A-20G Havoc MPM 1/72 - 453rd BG Museum Build

[giemme]

Those intricate (and most likely delicate) wheel struts made me nervous just by looking at your pics, Ced  I was going to suggest to try an reproduce them with soldered brass tubes, for strength, but I don't know if it's a sort of thing which is up your alley...

 

and anyway Alex's notes make a lot of sense. But you beat us with your speed  

You will need to hang this from your car ceiling (or is it a rooftop?) for transportation to the Museum     

 

Ciao

Edited May 31, 2023 by giemme
English... not my mother tongue...

[TheyJammedKenny!]

27 minutes ago, giemme said:

Those intricate (and most likely delicate) wheel struts made me nervous just by looking at your pics, Ced

They're actually much more robust than they appear.  If you have the weight balance correct, the bias will be forward of the main gear (MLG), rather than on or over the mains.  Your big concern should be not to overstress the weaker nose strut, which you should also wait on installing until after you've painted and applied decals.  I would leave off the other MLG strut that you have not yet installed--just fit it to ensure it sits parallel with the one that's glued in place, both in head-on and in silhouette aspect.

[CedB]

4 hours ago, warhawk said:

 

 

A small tip for next time You encounter similar modular assembly:

 

It is always much easier to assemble this way:

1. Glue all parts of the port fuselage side together, aligning the outer side without steps (then same for starboard side).
2. Dry-fit fuselage with tape to check if adjusting to clear parts is needed (shims or narrowing).
3. Only then join left-to-right.

That way all of the problems with steps are avoided, and you get perfect measure for inserting shims (where needed).

 

Also works in most cases with upper and lower wing inserts (e.g. on Dragon/DML Do335) 😏

Thanks Warhawk, great tip.

 

3 hours ago, giemme said:

Those intricate (and most likely delicate) wheel struts made me nervous just by looking at your pics, Ced  I was going to suggest to try an reproduce them with soldered brass tubes, for strength, but I don't know if it's a sort of thing which is up your alley...

 

and anyway Alex's notes make a lot of sense. But you beat us with your speed  

You will need to hang this from your car ceiling (or is it a rooftop?) for transportation to the Museum     

 

Ciao

Soldering is in my toolbox G. Somewhere at the bottom!

I'll have to think about transport. 

 

2 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

They're actually much more robust than they appear.  If you have the weight balance correct, the bias will be forward of the main gear (MLG), rather than on or over the mains.  Your big concern should be not to overstress the weaker nose strut, which you should also wait on installing until after you've painted and applied decals.  I would leave off the other MLG strut that you have not yet installed--just fit it to ensure it sits parallel with the one that's glued in place, both in head-on and in silhouette aspect.

Thanks Alex. Sadly, again, I've done things before reading posts.

I must change that!

 

 

Actuators are, of course, also slightly too short which gives me a chance to use one of my favourite tools:

 

 

1mm circles punched and glued:

 

 

And fitted:

 

 

The nose gear was also fitted as were the PE bits for the dampers:

 

 

They give you six of these even though you only need three.

I broke one.

Another fell off.

One left 

[giemme]

4 minutes ago, CedB said:

use one of my favourite tools:

 

Heck, I need one of those!   Rather expensive the last time I checked, though.... 

 

Ciao

[TheBaron]

Creating Havoc in the best possible style Ced. Lovely stuff. 👍

 

1 hour ago, giemme said:

Heck, I need one of those!

Worth the investment G, though you won't be surprised that I think it was Ced tempted me into getting one a few years back.

[CedB]

Thanks Giorgio and Tony.

 

Can I show off?

 

I love these.

It's not just the function, it's the form.

Especially in the boxes (which save you lots of time trying to find the punch you want).

Well made, real quality.

Something for the present list maybe?

 

Regards

Le Tool Tarte

 

(Just bought the recovery insurance for an upcoming trip to France so I'm dans la mode)

[CedB]

Looks promising?

 

 

[giemme]

Indeed! 

 

Ciao 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

15 hours ago, CedB said:

I've done things before reading posts

No problem, as long as you're careful.  Airbrushing requires a different approach, and I've seen others get away with your assembly sequence.  It looks good so far--dihedral looks a little shallow, but as long as your wingtip height is within 1/8" or so L-R, you should be in great shape.

[perdu]

13 hours ago, CedB said:

(Just bought the recovery insurance for an upcoming trip to France so I'm dans la mode)

That comes on the menu with the classic insurance for the Midget, et oui, je suis en mode.

 

Le Mans next week from Thursday

[giemme]

15 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Worth the investment G, 

When I retire....   

 

And yes, I had no doubt you were influenced by our own resident tool tart   Who isn't around here, anyway?   

Ciao

[81-er]

That's definitely looking promising, Ced

 

James

[CedB]

Thanks Alex, Bill and James.

 

On 01/06/2023 at 09:04, giemme said:

When I retire....   

 

And yes, I had no doubt you were influenced by our own resident tool tart   Who isn't around here, anyway?   

Ciao

Why wait that long?

 

 

Nose shimmed with two bits of strip:

 

 

 

I'm maybe over-fretting about this but I want to avoid work later on. Lazy, that's me.

 

Wait, what's this?

 

 

Bound to happen, I thought, but wait:

 

 

All three still there. That which was lost is now found…

 

So, the weights:

 

 

Still fits:

 

 

 

…so I tacked the tip of the nose with TET Quick to hold the position.

Bill was worried that the iron would rust over time so, even though the product details say "Made of high quality iron material, packed in a plastic box. It has the characteristics of anti-rust and durability." I decided to coat them in latex glue:

 

 

Now I need to fit the nose tip - when it's really dry:

 

 

Told you I was fretting.

[giemme]

1 hour ago, CedB said:

Why wait that long

You are correct, it's a very long wait....

 

Excellent fettling with the nose

 

Ciao 

[CedB]

Thanks Giorgio. Retirement may be a long way away but birthdays and Christmas?

Still being wicked

 

 

Nose tip not too bad a fit:

 

 

Now sanded and filled in a couple of small places.

U/c has been painted:

 

 

Uh oh, nose wheel brace gone again. Where can it be?

 

 

Glued on, again:

 

 

Still worried that the weights will rust (that perdu eh) I filled the nose with latex glue (Copydex):

 

 

That should fix it. In more than one way!

 

Tail sitter at the mo:

 

 

I need to fit the nacelles next:

 

 

The backs needed pegging but during a dry fit of the engines it went so well I grabbed the TET.

NOW I know what the dents in the cowlings are for. They go over the wing leading edge:

 

 

Both on now and everything drying, again:

 

[giemme]

Excellent progress, Ced!

 

For the scissor links, I think a dab of clear UV resin would help a great deal in holding them into position even if mangled, to some extent. I assume you have that (and the UV torch) in your tool arsenal, right? Memory fails me sometimes, more often than not...  

 

Ciao 

[CedB]

Thanks Giorgio. Unusually I don't have UV resin, unless those UV glue pen things count?

 

Now then, future builders take note of Alex's comment:

On 31/05/2023 at 08:15, TheyJammedKenny! said:

I would assemble the airframe, including the nacelles, with main landing gear units off, otherwise you'll break them.  Your best bet is to invest in a pair of small, spring-loaded forceps.  After you've painted, decaled, and detailed use the forceps to gently pry apart the framework while slipping in the main landing gear units.

I wish I'd done this as it would have solved my current masking problems.

My defence is that this is my first weighted nose wheel model, apart from the X-1. I'm learning… And I was so worried about the weight and stance.

Oh well.

It worked:

 

 

Alex was also worried about the cockpit glazing but mine's fine:

 

 

After many hours of revisiting the task, masking is now finished:

 

 

I'll cut away the blue stuff around the turret when it's dry. Honest.

 

Primer next.

White for the areas where the D Day stripes will be and the rudder.

Grey for the rest.

Later. Try to contain your excitement Giorgio!  

[perdu]

2 minutes ago, CedB said:

Thanks Giorgio. Unusually I don't have UV resin, unless those UV glue pen things count?

 

They count.

 

Nice and very complicated reasons why I dont build much  WW2 stuff, complex or what huh?

 

Copydex?

 

Ok no I dont have any Copydex these days...

 

 

Maybe...

[The Spadgent]

Cor!!!! That was a bit of a roller coaster. excellent modelling on show Me B. And I must admit I had a bit of a smug moment when you showed off your punch in box. I love mine too. I used it to punch the decal pupils on the phantom. Best tool ever. 
I don’t think you’ll have any issues with her being a tail sitter. All that weight. 🙌🏋️‍♀️🏋️‍♀️🏋️‍♂️

 

 Johnny

[CedB]

Thanks Bill and Jont.

 

 

White primer on:

 

 

D-Day stripes eh?

Our own @Procopius found some 3M tape the right width so I bought some:

 

 

Is it right for US aircraft (should be)?

 

 

Right.

Next job mask that and also glue on the sticky out bits before grey primer.

[Terry1954]

On 6/1/2023 at 9:35 AM, perdu said:

Le Mans next week from Thursday

 

I'm in France at the moment chaps, close to Pontivy in Brittany. Returning Sat via Cherbourg.

 

So, catching up on this one Ced, I see you are making cracking progress.

 

Love those RP toolz sets. I have one for making tiny hexagonal nuts and its exquisite.

 

Carry on Ced!!

 

Terry

[giemme]

4 hours ago, CedB said:

Try to contain your excitement Giorgio!  

Not possible, sorry  

 

Excellent masking job, Ced

 

Ciao 

[CedB]

Thanks Terry and Giorgio.

 

 

PC's tape worked well on the wings:

 

 

But then, looking at the scheme, the guys seemed to have got a bit 'artistic' with the fuselage bands.

Width of the window, miss the turret, miss the window etc.

As close as I could I replicated the pattern with thin tape:

 

 

…then filled in the spaces to cover the white:

 

 

Weird.

[Chuck1945]

I’ve been quietly following this since have a couple of the SH A-20s in the stash. 
Wondering about the fuselage D-Day stripes, the sequence is usually white, black, white, black, white. Yours look to be reversed, three black and two white?

[CedB]

Thanks Chuck. Don't worry, that's just grey tape covering the white primer.

All will be revealed!