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Spirit of St Louis 1:48


fatbaldbloke

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Seeing as the Ike is an even simpler kit than I thought first looking at it and I made a very rash decision a couple of weeks ago to lay off the booze completely for September, second entry to the GB will be this Revell kit that I picked up at Telford some years ago.

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I particularly like the way that the control surfaces are moulded with a clear gap to the main wings and tail.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Made some progress on this in the last week. Wednesday or Thursday evening (I forget which) but the cockpit assembled and the fuselage buttoned up.

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I little putty was needed along the fuselage seams and the today some primer went on.

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  • 2 months later...

It's been rather cold out in the garage the past few weeks and I've been distinctly lacking in arsed. But deadline is looming so trying to get this finished now. To be honest it's not going well. I've been having issues with paint and assembly of areas such as the front landing gear struts have been seriously testing my patience. I don't think that there's anything fundamentally wrong with this kit, it's purely down to my fat fingers and lack of skill.

This is how things are as of a few minutes ago, you can see some of the paint issues. Rest of assembly should take place this afternoon and I'll get the decals on (my favourite bit) during the week.

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What's causing the paint issues? Anything a gentle rub down and re-coat would cure?

Failing that, decals are always good for covering things up (or at least distracting the eye!).

Hang in there!

Cliff

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Paint has been redone three times. It's just a case of working in a cold damp environment. No matter how much prewarming of the cans I'm doing the paint just isn't coming out right and the pigment is puddling. I see at work that even the best of the hand made model car people seem to have issues with silver on occasion.

Hohum, all part of the learning process. :banghead:

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...and I'll get the decals on (my favourite bit) during the week...

Famous last words.

I got most of the assembly done yesterday and after the swearathon that was the landing gear struts, the rest went together pretty well. So well that I started on the decals. I have no idea what they're made of but the little swines don't want to bloody adhere and they are very thick. The large registration marking on top of the wing was basically only fixed at the edges, though several coast of Microsol later and it appears to be starting to settle down.The cowling behind the engine is another matter. I've put them all on now and doused the whole bloody lot in MicrosSol, so we'll see whether they're any better behaved once they've dried.

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The decal band around the prop mounting leaped into place yesterday and I thought "at last, something is working". Picked the model up this evening and it fell straight off.

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Advice for anyone contemplating building this kit.

Decal the nose section before attempting any assembly, likewise the propeller. The instructions offer no such advice and it will be a hell of a lot simpler.

I will finish this damned thing. Only a few little bits to fit now, providing the decals stay put.

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You could try using thinned down white glue applied with a cotton swab if you are having difficulties with decal adhesion (the consistency of somewhere between milk and cream would likely work, just do a layer of it in the bottom of a small paper cup since you don't have to mix too much). First, apply some of the mixture to the area you are applying the decal with a cotton swab. Once it is positioned, next use a wet cotton swab (just water, no glue) to pat it down onto the surface, like doing a miniature version of wall paper application. Rolling (not rubbing) the swab over the top carefully can also get the decal to conform to surface features better, almost like using Microsol. But over really complicated shape areas such as the cowl, Microsol likely still would work better. If you use Microsol though, it is probably best to make sure the decal is in position and dry first so it is at least bonded to the surface. That way the Microsol is less likely to lift and move the decal.

Then once the decals are fully dry, wet another swab and use it to remove any remaining glue residue from the surface of the model to avoid a water spots look, clear coat with your clear of choice and viola!

Edited by JMChladek
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You could try using thinned down white glue applied with a cotton swab if you are having difficulties with decal adhesion (the consistency of somewhere between milk and cream would likely work, just do a layer of it in the bottom of a small paper cup since you don't have to mix too much). First, apply some of the mixture to the area you are applying the decal with a cotton swab. Once it is positioned, next use a wet cotton swab (just water, no glue) to pat it down onto the surface, like doing a miniature version of wall paper application. Rolling (not rubbing) the swab over the top carefully can also get the decal to conform to surface features better, almost like using Microsol. But over really complicated shape areas such as the cowl, Microsol likely still would work better. If you use Microsol though, it is probably best to make sure the decal is in position and dry first so it is at least bonded to the surface. That way the Microsol is less likely to lift and move the decal.

Then once the decals are fully dry, wet another swab and use it to remove any remaining glue residue from the surface of the model to avoid a water spots look, clear coat with your clear of choice and viola!

Second that dilute white glue tip, Sir. I have used that routinely.

At present I set decals down on Future, which settles them down tight, but does give only a pretty short working time.

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