SoftScience Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 Hi all, I realize I'm coming in very late to the game, but inspired by @Navy Bird's excellent build from last month, I decided to purchase a Special Hobby meteor of my own. I haven't decided on markings yet, but the goal will be to a smooth silver aircraft, so either the Israeli box-art airplane, or the silver Royal Egyptian option, also in the box. My main goal with this build is to slow down and enjoy. Perhaps unwise, given that I have less than a month before the GB ends, but I need to learn to refocus on the journey and not the destination. Mainly this means taking the time to step back and look at what I'm doing, take some decent pictures along the way. i have a bit of time off for the holidays, so let's go! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 Welcome to the build with this one. I had hoped to do this kit but they were sold out when I had the $. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted December 23, 2022 Author Share Posted December 23, 2022 I know I said I would go slow, but the first sub-assemblies steps are always quick for me. I'm also making the most of my day off from work Dry fits indicate that most things fit pretty well. The leading edges of the horizontal stabilizer assembly needed some filler, as did the wheel halves. Once those dry and get sanded down, all the black and off-black bits will get painted. The intakes will get a blast of silver followed by heavy dark washes to bring out the bas-relief engine interior detailing on the flat faces. Time to hit the gym now (i really should call it the James, as I go so infrequently, and our relationship is strained and distantly formal, at best). More building soon. 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 5 hours ago, SoftScience said: Mainly this means taking the time to step back and look at what I'm doing, take some decent pictures along the way. Always good to stop and smell the styrene! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted December 24, 2022 Author Share Posted December 24, 2022 Merry Christmas Eve, all. Since I don't get to spend the holidays with family this year ( ) i had lots of time to build late into last night anthis morning to build. I have heard tales about the wing assembly on these kits being problematic, so I wanted to kick the out of the way first. I sanded down the gluing surfaces to get a better gripping surface and instant melted plastic filler and they fit OKAY. The engines will need cleanup, but there are no huge gaps. The trailing edges are a bit chunky. I thinned them a bit while sanding the inner surfaces, but they need a great deal more sanding and rescribing. In addition, the instructions tell you to sand off the trim tabs and scribe in a a different arrangement. So you'll be sanding, even if you don't mind the thick edges. Here is the original. Thick as a brick! Here I have one wing thinned out, but still needs the new tabs scribed in. And the bas-relief engine faces. Not great, but not much to see in there unless you really poke your head in. That's all for now. Even though family can't make it this year, my wife and I are still going to make the most of the holiday. First on our agenda is to drive up to Baltimore (about 45 minutes from here) for the their German holiday craft market/ beer garden shindig. Nevermind that it's 12 degrees out! That's Fahrenheit, negative 11 on your Celsius scales! Mulled ciders and warm German beers will make everything better. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted December 24, 2022 Share Posted December 24, 2022 Good evening SoftScience Very good job so far Be careful on the road to Baltimore and Merry Christmas to you and your wife .. Best regards Patrice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted December 27, 2022 Author Share Posted December 27, 2022 Progress has slowed a bit on the meteor as the first of the filling has occured. I thought I would get away with no filler on the engines, but there were small discontinuous gaps along each part, and even some steps. So when I sanded down the joint, it looked pretty sloppy. The fit between the main engine housings and the rear parts wasn't great either. Nothing some filler won't fix.. I have also sawed off the wingtip lights and will replace them with clear plastic and have etched in the new trim tabs. I added a bit of shaped strip styrene to simulate the hinge/actuator thing. For those of you who want to build this kit, the measurements (based on my calculations) for the tabs are in the pic below. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 Black cockpit time. Dull but easy to paint. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted December 31, 2022 Author Share Posted December 31, 2022 I have to enter progress from the latter half of this week in digest form, as the update i could have sworn I posted on Wednesday, is nowhere to be seen. This is just as well, as all of it was related to my experiments in fitting the wing. With the process done, I'll only post about the experiment that had positive results. So in summary. The wing doesn't fit the fuselage without a bit of work. The "saddle" in the middle of the wings that the fuselage sits on must be a little bit uneven, because the wing fits a bit cockeyed. One side fits just fin, but when you do that, the wing gets a slight twist, so it isn't 90 degrees to the fuselage when looking down from above. I hope I'm being clear. So what I did was to sand down one side of the saddle a little and also sand the opening in the fuselage opposite of the direction of the twisting. Sorry, im not really sure how to phrase that better. Also, since the saddle was a smidge wider than the fuselage, I did not glue the fuselage spine until after I had glued the sides to the wing saddle. Clear as mud, yeah? Maybe a photo will help. I used plastic melted in TET to plug up the gap in the back of the joint, and then added glazing putty where needed. The more troublesome issue was the fit of the back end of the wing assembly to the fuselage. This was a nearly flat plane coming up against a near cylindrical edge and the two just were not playing nice. This was too big of a job for glazing putty, as i kind of had to sculpt the edge to feather one shope into the other. I like to use Epoxy putty (milliput or Apoxie Sculpt) for jobs like this. Note also the front of the wing fits poorly, but this is largely obscured by the belly tank. And only needs fairing in on the sides. Here the sanded/sculpted epoxy And other putties sanded down. So now I've got a bunch of sanded surfaces to clean up and polish out, along with some panel lines to rescribe. I'm going to take that slow. One panel at a time. This is usually where I blow it due to impatience. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 Currently building this same kit, had the exact same issues with the rear of the wing myself- feels like the fuselage and wing assembly are from two entirely different kits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted December 31, 2022 Author Share Posted December 31, 2022 17 minutes ago, Luke1199 said: Currently building this same kit, had the exact same issues with the rear of the wing myself- feels like the fuselage and wing assembly are from two entirely different kits Exactly! Too bad, because the kit fits pretty well otherwise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 1, 2023 Share Posted January 1, 2023 5 hours ago, SoftScience said: The wing doesn't fit the fuselage without a bit of work. The "saddle" in the middle of the wings that the fuselage sits on must be a little bit uneven, because the wing fits a bit cockeyed. Yes I had to sand mine down before I got a very good fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted January 1, 2023 Share Posted January 1, 2023 Nice fettling! All these Special Hobby/MPM kits seem to have similar issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted January 1, 2023 Share Posted January 1, 2023 Good morning SoftScience Very good job so far placing the wings to the fuselage is not easy ... Best of luck for the rest of your build .. Patrice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 And we're all cleaned up and ready for primer. I stuck the gear doors on now, as they're butt jointed and can get messy after paint is on. I hope I'm not obstructing my access for the gear legs, later. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 All primered up and looking pretty smooth. Might even be good enough for a silver finish? I just want to add the wing lights before I begin painting. Can anyone provide some insight on the feasibility of using clear resin for wingtip lights? I may just go my usual route if epoxying blocks of clear plastic and sanding to shape. But if there is an easier, cleaner way, I'd love to hear about it now. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 Primer exposed many.of the inconsistencies in the surface, but not all. But whatever. It's good enough. There are a few blemishes, but you've got to look for them, and none of my models are perfect, why should this one be any different? Anyhow, tonight I applied a coat of Gunze silver (h8) and MRP white aluminum inside the wheel wells. I'm going to let this cure for a few days to really cure. Dang. I just might finish this in time! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Can’t fault much from here, looking really sharp! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted January 8, 2023 Author Share Posted January 8, 2023 And this is why I used the generic title of middle Eastern meteor, rather then specifying which of the marking options I would use. I'm not the most precise builder, and natural metal finishes have a tendency to show off my corner cutting. Once the silver dried and I looked at it closely, many ghost seams, scratches, and other boogers were showing up., I therefore decided to take the camouflage route out. I refilled some of the seams, sanded a bit more and added my best approximation of the light blue found on Syrian aircraft from the 1950s. now to approximate the pale tan upper sides. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted January 9, 2023 Author Share Posted January 9, 2023 The light stone mix suggested in the instructions doesn't look like I expected it to. I don't know if it's right or wrong, as I can't find color photos of Syrian meteors, but I guess I was expecting a more pale sandy color. No matter. It is what it is. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 (edited) Well its less mustard toned than mid-stone so probably pretty close to what it should be ? Looking good by the way. Edited January 9, 2023 by Corsairfoxfouruncle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 Agreeing with Dennis, I like the colour and the model. Plus, if you can't find colour photos, other's aren't likely to be able to either so they can't tell you it's wrong James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted January 9, 2023 Author Share Posted January 9, 2023 I couldn't really sleep last night, so i masked up the dark camouflage with poster putty and then sprayed it before going to work this morning. I just got back and removed the masks. Overall not bad. Some touching up will be needed on the light blue. And an there is some very bit of over spray on the wing. Typical for me. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 It's an attractive scheme James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bissyboat Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Very nice colour scheme. Looking like a treat. ⚓👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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