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Sword FJ-2 Fury


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7 minutes ago, RidgeRunner said:

 

Hi SJ, what paint did you use for the red orange?

 

Martin

After much trial and error (including a number of permutations of undercoat and top colours), I went for a base coat of Mr Color 108 Character Red, with a thin topcoat of Tamiya TS-31 Bright Orange. It looks OK but if I need any touch-ups it will take a bit of fiddling to get a match.

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On 12/1/2017 at 22:46, David H said:

No further questions.

This reminds me a lot of a "Navy Bird" (Bill Gillman) project.

 

-d-

 

I think @Sabrejet has an incredible eye for detail and knows this subject inside and out. This is an amazing project and I can't wait to see how it turns out.  :)  :)

 

I've been waiting for someone to do a nice modern kit of the Fury, and I have to say I'm a tad disappointed with some of the issues with the Sword kits. But no matter, they are the best we have today and this thread has been duly bookmarked for future reference. It's looking great, and I really appreciate the level of documentation here. Thank you, @Sabrejet!

 

Cheers,

Bill

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4 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

Living the dream: we had about 30 seconds' worth yesterday and I'm doing my snow dance in the hope for a lot more!

Just found this while doing my regular week end photo reconnaissance and thought you and the rest of the gang would enjoy it!

Mike

 

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA-Marines/North-American-FJ-3-Fury/4725615/L?qsp=eJwljEEKwkAMRe/y191YQWF21QPowguEmdAWqhmSLCyld28cd4/34G3I8nH%2B%2BmutjARj0jyhQyWltyFtqJO43Ml5FF2R%2BmsHE/VbMEroIWeuzgV//9DC%2BktsuX3G%2BJ4CWJ%2BNcb6EL7PVhdqDneYF%2B34AMzUusA%3D%3D

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Nose landing gear. Sword does a good job I think - it's a seven-piece gear in 1/72 after all! I think it would make up into a nice representation OOB but I wanted to put in a bit of detail. 

 

99

 

Cleaned up it looks pretty good:

 

100

 

Some of the joints will probably be OK using liquid cement but I decided to drill each at 0.8mm and put wire between each piece. The following also shows that the yoke (part 40) is a bit too long and leaves a bit of a gap between it and the crown of the tyre:

 

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I also decided to re-orientate parts a bit, so that what looks like the attachment for the aft brace (part 41) can be moved to the right side of the gear and act as the upper torque link mount (the torque link (43) mounts on the RH side with the shimmy damper/steering unit (57) on the left).

 

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Then various bits replaced with plastic, wire and brass strip + the yoke shortened:

 

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Finally for today, because I'm doing a late FJ-2, it needs a landing light in the nose gear door, which I made from a piece of clear sprue, sanded with a domed end and then cut off the sprue to make a half-sphere which was then (with some difficulty!) polished on the trust trouser leg This is the aft face of the door, with the domed side of the landing light facing upwards:

 

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And finally, sprayed silver on the domed face, and mounted in the painted door. it will undoubtedly benefit from a final polish and a clear coat:

 

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Edited by Sabrejet
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1 hour ago, Sabrejet said:

Nose landing gear. Sword does a good job I think - it's a seven-piece gear in 1/72 after all! I think it would make up into a nice representation OOB but I wanted to put in a bit of detail.

 

Some of the joints will probably be OK using liquid cement but I decided to drill each at 0.8mm and put wire between each piece. The following also shows that the yoke (part 40) is a bit too long and leaves a bit of a gap between it and the crown of the tyre:

 

101

 

I also decided to re-orientate parts a bit, so that what looks like the attachment for the aft brace (part 41) can be moved to the right side of the gear and act as the upper torque link mount (the torque link (43) mounts on the RH side with the shimmy damper/steering unit (57) on the left).

Then various bits replaced with plastic, wire and brass strip + the yoke shortened:

 

 

 

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Excellent - I did the same thing with a pin between the yoke and the barrel on the front of the strut. I couldn't work up the courage to shorten the yoke, however. Note that even if you do, the strut may still be a bit too long. See http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2017/10/fj-23-nose-landing-gear.html

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5 minutes ago, David H said:

That looks so cool!

 

-d-

Thanks! I'm reasonably happy with it: I was going to do a bit more but it was getting to the point where I wondered if I'd ever finish it. I'd love to see what these look like OOB and I'll be doing a 'clean' FJ-3 at some point but not yet. I was also hoping that someone would release some aftermarket wheels for this kit, but having given up on that and painted the standard kit items, I think they look OK. They do however need quite a bit of flash removal but that's all in a day's work eh?

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5 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

I was also hoping that someone would release some aftermarket wheels for this kit,

 

Hi SJ! I'm hanging on to see if anyone brings our by FJ-3D decals ;). If not I'll have to print my own.....

 

Martin

Edited by RidgeRunner
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23 minutes ago, RidgeRunner said:

 

Hi SJ! I'm hanging on to see if anyone brings our by FJ-3D decals ;). If not I'll have to print my own.....

 

Martin

Me too! In fact if Kitty Hawk delivers on its 1/48 kit maybe we won't need aftermarket...:dog:

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The trouble with cutting various holes in kits is that you have to fill them: the step/ammo access door being another example. And I noted that the FJ-2 item is very different from the FJ-3 - the former has a simple framework to its interior while the latter has a pressed interior with lightening holes in it. Another example of the continuous learning process. 

 

So the door itself was made from brass sheet, and via a process of trimming and check-fitting against the aperture I made in the kit, the shape/size replicated. Detail was then added from plastic card of various thicknesses:

 

39104775301_dbe8240934_b.jpg

 

39073638522_84e8f7cd3f_b.jpg

 

Then painted:

 

39073638212_99c50cfef4_b.jpg

 

Flickr still not playing but I managed to find another workaround. 

 

And on its gear, tailplanes on too:

 

39073638292_6988bd0711_b.jpg

 

39073637992_ef44f574ac_b.jpg

 

Edited by Sabrejet
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Odd and ends and the end is in sight so long as I don't think of something daft to do. Since I opened up the speed brakes, I knew I had to make some rams, which on the FJ-2 have a distinctive oil transfer tube down the outside. So starting with some very thin brass tube....

 

25315446158_0b2ca7cb1c_b.jpg

 

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Finished off the step and ammo bins:

 

38473320424_0c1db2d8d7_b.jpg

 

38304405835_d961272622_b.jpg

 

And I also managed to make the small doors etc for the arrestor hook and then got that fixed on:

 

27403635849_1a4623d842_b.jpg

 

Final bit for today: the FJ-2 has the F-86A/D/E/F/H-style radio compass antenna bowl, but instead of being part of the canopy as it is on the F-86s, it's fixed to the back of the seat on the FJ-2. The FJ-3 on the other hand is similar to the F-86L in having no radio compass bowl and instead had a semi-circular loop antenna:

 

38304405295_6e91feb69d_b.jpg

 

So I made up a simple bracket from brass sheet and rod; and made the loop antenna from clear stretched sprue:

 

38473320034_151656b86d_b.jpg

 

38304405565_304f901018_b.jpg

 

One thing's for sure - the close-ups show the rough edges! Need to tidy a few bits before it's finished. Final bit do do aside from that is the wing fold, but I'm not going to go too mad on it - would quite like to finish this before Christmas because I'm pretty sure that the modelling stuff will be taking a break for a week or two.

 

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11 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

So I made up a simple bracket from brass sheet and rod; and made the loop antenna from clear stretched sprue:

SJ, great work. Can I ask, was this loop antenna coloured in any way as yours look as though it has had something done to it?

 

Stuart

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It has a fibreglass-type material on the inside of the glass cover which is light brown but can vary. I just drilled a hole through it (well most of the way) and ran some tan colour down it. In 1/72 it's probably good enough. I'll dig out some photos.

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