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VFC-12 Ambush 06 - FINISHED!


Dragon

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Mike, 

Just sneak away to the model bench in the middle of the night like some other folks around here do.  :whistle: 

Just dont do anything noisy though, like scraping plastic..running a compressor is out..If you do wake up the Mrs.. and happen to get caught, just tell her 

you were modeling in your sleep again..   :rofl:

   :popcorn:

 

Paul

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I may have to give "Midnight Modeling" a try.

 

Minor update:

The Government (my wife) got an invite to join a couple of her girlfriends for coffee and knitting this morning, so I benefited by getting a couple of hours of unexpected, but welcomed, free time. Hmmm, I wonder if my texts to these ladies about how the Government has been stressed getting the house ready, food menu determined, and gift wrapping for the upcoming family visit and that a break from it might have a calming effect instigated the invite……  :whistle: 

 

Anyway, I haven't done much on the build these last few weeks due to Governmental Christmas responsibilities, but I have been pondering how I was going to tackle the resin pit. In looking the pit over, I found Aires has marked on the tub where to notch it, both in length and height, to fit on to the kit's front wheel well assembly. Flattening the tub bottom and then notching the tub was going to be a quite a challenge. I was not looking forward to the sawing, grinding, sanding and measuring I was expecting, but I then discovered the front wall of the tub appeared to be perpendicular to the bottom edge of the tub. A quick check with a square confirmed it was close enough to use them as reference planes, and I thought of my table saw. I could use the front wall to square the tub bottom then use the flattened tub bottom to cut the notch. I made a simple wooden jig to secure the pit while I swiped the tub bottom across the table saw blade to flatten it. I was able to use the same jig to notch the tub bottom. In all, it probably took 15-20 minutes to complete.

 

Typical of me, I think of taking photos after the fact, but here are before and after pics:

PGjHe4N.jpg

EukljNe.jpg

 

I probably could have used the router to cut the notch. Using the power tool definitely made short work of this task. It is a relief to get this completed. I feared this task would really hold up the build. 

 

Family arrives tomorrow, so there won't be any progress on the build until next week end. Although, there's is always "Midnight Modeling".  :hmmm:

 

Merry Christmas all!

 

Mike  

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Very nice job Mike. Definitely got nice straight cuts and a great surface to start out with. I'm sure you know but make sure to really wash and rinse the resin parts then hit them with some really good primer.. Tamiya Fine Gray  in a can or Mr Surfacer 1500. Let that dry and then anything you want to put on over it will stick nicely.

 

Merry Christmas to you and yours too! 

Paul

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I was surprisingly able to find some bench time over the holiday and family visit, and I was able to make good progress on the cockpit.

NUIEbVT.jpg

ofsh3RU.jpg

drgOGxx.jpg

I don't have the PE seatbelts completed. I need to do the shoulder straps, but I've been hesitant to  start as I feel I have only one shot at getting them right. Since I don't have my head around how to go about doing these yet, I decided to get the front landing gear assembled.

 

There are 15 pieces that make up the front landing gear!

qE7y6Do.jpg

88RcWYO.jpg

 

Next up will be getting the front fuselage closed up and then start on the intakes.

 

Mike

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Small progress made on the build. With the planned LSP builds I have for this year, I'm realizing the space in the display case will need to be optimized, so I'm going with folded wing tips on this build. I like the approach Academy took for the folded wing tip option, letting the builder do the surgery. 

Wings right off the sprue:

YuTq8Tf.jpg

Wings after surgery:

WOr0d0Q.jpg

Wings assembled along with vertical stabilizers, leading edges and flaps:

nhIJxS0.jpg

 

I have the front fuselage assembled and still working on the seamless intakes. I'll post pics once I get all the dry fitting done.

 

Thanks for looking in.

Mike

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The build moving along slowly, but slow progress is better than no progress!

 

I have the intakes installed. I was expecting a lot more dry fitting between the sanding and shaving, but they went in pretty painlessly. Thank goodness!

ovq3hjb.jpg

 

There is some seam work to do, but it was expected.

RvEw446.jpg

 

Here's a shot down the intake. 

v9BytdK.jpg

I tried to mask them with tape, but I had a hell of time trying to get the tape to behave as I attempted to wrap it around the interior. I ended up just shoving some foam cylinders I had from the back of the intake. The edge isn't sharp, but it looks the part.

 

After I get the seams dealt with, it'll be on to assembling the main fuselage.

 

Thanks for looking in on my build.

Mike 

 

 

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