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Aeroclub 1/32 Pitts Special Vacuform


JimRice

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Well, the painted decal film was NOT successful. The thin ends of the sunburst stripes are so thin, they won't cut without the edges chipping or peeling. I've tried cutting with new #11 blade and with scissors. The thin ends are almost impossible to keep perfectly straight. Finally, they just won't lay down in recesses (aileron hinge line) either. Sadly, I've had to abandon that method and am back painting.

 

To ensure crisp lines, I am using 3M blue vinyl "fine line" tape and it works well once applied. The problem with the 1/8"/3mm and even the 1/4"/6mm tape is keeping the edges perfectly straight. After several failed attempts at freehanding the tape lines, I finally discovered a method of keeping the edges perfectly straight.

 

I apply a "Sticky Note" on the opposite side I want to tape. I then butt the tape up against the sticky note. Reposition the sticky and tape the otherside. The end result is nice straight lines.

 

The downside is, I can only paint one of the four stripes per wing in each session as the points are so close together the masking overlaps the adjacent areas. There are also 3 stripes on both top and bottom of horizontal and vertical tail surfaces. It is a very slow process, but I believe the end result will be nice.

 

The real irony is this is my first vac and I really expected the construction to be the most difficult phase of this kit. Little did I realize just how hard the paint scheme would have been. Guess I should have stuck with the kit scheme and decals.

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Decals removed. New striping added. Finally figured out how to paint straight lines and am making progress. The biggest stripes are painted on the top and bottom of the lower wing. Leading edge of top wing painted, second stripe on the vertical tail surfaces and first stripe on horizontal surfaces (2d try).

Finally some noticeable progress. Unfortunately, work is going to keep me away from the bench this week. Hopefully next weekend will see some good progress......at least this week's paint should be well cured!!!

Sorry for the small photo size..........the 100K limit mandates it be small.

post-140-1172991541.jpg

 

Link to more photos of dad's Pitts Specials.

 

https://imgur.com/a/PYpje

Edited by JimRice
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Have you tried using bare metal foil for your masking agent?

 

Mike,

 

No, I've not tried Bare Metal Foil. Is it stiff enough to retain it's shape? Since using the sticky note, I've had no problems and it makes masking a fast process. The slowing factor is allowing the previous coat of paint to dry thoroughly so it won't mar or peel when removing the masking tape.

 

I HIGHLY recommend the 3M blue vinyl tape. It leaves the cleanest, most crisp edges I've ever seen. I first used it on a jeep I restored several years ago and was impressed.

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  • 10 years later...

After 10+ years, I am hoping to finally finish this kit this fall.  I've been working on several other non-modeling projects lately, but am determined I WILL FINISH my first vacuform kit.  Of course, I cut the first plastic on this kit in the mid-80s though it wasn't until 2007 that I really made any significant progress.   The good news is, I just finished building a new paint booth and will be using it to finish the paint job, which turned out much more time consuming than I expected, which ended up stalling the project for a long time.

 

Then, there is on to the 1/32 Hasegawa Boeing F4B-4 which has been sitting forlornly with the Pitts for years.  It will be next.  I hope.  Gotta get these two knocked out before any others...instead of putting them down to build something else and typically smaller/faster.

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Mea culpa. Just have to make the time. Gotta push back from the iPad and laptop.

 

In the meantime, I've still been lurking, reading and buying kits, tools, supplies, etc. I've built a few but they are all 1/48 stuff.

 

Cap'n W, the actual stabilizers are maybe 1 inch thick on the full size. I'm lucky to have about 15 hours in three different S-1S Pitts! On the 1/32 kit they're about 1/32". Thin! After separating mine from carrier and sanding, I left a very slight rim around the edge. I then filled with putty and sanded down smooth and rounded edges. I think used very thin half round plastic stock over ribs. Used Tenax to attach them and pressed the between two hard surfaces. Finally, I sand the down to almost gone. When painted, they looked about like the tops, which I had also sanded down a bit.

 

Once I make some progress, I'll post some pictures. Something I need to find is some who can make the 3/8" N66Y registration numbers for me in the right red. Don't want to try to paint them. The starburst is bad enough.

Edited by JimRice
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Here is a good side shot showing the numbers.  It is a typical aircraft registration font with clipped corners.  The current Amarillo USAF font appears to be a match.  The color I used is Model Master Guards Red.   Size on full size was 12" which would equate to 0.375 or 3/8".

 

 

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Edited by JimRice
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