EmperorKai Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 Thanks guys! Have been picking at the build a little a time- here's some update photos Shimmed out the access doors and have them nestled in place on both sides now. Still lots to do on the fuselage though Decided to work on the wings a bit. Based on a great reference pic in the Squadron walkaround, I opened up and thinned the fairing on the front end of the wing box. Here the face plate on the wing box (from the Eduard photo-etch set) in relation to the opened up fairing More photo-etch from the same set, which includes a completely new plate for the underside of the wing box. This is actually a pretty big piece (probably the biggest single PE part I've run into), and was a little tedious to get it to lay down straight. This side of the wing box has 2 curve lines going on, each working in opposite directions. I'm really not a fan of the photo-etch piping, so I will be running those with brass tubing instead. The wing, with the outer sections in place. The slats and flaps are done as well with the exception of a few photo-etch pieces on the outside ends. Thanks for looking! Kai Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marauderdriver Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Nice fix on the intake, now I have a good idea how to fix mine when the time comes Great Work Kai watch'in you jack EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) Thanks Jack! Finished the plumbing on the underside of the wing center section. Seems like alot of work for an area with little visibility, but I figure that if someone looks, there should be something there to see. Haven't found the ideal reference photo for this view of the wing, just a handful from extreme angles. I ended up using the Eduard photo-etch piping as a conceptually accurate guide, which seemed to coincide well enough with the photos that I have. When I first started, it seemed like there was 2 different sizes of lines, so I started with larger external with .032 brass rod. The lines that run along the top in this image are the smaller .020 brass rod. In retrospect, I think running it all with the smaller .020 brass rod would have been better. Lead foil was used for the P clamps and the ends of the lines were capped with thin-walled brass tube that was then pinched off and filed. Thanks for looking! Kai Edited May 31, 2014 by EmperorKai Seversky and Girlscanplay2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Stoner Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Wow!! Awesome job with the PE and rod Kai. Your build is really looking great. Nice work Paul EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 Thanks Paul! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Wow! Inspirational stuff! Looks like you could fill the system with hydraulic fluid and get it operational.... Tim EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 Thanks guys! Your encouragement is definitely appreciated. I can't wait to see this one built, but working my way through the details is a bit of a slogfest. Have been picking away at it. A few update pics Some detail work on the flap ends. At first, I intended to just embellish the cabin under the wing, but the more I looked at it, the more it looked like just starting over would be easier. My main hang-up were the "fences" that are supposed to represent the various plumbing, rods and wires. From the top, they look okay, but extreme oblique view that this will be seen, they just look like a bunch of solid walls. The replacement part is wider and takes into account that I thinned the fuselage sides along the wing center section to be more in scale. The new replacement dry fitted in place. The forward bulkhead was removed. There is a photo-etch piece that will cover the top part of the forward bulkhead, hiding the front end of the new cabin detail. There are still a few details to go, but I'm not going to go much further. Once the wing is in place, visibility will be limited, but it will look much more representative of all the business going on. The main piece still missing is the hydraulic actuator for the wing. There is still some clean up- for example, the far side of the fuselage has been thinned, but the near side has not. A view of the starboard side. Not sure what the silver thingy is, but it matches my references pretty well. Aluminum tubing and candy wrapper foil was used. The aft bulkhead of the cabin will be painted black so the details diminish into the shadows once the wing is in place. This section was my main dread- I think it will be downhill from here. Thanks for looking! Kai Harold, Seversky and Girlscanplay2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngtiger1 Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Wow Kai, look at all those....wires Seriously great work. You know you don't have to use brass wires every time. If you have lead wires they work well on detailing parts and such. Well, cool update buddy.... EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Stoner Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Excellent work. Top notch detail work. Really doing a awesome job Kai. Will be watching for sure. Paul EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 That looks mighty impressive! Keep up the good work - this is going to be a stunner! EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 (edited) Thanks guys! Decided to work on the airbrake for awhile. The Eduard set has a nice replacement piece for the interior of the airbrake. However, when it is set in place, the lightning holes in the part don't line up quite right with the PE part. To clean this up, a relief was ground out on the kit part with a dremel and hobby knife With the PE parts in place The airbrake bay needs some help with correction and missing details, but one of the main reasons for adding detail to the airbrake bay is that the Aires landing gear bay is really nice, and it makes the kit airbrake look really bare. Here, an in-progress shot Close up of the airbrake bay. It was tough finding any references of certain areas in the bay, but I found Barry's awesome F-8 WIP to be inspiring and really helpful with the launch bridle point. The keel beam was also filled in and some of the major details added/replaced. Group photo. I could probably spend another month on details in the wing and air brake bays alone, but that would be more than the timeline I am shooting for on this project. So, moving on to ducts and scoops next. Thanks for looking! Kai Edited June 6, 2014 by EmperorKai Seversky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngtiger1 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Great progress and nice bits of added detail and air brake correction. I need to start collecting the Aires set for the Mighty Crusader EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Thanks Mike- I definitely recommend the Aires sets. They offer the engine, cockpit and wheel bays in a single super set, so you can get them all at once. Tackled some of the smaller details in and around the fuselage, starting with the cannons The openings for the cannons were opened up a bit and rounded out. The blast tubes were made of thin-walled brass sleeves with an ogive blast panel fashioned with a round file and then glued into place. It was necessary to carve out the inside of the fuselage so the sleeves sat correctly. The cannon barrels themselves were made from consecutively sized sleeves with .070 thin-walled brass as the final barrel. 20mm scales to .0625- of the .060 and .070 tubing I have, the slightly larger size seemed to represent the cannons better. The cannon barrels in place. Will need some minor filling from the backside The kit represents the raised rectangular fairing on the right side of the fuselage with sharp, crisp edges. However, this should have rounded edges and the fairing in general should have a more blended shape. The fairing here has been smoothed out so it is more of a "rectangular bump". The exhaust vent for the alternator turbine and environmental cooling system was opened up as well. It appears that the F-8E aircraft of VMF-312 did not have the football shaped ECM detection housing on the upper fin, so the locating holes for this were plugged. Some embellishing details in the arrestor hook bay. The Eduard PE set does a nice job of spiffing up this area, though about half of it can't/shouldn't be glued into place until the box is in place andthe fuselage is glued together. Working on the engine next... Thanks for looking! Kai Edited June 9, 2014 by EmperorKai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Got some work done in and around the engine... Filled and re-drilled the locating holes for the cooling intakes so they are aligned correctly. Ultimately, the rearmost hole looked good to me, but it needed to be re-drilled at a better angle anyway. Also thinned out the leading edge of the intakes for a more scale effect. One thing that has been gnawing at me is how the engine mounts in the fuselage. If the engine is mounted in place before the fuselage goes together (typical, as indicated in the instructions), then it would be really difficult to clean up the seams on the inside of the engine area. It would also make painting a bit more problematic and add a few steps. Here, the lower fuselage seam line. What I was looking for is a way to be able to slide the engine into place AFTER the fuselage is together so I can paint and the finish the fuselage and engine as separate sub-assemblies. So I rolled up a sheet of .010 sheet plastic around the engine can, and carefully CA'd the outside. I then shimmed the inside of the fuselage to center the tube, and after lots of test fitting, glued a stop at the end. Only the last stage of the engine will be seen on the finished model, so I ignored the forward half of the engine, which will also lighten up the tail. The net result now is that I can slide the engine in and out of the tube after the fuselage is together. With some minor sanding of the can, there is now just enough friction that it's not going anywhere, but can remove it if I need to. Not only can I now clean up the seams without the engine in the way, but the engine can be finished separately and slid into place last. This also addresses another issue in that the Aires engine wants to sit too far out, extending past the edge of the fuselage. In this pic, the engine nozzle now sits just inside the edge of the fuselage where it should be. I might also mention that the Aires engine nozzle is the waffle type for the early engines, but they look great nevertheless so I'll leave them alone. Hey, can't win'em all I guess So, looks like the refueling probe and nose is next! Thanks for looking! Kai Harold, LSP_Paul and Seversky 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Paul Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Kai, I think your F-8 is my current favorite build. You're obviously having a blast doing all this neat stuff and It's great to watch your progress! Keep up the great work! All the best, Paul EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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