Starfighter Jock Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 (edited) Chapter 1 – Cockpit – Ejection Seat – Canopy Fitting the Black Box cockpit to the Tamiya kit was a straight forward process starting with the typical resin cleanup and cutting away of the rear deck from the Tamiya kit. As there is no turning back once beginning to cut it all away, I used quite a bit of caution along with files and sanding sticks to arrive at the final fit of the resin cockpit. Overall the fit was good, and the side consoles were a perfect replacement fit for the kit parts. The IP hood is coming up short in the front so I will have to box this area in with some sheet styrene to close in the IP hood to the front sill. With intending to leave the canopy open, this area is extremely visible so will have to devote the time and effort to make it right. With the final dry-fit complete, I will be moving onto painting the cockpit interior, installing it permanently into the kit fuselage, closing in the cut seams on the rear deck, and then painting the rear deck and sills. Next update I will fit and finish the canopy along with the Black Box Aces II ejection seat and then move on to tackling the intakes and Aires wheel well set. Edited July 26, 2017 by Starfighter Jock F`s are my favs, Gazzas, Uncarina and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 That really looks like a great enhancement, and takes the detail in this area to another level! Cheers, Tom Starfighter Jock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Jock Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 That really looks like a great enhancement, and takes the detail in this area to another level! Cheers, Tom I struggled with whether or not to use the Black Box set as I was really apprehensive about cutting up a now out of production Tamiya kit, and the fact that the kit cockpit is very nice and well engineered, only needing some extra detailing to dress it up. But in the end I decided to go for it as the detail in the resin cockpit was just to good to pass up. Hopefully it will be worth it when finished. Cheers, Kirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durangokid Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Whoa, good job fitting that pit, its gonna look fantastic... Bryan Starfighter Jock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Jock Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 Whoa, good job fitting that pit, its gonna look fantastic... Bryan Thanks Bryan, it took some time, patience and about a hundred dry-fits to get it there but I am pleased with it and glad I used it. I still have more work to do up front to close in the IP hood but that should go fairly quickly and then I can start putting some paint to it. Kirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClumsyDude Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Wow, that's a good fit! I really like Aires stuff but the dreaded shrinkage gives me fits ... looks like you had no such problems here. Jim Starfighter Jock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Jock Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 Wow, that's a good fit! I really like Aires stuff but the dreaded shrinkage gives me fits ... looks like you had no such problems here. Jim The BB cockpit did fit really well and particularly the side panels, the short IP hood may have very well been my fault as I should have done more dry-fitting of it before removing most of the casting block. I am now realizing that by leaving more of the casting block on it probably would have filled and closed in this area. Oh well, guess that is why they make sheet styrene, win some, lose some. Kirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaced Marine Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Looks good. I have that cockpit set for my Barak project, but I'm very leery about cutting the kit. I'm just not sure about my ability to cut the rear decking. Starfighter Jock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyrosjzmichos Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Great camouflage choice! It may sound a bit trivial but I'm amazed at how cleanly you managed to fit in the resin tub! More updates please!!!! Starfighter Jock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel111 Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 The BB cockpit did fit really well and particularly the side panels, the short IP hood may have very well been my fault as I should have done more dry-fitting of it before removing most of the casting block. I am now realizing that by leaving more of the casting block on it probably would have filled and closed in this area. Oh well, guess that is why they make sheet styrene, win some, lose some. Kirk Kirk, well done on fitting the BB pit. I had exactly the same IP short issue as you. Cheers, Marcel Starfighter Jock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Jock Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 Kirk, well done on fitting the BB pit. I had exactly the same IP short issue as you. Cheers, Marcel Thank you Marcel, I am now recognizing that the casting block on the front of the IP hood is there for a purpose, to fill in this area. The Black Box instruction sheet, as I am sure you know, is absolutely worthless as it offers zero guidance on how to install this thing. All trial and error. KJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Jock Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 (edited) Looks good. I have that cockpit set for my Barak project, but I'm very leery about cutting the kit. I'm just not sure about my ability to cut the rear decking. I struggled with the same about cutting into the rear deck, but decided to go ahead with it. It is not difficult, just takes time, patience and dry-fit, dry-fit and dry-fit some more as you go along. Recommend rough cutting the area out, then using files and sanding sticks, slowly continue to open the area up while continually dry-fitting the cockpit into place. Once it fits good and can be slightly moved around to adjust the fit from front to rear, STOP, you are done, it now fits. KJ Edited July 27, 2017 by Starfighter Jock Uncarina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Jock Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 (edited) Chapter 1 – Continued. The Block Box cockpit is now painted and permanently installed into the fuselage. Overall fit was good and because of the time I invested into repeated dry-fits of the tub to the kit fuselage, the final seams that needed to be filled and blended was really on the minimum side. With the cockpit now in and about 95% of the cockpit/sill painting complete, I pulled out the tinted canopy parts as supplied in the kit, sanded back and polished out the seam running down the middle and added the missing grab handles that Tamiya did not include to the inside of the canopy framing. Tamiya has really done a great job in suppling and rendering the inner framing, but some extra detailing would really make it stand out. I am now thinking I should have invested a bit more time into it and added the interior riveting, etc., but decided the grab handles would do and moved on to masking and painting it up, along with applying the decals from the Two Bobs sheet. My decaling becomes somewhat of a long process as after applying two coats of Gunze Mr. Super clear over the paintwork, I apply the decals utilizing the Gunze Mr. Mark Setter and Softener products. Once completely dry, I apply another coat of Mr. Super Clear, and once dry I sand it back with some 8000-polishing cloth, then once again apply a final wet coat of Mr. Super Clear. I find using this method makes the decal carrier film about 98% invisible to the eye. Once satisfied with the result I knocked the high gloss back using a couple of coats of Alclad II Klear Kote Light Sheen that hopefully will provide just the right amount of sheen to the completed model. The rear section of the fixed canopy over the rear deck will get finished with the overall paint work once I get that far. Moving forward I will get the ejection seat finished up and painted, then start on figuring out how to fit the Aires wheel wells into the kit along with building up and painting the intake trunks, wheel wells and landing gear. Apology for the poor quality photos this time around, I am still in the process of learning my camera and obviously I had some sort of lighting/exposure issue going on with these photos, hope the next round will be better but bear with me, still learning how to do decent still photos. Kirk Edited February 20, 2018 by Starfighter Jock Vandy 1 VX 4, A-10LOADER, Gazzas and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-10LOADER Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Nice work so far. As for the pics, shooting a light subject on a light background is tough to do. Try using a blue or black background next time around. Steve Starfighter Jock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 That painting of the cockpit details is very nice! Gaz Starfighter Jock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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