Bandsaw Steve

At the end of the one of my recent posts I said I was going to try out something new, and that if it worked I would be 'stoked'. Well I am happy to report that I am now 'stoked'. I have dreamed up (what for me at least is) a new technique and I reckon it's worked pretty well. The aim was to get the remaining '2D' surface detail onto the model - all of the access panels and hatches, the undercarriage doors and so forth without having to do endless hours of detailed panel-line scribing. Panel line scribing is fine (as discussed above) but I only ever want to do that for actual construction panels not all of the other little 'bits and bobs'. So here's what I've done - and I reckon it worked pretty well. Get the following items together; a cut-out of your plans containing all the detail you want to represent, a laminator, a laminating sleeve, a sheet of paper and some scissors. Place the plans on top of the paper (in this case brown paper) and place both the plans and the additional sheet of paper into the laminating sleeve. Laminate them - make sure that the laminator is at full working temp. You might want to pass the lamination through the process twice just to make sure that the 'weld' is good and strong. Cut around the plans as shown removing all of the plastic sleeve that has been welded to itself. Peel the plan from the backing paper - in reality it will just fall off because there is no weld at all between the plan and the backing paper And now you have this - a half laminated perfect 1:48 scale plot of the all of the surface detail on your model. Now you can take a knife or a set of scissors and just cut out all of the details that you want to stick onto the model. The plastic gives each part strength, definition and a smooth surface shine that would probably be lacking if you just used paper cut-outs. Grab some PVA and stick the bits on where they should go! 'Simples' as they say. Here's the underside with the undercarriage covers done and a few other 2D bits and pieces. the individual panels on the undercarriage covers are cut separately so there will be a visible panel line between each part when it's finished. The rivets (if that's what they are) that are visible on the plans are easily reproduced with a sharp pin or a punch. I really like this method as it is quick, accurate and simple. There are three major advantages with only laminating one half of the paper: Firstly the thickness of the part is reduced keeping it as close as possible to flush with the airframe - using this method the surface detail will stand slightly proud of the background surface but I've done the maths and the scale thickness is less than one centimeter and I can live with that. Secondly, as the surface that is stuck to the airframe is paper the PVA really grips it and the pieces are very securely stuck on. Thirdly, the cut-out parts are very flexible (much more so than when double laminated) and will conform to almost any shape. Here's a view of port-side airbrake. And here is the current state of play for this project. I can't wait to start painting this - but there's still a few steps to go - armament, cine-camera and tailplanes being the main ones. Tailplanes next I think...

Hmmmm.... it's kind of a model of a model....kind of... Who would of thought...?

Gekko - mate, you've fallen silent! This is my favourite thread on Britmodeller, what's going on? I don't want to sound demanding but you have a 'fan-base' to keep happy now!!! We want profiles - We want profiles - We want profiles!

Not a bad effort with that knock-out panel. I'll remember that little trick!

Hmmmm....how to add a missing knock-out panel to a canopy...there's a challenge. Regret to say I have no ideas. Will watch with interest to see what you come up with

Good progress here. Looking good. I especially like the tidy work on the wing's trailing edge.

Nice! I'm going to get one of these. My 1:48 WW2 collection still does not have a single soviet lend lease aircraft in it - and this might be the project that fills that gap.

Hi Adrian, great work so far but I really can't see what was wrong with that second fuselage. It looked fine to me . Anyway, thanks for posting this and keep going - I'm learning quite a bit. You are even making me rethink my poor opinion of balsa- perhaps I just need some 'Ronseal wood hardener' .

Wow. That's some serious dedication right there!

You definitely have the skills to be in the comp mate! But fair enough about not doing the 'comp thing' model building and 'competition' are not highly compatible in my view. What makes a good model is so subjective that rating one excellent model over another is almost meaningless.

Looks awesome. Will this be at wasmex 2017?

Nice one!

Really good! Like a painting rendered in 3D.

Getting There mate! I can see a aeroplane in there for the first time

An earlier-than-expected posting this time. Just a quick update on the arrival of the decals for this project. I placed an order with Hannants a bit over a week ago and they arrived today. Well done Hannants - very quick service and very well-wrapped both waterproof and rigid. So now I am committed; this is going to be a Korean War Mig15 in natural metal finish, flown by a Russian pilot. These decals are produced by 'H models' and I must say they look superb in all regards - I am really looking forward to getting this project to the point where I can apply these. This is the selected aircraft - flown by Captain Sergei Kramarenko a Russian ace in WW2 and a highly regarded squadron commander in Korea. Here is his autobiography. I love the title - 'Air Combat Over the Eastern Front and Korea' - typically Russian; factual, no-nonsense, to the point! It's a great book, giving the reader a glimpse into the mindsets and tactics that allowed some pilots to survive and operate with confidence in an environment where the possibility of death was so close at all times. It also highlights that fact that by the end of WW2 and throughout the Korean War the Russian pilots were of the opinion (rightly or wrongly) that their aircraft were second to none. When I saw that one of Sergei's jets was an option on this decal sheet I felt a renewed Sergei of enthusiasm for the project and ordered the set straight away! OK, that's it for now - I'm actually going to go and do some work on this project rather than just sitting here writing very bad puns. As I stated at the end of the last update, I am working on what I think might be a new technique for surface detailing (it's new to me anyway) so stay-tuned because if it works I might get very excited in the next post! Best Regards, Reconcilor

wow! That's great. Thanks for the reply. Good photos too - they make the process very clear.

Hello Roadrunner, This looks great! Will be following from now on. Just one question; you made the fuselage from '1mm laminated plastcard block' but how exactly? Did you sandwich dozens of 1mm profiles together? Or use a 'planking technique? I presume from the text you didn't vacform. Only ask because I mess about wihh scratchbuilding myself and can learn something from this.

Yeah! I guess so. I'd never really thought of it that way but you are dead right! That's good for the old motivation that is! Thanks Hendie

See - it's still not working - I'm having to write this on page two as well!

Hi Van Roon. Had to do a test posting before I started writing my latest 'masterpiece' as for some reason the 'reply to topic' function on the current page (bottom of page 3) was not responding when I clicked on it. I had to write the post on 'page two'. Wanted to check that the new post would go to the right spot in the thread, which it did so no harm done Perhaps one of our esteemed 'mods' could throw some light on this slightly odd behaviour on page 3. (Oh Errr, sounds a bit rude!)

Hello, Time for another look at this project. Sorry that it's been such a long time since the last posting, I might be able to get back on track a bit better now. Now before I start, I have been looking back through my previous posts and have noted that they appear to be becoming more and more of a 'tutorial' or something. Too often they are reading like me trying to 'teach you all something that you had better damned well learn!'. For this I apologise - I think that writing as if I'm teaching is just an easy way of covering the material. I say it again - I have no claim to serious expertise in this field and am largely just fumbling through the process and passing on what I find out - nothing will prove that better than this post. Panel line etching. I've been dreading this - because I never really this got this sorted when I was a kid and my results were always a bit hit and miss. So this post is all about experimenting. Here are the different tools I have tried out on this task. As I have two young daughters I am hoping that word gets out to the local male populous that I have hobbies that involve skilled use of sharp implements... Anyhow - a quick summary of each tool THE PEN - a 0.5mm sharp tip biro. The thought here was that I could etch the panel line just by drawing over the pencil mark-up with this pen - press hard - leave a groove - viola. I don't think it worked too well as the groove left in the plywood seemed to soften and 'self heal' over time and a pen isn't hard enough to leave a dent in Jarrah. THE OLFA CUTTER - absolutely useless when using it as 'pull tool' as you would drawing a thin twisting thread of plastic - the wood fibres just tear and rip out - but not too bad when pushing away (using the thing 'backwards' as it were). It tends to leave a fairly thick 'trench' though - so perhaps best for control surface outlines? THE CHISELS - Surprisingly easy to control and practical - and great fun to watch the alarmed look on your model building buddie's face when he sees it the first time. Thanks Wayne - I was genuinely touched by your misplaced concern! The chisel can either be used as a cutting implement by dragging the cutting edge along the panel line, or just pressed in to make a single short slot or it can be 'rocked' so that lines running (let's say) around the fuselage can be cut evenly. THE SCALPEL / No11 blade - Not bad. Use a fresh blade with a sharp tip - it will cut a fine single slot and promises a tidy line (it's also cheap and readily available) but do note that the blade will wander and requires careful guidance and control. Use a straight edge or dymo tape to guide it and start with very gentle cuts until the cut itself starts to guide the blade. I think it's the best tool for cutting panel lines with tight curves such as the one the fuselage panel lines just ahead of the tail fin. THE PIN - Really good - especially for starting lines off when other tools might wander - I cut a lot of these lines using dymo tape as a guide, a pin to start the slot and then finish with a scalpel. That combination worked quite well. THE CRAFT KNIFE REFILL BLADE - Really good especially because it can be broken into different lengths to quite closely match the scale of the cut that you want to make. Use it like a small (slightly awkward) razor blade (see below). THE RAZOR BLADE - The best tool I have found for this work! Very hard to find now in this world of disposable cassette razors. I found mine in a hardware store in use as a blade for a 'scaper' tool. This tool has many advantages. It's about the right size for easy handling. it's razor sharp (geddit? 'razor sharp!' ha ha!) and it makes a beautiful clean cut. It is also to a degree 'self guiding'. Here I'm using the razor blade to cut a panel at the base of the tail. I'm not using dymo tape, or any other guide since the blade is long and skinny and can only slide forward and backward along it's own 'long axis' - that's what I mean by 'self guiding' it can really only cut a straight line parallel to it's own original orientation. To cut panel lines that wrap around the fuselage or wing etc you easily 'rock this blade back and forth' and make a beautiful even cut. Here's a photo of what I'm on about... So - a conclusion? All of these tools have their 'plusses and minuses' - but had I found the razor blade and the craft knife replacement blades first I don't think I would have experimented quite so much. In future I will start this task with a razor blade, a craft knife blade (as shown) a pin and a scalpel (mostly for use on curves). The rest I will keep in mind. The other thing I found is that with this job you need to cut the fibres of the wood - not just press them to one side or make a dent - you need to slice the wood - really sharp cutting implements therefore proved the most useful. And here is the result - It doesn't look that different to last time does it! Which is a bit disappointing because the process is quite time-consuming. Unfortunately not all of the details on an aircraft's surface are straightforward panel lines. Next post will hopefully see some further surface detail going on. I'm rather excited about this next one because I think I might have come up with something quite original to try out and if it works I will be 'stoked' as they say down here in the land of Oz. Best Regards, Reconcilor...

Test

Ahhh! So that's how it's done! I was stuck quoting the whole post. Thanks for the tip.

Hi. I find tamiya's airbrush cleaning sets very good, especially the long skinny brush. This one's a bit like a pipe cleaner or rifle's barrel cleaning brush but much smaller and is excellent for cleaning the nozzle plus paint and Air passages

I don't believe you any more. Just go on then and carry on building and hair spraying and what-have-you. I'll just lurk in the shadows and pretend I'm not watching.