Lovely work on the Beetle, Rowan. A Beetle 1200 was my first own car, in “Cream White”, and already 12 years old when I bought it. It’s long gone and in Beetle Heaven now. Also good work on the 109 cockpit. The IP looks great!
Nearly forgot to post progress here on my Hellcats. They are both more or less assembled and ready for some paint now. The engines were painted in Black and dry brushed with Steel 91 from Revell. I left the ignition wires on the PE fret. Far too fiddly work for me and barely visible in the end. The masks for the canopies fit perfect. There’s a little difference in the windshields but no explanation in the instruction. A quick look in my references solved the problem which shield is for which Mark.
There are more photos in my build blog if you’re interested.
Have a nice Sunday!
Torsten 
3 Likes
Lovely work Torsten - these Hellcats are going to look spectacular!
All the best
Rowan
Hi again
Just a quick update on the Gustav - I’ve got a base-coat of RLM 66 on the cockpit and have attached the colour photo-etch parts:
The colour match is near enough to be fine once everything’s tied together with some light weathering. So, the next job will be to hide the bare-metal edges of the etch and paint other details before applying a gloss coat. If you’re wondering why the place where the seat will fit looks weird, it’s just a blob of white-tack to keep the locating hole for the seat pan clear of paint (totally unnecessary, really, but it seemed a bright idea at the time… 
). 
Take care and stay safe.
All the best
Rowan
2 Likes
Thanks Rowan!
I noticed I forgot to mention the paint schemes on my Hellcats. Here they are:
JZ796 …
… and JV132
… and the original bird …
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Hi Torsten
Nice one! I always love the Hellcat in British roundels, and the European and Pacific Fleet schemes will contrast beautifully.
All the best
Rowan
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Hi again
After Torsten’s preview of the schemes which he’s chosen for his Hellcat’s, it seems a good time to unveil how I’m going to finish my Bf 109G:
As it’s turned out, my choice is both poignant and very apt, because I stumbled across another build of this same aircraft while researching the scheme; Steffen tackled it beautifully himself when Eduard released the ProfiPACK version of the Bf 109G-6/AS: Friedrich-Karl "Nasen-"Müller - Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6/AS
All the best
Rowan 
Now that’s really interesting, Rowan! I’m always interested in a pilot’s history and when I read his name on your painting intruction I immediately thought of famous high ranking fighter pilot Friedrich-Karl Müller, nicknamed “Tutti” who sadly didn’t survive the hostilities. Never heared of Friedrich-Karl Müller, nicknamed “Nase”. What a coincidence! Two men, same name, both fighter pilots. Okay, Müller is a german last name of several 10000 people here, but the same first name … You never stop learning something!
Hi Torsten
There’s a great article by Neil Page about this Friedrich-Karl Müller and “Red 2” in the November 2019 issue of Eduard’s Info magazine:
The scheme caught my eye straight away among the kit’s options; I might be mistaken, but I don’t think I’ve ever built a night-fighter Bf 109 before.
All the best
Rowan
Hi again
It’s time for that “Oh no! What have I done?!” moment which happens when I start weathering! 
I use straight oils and it always looks scary to start with. Rather than building up an effect like I would with a wash, it’s more a case of starting heavy and then knocking it back to almost nothing.
So, I’ll let this dry for about an hour and then start removing most of it with cotton buds and tissues.
All the best
Rowan
2 Likes
Hi again
So, this is how things look this evening:
I’ve wiped off most of the oil paint and I’ll leave what’s left to dry a bit more before blending it further. What I really like about neat oils is that they don’t create “tide marks”, plus they stain the underlying finish slightly, creating subtle variations in colour and tone.
I’ve got work tomorrow, so I should be back at the workbench on Thursday. Tomorrow will also be a big day because I’m getting my first Covid jab! Woohoo!
Take care and stay safe.
All the best
Rowan
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That looks much better than in the previous post, Rowan. I thought you have made a barn find … 
How was your first Anti-Covid injection? My parents (both over 80) got their 2nd vaccine this week. So they are safe now for some time. I still have to wait because I don’t belong to any risk group. I’ll see when it’s my turn …
Back to my Hellcats. JZ796 has got all paint now and I just demasked the white stripes. At a first glance it looks as if no paint has crawled under the masks but I’ll have a closer look now. JV132 is still in the paint shop after a masking orgy …
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Hi Torsten
That’s looking really sharp! Removing paint masks is always the moment of truth!
My jab went absolutely fine, thanks. I’m glad to read that your parents have had their second ones. That must be a great weight off your mind.
It’s funny that you should mention a barn find, because I seriously do want to try modelling one at some point. I’ve had a set of Rustall on the shelf for ages, but I’ve never tried it. I was half-tempted with the VW, but I want to be sure to finish my entries for Steffen, so this probably isn’t the occasion to try a totally new technique for the first time (plus, I want to use a larger scale car kit to experiment on). 
I’m going to spray matt coats on all the VW subassemblies and the Gustav’s cockpit this morning, so I should have some progress to show later.
All the best
Rowan
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Hi again
Well, the VW’s sitting on its wheels and pretty much done:
I’ve still got the glazing to add (so the bodywork is still loose - hence the gap in the second photo), and I’ll cut some masks for the windscreen to depict the wipers’ pattern. Also, I’ve got the brake lights to paint. I haven’t bothered with the number plates yet, because I’m still hoping to find an example with a Luftwaffe registration.
Anyway, I should get the glazing and lights done tomorrow, at which point I’ll call the VW done for now.
All the best
Rowan
3 Likes
Hi again
A bit of progress on my Bf 109G-6:
The photos really exaggerate the dust! 
I actually shot the photos twice, because the first ones were such a horror story! (I suppose it’s a bit like the way Eduard’s colour-etch comes out looking speckly.) Anyway, I’ve double checked with a magnifier and it all looks fine, so I’ll call the cockpit finished and close the fuselage halves.
The wings and tail are ready to add, so I should be able to make some swift progress now. My target is to finish the kit by the end of this month, so I’ve got the decks cleared when I go back to normal working hours as the UK lockdown (hopefully…) starts to ease.
All the best
Rowan
2 Likes
Nice work on the “Bretzel Käfer”, Rowan. I just wanted to mention not to forget the windows, but you already wrote about that.
My Hellcats are proceeding well, While the ETO JV132 has got most of her 2nd upper camo (Extra Dark Sea Grey), the PTO JT796 sits already on her wheels and with full shiny “Bodenglänzer” (Future, Pledge etc.) and is waiting for the decals. I think I can start with that on Monday …
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Cheers Torsten
Yes - don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten the VW’s windows. It’s been great fun building it - and I’ve bought quite a few 1:48 vehicles over the years, so I really should get round to tackling some more!
I’m really looking forward to seeing the second Hellcat - I’m a sucker for FAA European camouflage.
I should have my Gustav looking… well, like a Gustav by end of play tomorrow, with the basic airframe done. I’ll leave some parts loose to make some of the fiddly painting easier - there are a couple of areas of “mirror wave” field over-painting in the scheme I’ve chosen - so I want to make sure I can tackle them unobstructed. It might make sense to paint them first and then fill in around them - the opposite of real life.
All the best
Rowan
Hi again
As hoped, I got a bit more done on the Gustav today, taking one last look at the cockpit before closing up the fuselage:
I’ve cemented the wings on. The horizontal tail and the nose cowls and spinner-back are only dry-fitted at the moment. Although the instructions show the exhausts being installed before closing the fuselage, they actually fit through the open hole in the nose perfectly well if you leave the spinner-back loose and I think this makes painting easier:
More soon.
All the best
Rowan
3 Likes
Hi there,
these are great builds, I see here. After moving my man cave from the cellar to the first floor, I found some time to check my stash (mainly 1/72 scale) and really found a kit that might fit in this campaign. It is the Academy F8F Bearcat in 1/48 scale.
Will it be acceptable for this campaign?
Oliver
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So this is for you, Rowan … 
Extra Dark Sea Grey is sprayed freehand, so it’s not 100 % exact, but it looks fine for me.
Nice work on the 109 cockpit btw. I certainly recognize it from my Utti Air Racer work last year …
Oliver, I would say go for it, as it’s in 1/48. I have the same kit in my stash for a long time but have prefered to build the Hobbyboss Bearcat.
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Hi Oliver
That will be perfect as an entry! Welcome aboard!
All the best
Rowan
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