Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann / SK 25
Comments
27 14 April, 13:01
Ludvík KružíkI also built this kit many years ago. I still remember the dark brown hard plastic and the acetate foil cabin. And I have another one of these in my stash, but in 1/48 scale. Its time has not come yet.
I'll be glad to see how you manage to build this model. I'm sure it will be interesting. 😉
14 April, 20:06
J35JThanks Ludvik & Lukasz for your intrest.
For some reason this old kits is quite fun to take on. I'm enjoying the build.
The major issue att the moment is the canopy. The clear part have become more or less opague over time. Any good thoughts on how to rescue the canopy and make it clear again?
15 April, 17:54
Łukasz GlińskiHm, depends whether it's just the surface or the whole thing.
In the first case, I'd sand and polish (or cover it with the thin transaprent resin).
Otherwise you might need to copy it or source from more modern kits.
15 April, 18:06
J35JThanks Lukasz for taking your time and and thoughts on how to resolve the issue. It seems to be surface reletad. Took some tooth paste and a cotton bud and started to polish.
The canopy went at least from opague to semi-clear at the moment. Regarding sanding, what grit level would you recommend for this work?
15 April, 18:58
Ludvík KružíkI found the same problem with MPM and later Special Hobby kits. Due to aging, the clear acetate foil cab parts get a brownish tint after some time. Interestingly, this doesn't always happen. In some cases, the transparent parts remain clear. Apparently the manufacturer used different types of acetate films.
In case I have brownish transparent parts of the cab overlay in my kit, I will make new ones. The procedure is not complicated. I'll leave the clear part on the board (I won't cut it out of the board), so it doesn't warp with further handling and fill the canopy with two-part epoxy sealant. I squeeze a 5 to 10 cm long hard wire into the sealant (if it is a larger cab, there may be more wire). Once the sealant has cured, carefully remove it from the original canopy, the wires will serve to clamp the epoxy canopy in a vice. Now all that remains is to heat a reasonably sized piece of clear acetate foil and stretch it over the prepared epoxy canopy. Once the foil has cooled, cut out the new clear part and the new canopy is ready.
If you use a fast-setting two-component epoxy sealant, it takes about one hour to make a new canopy.
16 April, 08:59
J35JMany thanks Ludvik for you support in this matter. After some initial consideration I will start with gentle sanding & polishing to see if I can get the canopy in good shape, otherwise I will certainly persue your solution.
16 April, 17:40
KennethIs the fuselage colour of the flying example correct? Is it not a black/silver colour, called „pannsocker" (melted sugar) or something like that?
18 April, 14:54
J35JThanks Finn, Łukasz & Kenneth for kind comments and intrest.
@Kenneth - Actually haven't heard about that black/silver colour before.
To my knowledge the airframe colour on the photo should be correct, FS34096.
SwAF trainers during the 1930-1940's era mainly had two different green colour tones. The german built Focke-Wulf Fw44 Steglitz (sk12) and Klemm Kl35 (sk15) was painted with RLM70 from factory. The Bü181 (sk25) was license built in Sweden during the 1940's and painted with FS34096, not as dark tone as the RLM70 colour.
20 April, 08:00
Thomas KolbNice subject! Great work on the canopy! How did you manage to save the frame lines?
20 April, 08:08
J35J@Thomas - The canopy was a rather delicate operation. I started sanding and wet sanding on the outside of the canopy until the frame line almost started to vanish. After that only polish on the outside. Regarding the inside I was on a little harder both with sanding and polishing. Still the canopy is quite thick so it became a good enough outcome.
24 April, 18:21
J35JHad to redo all the decals… started with the decals in the kit, turned out quite bad. Now round two with aftermarket decals instead.
1 May, 11:24
Robert PodkońskiGreat job! I have a Stransky 1:48 scale kit in the same livery in my stash... and I think I will begin assembling it soon 😉
13 May, 07:16
J35JThanks mates for kind comments.
@Robert - the Stransky 1/48 kit look very promising.😊
13 May, 08:32
Thomas KolbThis one turned out really spectacular! What a difference the aftermarket decals made on the end result, the original ones were really bad. Good thing that you managed to salvage it.
13 May, 13:53
J35JThanks Thomas!
Yes, I'm happy that I went with aftermarket. The original decals didn't made the kit justice.
13 May, 17:13
Ludvík KružíkBestmann's building turned out very well. Congratulations on the successful completion! 👍
14 May, 14:00
