# General Category > Creative Area >  JU88A-14 1:48 scale ,German bomber.

## purplefan

This is the build thread of my new project, a German Bomber! I am going to buy some photo etch partts for the interior and engines and some resin flaps. This build will be a different challenge.

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## purplefan



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## Suzi

Looks complicated!

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## purplefan

I was looking over it today and i think if i take my time and not get overwhelmed i will be okay. It is a beautifully detailed kit. My only concern is the stencils. There are a lot! and the little grey dots on the camouflage.

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## Suzi

AS you said, if you take your time you'll be more than OK.

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## purplefan

The Decals are nicely printed and good clear markings. No Swastikas though, but i print my own so no problem. 


And so begins another build. First i take th sprues out and give them a wash in hot soapy water. it takes away the chemical residue that if left on the sprue and keeps it clean to paint.

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## purplefan

Loads of clear parts. They are very nice.

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## purplefan

The wheels are very well detailed and they look really good. Will dry brush them black and put a llittle bit of mud on them.

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## purplefan

I am so impressed with the detail panel lines on this kit. It is going to look good painted up.

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## purplefan

Back wings and flaps.

Engines are two 211J Liquid cooled engines.

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## Suzi

Looks very complicated to me!

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## purplefan

Today i have been working on this part of the instruction sheet.

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## purplefan

So far so good. I need to visit the model shop and buy some Varnish and Field German grey for painting the interior.

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## purplefan

This is the paint i need for the interior. Tamiya XF 84 dark iron. I need to thin it to a ratio to 90c% paint 10% Thinner then spray it with my air gun on a low PSI. maybe 15.

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## Suzi

Wow, that looks like a nightmare to me! Well done lovely!

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## purplefan

So i begin by priming the inside of the main fuselage with white primer. 



Primer shows up any anomalies and helps the main coat of paint stick.

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## purplefan

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Add it to my airgun

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## purplefan

Painted but not finished as i have to varnish it with Clear gloss.

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## Suzi

Looking good sir!

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## purplefan

Started to paint in the detail of the control panel. I will varnish it over and it will look much better.



Front control panel.

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## purplefan

Fuselage joined together and back wheel put it.

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## purplefan

The interior of the cockpit is well detailed. The seat alone came in 8 parts. But i put it together and it is looking good.

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## purplefan

Now wash her down with spirits and paint in the detail. Get the magnifier out.

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## Techie

Oh cool - looks the Dornier Flying Pencil.   :):

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## purplefan

I never knew the Germans nicked named it that! Are you into modeling Techie? 


> Oh cool - looks the Dornier Flying Pencil.

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## purplefan

Working on seat number 4. As well as the main seat three parts. The bottom has the two side arms and the bottom support. So, if my maths is correct that is 6 parts all together. I cant see the little holes i am supposed to glue the support onto.

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## purplefan



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## purplefan

From this. 
To this.

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## purplefan

Been posting a lot here today, Sorry. Not got anyone to talk to, and thought id do a catch up on my build. Last one today. I promise. 

Primed and ready to paint. 



Painted her at a high 50PSI but i did not want to risk any spots.

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## purplefan

Not a bad job on the first coat. 


I'll probably give her two more though. It is better to paint really thin coats of paint rather than one thick one that could blotch or take away detail.

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## Suzi

Looking good!

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## purplefan

Working on some detail painting of the buttons in the cockpit this morning. First coat is okay, ish. Ned to tidy it up a bit then varnish it over.

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Suzi (22-05-17)

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## purplefan

So before i went away i decided to fill in the seam lines with putty and this is a very good brand. Drys up quick and easy to sand.



As you can see it went on okay.

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## purplefan

I also added the flaps and tail rudder.



Used 280 grit sand paper then 500 grit and gave her a quick rub down to get all the dust particles off. Now she is ready for priming.

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## Suzi

Well done lovely.

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## purplefan

As you can see i was working on the landing gear. I think i have put one of the support struts on wrong way round as i dont think it looks right, but i think it is okay as it is the same on the other side.

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## purplefan

Got it right first time! Go purple, go purple.  :Rock: 

The landing gear is a bit tricky to install as you have to make sure they are aligned with each other so the plane is sitting level. 



And now for one of the most difficult parts of the kit.

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## purplefan

Been working on the engines.TWO of them.

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Suzi (31-05-17)

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## purplefan

I used Vallejo white primer 
from this. Not looking too good. 


To this. Was able to take away the seem line and now i can do a bit of detail painting.
Looking better.

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## Suzi

Are you enjoying this kit?

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## purplefan

Yes i am. it is a better challenge than a 1:72 and it is good learning about German planes.

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## Suzi

Good! Glad you're enjoying it!

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## purplefan

I painted my engines with film  grey, but i am not too happy with the result. You can still see the join line where the two parts join together. As you can see. 



I am going to have to strip the paint and proper sand it. Use a 1000 grit sand paper It looks awful.

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## Techie

I didnt realise that it was in fact a JU88 rather than the flying pencil.  I was into modelling as a kid, but I havent done any for years really.  At the moment, I have gotten into making paracord bracelets - havent done that many yet, but I find it very rewarding.  Hope all is well, purplefan.   :): 

T

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purplefan (05-06-17)

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## Suzi

I love your attention to detail Purplefan.

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purplefan (04-06-17)

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## purplefan

I do like making models for that reason, plus it FUN! I can sit for a couple of hours stick on some music and whittle away the hours.

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## OldMike

Brilliant Purple such attention to detail.  :):

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purplefan (05-06-17)

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## purplefan

After a lot of sanding and respraying i manged to get the engine sitting nicely in the nacelle. Will do a little bit of engine oil grease but to be honest the Luftwaffe looked after their planes really well and had 4 men crew cleaning everything in two 6 hours shifts. So not a lot just where the oil might have run down when putting it in.

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## Suzi

Looks good hunni x

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## purplefan

So rather than watch the news, i have been working on putting my engines in the nacelle. you can take off the covers to show the engine if you wish.

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## purplefan



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Suzi (06-06-17)

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## purplefan

Want your opinion on should i leave the engine coverings on or off? Not really sure.

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Suzi (07-06-17)

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## purplefan

The engines are on. They are on the plane and it is looking good. I need to use a bit of filler and sand down the join lines, then re scribe the markings. But she has engines.


This is what it would look like when the engine covers are off and on. Maybe put one on and one off.

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## Suzi

You must have the patience of a saint!

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## purplefan

I did not do anything today just letting the putty harden, then i will sand her down and start re scribbling the panel lines. That's is going to be a tedious job, but it is worth it as it can make the model look better.

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Suzi (08-06-17)

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## purplefan

So, the sanding went reasonably well. I have some before and after photos of the engine coverings.
They filler was squadron a very good brand.


This is before 


And after 


I started off with 400 grit sand paper and they i used 800 grit and finally 1000 grit to make the scratches less noticeable. I now have to re scribe.

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## purplefan

re scribing is a process by witch you use a sharp object to put back in the detail lines of the plane after you have sanded them off. This is a before shot of the top fuselage as you can see, the lines are practically gone.

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## purplefan

I managed to scribe the lines on my plane okayish. You need steady hands and a sharp blade. 

First off you need to mark the lines out where you are going to scribe, so you dont miss the mark.

You also need a sharp scribbling knife. 


Before.


After.

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Suzi (11-06-17)

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## purplefan

And now for the canopy. I start by masking her off. 


Then with a sharp knife and steady hand i cut out the edges that i want to paint leaving the frames covered.

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## purplefan

The front nose of the plane is mostly glass and had to be masked off as well as the cockpit. Very tedious work, but it is done and ready for primer.

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## purplefan

Looking a bit deshabille at the moment but once sprayed and the masking taken off that will look lovely.

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Suzi (11-06-17)

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## purplefan

After doing a bit of priming it showed up an anomaly. As you can see i did not cover the area well with putty and there is a gap showing on the engine connection to the wing. 


Ah well, these things happen. But priming finished and next step. Pre shading the panel lines. I might have to shoot a video for that one.

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## purplefan



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## purplefan

After letting the primer dry, i decided to re do the filler on the engine coverings.
I did not do a good job. You can still see the join line and it looked pretty awful.




I put down some masking tape so i could get some straight lines with the putty when dry.

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## purplefan

Much better, i think you will agree?

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## Suzi

Looking good!

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purplefan (12-06-17)

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## purplefan

First coat of yellow on the flaps and tail.

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## purplefan

Cant do much today, waiting on a few paints coming from ebay. I am going to work on some of the smaller parts like bombs and the Ariel.

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## purplefan

First coat of Blue. I really like the colour . Wonder if dulux do German Luftwaffe blue?  :(rofl): 
Looking at that picture i can see i nned to do more sanding.

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## Suzi

It's a great colour!

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## purplefan

3rd coat and starting to look better. I also re sanded her and put the right colour on. Thought it was yellow some how but only the back flaps and back rudder and  engines are yellow.

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Suzi (14-06-17)

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## purplefan

So i was chatting on my model forum and happen to show my photo of the build, and someone (who is a Luftwaffe expert) Pointed out i had the WRONG! color of blue. SO after a few frantic email exchanges i got the right color at last. 

BEFORE
 AFTER!

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## purplefan

I also put on the first coat of Dark green. Will need a couple more. 




I have been up all night. 9 hours it took me to do that!. going to have a hot shower and a coffee i think.

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## purplefan

Will have to take it all off as the paint cracked. Im a bit  :Swear:  :Swear:  :Swear:  :Swear: ed but with modeling you cant rush things if you want the job done proper.

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## Suzi

Staying up all night isn't going to help your sleeping issues lovely. 

Sorry you've got to take it all off - do you know why it cracked?

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## purplefan

I couldnt sleep any way suzi, I have did a few experiments using the paint painting old parts of left over kits. I suspect it was a case of not letting the primer cure long enough but it could be the weather. A lot of the men on the modeling forum are painting with the fans on and windows open.

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## Suzi

Hope you get it sorted today.

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## purplefan

This kit is becoming a bit problematic so i have decided to put that one away and use it for practicing my airbrushing etc and buy another one and start again!. Sometimes its better just to put it away and start again.

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## Suzi

Oh no! Is it just this particular model or are you buying the same one again?

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## purplefan

Decided to carry on and this is what i have done so far. with the removal of the paint. 



After.



All clear and ready for a sand down with 600 grit and re scribe the panel lines and re spray.

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## Suzi

Wow..... that's so harsh having to take it right back again!

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## purplefan

Well i only went and spilt a whole jar of glue over EVERYTHING! and i mean EVERYTHING!. Paint brushes i had laid out for the build and tools and even the whole fuselage of the plane.  I am such an ass at times. I hope that i can clean things up. I forgot to tighten the cap of the glue.  :S:

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## Suzi

Oh no! Hope it's salvageable!

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## purplefan

Re painted and fixed control panel. I think it looks a lot better than before. 
Before.

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Suzi (02-07-17)

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## purplefan

I spent the best part of the evening painting the side controls and i think they look much better.




Before.

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## Suzi

Looking better lovely!

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## purplefan

An actual JU88 Engine.


Newly painted engine.

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## purplefan

Old engine.

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Suzi (06-07-17)

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## purplefan

New engines are ready.

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## purplefan



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## purplefan

After scrubbing, sanding, re scribing, swearing, sanding and a bit more swearing i finally got to where i stopped and i am now ready for a total respray.




Going to paint her in late Luftwaffe colors dark green and black green and underneath it is going to be light blue and white wing tips.

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Suzi (08-07-17)

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## Suzi

Looking good lovely!

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## purplefan

Spent the morning masking her. Went a wee bit overboard, still, better safe and all that. 



This is  the yellow i am going to use.

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Suzi (09-07-17)

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## purplefan

I think i finally managed to acheive the effect i was after. The idea of panel lines is to pre shade the lines with black paint before you use the main color. This will have the effect of giving the wing a bit of depth and shadow.






You can see a bit of over spill of Black paint on the tail rudder, that is all you need to give it a bit of depth. Think i did okay. Now i have to wash it.

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## Suzi

Looks good!

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## purplefan

So the next step was to tone the yellow down a bit as it is too bright so you use a thing called a wash. It is just turps with a bit of artist black paint and you slap it on and leave it to dry, then you rub it off with a cotton bud and when your finished all it leaves it with a used look and not so bright.

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OldMike (15-07-17)

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## purplefan

The wash is finished you get a sort of dirty, used, military look. Very effective.

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OldMike (15-07-17)

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## Suzi

Looks good!

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## purplefan

Finally, started to work on my painting. I used a H&S Ultra airbrush with a 0.3 mm needle at 15p.s.i.




Still not happy with how the engine bays turned out. They really should be flat as an ice rink.

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OldMike (15-07-17),Suzi (14-07-17)

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## OldMike

Looking good Purple.

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## purplefan

I am trying to work out how to highlight the panel lines on the wings without them being too plane. I have been practicing on an old piece of plastic and suddenly realized, i have the wrong size air brush needle. Niied a 0.2 for fine work. Anyway going to do a bit more today. I really want to get this kit finished as it is taking a while to do.

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Suzi (16-07-17)

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## purplefan

Finished the weathering and now it is just the decals.

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## Suzi

Looks good!

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## Pen

Looks amazing. Well done

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## purplefan

Its getting there. I am making some headway at last. I fitted in all the glass windows and i lost one, it slipped down the fuselage. Bugger! Will have to get the clear fix out. Today i am hoping to do the first coat of the camouflage. Waiting on some paints and stuff i got from ebay.

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Suzi (17-07-17)

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## purplefan

Painted the main color and masked her off for the black green.

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## Suzi

Looking good!

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## purplefan

The camoflague did not work out. Does this 
 look like ?

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## Suzi

Yes! I saw the photo before the words and I was going to tell you that I thought it looked brilliant!

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## purplefan

put the machine guns in the nests and finished off the clear parts.

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Suzi (20-07-17)

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## purplefan

I think i might have done a wee bit too much weathering. Still, she is a war plane.

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## purplefan

This is the camera i use to take photographs. I am trying to get a more professional set up i also need lights and a screen for shading. It is a sony a500.

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## purplefan

Sony a500

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## Amaya

It look pretty realistic to me.

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## Suzi

Looking amazing! I didn't know you had your modelling stuff in your bedroom - could that be part of the reason you weren't sleeping? Or could you be breathing in fumes?

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## purplefan

No i don't sleep there suzi. It is my old box bed that i used for storage and sitting on.

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## Suzi

:(rofl):  I was thinking how comfortable it looked!

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## purplefan

Taking longer than i thought, but nearly there. First set of marking are on.

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## Suzi

It's getting there!

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## purplefan

FINISHED :(party): 

After nearly three month, yes three months i have finished. I cant do any more. Some of the purists out there would say i could polish the windows, but she is meant to be back from a raid so she will look dirty. 
This was thee most difficult and frustration build i have done but i think i did a above average job. 
What do you think?

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## purplefan



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OldMike (27-07-17)

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## Suzi

Well done lovely! She's fantastic!

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## purplefan

Im glad i can now move on. I am going to do a car for my next build. A BMWi8.

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## Suzi

Look forward to seeing that one being made!

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## OldMike

Brilliant Purple the engines have a well worn look as though they've done some service rather than come straight from the factory.

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purplefan (28-07-17)

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## purplefan

Thanks mike. I am still not sure about weathering and how to do it properly it never quite looks right. I saw some old photographs of a JU88 and looking at the photos the engines were pretty oily and the paint had warped and bubbled because of the heat, so, that is what i tried to project on the model.
The Camo was a bit dark and my shading did not come through properly but i think she looks like she has been through a few raids. I am going to give that kit a 6 out 10. Do not recommend it for a beginner as there are lots of small parts and stencils to put on.

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## Amaya

I think you have done a good job  :):

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purplefan (30-07-17)

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## Mira

It does look good from the picture. And you are good at it Purple. The only thing I noticed and I hope you don't mind me saying is that the emblem at the back is not at the right angle. The tip should be pointed up more.

I have a real interest in german subs from that time period. So I did see it before. I hope you don't mind me writing this.

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## purplefan

Well spotted welf. Unfortunately i cant change it as i have sealed the decals in with a clear coat. It was a mistake i never noticed.

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## Suzi

I think only an expert would notice  :O:

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## purplefan

No it is a pretty bad mistake. Every photo of a Luftwaffe plane has the swastika at a right angle as welf pointed out. As, it is only going up on my ceiling, it wont matter but if i was entering her in a competition, i would have got huge marks taken off.

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## purplefan

My thanks to welf for pointing out my mistake with the swastika and i now have corrected it. I slowly loosened the decal with some micro soft and turned it round and i now have  to wait till the decal drys and i can weather it. Once again, many thanks welf.

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Suzi (01-08-17)

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## Amaya

Nicely done, I didn't think that would come off very easily  :): 
How many models have you made now?

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## Mira

That makes the whole plane look awesome and authentic. At first I was thinking should I mention it. It worried me a bit. But it turned out great. 

A good job purple. Great build

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purplefan (02-08-17),Suzi (02-08-17)

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## purplefan

One of the resons i post my models is to get peoples thoughts on the welf and i would NEVER have noticed the mistake, the swastika does look better. 


> That makes the whole plane look awesome and authentic. At first I was thinking should I mention it. It worried me a bit. But it turned out great. 
> 
> A good job purple. Great build

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## purplefan

Intresting that you have an intrest in U-boats welf. I have been pondering for a while to get a 1/48 DKM U-Boat Type VIIC U-552 made by Trumpiter. But it is HUGE and  costs over £300 to buy what with the photo etch and rasin parts. It would be my mount Everest of kits.

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## purplefan

I think i have about over 20 kits i have made EmmyRed. I put them up on my ceiling 


> Nicely done, I didn't think that would come off very easily 
> How many models have you made now?

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## Mira

I looked that kit up and what a great looking kit is that. The price is high I agree  :): 

I do not know where my facination with U boats comes from. But I was always drawn to them.

This is a youtube video I liked recently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRHQLeOM7tQ

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## purplefan

I love the history of you boats welf.  The wolf pack they were called if i'm right? 
The detail of that sub is amazing welf. You even get an officers lounge and a cut away bridge that has a plastic side so you can display your work. I watched the video. Very good.

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## Mira

When you hear about the death toll on German subs its chilling. I believe one in four made it home. And smaller subs, like the Biber they deployed near the end of the war lost almost all sailors. 

Wolf packs was a tactic they used later on in the war. First they went about alone but when allied ships started to make bigger convoys the subs made groups to hunt the convoys down. They where called wolfpacks.

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purplefan (02-08-17)

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## purplefan

WOW, you know your stuff welf. Yes it is amazing and sad that these men would serve in such terrible conditions.

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## purplefan

That was a pretty impressive model. I love how the detail painting can make a figure stand out. i never understood why guys built model subs as all the detail is inside but that trumpeter kit is nice.

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