mikie Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share #26 Posted March 3, 2020 Researching the subject of ship camouflage during the war is absolutely fascinating. I've looked through the sites Manny gave and several others and discovered a whole area of history I never thought much about before. It's the science and art of using paint to make a ship harder to sink. If for nothing else, just learning about all this makes deciding to try building this kit well worth the effort. I love this kind of stuff. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 6, 2020 Author Share #27 Posted March 6, 2020 Would you believe I finished the DE model? I'm very impressed by the effectiveness of the dazzle camouflage. It finished up looking nothing like a ship at all! The japanese would never try to shoot at that! Seriously, I was stopped in my tracks by having bought the wrong shade of gray paint. It was impossible for me to get to the model shop during the week. Hopefully, progress will resume tomorrow. It's supposed to rain, so a perfect day to work on it. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Ragan Posted March 7, 2020 Share #28 Posted March 7, 2020 What's the deal with those wing markings? WWII German aircraft all had black cross markings on the wings, top and bottom. This Bf109 looks to have fuselage markings applied to the top of both wings. I've known since early childhood that scale model aircraft should represnt an actual aircraft. Not some "artistic whim" of the model builder. Just my humble opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share #29 Posted March 8, 2020 It was a prebuilt and prepainted non kit I got years ago from a toy store closing sale. The stand it came with had a string that if you pulled it, the propeller spun. The set had a Zero and P40. I never paid attention to the German markings. But figured the markings were de-Nazified so as to not offend. Looks like they failed badly in your case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 8, 2020 Share #30 Posted March 8, 2020 Mikie, I did a Google search on WW2 German aircraft insignia and found those markings in several reference pictures. Not sure exactly what it meant because it was in German but I did see them. However, I thought your joke was funny and it made me smile. Did you find the paint? ...Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share #31 Posted March 8, 2020 I found some paint this afternoon. Now I'm coming down with a cold. Not in condition to work on those tiny parts. I also need a strategy to mask out the camouflage pattern on the hull. The 700 scale is just too small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72psb Posted March 8, 2020 Share #32 Posted March 8, 2020 Mikie, Get some Blue Tack.The putty that you use to hang posters without putting holes in your walls. Roll it out in a thin rope,press it to your model to form your design edge.Use masking tape to fill in the voids between your blue tack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted March 8, 2020 Share #33 Posted March 8, 2020 Would you believe I finished the DE model? I'm very impressed by the effectiveness of the dazzle camouflage. It finished up looking nothing like a ship at all! The japanese would never try to shoot at that! Model Finished.jpg Seriously, I was stopped in my tracks by having bought the wrong shade of gray paint. It was impossible for me to get to the model shop during the week. Hopefully, progress will resume tomorrow. It's supposed to rain, so a perfect day to work on it. Mikie Mikie, no need to continue …..you performed a miracle…...I bet no one here could so masterfully craft a ship into an aeroplane without leaving any spare parts by the looks of it . Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share #34 Posted March 8, 2020 Mikie, Get some Blue Tack.The putty that you use to hang posters without putting holes in your walls. Roll it out in a thin rope,press it to your model to form your design edge.Use masking tape to fill in the voids between your blue tack. That sounds brilliant! Never would have thought of that and didn't see it mentioned in any vids I looked at. Thanks! By the way, an English co-worker once gave me a pack of real British Blue Tack. That stuff is WONDERFUL. I haven't found any American version that works nearly as good at hanging things up. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share #35 Posted March 8, 2020 Mikie, no need to continue ..you performed a miracle...I bet no one here could so masterfully craft a ship into an aeroplane without leaving any spare parts by the looks of it . Rene Thanks Rene. Where do I apply for my Master Modeler badge? Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #36 Posted March 11, 2020 My friend Frank kicked my butt off the comfy chair by long-distance last night and got me back on the model. Here is my first ever attempt a dazzle paint job. I tried using the poor excuse for Blue Tack to mask, but it didn't work very well and left an oily residue. So I next tried painters tape, well because...I tried matching the shapes on the Navy documentation, but got the scale horribly wrong. I also had a lot of bleed through causing the edges to be blurry and not nice and sharp. I think I'll wipe this off and give it another try. Practice makes perfect, so maybe another 1000 tries or so it may come out OK? The superstructure isn't attached yet. I just placed it in position to see how it looks. The navy specs called for the deck to be dark blue. This is new to me and looks weird. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted March 12, 2020 Share #37 Posted March 12, 2020 I don´t think you´ll need another 1000 tries. Looking forward to see the next steps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtyScout Posted March 13, 2020 Share #38 Posted March 13, 2020 Hey Mikie, the dark blue for the deck looks weird but I believe it was supposed to be like that to camouflage the ship from enemy aircraft. Its a lot harder to spot dark blue against the ocean blue than the tan colored wooden decks. Keep going, I'll be looking forward to more pics and developments. Semper Fi. Manny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share #39 Posted March 13, 2020 Hi Manny. That was the intention of the dark blue decks. It's one of the things I learned from those links you shared. I loved reading up on the camouflage patterns used during the war. It just looks weird to me since I don't recall seeing that before. My allergies have been hammering me so haven't spent much time on the ship. Hopefully this weekend I'll get back into it. Thanks for the encouragement. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Ragan Posted March 14, 2020 Share #40 Posted March 14, 2020 Mikie, I did a Google search on WW2 German aircraft insignia and found those markings in several reference pictures. Not sure exactly what it meant because it was in German but I did see them. However, I thought your joke was funny and it made me smile. Did you find the paint? ...Kat How about posting a photo of one of those authentic WWII era planes marked in this manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share #41 Posted March 14, 2020 I wiped the first try dazzle last night and gave it another try. This time I heeded the sage advice to calm down and go slow. Results are much better. I get too eager and rush things. Gotta control that better. I'll try to get more done later today. Thanks again for the encouragement. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtyScout Posted March 14, 2020 Share #42 Posted March 14, 2020 Never rush perfection! Semper Fi. Manny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 14, 2020 Share #43 Posted March 14, 2020 How about posting a photo of one of those authentic WWII era planes marked in this manner. I don't want to detail Mikie's thread because he is having fun getting into build models after 40 years. They were on a sheet with a whole bunch of different insignia. Just do an image search on WWII German Aircraft Insignia and you can see them. I do not know German but it looked like it might be rank insignia used on the aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share #44 Posted March 14, 2020 I don't know much about German fighter insignia. But think the issue isn't so much the insignia being accurate or not, but where it has been placed on my model. I don't mind a discussion, I'd love to learn about it. But since it is a German aircraft, maybe it should go over to our world militaria forum. It could always use more traffic there. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted March 15, 2020 Share #45 Posted March 15, 2020 Good point! The world militara forum modeling section would be the right place to discuss the Geschwader Kommodore insignia on the wings of the German aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share #46 Posted March 15, 2020 When I get a chance, I will take more pics of the plane and post them over there. I look forward to learning some things about it. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted March 19, 2020 Share #47 Posted March 19, 2020 The insignia on the the wings should be on the fuselage. The Germans put crosses on the top wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share #48 Posted March 20, 2020 Obeying the work-from-home decree, I had to convert my modeling desk into a circuit board test station. So my slowed down progress on the model has come to a halt again. Here is my second attempt at dazzle camouflage. A big improvement over the first try. But try not to cringe too much over it. Lauging is OK, I've done plenty of that myself. With my limited skills, the model is just too small for me to attempt to exactly reproduce the actual pattern. So I'm going with a "suggestion" of the actual pattern. There is still a lot more dazzling to do before I can start the final assembly but it's going to be Monday before I get my desk back. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted March 20, 2020 Share #49 Posted March 20, 2020 Looks fine so far! Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtyScout Posted March 20, 2020 Share #50 Posted March 20, 2020 I like it. Looks good so far. Sometimes you just have to let your artistic freedom take over. Semper Fi. Manny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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