K7 Bluebird 1/43 build

[Keith-7]

7 hours ago, Malc2 said:

@Keith-7 Just had a read through from the beginning and you are doing some exeptional modelling!

Malc.

Thanks very much.

[Keith-7]

I've started working on the canopy.

I'm going to have to add a frame to the model outwards of the headrest area, for the canopy to meet up to.

 

[Keith-7]

The back of the canopy was a little more rounded at the top than it should be, so I made a brass inner frame for the canopy to rest on and made an outer frame that's more the correct shape for the canopy to meet up to.

I've also made the slide rails out of brass.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2024 by Keith-7

[Keith-7]

Please excuse the dust on the canopy here, as it's not been cleaned yet after sanding it to fit.

 

 

 

 

[Keith-7]

The brass inner frame that the back of the canopy rests on will not be seen when the canopy framework is painted blue.

While trimming the canopy, there appeared to be two layers. It turned out there were two canopies!

It's nice to have a spare one.

 

Some more good news, I see no reason to have to glue the canopy in place. I may possibly apply a touch of canopy glue where it rests on the inner brass frame, but it stays in position well dry fitted, probably due to the side slide rails.

 

 

[Quimp Slattery]

2 hours ago, Keith-7 said:

While trimming the canopy, there appeared to be two layers. It turned out there were two canopies

😁

[Keith-7]

There were couple of things I wasn't happy with.
The brass frame at the back of the cockpit should be on level with the top of the fuselage, but I had a slight step down to the frame.

Another problem I was aware of was the rear frame of the canopy was too thick.
The frame that's moulded into the canopy is hard to see in this photo, but the point of the red arrow is on it. The little white line indicates how thick that frame is. By the time that's painted blue, it would be quite a chunky looking frame.
The simple solution would be to trim more off the back of the canopy, making the frame thinner, but then the canopy would be positioned further back. As indicated with the blue arrow, the opening of the cockpit is preventing the canopy from being moved further back.

[Keith-7]

As well as the cockpit opening being too big to be able to shift the canopy further back, the opening was a bit more to the left.

 

Below is the solution I've come up with.

I made the opening smaller using a plastic strip. I will fill in the void with body filler. The plastic strip will give a nice even edge for the filler. The strip has also corrected the uneven opening which was off to the left a little.

 

 

This work created another problem though. The instrument panel was now too far forward, so I had to shift that back a little.

 

[Keith-7]

The instrument panel is now repositioned.
I purposely glued in the plastic strip very slightly proud (better than being too low). I will level it with the nose when I blend the filler in.

I also completely flattened the back wall of the cockpit where the headrest was, removing the cast in protruding panel which always bugged me a bit. I've replaced it with plastic card which is much cleaner looking. I will make a new panel for around the headrest later.

 

 

I think the new position of the instrument panel and steering wheel is better, as I was concerned that the steering wheel was too far forward of the seat before.

Perhaps the cockpit cut out actually was slightly too big originally.

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2024 by Keith-7

[dnl42]

On 10/5/2024 at 9:18 PM, Keith-7 said:

While trimming the canopy, there appeared to be two layers. It turned out there were two canopies!

It's nice to have a spare one.

That was masterful cutting to have them turn out so well. I'm certain I would have contrived to destroy one of them.

[Keith-7]

It was very nerve wracking cutting the canopy, even when I found out I had a spare one. They are so clear i often couldn't even see it as I was cutting.

If I was cutting another one, I would first mask off the canopy up to the molded frame detail and spray it with primer. That would make the cutting and also the finer trimming with sandpaper a LOT easier.

[Keith-7]

I rushed into fixing the oversize cockpit opening and made a few mistakes.

Here you can see that the lip at the front curved section of the opening is only thing.

The plastic strip I added was too thick and square.

[Keith-7]

I started again, this time coming up with a better plan.

This plastic sheet section gives the body filler a much better base.

 

Here it is filled and with the outline of the canopy marked in pencil.

 

The new cockpit opening cut out. Notice how much thinner the lip at the front is.

 

[Keith-7]

A quick test fit of the canopy. I will remake the brass side slide rails and rear frame next. 

The instrument panel may need to be moved back a touch more, but I'm waiting until I have the final position for the canopy, incase I need to cut the opening slightly more forward.

[Keith-7]

I also made two new cockpit walls. I will add some detail to them later.

These walls are cut to fit under the plastic sheet used to make the opening smaller and give it good support..

 

 

Here is a before and after showing the thinner front lip of the cockpit opening.

[TonyW]

I have to keep reminding myself that this is a 1/43 model I'm looking at. The detailing would be outstanding in 1/25. In this smaller scale, outstanding just isn't a suitable enough description. Words fail me.

[Keith-7]

Please excuse the dust particles here after sanding.

 

I've repositioned the instrument panel to fit the modified cockpit opening.

The steering column has also been positioned better, but I've not drilled the hole for the steering column all the way through yet, so the steering wheel is sticking too far out here.

 

I made the glare shield for the central instrument out of brass. The little mounting bracket for it doesn't need glueing, as it grips the instrument tightly enough.

So the glare shield is even adjustable.

 

 

 

 

[Keith-7]

 

 

[Keith-7]

I've redone the brass framework around the cockpit.

The canopy slots in at the back, between the inner and outer frames shown here.

 

 

I also remade the glare shield for the speedometer, making it a bracket for it a little nicer (I seem to do every job on it at least twice).

[Malc2]

Your incremental improvements to each area are great to watch.

It feels very familliar to my modelling of resin kits!

Malc.

[dnl42]

2 hours ago, Malc2 said:

Your incremental improvements to each area are great to watch.

I agree! 

[robgizlu]

I totally agree - mesmerizing 

Rob

[Keith-7]

I've  received the paint, RAL 5009 in a 400ml aerosol with a fine nozzle which apparently sprays very well.

I will do a test by spraying a small toy car or something similar in the Tamiya primer, add a few rivet decals, prime again, spray the blue on it and then the Tamiya gloss clear to see what it comes out like.

 

The rivet decals are a hindrance in reality. They will probably limit the number of coats of pain and clear I can apply and they will certainly prevent me from being able to wet sand and polish the final coat like I normally would.

 

I know I could get an absolutely perfect paint finish without the rivets, but the finish will be more out of my control with them.

I'll just have to see how it goes.

[Keith-7]

I've got an idea. Spray the model blue without the rivets decals on, so the most paint that's used while changing the colour from primer grey to blue, getting paint inside the air intakes and so on, is done without the rivets.

I can then flatten down the blue, maybe even go over the panel lines again and then put the rivet decals on, before going over it with a couple of coats of blue again.

 

This will reduce the amount of paint going over the rivets and also give me the opportunity to sand the blue down and not use this paint if I wasn't happy with it.

[Dave Swindell]

1 hour ago, Keith-7 said:

I've got an idea. Spray the model blue without the rivets decals on, so the most paint that's used while changing the colour from primer grey to blue, getting paint inside the air intakes and so on, is done without the rivets.

I can then flatten down the blue, maybe even go over the panel lines again and then put the rivet decals on, before going over it with a couple of coats of blue again.

 

This will reduce the amount of paint going over the rivets and also give me the opportunity to sand the blue down and not use this paint if I wasn't happy with it.

Sound logic there Keith