Dan Hayward Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 I’ve built quite a few vacuform kits over the past few years but never felt I had the skills needed to tackle an Execuform kit. They offer many interesting subjects but are devoid of all detail, they are basically a blank canvas. I decided to challenge myself with their 1/72 Howard DGA-15 kit. Read on for construction notes and photos… The first big hurdle was cutting out the fuselage windows and windscreen opening. There are no indications on the plastic parts to help with this. The drawings included with the kit were a big help and I eventually pencilled in the shapes. I cut them out by drilling a hole in the center of each marked area and then slowly carved the openings to shape with a sharp blade. At this point I decided to experiment with a method involving clear casting epoxy and kapton tape to make the cabin windows. I’d previously seen someone on one of the forums show how it was done but couldn’t find the thread. No matter, the epoxy and tape were readily available from Amazon so I gave it a try and found that it works quite well! The kapton tape is applied to the outside of the fuselage and the epoxy is poured into the window openings from the inside. I put a perimeter of thin stretched sprue around each set of windows to act as a dam and put enough epoxy in so that it flowed out level. In my first experiments I tried filling each window individually but it was hard to get the exact amount of epoxy in each one and any curvature of the inner surface resulted in an obvious optical distortion. After the epoxy cures, pull off the tape and you’ll find perfectly flush windows! Photo shows one of my early tests with a piece of scrap plastic, not bad except for a few air bubbles. I made an interior based on photos found online, the seats were carved from basswood. The next challenge was to replicate the fabric and stringer detail that Howards have on the lower rear fuselage. I did it by glueing down lengths of stretched sprue and then covering it with multiple coats of Mr. Surfacer and sanding in between. I was able to use the kit parts to make the wheel pants but had to carve the legs from plastic sheet. Time to tackle the windscreen. I filled the kit’s vacuform windscreen with Durham’s Water Putty in order to make a master to form new ones over because I figured it was going to take me multiple tries to get it right. The first one I made turned out to be too wide so I shaved down the sides of the master pattern and things fit pretty well after that, just lots of tedious trimming to get it to mate up to the fuselage. Pretty basic assembly, priming and painting after that. I chose an existing modern aircraft to replicate since it had the standard Howard fuselage stripe and wheel pant design in black which I could print decals for on my home laser printer. I drew them up in Photoshop and found the Howard logo for the tail online. Definitely not the easiest vac I ever built and there are a few things that aren't quite right but I'm pretty happy with it! Thanks for looking, Dan 28 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansReggelsen Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 You sure has built a beautifull model! And it's yellow! I don't know the plane, but I know a great model when I see one - and I'm looking at one right now. Cheers Hans J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 Extremely smart looking model, and an impressive display of clever modelling techniques! Thank you for sharing! Kind regards, Joachim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXANTOMCAT Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 Superb well done! TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 2 hours ago, Dan Hayward said: I’ve built quite a few vacuform kits over the past few years but never felt I had the skills needed to tackle an Execuform kit. They offer many interesting subjects but are devoid of all detail, they are basically a blank canvas. I decided to challenge myself with their 1/72 Howard DGA-15 kit. Read on for construction notes and photos… The first big hurdle was cutting out the fuselage windows and windscreen opening. There are no indications on the plastic parts to help with this. The drawings included with the kit were a big help and I eventually pencilled in the shapes. I cut them out by drilling a hole in the center of each marked area and then slowly carved the openings to shape with a sharp blade. At this point I decided to experiment with a method involving clear casting epoxy and kapton tape to make the cabin windows. I’d previously seen someone on one of the forums show how it was done but couldn’t find the thread. No matter, the epoxy and tape were readily available from Amazon so I gave it a try and found that it works quite well! The kapton tape is applied to the outside of the fuselage and the epoxy is poured into the window openings from the inside. I put a perimeter of thin stretched sprue around each set of windows to act as a dam and put enough epoxy in so that it flowed out level. In my first experiments I tried filling each window individually but it was hard to get the exact amount of epoxy in each one and any curvature of the inner surface resulted in an obvious optical distortion. After the epoxy cures, pull off the tape and you’ll find perfectly flush windows! Photo shows one of my early tests with a piece of scrap plastic, not bad except for a few air bubbles. I made an interior based on photos found online, the seats were carved from basswood. The next challenge was to replicate the fabric and stringer detail that Howards have on the lower rear fuselage. I did it by glueing down lengths of stretched sprue and then covering it with multiple coats of Mr. Surfacer and sanding in between. I was able to use the kit parts to make the wheel pants but had to carve the legs from plastic sheet. Time to tackle the windscreen. I filled the kit’s vacuform windscreen with Durham’s Water Putty in order to make a master to form new ones over because I figured it was going to take me multiple tries to get it right. The first one I made turned out to be too wide so I shaved down the sides of the master pattern and things fit pretty well after that, just lots of tedious trimming to get it to mate up to the fuselage. Pretty basic assembly, priming and painting after that. I chose an existing modern aircraft to replicate since it had the standard Howard fuselage stripe and wheel pant design in black which I could print decals for on my home laser printer. I drew them up in Photoshop and found the Howard logo for the tail online. Definitely not the easiest vac I ever built and there are a few things that aren't quite right but I'm pretty happy with it! Thanks for looking, Dan Fantastic build, congrats👏 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 That looked to be a great adventure, and what a result! Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr T Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 Really nice build, never built an Execuform vacform (mine have all been Falcon, Rareplane, Maintrack etc) but looks 'fun'. A bit of a blank canvas to demonstrate your art on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
109 fan Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Gorgeous work, particularly the clear parts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Nice job: reminiscent of a Moa build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hayward Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 Thank you all for the nice comments! -Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hayward Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 1 hour ago, Sabrejet said: Nice job: reminiscent of a Moa build! Funny you should mention that, I felt that I was channeling Moa while I was working on it! I'm a fan of his work so I know I've still got a ways to go to reach his level though. -Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Great job, I've not seen the tape method of making clear parts before so thanks for explaining how its done. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 You've definitely made the most out of that little kit. You did an excellent job applying the yellow paint. That, for me, would have been something of a challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 You clearly had the skills for this stunner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hayward Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 8 hours ago, Pete in a shed said: Great job, I've not seen the tape method of making clear parts before so thanks for explaining how its done. Pete The key to that is the kapton tape. I believe it has a silicone based adhesive that the epoxy will not adhere to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dog Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Well done Dan. Lovely build of a lovely aircraft. Admire the amount of work that went into it. Great modelling skills on show. My dad owned one with a mate here in Oz but without the spats. It was yellow too. That's quite possibly me in the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelh Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Very nice indeed. The Howards were always premium aircraft and your model looks like a Damm Good Airplane. 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Beautiful! This is really tops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Duvalier Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 That's really amazing work, Dan. It's so clean and the transparencies are so clear and the paintwork (in a difficult colour) is just so. It's especially impressive considering the origin in a simple vac kit. Top marks! 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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