WiP - Mirage 1:48 Halberstadt CL.II

[Brad Cancian]

Hi all,

It has been a while since I was last at the bench... this has been due to a number of things like being overseas for a while... all in all it has been light on modelling wise since end of May... anyways I decided to start back afresh with something straight out of the box and thought I would share some progress pics. I chose the Mirage 1/48 Halberstadt CL.II - the kit is very comprehensive and highly detailed - reminiscent of Eduard kits in terms of all of the goodies you get inside the box.... should be a fun build.

I decided to start this one a little more backwards than I usually do - instead of tackling the interior first I decided to lozenge the wings, as I finally managed to get hold of some Future floor polish to try as a clear gloss (and yes, the stuff is made of liquid awesome). I chose the kit scheme that I wanted, and got straight into it.

First up was cleaning and glossing the wings in preparation for the lozenge decals. I decided to use a combination of Eagle Strike lozenge for the upper surfaces, and Microsculpt for the lower (I could have used microsculpt for the uppers, but I think the colours are a little too light and a little off, I much prefer the Eagle Strike stuff).

CL.II's had their lozenge applied at a 45 degree angle. Careful measuring and cutting helped here. The rib tapes were also cut individually and applied over the ribs. Edging around the flying surfaces was also done with individually cut slices of lozenge and applied with lots of patience and lots of decal softener! All in all this process took about a week with a couple of hours a night. It was all sealed in with a coat of future.




Next came application of national / personal markings. The kit decals are VERY thin, and the white stripes were translucent, so I applied another white decal over the top of them. Again another coat of future to seal.



Then the fun part - texturing. I oversprayed the flying surfaces with highly thinned gunze "sail colour", in order to tone down the bright colours. Then I applied Tamiya "smoke" over the rib positions. I followed this with a light oil filter, streaked in the direction of the airflow to add some extra texture. This was the first time I tried it and it came out ok. Sealed it all in with a coat of clear flat.




So far, so good! Feedback and criticisms always welcomed!

BC

[Brez]

Hi Brad,
The familiar Eagle Strike decals in the first photo are transfomed into realistic looking lozenge by the fourth, could you elaborate on what you mean by a "light oil filter".
I'm building this kit myself (very, very slowly) along with Karaya's Cl.IV, and I'm finding that despite having to separate control surfaces etc., the Karaya kit is getting to the same place as the Mirage one much quicker. Perhaps it's just me.
Great stuff so far (as usual), I look forward to seeing the rest of the build..
Cheers,
Tony.

[FOKKERJ]

Hello Brad,

Like Brez/Tony says, I also am enjoying this and looking forward to this build.
I have both the Karaya and the Mirage kits.
The Mirage has such an impressive ammount of detailed parts in plastic,
a lot of weight to the box and the Karaya is such a beautiful kit also.

Your wings have turned out exceptionally nice so far.

Thanks for sharing, Jay

[coyotemagic]

Brad,
Great to see you back, and with such a cool subject. Interesting, starting with the wings first, but you get some instant gratification that way. I did that with my Fokker D.VII. You've done a beautiful job on all the lozenged surfaces. Your 'smoke' and 'oil filter' have given the loz a very real feel. Superb. Can't wait to see more.
,
Bud

[StephenLawson]

Excellent Brad!

Changing things up is a great way to keep a build fresh.

[Doug Baumann]

looking Great Brad i can't wate to see more

Doug

[terri werner]

Very nicely done Brad ! Looking forward to the next up-date and what you will do with the cockpit .

[Scimitar]

Very nice Brad, the result sounds excellent. I'm impatient to see your further progresses...

[albatros1234]

thats a smart way to insure you will complete the model. i always start with the cockpit and fuselage then get to the lozenge wings and say to myself " i'll catch that later" then of course i start another kit and do it again.i have had my wnw lvg closed up,for a long time, i not long ago woodgrained the fuselage, now the holdup is decideing if i wouldnt just be satisfied with doing the option 1 prototype with the green/mauve flying surfaces. i keep trying to justify it by telling myself " it will be different then the rest if i do this "but its just because lozenge is a pain in the fanny.

[osterkamp]

wow, very nice start Brad,i will be impatient to see the next step