marvinneko

Thanks Graham. I made the trek to Hobby Centre and enjoyed perusing stacks of plane kits.A really appreciated break. Seems to be mixed pricing, new and old. Found a bunch for 10 bucks and splurged on a "Ken" because I love the orange and seemed reasonably straightforward. Also got this Bare Metal scriber that will hopefully make life easier

Nicely done Opus. When the model is not so close to your face, you'll start to appreciate it. I looked at my 2023 Hurricane and Avia last week and was quite happy... until I got close again of course.

Thanks everyone for the input, I'm very grateful. I had the hopes of one tool to rule the all 😛 but I should've known better! @ColonelKrypton, thanks for the detailed info. It turns out I have to travel to Ottawa today for a family health issue that might last days or weeks. Any recommendations for shops? Tools and preowned plane kits are my usual focus. I tend to be cheap on kits but expensive on time and tools to muck about with them. I've been accumulating old kits other people look at and put back in the box It might be a welcome distraction as this hobby is my typical "escape."

I checked this out and was quite intrigued but reviews also note that it is quite brittle and can break cutting curves. I'm getting the sense these things need to be used with a very light hand.

I have a few types. The tricky part is fine ones (0.1mm) that cut embedded pieces out nicely and handle curves without chewing up a lot of plastic.

Here's my summary Cutting the nose off my plane : great Cutting the rudder off : great Cutting through the edge of a panel, very good but depends on angle for the reasons Matthew explained... angle determines how many teeth are engaged Cutting into a landlocked panel line : chips the teeth ends off

Thanks. They did have that one but I hadn't thought of the motion you described.

Thanks for the explanation. I've broken a few PCB drills, too and have been trying to be more careful with the forces applied to them. Maybe I can live with broken teeth at the tip to cut into plastic surfaces and then use more of the saw once I'm started. I had hoped buying the finer pitch would be better for this purpose. I guess the photoetch saws saved their teeth by redirecting force into bending the saw blades. I'm not sure what the alternative is. Maybe drill a hole then use this diamond cutting wire? https://www.ebay.com/itm/125920231578

Yes I think that's what's happening Take a look at this pic right at the tip

New plane for me. Looks amazing in the cutaways and your scratchbuilding is developing beautifully. Glad to see you're including the "can" as I need to add one into the back of my Goeland and could use an example. What a beautiful monster that Mariner was! I hope to do a Catalina at some point.

I did read that one... I ended up buying it. Good news is I got 2015 era price because it had been sitting on their shelf for years, the blade is very rigid even at 0.1mm, and it cuts amazingly fast over an outside curve or edge, Bad news is the tips of the teeth are coming off cutting styrene when I am trying to cut into a surface by rubbing the first few teeth against it.

Thanks Col! Opening the doors motivates me to do the interior 😛 I've seen a few photos with doors open, elevators down, ailerons askew etc. and for me it brings the kit to life and prepares for a future diorama like having a guy on a ridiculously tall ladder unloading the nose luggage compartment...

Great tutorial. Your previous similar work inspired my reduction gear effort on my crashed P39 but I hadn't thought about diff sized circles to begin with. I should look for an olfa cutter!

V cool, new to me. For anyone else needing context, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/cubs-badass-big-brother-180953372/

Looking forward to it. Love watching your conversions/upgrades.