LSP_Kevin Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 I've run into that same sort of thing with their 1/48 Seasprite kit...its odd And I've found another one! Given that it's part 39, and right next to the missing part 40 on the sprue, I have no idea how I missed it before. I guess it's hard to notice something when it isn't there: This part goes on the shelf at the rear of the cockpit, so I'll just be leaving it off. I've been doing more than just noticing missing parts though, so here's the cockpit sub-assemblies, mostly painted and weathered, and in various stages of assembly: Note the shroud over the smaller instrument panel. Be careful when removing this from the sprue, as the attachment points attach directly to its small locating stubs, which become indistinguishable from the sprue. I'd already trimmed one off before I realised! Anyway, once I've got all the parts fully prepped and assembled, I'll get some glamour shots of the completed cockpit assembly. I'm really starting to warm to this now, and having a great time with it. Kev Out2gtcha, Uilleann and Iain 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Good news everyone! (for those who watch Futurama) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Nice work dude When I build one of these, I will build it in "zero like camoflage" just as in the TV show Baa, Baa, Blacksheep... I was grown up with this show and those "nasty" zero, val and kate made from T6 are so strongly printed in my memories that I can not imagine any other way of building a T6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Looking good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinuheH Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Nice work, Kev… keen to start this kit as well… keep us posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 Thanks for your comments fellas - much appreciated! I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked, partly due to a bit of a stuff-up with the instrument panel decals. If you've read my review (or have the kit), you'll know that 2 of the 3 supplied decal sheets have a clear plastic film over them: This includes the small sheet with the instrument decals on it. I first tried the small panel for the rear position that's located under the shroud, carefully peeling off the plastic film. It wanted to stick in a couple of places, and this made me question whether it was meant to be peeled off at this stage, or whether it was some new kind of decal I wasn't aware of that required the plastic film to be left in place. Anyway, I persevered and the plastic film came off. Once in water, the decal came loose from the backing sheet almost immediately, but due to being super thin, wanted to curl up on itself as soon as it left the backing paper. This made for some tricky manoeuvrings, but to make matters worse, the upper surface of the decal became stuck to my tweezers! It was like the surface was (or had become) tacky. This reinforced my suspicion that perhaps the plastic film is meant to stay on the decal, at least to the point where you apply it to the model, as it seemed like there was water activated glue on both sides. I eventually got the piece into place and off the tweezers, though I think I lost a small sliver of decal in the process. And the left side curled under itself irreversibly, as both sides were now sticky. Here's the end result: Not great at all, but it looks a lot better in real life at actual size. Plus, on the model it'll be somewhat obscured by the shroud. One thing I'd recommend is to fit the decal to the panel before the panel is fitted to the shroud, as access is awkward with the shroud in place. The lower main instrument panel went a lot better, but still exhibited the same 'stickiness' on the upper surface as the previous piece. So, I figured I'd see what happens if I left the plastic film on while the main panel decal soaked in water. Big mistake! My suspicion that there seems to be water activated glue on both sides of the decal appears to be correct, as all that happened was the decal and plastic film bonded together permanently in the water, and I couldn't separate them for love or money. I tried forever and ultimately gave up. To save the situation, I decided to attempt to punch out the individual decals and glue them into position on the plastic panel. Sound in theory, but something went wrong immediately, and the plastic film didn't punch out cleanly at all. I suspect I didn't have the punch clamp down firmly enough, and one side simply stretched and tore. At this point my eyes were getting just that bit closer together... In the end I opted to finish the upper section of the main panel with the always-excellent airscale decals, and live with the different colourings between the upper and lower sections: All up it's a bit of a mess, and I'd love to hear more from Nic about his experiences with the kit's IP decals - he reports they were great, so I just don't understand where I went wrong, or how he did so well with them. Anyway, at least I can finish the rest of the cockpit from here! Kev Uilleann and sandokan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 In the end I opted to finish the upper section of the main panel with the always-excellent airscale decals ..very kind of you to say so Kev.... ..curious about what is going on with the kit's decals, but can't say I would be too upset if everyone had the same problem Peter Uilleann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 The IP looks great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Thanks chaps. I finally feel like I'm making some progress on this one, and really enjoying it too. Here are the promised glamour shots of the cockpit: And loosely installed into the fuselage: There's a whacking great fingerprint on the forward side of the firewall now, where some Tamiya Extra Thin wicked under my finger while I was holding the parts together. The good news is I don't think any of it will be visible once the fuselage is all closed up. I still need to install the 'A-frame' unit that sits over the central cockpit. And I probably should have filled the seam between the front and rear pieces of the main instrument panel, though I don't really know what it looked like in real life. I suspect it didn't have that enormous seam in it though. Oh, and I mustn't forget the seat belts! Anyway, it's on to the engine next... Kev Whitey, sandokan and Uilleann 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark31 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Nice work looks great. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark64 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 nice painting job. So clean..what a start. Oliver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Cockpit looks really nice. Your new photo set-up looks really, really great Kevin. Makes the pics look really professional, must look into one of those. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Thanks fellas. Matt, I still need to find a better surface for the photo booth, as the current one has creases, and being white, is starting to get noticeably grungy in places. It's from a collection of background 'cloths' (they're not really cloths, more like some kind of woven plastic) that came with my photo booth. They're all different colours, but mostly they're too dark in my opinion. And being tightly folded together in the packet, they all share the same permanent creases! Anyway, I've installed a few missing pieces into the cockpit, and after some minor touch-ups of the interior green, it'll be done. I am however now looking at the photo-etched seat belts. The main issue with them is that the kit's instructions don't mention them at all, so I don't quite know how they're meant to be installed or attached at this stage. Anybody got a good representative photo? Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Looking good Kev though it seems to be fighting you a bit, god that's a horrible moment when the decal curls around your tweezers, you just know that it's going to be a struggle. The film on the decals seems to be a very strange idea, never seen it before I wonder what it is all about. The nearest I have seen is very sticky plastic film on the PE when I was building a Bronco A13, not a great idea as it twisted the PE when I removed it, stupid people. Cheers Den Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamme Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Really nice job. Congrats, Jamme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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