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Hasegawa Avia S-92


LSP_Kevin

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Kev,

I just spent the morning bending the prop blades on my 109 using hot water then a hairdryer.

I think hot water is a no no as there is to much scope for flexing in other axis along the wing.

How about fixing down the bendy part of the wing on a flat surface with packing underneath to get the right dihedral.

I would then get a hair dryer (the hot air guns for stripping paint will melt your plastic) on its highest seting and heat up the wing evenly.

once completely cool release it and see if it has helped.

Only other alternative is to put stiff bracing inside the lower wing so its completely rigid and set at the correct dihedral and use it to bend the upper wing into shape on attachment

which is what I think Brian did on his Stang.

 

There's my two P's worth.

 

Phil

 

Thanks Phil. I think I'll give the hairdryer a go. Unfortunately, due to the way this kit is engineered, there isn't really a lower wing as such. It's built up in 3 sections: the middle part encompassing the lower fuselage, which ends just inside the engine nacelles; and then the two outer parts, which start outboard of the engine nacelles and simply attach to the outer upper wing. I'd have to glue the stiffener to the inside of the upper wing, and then make a cut-out for it in the engine nacelle where it attaches to the wing. I'll try the hairdryer first though, and hopefully avoid anything more drastic.

 

Kev

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Nice build Keith! How did you straighten the wings on it?

I didn't, Mate. They still look like bananas.

I sold it as soon as I saw inside the box of my Trumpeter kit.

 

Good luck, you're going to need it.

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He he, prolly true. But I'm having a blast already, and that's what it's all about, eh?

 

Kev

Maybe for you, the rest of us enjoy pain and suffering.

It's not a terrible kit. It's just that the Trump one is 10 times better.

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Mostly my builds consist of a series of rolling disasters culminating in some sort of cathartic triumph over adversity. Today I hit my first disaster on this build (well, second I guess, if you count the warped wing). I had decided that I wanted to replace the plastic Hasegawa landing gear legs with the metal parts from the Trumpeter kit, and had set about modifying the Hasegawa nose wheel bay accordingly.

 

I began by scraping off the meagre (and rather crappy) moulded detail on the bay roof, and in the process managed to leave some very unslightly tool marks, which I subsequently found nearly impossible to clean up. It was a bit ugly, but I decided I could live with it. So, added some stiffener detail from styrene strip and moved on.

 

It was then that I noticed that the huge plastic blocks moulded in to the forward nose wheel bay would have to be modified or removed for the Trumpeter leg to be fitted. What to do? In that deadly combination of fatigue and impatience that all too often seem to go hand-in-hand, I broke out the sprue cutters and began snipping away at them. Almost instantly, one side wall buckled badly. I kept going, thinking I could straighten that out later. After I'd gone as far as I could with that approach, I began to realise that I'd left a very ugly mess with no obvious way to finish the job off:

 

post-3071-1281529271.jpg

 

I could probably salvage it if I had to, but due to the overall poor execution on this part, I've decided to write it off and scratch build a new one. But not when I'm tired and impatient!

 

:innocent:

 

So, more soon.

 

Kev

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I've decided to write it off and scratch build a new one. But not when I'm tired and impatient!

Kev

Good idea. Don't forget to include the big hole in the top for the tyre.

You want me to send you some plastic sheet?

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That should be a pretty easy piece to scratch build.

 

Yep, shouldn't be a big deal. At this stage I'm thinking of simply replicating the 5 sides and assembling them into a box.

 

Good idea. Don't forget to include the big hole in the top for the tyre.

You want me to send you some plastic sheet?

 

Thanks for the offer Keith, but I've got plenty of Evergreen sheet in stock at the moment. I'm running short on .30 strip though! I noticed the Trumpeter nose well is formed in two parts, with one section encompassing what looks like a curved wheel housing. Should it just be a hole instead? I haven't had a chance to check my references yet.

 

Kev

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I noticed the Trumpeter nose well is formed in two parts, with one section encompassing what looks like a curved wheel housing. Should it just be a hole instead? I haven't had a chance to check my references yet.

 

Kev

I'd copy the Trumpeter one. No-one is ever going to see it anyway.

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Hey Kev... to quote someone else "modeling is @#*&! fun !... :rolleyes: "

 

It'll look better with the scratch built detail anyway. Just a suggestion about the wing, could you try the fix I did on my M-20 wing ?.. cut it and insert strips of plastic to force the wing flat ? It would mean a lot of redoing detail but if the hot water or hair dryer trick doesn't work perhaps scratch building the outer wings might be your only option....

 

Cheers

 

Vaughn

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Time for a quick update. Firstly, I've managed to get the port wing quite a bit straighter. It's not perfect, but I can work with it now, and it should be acceptable once glued in to place. For the record, I tried the hairdryer approach, but I just couldn't get the plastic hot enough to change shape at all. The thing that worked was sitting it in a large coffee mug full of just-boiled water for about 10 minutes, after first taping a length of brass tube to the inside of it to flatten out its shape. I forgot to take a photo though, sorry!

 

I've spent most of my modelling time manufacturing a new nose gear bay. At first I thought it would be a snap; a couple of hours and it's all over. But then I decided to check some references, and realised that there's a fair bit more going on in there than the Hasegawa part implies - or even the Trumpeter version for that matter. So, I set about trying to replicate what I could see, and here are the component parts before assembly:

 

post-3071-1281758608.jpg

 

Apologies for the terrible photo. You should be able to discern what's what though. Ever since I changed my modelling bench over to a white table at the start of 2010, my camera seems to have become dreadfully unhappy with the amount of ambient light in the room now. If I use the flash, I get detail-destroying glare off anything light-coloured (like the photo below). If I don't use the flash, I get the result above. Just can't seem to strike a happy medium. I'm trying to source a cheap, collapsible light tent to see if that will help.

 

Anyway, here's a test fit of the Trumpeter metal nose leg to the new bay roof:

 

post-3071-1281758444.jpg

 

It's a very snug fit, so I hope the assembly will be strong enough to withstand the force necessary to insert it when the time comes! After all, this Evergreen styrene is quite soft compared to high-impact kit plastic. Since taking these photos I've assembled the parts and test-fitted into the fuselage, and it's looking good!

 

More soon.

 

Kev

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OK, nose gear bay construction finished:

 

post-3071-1281771250.jpg

 

post-3071-1281771257.jpg

 

post-3071-1281771268.jpg

 

post-3071-1281771276.jpg

 

post-3071-1281771287.jpg

 

post-3071-1281771304.jpg

 

Really hard to get decent shots, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It's much better than the kit part. All that remains to do is add some plumbing and wiring.

 

Now, a question! Should I paint it before installing it into the fuselage, or after?

 

Kev

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Glad to hear you have sorted (hopefully) that wing problem Kev!

That new wheelbay looks far better than the original.

Lovely scratchbuilding. :speak_cool:

If I were you I would get all your detailing done and paint it before it goes in.

Looks a bit tight to be sploshing paint around afterwards.

You would obviously have to touch up the joint at the fuse but it seems a bit simpler to my (simple) mind anyways.

 

Looking great mate! :BANGHEAD2:

Phil

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