der Spatzfalke! The operational Ho-229

[Heavens Eagle]

Looks like I got a little ahead of myself. Looks like I will be finishing up on the seat first. The kit comes with two options. One seat with the belts and all molded in (and it looks really good BTW). The second seat is a bare unit so the builder can add what details they want. More in "hopefully" a couple of days.

 

[Rhino]

You are a very clever Man! For you we VERY special won-ton soup!
So all the I/P wiring isn't totally hidden! Unglaubbar!!

 

[Heavens Eagle]

You are a very clever Man! For you we VERY special won-ton soup!
So all the I/P wiring isn't totally hidden! Unglaubbar!!

That was why I did the wiring Chris. It is easily seen through the windshield, down through the cockpit, and up through the nose wheel opening. Thanks for looking and commenting my friend!

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Have got an extra build day today as Memphis is getting a rare winter snow. The view out my hobby room window.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Over the weekend I spent some time on this again and finished another little milestone. I have a number of HGW models seatbelts in my build stash for various kits. The biggest problem is that the assembly drawing does nothing to help assemble the belt set. I went to their site and downloaded photos from other German aircraft that used the same belts but mounted things different. This gave the clues I needed to build these up.
They also say to wad them up a bit before assembling. The color on the top tends to crack when bent sharply. The back sides of the belts are also white when the backing is removed. They are a pain to build and I used a lot of magnification and a number of fine SHARP tweezers to get things to work and assemble up. If you have some of these and want to get some big hints PM me and I will be glad to converse and explain how to make it easier.

Here are the photos.

They look a lot better than the old PE belts that Eduard does, and a lot better than the molded item in the kit.

 

[moon puppy]

Nice job on the belts Paul!

 

[Duke Maddog]

Brilliant Paul! Your efforts were well worth the time you put into this!

 

[Impisi]

I'm still sure, it will just take off and fly away in the end - what a ton of details - great

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Bob, Mark, and Martin thanks for looking in. This has been one of the most involved builds I have ever done. The fit is pretty good considering the complexity of the build. The extreme detail is a definite plus.

I am almost to the point where the skin panels are placed. I am wanting to open up more panels than the ones the kit gives you. Also the parting line of on panel over the engines should not be there (it is the joint between the front and top panels). I have super fine jewelers saw blades, but the front part is going to be a real challenge to cut.

There is also a MAJOR fubar with the nose wheel gear. Major interference between parts if a certain (optional) assembly is used. it means that the nose gear would not be able to retract at all. I think this is something ZM added and it is a definite fubar. I will have photos in the next post

 

[moon puppy]

How thick is the skin Paul?

 

[Heavens Eagle]

How thick is the skin Paul?

The flat parts are about .040 thick. The front piece runs from .050 at the tightest curves down to .040 inches thick. I had to do some adjusting on the front bucket for the cockpit as it set just a little too far forward. It kept the front fuselage part from setting back far enough. As I said before it is quite a complex assembly, but it surprisingly has only a little difficulty getting things to fit like they should.

 

[Piet]

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Thanks Piet!

One other thing Bob, The entire skin is all clear plastic. This is good and bad. It allows you to see how things are really fitting and make adjustments accordingly. It is bad since the clear plastic is a little on the brittle side.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Well I have been working on this most of the week as we have had a very unusual week here in Memphis. In Tulsa would have been going to work. Here in Memphis we shut down. Had about 3 or 4 more inches of snow yesterday. Still too cold to melt and no body is going out in it. The boss has kept texting us to stay home and I am sure it won't start going till over the weekend.

 

[razordws]

The belts do look incredible Paul. Well worth the pain. Enjoy your snow days off.

 

[Brokeneagle]

Wow, the belts just addto the incredible level of detail you have in this kit. I know a lot of it was already there but your painting etc has really made this pop!

 

[paddy]

Hi Paul
Just caught up with this one, seems to be taking you to official "super hero" status in my opinion

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Thanks for looking in Dave! I like how the HGW belts look I do think they are a touch oversized. I did find that using some CA remover will soften them and make them a little rubbery. Almost blew it there. Somehow I ended up with a second set. Not really a big deal as these are standard German belts and can be modified for a different plane fairly easily.

Thanks Ian! I hate how a lot of the detail will end up mostly hidden. That is why I will be cutting loose another access panel over one of the engines. Parts can be seen through the cockpit and I could leave the skin all clear in some areas, but am choosing to remove one of the other panels in order to show one of the engines. This photo will give a little idea what I have to do.

Thanks Paddy! I appreciate your kind words. I don't know about "super hero", but I am working on this as a bunch of sub assemblies. It seems to work best and it helps to have the references such as they are to use.

 

[jeaton01]

Very interestinhg Paul. That's a great picture, too.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Thanks John! It is so sad that the Horton in the Udvar-Hazy center is in such poor shape. Apparently it was left to sit outside for a number of years at one point. They are doing some amazing things to refurbish/restore it. At least it still exists and we get to see the original and build the models. The other amazing part is that there are a number of the other Horton brothers flying wings still around and they are either fully restored or also in process.