ChrisR Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) Hi All - Just joined the forum, so thought I'd post some photos of some restoration I've been doing while having a bit of spare time on my hands during lockdown. - Had these German bomb fin relics a while. – Not many of these survive as they were generally speaking ‘blown up’! These ones sort of survived, by the looks of them, by hiding in a swamp. Over half of the cone piece had completely rotted away, which in turn meant a couple of the fins were no longer attached to anything. So a bit of fabrication, and out with the welder. A couple of edges had gone thin and had rust nibbles out of them that required cutting off and being replaced with a new straight edge. A bit fiddly as I had to cut it close to a swage line that I didn’t want to disturb. Metal was paper thin and difficult to get a clean surface to weld. The original rivets survived, but any stamps were long gone. These fins are interesting as they apparently have some shrapnel damage from another bomb. Fortunately I have been able to save this feature. No idea how it got there. Perhaps this was from a blown up ammo dump, demolition area or training range, or it was sitting on an airfield that was bombed, or even came off a bomb found in the wreckage of a shot down aircraft? We’ll never know. A clean up of my welding, and a skim of filler lost most of the pits. Painted, with a tad of rust colour for some of the pits that still showed, just to keep a bit of age and stop them looking too pristine and new. So, like Cinderella’s slipper, the test was whether it would it fit its intended. –“Yes Cinderella, you shall go to the ball bearing factory.” Also turned my attention to restoring some rusty German Butterfly Bomb parts to make a presentable one. A couple of 'before' shots of the crusty drogue piece. I had a very pitted and rusty bomb casing and various other bits, fuze and spindle - So basically a bitzer that I have cobbled together. Someone reproduces the screws to hold the spindle on, which is very useful! Lots of rubbing down, fettling of twisted wings, and a skim of filler. Again, I didn't want it to look pristine, so used a modellers 'rust wash' in places. Looks better for it and has stopped it deteriorating and rusting away. Back in the day the paint was applied very crudely, so easy to emulate that! Anyway, considering what I started with I am quite happy with the end result. I know with collecting originality is everything, but I really had nothing to lose by messing with these bits. Edited November 15, 2020 by ChrisR Struggled adding photos 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Hello Chris, Welcome to MCN, we hope you enjoy this great site. Thanks for the images....super job you are making on the re-build! Best to you.......Desert Rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Auld Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 I think you are right , nothing to loose given the condition. Excellent hand work there. Welcome! Best Rich 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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