-build
\na new one to fit properly, but for mock-up I’m
\nusing bits of the 1\/20 Tamiya Pit Crew set stickytacked
\ntogether. I will however be cutting off and using
\nsome of their boots, these hands and a head which
\nwill be modified with a flight cap and goggles
\nlater on.<\/p>\n

I also got the bulk of the upper-front
\nportion formed from Magic Sculpt. I still have
\nsome cleaning, smoothing, sanding, and more MS
\nto add, but it’s coming along nicely.<\/p>\n

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02.22.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Skeleton
\nCrew<\/p>\n

Since the last update I did some
\nmore clean-up on the “hood” and made
\nthe handlebars and grips. These were made with
\nbent wire, wrapped thin wire, and bits of tubing.
\nI needed to make these and put the foot-rests
\non before posing the pilot fig. I did a lot of
\nchopping up for figs to get the pose I wanted
\nwhich is that of the pilot leaning slightly to
\nthe side and looking over and down. I first removed
\nthe head from the torso and made a new neck to
\nget the head into position. Next I took some MS
\nand made a rough lower body. Then I cut off the
\nhands and feet I wanted and added them to the
\nbody with floral wire to keep the pose. Lastly
\nI added more MS around the wire and into the body
\nto hold the shape of the wire when I go to add
\nthe clothing. The result is a weird skeleton-looking
\nman.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow I’ll be able to start adding
\nthe clothing and such that will make up the flight-suit.
\nYou can also see a rough blob on the back. This
\nis the start of the parachute. I also need to
\nmake the cloth cover for around the handlebar
\nattachment points to make them look “moveable”.
\nOh, and in the last pic, you can see the start
\nof my gatling gun.<\/p>\n

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02.24.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Bulking
\nUp<\/p>\n

The pilot is starting to take shape
\nnow with added bulk from the clothes. It’s a slow
\nprocess however as you can’t do too much at once
\nlest you accidentily mash parts that are still
\nuncured. I’ve done that a lot already and have
\nhad to fix quite a few spots. I also started making
\nthe wind-screen from heat-formed clear plastic
\nand misc photoetch given to me from an IPMS member
\nwho didn’t need it.<\/p>\n

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02.25.2006 \u00c2\u00bb On the
\nSkids<\/p>\n

The pilot is still taking shape
\na little bit at a time. THe only thing I have
\na photo of at the moment (even though I’m slightly
\nfarther with the arms) is the lead-foil straps
\non the chest where I made hooks from leftover
\nLED leads. Pays to packrat small bits of wire
\nI suppose. I also added a pic of the underside
\nof the wings as someone was curious about them.<\/p>\n

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I also finished the skids. Again,
\nthey’re a little farther along than the pic shows,
\nbut not by much. The only change is that I added
\nsome hex-bolts on the outsides of the ski-mounts.
\nThey’re made from brass tube, strips, and rod,
\nstyrene shapes and 1\/300 747 aircraft landing
\ngear parts.<\/p>\n

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02.26.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Pedal
\nto the Metal<\/p>\n

Here’s some more progress shots.
\nFirst is the pilot which is almost sculpted completely.
\nWell… I still need to do a lot of sanding and
\ncarving and a nice scarf and details, but he’s
\nalmost done. I also did the cloth covers for where
\nthe handelbars meet the fuselage.<\/p>\n

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Next up is the gatling gun which
\nis almost done except for finishing the mount
\nto the underside of the plane.<\/p>\n

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The landing gear is done as well.
\nThey too just need mounted.<\/p>\n

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Here are the foot-rests\/pedals I
\nmade from photoetch non-slip plate, aluminum tube,
\nbrass wire, angles-shaped styrene, misc aircraft
\nresin bits, and mesh screen.<\/p>\n

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Finall, here’s the wire basket I
\nmade for the molitov cocktails. It still needs
\na bit of work, and the mounts created but it’s
\ncoming out well..<\/p>\n

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03.02.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Primed
\nBut Not Ready<\/p>\n

I took some shots of the Mosquito
\nprimed today. It’s not all primed as it’s still
\nnot done. I needed to prime it to see how I’ve
\ndone so far on the sanding and shaping. I have
\na bit of clean-up but nothing too major. The pilot
\nis looking good, but has a ton of fingerprints
\nto clean up from sculpting him. Here’s the pics:<\/p>\n

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03.05.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Exhausted<\/p>\n

I’ve been cleaning up the sculpted
\nparts of the mosquito and adding details since
\nthe last update. One detail I haven’t shown much
\nof yet is the exhaust pipes. These are made from
\nfiberglass braided tubing with wire inserts, styrene
\ntube, aluminum tube, and heat-shrink tube. Here’s
\nsome pics:<\/p>\n

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03.10.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Paint
\nTime!<\/p>\n

The Mosquito is all primed and mostly
\npainted. First I primed everything in dark gray
\nDuplicolor primer. Then I gave everything a base-coat
\nof Tamiya Brown. For the plane colors, I painted
\nthe craft first with a mixture of Nato Brown,
\nDesert Yellow, and Red. That was painte don as
\nhighlights leaving some brown show through as
\na preshade. Then on the underside of the craft
\nI painted straight Desert Yellow and faded that
\nupward into spots as a sort of cheap Junker camo.
\nNext when that cures in to paint the white tips
\nof the wings and the white stripe behind the seat
\nwhere 2 of the tubes connect. I also need to paint
\nthe “leather” part in front of the instrument
\npanel the same color as the seat.<\/p>\n

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I also painted just about everything
\nelse with their base coats. The “nose”
\nof the prop is Yellow mixed with a little Red.
\nThe canteen is just Khaki Drab so far and the
\nfluffy bed roll is Khaki. The roll was made from
\nwetting and rolling facial tissue and tying thread
\naround it. The tissue frayed all over, but that
\ngave it a wool-look which IMO looks pretty cool.
\nThe pilot was painted in a mixture of Khaki Drab,
\nBuff, and Khaki. The result is a dull buff-gray-green
\ncolor which looks great in person. The flight
\ncap will either be light brown leather or dark
\ngray. The boots will be light brown leather. The
\narmor part for the cap is obviously red. The scarf
\nwill be a beige\/off-white color.<\/p>\n

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03.11.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Chips
\nand Figure<\/p>\n

Here’s my progress update for today.
\nThe Mosquito was striped with white and Futured
\nlast night and decals and paint chips were added
\ntoday. I also painted more of the pilot figure.
\nHe was painted first in Tamiya acrylics with the
\njump-siut being airbrushed as seen above. All
\nthe other colors have been hand-painted. After
\ngiving them all their base colors except the scarf
\nknee pads and cap (since they will and have gotten
\noils all over them) which will be painted after
\nthe skin dries. The skin was painted with a base
\ncoat of acrylic then highlighted and shaded with
\noils. The other parts of the figure were highlighted
\nwith white oil paint. Next up, the wash… Here’s
\nsome pics:<\/p>\n

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03.13.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Staining<\/p>\n

Yesterday I added the wash (which
\nwas a medium mucky brown) and the staining with
\noils. These were done the same way as on my KV-2
\nexcept I used different colored paints this time
\nfor the stain. Blue, white and yellow. Next up
\nis a flat coat to seal and even the finish then
\nthe dusting with pigment powders. Here’s some
\npics:<\/p>\n

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03.13.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Dusted<\/p>\n

Here’s the latest with dist and
\nrust and some pre-building. I still have to sand-dust
\nthe rusted parts.<\/p>\n

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03.14.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Figure<\/p>\n

The figure is almost done. He just
\nneeds pack hook painted, another flat-coat, mic
\nand rip-cord added, then some dust to make him
\nlook like he’s been busy and also to blend him
\nbetter with the plane. Also pictured is the gatling
\nsince I keep forgetting to photograph it. It too
\nneeds dust and some more graphite applied.<\/p>\n

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03.14.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Instrument
\nPanel and Stowage<\/p>\n

More progress… the instrument
\npanel is made from brass bezels and panels given
\nto me from John Huff (Tazman3). They worked out
\nbeautifully for this kit! I painted the panels,
\nbut left the bezels in their natural brass finish
\nfor an old-timey look. The stowage is some G scale
\nwine bottles for molitov cocktails wrapped in
\na mesh, a canteen, and a bedroll.<\/p>\n

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