Fil d'information

Alec K
Can't miss this one! Very nice start 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Good to see you, Alec. As you can guess, this is gonna be a big show. There's gonna be a lot of cutting, a lot of editing, and of course, I'll be scratching out new parts. At this point, I'm still planning the build process. But work on the model will soon be in full swing.

Pierre Pierre
very intersting transformation. Following

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome, Pierre, I'm very pleased to see your interest. I hope you find my rebuilding interesting.

The manufacturer of the Avia BH.9 model states 1/48 scale on the box. Actually the model is made in a slightly smaller scale 1/50. I don't mind that in this case. The Avia BH.10 is very similar to the Avia BH.9, but because it is a single-seat aircraft, it is smaller overall than the Avia BH.9. . So even if I build a single seat Avia BH.10 in 1/48 scale, I will be scaling down the fuselage and wing parts from the kit. I have been comparing the fuselage and wing parts to a 1/48 scale drawing of the Avia BH.10 and wondering how to scale the parts down to fit the desired shape and size.

Robert Podkoński
Taking a seat, of course!

J35J
Great start! Following👍🏻

Villiers de Vos
A great project.

bughunter
Nice project! The BH-10 will fit nicely between your finished BH-9 and BH-11 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Frank, you make a good point. The Avia BH.10 will add to my collection of Avia BH series monoplanes from the 1920s. They are very interesting and modern aircraft for their time, if only because biplanes dominated the skies at that time.

Ludvík Kružík
I finished modifying the fuselage and wings to 1/48 scale.

Ludvík Kružík
I started making new parts for the model.

bughunter
Successful reshaping of kit parts 👍
Not very much left of the kit, but it looks like that way needs less work compared to a full scratch build.

Ludvík Kružík
That's right. Due to the great similarity of the fuselage and wings of both Avia's, it is easier to modify these parts than to produce completely new ones. Still, there will be a lot of work involved in building the model.
At the moment I have the basic parts roughly ready. I still have to work on them. I will have to do some puttying and sanding. And then fill in all the details.

Alec K
Nice progress. Watch, KP will release their 1/72 kit in 48 just as you finish… 😉 😄

Ludvík Kružík
I'm not really worried about that. Even if it happens, I'm fine with it. Avia BH.10 in 1/72 scale is not very accurate. And if KP goes the route of enlarging parts of the 1/72nd scale model while making a 1/48th scale model (which I think is very likely), it will transfer all the errors of the original model to the new one. Plus, I really like these "crazy" rebuilds. It's a lot of fun for me. 😉

Alec K
I fully agree, scratch builds and conversions are a lot of fun. I'll have to compare the KP kit to drawings before starting mine 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Alec, before building a model you have to choose which machine you want to build. I'm building a first production run machine, but KP's 1/72 scale kit is a second production run machine. Otherwise there were machines with special modifications. And be careful which drawing you want to use. Some drawings are not very accurate (for example the drawing from Modeler 7/1986).
I have described the basic differences between the first and second production series machines in the attached photo.

Alec K
Great, thank you! Do you have a drawing recommendation?

Ludvík Kružík
Alec, you can find a lot of useful information about Avia BH.10 on Czech Modelforum in Pavel Kloucek's overviews.
Information about machines from the first production run can be found here: modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=310&t=143236
And information about the machines of the second production series is here: modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=310&t=143254
A lot of interesting information about the Avia aircraft designed by Benes and Hajn is in this book: nasevojsko.eu/nasevo..onstrukce-Benes-Hajn

I sent you a PM about the drawings.

Alec K
Super, thank you very much.

Ludvík Kružík
I am continuing to build the model by making a new cockpit.

Ludvík Kružík
Unfortunately I only have one period photo of the cockpit, which shows the instrument panel and the right side of the cockpit.
I'm working from the drawing to create the controls and instruments on the left side of the cockpit and floor, with the help of photos of the Avie BH.11 cockpit.
Since the Avie BH.9, 10 and 11 have the same engine and very similar construction, I think most of the cockpit controls were designed very similarly, if not identically.

gorby
Very impressive work so far.

Alec K
Cockpit looks great, those instruments are superb 👍

bughunter
... and the wood looks good too!

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome my friends! Thank you for your interest and popdoru. I really appreciate it.

Ludvík Kružík
I finished the cockpit. After gluing the starboard side to the cockpit, I'll mount the cockpit to the fuselage.

Alec K
Your prop effort beats mine. I tried with sandwitched colored paper infused with resin but needed a painted color overlay. I need to try with correct colored card stock next time.

Ludvík Kružík
Making a propeller out of coloured cardboard was an experiment for me. I wondered if it would work.

Ludvík Kružík
I finished making the cockpit. Now I'm going to glue the bottom of the fuselage and then putty and sand the fuselage.

Ludvík Kružík
It was time to puttying and sanding. We'll see how many times I have to repeat this cycle.

Villiers de Vos
A lot of attention to detail. It will pay off in the end.

bughunter
I will buy shares of putty manufacturers. 😉

Ludvík Kružík
Villiers, welcome! Good to see you again.

This aeroplane is very simple and there are very few small details on it. But the few that are on it, I'll be sure to pay attention to. 😉

Bughunter,
maybe your plan to buy shares in the putty maker will pay off. At least in my case the putty maker made a profit 😄.

I know the fuselage doesn't look good with a heavy coat of putty. But the hull needed that layer of putty on the bow. I had to fill in all the joints and minor unevenness. There won't be much putty left on the hull after sanding, but since the putty shrinks as it dries, it's hard to tell ahead of time where more putty is needed and where maybe not. In this case, more is better.

Ludvík Kružík
The fuselage, wings and tail surfaces are ready for minor detailing. In the end I just needed one rough puttying, sanding, spraying surfacer, one fine puttying of minor defects, sanding again and final surfacer.

Jakub Fiala
Super! 👍

Alec K
Very nice progress 👍

bughunter
The polished surfaces looks great! 👍

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Amazing how this turnded out till now Ludvik! Biggest respect for this special project and efforts you make on it. Looking forward to the next steps 🤩

Ludvík Kružík
Mates, thank you all!
It's great to have you on board. Your support means a lot to me.

Ludvík Kružík
After a short vacation I returned to building the Avia. I haven't had much time to build it yet.

I taped the tail surfaces with masking tape so I could spray thin strips of surfacer on the ribs.
To indicate the slight sagging of the canvas on the wing surfaces that were only covered with canvas, I started scraping these surfaces very gently with a round-bladed scalpel. Once I had completed this operation on both wings, it was my turn to cover them with masking tape so that I could spray strips of surfacer on the wing ribs.

I'll add photos of the work in progress next time.

Ludvík Kružík
I started adding details to the fuselage, wings and tail surfaces.

Ludvík Kružík
I'm slowly resuming my work. I've sprayed the rib bands on the wings and added some minor detailing to the left side of the fuselage.

Ludvík Kružík
The top and side surfaces of the Avia are sprayed with the first of three camouflage colours.

Moreno Baruffini
WOOOOOOOWWW! Super!

Alec K
This will be another beauty 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Moreno Baruffini, thank you, I appreciate it.

Alec, when this Avia is finished, it will complete my collection of Avia BH-3, Avia BH-9 and Avia BH-11 monoplanes from Benes and Hajn constructors.

Villiers de Vos
Still nailed to my chair.

Ludvík Kružík
Villiers thank you for your interest.

Due to the summer season and its associated activities and the occasional babysitting of my 15 month old grandson, I have less time to build the model. Progress will be slower.

Ludvík Kružík
The upper surfaces of the Avia are already covered with tri-colour camouflage. There was no time to spraying silver paint on the lower surfaces today. At least I know what I will do next time 😄.

Villiers de Vos
Coming together nicely.

Alec K
The colors look great 👍

bughunter
The colours bring it to life!
And no worry about slower progress - family and life is very important.

Moreno Baruffini
I totally agree with Bughunter!

Ludvík Kružík
@ Villiers and Alec
Thank you for your support, it is very much appreciated.

@ bughunter and Moreno
You are right, family is important and has a higher priority than building models. Don't worry, I'm clear on this point. 😉

Ludvík Kružík
Today I had time and also the daytime temperatures dropped to a bearable limit so I took advantage of it and moved the construction a little bit again.

Ludvík Kružík
I continue building the model by making parts for the landing gear, propeller and wings. I also printed the decals with the serial numbers.

Villiers de Vos
Fantastic skills.

Robert Podkoński
Presumably, you're approaching the finish line, Ludviku 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
Mates, thank you!

Robert, it's true. Once I finish the individual assemblies, the model building and completion of the model will move forward quickly. 🙂

bughunter
Nice details on the undercarriage - the kit seem to be short run.

Guy Rump
Looking great! 👍

Curatorm
This model seems to be workable ^_^

Ludvík Kružík
@ Bughunter,
you're not far from the truth. During the building of my Avia BH - 9 and Avia BH - 11 kits, I received quite a lot of inquiries from Czech modellers asking if I was thinking about releasing the kit in a short run.
Unfortunately I don't have the equipment or experience to produce these kits. That is why I am sticking with my rebuilds and builds from scratch. But they say "never say never". So who knows, maybe someday... 😉

@ Guy Rump, Curatorm
Thanks for the kind words, it's a great inspiration for me to continue working on this project 🙂.

Skyhiker
Your hard work is paying off. Looking forward to seeing it all come together.

Ludvík Kružík
Skyhiker, thank you for your contribution.
And I can at least partially satisfy your curiosity. I've attached the wings with struts and horizontal tail surfaces to the fuselage.

Alec K
… and it has wings! Looking awesome 👍

Villiers de Vos
Very nice progress.

Ludvík Kružík
Summer weather and holidays are not very good for modelling, but I have noticed some progress. I am gradually making small parts. Most of them are in the semi-finished stage.

Ludvík Kružík
Tomorrow (if nothing goes wrong) I will spray the Avia with glossy clear coat. Then all that's left to do is add the last few parts and indicate a bit of operational wear... and we'll be done. If there are no complications, it could be done in three days.

Dietmar Bogatzki
Awesome build 🙂

bughunter
I really like the well presented open engine at the front 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Thank you for your kind contributions.

bughunter, the engine is a standalone accessory produced by 3D printing technology and manufactured by MH models.

Avia BH-10 is finished. As soon as I have a moment, I will take better photos of the model and put them in the gallery... and I will add a family photo with BH-3, BH-9 and BH-11.

Villiers de Vos
A beautiful and unique project. Thank you for sharing.

Moreno Baruffini
Bellissimo! A wonderful little gem! Thanks for all the pictures.

Marko
Everything has already been said, what else can you add? But the implementation of the many modifications and the entire construction is excellent. Really interesting construction report👍

Alec K
Another beautiful addition to your Czechoslovak AF collection. I wish mine was as far along (I know… shut up and go build something 😉

Ludvík Kružík
Thank you all very much for your kind contributions. They really made me happy and mean a lot to me.

Avia BH-10 is finished and her other pictures are in this album: Avia BH-10 (first production run) 1/48 | Album by KLuK (1:48)

Goldman
Good looking Volvo Gyula. Looks great in grey

Gyula Asztalos
Thank you for the kind words. The grey color is RAL7011 (The instruction specifies RAL7015) and I used a simple acrylic spary from the local hardware store. I also used a transparent gloss spray of the same brand. So no fancy stuff and not even a base layer (which I should have used...).
Unfortunately the result is far from perfect. As this was my first model, I made various mistakes during the build and had to do corrections on the cabin paint as well. I did my best but at the end, among other issues, the cabin paint is far more thick than the ideal. I think I learned a lot from my mistakes, so I hope I will be better on my next model.

Goldman
I never was able to get any results with spray cans except making a huge mess and having a lot of drips and puddles on my model. I also think that hand brushing is one of the most difficult modelling tasks to master. I gave up many years ago and use hand brushing only for small details. Once you made the initial investment in equipment (airbrush, compressor and spray booth) and in time to learn the basics you can get pretty decent results. I am by no mean an airbrush expert but I am happy with the results I get with it much more often then using spray cans or hand brushing 😄

In general I give very little concern to the color callouts in kits, especially Italeri. First, it is my model and I will use whatever color I want, second, the color callouts are not always correct and third there is so much variety and customization in trucks so I am sure you can find an actual truck with your chosen color somewhere.

Looking forward to your next model.

Bozzer
Just dropped in to say hi.
Personally mate, as a truck builder, I would say that's pretty good, even as your first attempt. All Italeri trucks, have flaws. Usually it's an issue with the instructions, so to even get it finished, is an achievement!
I build a lot of AMT, Revell and Italeri, and it's only with experience, that you notice that you're being misguided by the instructions.
There's a few of us, big rig builders around, so feel free to ask questions and see some of the crazy things that we do? But as Goldman has said, it's your model, and you can do whatever you want, to it. The only time a colour is important, is it you're doing a specific livery? For example, DHL, FedEx, companies like that. I've seen way too many debates about this black, that black, the wrong silver, and so on? People need to realise, that sometimes, we builders have to work with, what we've got? I have to admit though, getting an airbrush, opened up a lot more possibilities for me. Mixing your own colours, can be extremely good fun. And the best time to learn, is right now.
So well done on a great model, and I look forward to seeing your next truck. Enjoy 🙂

Bozzer
Take a peek at that madness? We're all truly nuts, without a doubt! 😛

Spanjaard
if you can not find them, i would suggest to make the numbers in the computer, print them in masking paper, cut then with a sharp blade ,and paint them with the airbrush.

Ben M
Lots of decals on eBay but they say things like "1/350" - not sure what that means in mm

Donald Dickson II
OK, so I am doing another Phantom. Almost as surprising as me doing an Eagle. 😄 LOL

So, I was asked to do one to use the landing gear and exhaust set by 3D Chute Expert out of Taiwan. My club Pres has a page that he highlights builds and products, and 3D is one of the companies he showcases. So he sent me this set, which is not in the database here yet. But to the build.

This is the Academy kit. I LOVELOVELOVE this kit. This is my 3rd one. The only drawback to the kit is the gear wells, but I think I have the best way to do them figured out now. Still the only part of the kit I detest. So, as I wait for the Eduard PE for the cockpit to get here, I moved right on to the landing gears. As I said, I was given this set to try out, and I will give my honest opinion. You all know I dont mince words. LOL That being said, these things are great! The detail is superb. They fit right into the wheel well with no hassles. I simply hit them with some gloss white, a dirt wash as this is going to be Col Olds's plane as it flew, not as the museum piece. Did a couple of the lines black and poof, thats it. No need to add any parts from the kit (aside from maybe landing lights) as they have every detail already on them. A total winner in my book.

And as to the subject matter. If you dont already know, Col Robin Olds (he eventually made Brigadier General) was one of the best pilots to grace the cockpit of an aircraft. Triple ace between WWII and Nam. Definitely should read up on him. There arent many, if any, left like him. If youre a Phantom phan and a USAF guy, this plane is a must do. 🙂

Donald Dickson II
Landing gear installed and wings together. Intakes together and done with the latex paint method. Got the PE for the pit finally, so that has commenced as well.

Donald Dickson II
OK, PE installed for the pit. The lading gears came with wheels as well. And they are just as nice as the gears. Just gotta add a little dirt to em. And the seats from the kit. I could have sworn I had some resin seats in my parts box, but alas, no. I ordered the PE belts to dress up these. They are pretty good aside from no belts. I need to redo the oh shit handles.

David H
Ok gotta ask . " Latex paint method" what's that all about ???

Donald Dickson II
David, I did a sort of tutorial...

Intake painting | Album by smokeriderdon

Augie
Love the work so far Don 🙂

Maciej Bellos
Grabbing a seat!

Donald Dickson II
Augie, thanks! Maciej, welcome!

OK, its starting to look like a Phantom now.

Matt Dika
The F-4 always has a special place in my heart.. Keep up the good work!

David H
Cheers Don, I'm definitely giving that a try. Just got to find some paint 😁👍🏻 which I've just learned from a quick google search is known as "emulsion" here in the UK ! 😁

Donald Dickson II
Its a mess, but it works pretty well. 🙂

Got the tires on, front landing gear on. These things look fantastic in place. Again, cant recommend them enough. Ill be using his products more often I think. Also, I got one seat done with the PE belts. Man its tedious. Doing just this convinces me I will NEVER do a freaking ship. LOL

Donald Dickson II
OK, back to this one. Primed and silver sprayed a bit. You can see the blue spots. Thats masking fuid. Once I paint the camo over it, I will scrub the paint and get the chipping effect his plane has in the pic.

Thats the plan anyway. LOL

Donald Dickson II
2/3 of the initial camo on.

Dog sitting at a friend's house for a couple weeks so had to bring half my bench with me. Getting a bit of work in.

For those that care, 6 dogs. 2 are mine. A cocker and a Pit. Hers are the puts sister, a Pit boxer mix, a mastiff mix and a pit Shar pei mix. Woohoo! LOL

Donald Dickson II
I think I may have done a bit much on the weathering.

Donald Dickson II
Well, for better or worse I'm going with heavily weathered active war bird because that's what it was. I'm sure plenty will criticize, but I like the look. A few more little things then decals.