Cessna Bobcat (Wisconsin Central Airlines)

[dnl42]

Coming along nicely, despite the boulders and traps strewn along the path. 

 

Another tape question, how do you mask it?

[billn53]

1 hour ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Really great results.  As for using Cellotape over the landing lights, what is your experience with it over the long term?  Does it stay clear, free of dust, and stay attached?

 

This is a first for me, so I have my fingers crossed about the potential issues you've listed. My most immediate concern is masking over it. @lunarhighway says he has masked over the Cellotape with success. He may also be able to address your longevity questions.

 

 

[billn53]

Since there is interest in how I will fix the gaps along the wing roots, I'll give a step-by-step description.

 

First thing I did was to stretch some sprue. I like to use sprue from the kit I'm building, I feel that will be most compatible in terms of hardness, etc. I then selected appropriately-sized sections of the stretched sprue and glued them into the gaps using Testors green cap cement. Here are some pics before-and-after adding the sprue:

 

 

 

   

 

After the glue had thoroughly dried, I sanded away any excess sprue, and applied a liberal layer of "sprue gloop" to the wing roots. (Sprue gloop, if you are not familiar with it, consists of scrap pieces of sprue dissolved in liquid solvent. I use Testors green cap, but I've read others have had good results with acetone and lacquer thinner).

 

 

 

I'll let the sprue gloop dry overnight -- tomorrow I'll sand it smooth and post more pics.

 

Since I had plenty of leftover stretched sprue, I went ahead and used some my Bobcat's belly, fore and aft of the wing:

 

 

 

 

[billn53]

As promised, here's a pic of the wing root after having sanded smooth the sprue gloop I applied yesterday evening:

 

 

Not bad!

 

[bigbadbadge]

Ghat wing joint looks a lot better now.   I have just started using the Sprue gloop myself and it's wonderful,  I made mine out of Humbrol liquid Cement. Very impressed how easily it sands.

Great work 

Chris

[billn53]

2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

 I have just started using the Sprue gloop myself and it's wonderful,  I made mine out of Humbrol liquid Cement. Very impressed how easily it sands.

Just don't make the mistake I did, on my Hustler build. You can't apply it over paint... if you do, it'll peel away when you sand it.

[bigbadbadge]

1 hour ago, billn53 said:

Just don't make the mistake I did, on my Hustler build. You can't apply it over paint... if you do, it'll peel away when you sand it.

Thanks Bill,  logged into the old noggin.

Chris

[billn53]

For the past few days, I've been focused on my Socata Tampico build, but I haven't completely ignored the Bobcat.

 

I painted and installed the Engines & Things engines in the kit cowlings. I had to cut off the tops of the cylinders for the engines to fit.

 

 

I "drooped" the elevators, as many photos of Bobcats on the tarmac show the elevators in this position:

 

 

 

I also installed the canopy. The fit was good but not perfect -- the canopy is slightly wider than the fuselage, especially at the corner where the windscreen meets the side windows:

 

 

 

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Nice work on this, Bill!  It's looking great.  What kind of putty are you using on the canopy join?  I normally start with Zap 560, give it 48 hours to dry, then run liquid cement carefully along the edge, and if necessary, CA.  

[billn53]

1 hour ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Nice work on this, Bill!  It's looking great.  What kind of putty are you using on the canopy join?  I normally start with Zap 560, give it 48 hours to dry, then run liquid cement carefully along the edge, and if necessary, CA.  

 

I used Zap Canopy Glue for the join. In this case, I felt the join was solid enough that I didn't reinforce it with CA or liquid cement. I then puttied the seam using Vallejo white putty (the tube with narrow applicator), sanded it smooth, and gave it a liberal coat of Mr Surfacer 1200:

 

 

[billn53]

I masked the clear parts and gave the seams a spray of Mr Surfacer 1200, to reveal any issues. Everything looked fine (even the wing roots), except for a hairline gap along the fuselage spine. I applied a liberal layer of Mr Surfacer, let it dry, and sanded it smooth.

 

 

 

I'm just about at the point where I would prime and paint this beautiful Bobcat. But, I'm waiting on decals that Mika, at Arctic Decals, is making for me. So, I am going to set this project aside until the decals arrive. Hopefully, it won't be more than a couple of weeks, but with the current Covid situation, posts from Finland may be delayed. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until then, stay healthy!

[bigbadbadge]

Looks lovely all together,  the engine's look great and good job on the cockpit glazing.

Chris

[opus999]

Wow, that looks fantastic!

 

I need to experiment with Sprue Gloop.  I first saw it on your B-58 build and tucked it away for future consideration.  I'm also keen to see how the cello tape turns out. I'd like to be able to make better lights (or any at all!  my Ki-84 Frank just has silver paint where the light should be and is probably the weakest aspect of that build.).

 

I'm also keen to improve my canopies.  They've always been almost an afterthought (an unfortunate habit from childhood) but recently I've not been happy with how they have turned out.  I'm really impressed with how you were able to blend your canopy in, so I think I'm going to take your example and get the canopy installed sooner so I can make it look better. 

[billn53]

Just now, opus999 said:

 

 

I'm also keen to improve my canopies.  They've always been almost an afterthought (an unfortunate habit from childhood) but recently I've not been happy with how they have turned out.  I'm really impressed with how you were able to blend your canopy in, so I think I'm going to take your example and get the canopy installed sooner so I can make it look better. 

Thank you!
An important step when blending-in a canopy is to protect the clear areas inside the canopy frames with tape, before adding any putty or doing any sanding. You probably already figured that out, but I had to learn the hard way 🤧

[busnproplinerfan]

2 hours ago, billn53 said:

Thank you!
An important step when blending-in a canopy is to protect the clear areas inside the canopy frames with tape, before adding any putty or doing any sanding. You probably already figured that out, but I had to learn the hard way 🤧

When you say protect the clear areas inside the frames, are you saying mask the clear portions before bodyworking it? As in to prevent damage? Just want to make sure I read this correctly.

[billn53]

56 minutes ago, busnproplinerfan said:

When you say protect the clear areas inside the frames, are you saying mask the clear portions before bodyworking it? As in to prevent damage? Just want to make sure I read this correctly.

Yep, that’s it exactly. 

[RidgeRunner]

Very nicely done, Bill

[billn53]

While waiting for the decals, I thought I'd select a paint for the overall red color. I'm fortunate to have color photos for one of Wisconsin Central Airlines's Bobcats:

 

 

 

 

I collected the various reds in my paint supply, plus a few more I purchased in the hope of finding a hue that matches the photos above. This morning, I had a one-man spoon-painting party! I first airbrushed the spoons with white primer, then painted each with one of the candidate paints.

 

 

 

Most of the colors had too much of an orange tint, but a couple turned out to be good matches to what I see in the photos.

 

 

 

Of the two, Citadel's "Wazdakka Red" looks most like the photos, but I may go with the Army Painter "Dragon Red" instead. I found the Citadel paint to be difficult to spray -- in the bottle, it is thick as mud and I wasn't sure what to thin it with or how thin to make it. I've since seen a couple YouTube videos, which recommend either Windex or plain water (with flow improver) as thinner. More testing is in order....

 

One more thing. I am well aware about how unreliable color photos can be for capturing actual hues. It all depends on lighting conditions when the photos were taken, camera settings, the film, and how the film was processed. Not to mention that these photos are more than 70-years old, and have been somehow scanned into digital form. And, who knows how well my monitor is calibrated! So, all I can hope for is to come close to the WCA Bobcat's original colors.

 

Here's an example of what I'm speaking of. Take a look at the WCA logo on the side of this Bobcat. Note that around the word "Central" there is a pinkish-lavender circle. Also, the words "Wisconsin" and "Airlines" are in the same color:

 

 

 

Now, compare with this photo. Here, instead of pinkish-lavender, the circle and words appear to be blue. I expect blue is a more likely color, as I doubt the serious-looking businessman departing the plane is wearing a lavender suit.*

 

 

 

( *On the other hand, WCA owned two Bobcats and perhaps their logos were painted differently. In the photos above, one plane has a DF hoop and the other does not. Also, I see a difference in the white trim on the horizontal stab -- one appears narrower than the other, suggesting these are different aircraft or were taken at two different times. Maybe blue was the original color, but later faded to the pink-lavender tone?)

 

On a positive note, at least I have color photos to go by, instead of the more common black & white pics so typical of the era.

 

Now, my next color challenge will be for the cream-colored stripes on the fuselage, engine nacelles, and leading edges. For this, I'll wait to see what Mika at Arctic Decals sends me for the registration number. I'll want to match whatever color he uses for those decals.

 

 

 

[billn53]

Just a quick follow-up to my previous post. I was able to successfully thin and airbrush the Citadel Wazdakka Red paint following the method described in this video:

 

 

Also, as an experiment, I added a bit of Future to the pot, which resulted in a color nearly identical to Army Painter's Dragon Red. So, now I have options 🙂

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Bill, great work so far--really appreciate the deep dive into how you sorted out those wing root seams.  That red looks spot on!  Looking forward to more.  Best, Erwin

[bigbadbadge]

Great research, I hope you won't get into too much trouble with the Domestic Authorities for nicking all the spoons!!!

 

Chris

[TheyJammedKenny!]

This is coming along great!  Will you apply the red soon?  What's your experience with acrylic paint drying times, decal application, and clear-coats?  I had Future crack on a recent project because I think the acrylic paint was still drying underneath, even after several weeks!

[billn53]

17 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

This is coming along great!  Will you apply the red soon?  What's your experience with acrylic paint drying times, decal application, and clear-coats?  I had Future crack on a recent project because I think the acrylic paint was still drying underneath, even after several weeks!

 

Wow. I've never had any problems with acrylic paint drying, or with Future cracking. I have had issues with Future pooling-up on the surface, leaving dry areas. I solved that by thinning the Future with Mr Color Leveling Thinner.

 

I can't apply the red until I've applied the white/cream for the stripes and leading edge, which I will then mask before adding the red. The color white or cream will have to match the registration number decals that Mika (Arctic Decals) is doing for me. He's also going to try and make up a set of masks for the stripes. So, no red until after Mika's decals & masks arrive.

 

On a side note, Piotr Mikolajski has cleaned up the colors on one of my photos and included a sample swatch of red from the wing:

 

 

Thanks again, Piotr!

[opus999]

After seeing the color corrected photo, I'd say the Dragon Red is closest. But then I'm not there.    Interesting that the Wazdakka Red looks like a sun oxidized Dragon Red from here.

 

Either way it's going to look great; can't wait for painting!

Edited January 25, 2021 by opus999

[billn53]

3 minutes ago, opus999 said:

After seeing the color corrected photo, I'd say the Dragon Red is closest. But then I'm not there.    Interesting that the Wazdakka Red looks like a sun oxidized Dragon Red from here.

 

That’s exactly what I was thinking. Use the Dragon Red as the base color, followed by a thinned, light coat of Wazdakka Red for areas to be weathered.