Ian Shumsky Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 I've also done a little work to finish off the remaining cockpit parts. Here are the original bits again: The shapeless blob on the left of the phots (which actually sits in the right of the cockpit) has been squared off and detailed with a screen (I'll be creating a custom decal for this once painting is done), various knobs and leavers and some Little Cars 'Wiggly Wire' spring material slipped over the cable. The unit on the right was already detailed enough, but I did split the cable and added some more wiggly wire for detail. The main instrument panel had a two notches where the hatch is meant to sit -- these have been filled as I'll be adding different detail to that later. These parts are the last of the cockpit internals which can now all be primed. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Looking good! Will you be leaving the hatch unglued so you can open it to view the cockpit? Be a shame to hide all that great work away Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Shumsky Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Looking good! Will you be leaving the hatch unglued so you can open it to view the cockpit? Be a shame to hide all that great work away Ian Thanks! Yes, I'll be leaving the hatch articulated -- I'm planning on using a couple of micro magnets to keep it closed during the painting stages and some as-yet-to-be-built mechanism to make sure it stays open once finished. Well... unless I screw up the painting that is! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Haha, well if your painting is as good as you detailing it will be cool! Glad your doing that, on the Ma.k forum I've seen some people do amazing jobs on the cockpit/pilot and then just seal it away forever. Looking forward to more! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 What you need is a micro-miniature gas strut, for nice slow opening. But the smallest I can find are about 4" long. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Hmmm Best I can think of is make up a strut and put grease or Vaseline inside it. It would then stay open at most angles and be easy to close. BTW, For the eye ends I use cut down split pins. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 it's looking awesome! I don't know if this would fit or whether it would be to large, but what about the opening mechanism in an old cassette player or similar? The doors are spring loaded but they have a small geared "clutch" assembly to help slow to door opening. I have seem some really small ones before but can't remember exactly what they were fitted to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Shumsky Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 (edited) Will, Pete, Rich, many thanks for the suggestions on the hatch -- some really good ideas there! I'll have a think in the coming days about what to do, but the idea of a strut seems best. Back to the build and only a short update this time... The cockpit parts have had their mating surfaces covered with some Tamiya tape and then were primed with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer. I always like seeing the primer on as it really pulls all those parts together: I'm thinking of a black, chrome and red leather interior (taking influence from these google images), but other suggestions welcome! I also had a look at the figure I want to include: I picked it up from a club stand at a show a while back and it is perfect for what I'm looking for, but I'm pretty sure it is a recast of this Brick Works figure. The quality is OK, but it came with no packaging and a cast resin helmet rather than the white metal of the Brick Works original. I've only painted one figure before, so this could be a challenge! Hopefully will get more done over the weekend. Edited April 10, 2015 by Ian Shumsky 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Shumsky Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 Time for more work on the front end! I decided on a more curved profile for the area as it is more in keeping with the rest of the model, but I've struggled to fabricate or find the right shape for the 'nose'. This evening I remembered that I had my mum's broken computer mouse sitting around waiting to be taken to recycling and after pulling it apart I finally found some nice compound curves I could work with I decided to use the mouse button bits (the part on the left) and separated these from the supporting block I took some careful measurements and marked out the bits to cut off Then made the cut and it was starting to look about right! Unfortunately when I dry fitted the bits to the airframe I found my 'careful' measurements were a bit off so after a little more measuring, cutting and sanding the pieces were added to the fuselage with some additional stock styrene as a backing plate Thankfully the parts now all line up and should form a solid basis to start filling the gap... hopefully this weekend! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I like the sound of how your reshaping the nose Ian, very brave decision, and they're usually the ones that pay off! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madhatter Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Another great use for an old mouse I see good thinking! A rounded nose is more in keeping with the rest of the body being very curvy. An angular nose wouldn't look right I also like the idea of the red and black interior. Black with red trim would be my pick too I'm really enjoying you bring this to life and I'm getting tempted to buy one of these too, but with my current list of upcoming projects, I'd never find the time to do it. So I'll just keep watching you do a masterful job on yours instead -much more enjoyable for me and my shelf space Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Shumsky Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 Many thanks guys -- when looking over the model it was an easy decision to go for a curved profile as the squared off version just would not have fitted in with the rest of the shape, even if it would have been easier to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Nice use of a dead mouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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