gingerbob Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 That's my approach, Andy- problem is sometimes I never seem to get around to the cutting part! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 A last quick update before we jet off to the Big Apple for a long weekend on Friday... Thanks to Giorgio. That was an excellent and enlightening piece of advice about the relative position of the rudder line and I think it's solved my dilemma. Here is a picture of the new resin fin with the rudders lined up and it appears to fit perfectly with the Hasegawa 'break-line' moulded on the inside Being suspicious of coincidence and leaving nothing to chance, I then viewed it from the top and, sure enough, the tailplane positions lined up also mean that that inner break line is where I should cut So, it 'appears' that this may the problem solved. I will take the razor saw to it after my return and before gluing the halves together. I'll leave just enough to sand off finally just in case! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 28, 2016 Author Share Posted April 28, 2016 Time to get on with this one now... I've taken another rough file to the top of the floats to try and sort out the mould line. You can see where the resin dust has settled into the air pockets and these will need filling before doing anything with these I think this will take a couple of fill/sand sessions to get rid of these and the final mould lines. Out with the liquid putty and a liberal coating to start with to try and fill those pockets. Leave to dry and sand later Having satisfied myself that the internal mould line is the proposed cutting line, I took out the razor saw, held my breath and cut the tail off before gluing the halves. I was pretty nervous! I needn't have worried...here is the dry-fitted resin tail against the shortened fuselage. A good fit I think you'll agree? Feeling OK now, I glued the fuselage together having also removed Hasegawa's moulded in spinner/prop locator (because I will be using a resin prop - I've abandoned the idea of using Heritage's resin and metal one for now. I may be persuaded but right now a QB replacement is less hassle and looks a lovely product for a few quid Every online build I've read about this kit recommends that the upper wings are fitted to the fuselage before fitting the lower, so that is what I did - lovely clean and tight joint. I suspect the Bank Holiday will be spent sorting those floats out and finishing the lower wings including filling in the u/c wells and plugs. Thanks for looking 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 You managed to achieve a very good fit with both the plastic and the resin parts. Those resin floats seem to have a lot of bubbles though, guess there will be need for some filler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 That's an interesting build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 29, 2016 Author Share Posted April 29, 2016 Thanks chaps! Yes, those floats are going to need repeated visits I think. My major issue was the tail joint, so I'm happy how that has apparently turned out. I can work on this until a certain point where I'm waiting on Hannant's to reissue the serial decal sheet. Oh, and I don't have any Dark Slate Grey paint yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Looks very good - despite the pinholes in the floats Older Heritage castings (the previous owner that is) were sometimes so-so. Just as your floats but they improved immense by now. IIRC they (the new owner Ian) let some well known company do the resin casting in eastern Europe now. René 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 29, 2016 Author Share Posted April 29, 2016 Agreed René. The only problem area is the floats - the remainder of the resin is free of pinholes. I think these will be fine after a few applications of liquid putty and filler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Good progress there Andy. It's always a big step to cut up major components of a kit like this but you've made a great job of it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 29, 2016 Author Share Posted April 29, 2016 Thanks Col...it's just starting to get a little trickier now... First, the floats. I sanded out the liquid putty and then liberally applied some Green Stuff. The liquid putty had filled a lot of the pinholes but some of the bigger ones remained. Here's one of them (the worst for the pinholes) after sanding the Green Stuff - you can see the extent of the bubbles. At least the ridge has disappeared and so, I have applied another coat of Green Stuff to take care of the final round of pinholes. Laborious but necessary. The other problem I have (as mentioned earlier in the thread) is exactly where they fit. I've seen some plans online and I think they align with the strengthening plates in the wheel wells. I can't clearly see where they align chord-wise - they seem to be placed close to the leading edge. Anyone any idea? If so, then the tops will need some careful carving to match the aerofoil shape of the wing. The tailpiece has now been CA's in place and some small amount of filler will be needed to blend it in. While I was at that end, I cut off the tailplanes and had a dry fit of these. Apart from some slight modification of the locating tabs the fit is excellent Next was the plugs to the wheel wells. I used some various thickness plastic rod and CA'd these in place. I cut out the remaining plug from card stock and then filed and sanded it into a shape that would minimise filler. Once dried, the filler can be applied and then the resultant sanded flat. Last but not least...the upper wings have the small wheel bulges - these are going to have to come off aren't they? I've not seen a picture of the upper wing of a Vb floatplane but I can't believe they would leave them there, which means I'm going to have to file/sand them off. They are solid anyway it seems so may not be too much bother to do so. Thanks for looking and all comments welcome 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Andy, did you get my last PM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 Hi Rob Nothing mate, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Hmm, I'm not so sure the bulges would have been removed, were these aircraft not conversions from the standard machine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 Me neither Col but I expect someone will know! Looking at the Brengun and Trumpeter efforts I think the bulges are missing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 That might explain why you didn't reply - I'll send it again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 Cheers mate! I always reply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Did it show up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 Sorry mate...they've arrived now...I had a full inbox 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Yeah, that'll do it. No worries, hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted May 1, 2016 Author Share Posted May 1, 2016 Wow Rob those drawings are perfect mate. Thanks. So, I now know position chord-wise and off-set form the centre-line. Also looks like those blisters are going to have to go along with the heater elements behind the exhaust 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 As per my last post, the blisters on the tops of the wings (for the wheels) had to go. I used a burr wheel on the Dremel to start and the rough sanding to remove the last traces. There will be some re-scribing to do but I'm much happier knowing they needed to go. I also removed the heater elements behind the exhausts - these were snipped off and sanded Filler applied to tailpiece and the wheel well infills And then sanded I've started marking out the positions of the floats suing RobG's e-mailed drawings. These will need some work to fit chord-wise due to the aerofoil section and the dihedral of the wing. I'll need to thinbk of a way of translating that information to the top of the float struts before getting out the Dremel and sanding sticks. Thanks for looking 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 Quick update! I sanded the floats again and then gave each one a stripe of hand-painted EDSG to see whether I'd got rid of all the bubbles. An emphatic NO! So...out with the filler again! Thanks to RobG I now have the superb plans by Vasko Barbic and these clearly show that the floats are 3.05m apart CL to CL and therefore are 1.55 off the aircraft's CL. This equates to just short of 32mm in 1/48 so they were marked out The upper and lower wings were re-scribed after the blister removal and wheel well filling and the tailplanes have been attached with CA Now to the float attachments. The drawings clearly show that the front of the floats are just shy of the leading edge and scale off the drawing at a shade under 25mm at their front edge. Heritage has cast the float struts at their LOWEST point which makes them about 22mm. This means that they are correct for the flatter underwing buit will need building up with Milliput as the near the leading edge. That's not a massive issue I suppose but it would have been easier to grind the strut down than build it up Anyhow - onwards and upwards 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Looks like the resin conversion set could have been designed better from this point of view, having to add material is always annoying... I'd really suggest using a rod to keep them in place if you haven't considered this option yet, it's the only way I'd feel safe for such a delicate assembly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted May 12, 2016 Author Share Posted May 12, 2016 Thanks Giorgio, I have already got some brass rod - I think I'll do two pieces per strut. It's a bit annoying but Milliput is good stuff to use if I can get the mix right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 I wish I had a good tip for puttying the pinholes but I have none... The best I found is automotive primer from a rattle can. Apply svereal thick coats before sanding and stop sanding before you sand through the resin to open new pin holes... But that is theory. In real life it only works half as good. Great progres though! René 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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