Fulcrum Guy Posted December 8, 2019 Author Share Posted December 8, 2019 @Pappy Thanks for the heads-up, luckily I'm still at the point where I can make those alterations as necessary. When you say "lower left" do you mean port aft? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 8 hours ago, Fulcrum Guy said: @Pappy Thanks for the heads-up, luckily I'm still at the point where I can make those alterations as necessary. When you say "lower left" do you mean port aft? G'day FG, Assuming the nose is fwd, then yes, the port aft corner, cheers, Pappy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timski1 Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 This build is looking great, I’m not one to build military aircraft but I think you’ve converted me into picking one up, enjoying this read amazing work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 (edited) @Pappygot it, thanks again for the heads-up! @Timski1glad you're enjoying it so far! Modern US military jets may not be as flashy as their foreign counterparts or civvy birds, but they definitely have their charm to them. Edited December 9, 2019 by Fulcrum Guy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 (edited) Big milestone for the bug: the forward fuselage is together! After much deliberating/dry fitting, I figured the time was right to press forward with the next big step. Luckily, the cuts I made in the bottom of the pit worked out perfectly fine, and it went together with relative ease. I say relative because the bottom area where the antennae sit didn't want to play nice, and ended up making a very noticeable gap on the port side. As I didn't want to start sanding the gear bay and risk losing detail that is scarily close to the edge, out came the trusty knife and I basically whittled away the antenna plate till it got to a fit that I am happy with. Now just a bit of filler and it will be nice and flush. Here you can see I also folded back the turtle deck's mesh cover on advice of @Pappy, I will need to hit it with some more black to get rid of the brass showing through, but it should be right now As always, thanks for stopping by the hangar! Edited December 9, 2019 by Fulcrum Guy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kushan_Farsight Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Some great work here! will be following along! I expect this will be rather large once all built up at 1/32 scale! For some reason, the images you post come out excessively large on my screen, when normally BritModelller is quite good at resizing them. I have to zoom out to 50% to see an entire picture, at which point the text is smaller than ants Have you settled on a color scheme/livery that you will go for? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 They show large for me as well, but only mine for some reason (may be due to taking them on my phone or something with flickr, I'm not sure.) As for the livery, I'll be doing a VFA-22 line jet, don't get me wrong, I like the schemes of CAG/CO birds, but I want something that'll have gotten down 'n dirty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) Another quick update, the forward fuselage is now complete. There are a couple of sections that still need blending, mainly the upper and lower nose sections, but the way it looks reminds me of a full jack for a gear swing. Now on to the rear of the jet. GT Resin has told me that his intakes should be back in stock on 2 Jan, so I'll be making a decent size purchase in the new year! As you can see, I fixed the picture sizing as well. Shame on me for not reading instructions fully. Anyway, thanks as always for stopping by the hangar! Edited December 15, 2019 by Fulcrum Guy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted February 16, 2020 Author Share Posted February 16, 2020 Sorry for the delay, but between holidays, waiting on parts, and work schedule, not much has been done on the poor bug. I do have on small update though. Thanks to the suggestion of @FIGHTS ON, I have gotten SAC's white metal main gears (would've preferred G Factor's as they have the nose strut as well, but they no longer seem to exist.) When I got the gear, it seems that due to the manufacturing process, the empty spots at the knuckles and the strut mounting points are filled in. Since I don't own a Dremel, and wouldn't feel comfy drilling out something that small anyway, most of my time has been spent boring out the empty areas. Here you can see the progress made on one strut vs original. As always, thanks for stopping by the hangar! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIGHTS ON Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I was wondering where your build was ! These SAC legs do prevent the "bending" of the knees, BUT because they are just direct copies, their weakness is that same single "pin" join that slots into the fuselage. Being white metal, & so thin, there is some bend there if not careful. So be aware that is where the weight of the kit now sits when the finished item sits with pride on your shelf.........or worse, a young child reaches up for a closer look to a beautiful Hornet that was not "lashed & chained" to the deck (that'll teach me!) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 I was already planning on trimming the pin, letting most if not all of the weight sit on the actual trunions, while using the pin just as a guide and barely entering the guide hole (unless you would also advise against that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIGHTS ON Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 I'd go for as much of the pin left in the guide hole as possible, weak as that point is, just the trunnions would otherwise become the pivot point. Again, i should stress, my pins became weak due to an inadvertent Ramp strike (as it were!). I suspect that as fitted, they are pretty strong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 Point taken, and that's how I'll be proceeding. Thanks for the heads up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 (edited) Luckily, had a dead day today at work, so I brought the other main in along with my scalpels. I was able to bore out the trunnion gaps, and the upper knuckle. Since I had a good amount of time on my hands, I was able to spend quality time on it, and shape the gaps the way I wanted them. Tonight will be reshaping the knuckle gap on the right main to match the left I did today. As always, thanks for stopping by the hangar! Edited February 22, 2020 by Fulcrum Guy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Looks good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 Looking good FG! The mesh screen is typically an aluminium colour BTW but I am enjoying the journey you are on, cheers, Pappy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 Is it? So much for the reference pics I've seen. No worries, easy dry brush fix. Thanks for the heads up, and glad you're enjoying it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted February 26, 2020 Author Share Posted February 26, 2020 I'm starting to get back in to the swing of things, and work continues on the mains. I was able to trim out all the overfill areas from the struts to match the kit parts, primed in black with white overcoat. It would seem I found an error in at least my molding of the mains from SAC: the mounting point for the rear hinge on the lower strut should be off center and line up with the outside edge opposite of where the wheel would mount, but mine is in line with the lower strut. After a bit of "coercing" I was able to realign the mount, and whilst not perfect, everything is relatively in line again. Now just on to the tie down anchors and other fiddly bits, then they should be ready to be installed onto the main bays. I also lucked out and was able to snag Squadron's True Details wheel set, and can already tell its leaps and bounds from the kit offering. As always, thanks for stopping by the hangar! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share Posted March 3, 2020 Main gear work continues, with actuators being put into place. Made a recoverable error during assembly, and attached the linkages prior to paint, but on the other hand, I was able to get them to the correct orientation before heading to the paint barn. Whilst those were setting and drying, I worked on the wheel & tire assemblies, and Squadron has done a top-notch job (if I haven't already said that.) They are now bored out to proper axle depth, and mostly painted, with only the inner sidewalls, touch ups and brake assemblies needing work (if anyone has a suggestion for the coloring of carbon brakes, much appreciated 😜!) Now just to wait on DMold's intakes and spine, then the rear fuselage can be sealed up and the body can be assembled! As always, thanks for stopping by the hangar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 Touch up are done from wheel and tire shop. All that's left for them is to just grime 'em up when I do my gloss coat. These took a couple of days of bouncing what I did off of a coworker who was a fighter C/C (although he worked Strike Eagles, he confirmed that the brake assemblies are NEARLY identical, only difference being the middle upper puck would be on the bottom on a mudhen.) Now just down to waiting on my intakes! As always, thanks for stopping by the hangar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Great work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcrum Guy Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 More little work has been done, this time on the flaps while I wait on the intakes/spine (the left Chicago yesterday morning, so I'm expecting an email sometime next week.) Main work was on installing the flap tracks, and during install of the right outboard one, we had a man down. The carpet monster has struck again, but I still had the other one, so that went into the first assembly. During the fruitless search for the track, I found some on my shavings from cutting out the main bays, so I thought "make my own track!" And, after much cutting/sanding, I'm happy with my work. Based on my knowledge of KC-135 flap tracks, I would hazard that this one may even be better than the ones supplied, but I will leave that to y'all to decide. (The pic with the inner and outer are stock tracks, the one with only the outer is my creation.) As always, thanks for stopping by the hangar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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