A Pair of Bulgarian Shchuka – R-2 and D-5 ***FINISHED***

[Ray_W]

30 minutes ago, Basilisk said:

Another great effort Ray Is the wiring made from led wires and do you use CA glue to attach it to the fuselage?

 

Cheers, Peter

 

Not perfect but OK - always learning and camera macros challenge the best that's why your builds are amazing.

 

Yes lead wires in this case although I do prefer the look of annealed copper. The black is a copper cored plastic coated packing wire I picked up in China. All glued with CA using my favourite - Loctite Super Attack "The Original" - thin, wicks in with no mess and drys fast. Never saw this in Australia but easy to pick up here in Europe.  Always have some in the baggage when I travel home. I think I have a larger CA stash than kits.  😁

 

Tools of Trade:

 

Loctite Super Attack "Original" for nearly everything although not with talc unless you need instant set say sprinking talc onto the CA when in position.

Loctite Super Attack Gel - rarely use this now maybe for a filler with talc for a quicker set with limited workability. Can use to build up if required.

Stanley Brushable - coverage and workability and my go to CA for talc fillers. Slow set.

Applicator - a piece if wire with a bend (happens to be that Chinese packing wire). Cut the end off and re-bend as required.

 

 

Having followed your other amazing builds I wondered what CA you use with the talc fillers.

 

 

 

[Basilisk]

Thanks for your explanation. I have to try annealed copper wire as led wire can sometimes by too soft.

 

18 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

I wondered what CA you use with the talc fillers.

I use ZAP CA as it is readily available in Australia and it works for me.

I use mostly the medium stuff for gluing and as filler with talk. The thin I use like you to attach wires as it flows nicely. Lately I started to use the gel to attach PE parts as it doesn't dry instantly.

 

Cheers, Peter

[Ray_W]

The Italeri D-5 cockpit is done. Ready to join those fuselage halves together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ray_W]

Another milestone reached - both fuselage zipped up. Italeri D-5 on the left, Airfix R-2 on the right. You can see I have inserted a piece of tapered polystyrene strip to fill those gaps from the Italeri fuselage mods that now seems so long ago.

 

Now time to have a serious play around with canopies and decide what to do. Both have their issues.

 

 

[Ray_W]

Canopies.

 

Frankly I do not mind the Airfix effort. In 1/48 the internal masking is not that difficult and should give a reasonable result. Irrespective of what you use some internal representation needs to be done (or ignored). The parts are a bit thick but wonderfully clear, minimal distortion and because the sliding part is part of the middle no extra thick sliding piece to contend with. 👍 No change. I'm going with Airfix.

 

 

Italeri? 👎  Well, the work continues.  

 

Real aircraft

 

 

The above picture would of driven a quite famous forum participant, who had a particular liking for kit manufacturer's getting the canopy right, crazy! 

 

Italeri

 

 

There are a whole pile of variances going on even allowing for scale limitation of injection mouldings.

 

Is the pilot's section too high or is the rest too low?

Is the top of front section too low?

Is there inadequate upward taper from the gunner's cupola through the fixed centre section?

 

The pilot's section cannot sit lower because it's on a shelf. 

 

Also the gunner's rear section needs some work:

 

 

 

Hopefully the pilot's canopy section is too high. This will represent the easiest fix. I had already decided to "improve" the Italeri effort and remove all canopy framing and correctly represent internal framing. Maybe now a little more work.

 

Now, I need to work out exactly what is going on and most probably, again, make some compromises. Anyone with correct dimensions for the canopy sections? Otherwise I have to rely on scaling some drawings.

 

Let's see what we unearth.

 

Edit: The pilot's canopy needs to be forced over the shelf then all is good.  

 

 

 

 

[Ray_W]

All is good, forcing the pilot's section over the shelf results in the canopy clicking into position. All good. Sheesh! Afraid it would crack (or just slide it on from the rear), I wish all fixes were so easy.    Back to original plan - Remove framing.

 

 

 

[Niknak]

24 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

All is good, forcing the pilot's section over the shelf results in the canopy clicking into position. All good. Sheesh! Afraid it would crack (or just slide it on from the rear), I wish all fixes were so easy.    Back to original plan - Remove framing.

 

 

 

It's coming along well Ray, When I built the airfix b-2 the way I painted the centre section which is under the pilots sliding section I used decal film first sprayed the exterior colour then sprayed the interior colour and then placed the decal on the inside of the center section saves first masking for  the exterior colour then masking to do the interior frames You can just see it here. The internal armour for the gunners posision I would just painted it onto the inside of the canopie that's what I did on the b-2. Nick

 

Edited February 22, 2020 by Niknak

[Ray_W]

2 minutes ago, Niknak said:

It's coming along well Ray, When I built the airfix b-2 the way I painted the centre section which is under the pilots sliding section I used decal film first sprayed the exterior colour then sprayed the interior colour and then placed the decal on the inside of the center section saves first masking for  the exterior colour then masking to do the interior frames You can just see it here. Nick

Great suggestion Nick. Simplifies the masking and I have decal film with me so I think I'll follow your lead. 

[Ray_W]

I found some time this afternoon to continue work on the D-5. There has been a few things going on - wing correction, undercarriage and canopy.

 

Firstly the wings. My Italeri moulding has an exaggerated droop in the port wing. This droop is in both the top and bottom halves. Very difficult to remove with such long skinny wings.

 

 

The actual aircraft appears to have very rigid wings. Head on view of a Bulgarian D-5 from lostbulgaria.com, no wing droop:

 

 

and another Bulgarian D-5 wings bomb loaded and no droop:

 

 

I had to straighten that wing and keep it that way. First step was to remove the flaps and thin the trailing edges while improving the profile of the flaps.

 

 

Next was to add a stiffener to straighten the top and bottom halves. If I was back home in Australia I would just go out to the shed, get some brass or aluminium stock and shape it and epoxy it in but, as I am working away, I had to come up with a different solution. I have some 3 mm styrene angle so I used this as a stiffener, two pieces back-to-back. Glued and clamped in place using the only rigid straight edge I have, the arm from an Olfa Circle Cutter. After the Tamiya Thin set I then strengthened the stiffener with an additional application of CA and talc. Finally finished shaped to fit. I also decided to add some stiffeners to the starboard side, be it that this side is correct.

 

 

Really not pretty.

 

 

But effective

 

 

Before I glue those wing halves together I had a look at the undercarriage solution. I am using the Quickboost set QB 48260 for the uncovered wheels.  The wheel solutions for the Italeri D-5 and Airfix R-2 are as follows:

 

 

You can see that I have fitted the Italeri smooth treads to the Quickboost legs. Thankfully the Bulgarian D-5 had smooth tyres (see following image). It gives me an option to replace the Airfix R-2 "Jeep" tyres with the more accurate tread pattern on the Quickboost tyres. 

 

 

I have started removing the canopy framing. First I put some Blu-tac gently in side to support it. Then sanded off the framing with Wet/Dry 600/1500/2000. I just hold these around a sanding stick. Plenty of water, go easy and the framing is removed.

 

 

I then polished the canopy with Tamiya polishing products. I tend to use just the Coarse and Finish.

 

 

I no longer use Future for dipping canopies - have not for some time. I like the look of polished canopies. Just go steady as they are fragile little beasts.

 

 

 

I'll keep working on these canopies, including the one above, and they will come up real nice. I plan the canopy framing to be just paint with the exception of some painted decal film on some of the interior framing. 

 

Cheers for now, hopefully next pics should show wings and that reshaped nose attached.

 

Ray. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Greg Law]

Looking good. If you use the Eduard mask on the Airfix canopy be aware that the instructions are wrong. At least mine were and made me make a mess of the internal ones

Before I worked out what was wrong.

[Ray_W]

1 minute ago, Greg Law said:

Looking good. If you use the Eduard mask on the Airfix canopy be aware that the instructions are wrong. At least mine were and made me make a mess of the internal ones

Before I worked out what was wrong.

Thanks Greg for the tip. I do have the Eduard mask sets for both. I'll watch out on the R-2. The D-5 will now be me doing it the old way. Tamiya tape, scalpel and patience.

[Niknak]

Hi Ray, you may find you have to insert a tube through the quickboost wheels so they fit the airfix spats. If you remove the top of the tube you can insert the wheels after painting. Nick

[Ray_W]

31 minutes ago, Niknak said:

Hi Ray, you may find you have to insert a tube through the quickboost wheels so they fit the airfix spats. If you remove the top of the tube you can insert the wheels after painting. Nick

 

Nick, Thanks for the tip. Ray

[Ray_W]

I've been very focussed on the Italeri D-5 canopy to ensure I can make it work or, alternatively, try and get a vacuformed piece in time for the finish date on the STGB. With so many beautiful builds of the Hasegawa 1/48 D-5, with its gorgeous canopy, time spent now is worthwhile or I will always be disappointed with the Italeri effort sitting on the shelf.

 

The answer is YES the Italeri will work with a little bit of effort. 

 

Framing removed. Sections thinned.  A filed and finished representation of the gunner's cupola. A better fit for that centre section. All ready for framing and painting (maybe polish some more as well). Still have the front section to do. I'll leave it for now and return when ready to do the interior framing.

 

 

For those building the Italeri D-5, or contemplating so, that centre section is a poor fit. Too narrow and falls off the shelf and nothing like the flush fuselage sided piece it should be as shown in pictures of the real aircraft. By the way, typo warning "to" should be "too" in the following image.

 

 

The clear pieces seem very brittle and any attempt to widen the piece when gluing would have too much built in stress for my liking. There is also that stress raiser - the hole for the radio mast. I did a simple fix. Using my universal modelling clamp - "Blu-tac" - I gently splayed out the canopy then hit it with the hair dryer. I placed it on a stove top for convenience. Stove top is definitely OFF. No role to play other than a nice heat proof surface.

 

 

I took care not to overheat the piece doing the process 3 times test fitting each time and the final result was pleasing.

 

 

It should now glue in place nicely with my preferred canopy glue for fixed pieces - Tamiya Thin - a story for another day.

 

Ray 

 

 

[Ray_W]

I'm still working on colour schemes for the Bulgarian D-5's. I have posted some conclusions and questions, based on my observations, in the following thread started by @Massimo Tessitori a year and a half ago.

 

 

[Greg Law]

Well done Ray. How did you get the blue tac to stay in shape.  I use it as backing support when I mask a canopy.

[Ray_W]

6 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

How did you get the blue tac to stay in shape. 

Hi Greg, Sorry I can't offer more insight - it just does. It certainly not a "solid". Possibly because I did the heating in stages it provided sufficient strength for the reshape to occur. I'm currently using Faber-Castell "Tack-It" and  it has a long life. That particular piece has been used many times for many jobs including masking and holding, so often it's my third hand. In fact. it probably has another brand, since forgotten, buried in it.

[Ray_W]

Wings are now on both aircraft and the firewall extension spigot is on the D-5. The Italeri D-5 overall length now measures out at 11.1 metres and the R-2 at a shade under 11.0 metres. I'm happy with that.

 

 

It's hard to believe that this is the nose of the Italeri - a very satisfying project.

 

 

The Airfix R-2 is assembling nicely. Nothing new to report that isn't probably covered by others. It's a lovely build. 

 

The Italeri D-5 wings also assembled nicely with no gaps, just a little sanding on the wing root is necessary because I thinned the wing trailing edges . 

 

One thing I did not like was the knife edge butt join to the fuselage on the top wing half. It would probably be OK if you finish the build and place it in your display cabinet or on the shelf. But for me, where I take my finished builds back to Australia in cabbage luggage, I wanted a more sturdy join. I made a piece to fit flush in the wing, shaped to fit and then glued in place. The top edge has a nice taper to wedge the piece into. This gave me a little more gluing area and hopefully take some of the load on the butt join.

 

 

 

When I squeezed the fuselage into the wing assembly (yes it is a nice close fit) I used Gel CA on this new piece against the face where it abuts the fuselage and Tamiya Thin for all the regular joints. The join looks no different. just gives me a little peace of mind.

 

The D-5 spigot now needs to filled and shaped to match the fuselage and provide another mating spigot to the cowl section. Hopefully I can make some more progress on this later this week.

 

Ray

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Basilisk]

Wow, a lot has happened since I checked last I am amazed that you managed to remove the canopy framing without getting any cracks.

 

They both look great.

Cheers, Peter

[Ray_W]

2 hours ago, Basilisk said:

Wow, a lot has happened since I checked last I am amazed that you managed to remove the canopy framing without getting any cracks.

 

They both look great.

Cheers, Peter

Thanks Peter.

 

 

[Niknak]

There are looking great. Ray. 

[DaveyGair]

Wow! Nice to see some proper modelling going on. I don't think I could manage to do the research and all the mods to the parts. I'm content to build my new tool Airfix 1/72nd R-2 and hopefully turns out reasonable!

 

 

Davey

[Ray_W]

10 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

Wow! Nice to see some proper modelling going on. I don't think I could manage to do the research and all the mods to the parts. I'm content to build my new tool Airfix 1/72nd R-2 and hopefully turns out reasonable!

 

 

Davey

Thanks Davey. I enjoy the research and correcting a few things if I think they improve the look substantially. I thought this GB was going to be a simple one until I plunged into the Italeri D-5. In the end, I find this "corrective" work very satisfying.  However, I still do enjoy the new tools and love the Eduard Spitfire Mk IX's. Then it's finding an interesting paint scheme or aircraft with a story. 

 

One of the reasons I enjoy the GB's is to see the range of scales, I really like watching the 1/72 builds and seeing good OOB builds. That Airfix 1/72 R-2 is a nice kit. Trust it turns out as you want it to. Hope you build that Gladiator with it, if you have time, you can have a back story on that one coming together.

 

Hope all's well and you're on the mend.

 

Ray 

[Ray_W]

The Airfix R-2 has been feeling left out with all the attention on the Italeri D-5, so I decided to spend an evening (yes the whole evening) on one part in the kit that can provide a significant improvement - that top cowl.

 

Peter @Basilisk has already corrected his in his Stuka STGB. It was my turn leveraging off some discussion on this earlier thread. 

 

 

 

 

This is how they turned out - unmodified on the left and after the evening's work on the right. 

 

 

I used the oil cooler rendition (part E08), that is used in the exposed motor configuration and tidied it up to better fit in the cowl with some thinning of the inside top of the cowl necessary. The only piece of the designed part for the job (E01), that I used, was to cut off and save the oil cooler exit flap. 

 

I did my usual and filled the inside with CA/talc and went to work shaping the cowl to better match part E08. When happy I then used some thin styrene sheet to follow the profile of the bottom of the oil cooler and fill the gap to the cowl. Then some more CA/talc filler and shaped a smooth transition into it.

 

I also deepened the exit opening ductwork and provided some trunking to match. Again unmodified part on the left. I did not worry about the radiator sink marks as these will be hard to see with the exit flap in position.

 

 

This inside view gives some indication of the mods. Note how thin that top side has become in providing a more accurate lead into the oil cooler. The material removal can also be a little more aggressive to capture that real B-2/R-2 look.  In 1/48, this'll do. 

 

 

I'll continue to tinker with this. Usually have to after another coat of undercoat to spot defects.

 

The bulk of the job is done and I think, what will be a great improvement in the look across the top of the cowl.

 

Ray

 

 

 

[Basilisk]

Reshaping the air intake does indeed make a huge difference and it is well executed

Cheers, Peter