My little Spatz

[Adam the Akrodude]

The madness continues now with canopy detailing. The canopy lock above was modified from this picture and finished up as per below - I know I know you chant - "what effing difference is there Adam and who the eff cares FFS!". Well, I've come this far with this build, so the madness must continue I say! Now back to more engine plumbing. The more pic's I look at, the more wiring and plumbing I must do - AAARRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

canopy 1 by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

Spatz with canopy by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

[Adam the Akrodude]

I've entered that realm of madness only few models fear to tread - when the model starts speaking to you demanding ever more and more detail. Well, Spatz fans, I'm not quite that far gone, but almost!

I keep finding more and more real estate to populate with detail on this little engine and the more I do it, the better my skills become. Some of my first attempts are a little crude compared to where I'm at now. It's more about working with the materials I have - brass tube, bits of wire I've collected over the years, etc. I have some thin stainless wire I can't remember where I got it from - off some instrument I think. It's pretty springy and hard to bend. So how to fix this I thought to myself as it's the perfect gauge for some fuel lines on the engine. I thought why not heat it, so I found a trusty BIC lighter and turned the wire red hot and bingo = perfect colour and easier to bend - yay! I'll have to repeat this process for the Meatbox Mk.8 I attempt down the track as the Airfix kit as two beautiful little engines to detail - I'd only do the one as two would surely kill me!

Plumbing is now mostly done. I have the electrics (yellow) and what looks to be a air line (blue) to add finally, then paint and grime.

20180703_114959_resized by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

20180703_114932_resized by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

[Adam the Akrodude]

Revi gun sight fitted and I wanted to show the brilliant Yahu instrument panel which are just jewels in my opinion. The kit comes with a decal for the instruments, so well worthy of a upgrade in my opinion. The instrument panel was the only AM part I purchased, as I did want to minimise AM purchases as much as possible on this build - the kit didn't warrant major AM upgrades, just some scratch building has sufficed, as what detail present is good enough, just needs adding onto. The seat beats I found in my etch spares.

20180703_124023_resized[3851] by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

20180703_123917_resized[3853] by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

[Adam the Akrodude]

Just glued the very last tube onto little Spatz's BMW turbo - thank f_cking F_CK!

Please excuse my poor language, but I'm pretty glad the last of 50+ scratch build tubes, pipes, fittings. wires have been fitted to the BMW engine. It's a milestone I won't be repeating any time soon. This is THE most nuts I've ever gone detailing a engine of any type and represents major OCD - just sayin' I may need to enter a period of very expensive therapy after this event! My therapist has said though that every day in every way I'm getting better and better!

Photos to follow of my finished Spatz and engine soon - after final touch ups and a therapy session or two!

[oz rb fan]

sounds like to need to visit DR jameson's

[Wedgetail]

sounds like to need to visit DR jameson's

Yes, I concur with Oz, maybe a few visits might be more appropriate. Dr.Jameson's magic elixir will cure whatever ails you Adam.
As will as a visit to an other office at Havana Club.
Cheers, Wayne.

[Adam the Akrodude]

As I just can't find anything else more to do on Spatz and reached a point of diminishing returns should I try, it's done - PHEW! First model finished in two years. This was supposed to be a simple mojo enhancer as Tamiya builds usually are, but it ended up being a epic super-detailing build, particularly in regard to the engine. I added over 70+ individual pieces to the engine - just lost count in the end. So, at least I have something for Expo next year finished!

20180725_133654[4017] by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

20180725_133531[4018] by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

20180725_133438[4019] by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

20180725_133232[4021] by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

20180725_133156[4022] by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

20180725_133132[4023] by Adam Dormer, on Flickr

[hrtpaul]

I'm not sure which I like better, the aircraft or the engine Insane work there man as that has come up brilliantly. Just don't forget your references for expo

[Adam the Akrodude]

I'm not sure which I like better, the aircraft or the engine Insane work there man as that has come up brilliantly. Just don't forget your references for expo

I've got some brilliant references including photos of the BMW engine at NASM which I think best portray just how this engine looked. There are plenty of photos of refurbished BMWs and they all look a little different with tubing in all sorts of colours. I stuck with the NASM reference which lagely shows unpainted steel tubing/pipes. Interestingly enough this engine may pose issues for the judges as Ed Russel at our "Sunday Modellers" meeting said that the judges may have to ignore the engine when judging the He-162 as it's separate to the aeroplane. This is interesting as the model includes for the provision to put the engine on a stand and it's part of the aircraft itself - without it, it's just a glider and not a good one at that! So, it will be interesting next year to discover whether or not it's judged or not. I could enter it separately, but that to me is defeating the purpose for the sake of entering a model to attempt to win a trophy. I will display them together whether or not the engine is judged or not. I built it for me anyway, not to try to win a trophy and it was a interesting and quite a learning experience. It really was a challenge, but so glad to have done it. It's good to push the boundaries at times!

Thanks Paul for your comments.

[hrtpaul]

Don't shit stir at expo whatever you do. I'd never do that *cough* Steve the Spitfire *cough*