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

[arfa1983]

Any progress on this beast?

Edited February 2, 2015 by arfa1983

[Commontsar]

This has come a long way! Nearly on the home stretch building wise

[tomprobert]

Any progress on this beast?

Not a huge amount I'm afraid - the weather has been cold, damp, rarely above freezing and with some snow in the mix too it's simply been too cold to go outside and do any spraying. The wife tends to get a little aggravated with the smell of Halfords' paints so I daren't bring it indoors

All the raised surface detailing is complete but it needs a coat of two of filler-primer before I can scribe some of the very delicate panel lines on - at the moment I don't want to risk the primer reacting to the cold and damp and ruin my surface detailing.

This has come a long way! Nearly on the home stretch building wise

The main structural work is pretty much done, but I think the biggest headache is going to be the engines. The vac parts are, to say the least, basic. I've emailed Anigrand on a couple of occasions to see if I can purchase a set of engines, but they've not responded which is strange as they were excellent in selling me a set of undercarriage...

When the weather warms up a bit I'll be getting going again - winter can't last forever, can it?!

Tom

[perdu]

Blimey Tom, I didn't realise my wife is committing bigamy

She's like that about my paints too

[tomprobert]

In a very pleasant break from the cold, freezing, snowy, damp and generally rank weather (can you tell I just love England in winter?) there was some sunshine this morning, albeit rather weak and feeble, but it was sunshine none-the-less!

Therefore, it was out with some grey and the C-17 has had a quick going over. This is far from the definitive coat, as there's still plenty to do in terms of surface detailing, but I wanted to have a look how she's look and to be honest I was getting rather jaded at looking at the horrible yellowy-brown primer she's been wearing from almost the start!

If I'm completely honest, I think the strengthening plates still stand a little too proud. This has been exacerbated by the por lighting conditions in these photographs, but I think they'll get another sanding to reduce them a little more:

When viewed from a reasonable distance however, they blend nicely into the model:

What are your thoughts chaps/chapesses? I must confess I'm not a big fan of exaggerated surface detailing such a panel line washes etc. as in my opinion it quickly removes the scale effect and realism of a model, but on the other hand a model of this size would look very bland with very little surface detailing. Any opinions?

Tom

[Spookytooth]

I am no expert Tom, but I would give those strips a very light sanding.

If she is to be finished in light colours, any shadows will show up more.

Still, she is looking great Tom.

Simon.

[bentwaters81tfw]

I agree, they look a little proud of the surface - enough to trip over.

[Hub Plott]

Like Simon said, i would try to light sand them.Especially along the sharp edges to help them blend in a little.

[kev67]

Looking great, I find using Tamiya tape works well for raised surface areas, and can be positioned easily.

[perdu]

I am agreeing with him

and him

and

They do need knocking back quite a lot, details like that really do need to be less than more

having made the point, boy it is looking really impressive

Another fine one for your "Credit" list

It's going to need some surface work though, you are right about that but not an awful lot

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Tom,

I agree the strips do look overstated. Taking the edges off and thinning them down a little will make them look closer to scale.

It looks good in the grey

[woody37]

Might be a job for solar trim. What I like about this stuff is that if you run a sanding stick over it, the edges don't feather like masking tape does. It is look rather good though, quite a beast it is

[Brandy]

Like the others said.... and don't feel bad about your weather back in Blighty - here on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, we had 27" of snow a couple of weeks ago, I've had to shovel snow off the drive at least 4 times since, including this morning, and we're promised another 3-5" tomorrow, and more on Thursday. Western Mass. and Boston has had it even worse - I have nowhere left to put the snow I clear.....

Ian

[philp]

Well I feel for you. Here in Utah it is in the 60s again. We have had hardly any snow at all. Going to be hurting in the summer for water at this rate.

Figures the one winter where I don't have to go to work.

[tomprobert]

Thanks for taking the time to respond chaps - I'm in agreement with all of you that the plates do need reducing. It's always good to hear others' thoughts.

Looks like a session with the sanding sticks is in order.

Regarding the weather - it's back to being cold and damp again here (no real surprises there) but I've plenty to keep me busy in the meantime...

Tom

[Rob G]

Tom, I just caught up with this build. All I can say is 'nice work', as all the superlatives have already been used. That cockpit...

I'm going to keep this thread handy for when I make a (re)start on my old Airfix C-130E, which I started (and buggered up) over 30 years ago (where does the time go?). Inspirational stuff, old chap!

Edited February 9, 2015 by Rob G

[Radleigh]

I have to agree with the strips... but failing that it still looks great mate

[tomprobert]

Afternoon all! Time for an update on the C-17 project...

Progress has slowed a little on this build as it's getting to the really fiddly parts, and scribing the surface detail was no exception. I've spent many enjoyable hours adding in the multitude of panel detail found on the C-17, using plans as well as the Revell 1/144th scale kit as a guide. It's quite slow scribing, but is well worth it as it adds a lot of life to the model and in this scale wouldn't look right if I left it devoid of detail.

Tools of the trade are as follows:

Two thin metal rulers from PP models, electrical insulation tape (for those difficult to scribe curves,) craft knife, dental scribe, a pencil (for marking the surface before committing the scriber) and finally some old, worn wet and dry paper to give everything a good polish once the scribing is complete.

I find the key is to run the sciber over the position of the line lightly on numerous occasions, rather than trying to get it deep enough on the fist go. This helps control the scriber, and if you do muck it up it's far easier to fill and sand a shallow panel line than a deeper one! When you're happy with the line, a quick once over with the worn sandpaper ensures the edges are smooth where the scriber has 'gouged out' the material. On this build, I scribed just deep enough to see the filler-primer coats beneath the grey as on the real aircraft the panel detail is very fine indeed.

I started at the front of the aircraft and worked my way towards the rear. The radar housing on the extreme nose has had the static strips present on the real aircraft made from very thin plastic strip, and the straps added earlier have been reduced in height by sanding. The electrical tape was really handy in getting the complex shape of the radome scribed on - it would have been almost impossible to do the same with the metal rulers:

The underside of the nose has had the nose gear door hinges added as well as panel lines scribed in:

The centre section of the aircraft where the wings join the fuselage has a very complex series of panel lines, so the Revell kit was really helpful here. It was just a case of measuring the 1/144th scale kit and doubling up to give me the positions of the panel lines in 1/72nd scale. This was the most challenging area to scribe, but the outcome is pleasing on the eye:

The underside has had the flap details added as well as some details on the sponsons:

The rear fuselage has once again had the straps sanded to reduce them in height and the panel lines added - there aren't many in this area so this took the least amount of head scratching:

And a couple of 'overall' shots - the extra surface detailing has really started to bring the model to life and in my opinion was well worth the effort:

So, until next time,

Tom

[A6-EHJ]

Very nice mate can't wait to see it finished

[Spookytooth]

Looking good Tom.

Simon.

[perdu]

That amount of surface detail makes the whole thing look 'real'

It is looking fabulous Tom

superB

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Thanks for the explanation of how you scribe Tom

I have the same straight edges. I did not think of using electrical tape for those curved areas. Do you double up the layers or cut into thin strips to get it to go around tight curves such as the radome?

The C-17 is certainly looking the part now.

[tomprobert]

Thanks for the explanation of how you scribe Tom

I have the same straight edges. I did not think of using electrical tape for those curved areas. Do you double up the layers or cut into thin strips to get it to go around tight curves such as the radome?

The C-17 is certainly looking the part now.

Thank you - and to answer your question regarding the tape, it's just a single layer as it's thick enough to guide the scriber. I didn't thin it or cut it into strips as the tape is so flexible there's no need. It certainly makes jobs like this a whole lot easier.

Tom

[Radleigh]

Reminds me so much of working at Brize on the C-17, I'd love one one day... great work Tom, the scribing does look the part.

[Fritag]

Lovely work as always Tom (I have a real feeling of deja vu as I type that )

I'm a fan of electrical insulation tape as a scribing guide for curves as well. Although I generally do use double or triple layers and often reinforce it in position with a bit of Tamiya tape as well. But then I tend to the Klutzy unless I take extra precautions

PS I'm still trying to work out if - and to what extent - there was irony in the "many enjoyable hours" of scribing Sometime I find it almost therapeutic - sometime I find it utterly frustrating.............

Edited February 19, 2015 by Fritag