Joel_W Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 JA Since you rebooted, I can see the photos just fine. Nice work on the wheel wells as it's a huge issue to sure Bro Bro, I just hit the refresh key. Not sure why this is happening, but I'll get to the bottom of it sooner or later. Will be posting another very short update tomorrow as I'm up to the fuselage, and it's been a real bear. Joel mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 (edited) Looking at both fuselage halves, it became quite apparent that there is considerable work needed to prepare the inner surfaces of both halves prior to continuing working on the 2 compartments: Engine/Wheel Well, and the cockpit. Looking at the outside of each fuselage half, the wing mounting surfaces are raised above the fuselage surface so that there is a more positive gluing surface. But that creates a huge issue on the inside surfaces: The front portion is clearly visable in wheel wells, and the center section is also visible looking down into the cockpit. The only viable solution is to fill in those massive areas. To accomplish that, I 1st cut out and glued in a "spar" made from .020 sheet just to shallow the depression. Then a layer of Milliput. I sanded the putty level making sure that I maintained the concave surface. Unfortunately my Milliput is rather old, and no matter how many pieces of dried skin I removed, some remained which is those dark spots. I filled any remaining depressions with Bondo, which is the red oxide colored material, and sanded it smooth. Hopefully the wheel well areas once primed won't need any more putty work. The next area is between the cockpit and wheel well bulkheads which can't be seen, so I really didn't need to fill in the depression. So on one side I left it as is. And the area past the cockpit also can't be seen even though I filled and blended in that area as well. Next I decided to skin the cockpit walls and added ribbing in a similar mannor to the Eduard interior PE set that is out of production and next to impossible to find. Dry fitting over and over again, it should more then fools the viewer's eye especially once painted and weathered. I still have work to do to get the cockpit aligned properly so that the fuselage halves will close correctly without having to force the issue. Joel Edited January 9, 2017 by Joel_W Shaka HI, tomv87, Hubert Boillot and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 JA Very nice work on taking care of the wing chord shape on the inside of the fuselage, as well as adding the front office ribs for the start of the cockpit detailing. I'm sure your MilliPut is 30 plus years old for sure. Keep 'em comoing Bro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 JA Very nice work on taking care of the wing chord shape on the inside of the fuselage, as well as adding the front office ribs for the start of the cockpit detailing. I'm sure your MilliPut is 30 plus years old for sure. Keep 'em comoing Bro Bro, Thanks for stopping by and having another look. The Milliput is only 4 years old. The ChopperMan mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaka HI Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Ha..interaction between you two is very entertaining! Great progress, Joel! mpk and Joel_W 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Nice wall-work. Sincerely, Mark Joel_W and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhard Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Awesome work Joel. I will be following this closely. I got this exact same kit under the Christmas tree. I am an OOB builder, so your work is out of this world to me. Well done so far. mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 That's some great work Joel. This Cat will be great once she's all buttoned up and painted. Falcon20, thanks for your much appreciated comments. The Trumpy kit has a lot of small issues that add up to a less then acceptable build for what our current expectations are for new kits. Fortunately, even a Average Modeler like myself, with limited skills can greatly improve the overall look of the finished model. And that's what I'm striving for. Every few days I'm posting another update so that I can get my fellow LSP'ers up to date on my build. I know it's a lot to ask, but the other alternative is just post a Ready for inspection, and that wouldn't allow me the opportunity to share and explain what I did and why. Joel mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 Ha..interaction between you two is very entertaining! Great progress, Joel! Shaka Hi, If you're referring to the banter between me and my brother, well this is tame to what we constantly do on a daily basis. Believe me, it's not easy trying to move up in scale to the big time: 1/32, and build on my brothers level. His Mossie is a perfect example of the level of work that he constantly strives for.. and that I also look to attain those results as well. We differ in that I will continue to model in 1/48 those subjects that are either to big for my display space: PBY-5A, or not available in injected molded plastic: SB2U-3 Vindicator. As for the progress on the build, that's so much for taking the time to look, and having an interest in it. Joel mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 Nice wall-work. Sincerely, Mark Mark, Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out the F4F-3. It's much appreciated. Joel mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice Joel! For whatever reason, you dont really see these built up that often. Cant wait to see some more progress! Joel_W and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice Joel! For whatever reason, you dont really see these built up that often. Cant wait to see some more progress! Out2gtcha, Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my progress. it's much appreciated. I guess the lack of builds has something to do with the fact that early on in the PTO circa 1942, it's place as a front line Naval and Marine fighter was taken over by F6Fs and F4U's. Also the kit isn't exactly cutting edge these days. Joel mpk and Out2gtcha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 (edited) Well, time for another update. My attention now turned to the cockpit assembly, which builds up quite nicely with excellent detail. The 1st order of business was determining the proper color of the cockpit. My resourses had a mixed bag of colors ranging from Interior Green, Dark Dull Green, and the more exotic Bronze Green. For some time I've followed the research and findings of Dana Bell, who really knows his stuff. Dana stated that the pre-war F4F-3 cockpits were either Natural Aluminum or painted Aluminum Dope. At the start of the war the cockpits were painted by Grumman's what was referred to as Bronze Green. By the time that the -4s came out, the standard cockpit color had been once again changed to Dark Dull Green. The issue is that Bronze Green didn't have a ANA number, so there was no conversion to FS numbers. Dana suggested that two very close matches were FS 24050 or FS24052, and started out as a semi gloss finish, which naturally didn't last very long. My guess is that the color originated by the local company that mixed the paint for Grumman's right here on the Long Island. Bronze Green was very, and I mean a very dark green with a ting of Blue. FS24052 being the lighter of the two FS numbers is what I mixed my paint to. The mix that I came up with using Tamiya paints is: 2 parts XF-13 J.A. Green to 1 part XF-18 Medium Blue thinned 2:3 with their Yellow Cap thinner. The Pit construction started with the IP and bulkhead. Trumpeter has the IP panel as a 3 part assembly:Bulkhead/back plate in gray/ Acetate instruments that are very well printed, and a cover plate. I painted the top cover plate with Tamiya Nato Black, as I feel it has a more natural look to it in scale then flat black. I Tested the ascetate instrument sheet on the backing plate, but the white didn't really pop all that well. So I cut out a new backing plate from .010 sheet and checked out the gauges again. There is enough of a difference to make it worth while.bThen I masked the top half of the IP bulkhead and primed the bottom half with MIG-AMMO Black primer. I air brushed it with my home made Bronze Green color: I wasn't particularly happy with Trumpeter's seat. Basically, it just to thick, to clunky looking, and thus in need of a diet. Sanding got the seat down to proper proportions, added a seat/backing plate from .010 sheet, and two small plates on the top sides of the back. One thing to note is that the -3s still didn't have shoulder harnesses, so I opted to make them out of Tamiya tape. Still not too happy with the plan Jane Aluminum painted buckle and latch. The construction of the rest of the Pit only took a few days including painting, as I didn't add any other details. Once the fuselage is close up, you just don't see very much of the cockpit as the side walls are rolled. Next up I test fitted the Fuselage halves, and as I expected after reading one build blog after another, the halves just don't align properly, and quite a lot of pressure is needed to close the resulting gaps. Well, sure enough that was the case with my F4F as well. The difference is that I just wasn't going to accept that as a solution. Now I had test fitted both halves with just the wheel well bulkhead glued in place and they fit perfectly, as well as the unworked side to the wheel well. Unfortunately, now I was looking at a modeling nightmare!! The only answer is that the two cockpit bulkheads were causing this issue. So out came the heavy duty sand paper and I commenced at sanding, testing, sanding, testing, etc for a few hours. Finally it fit. Absolutely no pressure was used to close up the fuselages halves other then the normal nudge here and there. What still didn't fit correctly was the wheel well bulkhead. Not to sure how I'm going to go about fixing this issue other then carefully pre-shimming with sheet, the working with Milliput and blending it in with water. When dried, Bondo and sanding. Hopefully it will turn out as well as the other side did, but I have my reservations. Joel Edited January 13, 2017 by Joel_W tucohoward, mpk, tomv87 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Ja Super work on the IP and the front office color issues were researched out very well. Pretty neat how the fuselage now fits together so smartly. Keep 'em coming Bro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucohoward Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Nice work, Joel. Well thought out fixes to the kits problems. Jay Joel_W and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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