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Bell X-1 "Glamorous Glennis" (Hobby Craft 1/72)


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Very nice Jaime, those seams have vanished nicely and she's looking very smart in her orange.

Fingers crossed for the decals :) 

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4 hours ago, CedB said:

Very nice Jaime, those seams have vanished nicely and she's looking very smart in her orange.

Fingers crossed for the decals :) 

 

Thanks Ced! The seams didn't disappear completely but under the right lighting they're not too noticeable :)

 

The decals weren't very good but at least didn't auto-destroy and look Ok from normal viewing distance. In the following post, I'll show how they turned out.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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I was almost finishing this post last night when suddenly the BM server seemed to go down and I lost everything. So, I'm rewriting it now.

 

Continuing from the previous update, I left the Aqua Gloss coat to dry for 2 hours. The next step was decaling. Since the decals were very old and I feared they would behave badly, I scanned them first at high resolution.

 

This is the set-up for decaling, were the usual tools and decal solutions can be seen:

y4mM9qhDJI3ZcMpgkwZ4rPIMEZuDJmMFtYVSz8Rl

IMAG4714

 

The decals behaved reasonably well after all. There was just a bit of wrinkling in the side ensigns, which was made to almost completely disappear with a few cuts, made with a nº 11 blade, and additional application of micro sol. However, the decals were not good, being noticeably out of register, which was evident in the ensigns and Bell logo.

 

Here's the end result:

y4mDSYQ-NqEbMJ02LSLB-TZqRCNCwYJnssyTUdef

IMAG4715

 

y4mSz0Z04u76ibqToAJvasrsZyJ65OKc-eKEJ8q0

IMAG4716

 

y4md5NyHIJX1StL1BoCpU96JIr7vZU3tbgA3CK5Q

IMAG4717

 

y4msUWAR8PvJ78EEiCogSXbs7X51wXroa_0DHhu3

IMAG4718

 

y4m67CTOXkjFnpCxWhNceIs7hqqzWy49UZogKCNn

IMAG4719

 

Next I checked the fit of the canopy and found that it couldn't sit properly on the cockpit edges because the instrument panel was protruding too high above the edges.

y4mi1szcLRbEiFsZY5nv4LJFxkELVCQmMYwIjTTp

IMAG4720

 

This was due to the oxygen tube hanging from the instrument panel, that was too long for the space available in the cockpit. So, I carefully unglued the instrument panel and repositioned it leaning a bit forward. I managed not to damage the painting too much but had to do a few touch ups with matt black:

y4mzLYtEbq9ZXlElWd7-IsihNOeGWOruetylAnJH

IMAG4722

 

y4myJktkuTT7WH_5oN7CAtsabaYBwnqDcLmC8mfX

IMAG4723

 

Now the canopy fitted perfectly and I glued it in place using Contacta Clear:

y4ms7ckt7_ymha4czTACyZFvjP0n2gVeqeYA6ab-

IMAG4724

 

A few minutes after glueing the canopy I noticed I forgot to glue the control column inside the cockpit. So, I unglued the canopy and installed the control column:

y4mHovfPyTwTaZTTlEgTLCIGz_LPk0bjtoqGGWyA

IMAG4725

 

y4mTJ1cSAEDoALaFAtR0xo_FYsUxeGY9sAgCIKhQ

IMAG4726

 

y4mgnoclPaZFIAgkGy97S_R1sKfXnLgP1HSv9tXf

IMAG4728

 

Now the canopy could be glued in place for good. I also glued the nose pitot tube and touched up a few spots around the canopy edges with orange. Here's the end result:

y4mgbs8pnrHLcSFR8vIlVO48VKIxwmyF6KJWB9kO

IMAG4728

 

To finish with for the day, I applied the final Aqua Gloss coat and left the aircraft to dry overnight.

 

Today I expect to install the landing gear legs, wheels, wheel well doors and wing pitot tubes and call the build finished.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

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Superb progress Jaime :clap: !

 

Some moments of last minute drama around the cockpit :o! Your calm tenacity overcame non fitting I/P and the need to unstick the canopy to fit the control column: nicely done.

 

It's a gorgeous orange; is it Tamiya paint? 

I'll second what Ced said about the seams; I can't see them at all. Good decals too, good colour density. 

 

Good luck.... a full 8 hours and 7 minutes to go :frantic: !!!

 

;)

 

Best regards

TonyT

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Hi Tony!

 

thanks a lot for the kind words and for the incentive!

 

The orange is Gunze's acrylic H14. The decals are not very dense, unfortunately. The white in the ensigns lets the orange pass a bit through but I'm happy the decals didn't auto-destroy :)

 

I'm nearly done but still have a few tasks to finish.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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It's a lovely orange Jaime, I will purchase a jar of that one.

I have a few 'polar exploration' build subjects planned and I think it could prove to be a very useful colour :thumbsup2: .

 

There's something nice about using original decals, I often can't believe that they still work at all after sometimes up to 40 years in the box :o!

 

Great stuff, onwards and upwards :hobbyhorse: !

TonyT

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Tony, Ced,

 

Thanks again for the kind words. The build is now completed. :yahoo:

 

I'll post the last WIP update and then I'll upload the final pictures in the gallery. Afterwards, I'll post a longer RFI.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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Hi again,

 

This is the final build update, since I've finished the model by now.

 

Today I started by removing the blu-tac masking from the wheel wells. This caused some damage to the wells painting and the edges also need some touch-ups.

 

Here's the starboard well:

y4mKvU37a8TdiB-RlqxUdr_1jnlptgsLSrOmpwR4

IMAG4729

 

The port well:

y4mDRxWX2ujTuTrFNX64OlVmI3yGMKTncAbwTKOS

IMAG4730

 

and the nose well:

y4mUPk2iXJtOJz970dX66bSY5G2d7ZEqjVPIu9se

IMAG4731

 

I also removed the masking from the oleos of the landing gear parts:

y4mPoqpvREheqbCueKE079aTHtQg9qUHlSjqsmji

IMAG4732

 

After repairing the damaged painting of the wells and letting the touch-ups dry for two hours, here are the results.

 

Starboard well:

y4m1MUU8uDQvoerApH8wVRG3oARIKDrm7AS_xuHt

IMAG4737

 

Port well:

y4mCEW08gXrNL8vHtZwNZdb-ltZCUtluoXDHREol

IMAG4738

 

Nose well:

y4mqbaJYCvq5kDvpL8RqQ875uKLYaI8K4394027r

IMAG4735

 

Now was the time to install the landing gears. It proved to be a challenging task, as there was a lot of parts and the fit was awful.

 

Here are the landing gear leg parts and well doors for the main landing gear port side. I already glued the extension link on the main door. The other parts are still glued to toothpicks:

y4md9006AEoKpZzhcwylekdFDBm0NC3if1j0K2IY

IMAG4739

 

After a lot of dry fitting to try and find the best installation order, I finally decided to install the leg parts first. Here's the port leg:

y4mC66u-m7m93SrAKAgFLKkqecGSc8i5r2tZ5zFc

IMAG4740

 

y4m996gdNkdftJAnlLa-oaY6_qCxuopg47kUU1u0

IMAG4741

 

y4mSMIwuidkTj-WQ4p3jBWvEE_bdDaQy19xT5ywS

IMAG4742

 

The process was repeated for the starboard leg. I used Tamiya's regular glue, to minimise damage to the painting and also have more time for adjustments. Nonetheless, there was some damage inflicted to the well and leg parts painting, which was repaired after all glueing was done. After letting the glue dry, I reinforced the contact points using thin super-glue.

 

Next, I glued the nose gear in place, as shown here:

y4mgWYNO9cVII_KRkl725ueoMrabF0szcbOl4O4S

IMAG4743

 

y4m3Dx7jNTJUqx8QBScRbS9Ybt-8Jxmdn8AtbeWC

IMAG4744

 

This was followed by installing the nose well door and smaller main well doors:

y4msbQRvMDaklXOincQcK-kAwjCs8WDOYgcOml8I

IMAG4745

 

and finally the larger main well doors and all the wheels:

y4m7ixz9b8JEfwsh-t4zsM89e_Qtg3agaoSu9pPy

IMAG4746

 

It should be noted that I had to remove the nose leg from the well in order to fit the nose wheel in place. After this, the nose gear was reinstalled.

 

Here are some detailed views of the main gear.

 

Starboard side, from the front:

y4mnw1xKPUcmofLI6VRgaynJ8Iz-ZyZYm3SjI-Hs

IMAG4747

 

Port side, from the front:

y4m00BQ_63_QsUVlo1cIbQJA4Dnrj2PWyxReyQsp

IMAG4748

 

Starboard side, from the back:

y4mNrENd8LRlQkzS8YoYx5_VYvcbxcAHl8Jk2TU7

IMAG4749

 

and this is a detailed view of the nose gear:

y4magUJN_NhLaqXjQBiQDqFYa3VisMsRVcy-2omy

IMAG4750

 

With the landing gears finished, I moved to the rear of the aircraft, to install the exhaust piece. It didn't fit and I had to slowly carve both the exhaust piece and the back end of the model until it fit in place. I also add to repair the paint that was damaged in the process. Here's the end result:

y4mPaIF_zILh_fSmSBUNOfdlbzSf3IzazgVS6vwx

IMAG4751

 

Next, I installed the wing tip pitot tubes/probes:

y4mlRz45kHsTXXqtAAgHeTS5HPBSax6gob5az4S0

IMAG4752

 

y4mbS3KUoFPybrAladvV2xY8AlYNw4ctQyR-KCqV

IMAG4753

 

Finally, I removed the canopy masking and applied a new coat of Aqua Gloss to the transparent panes using a small brush. Here's the end result. It's almost impossible to see anything inside the cockpit:

y4mT02jWexc94mANGzGaNJPg6blWwA3qwLLRtbPf

IMAG4754

 

y4m-KcSraCrZFC6OrJe3QNIqmUPTqk5V6lbMf67m

IMAG4755

 

With this last step the model was finished. Here are two pictures of the final result:

y4mWOO2cryngok1oWZn8eiwlna4wEWhG_kCZTE6E

IMAG4756

 

y4mZi9Rmp-daNDU8Nsd-zO3f8SWmQggiXbqREWBY

IMAG4758

 

I will now upload a few proper pictures in the gallery and latter I'll post a longer RFI in the aircraft RFI section with many pictures.

 

Thank you all for the interest and support during this build and in particular to Tony, the host of the GB. It was fun building this little beauty, though challenging due to the fit problems. I'm very happy to finish my entry to this GB in time. It my first fulfilment of a regular GB deadline (not counting with KUTA GBs).

 

Thanks for looking

 

Jaime

 

EDIT: photos uploaded to the Gallery. RFI with more pictures here.

 

 

 

 

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