Getting back into plastic.
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Thread: Getting back into plastic.

  1. #1
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    Getting back into plastic.

    "HANS HUCKEBEIN"

    FOLKEWULF TA-183

    GERMANY- 1946

    Model Subject: Folke Wulf Ta-183 "Huckebein"


    Kit Used: AMTech, kit no. 484601, 1/48 scale


    History of the aircraft modeled:


    The plane that became the MiG-15. While American troops captured the Messerschmitt P.1101 and eventually used its design platform to do the F-86; the Soviet Union captured all plans, wing tunnel tests, and mock up models of the Ta-183. Taken back to the MiG bureau, the design when fitted with a Rolls-Royce "Nene" engine and having its landing gear beefed up and horizontal tails lower to a mid position on the vertical tail, this aircraft design gave way to the MiG-15.


    The Ta-183 was the jet design chosen by the RLM in the Emergency Fighter Competition held in February 1945. The design featured a single-engine, swept wing fighter, which was designed for high speed and bomber interception. Sixteen experiment prototypes were to be built. The Ta-183 V1-V3 were to be powered by the Jumo OO4B turbojet,pending delivery of the He S 011 jet engine. The Ta-183 V4-V14 were to be constructed as O-series prep roduction aircraft and V15-V16 as static test aircraft. Scheduled to fly in May or June 1945, and enter full production in October 1945. However the entire project could not escape the rapid Allied assaults from both fronts in Germany. OnA pril 8, the Folke Wulf facilities were captured by the British andthe Ta-183 became nothing more than another Luftwaffe dream. Design and important papers for the Ta-183 made its way to Berlin, only to be captured by the Soviets when the captured the city.


    What is a "Huckebein"?


    Having read various descriptions by the expert crowd out there, I became skeptical and searched many German resources on what the term"Huckebein" meant. Alas, laddies and lassies, it comes from the child-poem "Hans Huckebein" by Wilhelm Busch. Hans Huckebein is a very curious young raven captured by Fritz and proves to be a complete disaster when brought home by Fritz. In the end, as with many German moral tales, our protagonist hero gets very drunk on liquor and hangs himself with the old aunt's yarn. For those interested in the entire story in German and English,visit http://rivertext.com/hans.shtml.


    Buildingthe model:


    Cockpit:
    The kit supplies a simple, yet efficient cockpit. Assembly is almost a snap fit. I painted the cockpit RLM 66 and brushed painted various controls and the gunsight black. The pilot came from my vast reserve of old figures. I had to snerf up the figure's legs to get it to properly fit in the tight AMTech cockpit. Fortunately one cannot readily see the midget legs. A slot was drilled and cut out with a#11 blade to except masking tape shoulder harnesses made from masking tape. A small piece of clear sheet styrene was cut and used for the gunsight reflector . The gunsight projection lens was drilled out painted silver and clear yellow, and then given a drop of Krystal Klear. Reheat Models control and data placards were applied to various boxes. The instrument gauges were first brushed black. I followed by painting the gauge faces white and glossed this when the white was dry. Next I applied India ink to the gauge recesses and swiped away any on the raised surfaces with a damp micro brush. This works very well with gauges molded as deep as AMTech's gauges.


    Exterior:
    Absolutely no complaints fit-wise with this one folks, beautiful fit! But I was a bit put off by the sink depressions in many parts, most predominantly on the nose and two exhaust pieces. This seems to have occurred from rushed production to meet demands and the plastic being removed from the sprues before having a proper cooling period. I did not notice such depressions on the preview examples at various websites. You are going to have to do better AMTech on the quality control here, especially if you're going to charge Japanese prices for kits.

    The depressions were filled with Milliput and CNA and wet sanded smooth.An intake in this scale would have been a welcomed addition, but the closed off, baffled intake is very convincing when painted black. The same goes for the molded exhaust. This was painted black and given various washes of burnt iron. The center exhaust was printed on my computer and cut out, then cemented in with Elmer's glue. I drilled a hole in the exhaust spike and also drilled out the nose cannon ports to accept barrels made from 22-gauge hypodermic tubing. These were painted black, then metal black, and cemented in the final assembly with Elmer's glue. The antenna was done using styrene rod and the D/F loop was rifled from a Hobbycraft Messerschmitt kit. I replaced the kit's pitot with one made from two sizes of hypodermic tubing. Aerial wiring is smoke-colored invisible thread.


    Missiles:
    The Rhurstahl X-4 rockets included in the kit were nicely represented,but what was this flat split in the halves? I dealt with it, but it would have been nice to have them match the round surfaces. The rockets were painted black and masked before painting the tail and center bright silver. I made a template for the wood wings and cut 32 decals from light wood decal material. These were applied to the wings and touched up with MM Wood.


    Paintingand decaling:

    The model was primed in RLM 66 after masking the canopy with Bare-metalfoil. After sanding and filling a few discrepancies, I painted the nose white. Once dry, the nose was painted RLM 04 yellow and masked before painted the entire airframe and rocket pylons Pactra Flat Black. I like this black, as it has a faded used look. After removing the nose masking, the entire model received two prep coats of clear gloss.

    Kit decals were used, but if you do the version I did, switch the nose decals 9 and 11, they will fit infinitely better. Rather than use the kit's two-piece swastikas, I used two of the same size from an Aeromaster sheet. The image of the "Huckebein" raven was printed on clear inkjet decal paper using my HP printer. When applied over the yellow, the effect was to my liking. Lots of cutting and Microsol work was required for the recesses, but in the end, the decals delivered.

    Once dry, I sprayed two sealant coats of clear gloss and finished the model with two coats of clear flat. Navigation lights and rear warning light were done with Bare-metal foil. The rear light merely received a drop of Krystal Klear, while the wings lights were painted clear red and clear blue of the port and starboard side srespectively. The final touch was a light brushing of Future on the canopy glazings and Herr Huckebein was ready to take flight.


    Conclusions:
    I would like to give this kit an A+, but the mold depressions put it inthe B+ category, especially when price is considered. Overall, the decals are great, with exception of a little registration problem on a couple, none of which I used. The fit is easy enough for your kid to build, but the price keeps it out of that territory. Highly recommended for Luftwaffe "46 fans, however, you're going to love this kit. The minute my old Uncle Harry saw, he said, "it's a damn MiG, but I ain't never seen one like that"




  2. #2
    outstanding !! it was a favorite of mine in old IL2FB..
    enter..the Sandman

    visit Heywood Planes - YouTube

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