Whitey

I am a little bit surprised by the amount of beating needed on a Tamiya kit. The nose section fit is not straight forward either mate. More on that next posting.

Slowly but surely progress is being made. Sorted the intakes and have joined the fuselage halves. Photoetch grills and some plastic card to smooth it all out. Undercoat with intake trunk white and then rolled up some tape onto a brush handle and rolled it out across the intake. Blocked the hole with some foam cut to fit. Then onto making the fuselage fit the intakes. You can see the area to be filled (in white Filler) on the starboard intake trunk. Enhancing the panel lines and lots of sanding to get it level and then Tamiya White putty to fill the cavern. I masked off each side before liberally applying the putty straight from the tube. It sands pretty easily once dry and then Mr Surfacer should do finish the job. Now time to sit back and wait for it to dry. Oops can't just sit back, more bits to do. CYA next time.

Coming on nicely mate. Have fun with the move.

By the looks of that Boomerang mate, I think it will come back. Love that chipping technique.

Next effort before major construction is the intakes. Tamiya make them adjustable, to allow in-flight variations I suppose, but when the engines are not running the intakes are at the most open position, ie fully up, which is how my model will be depicted, and significant gaps are visible .Lots of careful alignment and then still lots of sanding with a file taped to the back of a sanding stick for rigidity. Some significant gaps to sand and fill between the intake trunks and the variable ramps. I've got the intake trunks pretty smooth and now have to work out the point to which they are painted in the exterior grey colour and find a way to mask that off and leave the rear bits white, with some black-hander smudges. I will do the grey paint before starting the smoothing process - at least that way I will only need to re-spray the area near the intake ramps. I've got some photo etch grills so will be able to replace all of the detail I will lose during the process. It should all be square with the fuselage top. Photo credit: MJ Aviation. She will be a big jigger when finished. A bit of surgery still to do. Back to the bench I go.

From the last page to the front page for a little while. Work on the big jet continues. Cockpit in place and apart from some sill details which will only be added once the jet is painted - I'm sure the little bits will get in the way of masking etc. The black " smudges" on the sides are Mr Surfacer used to fill some sink holes. These are the only ones I have found so far. Hopefully not too many more. I used some Eduard photo etch enhanced with paint but the side panels are straight from the kit. The canopy locking levers are made from brass rod and a blob of putty as a knob.

Hi Nick, 2mm.

Hi Nick, yep that is the plan. Cut the bottom of the strut off and re-drill the axle hole. But then attach a brass tube ( my idea was to solder it) to keep the wheel hub at the correct distance from the strut. The oleo just needs to be cut off at both ends and a brass or aluminium tube, longer by the same length that the strut is shortened, with the leg drilled at both ends to accept the new oleo. Seems simple enough but I don't want to start if I can't be sure of a strong fit of any of it. Thanks for your comments, very helpful mate.

Thanks Carl. I agree with your assumption, they do feel like matchbox cars. I will wait until after our next meeting to see if someone local has a spare or broken leg to experiment on. Your kind offer is appreciated and I may well get back to you.

Thanks CBK, that is just what I need to find out. I don't have any spare legs to test though at this stage. I will ask around at my club and see if anyone there has a spare one. Thanks again, much appreciated.

Thanks Nick. The issue is not the oleo but the part below the oleo to which the wheel axle is attached. A consequence of reducing the size of the connecting piece, which is too long, will be an increase in the length of the oleo, which I can accomplish by cutting the oleo off, drilling suitable holes and inserting a tube or rod to make the new oleo. The issue is really cutting the bit below the oleo and then re-attaching a suitable axle attachment point that is strong enough to support the model and to allow for transport to shows. You are spot on about finding out about soldering, I am not going to start cutting until I know that it can be done. Thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated. Happy modelling.

I am planning on modifying the nose wheel leg on a Tamiya F-15E to correct the over-length strut from the bottom of the oleo to the wheel hub axle. Can anyone tell me whether it is possible to solder or braze these metal legs or a way that they have succeeded in fixing two parts together please? I haven't done any cutting yet but have worked out a way to do it. Just need a bit of information before I commit to the task. Happy modelling. Peter

Craftsmanship mate.

They generally wear slim pack parachutes but when seated would hardly be noticed, except for the harness.

Happy New Year. Any thoughts on doing some glider pilots for the Revell kits?