Me Bf 190 E-4

[cardist]

Hi Folks,

Glad you liked the chisel idea.
Work continues with the cockpit section.



The main parts that make up the core of the cockpit. On hindsight with this section, I would slice the part that makes the floor and bulkhead covering into separate parts to ensure clean, sharp corners. As they are, they are slightly rounded.



All of the parts went together well, but with some of the smaller parts, I had problems with de-lamination. I think this is down to the thickness of the card used as it is quite a heavy gauge.



The rudder pedals had the lightening holes pierced with a large needle and all exposed edges of the parts treated to a lick of Tamiya acrylic (XF-25 Light Sea Grey, a perfect match).

All the best and happy modelling,

Bernie.

[cardist]

Work continues with the Pilot's seat. The one thing about these kits are that while the instructions are beautifully illustrated, they leave it up to the builder's (supposed) knowledge and experience as to how everything goes together. Point in case- the seat. Easy, just glue the front and back together. OK, it's part of my learning curve here, but how?
My approach then is as follows:

Cut out the parts and fold each individually.



Glue from the leading edge of the seat-pan, ensuring that both edges are flush. Follow this by gluing the top of he seat, this prevents any distortion.



Carefully glue the sides to the pan. In all of these operations I used a dilute mix of PVA and water (50-50) applied with a fine brush. This softens the paper and allows for an element of sculpting.






The edges were crimped together with tweezers to ensure a clean edge. This worked extremely well, which is testament to the engineering of these kits, everything went and stayed exactly where it should.

The last part was edge colouring. For this I used Tamiya acrylics again, this time light sea grey mixed with white. I also added a small amount of PVA to help fill any gaps in the joins.




The seat-belt slot was cut with a 1mm cannula and edges coloured.





All done and ready for the belts.





Till next time, all the best and happy modelling,

Bernie

[bumbury]

that chisel is a nice piece of work did you buy one of those blades or did you make it....

also good luck on the build... looking forward to the updates...

[cardist]

The chisel is hand ground, from an old knife blade. The beauty is, you can make them any size to suit. I have a selection for use in those difficult-to-reach-with-a-knife parts, all mounted in spare handles.
Enjoy.
B

[cardist]

I have had a pleasant afternoon making up some seat-belts. These consisted of the kit-parts with some additions from fine wire.



The buckles were formed around the end of a pair of flat tweezers.



The buckle detail was trimmed from the parts. The belt was then moistened slightly and formed around a length of 0.5 mm wire to simulate the loop. The buckles were then attached to the tops of the loops.





The triangular fixings were attached at the ends after which the belts were painted with Tamiya XF-57 Buff. All that remained to do was mount them to the seat.



All the best and happy modelling,

Bernie

[ccoyle]

Very nice! I'm currently working on the Po-2, and because I haven't built a model in nine months, I was thinking I would build it sans much modification just to get one done. But after seeing your seat belts, I may change my mind!

[Isaac]

Adding the small metal wire hardware makes the harness look realistic!


Great work and use of new tools you made.


Isaac

[Don Boose]

Incredible work, as always. You are a real master, Bernie. It's a great pleasure to work through these images and to see your techniques.

Don

[cardist]

Chris, it is certainly worth the little effort involved and pays off with the enhanced detail.

Isaac, glad to see you looking in. The tools are easy to make if you have a Dremmel and a suitable grinding-wheel.

Don, as always, good to see you here too. I hadn't planned on doing such a detailed account as this, as there are builds of this kit on other sites, but I cant help but share the fun I am having with this build. At the moment I am putting together all the boxes, levers and sundry items in the cockpit and will post progress on these soon. Meanwhile, here is the dash to whet your appetites.



All the best and happy modelling

Bernie

[eatcrow2]

A real pleasure to see such attention to detailing!! Wonderful work, with quality photos to show it..