Work in progress

1
May 9, 2023
The build starts with the cylinders of the engine. I found here a possible scratch improvement.
I removed the rocker pipes and tried to restore the fins.
2
May 9, 2023
The Tamiya parts are painted and mounted.
3
May 9, 2023
On the lower side I re-added the rocker pipes made from aluminium micro tubing. I have drilled holes in the engine core before.
4
May 9, 2023
Here in upper view. On the cylinders a cabling is added from the Eduard set. That are not ignition wires, I think it are measuring of the temperatures of the cylinders/heads.
5
May 9, 2023
Then I closed the underside with an air baffle.
6
May 9, 2023
Now in front view. That is the reason why I used the alu pipes.
7
May 9, 2023
Some years ago I had the chance to take pictures of a real, airworthy engine. It was mounted on a test stand.
You can see that the airflow is pressed though the cylinder fins.
8
May 9, 2023
Here the Argus in a side view. The mounting is a bit different, as this is foreseen for a Bf 108 and not a Storch, but the engine itself is the same.
9
May 9, 2023
That helps a lot to understand all the parts provided by Tamiya and Eduard.
For example there is a PE part for ignition wires and air baffle between the cylinders on outside. That is one part to be folded.
10
May 9, 2023
And now some pictures of the finished engine.
11
May 9, 2023
Even the eyelets for the crane are present. The tension straps on the tank are also wonderful.
12
May 9, 2023
Many parts are added from the Eduard PE set.
13
May 9, 2023
14
May 9, 2023
The engine carriers are only plugged to the firewall. All the other parts are glued in place.
15
May 10, 2023
As next thing I have made the three seats. The belts are on the prepainted PE fret (17 parts).
16
May 10, 2023
A lot of PE from the Eduard set, eg the backplate to close the holes (I don't need the MG) on the right seat. That fit is perfect, for other parts sometimes not.
17
May 10, 2023
I don't have a comparison picture, but the strut work on the middle seat is nice, compared to the Tamiya plastic.
I hope with the door open that will be visible later.
18
May 10, 2023
Tamiya provided two different pedal part, but I used PE.
19
May 10, 2023
Eduard provides also both variants. The belts are now painted leather.
20
May 10, 2023
There are a lot of different cockpit colors possible! But after noticed a wooden floor on one reference picture I decided to do that here too for this early Storch.
21
May 10, 2023
Tamiya provides masks, but those are not pre-cut. I scanned the sheet and drawn my own set in Inkscape and let the cutter do its work. The main reason: I need also masks for inside, which are not on the Tamiya sheet. Once drawn its easy - copy and mirror the block.
Why the hell he needs masks for inside you ask?
22
May 10, 2023
There are PE frames for inside on the Eduard interior set, which needs to be glued into the clear parts. That is not easy, the fit is not perfect, so I had to use CA. No chance with white glue. The risk is high to ruin the clear parts. I applied the inside masks only after the frame because I fear CA running under the mask.
Some Tamiya parts are also added to the walls, but all modified for PE parts I will add later.
23
May 10, 2023
Here also a frame, frames and the first PE boxes are in place.
24
May 10, 2023
And why the effort? On the original Aircraft you can see a small inner framework in the windows. The Eduard PE frames shows that nicely. My painted fuselage below (the Gunze RLM02 grey looks very dark here).
25
May 10, 2023
The inner masks are removed, the outer ones are still in place as I painted only the inside RLM02 also on outside. The alu paint comes later.
I really hope that no metal of the frame will be visible from the outside! But if I mask off first, paint the grey and then mount the frames, I'm afraid the CA won't be able to hold the frame on the paint (without primer).
26
May 10, 2023
The right side. On top of the grey boxes I will add pre-painted PE plates.
27
May 15, 2023
The oil cooler is available in two sizes in the kit. Eduard provided four wonderful PE parts, with smaller and bigger holes.
But even with the small PE in the front the real one looks different! So I turned a new front part, see left.
28
May 15, 2023
The finished oil cooler. The plastic front is cut and replaced with the turned part. The front should be painted in metal anyway.
29
May 15, 2023
The back side, with the bigger PE.
30
May 15, 2023
I made the wall so thin that I could insert the etched part from behind.
Now it looks like the real one 😉
31
May 15, 2023
The exhausts of the kit are split, as the lower part needs to be mounted after adding the cowling. That make the paint job complicated.
On the arms of the tweezers are two bent and soldered etched parts (done on a shaped piece of wood), very nicely etched with the vents.
32
May 15, 2023
I glued the lower kit parts already now cut them away again. They are now the mount helpers for the PE parts.
33
May 15, 2023
After painting (done mainly with Alclads) I glued the exhaust pipes to the engine. The grey ends will hold the PE parts.
34
May 15, 2023
Dry fitting. The PE ends are painted together with the inner pipe, but will be added to the model in a very late step.
The look is fantastic, with the vents and open outlet.
35
May 15, 2023
The pre-painted instrument panel is a two-layer part. I filled the instruments with Kristal Klear as glass.
Sorry, the printed panel shows some Moiré pattern with the camera. In real it looks better.
36
May 15, 2023
A folded PE part creates a map case below the instrument panel.
37
May 16, 2023
Nice part - the engine control.
38
May 16, 2023
The manual looks plausible, but if you fill the cutout (what I have done) and mount it, you will run later in conflict with the instrument panel!
This was just an example, you need to check all.
39
May 16, 2023
A inner frame has to be glued with the Tamiya metal wing holder. On lower side a frame is added.
40
May 16, 2023
On the frame a plate with some electric boxes.
41
May 16, 2023
The upper end is covered with a nice thin PE. For that an upholstery needs to be removed from the kit part, later re-added as PE. I made the middle more thick with CA.
42
May 16, 2023
Some paint added. A pre-painted label added then.
43
May 16, 2023
The upholstery looks ok now.
The part is prepared for mounting.
44
May 16, 2023
The left shell with all little parts added.
45
May 16, 2023
The right shell, with more little parts.
46
May 16, 2023
The lower part is complete too.
47
May 16, 2023
And finally the firewall.
48
May 16, 2023
The fuselage is closed.
49
May 16, 2023
A side view, I will let the door open.
50
May 16, 2023
The top side will be closed later.
51
May 16, 2023
As I added oil paint to the cockpit the engine got a wash too.
52
May 16, 2023
Some other parts are added as dry fit to the fuselage - that will be a huge bird!
53
May 25, 2023
The wings are build (also with many small PE fittings). Then primed, painted white and followed by a thin layer MRP Insignia White, to break the white surface a bit. Masked and painted Alclad semi matt aluminium.
The slat is not fixed.
54
May 25, 2023
A lot of masking! I let the cutter do crosses to avoid using decals for the crosses. The stripes have to be masked anyway.
It is hard to match the positions of the not yet mounted parts.
55
May 25, 2023
Unmasked and plugged together without glue. The positions matches nearly.
56
May 25, 2023
The wings slid onto the metal spar.
Wow, I like the look!
57
May 25, 2023
The tail plane are also prepared. The tips are white, below are little slats. The slats are also a bit white.
58
May 25, 2023
The rudder as provided by Tamiya. A little part at the end looks like a trim tab.
But in real it is not.
59
May 25, 2023
That are two ground adjustable trim rudder tabs, with a gap between.
So I removed the plastic and added the two tabs provided by Eduard. At the position according to this reference pic.
Later I realized, that the position was different on every Storch! So I moved them up according to my ref pic of the Swiss A-99 Storch.
60
May 25, 2023
A lot of masking and painting on the rudder, all masked again so no decals needed.
61
May 25, 2023
And all parts together as little teaser.
62
May 25, 2023
The legs and flaps are painted too, but not yet dry.
63
May 30, 2023
The position lamp are moulded in gray.
On the tail I cut the lamp away, drilled a 0.47 mm hole. A piece of stretched sprue was sanded and polished round at the end, then cut and glued into the hole.
64
May 30, 2023
For the wings that is not so easy as the lamps are not round. Eduard had teardrop shaped holes on the edge of some of the larger PE frames, on my frame here in six sizes. I put them on the wing to find the right size. Then I presses heated clear sprue into a hole.
After cut you have a clear position lamp, see below on the globe of the Cent.
65
May 30, 2023
I cut the gray lamps away, glued the clear drop in place and painted them with Clear Red/Green.
66
May 30, 2023
With more bright light it looks nicer.
67
May 30, 2023
A part of a picture of the real one - that tail cross is unusual.
68
June 1, 2023
I decided to continue with the back part of the fuselage with multiple masking and painting sessions. Some PE bling-bling added to the tail.
This bird used the skid, so I used the optional wheel part to protect the PE parts on lower surface while handling and painting.
69
June 1, 2023
The flaps, slats and ailerons are glued to the wing.
Plugged together for dry fit.
70
June 1, 2023
That is the result of masking and painting.
71
June 1, 2023
The registration is in different position within the stripes, but this is confirmed by pics. May be because it is shorter than the previous HB-ARU?
72
June 1, 2023
The stripes are also on lower side.
Here I don't use the Eduard PE with zig-zag-pattern, because the Tamiya stitching is nicer shaped. I guess if you search long enough you will find a Storch with this pattern (and the zig-zag inside) 😉
73
June 1, 2023
And finally the actual state.
74
June 12, 2023
For another project I ordered strong 1mm x 1mm magnets, but never used them. The upper cowling has some mounting stripe, like the original Storch. So I integrated some of the little magnets. Not so easy to mount them as they used to jump around to another one or tools on the bench, or even to my CA application needle 🙂
75
June 12, 2023
All of my normally used sheet metal is not magnetic, so I cut small strips from an old tin can. I made the side walls a bit thinner and glued the strips in place.
76
June 12, 2023
The magnets are strong enough to hold the side cowlings.
77
June 12, 2023
Here all is plugged together without glue, and it seems to fit nicely. I only had a conflict with the exhaust pipes, which are visible at the front of the side cowlings. I had to sand the recess on the inner side of the side cowls thinner.
78
June 14, 2023
The struts are cleaned, primed, PE added and painted.
79
June 14, 2023
The PE details look nice.
80
June 14, 2023
I found a lot of different fuel indicators and its colors in the references. I decided to paint them yellow because yellow was used for fuel related things and it is a speck of color on the model.
Tamiya should have molded them in clear plastic too! So I need to add a wash.
81
June 14, 2023
The struts fits greatly, but not yet fixed.
82
June 14, 2023
The mounting position of the fuel indicators.
83
June 14, 2023
The clear parts are framed (and other PE added) and masked inside and outside.
84
June 14, 2023
The grey green is applied inside, here the door inside.
85
June 14, 2023
... and outside.
86
June 14, 2023
The airscrew (no wood this time!) is also painted dark green and black. The bolt was dry brushed.
87
June 14, 2023
The kit offers a lot of options: ski, wheel and skid for the tail. The A-99 needs the skid, so this is painted steel and leather.
88
June 14, 2023
The tires are painted "Tire Black", the rims black (also on the other side with masks). The kit offers also other rims.
89
June 20, 2023
After the front window part is prepared with frame inside and compass I glued it in place. Then again some masking and painting fuselage with struts.
90
June 20, 2023
Even more masking for the stork beak.
Made again a mistake, should have masked before os paint white again.
91
June 20, 2023
All parts on the pic are finally in place.
92
June 20, 2023
The upper clear part (also with internal framing) holds the wings in place. Used different glue, on the back to the other clear parts with CA.
Must have made some little mistakes before as I have now some little gaps here and there, but left it as it is.
93
June 20, 2023
All the prepared parts speed up the mounting process.
94
June 21, 2023
The pitot tubing from the kit is added, connected with PE wiring. On the side of the struts you can see little tie-down rings.
I decided finally to replace the thick Tamiya trim tab control by PE.
95
June 21, 2023
On the other side the rings and trim control.
96
June 21, 2023
I mentioned recently the IKEA Kvizzle letter tray for storing running projects - the Storch still fits in one tray.
97
June 21, 2023
The wheel (painted in tire black and flat coat) ar in place. I decided to use the Eduard brake lines. Yes, they are flat, but so thin and filigree that the mounting clamps are more important.
98
June 21, 2023
After mounting the engine cowling I added the prepared oil cooler and the exhaust pipes.
99
June 21, 2023
The airscrew is finalized with PE and bolts from the back.
100
June 21, 2023
... and decals on the front.
Tamiya decals are a bit special.
101
June 21, 2023
The tail is complete. On this side I lost a little stencil decal during drying? I can't find it.
Luckily the red cross on top of the right 9 is still there.
102
June 21, 2023
Also very little stencils on the black wheel disks.
103
June 21, 2023
Here the front with applied side cowlings. To have a good fit I had to made them thinner again inside, to avoid a conflict with the exhaust.
Need now a new paint inside.
104
June 21, 2023
And with side cowling removed.
Also all the window masks are removed - ok so far.
105
June 21, 2023
A view into the front screen. The last step was to mount the door. I used the kit mount as I somehow have not trusted the little PE parts.
106
June 21, 2023
From top you see also the fuel marking decals.
107
June 21, 2023
I have only done a very very light weathering as the original pictures showed a absolute clean Storch.
108
June 21, 2023
And as last picture of this build a view from below.

Comments

91 9 May 2023, 17:03

bughunter
So the real work on this project was started and the engine is done.
This is time consuming as Tamiya has optional parts and both Eduard PE sets add more then 250 parts, also with different options. So it needs time to understand the parts with checking the references to use the right options.
I have no idea what will be visible later but I added all the nice parts to the engine.

9 May 2023, 17:37

Thomas Bischoff
the engine looks great - you could open the engine side cowling so it would be partially visible?

9 May 2023, 17:50

Ricardo Reis
Definitely following!!! 🙂

9 May 2023, 17:50

Ludvík Kružík
The engine is perfect, just start it. 👍 Apropos, when are you going to do a running test? 😉

9 May 2023, 17:52

Melgg Lütschg
Very interesting to watch! I guess the Swiss Air Force engine mechanics would be jealous 🙂

9 May 2023, 18:32

bughunter
Thank you mates and a warm welcome to the show!
@Thomas, that sound not bad, let's see. I have also not yet done the exhausts.
@Ludvík I made the pictures of the real one, but there was a problem so I was not able to see and hear it running 🙁
@Melgg After an oil wash it will look better and the mechanics will be reassured 😉

9 May 2023, 18:56

Bernhard Schrock
I see it but I don't really believe it: a „modern" prop on you're workbench?!?! A first row seat please! 🙂

9 May 2023, 19:16

Gary Kitchen
Already it's a Bughunter. The one cent piece, the intricate engine detail. Awesome 👍

9 May 2023, 19:24

Michael Kohl
Nice progress. But I am surprised to see the oil tank - or whatever it is - colored in copper. I haven't seen any pics with this part in this color. Can you enlighten me?

9 May 2023, 19:37

bughunter
Thank you mates!
@Bernhard For the background please see my comments below the project, the discussion starts already once I had added the project 😉
@Gary Glad you are like it. My models seems to bear all the marks of Bughunter, I mean a personal style is detectable? (I don't know, if I used the right language terms).

9 May 2023, 19:46

Robert Podkoński
Joining the audience! 😉

9 May 2023, 20:01

Alec K
Kripes! I am day late and there already are 10+ comments… 🙄. Oh wait… aha…it's a Bughunter build. 😂😂😉

10 May 2023, 11:53

bughunter
Welcome Robert and Alec!
Alec, I was surprised too! The discussion starts already after I added the project, without any picture.

I am not sure if too much is expected here. With all the glass parts, the potential to run the project is high, because of course I had to fiddle there with CA. I'm not used to the handling of clear canopies etc, that doesn't exist with the biplanes. Let's see ...

10 May 2023, 16:57

Slavo Hazucha
I only discovered this now - following! Fascinating work 👍🏻 And as things use to be, this is most likely just a warm-up... 😉

10 May 2023, 19:06

bughunter
I'm glad to see you here Slavo! Thanks!
I added new pictures of seats and crazy work on the window framing. I won't know if I've messed around with CA halfway cleanly until the masks come off after the fuselage painting.
The check of references costs lot of time, as there were my options. As I don't have internal pictures I made assumptions, as the A-99 was an early Storch used at first in a civil marking. So no MG related parts. Tamiya and Eduard provided a lot of options and parts, for example a second instrument panel on the right of the middle seat. But that one was only used if the middle seat is also equipped with controls (not often). So it helps to understand the functions of the parts and check for plausibility.

10 May 2023, 19:55

Christoph Kunz
Servus Frank, wieder ein Eindecker ganz ohne Verspannung? Was ist los bei Dir?
Sieht aber wieder mal fantastisch aus.
Christoph

10 May 2023, 20:08

bughunter
Danke Christoph, mir geht es sehr gut! Freut mich, daß Dir mein Gewerkel gefällt 😉

10 May 2023, 20:16

Erik Leijdens
Oh nice!! Bughunter builds a Tamiya Storch! Will be a amazing model for sure 👍! Great work on the engine and cockpit already!

10 May 2023, 20:30

bughunter
Thanks Erik!
Oh yeah, that is my FIRST Tamiya kit at all, I'm still a newbie somehow 😉 And yes, it is a great kit. The Eduard additions as well, but you will need good references to understand the parts sometimes.

10 May 2023, 20:38

Ludvík Kružík
Svělá práce! Dřevěná podlaha v kokpitu příjemně oživila nudný jednobarevný povrch interiéru. 👍

10 May 2023, 22:15

Ethan Flory
Wonderful work as always!

10 May 2023, 23:15

Kyle DeHart
Stopping in to admire as always

11 May 2023, 01:05

John
Excellent work BH!
I have the same kit and aftermarket PE sets in my stash and I am glad to see someone attempt to add metal framing on clear plastic. I am certainly going to learn a lot from this project.

11 May 2023, 02:16

bughunter
Thank you very much mates!
@Ludvík I was able to translate your comment with deepl.com 🙂
@John The frames are a nice idea, but you have to take care which set you use. Tamiya has 3 different upper windows in the kit (plus flat and bubble round window. The Eduard sets have different frames. I think you have the same set as I use here, which do not allow a Storch with the round back window. So with my Tamiya kit the A-99 is the only option which helped me with the decision A-98 or A-99 😉
Adding the frames is a tricky thing. The fit is not perfect, in some corner a little bit and some obvious bad fit, like the strut on top of the door. For some other parts I have not understand the manual how to mount a part, until I found a reference picture.
I'm curious about the result myself, as it's also new territory for me in some things!

11 May 2023, 06:42

Hanno Kleinecke
Totally different topic in the Bughunter - universe : Checkin ‚ in !
Very refreshing to see your usual perfection being directed onto this rather modern subject. The swiss livery adds to it, the „no swastika" approach would be mine as well,
as the usual old 70/71 paintscheme could'nt be more boring if tried.
Love the engine ! 👍

11 May 2023, 06:49

Villiers de Vos
Very nice progress.

11 May 2023, 13:42

Ludvík Kružík
If there was a problem with my comment, I apologize. I don't speak English very well, so I use a translator. Coincidentally, I use the same one as you - DeepL 🙂

11 May 2023, 13:51

bughunter
Thank you mates!
Hanno, you love the engine, and I love the kit 😉 It's great, but the huge amount of Eduard additions needs its time. Ans always a fit check, as I run multiple times in conflicts with later mount after adding parts. But I have a steady progress with nice little details.

11 May 2023, 16:59

Richie Williams
Hiya Frank, this is a bit of a departure from your usual WW1 aircraft but not from your trademark immaculate model making.

15 May 2023, 13:41

Jakub Fiala
Beautiful work, bughunter! The level of detailing is an absolute top.

15 May 2023, 19:49

bughunter
Thank you Richie and Jakub!
@Richie, I would have loved to see your surprised face when you discovered this build log! 😉
@Jakub Now if only I had your skills with paint ...

I added today some pictures with small details needed later.

15 May 2023, 19:58

Kyle DeHart
Your oil cooler is wonderful. And That engine is stunning as a whole. Great progress

15 May 2023, 20:01

Christoph Kunz
Frank, the ends of those exhaust, amazing.

15 May 2023, 21:16

Villiers de Vos
Beautiful detail work.

16 May 2023, 06:29

bughunter
Thank you mates!
@Christoph The parts are nicely etched with the special shaped slots. I forgot a pic but see upper right corner in the attached picture. The bending is tricky but it works around a toothpick which I sanded thinner and flat an two sides.
[img1]

16 May 2023, 06:42

Spanjaard
simply fantastic....

16 May 2023, 07:14

Jan Peters
Beautiful work 👏

16 May 2023, 07:26

Michael Kohl
I didn't think the Eduard Exterior PE-set to be a real benefit for my Tamiya Storch, but seeing your progress I might well reconsider. The exhausts alone seem to be worth it.

16 May 2023, 08:13

bughunter
Oh, even more visitors, comments and likes! Thank you very much!
Michael, the same is valid for the interior kit. Some really nice parts, but the question is whether they will all be needed and visible later. That are more then 250 PE parts, if you count interior and exterior together. But as I own them I used many of them, but not all so far.

The exterior set includes slat brackets. I am also wondering whether I can/should/must use these? These are much closer to the original, but I wonder if the six small attachment points per side can hold the slat? The Tamiya ones are much too thick, has nothing to do with the original, but can hold the slat. Very thin ice.

The fuselage is closed now 🙂 I hope I can show some pictures later.

16 May 2023, 16:29

bughunter
A new set of pics uploaded. There is still a lot of preparation work to be done: door, front window, roof window ...

16 May 2023, 18:55

Ludvík Kružík
Skvělá práce! 👍

I have the same experience with Eduard colour photo etchings. They don't look the best on a magnified photo or under a magnifying glass, but in reality (without magnification with a loupe or camera lens) they look good.

16 May 2023, 21:34

bughunter
Now the wings and tail parts are prepared and painted. A lot of white crosses on red background for our friends in Switzerland!
A lot of work with all the masking, but I really like the alu/white/red look 👍

25 May 2023, 18:12

Slavo Hazucha
woow the colors really add life (on a macro-scale, we know about the micro- and nano-scale "life" in this particular build 😉 ) to the model. Looks actually better in scale than as original 👍 😄

30 May 2023, 07:59

bughunter
Thank you Slave and welcome to the show!
The decision for this marking was "facts driven" 😉 The other Swiss one A-98 is also nice in white/red/green/light blue. As the Eduard PE was already sold out I was looking for an interior set everywhere and was not aware of the differences. I was happy to find one, which was the C-3 variant. That is a set without the round window at the back, so this A-99 was the only possible marking. But I really like this marking as it looks non-military.

30 May 2023, 12:21

bughunter
Today a little scratch work that Slavo called "nano-scale", what I never have done before. But some build report mentioned the drop shaped holes on Eduard PE frets so I tried this myself.
I do not like the gray position lights so I replaced them with new ones made from clear sprue. The clear sprues from an Eduard kit worked better then the much harder Tamiya clear sprue.

30 May 2023, 15:16

Richie Williams
Those lights look lovely, very nice scratch work!

30 May 2023, 16:11

Thomas Bischoff
Brilliant work! Finest Storch I have ever seen. Except the Swiss Cross on the rudder maybe? The Swiss Cross is defined by 7/6/7 = 20. Means each Balken is 20 long with a width of 6 leaving 7 parts on each side. Numbers are relative of course.
Hope I don't spoil something and your measure is correct.

30 May 2023, 20:10

bughunter
Wow Thomas - that is a valuable information 👍 I was not aware of this and used the decals as base for my masks. I checked the wing crosses, they seems to match your rule.
On the other hand - the tail cross on this specific Storch cross looks different? Please see pic 67. The decals are based on this picture (may be more slim) which I used as base ( +- measurement errors). I think I let it as it is now.
And I'm glad that you like my work!

30 May 2023, 20:38

Thomas Bischoff
Indeed! looks like we can trust Tamiya!
Maybe these crosses were painted when in civil use? The wing crosses were definitely painted when drawn into the Flugwaffe and are therefore painted to specification.

30 May 2023, 21:09

bughunter
Yes, good catch 👍 I checked it now. The tail looks unchanged to the previous civil painting as HB-ARU. At that time the wing looks different. So the wings was later repainted in the neutrality scheme.
I looked also for the A-98, beside the green/light blue wing the stripes are identical. But here the complete rudder was repainted in red and the cross matches your rule.

30 May 2023, 21:21

bughunter
Ah, the HB-ARU painting explains also the small red area on the fuselage. The entire cowl was red, with a curved transition to the fuselage. Later, the hood was painted white with a vertical demarcation, only the transition area remained red.

30 May 2023, 21:37

bughunter
It looks like I fear to work on the windows so I continued on the back part of the fuselage with a lot of masking and painting.

1 June 2023, 11:44

Marcel Klemmer
What a progress 👍

1 June 2023, 12:22

Villiers de Vos
Coming along nicely.

1 June 2023, 15:14

Jan Peters
Very attractive in this sheme

1 June 2023, 15:17

gorby
I was surprised at your choice of project but I certainly approve. Looking excellent so far and I hope it'll fit into your display case.

1 June 2023, 15:46

bughunter
Thank you very much mates!
@Jan You are right, I like it too 🙂 Have already enough birds with the green PC10 in my cabinet.
@gorby For the reason of this project see the comments below the project.
From the drawings, I thought it should fit in the display case (I also had the idea of folding a wing, but the Tamiya kit does not allow that. The model would also tip over). After your comment I just tried it - tight, but fits. I can even tilt the Storch a bit.

1 June 2023, 16:10

David Taylor
Looking good.

1 June 2023, 18:04

Kyle DeHart
Coming along now. Very pretty.

1 June 2023, 18:10

Ludvík Kružík
As always, you're doing a great job. The silver surface of the machine combined with the white and red marking is attractive. 👍
Reminds me distantly of the livery of some of the post-war Czechoslovakian Security Air Force aircraft (e.g. my recently completed FA-223 Drache).

1 June 2023, 20:55

bughunter
Thank you very much mates!
I was out of the town for a short trip, so no progress. But now I'm back home so I hope to be able to continue soon.

7 June 2023, 18:41

Erik Leijdens
Magnificent and flawless..!

9 June 2023, 10:57

bughunter
Thanks Erik, but a flawless model only exists in our imagination! Once the box is opened, it is already over. First scratches in the plastic, separated sprue gates. And then only the construction and painting with all the little bloopers.
No, a perfect model does not exist and the respective builder knows that best.
Example in this case? I used too much "Insignia White" on top off the white for the white bands on the fuselage.

9 June 2023, 13:11

bughunter
On the one hand I really liked Thomas idea to leave the side cowlings open (see second post on top), but on the other hand the Storch shows more beautiful lines with the added cowlings.
So what about optional open ones?
I had strong round magnets with 1mm diameter and 1mm length and always wanted to try a magnetic holder for lids. Now was the time to do it!

12 June 2023, 18:25

Thomas Bischoff
Brilliant idea with the magnets 👍. Would have been a pity to hide this beautiful engine

12 June 2023, 19:49

Kyle DeHart
Very cool idea with the magnets. Looks good and we can still get to see that beautiful engine.

12 June 2023, 20:06

Ludvík Kružík
The magnetic engine cover locks are an excellent solution and I like them very much. Importantly, thanks to the small size and high holding power of the neodymium magnets, this solution does not interfere with the appearance of the model.

12 June 2023, 20:53

bughunter
Thx mates!
I have seen magnets in build reports about changeable weapon loads on jets, but not on covers, so I thought it would be a good idea to show this in detail.

13 June 2023, 08:19

一生还一夜
The engine details are just awesome!

13 June 2023, 08:22

Alec K
Truly outstanding and inspirational work 👍

13 June 2023, 13:17

Ard S.
Looks great.
Simple question: is there a kit for money? Lol I will build € 0.05 a lot 😆 😂

13 June 2023, 17:27

bughunter
Thank you very much!
@Ard Do you mean the 1 Cent coin? That's just a size reference, which comes from my biplane builds and scratch work, to give readers an idea of how small the parts really are.
According to Gary Kitchen (see above) it is already my "trademark" 😉

13 June 2023, 18:20

Ard S.
@bughunter I know. It was just a kind of a joke..

13 June 2023, 18:26

bughunter
To increase the fun it is recommended to use from time to time a big coin:
magic-factory.de/riesenmuenze-1-cent-euro

13 June 2023, 18:31

tyu
Not more fun but more confusion. All you previous build even less clear and more confusing by this info. Very disappointing this info is to me.

14 June 2023, 15:53

bughunter
No worry tyu, it was a joke to answer the joke of Ard. You see also the raster of lines in background 😉
May be I have later some new pics ...

14 June 2023, 16:01

bughunter
Spend some time for preparation (a lot of nasty little pin marks) and painting of small parts.

14 June 2023, 19:25

bughunter
Some progress with some small mistakes on the last mile - the perfect model exists only in our imagination.

20 June 2023, 19:11

Kyle DeHart
True words. But you get about as close as anyone can, my friend.

20 June 2023, 20:38

Villiers de Vos
Taking shape very nicely.

21 June 2023, 04:00

bughunter
Thank you Kyle and Villiers!
The fit of such kit is nice, but every little error sums up for a gap at the end.

21 June 2023, 06:04

Thomas Bischoff
Nice progress! Stumbled over the picture of the dark green painted propeller … i am in Croatia on Holidays but believe it was, at least on the front, in a brighter shade

21 June 2023, 10:57

bughunter
Thanks Thomas, but you notice everything!
There is a pic of the HB-ARU with the black green propeller, and you are right, a later pic of the A-99 shows a brighter one, but of a completely different type, with a different hub. As Tamiya offers only the first mentioned type (and say to paint it black green for all variants) I will stick with that and assume, that it was replaced later 😉

21 June 2023, 11:23

bughunter
... and another reason I forgot to mention: the decals are already applied to the propeller.

21 June 2023, 11:43

bughunter
As I never build a Tamiya kit I never used their decals. I only used the little stencils but the adhesion was not very strong so I lost one stencil during drying.

Some small tasks may remain (I forgot to add a pair of PE handles. The inside of the side cowlings needs to painted again.) but this Fieseler Stoch is finished.
Thanks for all the likes and comments during the build! I hope you were well entertained outside of my usual theme.

Once weather and time constraints will allow I will do some final outdoor shots and add a final album.

21 June 2023, 19:03

Kyle DeHart
A wonderful build and one that was a pleasure to follow along with. Great work, as ever. I will be awaiting the outdoor shots as those are always stellar!!

21 June 2023, 20:33

Christoph Kunz
Beautifull work, and those tie-down-rings are such a tiny detail, giving your build the extra kick.

21 June 2023, 20:50

Ludvík Kružík
Great construction of this machine. Silver with red and white accessories suits Storch very well. 👍 It was a pleasure to watch this build.

21 June 2023, 21:44

Villiers de Vos
Very nice work.

22 June 2023, 05:07

Michael Kohl
All them details really add up. This is a splendid swiss Storch.

22 June 2023, 07:17

Bernhard Schrock
Top work! Extremely clean but realistic finish! A masterpiece. 🙂 pic 108: what is your solution for attaching the break line to the strut? Looks very good.

22 June 2023, 12:30

bughunter
Thank you very much for your kind words mates!
@Bernhard I was really afraid of the clear parts as my usual build don't have those. The result is nice, but not perfect 😉
For the brake line please see pic 97. I decided to use the very filigree Eduard part even it is flat. It has may be the same with then thickness. I mounted it with tiniest drops of CA below the "clamps".

22 June 2023, 13:20

bughunter
@Christoph The damn little but beautiful tie-down rings are another good example for the reasons to add the Eduard PE sets to a Storch build! I have not used all parts, but many.
But there are some traps: in some cases you fully understand the manual and see it on ref pics, but you cannot mount the part then due to conflict with other parts while adding the assembly to the model! As always: dry fitting, dry fitting and after that dry fitting!

22 June 2023, 13:48

Robert Podkoński
Fantastic work!

22 June 2023, 15:21

Bernhard Schrock
If I build a stork, it'll be my reference. That's all: on your photos you can see exactly how the ailerons were articulated and how the pitot tube lines runs. 🙂

22 June 2023, 15:26

bughunter
Thx mates! Feel free, even it was a Limited Edition 2012 it is still available - with 25% discount at the moment for less then 34€! See first link below the kit 😉
The kit is fantastic 👍 I really liked the integration of clear parts with the grey fuselage and how the wings are constructed around the metal holm. The upper clear part holds the wings together.
BTW: if you want it to look even more like a stork: Tamiya offers also an in-flight undercarriage kit, with longer and differently bend steel wire, new struts etc. because the Stork has a very long suspension travel.

22 June 2023, 15:34

bughunter
The final pictures are done and uploaded as new album.
Don't miss it! Fieseler Fi 156 Storch - A-99 of Switzerland | Album by bughunter (1:48)

22 June 2023, 18:33

Project info

Fieseler Fi156C Storch

127 images

1:48

Completed

1:48 Fieseler Fi156C Storch (Tamiya 25158)

1:48 Fi 156C-3/5 Storch Exterior (Eduard 48581)

Fieseler Fi 156C-3 Storch

Schweizerische Flugwaffe (Swiss Air Force 1936-1945)
A-99
1944 - Meiringen
Silver, Neutrality Stripes

All albums

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