Smiffy Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Okay, I'll admit that I've lost interest in doing the Batmobile and fancy doing something much more spaceshipey. However, as we've already got a few X-wings and Vipers being done, I thought I'd do something a little different. For those who don't know, the "Silpheed" star fighter featured in the 1993 Mega Drive game of the same name. It was one of the releases for the then new Mega CD add on and at the time, us gamers marvelled at the outstanding graphics on display. Ohh how things have changed. I've always liked the design of the ship though and when a new company called Plum announced a kit of the Silpheed a few years ago, I knew I had to have one. The kit has been released in two versions. The standard armed Silpheed and then the upgraded Lancer Version. I have the Lancer type, which has all the standard parts in the box, plus an extra sprue for the Lancer weapon. The box is crammed with some very nicely moulded parts, featuring good surface detail and finely engraved panel lines. I have a Bandai kit of an aircraft from Ace Combat which looks to be of very similar quality, so I wouldn't be surprised if Bandai did the moulding of this one too. I'm going to build it with standard weapon fit rather than the Lancer. That's how I prefer the look of it. I've made a start on her today. Not much to look at yet, but I've got the cockpit section started, along with the wing/fin/engine assemblies and also made a start on the weapon sub assemblies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Looks a little bit ghostly in that plain pale colour. How big will the model build up to measure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 How big will the model build up to measure? With standard weapon fit, it's about 8" long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 Okay, so after a busy couple of weeks, I was able to get back to some modelling again. I made a start on the wing guns and cannon assemblies. I had to do some filling and sanding in a few areas, the worst of which was at the rear of the cockpit section. It was while I was doing this last night, that something very odd happened. I'd cleaned up the sides and done a bit of rescribing, but the top rear seam needed a bit more attention. I decided to use a bit of super glue as filler, just for speed. I dry fitted the wings in place (no glue), so that I could rest it upside down, applied some cyano along the offending join, then gave it a squirt with some kicker. I put it to one side while the glue set and was watching a bit of QI on the telly. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the model slowly list to one side. I didn't think anything of it and just assumed the wings had come loose and detached themselves and didn't give it a second thought. It wasn't till I picked it up later, that I noticed something had gone a bit wrong. The front of the wing had actually slowly split apart. Worse than that, it had happened on both sides. I've never seen anything like it. The inner surfaces of the split are glass smooth, so it's not like a crack or fracture. It's almost like it's de-laminated (for want of a better term) along a flow line or something. It was near a sprue attachment point. I'm wondering if the kicker has caused it, but I've never had anything like this before. Very hard to get a decent picture to illustrate just how it looks. I not too sure how well it's going to go back together again. It's fair to say that I'm pretty cheesed off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 How very wierd! I can't remember ever seeing anything like it before! Nice kit and good progress otherwise! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 (edited) Weird. Its almost like the model was short shot and had some more plastic injected into it to fix it, but the new plastic didn't bond well with the old stuff completely (maybe just on the surface, but not internally). Only other time I have seen styrene softened is when I might make a resin part and some of the excess of one part might weep out and soften plastic that touches it. But you usually see bubbles and stuff form before that happens. I've never heard of kicker doing it. But CA glue zapped with kicker can produce a lot of heat, which might have caused the plastic bond to break down in a spot where it was weak. If you want to test that theory, take some of the scrap sprue trees and kicker the heck out of them to see if the problem happens again. Or do it two ways, one with kicker and glue and the other with just kicker. That is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen! At least theoretically it should be possible to use some plastic weld to get the pieces back together again. Or worst case scenario would be to attack it with a Dremel and battle damage those sections. Edited January 29, 2012 by JMChladek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Well, I think we're back on track. The pieces were glued back together again with Tamiya extra thin. I discovered there were more fractures on the end pieces, so these were given a couple of coats of the Tamiya glue as well. I left it to set hard for a few days, before doing a couple of rounds of filling and sanding. After a little rescribing, here's what we got. Still feel a bit unsure about its strength. Will have to wait and see, I s'pose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madam I'm Adam Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Repairs look good Fingers crossed Cheers Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I'd have a guess that it was the previous moulding in the cast which broke and retained the extremities of the bits which detached themselves from your item - the differential in temperatures of the plastic preventing them from bonding permanently. Some other luckless owner of the kit probably is minus those bits entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Got the wings glued on tonight. Did one at a time, giving it plenty of time to set, just to be on the safe side. Seems to be pretty secure, but I'm going to leave it a day or two before tidying up the joins. Then I can start to think about painting her up. I'd have a guess that it was the previous moulding in the cast which broke and retained the extremities of the bits which detached themselves from your item - the differential in temperatures of the plastic preventing them from bonding permanently. Some other luckless owner of the kit probably is minus those bits entirely. That is a good possibility actually. I don't think I'll use Cyano and Kicker for the rest of this build, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Very nice repair! Nice work! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Just a quick update. No pics. All the parts have been removed from the sprues and cleaned up. The main craft and all the plating pieces have been primed in white, while the weapon parts have been given a grey undercoat. I'm not usually a fan of pre-shading (for aircraft), but being as this is a purely fictional subject, who's to say how it weathers. So I've gone over selected areas with a dark grey. I've avoided shading the panel lines though. I'll handle them with some oil washes, later. So, I'll be airbushing the main colours tomorrow, all being well and good. Very nice repair! Nice work! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Well, I managed to get the medium grey parts (like the weapons ) painted yesterday. When it came time to do the main light grey colour though, my airbrush packed up. I think I've got a blocked nozzle. I mixed the main colour using Vallejos Model Air White, with a little Model Colour Med Grey. It seems the Model Colour doesn't like being airbrushed, even when thinned. I tried cleaning the nozzle a few times to no avail, so I've left it soaking in Cellulose thinners. Hopefully, it'll dissolve the blockage. I have got a spare .4 needle & nozzle somewhere, but I'll be buggered if I can find it. With time getting short, I might just order a new nozzle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 The real thing is beginning to more than faintly resemble the fighter from 'Halo - Reach'. Hope you manage to get the Airbrush sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 The real thing is beginning to more than faintly resemble the fighter from 'Halo - Reach'. Ahh yes. That's another cool looking ship, but then the HALO universe is packed with stuff I'd like to see replicated in plastic. How I'd love a Pelican with underslung Warthog or Scorpion tank. I've been thinking of having a bash at scratching one of those, for a long old while actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Well, I recieved my replacement nozzle okay. I also ordered some new paint from Hannants at the same time (along with a few other bits to make it worthwhile), but that hasn't arrived. It was dispatched Monday, first class and I'm starting to think it might have gone missing. With only a few days left, it's not looking like she'll be done in time. One word... Bugger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Any progress on this one Smiffy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted March 16, 2012 Author Share Posted March 16, 2012 No, she's sat on the side of the workbench. I've been doing the Eagle Transporter for the TV/Movie gb. I will get back to her though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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