stever219 Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 10 minutes ago, Hewy said: Looks gret so far 👍,don't tell me the strawberry jam is being used as a masking medium,🤗 God (other deities are available, please insert one of your choice) alone knows how many of those little pots I’ve “acquired” over the years from department store coffee shops to decant thinners and other modelling-related fluids into, particularly to go in my tool box for modelling club nights. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 28 minutes ago, Hewy said: Looks gret so far 👍,don't tell me the strawberry jam is being used as a masking medium,🤗 I might just try that! 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 (edited) It's not the biggest update, but I've done some work on the equipment bay hatch. I diligently filled the hole on the triangular aluminium bracket, assuming it was a sink mark. It turns out this hole was intentional and represents a cut out in the bracket, so some remedial scratch building was required! The yellow blob on the nose is a piece of baked play dough. It will be shaped and painted to represent the light in the nose. I was tempted to use milliput for this but thought it would be fun to try out the play dough instead, which worked a treat - it is easy to file after baking. The picture below from the walkaround section on BM shows what I'm trying to achieve: Edited February 14, 2020 by Back in the Saddle 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Looking great. Sorry I haven’t kept up with this. For some reason I’m not getting updates. I’ll unfollow and follow again. 😇 Johnny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 No worries! TBH, there hasn’t been a lot to follow recently! I returned to the bench last night for the first time in about a week and attempted to polish the nose light cover using a cotton bud in a Dremel. Who would have thought that such a small polish could cause so much friction and plastic meltage...! 🥴 Next time I’ll add water and toothpaste to the cotton bud and practice on a scrap piece of plastic first... BTW, your new man cave is looking rather good, as is your 262 mottling! 👍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 18 hours ago, Back in the Saddle said: No worries! TBH, there hasn’t been a lot to follow recently! I returned to the bench last night for the first time in about a week and attempted to polish the nose light cover using a cotton bud in a Dremel. Who would have thought that such a small polish could cause so much friction and plastic meltage...! 🥴 Next time I’ll add water and toothpaste to the cotton bud and practice on a scrap piece of plastic first... BTW, your new man cave is looking rather good, as is your 262 mottling! 👍 Dang!! Yes I can fully sympathise. This is why I no longer use a dremel. 🤯 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 4 hours ago, The Spadgent said: This is why I no longer use a dremel. 🤯 Bother - I’ve only just bought mine, thinking it would be useful... Fortunately I work with balsa/ply too, building models that fly, so I can hopefully still put it to good use. I might even be able to use it on plastic, as long as I’m more careful! 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 5 hours ago, Back in the Saddle said: Bother - I’ve only just bought mine, thinking it would be useful... Fortunately I work with balsa/ply too, building models that fly, so I can hopefully still put it to good use. I might even be able to use it on plastic, as long as I’m more careful! 😂 Yeah they are useful for drilling and deffo for your flying builds but I’ve found for teeny polish jobs they’re just too much. 😬 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 Time to rectify my latest mistake...! I found an old stirring stick, acquired from a hotel at some point in the past. I'm not sure what type of plastic it is made from, but it is crystal clear and the correct size to attach to the nose: My painstakingly created play dough lamp was removed 🙄 and the plastic sanded back. I then used superglue to attach a chunk of the stirring stick to the tip of the nose hatch. After about an hour of action with an emery board it looked like this: A few more minutes using various grades of micro mesh produced a nice, smooth, replacement cover: I managed to knock off one of the support arms during this process, but that can be re-attached later on without any problem. I am now contemplating drilling out the lamp cover from inside the hatch to make a landing light - it looks a little bare and empty as it is... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Great new nose you have there. 🤩 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Nice work! They are good little kits...picked up the yellow version from Aldi for a bargain the other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goggsy Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Cracking job on the pit and equipment bay. You’ve done a great job with those instrument decals as well. I’m never a big fan of them but you’ve got them to sit perfectly. Good save with the nose light as well, looks perfect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted February 24, 2020 Author Share Posted February 24, 2020 On 22/02/2020 at 08:53, The Spadgent said: Great new nose you have there. 🤩 Thank you - not bad for a first attempt, even if I say so myself! 😁 On 22/02/2020 at 09:47, James G said: Nice work! They are good little kits...picked up the yellow version from Aldi for a bargain the other day. I have one in the stash too, my secret Santa present from last year - somebody knows me too well! It a great little kit (the scale on that one is 1/72) and I've built a few, as my seven year old likes that model quite a bit too! On 22/02/2020 at 19:02, goggsy said: Cracking job on the pit and equipment bay. You’ve done a great job with those instrument decals as well. I’m never a big fan of them but you’ve got them to sit perfectly. Good save with the nose light as well, looks perfect. Thank you. The decals must have been beginner's luck but they did bed down very well. The other details were done by following tips picked up from lurking on here for a couple of years - there are some great teachers on this website! Last night saw the application of Mr. Surfacer 500 along all the seam lines and this afternoon they were sanded back. Having done this, it was time to join the wings to the fuselage and add the drop tanks: The broken arm on the equipment bay hatch has now been repaired. However, tonight's casualty was the pitot probe. I am going to spray this with Alclad's polished aluminium to try and replicate the real thing, so I decided to give this the full micro mesh treatment and get it as smooth as possible. Unfortunately my over enthusiastic polishing snapped it, so the superglue is getting another outing. The blue marks on the airframe are areas that need a bit more attention before priming. I also knocked the rudder off, so have added that to my list of things to (re)do. This model might have to go on hold for a while, as airbrushing will be needed soon - I'm not sure when the weather will next be suitable! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 On 12/28/2019 at 2:46 PM, Back in the Saddle said: Thanks Adrian, perfect solution! I tried painting them again last night but the lines are nowhere near as fine as I would like - fibre tip pen sounds like the way ahead👍 Matt, take yourself off to the haberdashery shop purchase a hank of yellow and black needlework silk. Strip of a length of each and tease it out until it's thin put them together and then wind around the face blind handles. Secure with superglue. Jobs a good 'un. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 7 hours ago, heloman1 said: Matt, take yourself off to the haberdashery shop purchase a hank of yellow and black needlework silk. Strip of a length of each and tease it out until it's thin put them together and then wind around the face blind handles. Secure with superglue. Jobs a good 'un. Thanks Colin, sounds like a great tip. Do you have any pictures or links showing handles made this way? Would be good to see how they look using this technique. I spent about 45 minutes this evening cleaning up the model, working mainly on the joint between wing and fuselage. I did the sanding in the kitchen, which is not the brightest area in the house. As soon as I came back to the bench and looked at the model under better lights, I could see areas needing improvement - hence more blue pen marks! That will be a job for another night... Here's the current state of play: The model will be finished with the canopy open, I just popped the closed version on to see how it looked! I might use this though to protect the cockpit once airbrushing begins... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 Remember this build? It was going quite well, then I had few problems with a broken pitot tube. I repaired it, then promptly broke it again before putting this project on the back burner for while. Yesterday I finished a bottle of Revell Contacta and decided to recycle the metal tube - it is exactly the right size to replace the pitot (bearing in mind that part of the plastic pitot is missing): I glued the metal tube into place last night and will fill any gaps later on before priming. I have also started to finish the undercarriage and hope to get this model finished very soon, subject to home schooling demands...! 😂 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 5, 2020 Author Share Posted April 5, 2020 Spent an hour this morning getting it masked: Guess what's on the agenda for this afternoon! 😃 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Great progress. It’s one of those kits that shouts” build me “ when you open the box. I built mine very quickly about 2 years ago and it’s still in the box waiting to be painted! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 5, 2020 Author Share Posted April 5, 2020 It’s painted (first coat) and drying in the shed. Second coat later today, if I get time👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 On 2/25/2020 at 6:56 AM, Back in the Saddle said: Unfortunately my over enthusiastic polishing snapped it, so the superglue is getting another outing. Sounds like me on the Chengdu J-7G! Snapped the pitot off at least three times (should've bought an AM brass one, in retrospect. Lovely job on one of my favourite little jets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 6, 2020 Author Share Posted April 6, 2020 Second coat of paint applied, but I'm not happy with the finish: The surfaces all feel quite rough rather than smooth and glossy. I've micro-meshed it all over since taking this picture, which has improved things considerably. Off to do some research now, to find out what went wrong and how to fix it before the final coat... Any advice gratefully received - I suspect the paint whilst drying before it hit the model? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 Instrument panel is wonderful. This build is fun to watch. It'll be a jewel when you're done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 22 hours ago, Back in the Saddle said: Second coat of paint applied, but I'm not happy with the finish: The surfaces all feel quite rough rather than smooth and glossy. I've micro-meshed it all over since taking this picture, which has improved things considerably. Off to do some research now, to find out what went wrong and how to fix it before the final coat... Any advice gratefully received - I suspect the paint whilst drying before it hit the model? I sometimes get that. It’s a bit of a pain but as I rarely do gloss it isn’t a problem. I take it you’re after a gloss finish? You could try doing a wet coat after micro meshing? Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 6, 2020 Author Share Posted April 6, 2020 The micro-mesh has smoothed it out nicely, but I need another coat of red as some paint was removed on the more prominent areas, despite the fine grit... Still need to do some research, to try and prevent a recurrence, but if it happens again I’ll apply the gloss coat and hope that solves the problem! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 I suspect you've got too much delivery pressure in the airbrush or painting too far from the surface, as it looks like the paint's dried before it's had a chance to settle on the surface. Acrylics are renown for this; one of the reasons I persist with enamels! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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