Icaerodesign Extra 330-SC

[Out2gtcha]

Well, I have acquired all the paints I wanted, and have completed my initial paint experiments, and I have learned many valuable lessons. I took my old Revell Zeke paint mule, and put it to task on the paints for the Extra 330. From left to right I used MRP Swedish AF yellow covered with acetone based lexan racing paint candy yellow, followed by the acetone racing paint pearl white, followed by MRP metallic blue, followed by MRP chrome.

 

Here are the results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I learned several things here:

 

- The acetone based paints have no seeming effect good or bad either over or under the MRP paints/Tamiya primer, as no incompatibility issues are noted.

- Not unlike Alclad chrome, the MRP chrome required gloss black to look like actual chrome.

- The MRP chrome seems more durable than its Alclad counterpart.

- The acetone based lexan racing pearl white may have possible adhesion issues to anything but clear lexan. 

 

That last one is a biggie. The pearl white is really hard to capture on camera, but it definitely looks pearly IRL.  However, the area to the right of the chrome actually was covered with the pearl white, but it lifted up the moment I masked over it, so i de-tacked some Tamiya tape to complete the rest of the test. 

 

If I put all the other colors on top of the pearl white I really may be asking for a world of hurt later.  

 

So...................

 

Just a thought on the pearl white - Tamiya has a Pearl Clear in a rattle can available (TS-65) that they call out for Rossi's MotoGP Fiat Yamaha YZR-M1 kit.

 

 

Im taking Johns suggestion and going with the tried and true well tested Tamiya acrylic lacquer TS-45 pearl white. There is a TON of particulate that comes out of rattle cans, but I think this is the best way to go.

 

 

Im going to start planning out each layer, and how and when each one needs to go down and in what order next. I need to have a flat white base for all the yellow and white, and a gloss black base for the chrome, so all of this should be very interesting. Hopefully not impossible! 

[Guest Peterpools]

Hi Hubert

Just want to add my thanks for coming to Brian's rescue with the canopies - sure hope he paints your name under the canopy as the honorary "Crew Chief".

Peter

[Guest Peterpools]

Hi Brian

Spending a lot of time catching up and jumping for joy the Extra 330 is back on the bench and she sure is looking good with the final primer. Love the planned paint scheme and hopefully you might paint Hubert name under the canopy as: Honorary "Crew Chief"

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks Peter!

 

Hrmmm..................

Well gents this one was meant to be a distraction from my other very long term build of the HpH Tigercat.  However, I have been in contact with Icaerodesign, and it seems I might be getting a factory resin canopy and maybe even some new OOB masks.

 

Being very generous about this, I expect that it will take some time for Icaerodesign to get the parts here, considering the distance factor involved, so Im thinking of re-S.O.D.ing this build in favor of a different "distraction". Possibly another OOB build that actually may be hella easier than the either the F7F or the Extra 300.

 

The Extra is NOT going away, just being put on the proverbial modeling "back burner" again in favor of something I can actually use as a distraction from the Tigercat considering I really need the canopy (if there is a possibility of getting a new one, it will save me substantial polishing work) and masks to more forward with the build at all. 

[ssculptor]

I also forgot to mention that I have been in contact with Setal from Icaerodesigns, and will be acquiring a second Lycoming 6 cylinder engine to totally "bling-out" and mount on an engine stand next to the finished model.

I intend on chroming out the exhaust, push rods, and some other parts, along with a shiny brass finish on the cylinder tops and some scratch detailing and AM parts.   This thing will also have plug wire, and possibly even some braided hose too.

 

I intend on making a custom engine stand using similar brass soldering techniques as I used on my last build:

 

 

 

 

 

The engine stand will be made of smaller square brass tubing,but in the end will be a tiny complex model in itself, and hopefully will look like this:

 

 

 

 

 

I have also even ordered some resin caster wheels for the bottom as well.

 

More progress soon, as I now have all the parts soaking in some Bleche White.

 

Cheers!

Help.

Please, what is the Bleche White used for???

Some time ago I read on this forum that the Bleche White is most useful for......

So I bought a bottle and put it in my workshop and promptly forgot about it. Recently I found the unopened bottle and realized that I had forgotten why I got it.   

Please, what is  it used for??? 

Stephen

[holzemjo]

Cleaning resin parts to get rid of release agents/grease/other sorts of grime

[Out2gtcha]

Help.

Please, what is the Bleche White used for???

Some time ago I read on this forum that the Bleche White is most useful for......

So I bought a bottle and put it in my workshop and promptly forgot about it. Recently I found the unopened bottle and realized that I had forgotten why I got it.   

Please, what is  it used for??? 

Stephen

 

 

Cleaning resin parts to get rid of release agents/grease/other sorts of grime

 

 

holzemjo is right on the money. Its a trick picked up from a friend in the movie prop biz quite a long time ago.

 

 

Its a bit caustic (wear gloves!) but it works  wonders for getting rid of mold release agents in resin kits. 

[Out2gtcha]

Guess whos baaaaaack!     The lil guy is back up to speed and Ive been plodding away at him.   Bit late ATM, but Ill upload and share some recent pics of him, as Ive been working on the little Extra 330 in conjunction with my other resin build of the HpH Tigercat.

 

Cheers til the morrow! 

[Guest]

Cant wait to see pics Brian !....Barv

[Out2gtcha]

Cant wait to see pics Brian !....Barv

 

 

Thanks buddy!  Asks and ye shall receive. Nothing too dramatic, but I had to retrace a couple of steps, and I also ended up having to redo a major step, along with changing tac on the scheme for the build as well.

 

Pic in a minute.......

[Out2gtcha]

This update is not too tremendously exiting visually, but was VERY necessary to get the little Extra 330 SC back on track.

The change in tac, and the redo I spoke of above started with this.................a brand new set of masks, and a new resin canopy directly from Icaerodesign:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Hubert I had already acquired an excellent fitting vac canopy (actually fit better than the resin version) but I was deep into the sanding and polishing stage, and having a resin canopy meant saving me hours of polishing, as well as a way to use some debonder on it in case I messed up the frame. The CA debonder works great on the clear resin, but attacks the vac plastic considerably I found.

 

As I started this little guy back in 2015, and made the mistake of dorking up the canopy that same year, he had been setting on the SOD for literally years with all the masking in place on the canopy, cowl and exhaust with mounds of primer on each. 
First step was to remove all that junk, as piling more on top of that would not only create/enhance the ugly paint ridges created by the primer, but adding more paint/primer on top of that would have likely make removing that masking nearly impossible.

 

I had almost forgotten what the little guy looked like on the inside!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up, I used a combo of one of Radus razor saws, and some nippers to gingerly and very SLOWLY cut out the new resin canopy to shape. This worked out MUCH better than the last time I did this when I cracked the original canopy in the center. I then took some CA debonder and removed the wire canopy "frame" from the inside of the vac canopy, which was almost a shame since it fit so well. 

 

After fitting the new replacement resin canopy, I found it did not fit so well, and was way too wide at the rear. Again, another advantage of resin is after a few seconds in near boiling but NOT boiling water, I convinced it to conform. 

 

 

It took several hours of fettling, and multiple curse words to apply the wire canopy frame into the new resin canopy. This not only served to represent the actual frame on the 1:1, it also helped straighten the remaing bumps out of the canopy and helped it to better confirm to the correct shape. Although I wanted a great/perfect fit here like the vac copy did, it was not 100% necessary to get it perfect since I was posing the canopy open to show all the extra work put into the pit. 

I used some 1/16th" (I think) flexible Tamiya masking tape & masked off generally where the paint would eventually go on the canopy, and used that as a guide for the wire frame:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, I used some lead wire for the front of the frame, as the original forward section from the original was breaking a LOT, and for the life of me, I just couldnt get it to conform. Overall, it turned out ok, and will be acceptable in the end after some sanding and painting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other change of tac I spoke of is having to do with the scheme. I had also previously already put a lot of effort into beginning the design of new paint masks for the custom yellow/blue/white scheme I made . However, the scheme I made up was highly complex, with multiple, multiple layers, also requiring different base paints for some layers that others, as well as paint fading and ghost layers of paint.

After speaking to Catalin from Icaerodesigns about getting a replacement canopy, I also mentioned that my paint masks were showing signs of shrinkage that sometimes older pre-cut masks on Oramask can get, and he also sent me another complete set of masks for the original Jeff Boerboon scheme.  

Not unlike a new resin canopy, this would save me hours and hours (maybe days or a week or more) of design and paint work on my new scheme. Hell, it might have even been impossible to do all the things I wanted in the VERY tiny spaces provided by the Extra 330 airframe, so I am going back to the OOB scheme, which if Im honest, is VERY pretty as well. 

 

 

 

MORE........................................

 

[Shawn M]

excellent Brian!

glad to see you back at this one

[Out2gtcha]

After an hour or two of RE-masking I was on to re-scribing the panel and fastener detail lost in the previous round of priming.  I got the re-scribe completed and the little guy was ready for the next round of primer. I was all excited to shoot some Tamiya Fine white primer on last night when I discovered I had none.   Bummer. But, the little guy was ready for some shots of what he looks like up to this point so I snapped some after the re-scribe, but before the next round of primer/paint. The main problem I found out (or I should say got reacquainted with) was that the resin was super DUPER thin in spots, especially on the cowl, and I punched through several times rescribing the hatch on the cowl. Its super delicate, but Im hoping after this next round of thin primer coat, another re-scribe wont be necessary.

The little Extra is a cool looking plane, but hard to believe its 1/32nd scale. Its unbelievably tiny, but its ready for another round of primer, then hopefully on to the actual paint. In the second pic you can also see the small blade antenna and pop out pilots step I added, that up to this point I had forgotten about, but figured I better add before this hopefully last round of primer:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ive done this kind of thing before, but to give you a really good idea of just how small this Extra 330 is in real life, take a look at one of the strangest Mistels you will ever see...................

 

These two models Im currently working on could NOT be more opposites; in size, shape, purpose, configuration, country of origin and number of engines:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im off to the LHS tonight to pick up some Tamiya Fine white primer so I can put on a final coat. Then Im hoping in the next few days/week I can start in on the fun part; paint masks and paint!

 

Cheers till then,

[LSP_Kevin]

Terrific progress, Brian! Always difficult when the canopy goes wrong, but it's looking great now.

 

Kev

[TorbenD]

Is that some kind of new Mistel?

 

Lovely work as ever Brian.

 

Torben