MolarDoc

Lovely - You cannot beat a large scale radial (or two)! MD.

Thank you boys for your encouraging comments, however if we're honest that seat would not get near either Tomoshenko's or Fritag's creations. The trouble is the Tucano's cockpit is cramped and narrow, the most obvious items will be the seats courtesy of MB. If they are dodgy then the whole project is compromised. So into the future ballast box they go. I think the only way to get the sharp details I want is to largely scratch-build from Evergreen, etc. rather than try and adapt something from the spares box and (as suggested) build in component form using thin metal foil/sheet for the belts. Also, I think I will have to restrict the metal casting to the engine (which will not require such crisp details as the seat edges). Using a dental vacuum mould would probably do it, but that's not the point. I planned to do a simple stone and lost wax technique which could easily be replicated by others if they wanted (health and safety issues not withstanding); this method will not cut it for the seat detail I am trying for. Your continued patience is appreciated ...... MD

Hi, Captured the "look" just right there. A hearty round of applause for taking this beast on, let alone the two-seat conversion MD.

Hi, Very much look forward to your proven "treatment" of this one. Am I missing something in the design and history of the Jetstream (very possibly), or what was the Airfix toolmaker on when the moulds were cut for that tail??? MD.

Hmmm ..... I think it's back to the drawing board - With the aid of some acrylic paint and a hair drier, I quickly threw some colour on the seat to see how the detail would (or would not) look. The colours are not correct, however for moulding/casting the paint would all have to be removed anyway. The problem is that in my mind's eye I see this: And in reality (not too surprisingly) I end up with this: So an overnight soak in Windex window cleaner to remove the paint and details, with a fresh start tomorrow to make something half-decent to cast from. Now I remember why 1/32 scale is so appealing. Lessons learned: In future take photos with my scratched, cr*ppy iPhone 3, Vallejo paints cover very well and dry really quickly and AK's Ultra Matt Varnish (acrylic) is superb - Quick drying and dead-flat when dry. MD.

G'Day, Thank you all for your positive feedback I have spent a couple of hours this evening trying to make a better representation of the Tucano's ejection seat prior to moulding and casting: A mixture of plasticard, putty, wire and tape gave the result above. I take some solace from the fact that this is extreme magnification, however to my eyes still rather crude, on the plus side the heavy details will cast ok and then could be refined at the resin or metal stage? To be honest I am tempted to buy and aftermarket set although that would defeat the purpose of this one off exercise in 1/72 scale. Although I have no intention of entering any competitions with this, it needs to look better - Not sure whether to persevere with this seat effort or not? I welcome your honest thoughts and guidance here - If you guys think it looks c**p please let me know. Thanks for looking MD.

Very neat and a great scheme to finish - Looks very nice indeed. MD.

Hi Matt, Thanks - Great minds (?) think alike .... Yes that was the next plan. The engine bay has been left open and I think that I will have a go at casting the powerplant in metal also. That has been one of the stalling points; it has proved really difficult getting any detailed reference material for the installed engine. I think I can now have a representative go at it using what I have gathered over the past months (rivet counters will need to look away). Following on from that I will then need to remake the undercarriage in metal to cope with all the weight - Airfix's one is rather too flimsy. MD.

G'Day BM-ers, How time flies when you get busy - Just realised that it is now 7 months since my last post Would like to say that I have been busy building little plastic planes, but the usual life, work, family, etc. have got in the way. Also a small issue of trying to work out how to do various bits the Tucano have diminished my mojo somewhat. One of the issues being the deflected flaps and how to make them, rather than recycle the basic kit ones which I hacked off the wings earlier , however having now read Professor (of resin castiology and plastic fabrication) Fritag's progress, the plagiarist in me can now see a way forward. So excuses over, here is the current state of play: What? I hear you say that is excatly the same as last time! Well yes and no - A lot of hard filling, sanding, re-filling and re-sanding has gone on to blend the new nose profile and I have started the wing flap assembly (just ways of putting off the tedious rescribing really). Not much to show and still work is required to refine and thin the wingroot trailing edges, etc. In order to relieve the monotony of abrasion, I have started some work on the ejection seats; the kit ones being somewhat anaemic. My idea is to cobble together a "master" (I use the term very loosely here) from oddments in the spares box and cast a metal one for the front seat and a resin one for the rear. This set up will help to address the problem of tail-sitting with this particular model. Here is a start, apologies in advance for the basic start and cruel perspective of macro images: Good to be back (I think?). MD.

Lovely trio Bill, IMHO military jets should be ugly and brutish - The exception being two-seater jags. I have seen may 1/72 models of Sepecat's finest and few capture that elusive form - These three are very nice indeed! Nigel.

Hi Doc, Lovely, exacting build - All the time and effort paid dividends. The beautifully realistic paint finish and subdued weathering is spot on in my opinion. Again the 1/72 scale bar has been moved up another notch (or two). Enjoyed the all the innovations along the way. MD.

Hi Bill, PM sent - Sorry to hijack the thread Steve.

A sad testimony to the fragility of life, however a life lived to the limit where many will look back and wonder what they achieved with their finite number of breaths. All respect to an obvious leader in their field. MD.

Ha! Ha! Life, hectic work, etc. got in the way - I hang my head in shame However, now have some days off lined-up, so no excuses - Brushing the dust off the Tucano as I type (actually as we mere males cannot multitask - Apparently, I will be doing that next). Carry-on the work on those two Hawks to inspire me - I have a 1/32 scale one waiting, but have promised myself not to touch it until the 1/72 scale stuff is done. Besides I'll let you do the research first. Found this 1980's ad: In this RAF produced mag: And somehow thought of Fritag. MD.

Steve has obviously mastered it, but some might find the following applicator tip useful for attaching to syringes to get fluid resin into "difficult" corners of moulds prior to set: They can be purchased from EBay as "Disposable Pre-Bent Dispenser Needle Tips 20pcs 20G BLACK Luer Lock Slip Dental"

My goodness - I go travelling and on return find that Fritag appears to be building a whole squadron (or two) of resin Hawks. Now we all now know where to send any masters for resin casting - Excellent work as usual. Your results look far better than some of the "professional" castings that I have seen for sale in the past. Looking forward to the next rabbit out-of-the-hat! MD

Gotta love a well-built Goshawk - Very pretty!

Great build and paintwork - Love it!

I spend some time working in government - Strangely the knowledge that the IT division have tenure and will never be fired, does not have the desired beneficial effect on quality either. There must be a happy medium somewhere!

Agreed - Although it's probably the often former that makes the latter. Any modeller with good hand-eye skills would make a dentist, the trouble with dentistry is it's usually "working-against-the-clock". I feel that you would be rather good at it!

Quote Winenut: "mmm..... Looks suspiciously like a dentists workbench! and a very good one at that!" Thanks Winenut - Following the evolution to digital and CAD-CAM dentistry my other work bench is now even tidier (or at least when I leave it). Previously it would have been under a pile of paperwork, plaster, acrylic, etc. The work bench in the photo is now covered with all the usual modelling stuff again and I cannot find what I'm looking for (only later when I don't need it!). MD.

Thank you HOUSTON - Most of the day job is done on small or very small things either under magnification with/without a microscope, but I do not use these when modelling - You can take this hobby too far (and it would also show so many faults that I would give up!). Having spent clinical working days on small things, I prefer 1/32 scale to give the eyes a rest in the evening. Fortunately (?) - I now only work clinically three days/week, the other is office work when I work on the Tucano in the evening. MD.

Thank you - Coming from the likes of you both, I take those comments as great compliments indeed.

More fool the guy in the back flying with "stupid"!

G'Day, So far, I am impressed by the fit of this kit, all major components have gone together well, with the need for filler largely down to my errors. I think the nose profile is just about there now, in reality I am not sure that it will make a huge difference to the overall appearance, however as a learning experience, it has been "enjoyable". I have fitted the cockpit tub so that some annoying gaps can be shimmed with plasticard prior to spraying and fitting out. Here's the state of play now, ready for micro-meshing and re-scribing. The dark join lines are filled with cyanoacrylate, which has then be coated with MrSurfacer 500 and cut-back: As said before, my preferred scale is 1/32 and a size comparison between a 1/32 SUU-23 gun pod (an accessory of my next project) and the Tucano puts it in perspective how small the kit is compared to my usual efforts - Respect to all you 1/72 scale modellers! Thanks for looking. MD.