Weapons vol.1: Geman 8cm GrW42 mortar

Subject:	German 8cm GrW42 mortar
Scale:	1/6
Manufacturer:	Dragon
Price	US$ 10,00 plus shipping
Description	Injected plastic model with waterslide decals.
Comments	This is dragon's 1/6 80mm GrW42 WWII mortar. I got it at our local hobby shop for about US$10,00 in a sale. At first i tough that i was just wasting money, but latter a decided to try some weathering techniques to improve the final result. The kit is very simple, almost a weekend project. Fit is nice and you can work in several subassemblies in order to make painting easier. The final result was a big surprise for me and i even decided to get more of these kits and make a nice display collection of weapons in  large scale. I used only Tamiya acrylics as usual, some Mig weathering products and a simple base to add interest to the final product.

Technics vol.5: Scribing over raised panel lines

Scribing to obtain recessed panel lines is a tedious and difficult technique to master. Practice is the most important factor to get good results. Remember that there are alternative weathering techniques as i showed earlier, that included drawing with a sharp pencil along the raised details. However, old models with poor fit sometimes have the raised details destroyed by the building process that sometimes involve sanding and filling with putty. When this is the case, you may need to work all the panel lines and building raised details is far more difficult then to inscribe them all. In the pictures bellow, i will give you some suggestions on how i do inscribing on my kits. I am working on an Hasegawa F-5E in 1/32 scale.

First i take a sharp pencil and draw the panel lines to make them more visible before inscribing. I used the raised details as a guide to run the pencil along the panel lines.

These are my favorite tools: i like Tamiya scribing tool as an easy and effective instrument to do the job. A ruler and a very flexible piece of styrene are useful in order to align the scriber along the panel lines. Another very useful tool are these plastic label makers with adhesive on the back side. I allways work over a soft piece of cloth the keeps the model still under the pressure of my hand but allows easy movement of the part to get easy  access  to all the angles necessary to inscribe.

Once the panel lines are marked, i glue the label maker along them to create a point of support to the inscribing tool.

Keeping the sharp end of the blade at a 90 degrees angle to the surface of the model, first i push the nice along the panel line. This offers more control. Then i pull it back as it now runs inside a very subtle recessed panel previously done by the first movement.

Once all the panel where inscribed, a wet sand all the model with a 400 grid sand paper.

Some mistakes often occur. They are easily solved with some putty and sanding. Once this is done, all you need is to inscribe again. 

The finished work. I like to wet sand the model again with  600 and 1200 sand paper to get a smooth finish on the palstic surface.

Kit review vol.36: Northrop F-5E Tiger II Hasegawa 1/32

Subject:	Northrop F-5E Tiger II
Scale:	1/32
Manufacturer:	Hasegawa
Price	US$ 80,00 plus shipping
Description	Injected plastic model with waterslide decals.
Comments	This is Hasegawa's 1/32 scale F-5E Tiger II. I have two of these kits, one in an Hasegawa boxing and another released by Revell. It is a nice model, with good overall detail but from an old mold with raised panel lines. I decided to build these one after i bought the new Kittyhawk kit of these same plane in 1/32 scale. I guess i needed the challenge. As a Brazilian modeler i will build it in our countries colors. Stay tuned because there is more to come!

Engine walkaround vol.25 : BMW132

Subject: BMW132

Location:Musée d'lair et de l'espace, Le Bourget, Paris, 2015.

Comments:BMW took over a license for manufacturing air-cooled radial engines from Pratt & Whitney on 3 January 1928. The nine-cylinder model Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet was initially manufactured virtually unchanged under the designation BMW Hornet. Soon BMW embarked on its own development. The result was the BMW 132 that went into production in 1933, which was essentially an improved version of the Hornet engine. A number of different versions were built. Aside from the carburetor designs used mainly in civilian aircraft, versions with direct fuel injection were manufactured for the German Luftwaffe. The engines had a displacement of 27.7 L (1,690 cu in) and generated up to 960 PS (950 hp; 710 kW) depending on model.The 132 found widespread use in the transport role, remaining the primary powerplant of the Junkers Ju 52 for much of its life, turning the BMW 132 into one of the most important aircraft engines for civilian aircraft during the 1930s.Numerous pioneering flights were undertaken with the BMW 132. The most impressive was the first direct flight from Berlin to New York in a four-engined Focke-Wulf 200 S-1 Condor. It covered the distance to New York in 24 hours and 57 minutes on 10 August 1938.

Aircraft walkaround vol.97: Junkers F13

Subject: Junkers F13

Location:Musée d'lair et de l'espace, Le Bourget, Paris, 2015.

Comments: The Junkers F.13 (also known as the F 13) was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in Germany at the end of World War I. It was an advanced cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers. Over 300 were sold. It was in production for thirteen years and in commercial service for almost twenty.The F.13 was a very advanced aircraft when built, an aerodynamically clean all-metal low-wing cantilever (without external bracing) monoplane. Even later in the 1920s, it and other Junkers types were unusual as unbraced monoplanes in a biplane age, with only Fokker's designs of comparable modernity. It was the world's first all-metal passenger aircraft and Junkers' first commercial aircraft. The designation letter F stood for Flugzeug, aircraft; it was the first Junkers aeroplane to use this system. Earlier Junkers notation labelled it J 13. Russian-built aircraft used the designation Ju 13. Like all Junkers duralumin-structured designs, from the 1918 J 7 to the 1932 Ju 46, (some 35 models), it used an aluminium alloy (duralumin) structure entirely covered with Junkers' characteristic corrugated and stressed duralumin skin. Internally, the wing was built up on nine circular cross-section duralumin spars with transverse bracing. All control surfaces were horn balanced. Behind the single engine was a semi-enclosed cockpit for the crew, roofed but without side glazing. There was an enclosed and heated cabin for four passengers with windows and doors in the fuselage sides. Passenger seats were fitted with seat belts, unusual for the time. The F.13 used a fixed conventional split landing gear with a rear skid, though some variants landed on floats or on skis. The F 13 first flew on 25 June 1919, powered by a 127 kW (170 hp) Mercedes D IIIa inline upright water-cooled engine. The first production machines had a wing of greater span and area and had the more powerful 140 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa upright inline water-cooled motor. Many variants were built using Mercedes, BMW, and Junkers liquid-cooled inline engines, and Armstrong Siddeley Puma, Gnome-Rhône Jupiter and Pratt & Whitney Hornet radial engines. The variants were mostly distinguished by a two letter code, the first letter signifying the airframe and the second the engine. Junkers L5-engined variants all had the second letter -e, so type -fe was the long fuselage -f airframe with a L5 engine.

Experimental aircraft walkaround vol.8: Dewoitine D530

Subject: Dewoitine D530

Location:Musée d'lair et de l'espace, Le Bourget, Paris, 2015.
Comments: The Dewoitine D530 was a derivative of an earlier design by Émile Dewoitine back in 1928 called the D.27. The Dewoitine D.27 was a parasol monoplane fighter of witch 66 were operated by the Swiss Air Force beginning in 1931. The D530 incorporated a new Hipsano-Suiza engine and reinforced wings by request of the famous french Pilot Marcel Doret. The plane's first flight occurred in 21 april 1937 and Doret last flight on this aircraft was made in 1955 between Aimes and Reims in france, shortly before Doret's death. 

Aircraft walkaround vol.96: De Haviland DH89 Dragon Rapide

Subject: De Haviland DH89 Dragon Rapide

Location:Musée d'lair et de l'espace, Le Bourget, Paris, 2015.

Comments: Developed during the early 1930s, the Dragon Rapide was essentially a smaller, twin-engined version of the four-engined DH.86 Express, and shared a number of common features, such as its tapered wings, streamlined fairings and Gipsy Six engines. First named the "Dragon Six", the type was marketed as "Dragon Rapide" and later simply known as the "Rapide". Upon its introduction in summer 1934, it proved to be a popular aircraft with airlines and private civil operators alike, attaining considerable foreign sales in addition to its domestic use.The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide was a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its relatively primitive plywood construction.Upon the outbreak of the World War II, many of the civil Rapides were impressed into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy. Referred to in military service by the name de Havilland Dominie, the type was employed for radio and navigation training, passenger transport and communications missions; hundreds of additional Dominies were also constructed during the war. Other Rapides continued to be operated by British airlines throughout the war under the auspices of the Associated Airways Joint Committee (AAJC). Postwar, many military aircraft were returned to civilian service. Shortly after the end of the Second World War, de Havilland introduced a Dragon Rapide replacement, the de Havilland Dove.