Convair B-58 Hustler 1/72

[Getting Old]

Fantastic work Sir, I continued to be amazed 

[billn53]

10 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

WOW!  that looks one mean tool, are you sure it's not for skinning whales.  I always wanted a B-58 with the two component pod,  looked impressive but so does a fuel tank and 4 x Mk 43's.  I was always tempted by the Monogram B-58, but somehow I managed to resist, must have been the surface area of NM finish.

My Italeri kit includes the large pod, and the small pod, but not the two-component pod. I toyed with the idea of modifying the kit's pods to fabricate a two-component one but finally decided I have enough on my plate already. 

The NMF will be my first one and so far it's giving me fits! Not the metallic part, but the surface prep which must be well-nigh perfection. 

[Retired Bob]

5 hours ago, billn53 said:

The NMF will be my first one and so far it's giving me fits! Not the metallic part, but the surface prep which must be well-nigh perfection. 

Agreed Bill, when I bought the kits in the late 80's there were not many options for NM finish, Alclad or foil, and neither gave me hope of a good finish, so there they remain, in the stash along with hundreds of others.  Perhaps the new Eduard AM will spur some activity, then again I thought that with a B-47 that I bought way back in the early 70's (Hasegawa plastic in a FROG box) that cost less than $4, but recent Pavla AM (intakes, exhausts, cockpit and canopy) cost about $50.  Would I do that for 4 x B-58's.... NO!   but perhaps one with 3 x spares. 

[RidgeRunner]

Hi Bill! @billn53, There's been some wonderful work going on here. I'm sory I missed it. I'm looking forward to the end result

 

Martin

 

[billn53]

10 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

Hi Bill! @billn53, There's been some wonderful work going on here. I'm sory I missed it. I'm looking forward to the end result

 

Martin

 

Hi Martin! I was actually looking up your Voodoo build yesterday to see how you handled the natural metal finish. I ended up ordering some of the Humbrol Metalcote paints you used. I'm presently using Xtreme Metal, but it's always good to have a proven alternative in one's hip pocket. 

[billn53]

On 4/7/2019 at 11:30 PM, TheRealMrEd said:

Billn53,

 

I'd highly recommend stretched sprue to fill those gaps, particularly since this will be an NMF.

 

Ed

Hi Ed! I just want to thank you for the tip on using stretched sprue. I tried using it to fill the huge gap on the vertical stab and it did the trick nicely. I then carried your suggestion one step further and used my homemade bottle of "sprue goo" as filler where stretched sprue wouldn't fit. That also gave good results 👍

Ill post some pics later. 

Bill

[billn53]

In my last update I had just begun attacking the fuselage underbelly seam with Mr Surfacer.

 

 

I used progressively finer grades of Mr Surfacer, sanding between applications, until the seam was as smooth as a baby's butt. Then, after priming with Alclad gloss black lacquer, I sprayed a couple of fine coats of Xtreme Metal Polished Aluminum to see if my surface prep was successful. Unfortunately, it was not. I could clearly see a difference between the Mr Surfacer along the seam and the surrounding plastic (which looked much worse to the naked eye than in the photo below):

 

 

 

I could even feel a difference -- the plastic was super smooth, but the Mr Surfacer had a slightly grainy feel to it. It was as if the Mr Surfacer needed some kind of overcoat to seal the surface.

 

So, I stripped all of the paint off, and started over.

 

Segway to...

 

TheRealMrEd tipped me off to use stretched sprue for filling some of the big gaps that come with Italeri's B-58. I had taken his advice and did a test run with the gap on the vertical stabilizer. Here's a "before and after" comparison. Note that in the "after" shot I've simply glued in some sprue -- no sanding or additional filler has yet been used:

 

    

 

Very promising!

 

Anyway, back to my belly seam problem. I thought, if plastic sprue can be used to fill a big gap like the one above, maybe I could use some kind of plastic filler as an overcoat to the Mr Surfacer. As it happens, I have a bottle of homemade "sprue goo" on the work shelf, and decided to put it to use:

 

 

 

After the goo had hardened, I sanded and polished it down with fine grades of sandpaper and polishing cloth. I had to do some spot touchups to fill minor holes, but eventually I got to the point where I felt confident with spraying the belly with gloss black Alclad again:

 

 

 

The seam was gone, but the Alclad had dried with an uneven finish (see arrow). I was able to carefully sand that out and, with polishing cloth, restore the gloss lost from sanding. So, on with round two of the Xtreme Metal polished aluminum. Here's the final result:

 

 

 

Close up:

 

 

Look ma, no seam! I'm super happy! 

 

Of course, I have lost all of the recessed panel lines from the sanding & polishing I've done, and I must decide what to do about that. I could rescribe, but a) I'm not very good at it, and b) I doubt the re-scribed lines will look the same as what's in the kit plastic. Any recommendations will be most appreciated!

 

Last item for now. All the work with the belly seam has been to give me some experience with doing NMF -- I still have a lot of assembly to be done before I'm ready to do the NMF "for real". In particular, I need to build the engine pods and the wings. I will be adding resin afterburner cans & nozzles to the kit engine pods, and while waiting for the paint to dry (so to speak) in my NMF experimentation, I went ahead and cut away the molding blocks from the resin parts:

 

 

 

 

Getting the engine pods done is my next task, and the resin aftermarket will add a very nice touch!

[TheRealMrEd]

One thing that is learned here  is that as far as sanding goes, "It ain't over 'till the BMF says so..."

 

One other thing about the stretched sprue thing.  Sometimes a use a s piece that's a hair wider than the gap, put the sprue in place, hit it with some hot liquid glue and then quickly "smear" or push it into the gap with the edge of something metal, to force it into the gap better, and reduce filler later.  Frequently, I also smooth the spread sprue with a couple more coats of the glue to flatten it even more.

 

Ed

[Nikolay Polyakov]

2 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

Frequently, I also smooth the spread sprue with a couple more coats of the glue to flatten it even more.

Yes, using the plastic from sprues is a far better idea than using a putty - it’s become a solid plastic once glued. The «natural» way to repair all the plastic disadvantages.

 

Cheers! 🙂

[t15dja]

17 minutes ago, Nikolay Polyakov said:

Yes, using the plastic from sprues is a far better idea than using a putty 

 

Cheers! 🙂

I thought heating sprue gave off toxic fumes, to the extent that in a recent Tamiya armour build I did Tamiya issued a warning against doing it unless using a particular "safe"sprue?

[Nikolay Polyakov]

2 minutes ago, t15dja said:

I thought heating sprue gave off toxic fumes, to the extent that in a recent Tamiya armour build I did Tamiya issued a warning against doing it unless using a particular "safe"sprue?

«Heating», not the burning. I think it’s less toxic than using a glue or enamel paint. Anyway, you can use a plastic chip or a thin plastic rods.

 

Cheers! 🙃

[TheRealMrEd]

I usually use the sprue from the kit, unless I need something smaller or larger in diameter, in which case I go to my bag of hoarded plastic sprue.  Then, I just use a short, stubby candle flame, and I don't stick my nose into it!  Usually heat the sprue for 3 - 5 seconds, then blow out the candle while stretching the sprue.  I've been doing this (stretching sprue) since the early 1970's, and no harmful effects either.

 

Of course, when I was a kid, we'd go into old abandoned houses and tear the asbestos insulation sheeting off the walls and sail it around like Frisbees.  We'd also take liquid mercury to school and dip pennies it it and pass them around.  And, I was an auto mechanic for many years and never succumbed  to carbon monoxide either.   But, I also learned in school that if you took red dye #3  and immersed a rat in it, up to his eyeballs, that eventually that would be bad for his health.

 

Just sayin' that your mileage may vary!  (LOL)

 

Ed

[Space Ranger]

10 hours ago, t15dja said:

I thought heating sprue gave off toxic fumes, to the extent that in a recent Tamiya armour build I did Tamiya issued a warning against doing it unless using a particular "safe"sprue?

My preferred method of stretching sprue is to actually set fire to the end and let it burn for a second or two. I then blow out the flame and quickly stick the molten end to a fireproof countertop and then pull it away. Varying the speed of the pull controls the thickness of the result; the quicker you pull, the thinner and longer the stretched sprue will be. I've been able to stretch sprue in this manner to as thin as a human hair as much as 20 feet long. Of course you want to turn off the fire alarms and remove any cats from the area and avoid inhaling the black smoke produced by the igniting of the sprue if you try this method.

[billn53]

2 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

when I was a kid... We'd also take liquid mercury to school and dip pennies it it and pass them around. 

My mom taught me how to do that. I wasn't even in school yet. She would also blow smoke rings for me with her cigs. Those were the days!

 

Nowadays, she would probably be brought up on child abuse charges.

[t15dja]

3 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

 

 

Of course, when I was a kid, we'd go into old abandoned houses and tear the asbestos insulation sheeting off the walls and sail it around like Frisbees.  We'd also take liquid mercury to school and dip pennies it it and pass them around.  And, I was an auto mechanic for many years and never succumbed  to carbon monoxide either.  

Ed

That made me laugh, Ed!

 

Mind you, good job you're not in jolly olde England.......the Elf and Safety Police would've got you long before now!

 

 

[Vladan Dugaric]

Pay attention to the engine nozzle exhaust petals. The resin set has 16 petals per nozzle (which is late, long nozzle J79). B-58 had early J79 with short nozzle with 24 petals per nozzle.

 

Vladan

Edited May 1, 2019 by Vladan Dugaric

[RidgeRunner]

I'm glad the gloop worked for you, Bill @billn53 :). If you recall I tried it on my B-model Thud. It worked a treat :). You Hustler is coming along beautifully, by the way.

 

Martin

[TheRealMrEd]

t15dja,

 

Thanks, just trying to remind everyone that in the end, no one gets out alive anyway.  Besides, as the old saying goes, "You never see the one that gets you..."

 

Ed

[billn53]

47 minutes ago, RidgeRunner said:

I'm glad the gloop worked for you, Bill @billn53 :). If you recall I tried it on my B-model Thud. It worked a treat :). 

Yes, I remember being amazed by your goo-nosed Thud.  That’s what gave me the confidence to try it on my Hustler. 

[RJP]

3 hours ago, Space Ranger said:

. . . I then blow out the flame and quickly stick the molten end to a fireproof countertop and then pull it away . . 

What is the countertop actually made of?  I recently rebuilt our kitchen and replaced the time-expired Formica counter top with exterior grade ceramic floor tile.  It seems to be impervious to just about anything though it still gives me the willies seeing my wife put a hot pot down on it without a pad.

Your note makes me wonder if an offcut of the same stuff on my desktop would do the same thing - without taking a chance.

[Space Ranger]

5 minutes ago, RJP said:

What is the countertop actually made of?  I recently rebuilt our kitchen and replaced the time-expired Formica counter top with exterior grade ceramic floor tile.  It seems to be impervious to just about anything though it still gives me the willies seeing my wife put a hot pot down on it without a pad.

Your note makes me wonder if an offcut of the same stuff on my desktop would do the same thing - without taking a chance.

I've done it on Formica, ceramic, and granite countertops. Also wood patio railings when I've had to do it outside. Just take care not to set the kitchen drapes or cats on fire. And if you do it on your modeling workbench, make sure that flammable stuff like glue and paint are sealed and away from any flames. Just use good ol' fashion common sense. And keep a fire extinguisher handy just in case.

[billn53]

4 hours ago, Vladan Dugaric said:

Pay attention to the engine nozzle exhaust petals. The resin set has 16 petals per nozzle (which is late, long nozzle J79). B-58 had early J79 with short nozzle with 24 petals per nozzle.

 

Vladan

I was not aware of this! And, it leaves me in a quandary... the Aires afterburner cans have 16 petals, the kit’s cans have 20, and the correct number should be 24?

What to do? What to do?

[RidgeRunner]

23 hours ago, billn53 said:

Yes, I remember being amazed by your goo-nosed Thud.  That’s what gave me the confidence to try it on my Hustler. 

It starts out looking awful but you can quickly lick it in to shape with a sanding stick :). 

 

Did you not go for rhe MetalCote, Bill? 

 

Martin

Edited May 2, 2019 by RidgeRunner

[billn53]

7 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

 

Did you not go for rhe MetalCote, Bill? 

 

I have Xtreme Metal on my shelf, the Metalcote is on order. I’ll make a decision when it arrives. 

[billn53]

For the moment, I'm setting aside my NMF work until I'm further along in assembly. My current focus is on the engines and engine pods.

 

I painted the Aires resin afterburner cans and nozzles, trying to match the coloration and wear patterns in the photo I showed earlier:

 

 

 

Assembly was straight forward, except the PE flame holder, which was a very tight fit:

 

 

 

As the Aires instructions forewarn, the engine pods need some minor trimming for the new afterburners to fit (areas 'A' and 'B' in the photo below):

 

 

 

The front end of the engine pods present a different problem -- Italeri molded the inlet cones onto a disk, which is intended to represent the engine compressor blades. The compressor blades should be much further back, as indicated below:

 

 

 

 

 

This is what the inlets should look like:

 

 

 

I decided to see if I could do something to improve on Italeri's design. This is the plan I came up with:

 

 

 

Basically, I'll cut away the compressor disk from the kit's inlet nozzles, and fabricate a new disk, which I will eventually mount at the proper location. To extend the inlet, I'll use styrene tube stock of appropriate diameter and length. This will require grinding and trimming the tube to fit, as well as the interior walls of the engine pod. I'll mount the new inlet tube in the engine pods, close up the pods, and attend to any seams. Note that at this point the inlet cone and compressor face will not have been installed. My plan there is to add a spacer rod between the new compressor face and the inlet cone, and (with fingers crossed) slide the assembly into place after everything else is assembled and painted.

 

My first step was to see if I could get an extended inlet tube to fit:

 

   

 

A lot of grinding and sanding was involved, but at last I was done. I'm not sure using a styrene tube is the best approach (the walls are thick, requiring lots of work to thin them to the point they'll fit in the engine pod). Maybe better would be to "roll my own" from thin styrene sheet?

 

Anyway, the test case for my new intake tube fits (just barely) and I'll need some clamps to get the engine pods glued together. But this looks promising!