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Nathan Dempsey
The next project is up and running. This one will likely get a slow start as there's another hurricane headed my way…

Nathan Dempsey
Well we survived that darn hurricane and had power restored yesterday by some fine Canadian fellows from Nova Scotia. The project continues with some progress to the fuselage.

Clifford Keesler
Watching. Glad you weathered the hurricane ok. Did not know you were in Florida. I am a transplanted Florida guy. I am from Panama City. Was down there the end of August, first time I had been back since 2001. Hurricane Michael sure messed up the place, but they have rebuilt a lot. The house I lived in from 1995-2001 no longer exist, hurricane Michael leveled it.

Nathan Dempsey
We were part of mandatory evac. I sent the family away and stayed since my parents are next door in a 100 year old frame home. We were lucky and had minimal damage. We just lost large oaks and our entire cow field was a shallow lake. Power was out for a while but I'm used to living simple during such times. Yeah Michael was a monster.

The plastic in this kit is quite fragile. Getting parts off the tree cleanly is quite difficult. Very happy with the ResKit parts! They are very clean and easy to prepare.

Nathan Dempsey
More work today included adding etched parts to the rear fuselage and filling large holes intended for oversized antennas. Will be replacing all antennas with etched parts or thin plastic sheet.

Clifford Keesler
Looking good Nathan. Glad you only had minor damage, and all is well.

Clifford Keesler
I have 2 ESCI Mirage 2000's wonder if they are the same as the Heller kit?

Nathan Dempsey
Thank you sir! The Heller kit is the same as the Eduard kit. I believe the ESCI kit is now the Italeri kit.

Clifford Keesler
OK, thanks. Any way I have 2, hope they are good.

Nathan Dempsey
Work continues. Today I added some etched hydraulic lines to the rear landing gear. Preparation begins for the ResKit wheel set.

Clifford Keesler
Looking very nice sir.

Desert Marlin
Excellent work!!!

Dutch
Nathan, I love checking in from time to time, (super busy with Hurricane Helene and Milton recovery at the house and the rented house.). Anyway, glad to see you start this project. Did you ever build the Monogram Mirage 2000 and ESCI Jaguar I sold you? K/r, Dutch

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Clifford & Desert!

Dutch: Same here. Still cutting downed trees and burning it all. Too much to place by the streets. The Mirage waits in the stash and the Jag was built as a close copy of my Kosovo build and given to a friend.

Nathan Dempsey
Added some photos of continuing work which includes more paint work on the landing gear and exhaust, the addition of the painted ejection seat to the cockpit & the completed external fuel tank.

Clifford Keesler
Beautiful work.

Desert Marlin
Looks great! I suppose you are aware that the Mirage 2000 series aircraft have the option of an arresting hook or a parachute for landing? I believe either can be installed but only one of the two depending on airfields and conditions. Referring to photo #5.

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Clifford & thanks for the catch on that parachute housing Desert!

I found a good picture of a '91 Mirage 2000 with the bigger chaff dispenser replacing the back of that housing. I'll need to go back and file that off and change the position of all the chaff dispensers. I'll add some pictures this evening.

Laurent VILLANUEVA HELLER ForEver
je vais suivre = 2000 et daguet !

Laurent VILLANUEVA HELLER ForEver
color pit = humbrol 27
radome = 64 ,
grey 127
blue = 144 with white...

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

Christian W
Damned, how far will I go? Found a quite interessting wip on modelcarsmag (modelcarsmag.com/for..-mpc-72-pontiac-gto/) with a lot of work on the fitting ...

István Szücs
Christian, that's an incredible build!

Martin Oostrom
I'm not sure I like the front end of that car.
Let's see what you'll make of it

Christian W
The front end was an issue ever. Im not the biggest fan too. I was buying this because I thought it was built in 1973 too. But the 1973 GTO is a totally other car and this kit doesn't fullfill the requirements of our annual group build of our "club".
After looking through that wip, ... I think I will not go that far. But one I will do: reduce the gaps at the front. They are really present.

Christian W
I started this GTO in between because the Charger sucks a little or my mind gives me the order that I have to work on several kits at the same time.
I was in the mood, to get this car painted. So I get some spots sanden on the body, fillered it and gave it a kind of green-turquis-blueish. This rattle can is on of the leftover of the 1977 Firebird (1977 Pontiac Firebird Coupe | Project by christian-w (1:25)) color I bought, when I was looking for the right color. I think it works on this car good.

Christian W
By the way: I'm not going for a vinyl roof on that.

Christian W
Next steps are done. The body got it's clear cote, undercarriage and interior is painted too. It's good. Now I'm thinking about how to get a little more shade into the interior color. It's to close to the body color.

Martin Oostrom
Spray some Tamiya smoke over it?

Christian W
Smart idea! Maybe this klear yellow from Tamiya could work too. I have to give that a try.

Christian W
I painted the interior. First i tried with tamiya smoke to go over it but I wasn't satisfied. Then I went through my metallic paints and grabbed #397 (Car Metallic Plane Tree Green) and mixed a little #60 (Yellow Green) into it. Maybe 10%. I think it's not that bad so far.
Now I think about to take the same mixture for my 1977 Firebird 🙂

Martin Oostrom
Nice colour for the interior

Christian W
Thank you! It could be, that I go over it another time. It depends on, how it works together with the exterior color. It might be a little to green 😉 The body looks more blueish. Darker. Dirtier 😉 Somehow.

Christian W
Did the interior. I think it's ready to be completed

Bill Newcomer
I like your build. It may be too late now, but the rear package tray was this cardboard and is the same color as the door cards.

Christian W
Thanks, Bill. Maybe to late. Yes, it is. I know, that it should be in the same color like the door panels and/or the seats. I wanted to have a bit of more contrast in the interior because it looked a little boring for me I will say. So I decided, to "costumize" that. I was thinking the same way at the lower part of the door panels too but - as you can see - I didn't change that.

Nigel Chapman
Love that interior

Christian W
Thank you verymuch. The last week I took the chassis and powertrain. It comes to an end. Taking pictures and get you an update. I decided too, to build a mold for the lights to get them clear instead of that chrome at the front.
With this kit I'm fine.

Christian W
Slowly it comes together. The windows are in and the chrome trim is done. Not satisfied am I with those red rear lights. I'm trying to do my own in clear resin but they are so small, that I still have on tiny tiny bubble in it. I'll give it a last try.... On thing really sucks: the fitting of the rear bumper. I wish, I'd test fitted it in advance....

Bill Newcomer
Yes, the too wide rear bumper has been an issue for a number of reissues

István Szücs
Looks cool! What's the plan for the inner side of the headlights?

Bill Newcomer
I love the clear headlights. I don't supposed you could make a couple dozen for a modest fee could you?

Zbynek Honzik
Beautiful job! 👍

Clement
Fantastic work once again. Well done!

BAT21
Thank you both.

Robert Podkoński
Fabulous!

Skyhiker
Oh my that thing looks like a giant bug from my nightmares. You did an excellent job with this kit. Congratulations.

Steven Van Dyck
This project has taken a good start with the diorama build developing alongside the model. It will show the Dragon Sd.Kfz.7/2 armored version with Flak37 and Sd.Anhanger52, using the Royal Griffon set, Lion Roar barrel and Friul for the half-track. On the dio are the Plusmodel cathedral window and a yet to provide 1/35 large airplane fragment.

Neuling
Looking forward here ..........

Steven Van Dyck
All welcome. The engine is built with the help of 2 Griffon frets and some copper wiring to bend the tubes. I also added a frame to the dio. Some extra orders will enter the project next week.

Steven Van Dyck
The Plusmodel church ruin on the dio needs to have some duplicated elements. I eventually succeeded in making some copies with gum moulds. The RT glass-in-lead windows will fit in the windows and the RT church door will be mated to the door post. A priest figure and an English pilot will make an appearance later on.

Steven Van Dyck
The church wall keeps on growing as more plaster parts are cast. Each time a cardboard casing is made, then the original is covered in gum and pressed in the casing. It's removed carefully and then plaster is cast in the mould. Some corrections are made after unpacking the mould and then the part is glued to the wall. All of these walls are still kept as a dry-fit, to be able to work easier on the undeveloped side of the diorama. I got some laser printed carpentry for the roof that has come crashing down, these you can not find in a store but were provided by an architecture student.

Jv
Looking great and very interesting

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks! Today the two figures I have are made. The pilot is hiding himself against the wall inside the chapel, the priest tries to keep him out of view of the half-track crew. A sketch is added with the position and the scenery that is still missing for this, it will contain 3 small widows and a stepped entrance to the vault. I also spent a full day carving some spare PE fret remains into the metal tracery for the church door. Some Griffon shapes were really helpful after some drilling and cutting, mostly out of frets I had double. All of this remains dry-fit by now.

Steven Van Dyck
The half-track now got the roadwheels and a resin radiator cover that was slightly too small for the PE slats that came with the Griffon set. They would have worked with the kit radiator, but for some reason the Griffon one is not identical tot the kit one. A chapel is made for the fugitive pilot and a cardboard vault mould is concocted. I cast the plaster in it but maybe it's better if it stays witht the cardboard under it.

Steven Van Dyck
The Friul tracklinks are quite easy to finish, but the sprockets were supposed to have an axle and this is absent in Dragon with only a flange for the inner sprocket ring. Two 4mm brass tubes are used as an insert in the sprocket hubs and a 6mm hole is drilled in the transmission housing to allow for the rollers to align with the road wheels. The diorama chapel is plastered to eliminate the wood grain and to finish the vaulting.

Jv
Very nice work Steven thanks for sharing all the info and build pics
Looking forward to see more

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Jv. Today more of the small building is scratchbuilt out of styrene plates. I have removed the cardboard and completed the interior with plaster

Steven Van Dyck
With the Greenstuf "Bricks" rolling seal, a layer of clay is imprinted on the building and then the ornaments are inserted in the brickwork.

Mathias Decommere
Learning a lot from this high-skilled project! Thx for buildpics and congratulations allready.

Olivier
What a project !

Steven Van Dyck
Thank you, Mathias and Olivier. I'll try to keep up with your appraisal, today the roof is tiled and I cleaned up my toolbox to collect all the plastic nodes I needed for the pinnacle ornaments. I knew this would once come in handy, only I had to sort them out to get identical ones. The Trumpeter type abounded enough. The chapel got some embellishment out of a scrap 1/48 P-61 Double Wasp engine. Then the door was engraved and rivet punched. The bomber images show how I will try to copy a 1/72 wing surface to a 1/35 one (1/36 as the matter of fact, that will do fine if the wing is crashed). That Revell model I own since before I could paint and decal.

Steven Van Dyck
The bomber wing is now made rigid with styrene bulkheads and plastic tubes, after the skin is riveted with the Excel pinwheel. The glass for the chapel is inserted as a dry-fit.

Thomas Espe
Wow! 👀

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Thomas. To be fair, on the teaser the light of the kitchen only shines through.

Steven Van Dyck
The wing is now closed down and polished at the seam. Now I'm trying to make the cowling sheet metal, this is a daunting piece to scratch.

Villiers de Vos
Impressive scratch build skills. Very nice.

Michael Kohl
gonna watch that.

Steven Van Dyck
You're welcome, guys. Today the Sd. Anh. was built and I also try to make the fairing for the plane engine. The PE for the Anhanger is not well chosen, I'd rather have some more visible parts be replaced.

Steven Van Dyck
With the addition of a step, all elements were ready to be fixed to the dio. Some plasterwork was sculpted to look chipped off. After the fixing with about half a litre of plaster, the wall seemed to tilt back, I will probably correct this though it's very sturdy now. I only kept the little building loose to paint it. The engine nacelle is now partly plated.

Steven Van Dyck
I got the angle of the plaster wall right now. A partition is made between the two levels on the dio, using the perforated plate and some square sprue I got from the spares. The space behind will be filled up with plaster.

Steven Van Dyck
I built the Anhanger jerrycans with their PE core. I also scratched the cowling plates for the wing, but am still lacking a Merlin engine. I was nlow looking if I couldn't find a Meteor, because it would be in 1/35. I also fould a great addition to the churchyard, Maim's gravestone set. I'm still planning to change the rather bland RIP inscriptions.

Olivier
Your thirst for details is impressive...

Steven Van Dyck
I hope that it is met with scrutiny here, Olivier, so I like to take the time to add details. Today the cabin is detailed with a poseable driver seat and a new dashboard with plastic film.

Steven Van Dyck
The hatches in the cabin are replaced with PE. Dragon had some of its own, but Griffon is even replacing the rails that were molded flat. Then the door grips were bent in the PE shaped channel you get on the fret. I glued the top together but it can be removed still.

Steven Van Dyck
The spare wheelspace is entirely replaced with brass plating. Some parts are wire that is to be turned to a spring. The spare wheel will have to be inserted later on. The alternative mesh is now made, I guess it's another 200 parts painstakingly connected with as little glue as possible.

Villiers de Vos
Amazing techniques and skill.

Erik Off
I love such detailed build reports.
You have great ideas, e.g. using the sprues as decoration for the churchroof. 👍

By the way, in 15 minutes I'll be on my way to Belgium - Mol. 😄

Pepe
Oooooooooooooooole!!!!!!!

Steven Van Dyck
Welcome Pepe! Now the gun platform got its PE sides. Takes a while to bend and glue but the result can speak.

Villiers de Vos
Taking shape nicely

Rui S
Almost no plastic 😄. Great PE work as always 👍

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Rui. The amount of plastic will scarcely increase during the next steps. Two ladders are added to the rear. This requires drillng 8 goles through a crushed brass thread. Then a large amount of microscopic metal parts is assembled to the 37mm gun. The Lionroar barrel is a bit longer than the plastic one.

Steven Van Dyck
The gun is assembled with a myriad of PE particles. It all fits together very well and the build is assisted by the extremely detailed Griffon instructions. Now only the splinter shield remains to be completed in thransport mode.

Villiers de Vos
Coming along nicely. Phenomenal.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks Villiers. The rest of the shield, the front armor plate and the ammo clips are constructed.

Steven Van Dyck
Now the different types of ammo crates are processed. The grenades remain loose to be able to paint the interior.

Pepe
Oooooooooooooooole!!!!!!!!

Steven Van Dyck
Gracias, Pepe. Now the tools and the rifle racks are added.

Steven Van Dyck
The project has lagged a bit, but I decided to make the half-track in a showcase participate in the Naked Model class of the Scaleworld contest today. It was a good idea, the showcase won gold in that class.

Olivier
Hurrah !

Pietro De Angelis
WOW!

Steven Van Dyck
Sorry for mor than a year of Rundfunk silence, but now the Dark Yellow is finally painted on. For the Half Track I used Gunze 304 and for the cart I took the lighter version. The Track was put in Mig Track Blackener for two days, that's now diluted in water and drying.

Steven Van Dyck
I selected a team for the half-track out of my second-hand collection. I bought these without box-art cover, but I recognize some Panzergrenadiers and Joachim Peiper. Another guy just eats his goulash and I even found a driver, though he needs to bend his head to fit in this cramped cabin.

Mr James
This is next level scratch building and detailed kit construction. I've only seen this level of dedication once before on this site and its truly awe inspiring. Fantastic work Steven.

Doubtingmango
Just saw this for the first time. Absolutely spellbound! Can't thank you enough for sharing all this work

Villiers de Vos
Very nice progress.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks for the nice words. Some of the stuff in this topic I never tried out before, so I'm glad it's being appreciated.

I did some painting yesterday but the compressor didn't shut the valve any more. It kept on running constantly and was probably running hot, so I went for a new one. The figures got some paint and also the engine and the seats. More details are to follow.

Joachim P.
Hello, Steven, my hats off to your eye for detail and perfect looking results from. It's a school right here!!!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Joachim. But the teacher still gets a lot to learn, too. Today I got a great announcement, there will be a state of the art Fischkopp Models Merlin engine on the diorama, and my engine will be underscale for the intended 1/32 Border/GWH Lancasters because it was one of the prototypes. So it will be near to 1/35 (picture of the product page! Mine is still traveling). I also installed the half-track engine and the driver, but I had to remove the hood once because my prefab PE grilles did not match the firewall. When the cabin roof was mounted, the loading bay flaps did not match the eyes for the locking bars, so these too had to be moved. All should be ready for the next camo colours. Included in this update are also a few pictures of the plane wing that is primed black, and the chapel that got some of the leftovers form the airbrushing last months.

Joachim P.
Hello, Steven, thank you for your reply. To me it is pretty simple, scale modelling and composing a diorama varies, put in music relation, from a commercial jingle to a full symphony, and it is a composition like yours, that I see and instantly feel motivated to evolve and to take more time for the result. Since I am still a newbie around here, I strawl around the news feed and quite often, I am deeply impressed, and hungry to steal with my eyes, to widen my own palette, to give my own love for it a new and more inspired state. When I think back to my first kit, a Revell Huey, that I was given when I was 8 (1983), there was no Vallejo, I haven´t seen Tamiya or whatsoever, I had Revell enamel paint tins and a thick-brushed Revell cement bottle, and after decades without scale- modelling, today I am still stunned, how many product pallettes are available and how awesome the options to choose from are. It is great to be here on scalemates, and to make contact to very passionated "musicians" around here. Have a nice weekend and again hats off to your concept and work.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks for your poetic transcription of our delightful hobby, Joachim. I revel in people giving their opinions about the models. Today the update is about the camo of the half-track. You see pictures of it firs in the German Light Camo green. I had already finished this when I discovered I actually used chromate green which is lighter of color, so I shadowed the camo in the real Vallejo Camo green. Then the brown came on with later a darker brown as shadow. The spraying didn't go as smooth as the Gunze paint, maybe it's because of the heat over here.

Steven Van Dyck
The rubber is now painted on the tracks, the roadwheels and the sprockets with a pencil. Then the tracks are installed, there was no glue needed for any of the components. I will spraypaint the front wheels.

Steven Van Dyck
Gloss varnish is applied to the vehicle after the Anhanger is painted in two colors. I thought it would look better if I didn't add green to that. I compared my Fischkopp Merlin engine to a picture of the real thing and it's very realistic. But this is a prototype he printed a bit too small, so it's ideal for my 1/35 dio. Thanks again to him for willing to sell me this.

Villiers de Vos
Coming along nicely.

Steven Van Dyck
A rearrangement is done in the gravestone section of the dio. Also the walls needed to be reinforced with plugs as the plaster tended to spall from the underlying wood. The removed elements of the graveyard will return in a new more angular layout.

Villiers de Vos
Fantastic work so far and attention to detail.

Pietro De Angelis
Impressive work,
i can only imagine the final result... congrats!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, today the floor has been tiled with the Trumpeter engraver. The window profiles have been completed and the decorated wall for the churchyard is rearranged in a rectangle. The old components could be reused.

S M
This is so ambitious project! Following!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, SM! The ruins are now painted using Vallejo primers and colors. I use vivid colors and then tone down to get depth. The earth colors will be "grassed".

Steven Van Dyck
I added the RT Diorama Large Wayside Cross to the dio. And then I burned down the church door with real fire, because it is made from wood that is possible and probably the most realistic "painting method"...