1/72 Horton Go 229

[AJay]

Hi guys

Since I joined I haven't posted much, so here's my Horton build.



Like most of my builds, it started off with a cup of Earl Grey tea and some research. As these machines were never operational, I have to keep reminding myself that I'm as tethered to the 'authenticity pole' only as much as I want to be. This being said, I don't want to go too crazy. The camo in the books was just to get some ideas...........



The cockpit assembled, minus the yoke and control panel. I airbrushed it using Tamiya acrylic XF-63 to depict RLM 66.

I haven't done any work on the cockpit details yet......... The 30 mm cannons are quite well depicted for out-of-the-box parts in this scale; even the ammo trays and their contents are visible. It's a shame this won't show on the assembled model. I don't have the right paint on the shelf for the brass shell casings anyway, so just as well...............



I was being as thorough as time allowed. Thanks to the power of the internet, I viewed photos of a surviving Horton IV and saw the twist drill was needed.



Reading about others' builds, I thought the cockpit would give me the most trouble in this build, but fitting the nose to the fuselage went relatively easily with absolutely no filler required, and with a bit of sanding, all was well!

This is not the case with the wings! When I test-fitted them to the fuselage there were two big gaps, so big on one side my cat could have strolled through it with his tail extended.....Okay,okay, it wasn't that bad, but believe me they were big gaps! After too much of my day working with Mr and Mrs Sandpaper, things hadn't improved so feeling pi**ed off I had to bite the bullet and stick them to the fuselage, then fill the enormous gaps with a mix of Tamiya putty and superglue.





More soon....................

 

[AJay]

After much sanding, re-scribing, and filling, I could at last move into the paint shop - my desk covered in a plastic kitchen tablecloth!
I'd been thinking about the colour scheme for weeks and studying various late-war camouflage patterns, the easy decision being that the under-surfaces would be RLM 76 (Vallejo 71046) while the upper surfaces would be RLM 82 (Vallejo 71022).

Over my pre-shading, I built of several thin coats of RLM82, the last of which was lightened with a few drops of white.





In the end I was so pleased with the result that I kept the fuselage a lighter shade of green purely because I liked it. Next I had to decide whether I wanted any camo, as being a minimalist I pretty much liked the simple green base colour I'd already achieved. However, in the end I decided to add a second colour and was torn between RLM 81 or RLM 83.

It wasn't until I'd masked the wings with a pattern I found on a Dornier Do 335, that I decided to go with RLM 81 Braunviolett, or in my case Vallejo 71043, which I lay down in several shades of the 81 lightened with white.

 

[JMac]

Nice. Great work on the 229.

 

[AJay]

Finished her last night and have just taken some photos.
Despite a few problems, I loved this build!

Okay, so the fit of the front windscreen/windshield was a b**tch, the wing needed a fair bit of filler, and the undercarriage was fiddly beyond polite words, but I've learned an important lesson yet again - dry fit every tiny component, especially undercarriages and windshields!

My favourite part of this build is my addition of brake lines using lead wire; it's the first time I've done this and it was surprising - disturbingly so - how satisfying it felt!

I found some period photos of the Horton that gave me the correct layout of the main brake lines, although the nose wheel didn't seem to show a brake line..... What to do? In the end I added a brake line using an Me 262 nose gear photo as a reference.

I added a JG 26 fuselage band (black and white). It's funny that it only hit me in the early hours when I was trying to get some sleep - they look very similar to allied 'invasion' stripes. However, at this late stage in the war we'd removed most of our 'invasion' stripes, so maybe the pilot of this Horton wasn't shot down by his own side's anti-aircraft gunners!

Anyway, here are the pics!

















Hope you enjoy

 

[AJay]

Thanks, JMac!

 

[Papermodder]

A great and important aircraft.

Jim

 

[Quaralane]

She may have given you fits, but your work has definitely paid off on this one

 

[nicholassagan]

wow! very cool horton!!!! other than some fit issues, hows the detail for you?

 

[rookie]

Beautiful job Ajay. Paint looks very nice, well done

 

[AJay]

Thanks very much, guys!

Nicholas, I found the details pretty good for this scale.

The cockpit is nice with the depiction of the tubular framework. The belts are moulded to the pilot's seat. You could super detail the cockpit if you could find the references. The access hatches to the cannons on the belly of the aircraft can be left open, although you wouldn't see the nice ammo trays once it's built. I did a fair bit of research before buying this kit and the Revell Horton is definitely the one to go for - it's cheap, too!

 

[billb]

Lovely result! Well worth the work.

& geeze that nosewheel is huge.

 

[AJay]

Thanks, Bill!

 

[zappa]

Absolutely great!!!

Zappa

 

[Martay]

beautifull build the green is very nice and i really like the brake lines they add so much to the detail and give her life.

 

[JohnSimmons]

Lovely!

 

[myhobbyroom]

Well done.

 

[bdr65]

Luv the old earl grey Twinnings is it ? End result = Excellent

 

[Aeroteto]

I love the look of this plane.
And your model is a beauty too. congrats!

 

[scorpiomikey]

Beautiful build. Well done.

 

[AJay]

Luv the old earl grey Twinnings is it ? End result = Excellent

I think it was actually .............

Thanks to everyone for all of your great comments and glad you liked the build.