Alex Gordon Posted November 3, 2020 Author Share Posted November 3, 2020 Hello again Chums, The red has been painted,now I can pick up the pace a bit.It looks a bit more convincing than the decals do. Masking on for the black underside.Hang on a mo,there's no ailerons or gun pods. The gun pods were cut from the frame.They only needed a little part line scraping to tidy them up. I did,however,dish out the centres of the mating faces so that they've a better chance of sitting in place without gaps. The inside faces of the ailerons were painted as I went along having drilled the relevant holes in them for the rigging. These components are moulded the same for each side but the lower wing won't take them as is so I had to flatten off the upper leading edge of those a little to make them fit.The upper ones went in without any extra fettling. All of that was fitted up and left to set overnight.This morning I made a mix of matt black with a drop of grey and slathered it on all the bits that are supposed to be black,including a repaint of the upper wing 'cos I did that in satin and this is matt. Guess what I've forgotten to do.The aileron rigging.More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted November 3, 2020 Author Share Posted November 3, 2020 BxxxxY SUPERGLUE!!!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol' Scrapiron Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 Yiiiikes! Scrambling for a silver lining: If it had to happen, at least it was on a generally flat area free of detail. Hopefully when it cures you can use a blade to scrape it down so only light sanding necessary and paint might hide imperfections. good luck. They need a SCREAM option to go with the like button -- something more horrific than "Sad" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted November 4, 2020 Author Share Posted November 4, 2020 G'day again Chums, Ol' Scrapiron,thanks old fruit.As I said earlier out of the bad can come the good.It's my own fault for using the tube of glue instead of the little droplets on the end of a length of wire like I normally do. I don't know whether to whinge or wayhey really,does anyone remember when Humbrol enamels actually used to stick to the plastic it was applied to? Some gentle prodding with the tip of the scalpel blade peeled the paint back with the superglue still attached and no damage to the surface underneath.Phew,got away with that one.To be fair I wasn't happy with the rigging,it didn't go together too well probably due to me trying to jolly it along a little so that needs a little reworking. All will be sweetness and light sometime soon.Thanks for looking in Chums,more soon. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted November 5, 2020 Share Posted November 5, 2020 Nice save, my parents definitely remember when Humbrol paints stuck to the kitchen table. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 Hello again Chums,some more has been rattled. Ozzy,thanks old fruit.The kitchen table,pyjamas,bedsheets,best trousers,carpets,the list goes on . There's not a lot for the elevators to mount on so some holes were drilled and some copper wire pins were cut and glued in.While I was in there the surplus superglue from the rigging job was cleaned off ready for paint. The engine and cowling will need to be fitted sometime soon.As supplied it all sits too far forward. The least complicated solution being the most desirable I decided to open up the hole in the bulkhead to take the crankcase,but it needed to be a good enough fit to take glue.A suitable size hole was sought from my SAM saw,a slightly too large one was found. A pencil line was drawn as a guide. Staying within the line the cut was made.I offered up the engine and sat there wondering why it was rocking until I realised that the two semicircular lumps next to the gun troughs were in the way and needed to be removed. Thankfully not too much had been cut out and it all sits in place not quite tight but well enough for glue. The sharp edges of the bulkhead were hidden with a spot of milliput. There's not a lot of the kit components left to put on. The sliding portion of the canopy should really be replaced with a thinner one.What I'm going to do is add some plastic strip to the bottom edges so that it sits properly and not look too hard at that bit once she's finished.Bearing in mind that this bit is half the size of my thumbnail that shouldn't be too difficult to achieve. This has all happened in between touching in the paint on and around the roundels which can best be described as a basis for improvement and have reminded me of the need to make sure that masking tape is firmly burnished down to avoid paint bleed. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 (edited) G'day again Chums,twiddly bits this time.There is a hole provided for the downward identification light but I've lost the glassware for it so a new one needs to be made.A circular length of runner will do this job.It's slightly oversize but I have a little plan. A slice was cut off the end and polished up.The hole was drilled out to take it and a drop of silver paint daubed inside it. The clear disc was then let into the hole and a drop of Klear used to secure it.While I was round there I thought that the footstep could do with some attention so I made and soldered together a replacement from,you guessed it,copper wire which just happened to be the diameters I was looking for. Those enigmatic little intakes inside the cowling were next.They were cleaned up and the ends hollowed out. The antenna pole on the rudder as supplied won't last past a breath of wind.Copper wire again,filed into a taper and the end flattened with pliers. A slot was cut into the rudder above its pivoting axis and the new item superglued in. All the air intakes were glued into position. A new upper wing mast was made and fitted. A start was made on the tail lamp. The extra bits were glued to the canopy. That was a very productive afternoon and evenings work.Some decalling happened too but I didn't take any piccies of that.More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. Edited November 9, 2020 by Alex Gordon 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol' Scrapiron Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 I( especially like the rudder antenna -- flattening the end and creating a slot rather than trying to just stick a rod into the top. That should be a much better purchase and be more secure. I'm going to file that away for the next project. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 (edited) Hello again Chums, Ol' Scrapiron,thanks old fruit.I've always liked the idea of solid construction and easy methods of doing so,I'm glad you like the idea. A coat of Vallejo Matt Varnish was brushed on overall.Once dry the cockpit masking and side door were removed.The door was fixed in place using self adhesive aluminium foil which takes away the vagaries of a tiny glueing area while allowing the door to hang properly.This had a slathering of cockpit green paint. The exhausts were cut from the frame,the part lines scraped back and the ends hollowed out. A spot of locating and hole drilling later they were mounted and that's when I found out that they are two different lengths.If you don't tell anyone I'm not going to. These were then painted and made to look like they grew there.There was a little touching in around the cockpit area,isn't macro photography cruel. The engine was fitted. If you're wondering what happened to steps 3 to 6,they all happened just not in the suggested sequence.The wheels went on last,needing no fettling at all. Anyway,I'm calling her done.I'm not going to add the wire antenna,I don't have any wire fine enough and it won't survive the current storage method. I've just seen the bent gun barrel.And the wonky bits of rigging.Considering most of it had to be done twice and the amount of handling there's been I don't think it's turned out too bad. Thanks for looking in and commenting Chums,see you on the next one. Edited November 22, 2020 by Alex Gordon 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 This turned out well cant wait to build one someday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Brilliant job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Congratulations Alex If ever a build deserves to turn out well it's this one. I would have been very easy to throw the towel in with the various set backs but I'm so glad you didn't. Cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Tucker Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 It looks amazing. I especially like the rod joining the rigging together. This is something I don't think I'd be able to do using the stretchy cotton-like rigging I have used. Top stuff! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 This has come up very well. Looks good 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now