1/72 Hasegawa XF5U-1 Flying Pancake

[Noah Greggs]

Very nice am loving the undercarriage...

[Nigel Heath]

The primer showed that I needed to do a bit more finessing to complete the coaming:

This is how I masked the seat padding, reinforcing the tape masking with some liquid Micro Mask:

The brown went on with a rather pebble dashed finish, I don't think I thinned it enough. It looks like its made out of sandstone - now if I'd been asked to make something like that I would have said it was not possible, but there you go. I will give it a bit of TLC and hopefully it will look better under subsequent coats.

After dinner I got the khaki green applied to all the cockpit components:

It did indeed improve the appearance of the seat. I also got the seat belts attached and decal applied to the instrument panel:

I know that decal looks seriously rough but in the grand scheme of things, with a black hole of a cockpit I think it will be fine. (Please forgive me fellow BMers).

I applied a Flory Dark Dirt wash to all the cockpit parts in readiness for assembly:

Here we are approaching final close up:

And there we have the final tub ready for insertion into the fuselage:

I will let that harden up overnight and proceed later on tomorrow.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[hendie]

coming along nicely sir.

the undercarriage certainly looks a lot better for the additions you made

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks hendie, I think I am going to spin the yarn that the seat is upholstered with chamois leather (or possibly foam rubber) - using a bespoke technique that has taken years to hone to perfection.

[perdu]

Forgive you for the IP?

No

Don't think so, you don't get a 'forgive' you get a 'commendation'

About perfect for down in the coal hole

All looking exemplaryific

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks Bill, down in the coal hole I think it will look just fine.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Jessica]

Don't worry. Once the canopy goes on you'll just about be able to tell that there's a cockpit underneath it.

[Space Ranger]

exemplaryific

Great word, that. And perfectly applicable!

[CedB]

Great progress Nigel and looking good Sir!

Your influence encouraged me to look for some scratch build materials at Cosford (repeat after me, out of the box Ced, out of the box) and I did get some plastic sheet from Little Cars. I also asked several stand guys for a pack of mixed rod / section stuff but, when they asked what I wanted it for, 'just in case' didn't seem to be an acceptable answer and they just sort of sidled off. Cuh!

[Nigel Heath]

Don't worry. Once the canopy goes on you'll just about be able to tell that there's a cockpit underneath it.

This is my expectation, sometimes as modellers we do tend to overthink things. I think the same applies to the engine intakes which when painted with the dark Navy paint will look fine without any additional boxing in.

[Nigel Heath]

Here is a post of the very minor progress achieved tonight, here is the cockpit tub in a temporary position:

I think that looks OK, I do need to get some matt black on the cockpit coaming though.

I had made some clod hopping finger prints on the engine fronts due to my usual over eager need to progress things but once they were hardened up I was able to sand out the offending marks:

Now I just have to work out the best way to mask them.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[Pete in Lincs]

Aliens!

[logical]

Looks great Nigel. Looks like Vought were trying early Stealth technology too. Bit like an F-117's grandad

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Aliens!

I was thinking more along Madonna lines. (No, those were conical, weren't they?)

[giemme]

Phewwww, just went through the whole thread, what a scratch-building masterclass!

Can I please ask what kind of silicone are you using for quick moulding?

TIA

Ciao

[Nigel Heath]

The silicone rubber is from Hobbycraft, here are the two components in blue and white and some moulds I made using it:

Its quite handy stuff as it sets in about five minutes. I'm not sure of the manufacturer but I will try to find out tonight.

[giemme]

Thanks for that Nigel So basically you need to mix the two components to get it to harden; the box in the background is the resin you pour into the molds?

TA

Ciao

[Nigel Heath]

That's right, the two components are both a soft putty which you kneed together until its a uniform colour. The box in the background is a clear casting resin also from Hobbycraft.

[tank152]

A very informative and enjoyable read. That silicon idea I especially like. Like others have said, those cut outs you did for the cooling flaps are exceptional, being nice and square, something I always fail on.

You've got my attention.

Bit like an F-117's grandad

Nah that honour goes to the Ho229

Tim.

[Pete in Lincs]

(No, those were conical, weren't they?)

More like Comical.

Sorry, Nigel.

You have the con.

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks Pete for letting me wrestle back control. Here is that silicone putty from Hobbycraft. The fidelity of moulds from it is not as good as a proper moulding rubber like Sylmasta but it does have its uses.

[Nigel Heath]

Tonight I have been mainly masking stuff. For the engine fans I used a combination of compass cutter and a 10mm punch:

I also masked the coaming at the front of the cockpit ready for some anti-glare matt black:

I masked the joint interfaces on the engine intakes using scraps of masking tape from my cutting mat:

The joints on the lower fuselage were similarly made ready for a coat of the Navy exterior colour:

The upper fuselage was also masked so that I can get some Navy blue on the inside of the engine vents:

Hopefully that will all work out OK, bye for now,

Nigel

[CedB]

Wow, now that's what I call masking! Can't wait to see the paint.

[Nigel Heath]

I am on holiday today, so first got some airbrushing done, here are the engine fronts and intakes:

Here is the anti-glare panel:

I matt varnished the cockpit but I could still see some bare plastic past the foot well so I just brush painted on some matt black:

That's sorted it:

While that was drying I masked up the canopy:

I then glued in the cockpit tub and the instruments:

I keep breaking the lower flaps so I installed some protective buffers:

I decided it was prudent to reinforce the flaps with a fillet of five minute epoxy before I close up the fuselage:

In went the engine fronts:

Now I could close up the fuselage:

That went OK but there was this gap at the side of the cockpit:

I might be able to get that to close up better with a little more work but I'll leave it to harden up over the weekend as I have as plane to catch. Maybe I will get some more done on Sunday evening.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[giemme]

Great progress! And that seems a huge gap to fill, but probably it's the macro effect. What kind of glue are you using for the fuselage halves?

Ciao