Splash the Zeros! - Completed

[dnl42]

Thanks @Mr T!

 

I was hoping to be further along with the Tomcat, but the pilots I ordered from Shapeways weren't delivered yesterday as expected. Hopefully the USPS didn't lose them... Oh well. The cockpit is ready, but I don't want to close up the nose section until the pilot and RIO are strapped in.

 

The after fuselage is simple. I normally prime with thinned Mr Surfacer 1200. This time I used thinned Mr Base White 1000 because of the white undersides and control surfaces. Dang that stuff needs so many coats. Fortunately, the finish coats of C316 FS17875 covered nicely--kind of the plan. The wings already have their C11 Light Gull Gray upper surfaces. Revell provided decals for the exhaust (gray) and fin tip (yellow), but I'll paint them

 

Thanks for looking!

[Col.]

Nice progress on the 'cat. Hopefully you get a delivery today and can continue.

[dnl42]

Thanks @Col.!

 

The Tomcat crew has arrived.

[Col.]

You've been on a recruiting drive!  They look to be well detailed for such a small item.

[dnl42]

@Col., I have indeed been recruiting--and training! As a pilot, the figure would have one hand on the stick and another on the throttles--which could be about right for a jet trying to follow a prop aircraft.

 

Dry-fitting shows they'll need some targeted body sculpting, but it looks like they'll do nicely. A vac-formed Tomcat canopy should show up from Brengun along with canopy and pilot for the Zero. 

[dnl42]

Here's my first attempt at a crewed cockpit.

The crew are still tall in the seat. My body sculpting efforts mangled their left hands and the RIO is without oxygen. 

Good thing there are 14 more, as I can try again!

[dnl42]

2nd try. Much happier with this one. I still need to make the face curtain firing handles.  

I avoided collateral damage by cutting the figures from the runner, gluing them on their back to a sandwich pick, and then filing the bottom until they fit. I then cut the figures from the sandwich pick, glued them back onto the sandwich sticks sitting upright and painted. I'm not going to glue this together until I get the vac canopy from Brengun.

[Col.]

Knowing how much magnification those figures are under to make them so visible the most appropriate comment I can make is to call your work on them magnificent

[dnl42]

Thanks @Col.. Not sure they rise to magnificent, but it was better than expected as I've never done a 1/144 cockpit!

 

And the Brengun parts arrived! I now have some Japanese pilots (who will need to learn to sit), as well as vac canopies for both.

 

Onward ho! 

[Col.]

8 hours ago, dnl42 said:

...I now have some Japanese pilots (who will need to learn to sit)...

Anyone else old enough to remember Barbara Woodhouse?

[dnl42]

It's beginning to look like a Tomcat! 

 

I've got some filling and filing to do here. And a leading edge seam to fix.

 

Mr Surfacer 1200 and files to the rescue!

[Greg Law]

I like this project. It was a great movie.

[keefr22]

I built a similar dio a few years ago - I didn't have (or know of any) 1/144 Harvards, so 'modified' a Revell Mk1 Spitfire...!! As I did it after the shoot down, only the fin sticking out of the Pacific and a bit of wing floating on it could be seen!

 

One of my all time fave films, looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

Keith

 

 

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[dnl42]

Thanks @Greg Law and @keefr22!  @keefr22 did you post an RFI? I'd love to see it! I'm still thinking what to do for a base.

 

The Tomcat airframe is completed. Now to finish the crew and cockpit. The Brengun vac canopy, which is about half the thickness of the injected version, fits well 

You might notice that the AoA probe was lost to part abuse.

 

Here's the T-6 kit's injected canopy

 

And the Brengun Zero vac canopy. It's shorter and thinner; I'll build up the fuselage to transition. While I'm certain the prototype's canopy is large than the Zero's, somewhat similar fuselage work is visible in some of the photos I've found on the Interwebs.

[dnl42]

And here's the newly remodeled fuselage! Next up is fitting the seats with some space for the pilot and then teaching the pilot to sit. Also the "exhaust stacks." I'm hoping I have some Albion tubing that's small enough.

And yes, there's evidence of more parts abuse...

 

Thanks for looking! 

Edited January 1, 2021 by dnl42
Seems I over-remembered the exhaust stacks. I think I'll just do them as decals.

[keefr22]

10 hours ago, dnl42 said:

@keefr22 did you post an RFI?

 

TBH I can't remember it was so long ago, and if I did I would have used photobucket so the pics will have gone. I think I've got some pics on my old laptop and I'll see if I can find them later.

 

Very neat work getting that canopy to fit, I find it bad enough to get them on kits they're designed for!

 

Keith

[Col.]

That's neat work in such a fine scale

[keefr22]

14 hours ago, dnl42 said:

@keefr22 did you post an RFI? I'd love to see it! I'm still thinking what to do for a base.

 

Hope you don't mind me putting these here, they're the only two can find at the moment and it doesn't seem worth a RFI for them (I think my other pics might be on a dead desktop PC)

 

 

 

Keith

[dnl42]

@Col., it is indeed a fine scale. I'm definitely stretching here as I usually don't fuss with cockpits in this scale, and here I'm doing 2 manned cockpits. 

 

@keefr22, that's fabulous!  I really like the scene as it tells the full story with the first look. Thanks for posting the pix! 

 

And the Brengun canopies are quite nice. I was able to remove them easily and they cleaned up nicely. 

[Col.]

22 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

@Col., it is indeed a fine scale. I'm definitely stretching here as I usually don't fuss with cockpits in this scale, and here I'm doing 2 manned cockpits. 

You may be stretching yourself there but clearly not over-reaching and the results are impressive

[dnl42]

Fine shaping of the canopy & fuselage is complete. I added a bump atop the forward fuselage to match the canopy and opened up the rear of the cockpit per the T-6 basis.

 

And here's the pilot, standing defiant.

 

He's going to need a bit more work than the Tomcat crew.

 

Thanks for looking! 

[keefr22]

Excellent job on that canopy! Looks like the pilot needs a booster cushion....!

 

Keith

[dnl42]

Thanks @keefr22!

 

He looks short in the cockpit because he's a little too brawny to fit through the cockpit opening. He's also too tall at 183cm (6 ft). Per the Interwebs, the average Japanese male in 1939 was about 163cm (5'4")  

As a matter of comparison, the average contemporaneous GI was 5'8" while the average Australian was 5'7". I've thinned the cockpit walls as much as I can, but he still doesn't fit through.

 

The modern pilots are actually too small for the T-6, they would indeed need a booster seat! 

 

As an F-14 pilot, though, he fits well. And there we have it. If figures or other parts are correctly sized, they may not fit within the airframe because of its out-of-scale structure. If the figures or other parts fit, they may need to be undersized.

[Col.]

Your Japanese pilot is exquisitely detailed for such a small figure but doesn't look too happy. Perhaps it's because his fake 'Zero' isn't comfy for his unusually large stature?

[Hewy]

Smart work