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A 1/72nd C-17 Globemaster III - the hard way


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Having returned to school-teacher mode after the festive holidays I've not had as much time as I'd like at the bench, but I have managed to add the distinctive winglets over the last few sessions. The task was to make these (below) to resemble the real thing:

S1030515_zpsed6c6180.jpg

The kit's mounting points for the winglets are actually in the wrong position - on the real aircraft the winglets are on the extreme tip of the wing and the rear of the winglet is in line with the trailing edge of the wing:

S1030506_zps3e9e6d43.jpg

Therefore, I decided to remove the moulded parts and start from scratch:

S1030509_zps3485f772.jpg

The winglets themselves were moulded far too thick, so I glued the inner sections to thin plastic card to form the flatter outer faces seen on the real thing:

S1030513_zpsc4fe22bc.jpg

Everything was then sanded to shape, the leading edge lights cut out and the small protrusion added to the trailing edge of the wing/base of the winglet which houses another light on the real aircraft. In end, they didn't turn out too badly:

S1030517_zps1cad220e.jpg

S1030523_zps6a6b2646.jpg

S1030520_zpsa7e94447.jpg

Still a bit of refining to do, and the light will be added from clear sprue just before painting.

Until next time,

Tom

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Any updates Tom? I'm getting cold turkey here lol

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....... I have managed to add the distinctive winglets over the last few sessions. The task was to make these (below) to resemble the real thing:

........

The kit's mounting points for the winglets are actually in the wrong position .......

..........

Therefore, I decided to remove the moulded parts and start from scratch:

...........

...........so I glued the inner sections to thin plastic card to form the flatter outer faces seen on the real thing:

...........

Everything was then sanded to shape, the leading edge lights cut out and the small protrusion added to the trailing edge of the wing/base of the winglet which houses another light on the real aircraft. In end, they didn't turn out too badly:

..............

Still a bit of refining to do, and the light will be added from clear sprue just before painting.

..............

Missed this update at the time it was posted.

What I think is most inspirational about your work Tom is the elegant way you problem solve (there are no problems - only opportunities; as our US cousins might say).

I guess to you this one was only a little problem opportunity :) and you'll have dealt with similar ones before.

But it does make for supremely interesting and informative reading for most us :) TVM.

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What I think is most inspirational about your work Tom is the elegant way you problem solve

Fritag,

I think you used exactly the right word describing Tom's work: elegance.

That, and awesomeness...

Cheers,

Sebastien

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Any updates Tom? I'm getting cold turkey here lol

Afraid not... I'm back teaching so time at the bench is limited. Hoping to get a session in this weekend though. :)

Yes, my Combat Models C-17 has arrived :D Do I start it or leave it for the Non Injected GB?

I'd say entertain us with it in the GB :) It'll be a lot of fun! I'll race you with my Shack!

Missed this update at the time it was posted.

What I think is most inspirational about your work Tom is the elegant way you problem solve (there are no problems - only opportunities; as our US cousins might say).

I guess to you this one was only a little problem opportunity :) and you'll have dealt with similar ones before.

But it does make for supremely interesting and informative reading for most us :) TVM.

Fritag,

I think you used exactly the right word describing Tom's work: elegance.

That, and awesomeness...

Cheers,

Sebastien

You are very kind gentlemen... thank you :blush:

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I've been able to spend a few hours at the bench this weekend and have started work on the surface detailing of the C-17. Although the Combat kit does have some very basic panel detail provided, the nature of these kits makes the detail soft and the panel lines in particular are way over-size. Therefore, I usually find it best to fill the details in and make my own - this way I can hopefully re-create the very delicate recessed lines on the real aircraft by scribing straight into the filler-primer.

However, the C-17 is an interesting beast, and in fact a lot of the panel joins are in fact reinforced with plating - the picture below (used for illustrative purposes only) is a good example of that I mean:

110604-F-LU831-532_zpse21863e6.jpg

My solution was to get some packs of Evergreen strip (0.10 thou) and recreate these strips on the model, using the excellent Revell 1/144th kit as a guide to their placement:

S1030526_zps50a8120c.jpg

Other raised details have also started to be added - here is the forward LAIRCM (Large Aircraft InfraRed Counter-Measures) mountings found on either side of the forward fuselage - much more detailing will follow here but I wanted to get the basic shape in place before further fettling:

S1030549_zps9a8dc2d9.jpg

The C-17 also has two distinctive fins adjacent to the rear of the cargo door - my research suggests this is to improve airflow around the rear of the aircraft when the door is open in flight. These were added from plastic card using the Revell parts as a guide to their shape and positioning. I have also added the upper undercarriage doors to the sponson, which stand slightly proud of the airframe when its on the ground - again plastic card to the rescue:

S1030564_zps27670a07.jpg

The winglets have also been finished off and primed:

S1030555_zps81c1bf46.jpg

S1030562_zpsd2bbafc0.jpg

I've also scribed in the cargo door and added the 'bump' guard from more plastic card:

S1030534_zps75dd1c94.jpg

And that's where I'm at at the moment. I've still got a fair bit of raised detailing to do, before I commence with the laborious task of scribing in the recessed panel joints... which should keep me out of mischief for a while.

Until next time,

Tom

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It just gets better and better each time I see it! Well done mate.

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Even without considering the "quality" of what you started with, this is very impressive - knowing what you had to begin with makes this especially so!

Ian

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Wow! epic work, I am learnig a lot.

So am I, that this is so far beyond what I can do !

However it's a pleasure to watch this each instalment, think C-17 the thriller, each time you think you have seen it all, Tom raises the bar, and you can't wait for the next episode.

Keep it up Tom.

Cheers Pat

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This is so far beyond 'impressive', way further over than even 'unbelievably skilful' that I'm beginning to fear dictionary blindness

I just love this Tom, the way that you work, the truly excellent 'everythingness' of the beast

I love this model, its just SO...

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Excellent progress Tom, she's looking gvery good indeed. The re-enforcing strips should look just right under a coat of paint. I've used strips of masking tape to achieve the same effect.

Colin

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Even without considering the "quality" of what you started with, this is very impressive - knowing what you had to begin with makes this especially so!

Ian

Many thanks - kits like these certainly are a blank canvass but that's part of the fun!

I would love to see this at a show this year Tom, looks great as it is but will look bloody brilliant when done! :D

Hopefully she'll make the trip to Telford in November - it's only 10 months away but that should give me enough time to get her finished :)

Tom,

A question about the primer and gluing stuff to it. Do you remove some primer to give a plastic to plastic bond using polystyrene cement or some other method?

The plastic is stuck directly to the primer with ordinary polycement. The primer melts beautifully when glue is applied and forms a really strong bond with the plastic itself. When fully cured, any glue seepage can just be sanded away. It's great stuff and something I'll use a good deal more in the future.

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Excellent progress Tom, she's looking gvery good indeed. The re-enforcing strips should look just right under a coat of paint. I've used strips of masking tape to achieve the same effect.

Colin

Thanks Colin,

To be honest the plastic stands a little too proud at the moment, but this will be remedied by giving the whole model another generous coating of filler-primer, and then I'll sand over the raised areas to bring them back to bare plastic. This will have the effect of raising the fuselage surface height just enough to have the raised details 'blend' more.

I did consider the masking tape route, but felt with a model this size and the amount of raised detail plastic was the better option.

Tom

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