1/72 Socata TB9 "Tampico"

[billn53]

20 minutes ago, Serkan Sen said:

Very big improvement compared to originally printed condition. Do you think that I can also make my canopy and windshield parts  so clear as you did? I have a bottle of clear SLA resin but I haven't used it yet...

Only way to know is to try it and see...

- Bill

[Bangseat]

1 hour ago, Serkan Sen said:

Do you think that I can also make my canopy and windshield parts  so clear as you did? I have a bottle of clear SLA resin but I haven't used it yet...

 

Yes, have a go! I use a more involved post cure process for clear - max 90 sec under UV to minimise yellowing, and cure in a bath of IPA (or water) to avoid oxidisation, which is a chalky white film that can form otherwise and is tricky to remove. After cure dry straight away with an airbrush. I then clear coat with 2k which goes a long way to improve the transparency of the naturally frosted surface. If that was done after a manual polish, no reason why they couldn't be very clear indeed.  

 

In a few years maybe we will have amazing LCD screens with ultra sharp XY resolution and then these parts could be quite something. These are done on a Mars with 50 micron resolution, I would be interested to see how clear parts come out on a Phrozen Sonic Mini with 35 micron resolution, not yet interested enough to spend £400 though!

 

 

[billn53]

13 minutes ago, Bangseat said:

I then clear coat with 2k

 

What is this "2K" you speak of?

[Serkan Sen]

26 minutes ago, billn53 said:

 

What is this "2K" you speak of?

I assume 2 component clear coat which is used in auto painting.

[Serkan Sen]

49 minutes ago, Bangseat said:

These are done on a Mars with 50 micron resolution, I would be interested to see how clear parts come out on a Phrozen Sonic Mini with 35 micron resolution,

Theoretically Mars can print up to 0.01mm and I have printed some parts with 0.025mm without any issue...

Serkan

[bigbadbadge]

Looks to be a lovely kit,. You are doing a cracking job adding the extra details you require, great work,  it definitely would be good to see more light aircraft kitted.  

Chris 

[Bangseat]

2 hours ago, Serkan Sen said:

I assume 2 component clear coat which is used in auto painting.

Exactly.

 

1 hour ago, Serkan Sen said:

Theoretically Mars can print up to 0.01mm and I have printed some parts with 0.025mm without any issue...

Serkan

I don't want to fill Bill's fine thread with lots of 3d printer shoptalk, but a layer height of 0.01mm, which is possible, only defines the resolution in one dimension (Z axis). On the other two, the resolution is limited by the pixel size of the LCD screen that defines the layer shape.

[Serkan Sen]

12 hours ago, Bangseat said:

Exactly.

 

I don't want to fill Bill's fine thread with lots of 3d printer shoptalk, but a layer height of 0.01mm, which is possible, only defines the resolution in one dimension (Z axis). On the other two, the resolution is limited by the pixel size of the LCD screen that defines the layer shape.

Me neither. As my last reply on 3D printing, you are right, the pixel size limits the resolution on xy plane but the smaller z axis layers improves the print quality significantly at highly curved surfaces by avoiding relatively higher step heights/edges. Also some people recommends to use Antialiasing option to reduce pixel effect and get smoother xy plane contour at each layer. But I haven't tried it personally 🙂

Serkan

Edited January 12, 2021 by Serkan Sen

[billn53]

and while the 3D gurus were discussing the fine points of their craft...

 

I drafted up the decals for 1 World Aero's N507 "Papa Charlie":

 

 

 

 

... which turned out to be pretty easy to do in PowerPoint, thanks to the line drawings Harry sent me. The most difficult part (and not very difficult, it turned out) was the crest on the fin, which I imported from one of my photos.

 

[bigbadbadge]

Very nice work 

[rob Lyttle]

3 hours ago, billn53 said:

and while the 3D gurus were discussing the fine points of their craft...

🤩😅🤭

I thought I'd crashed through into a parallel universe for a minute then.... 

🎉🧚‍♂️🧙‍♀️

Really nice bit of graphic work Bill, by the way. This is a skill that I need to develop. Civil-wise it's an ability that can deliver for many projects 👍

Edited January 12, 2021 by rob Lyttle
Addition

[billn53]

3 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

🤩😅🤭

I thought I'd crashed through into a parallel universe for a minute then.... 

🎉🧚‍♂️🧙‍♀️

Really nice bit of graphic work Bill, by the way. This is a skill that I need to develop. Civil-wise it's an ability that can deliver for many projects 👍

I spent a large part of my career doing “PowerPoint Engineering”    , so doing the graphics for the decals was pretty straightforward for me.

[Serkan Sen]

8 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

I thought I'd crashed through into a parallel universe for a minute then.... 

We were trying to give Bill enough time to design his beautiful decal artwork to complete.. 😁

Serkan

[Serkan Sen]

6 hours ago, billn53 said:

I spent a large part of my career doing “PowerPoint Engineering”    , so doing the graphics for the decals was pretty straightforward for me.

PowerPoint and Excel became almost two necessary tools for many engineers in our company as well... It's called by us as "Excel cooking" 😁

[billn53]

I've run into an issue with my decal design. I used Arial Narrow Italic for the "N507PC" on the side:

 

 

But, on the opposite side the text slants in the reverse direction:

 

 

 

and I've had no luck finding a solution. If worse comes to worst, I'll compromise and live with having the right side's text leaning the wrong way.

 

On a happier note, I've gotten some additional detailing done:

 

First up are the entry steps behind the wing:

 

 

 

I heated the ends of some brass rod and squeezed it in a set of pliers to create the flattened step, then bent it to shape:

 

 

 

I drilled holes for the steps. Here they are test-fitted (I'll refine the length and shape once the wings are in place:

 

 

 

Second item: Flap actuators on the underside of the wing:

 

 

 

 

Note to self: Take care when handling the wings from here on out.

 

Finally, mounts for a set of wingtip lights:

 

 

 

I glued a small piece of half-round rod onto the wing tips, which I will later shape per the above photo:

 

 

 

Now, it's time for me to get back to my Cessna Bobcat build...

 

[rob Lyttle]

26 minutes ago, billn53 said:

But, on the opposite side the text slants in the reverse direction:

Darn..... ‼️😯

All I can think of, (like there's any possibility that I know something about this that you don't....!) is, can you save the text as a bitmap or image item of some kind rather than text, and then slope it back by dragging a corner.? 

 

As for the model, brilliant 👍

[billn53]

59 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

Darn..... ‼️😯

All I can think of, (like there's any possibility that I know something about this that you don't....!) is, can you save the text as a bitmap or image item of some kind rather than text, and then slope it back by dragging a corner.? 

 

 

I believe, if I saved it as a vector graphic, then with the right software I could distort it as you suggest. It's a matter of knowing how to do it and having the right tools.

Lacking the above, I've done some PowerPoint magic to get close enough, I hope.

 

[billn53]

I'm making good progress on my Tampico! I used putty and Mr Surfacer to clean up the join between the fuselage and the clear upper part, then turned my attention to installation of the wings and stabilator.

 

For the wings, Harry recommends using rod stock for reinforcement, which would otherwise be a butt joint. He thoughtfully provided holes in both the wings and fuselage for this purpose.

 

 

 

I deepened his holes with a 1-mm drill bit and installed aluminum tubing into the each wings' holes:

 

 

 

Here are the wings fixed in place, without any glue yet:

 

 

 

Unlike most GA aircraft, the Tampico employs a stabilator instead of the more traditional horizontal stab + elevator. On the Tampico (and other Socata GA aircraft), the entire horizontal surface of the stabilator moves to pitch the plane up and down:

 

 

 

In the kit, the stabilator is comprised of two pieces which are joined together and attached to the empennage. 

 

 

 

To facilitate assembly, I inserted a brass pin into one half of the stabilator and drilled a corresponding hole in the other:

 

 

 

I then taped the two parts to a pane of flat glass, using the edge of a ruler to ensure the pieces were straight. I used a piece of Parafilm to separate the parts from the glass, to prevent me from accidently gluing the stabilator to the glass.

 

 

 

I used medium thickness CA to glue the pieces together, followed by the old "baking soda and CA" trick to fill and strengthen the joint:

 

 

 

Before removing the stabilator from the glass, I sanded the seam and re-scribed across the join. This is what the completed assembly looks like:

 

 

 

This is the Socata with the wings and stabilator test-fitted in place:

 

 

 

A couple of things I will need to pay attention to are: 1) ensuring I have the proper dihedral in the wings, and 2) making sure that the stabilator, when attached, is square with the fin.

 

 

 

 

[billn53]

According to the Pilot's Operating Handbook, the dihedral of the Tampico's wings is 4-degrees 5-minutes, which works out to just shy of 4.1-degrees. To achieve the desired dihedral, I measured and cut out a set of cardstock tapers at the designated angle:

 

 

 

I placed the model in the jig and super-glued the wings to the fuselage:

 

 

Voila!

 

 

I reinforced and filled the wing root join with a mixture of baking soda and CA glue, then applied Bondo filler. When that's dry, I'll sand the wing root to shape.

 

 

You can also see that I've masked the windscreen and windows in preparation for painting.

[bigbadbadge]

Very nice indeed, cracking job , it is progressing well. 

Chris

[billn53]

After sanding smooth the wing joins it was time to add the nose cowl. Harry had forewarned me that this is a natural tail-sitter, and to use tungsten putty for nose weight. Fortunately, I happened to have some in my supply drawer:

 

 

 

To ensure I would be adding enough weight, I taped a rod just forward of the main gear datum. A quick check confirmed a strong tail-sitting tendency. I then packed the nose with as much tungsten putty as would fit. I even hollowed out the forward end of the fuselage, just in case I needed more.

 

 

 

But, no need for that. The tungsten did the job with plenty of margin to spare:

 

 

 

Curious, I broke out my scale to weigh my little Tampico. It came out to a bit over 25 grams.

 

 

 

Having previously weighed the model before adding any tungsten, I learned that I had added 7.6 grams of nose weight (about 1/4 ounce).

 

With that job finished, I glued the nose cowl in place, puttied the seam, and airbrushed a coat of Mr Surfacer 1500, which I had thinned with Mr Color Leveling Thinner.

 

 

 

After the Mr Surfacer is dry, I'll look for and repair any blemishes, sand the surface with extra-fine sandpaper, and add the white base coat.

 

[billn53]

I was up early this Sunday morning, working hard on my Tampico. After a light sanding of the Mr Surfacer I had applied yesterday evening, I proceeded to airbrush the base coat. For this, I used AK Interactive Real Colors "White Gray". I feel a pure white is too stark at this scale, and the slightly darker white of the Real Color looks more realistic, IMO:

 

 

 

I next unmasked the clear items and gave everything a protective clear coat using Future, which I thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The Macro lens is not your friend)

 

Satisfied with the paint job, I printed up the homemade decals on my laser printer and began the stressful task of laying down the decals. The laser-printed decals are very thin, easily torn or damaged, and like to curl up on themselves. I find myself taking long breaks. So far, I'm about halfway done:

 

 

 

It's looking pretty good, but I'll have to find a matching blue paint for touch-ups.

 

For some reason, this decal brings a smile to my face every time I see it:

 

 

 

 

😎

 

 

 

 

[billn53]

A couple hours later . . .

 

I'm finally finished with decaling:

 

 

 

And, my backwards-slanting text looks fine:

 

 

 

I'll let the decals set for a while, have a drink (or three), then do touch-up where it's needed.

[Andwil]

That’s looking splendid.

 

AW

[rob Lyttle]

Looking fantastic, Bill 🤩👏

And that little paint tin that she is sitting on has put a bit of context to what you're working on here! 

The decor is great