burncpt Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 (edited) Hi all! In an effort to break the modelling lethargy of the summer months, I am having a crack at this P-47. The scheme is going to be Maj. Gen. William Kepner's personal machine 'Kokomo', which I had always wanted to build since seeing this photo in 'The Mighty Eighth in colour', a book given to me for my 10th birthday. I bought the Aires gun bay set and also some airwaves photoetch, so it will be a first for resin and also a first for a natural metal finish. To be honest, I haven't been pleased with either set, the Aires parts are pretty warped (the ammo tray part is warped in pretty much every dimension) and the Airwaves photoetch is hit and miss. The etch panel doesn't even slightly match up to the kit decal so I left it out. I thought about going mad in the cockpit but it just isn't worth it, so the PE footplates, elevator wheel and a badly mocked up oxygen regulator will have to do! Also I elected to ignore the PE ignition harness and make them out of copper wire - I think this looks more convincing. I'm pretty pleased at how my first radial turned out! Anyway, the fuselage went together beautifully and I was reasonably happy with the cockpit (plus PE seatbelts which look OK, need more practice though!) Wings not so much! Plasticard in place to fill gaps around the ammo tray. Why, if the gun bay piece is the right size, is this part nowhere near? It's nearly 2mm too short and at least 1mm too narrow. And I am horrendous at making stuff fit so watch this space with barely restrained sniggers! Continuing the struggle is how to get it to actually fit inside the wing space. Any ideas? There isn't a lot of resin that can be chopped off the block before it is visible in the bays... Still, while I ponder that, bits can be painted. I found a marvellous sheet of tiny double-sided squares in my local fabric shop. Stuck onto lolly sticks they hang on to small parts really well, even 2nd and 3rd time around. A lot less messy and better access to the different surfaces of the parts than with blu-tack! About a quid a sheet. Edited January 19, 2014 by burncpt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 I don't think it's anything your doing wrong with the Aries resin, I have just about given up using it anymore due to the fit problems, As they say you are not alone. Looking good so far though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 Ha it's good to know, even if it doesn't make it any easier when you're sitting at the modelling table! Cheers for the positive comments What's a good way of thinning the plastic inside the wing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 Also, should I use the Aires gun barrels, which have cooling holes? As far as I know, thunderbolts had smooth barrels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 (edited) It's been ages thanks to various things including a malfunctioning compressor (kindly replaced by the local art shop) and building 1/76 tanks for a huge D-Day diorama at the Hornby visitor centre which our club is masterminding but some progress at last! All the zinc chromate bits have been preshaded, painted in the usual XF-4 with a little green and washed with a mix of black and muddy green oils - all of which is of course totally invisible in photos! I'm pleased with how they've come out though. I damaged the moulded hydraulic pistons in the tailwheel doors so cut them off and replaced with fuse wire which looks better anyway. The Aires gun bay finally looks OK with loads of filler making up the neat edges. It's actually almost impossible to fit the gun barrels through the finished wing and as the cooling barrels are wrong anyway (and too short) I'm going to cut them off just enough to show inside, and then use the kit barrels (drilled out) on the outside. The guns were not too hard, although lacking a proper PE bending tool to do the ammo belt covers had me scratching my head. Eventually the wrong end of some tweezers and a nice rounded blade as a lever came up trumps! Guns awaiting metalcote and probably some gentle drybrushing. A bit of fuse wire plumbing improves the look of the wheel wells, and some PE bracing. The wing join left an unsatisfactory double curve on the bottom of the fuselage which had to be built up with filler. Also just visible are the exhaust 'gills' which I knocked the corners off accidentally sanding the area. Since there are PE parts for these on the Airwaves sheet I'm going to cut them off, without hopefully making too much of a mess! I really wanted to have the cowling open and was planning on using the PE parts to do this but the lower and the curved gills are completely wrong - too short and much too curved as you can see. Not particularly impressed: Instead I figured on thinning the kit part acceptably and separating the gills with a knife. It's not perfect but it looks smart enough and will lend some much-needed '3D-ness' to the model as all the control surfaces are left flat. Note the filler on the cowling - bizarrely considering the quality of the kit there are large 'divots' on the top and bottom that look like a 'short shot' in the mould. Dry fit: I will make some actuators for the gills out of plasticard and thin wire eventually! Hopefully update soon. Edited December 6, 2013 by burncpt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 (edited) Sorry the pictures have come out so big - I adjusted them down to 640x480 but for some reason photobucket copies them across bigger Edited December 6, 2013 by burncpt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live_bait Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Nice, the integration of that resin kit, looks great. Nice cockpit and engine painting and weatering. Thank you for sharing, Keep it coming. Maurice _______________________________________________________ WIP 1/32 Revell Bf109 G6 Hartmann Backup a/1 http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234950943-132-revell-bf109-g6-hartmann-backup-ac/ 1/48 Tamiya F4U-1 Bircage VMF-213 http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234945820-148-tamiya-f4u-1-birdcage-vmf-213/#entry1400870 1/72 Tamiya FW190 D9 Galland Circus OOB http://www.britmodel...galland-circus/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 Cheers Maurice! The resin is an interesting one! I must admit I was expecting fewer hassles but this set was on offer so maybe that's why. I'm a bit nervous about the filler I used - Perfect Plastic Putty - as it's water soluble (even after hardening it seems) so getting a really good surface prep with wet micromesh could be tricky. Fingers crossed... I always enjoy cockpits and small bits like engines etc. but I am rather scared about the final finish as that's what is really noticeable! As it's winter now, progress should be faster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 So she's nearing completion! Since the last post, all the filling has been done and primer (Mr surfacer 1000) is on. One of the biggest problems I have with metal finishes is they can look flat, so I decided to try something a bit labour intensive but which, as it turned out, looks quite good. I started by drawing in all the small panel lines with a regular HB pencil as it was all I could find, using various photos as reference. Starting out, not complete: <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21254&authkey=AKZpwWz_UHoV2og" width="319" height="179" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21253&authkey=AObKYS_x70q4YQ8" width="319" height="179" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> I'll have to explain the next bit because in my haste I forgot to take any photos. Basically using this mask, with slightly acute, perpendicular and obtuse angles to fit most of the panels, I sprayed a small amonut of Alclad gloss black where the shadows would lie with the uneven metal skin. <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21262&authkey=AHTQjCA2FZiA1uE" width="319" height="179" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> The effect is subtle (in fact I hope it is visible in the photo!) but I think breaks up the silver in a more interesting way than basic panel line preshading. <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21260&authkey=AEok2QnyFKFemOQ" width="319" height="179" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7&resid=83EBF61B7DECB2E7%21257&authkey=APa3OsKgLjXfNhk" width="179" height="319" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Sorry about the links, I'm trying to use Skydrive straight from my phone instead of pushing them through Photobucket which takes bloody ages! They do work but sometimes the preview is blank - click on it to view! Edited January 19, 2014 by burncpt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Does anyone know how to edit a topic name by the way? Thanks! Edit: worked this out finally! Edited January 19, 2014 by burncpt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomjw Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 This is great. Really enjoying your progress so far. I will follow with interest. Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Great progress mate, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Cheers all. Got decals on. Unfortunately they are not really suitable for a metal finish as they are just too shiny and the colours are way too bright. The big markings didn't settle down well with Solvaset (bit too strong maybe?) Not having the option of a clear coat I decided to make masks for the big markings and spray Humbrol satin lightly. For the noseart I added a hint of brown to make the yellow more orangey. It turns out there is a pot lid in the modeller's arsenal the right size to make masks for just about every USAF 'star and bar' - in 1/48 at least. For those of you who are interested... 55" star (bigger than normal underwing) = Alclad cleaner 120ml lid 40" star (normal wing size) = Micro sol/set lid Fuselage star = Anita's tacky PVA glue lid (bit of a long-shot this one...) The 'bars' were relatively easy to measure out. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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