quang Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 Hello again, Now that we're past the turbulent waters, comes the fun part: detailing and painting the cockpit. This is what FLY gave us to start with: What we're trying to achieve is THIS: It's not as daunting as it looks. It's just a matter of adding things to the existing framework and sidewalls. We will use stock parts (mainly resin) and scratch build some others. I'm not too impressed by the featureless and uni-dimensional photo-echted parts provided and prefer making my own from plasticard or tin foil. As for the reference, many photos can be found on the internet. For the sake of authenticity, I'd rather choose the ones from original, unrestored machines over the modern 'warbirds'. Having said that, I relied quite often to 'creative gizmology' (a term coined by master modeller Sheperd Paine) to give a busy, cluttering atmosphere to the cockpit. The main goal here is not 100% accuracy but rather an 'authentic' ambience. The stock resin seat is quite good. Only missing are the height-adjusting lever (made from brass tube) and the leather patch – designed to stop the parachute ripcord chaffing on the metal – made from tin foil. Details on the tubular framework: – the plywood triangular placard (featureless brass part in the kit) was made from plasticard and detailed. – The stock brass floor boards are too narrow and discarded. New ones were made from scored tin foil. – Various instruments are attached to the framework by tin foil 'clips'. The control column is next. As it's the main point of attraction of the cockpit (together with the IP), I decided to discard the stock part and build my own from brass tube and solder. The green stuff is Duro, a 2-part epoxy putty. First try (on the photo) slavishly based on the stock item was too short. I had to scrape it and build a new one The emergency escape hatch was glued to the RH fuselage half and various items added to the sidewalls. Map case from plasticard, pouch from Duro, charts from scored tin foil. Left side: dark grey items are stock resin parts. The rest is built from scratch. Note cockpit lights from telephone wire. Backplate armour made from plasticard with sprue rivets. Featureless tock brass part on the left. Cockpit walls primed in black and given a coat of grey-green: Framework primed in black and painted with AK Flat Aluminium Camera fast forward. Shading and hightlighting completed. Test fit. Pfftt! THAT was a long post. In the next step, we'll finish the cockpit and button up the fuselage Until then, keep well. Cheers, Quang Harold, mywifehatesmodels, Girlscanplay2 and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dog Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Very nice ! Looking at photos of British interiors always gives me the impression of chaos, like things were just stuck anywhere they fit rather than building to a plan. LSP_Paul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chek Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Very nice Q. It's looking very busy already and should come together nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 I'll be watching this one closely. I've always wanted to build a better Hurri IIC, after having done the Revell kit as a kid. This is very inspiring. Great details and construction, so far, Quang! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Terrific work, Quang, and very expertly handled. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Nice clean fun. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petrov27 Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Extremely nice cockpit work there - love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quang Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 (edited) Thank you all for your kind words. The cockpit was fun to do. For once, there is a lot of documentation, mostly on the internet. The hardest part was to sort out which detail is relevant and which is not. For instance, a bomb release switch on a Mk.IIC? Or a GPS? …or else, a pilot's friend? Cheers, Quang Edited June 23, 2016 by quang Girlscanplay2, 109, Uncarina and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chek Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 I wish my daughter was ten years younger - she'd have loved that teddy-in-a-'plane touch. As did my son when I made a beautiful Engine Grey/aluminium/day-glo orange and penguin bedecked R5D on South Pole duties for a client almost twenty odd years ago. A nice individual and plausible addition Quang. Very imaginative. Fur's a bugger to model though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quang Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 As did my son when I made a beautiful Engine Grey/aluminium/day-glo orange and penguin bedecked R5D on South Pole duties for a client almost twenty odd years ago. I remember that one, an old favourite. Was it Esci or Italeri? As for the fur, it's all in the painting. Stippling effect made with an old brush. Q Chek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chek Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 I remember that one, an old favourite. Was it Esci or Italeri? As for the fur, it's all in the painting. Stippling effect made with an old brush. Q Actually, it was the Rareplanes vac-form. A very nice kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quang Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 Oops. I mistook it for the R4D (C-47 variant). I'm a sucker for airplanes on skis and arctic red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quang Posted June 25, 2016 Author Share Posted June 25, 2016 It's time to finish up the cockpit and close the fuselage. The painted framework parts were re-assembled and glued together. Last additions were made. Yet I couldn't find a way to adjust the seat in its correct position. So I decided to cut off the horizontal tubes behind the seat and replace them by 2 (red) plastic rods on the framework Finished cage: Now onto the instrument panel. Stock items are made from brass etchings and printed film. I was somewhat disappointed by the result. The instruments printed on the film were nearly invisible and the Vallejo acrylics would not stick to the brass. So I decided to make the jump and order the newly-issued YAHU instrument panel. It's not cheap but I never looked back because the YAHU is a marvel of technology. FLY (left) vs YAHU (right) It's different from your casual Eduard printed IP being made of laminated transparent films. The precision is remarkable even under extreme magnification. Here's the YAHU with added switches, compass and reserve bulbs for the gun sight. Now comes the itchy part: attaching the cage to the fuselage. The framework is cemented to the right fuselage half using the shelf and the firewall as attachment points. I used Tamiya extra thin polystyrene cement as it would allow me to make minor adjustments once the parts are in situ. View from the bottom After dry-fitting with the left fuselage in place and everything squared and centered, the assembly is strengthened by running gap-filling cyano over the joins. The IP is cemented and the seat is dressed up with RB Productions Sutton harness. I prefer the RB because it has the necessary 'heft' for simulating the heavy webbing used on real-life harnesses. After checking for last chance additions, I closed the fuselage and called it a day. Next stop: wheel wells. Keep well, Quang Harold, LSP_Paul, allthumbs and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Quang, I wonder if enamel or lacquer paint would have adhered better to the instrument panel. However, it's hard to argue against the aftermarket panel, since it looks just as amazing as the rest of your cockpit! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chek Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 That Yahu panel is totally amazing (like their others) Quang, and is actually what Eduard's pre-printed items should have been instead of the lo-res printed step backwards they've gone with. Radu's harness also looks far better than the HGW version I bought too. I think a change is needed, and is coming. Your reworked head armour is a vast improvement as well now it's seen in place And the're all plainly visible in the model once installed! How often does that happen! The Tempest definitely needs a Yahu panel. In fact I wish they'd also consider including some of the other cockpit sub-panels to the same standard too. But... no helmet or harness for the bear??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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