Anatol Pigwa Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 @Dave Swindell Great to see your work progress you are an inspiration to me. I wonder, do you intend to tint the canopy? The Gripens have a rather peculiar green/magenta glow. If so, how do you intend to do it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 18 minutes ago, Marcin Kaminski said: @Dave Swindell Great to see your work progress you are an inspiration to me. I wonder, do you intend to tint the canopy? The Gripens have a rather peculiar green/magenta glow. If so, how do you intend to do it? Thanks for your complements @Marcin Kaminski You're making good progress with your two as well. I hadn't intended tinting the canopy, and after another quick run through my file of Gripen photo's I don't think the Gripen canopy is tinted, but I do see where you're coming from - in certain lights and at certain angles you do get a tint effect varying green , yellow, or blue and sometimes a rainbow "oil film" effect. I suspect this is internal refraction in the canopy from a laminate construction and not a tint, as in photo's of the same aircraft which show the tint effect in some photos, the canopy appears to be perfectly clear in a lot of other photos. I'll have a think on it as I'm a day or two away from dealing with the canopy yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Another Milliput session complete and the model off to the airing cupboard to cure overnight. Tailfin, flaps, wing upper surface join, fuselage joins and nosecone joins all faired in, and a bit on the sides of the underwing tanks done as well A bit more sanding and scribing to do tomorrow to finish these joints off. Â Â 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reini Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 That seems like lot of sanding - but you've made a tidy job of it. I'm sure it all will pay off once the paint comes in  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 hour ago, reini said: That seems like lot of sanding - but you've made a tidy job of it. I'm sure it all will pay off once the paint comes in  No sanding done yet, that will be done tomorrow. The milliput has been shaped and feathered in using wet tools and "should " only need a light sand to finish off if I've got it right! As you say the proof will be when the first coat of paint goes on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 arrr I see, very clever, the joins are pretty well smoothed off, so the sanding will just be to tidy up everything. A nice way to not loose any detail, or very little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 On 25/04/2020 at 23:10, trickyrich said: A nice way to not loose any detail, or very little. That was the theory, and it worked pretty well except where I'd removed plastic to aid fairing the joints, I had a bit of restoration to do here. With the underfuselage all sorted I could add the pylon under the stbd intake. Thhis isn't parallel to the centreline, it angles outboard as you move aft. Also completed yesterday were the replacement nose gear etch brass doors and detailing to the main gear doors. The undercarriage legs have been cleaned up and test fitted, I need to work out how to fit the excuisite resin cast wheels next, as they have small diameter axle sockets cast in, and the legs have huge chunky stubs. I'm planning on rummaging through my Albion alloys tube and rod stock later to see if new axles is the best plan of attack. Â 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 New axles cut from 0.5mm brass rod, and main stub axles from 1mm slide fit tube. Kit axles were cut off flush and the legs carefully drilled for the new axles. Torque links are from the eduard set, and the wheels are the replacement Armory ones for the earlier style. I've also cut off the kit representation of the osewheel steering rack (much too small & narrow) and fitted a chunkier wider one filed from a length of strip with detail from rod. Â 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 Tidy work there Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 that does look good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 Well she's up on her pins now....  The main legs went in easily  But the nose wheel leg was a bit more problematic and has taken most of the day. Checking against photos for positioning of the door revealed:- I'd got the position of the scissor link too wide and high up the leg There are more struts on the forward door than are in the kit or supplied by Eduard The nose wheel landing light bracket as moulded on the front door legs is incorrect, it's mounted behind on the retraction jack Plan A was to model all this on onto the nosewheel leg whilst keeping it removable for ease of painting and to protect the fragile front nose door mounting. The landing light bracket was removed from the nose door legs and this and the retraction jack were located with bits of blutac to check alignment - note that the instructions have you shorten the retraction jack - DON'T!! I think it's actually a tad too short as the leg angles forwad slightly where it should be perpendicular. Once happy the parts were glued together but not into the well, when the glue had set the leg was removed and I started on the complicated strut arrangement for the door. Two long struts lie against the inside of the door parallel to the indented grooves in the door, and there's a couple of braces from the bottom of the kit nose door legs to each side of the gear leg above the nose wheel steering rack. I fabricated these from 0.3mm nickel rod and spent ages trying to tease all these into position on tiny dabs of gator glue, but the whole retraction jack and nose door leg is so flimsy, and as it doesnt touch the nose leg at the lower end it was twisting all over the place as I was trying to position parts. fter some serious muttering I gave up and reverted to plan B, The nose leg, retraction jack and nose door legs were cemented firmly into the nosewheel bay and left to set. With them ow firmly attached at the top all the struts stiffened up and the door with it's associated struttery could be aligned and attached much more easily. Once set it is surprisingly rigid, but I'll still ave to be careful during painting and handling.  And a couple of shots from behind and the side 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Another day of good work Dave. Well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 yikes!! That nose wheel setup looks scary! Nice work with all those tiny bits. Â The PE detail in the wheel wells looks great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 I've been playing with the canopy for a couple of days now. The plastic had a peculiar rippled effect in it if you looked closely, and it had suffered a few scratches prior to removing from the bag, so I've had a go at polishing it up with micromesh. It's still a little cloudy and could do wih a bit more polishing I think. I've also had a go at the central blast screen, a piece of PETG masking taped on both sides and trimmed to shape. The cross brace has been thinned a bit and the mounting lugs filed so that it will sit at the same angle as the screen. Once painted I'll attach this to the screen before fitting the screen permanently in the canopy   As painting this thing is looming closer, I've been looking at the colours. IPMS Stockholm gives FS 36373 light grey for the underside, FS 36173 mid grey for the upper surfaces and FS 36188 dark grey for the insignia on the mid grey. The light grey looks ok to me, and the dark grey is a close match for the insignia decals, but the mid grey is troubling me. FS 36173 is quoted as being humbrol 156, which looks a pretty good match against my fandeck, and humbrol 156 is also described as dark camouflage grey, the operative bit here being dark, it does indeed look too dark to me against all the photo's i've looked at. Right sort of hue, but just too dark. Think I'll have to have a rummage for likely candidates and do some test spraying.   4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Good luck matching that mid grey Dave. Your construction and detail work deserves the correct colours to make it all worthwhile. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reini Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 @Dave Swindell Looking good, that's some really nice details. And brave thing to glue the landing gear legs before painting - I know I would knock them off several times before the model would be done... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 that cockpit looks great.  I really do hate having to try and match up colours! You may have to go with what looks right! I have found that different paint manufactures have different ideas for FS colours, even the basic ones like FS36320 Dark Ghost Grey series greatly (I known as I've used that one a lot).  I say stick to what you think looks correct and bugger the rest of them! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 On 06/05/2020 at 14:11, Col. said: Good luck matching that mid grey Dave. I'm leaning towards RAF Medium Sea Grey for the topsides, it's got a very similar hue to FS 36173 but is a couple of shades lighter 17 hours ago, reini said: @Dave Swindell Looking good, that's some really nice details. And brave thing to glue the landing gear legs before painting - I know I would knock them off several times before the model would be done... Hmmm, I know exactly what you mean and it's not my usual approach, but it should work if i'm careful 15 hours ago, trickyrich said: I have found that different paint manufactures have different ideas for FS colours, That's not the issue Rich, I've got a good match for the FS number, the issue is the FS number looks much too dark compared to all the photo's I have of the plane 15 hours ago, trickyrich said:  I say stick to what you think looks correct and bugger the rest of them! Exactly!  Canopy polishing finished and masked, plus cockpits temporarily masked for a repaint of the coamings. The eagle eyed among you will have spotted the large blade aerial on the spine has been fitted after some careful thinning, the remaining smaller ones will have to wwwait til after painting and decalling has finished. I'm hoping the undercarriage will remain attached, but heeding @reini's warning, I think these would be one step too far! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Tura Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 Dave, Â Hi. This had completely passed me by because, you might say, I have failed to post on my build here since you started yours! Â It's looking very nice, Dave. I hope you get the finish on OK. Â Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 17 hours ago, Angus Tura said: Dave, Â Hi. This had completely passed me by because, you might say, I have failed to post on my build here since you started yours! Â It's looking very nice, Dave. I hope you get the finish on OK. Â Alan Alan, guessing you've been rather busy with work recently vs me being sat at home, so I'll excuse the lack of posts I'm also hoping the finish goes on OK, but I didn't have much success yesterday afternoon. A quick shoot of tyre black for the canopy framing and coaming repaint turned into an epic paint mixing and airbrush cleaning session and an "oh sugar" moment when I realized mid spray that the centre outside triangles of the main canopy had been masked in outline but I'd neglected to mask the centres. I gave up at that point. The paint was an older tin of xtracolor that had thickened quite a bit, so it had a bit of thinners added and a right good stirring, but when I tried spraying it started curdling and blocking the airbrush. I'll give it another go this afternoon, but I suspect it's time to break out a fresh tin. Meanwhile a bit more masking to do before I start.... Â 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Tura Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 I feel your pain! Â Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 Hopefully you have greater success with the paint tomorrow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 oh dear!! Â How many times has bad paint raised it's goopy head this GB! Â Hopefully you can sort it out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whirly Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Dave, I hope you have better luck with paint at the next attempt, I'm eager to see your Gripen finished! Just curious: you assembled all the undercarriage and its doors: how you are going to paint it? I'd like to do the same with my model but I fear it would end up as a very messy job.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 16 hours ago, Col. said: Hopefully you have greater success with the paint tomorrow  13 hours ago, trickyrich said: oh dear!!  How many times has bad paint raised it's goopy head this GB! Hopefully you can sort it out. Think I've cracked it 25 minutes ago, Whirly said: Dave, I hope you have better luck with paint at the next attempt, I'm eager to see your Gripen finished! Just curious: you assembled all the undercarriage and its doors: how you are going to paint it? I'd like to do the same with my model but I fear it would end up as a very messy job.. The undercarriage is all assembled, but there's only one door attached, the forward one on the complicated linkage in front of the leg. All the other doors are assembled but not yet attached. The plan is to paint the underside, plus the outside of the nose door, mask around the undercarriage bays and the outside of the nose door, then spray the bays and legs all in one go. There's some etch wiring looms to go on the legs, plus landing lights which will be pre-painted, then the other doors (which will have been painted when the appropriate colours were being sprayed) will be attached last.  So I managed to get the tyre black to spray, not perfect, but it's done a job. The canopy framework is done and the coamings re-coated, plus some canopy furniture on the etch sprues has been pre-painted as well. The HUD has been attached with a couple of 0.1mm wire braces. The HUD doesn't have any framework round it and has a bit of a green tinge in some photo's, so I've touched in the edge of the clear part with some Tamiya clear green paint which I think does the job. Some detail paintwork has been completed on the rear bulkhead and a strip of dark brown added across the very front of the coaming as per photo's of this aircraft.       2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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