Revell Douglas X-3 Flying Stiletto and Tractor - Finished

[georgeusa]

I always like your metal work and am always impressed. Looks great.

[Stew Dapple]

That tow bar is a little work of art all in itself

Cheers,

Stew

[Bengalensis]

Lovely metal work as always. A delight to watch. I assume you are going to open the slots in the tractor's front shield?

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks Chaps. I have thought about opening up the slots but the ribs on the back make this a little tricky:

My thinking was that a black wash would suffice to give the illusion of depth but I have not ruled it out.

Tonight I started to fabricate a tubular frame for the seat using 0.6mm brass rod:

I soldered that up including some stylish and safety enhancing armrests:

I will clean it up further but this is what it looks like in place:

Most of the inspiration for its design came from the one we saw in Texas:

There is more metal work to do including a new steering column assembly and hooks. No rest for the wicked.

[Nigel Heath]

Using the thickest piece of PE I could find and some 1mm rod for the hook this is how I mounted it up for soldering:

I also thought it would be a good idea to add a mounting pin on the back so I used some 0.8mm rod for that.

Here it is just after soldering:

After trimming and fettling I got this:

Here is where it will go:

I also cleaned up some filler I had used to blend in the tow hitch:

Time for bed now,

Bye,

Nigel

[louiex2]

The Post-Doctorate course in model building continues. Simply amazing work!

[Vanja #66]

Great to see you haven't mistakenly made yourself a new loofah, Nigel... Metalwork is exceptional, as always...

[infofrog]

I soldered that up including some stylish and safety enhancing armrests:

I will clean it up further but this is what it looks like in place:

Nigel

How did you get those very nice bends ?

Did you use a bender ?

Rick

[georgeusa]

Okay, now you are just showing off! Seriously, you use of metal and how well you fabricate it is a thing of beauty and awe. Very nice.

[Nigel Heath]

I have a bender for PE but not for rod. What I tend to use are these pliers:

I use the flat jawed ones for sharp(ish) bends - hold in the pliers and bend by hand and the round jawed ones for softer radii:

I made the seat frame and hook just using these. I also used the round pilers to make the hitch ring.

I hope that helps.

[Bordfunker]

Nice work on the tractor Nigel.

The tow hook is a mini masterpiece.

Karl

[Nigel Heath]

Tonight I went out for a curry with my new office chums but when I got back I decided to have a go at the steering wheel. First I made a 7mm diameter ring out of some 0.6mm rod, then I slipped a short length of 1mm tube onto a piece of 0.8mm rod that would eventually form the steering column. I also found a little circular instrument bezel that was a nice fit over the tube:

Here is that bezel mounted at the top of the column, I also punched a cunning 1mm hole in some card:

The column would stand on its own in the punched hole:

Things were a little more stable with some additional jigging though and I was able to add three strips of scrap PE to form the wheel spokes:

This is what they looked like after they had been soldered up:

Each spoke could then be soldered onto the rim in turn with damp tissue stopping the centre from melting:

That's that done:

After some cleaning up this is what it looks like in position:

There is still a support brace to add and a corrugated rubber boot at the base but I think that looks quite nice. (Way better than the kit dustbin lid anyway).

Bye for now,

Nigel

[infofrog]

Your sheet metal work is awesome .. .

Rick

[keefr22]

That steering wheel is just brilliant Nigel ! What power soldering iron & what size tip do you use? I could do with being able to solder the electrical dropper wires on my model railway track that neatly....!!

keith

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks guys. For this job I used my 25W Antex iron with a 2mm tip. It was probably bigger than ideal but it worked OK. I have a 15W and smaller tips as well but this bigger one was all set up so I used that.

Now I going to try to get some white primer on things.

[Bordfunker]

That's a lovely bit of soldering Nigel.

Karl

[Nomore Shelfspace]

I've been following this one with my mouth open (no flies about fortunately). I built the same kit about 14 years ago and never liked it, mainly because of the weird scale, but this is taking this X-3 shaped piece of plastic to a new level. Hope whatever contest it goes in it wins.

[Nigel Heath]

I got on the first of what I anticipate to be two coats of Alclad white primer:

Things went reasonably well and the underlying naughty primer seemed to behave:

I also sprayed the undercarriage doors and got some white followed by yellow on the tractor engine grilles so that they could be masked up to prevent overspray going inside:

While that was hardening up I made a second hook for the front of the tractor:

I did make an earlier one but that got eaten by the carpet monster.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Your metalwork never fails to amaze me.

[Winenut]

Damn that carpet monster

[Nigel Heath]

As per usual, the first coat of primer revealed seams and sink marks that I thought had been dealt with:

I dealt with those using Squadron white filler:

As well as other filled areas, I rescribed all the panel lines again as some were getting filled in.

Just prior to applying the second coat I reattached the nose:

This is the second coat before any sanding:

I think it is now looking quite reasonable:

I will let it harden up while I make dinner and then get it ready for a top coat of Tamiya gloss white in the morning:

I am sure there are also plenty of jobs still to do on the tractor.

Onwards and upwards.

Nigel

[Sgt.Squarehead]

It's certainly a lot less textured than the last time!

[jgrease]

One of my favorite kits from childhood. Great work!

[Nigel Heath]

After a thorough sanding I think this is now ready for the top coat:

I discovered that my Tamiya white was almost all gone so I think I will be using Vallejo white for the final finish.

I decided to add this piece of Flying Banana surplus PE for no better reason than I thought it looked nice, was a perfect fit and added some interest value:

I could not see any reason for not now gluing on the underside:

I then cut off the unrealistic hooks:

Next I mixed up some Milliput and filled the various gaps and notches:

I then got to work on the tractor instrument panel, I had this fret of multiple instruments which looked like it would offer an ideal candidate:

This is the sort of effect I was trying to reproduce:

I think this will do:

Next I made up a brace for the steering column using some 1mm tube and 0.6mm rod:

This is how that looks in position:

The great thing is I can still turn the steering wheel - result!

Bye for now,

Nigel

[hendie]

looking good Nigel.

I spotted a couple of those x3's on ebay - it seems some are motorized and make jet noises!