Hi All,

Well here`s the next mini-project, while things get sorted.

Here`s the pilot for my Stuka (in the future), but should be a nice little infill whilst I rearrange my life over the next few weeks.

This is the Tamiya 1:16 kit.

Box Art pic below.

Now, at this point I would like to express some of my concerns with this kit.

The Body (Torso) is made up of two parts, in it`s self not an issue, but there is a wealth of detail on the pilot`s uniform, which is lost under the life-jacket.

So you might say "Leave off the life jacket"

Only one problem with that is, that:

Back straps, waist straps, crotch and shoulder straps are all included on the torso.

Had the straps been an addition to the torso, then you would have had the choice, life-jacket or not.

So, my choice is, paint the torso, so no missing colours around edge of life-jacket are showing, then do a good a job as possible on the life-jacket and hopefully end up with a good result.

So next pic is the parts fret:

Got over eager and took the body parts off the fret. , but you`ll get the idea.

In the last pic I put the Torso parts together and cleaned up some of the edges to make sure the lines of the uniform match ok.

You will now be able to see the detail of the pilot`s uniform/insignia and medals that will be lost under his life-jacket.

Seems to me, that to remove the parts of the life-jacket that will be in the way of a straight uniform model will be an awful lot of hassle, but I`m open to suggestions.

So, I will leave this one as it is for now.

If you have any ideas to improve this, please speak up and I`ll try my best to give this kit some justice.

Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Ditto to what Andy has said, an Xacto chisel blade should do the job.


Spencer

Hi Del, looks a good one The straps are certainly more tricky to remove from the back but certainly do-able, good luck with it anyway!

Steve

Hi Alan ,

Thanks for taking the time to look in.

As of the time of this post, I have removed approx 75% of the offending life jacket, even if I say so myself I`m quite pleased with the outcome.



Time will tell though, should be able to post an update tomorrow, work and everything else allowing.

Happy Building

Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Hi Tony ,

Yep, this kit has some great detail. Unfortunately, some of it where not needed.

The silly thing is, they give you two heads for the figure. One with a cap and one without, but you don`t get the choice of life jacket or not.

Hey Ho, will plod on with the upgrade and see what comes out of it.

Thanks for taking the time to look in.

Update should be soon,so we`ll see then how things turn out.

Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Del

Knew you would manage this -well done.

Some nice sanding should smooth things out a treat and then a little trick I learnt is use a brush and some liquid cement - I use ema plastic weld- to smooth out any other imperfections.

Do not be tempted to use this on fine detail however as it's melting the plastic that does the smoothing so would only be suitable on areas with no detail such as these jacket sections.

Hope that makes some sort of sense.

Happy modelling

Tony

Really well done - Good job.

Give it a prime and any other imperfections will stand out more easily.

Jase

Hi Jase,

Many thanks for the follow-on input.

Will give it a coat at the weekend, when not working for a change.

Then will post a couple of pics.

Would assume any errors can be faded out with something like "Milliput"

Will update soon.

Many thanks for the assist.

Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Hi del,
That,s skills at its best,cool del.
Trev