P. Gore
03-20-2008, 02:55 PM
Attached are photos of Lindberg’s recently re-issued Graf Zeppelin model. I finished building it a couple of nights ago. The kit comes with about 58 pieces. Of these I used 21, and added about 107 that were scratch built. The project took me 2-1/2 months and about 150 hours to complete. Several of the modifications I made are listed below:
1. Gondola: cut off the extended bottom section/thinned down the wall thickness by 1/16”/sanded away the upper connection point to a more triangle shape/boxed in the windows to make them shorter/added extra window framing/added hold down railings with small wires and small plastic rods/added Kristal Klear for the windows
2. Engines: replaced the kit bracing with small metal rods/scratch built the propellers/added guy wires out of tiny surgical stainless steel wires/added decals for the windows and exhausts/added a bumper guard to the aft engine
3. Tailfins: added a bumper guard to the lower tailfin/added recesses between all of the rudders and tailfins
4. Rudder Controls: scratch built these with different styles used on the horizontal and vertical parts
5. Vents: scratch built the two different size vent covers along the top of the hull
6. Lower Hull Openings: added 34 square/rectangle decals
The base paint used was Alclad II Dull Aluminum (117). This provided a very low-key finish that almost looked gray. The patch panel-effect was achieved by using Alclad II Aluminum (101), Polished Aluminum (105), Dark Aluminum (103) and Model Master Dark Anodonic Gray (1412). I used this lacquer paint because you can (carefully) use masking tape on it without lifting the paint up.
The side decals (D-LZ127) are from the kit. The name (GRAF ZEPPELIN) is from a Woodland Scenics Dry Transfer set, with each letter first being applied to clear decal film.
Note: The engines should be mounted one level higher than I have them. I followed Lindberg’s lead on the location and did not discover it was wrong until all of the painting had been done. The shape of the rudders and the lower tailfin also needed to be corrected, but that was beyond the amount of work I wanted to do.
I would like to offer a special thanks to AZSneed, ToddK, daszeppman and Charles Adams. These guys provided critical information to me while I was working on this project. Without their help my progress would have fallen short in many areas. In my opinion their help to me represents the best of what this website is about. Thanks again!
1. Gondola: cut off the extended bottom section/thinned down the wall thickness by 1/16”/sanded away the upper connection point to a more triangle shape/boxed in the windows to make them shorter/added extra window framing/added hold down railings with small wires and small plastic rods/added Kristal Klear for the windows
2. Engines: replaced the kit bracing with small metal rods/scratch built the propellers/added guy wires out of tiny surgical stainless steel wires/added decals for the windows and exhausts/added a bumper guard to the aft engine
3. Tailfins: added a bumper guard to the lower tailfin/added recesses between all of the rudders and tailfins
4. Rudder Controls: scratch built these with different styles used on the horizontal and vertical parts
5. Vents: scratch built the two different size vent covers along the top of the hull
6. Lower Hull Openings: added 34 square/rectangle decals
The base paint used was Alclad II Dull Aluminum (117). This provided a very low-key finish that almost looked gray. The patch panel-effect was achieved by using Alclad II Aluminum (101), Polished Aluminum (105), Dark Aluminum (103) and Model Master Dark Anodonic Gray (1412). I used this lacquer paint because you can (carefully) use masking tape on it without lifting the paint up.
The side decals (D-LZ127) are from the kit. The name (GRAF ZEPPELIN) is from a Woodland Scenics Dry Transfer set, with each letter first being applied to clear decal film.
Note: The engines should be mounted one level higher than I have them. I followed Lindberg’s lead on the location and did not discover it was wrong until all of the painting had been done. The shape of the rudders and the lower tailfin also needed to be corrected, but that was beyond the amount of work I wanted to do.
I would like to offer a special thanks to AZSneed, ToddK, daszeppman and Charles Adams. These guys provided critical information to me while I was working on this project. Without their help my progress would have fallen short in many areas. In my opinion their help to me represents the best of what this website is about. Thanks again!