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Housesparrow

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Everything posted by Housesparrow

  1. I am building several submarine kits in 1:350 scale in parallell, and I have noticed some issues with the following kit, and I thought I'd help out with some suggestions should you build this model yourself: Dragon 1056 U.S.S Florida SSGN-728 1) The third big part that cover the launch tubes, have bad stand off's, so you are wise to create your own. I used two pieces of styrene that I glued onto the hull, and then I clipped the standoff distance correct with a side cutting tool, and then I sanded the edge level. This part is important, otherwise, you may not realize that there is supposed to be a long gap on each side between this part and the hull itself. One risk gluing this gap shut because of the bad stand off that is molded into this third part. 2) Looking at photos, there seem to be a solid wall at the center line underneath this big third piece of plastic covering the launch tubes. I used a long 1mm thick styrene part to build this wall. 3) When gluing the two big hull pieces together, after having glued the front portion, I realized that a huge guide on the mold on the rear side was causing an issue (I forgot to check before I starting the gluing process). Instead of trying to pry the halves off again, I simply used a sharp blade in-between the open seam in the rear and cut off the offending piece of plastic that was to be used as a guide for gluing the two big hull parts together. 4) I used Tamiya extra thin glue to add glue to the seams along the hull, though it is probably a good idea to only glue half the side AND after adding the glue, add a tiny ruler onto the seam, to push the two parts with equal force so that they better align.
  2. It's not a liberty class ship! It is a "type C1" freighter.
  3. I've already added putty to the big seams on the hull, and I am prepared to not be re-scribing all the details that might have been covered by putty. It looks like you do the same as me with the seams. Sanding over the seams to see where the scratch marks are, and then one knows where the hull bends inwards and so the area inside the scratches will be filled with putty. I like using masking tape, to lay down a strip of putty and not smear that stuff all over the model, and then using a straight blade to "shave" off the putty from the masking tape, so the height of the masking tape would basically equal the depth of the putty that way. Btw, you might find the top side of that "beaver tail" to be uneven, presumably this "tail" is supposed to be "flat" as the beaver tail bends. I wonder if the beaver tail is supposed to have a straight edge at the end. Edit: In this photo is looks like the end of the beaver tail ends in a straight line:
  4. Oh, wow, I did not notice that the towed array was depicted on the box. I did notice it was present on photos of the sub when looking for detailed photos. I have started on this kit as well. Not something I would recommend. There are no guiding pins anywhere and gluing the four hull parts together can be tricky, and then one of the parts might have a slight bend to it, though the slightly bent part is easily fixed by simply gluing the parts together and holding them firmly with your hands until the bond set. It's not like the part was warped any other way, it just had a slight bend to it. I really wish the tiles were shown, though the panel lines on this model kit aren't the best, so maybe it is for the best. One thing I intend to do, is to replace the two fins at both sides at the rear, with thinner pieces of styrene sheet. Looking at a photo, it seems to me that the fins are a little too thick on the model. As for the jet intake, I wonder if one could simply sand them shorter, to try get a nice round opening and maybe the 1mm shorter part won't be noticeable.
  5. Ah, thinner walls, makes sense I think. Thanks for mentioning it! I also suspect that gravity might have a small effect on the result as well. Such that, I could make sure to turn the window side downwards as it dries.
  6. I can see how OP must be having fun with this project. Looks great.
  7. Hm, I guess I should try glue together some kind of bent square frame with four bits of styrene and just see what happens when I apply Micro Kristal Klear to it.
  8. I wonder, does anyone know if Micro Kristal Klear end up looking ok if filled into non flat holes? I have a submarine model with some clear part missing, so I had in mind to use some bits of styrene to create the window frames, and then use Micro Kristal Klear to create the glass. Only worry is that, the window frame has a bend to it, hehe so I am curious if maybe the liquid plastic would end up being flush with the rounded surface on the conning tower windows (which are shaped like squares), or just end up looking weird and dented. I can try test this myself, but I thought I'd toss this thread out there in case someone actually have this a similar experience with this particular product.
  9. I don't have years of experience with this, but I guess about three drops of thinner, to ten drops of varnish. Unsure of the exact ratio I must admit.
  10. It is called "Vallejo Airbrush Thinner" 60 ml. bottle = number 71.361
  11. I am wondering, will the landing gear handle the weight of the model? (sry if anyone asked this previously)
  12. Looking at the photos, interesting how the hand railings forwards are slanted inwards.
  13. When I spray on satin varnish, I try to spray on light coats with several passes.
  14. Admittedly, I've always found creating a gloss coat problematic. Difficult to get it look great with Humbrol Clear. I should probably experiment more. I bought some other stuff, but haven't tried it yet.
  15. I would use Vallejo Thinner for thinning. Ah.. so.. In order to get a SATIN finish, you probably want a perfect gloss coat beneath. Maybe the orange peel was there before using satin varnish? (what I think) For my submarine models, I am alway happy with the result (see my sig links), but I always have a nice gloss coat before adding a satin finish to remove the toy look of the gloss coat, making the model look more real (or "more realistic" I should say), by adding satin and/or matte varnish.
  16. Hrm I want a brand new UH-1N, with clear and thin clear parts, and with photo etch, in 1:48 scale, with correct shaping of the parts. Also, incl. parts for the door handles.
  17. I really like this color scheme. A lot more interesting than some plain gray I think.
  18. I just got an idea, but I'll keep it to myself, now that you are half way.
  19. I am surprised that kit developers don't get details right. Surely kit devs must know that they can't just rely on some random drawing they find on the internet. Best thing is proprietary drawings + looking at relevant photos. I used to like modeling stuff in 3D on a computer, but I got burned out, too difficult finding good drawings of airplanes, and the drawings that look nice, might as well be horribly wrong for all anyone know.
  20. I am in the process of assembling and cleaning up the hull pieces, and I think this kit definitely doesn't fall together by itself. Btw, the drawing of the submarine seem to show lots of antennas in the diagram, however only four masts/antennas are found on the sprues (maybe 4-5 missing sort of). I wish I managed to find a photo of the real bow planes on the internet (I did not), as I want to excavate the hole for the bow planes to try improve things. I will also use some styrene to thin the two big fins seen at the rear and on the sides near the props. Somehow, I can't find one of the tiny clear parts, so I'll (the plan is anyway to) scratch build the window frames and fill in the glass with liquid transparent plastic. I've seen some photos of the typhoon, and I guess there are variants, as one photo show some kind of blob on top of the rear fin, not seen on the kit. Also, I wonder what kind of plastic this is. Maybe it is just me, but I thought it smelled funny. But maybe it is just me. In my box, there was two additional parts for the big conning tower (two loose parts), no idea why.
  21. How do you manage to bend styrene rods, without the rods flexing back again? (sry if this has been talked about already)
  22. I sent some emails to Italeri: Type C1 class freighter Victory class freighter Tu-22M3 Backfire bomber Tu-95KM bomber Beech King Air something something (Malta Air force) Airliners.net picture removed Mercedes Actros military Mercedes Actros 4148 dump truck I couldn't find a good photo of an Actros 4460 model, with a configuration I though looked the best (big crane + open cargo). Google didn't want to show me more than a few images in my image search, and I am NOT getting an account. I thought the Victory class ships would be a lot longer than the Liberty ships, but they aren't that much longer.
  23. I think you might as well try ships in 1:350 scale. (Because such a tiny model isn't very interesting I think)
  24. Aaah, brilliant trick with the fake wooden panels on the boats! Looking at your photos, I have the impression that the large deck pieces fit snugly to the hull pieces, would I be right in thinking that?
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