Cap'n Wannabe

Yes, I'm excited! Tomorrow at 11:00, I'll be at Riddel airfield to get up close and personal with this.. The owner posted a photo on FB the other day, so I contacted him. He's invited me out to have a close look at the aircraft!

Most of my parts hit the plastic carpet protector then shoot forward under the desk. Or one of the cats gets 'em..

Geez, that's some great work there, Hubert! I'd certainly be tempted by a 1/32 Mystery Ship, should you finish your corrections.. Unfortunately, I couldn't find many images of the cockpit on the internet - those that were available were from flight simulator aircraft, so I'd say mine's pretty inaccurate!

....and here's the cockpit mostly assembled.. The other side..

The kit wheels and spats.. What I'm planning to do is cut the wheels in half, then remove the short axle from them. This will facilitate assembling the spats first, then I can paint them separately...it'll make masking much easier. (I speak from experience here!) I've cut two lengths of 1.5mm dia rod to substitute for the axles, and they'll be glued in when I assemble the spats.

And, of course, five seconds after writing the above, I found the seat. Here's a pic of what I've done so far. I *may* even get this done for expo.. From left to right.. Cockpit sidewall with throttle quadrant Cockpit sidewall with map case (couldn't think of anything else to put there..) IP prior to cutting it down to size Rear bulkhead Cockpit floor Seat Joystick

So I decided to start working on a Testors 1/48 Travel Air Mystery Ship. Those of you familiar with the kit will know that the cockpit detail is non-existent....with that in mind, I decided to scratch build the cockpit. Things were travelling along quite nicely - I'd finished the rear bulkhead, put in some sidewall detail (using a considerable amount of imagination, as there's bugger all on the internet..), done a floor, the back part of the IP, just about finished the joystick, and finished the seat. This morning I was test fitting the seat to see how well it fit into the cockpit (and maybe sand it back a touch..) when I dropped it. Now a cockpit seat is a reasonably large part....and I can't find the damn thing! FAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRKKKKKK!!!!

Well, I put this baby back in the box on Saturday arvo, the put the box back in the cupboard (along with a 1/72 "Mobil" Mustang I'm building with my own decals, but that's another story..). Then I pulled them both back out on Sunday morning. I *won't* let this beat me! This morning, I went to the not-so-local hobby shop (across the other side of town, and then some..) and picked up some extra-fine Milliput. Why? After pondering the situation with the rear window for a while, I figured the best way would be to vac-form a replacement. In order to do that, I've taped the fuselage sides of my *other* kit (hehehe...yes, I have two of 'em!) and filled the rear window hole with Milliput such that it stands proud of the rear window. After it hardens, I'll sand it flush, and voila! I'll have a form from which to make a female mould. Then I'll ask my good mate (I hope he reads this..) George to vac me a couple of replacements with his you-beaut vac machine. That's the plan, anyhow..

That looks sensational!

That engine looks fantastic!

Maybe acetate sheet....I'm not sure about CD case as the window has a compound curve....but it's got me thinking..

That'd be great if you could, Brad..

Thanks for the comments gents....I think the difference between appearances of spruce and birch are negligible, so I'll go for a light woodgrain colour. Never done it before, so it'll be a good learning experience for me!

That's my understanding, too....and I'd really like to prise Der Clunkmeister's kit from his grasp! lol Mine's 1/16, which is made from plastic.

Yes I was. And more importantly, how to replicate it in plastic!

Mine's all plastic - I was wondering about the wood to get the colouring right. Yours might be a different brand, maybe Model Expo? That kit has all wood/metal construction....and it's made from Birch.

....a Hasegawa 1/16 Sopwith Camel, and I was wondering... What type(s) of wood were used in its construction? Can anyone shed any light?

And now onto another problem.... The side and rear windows don't fit properly. I can live with the side windows, but the rear one is just terrible. How can I scratch build a new window???

You should've seen it earlier...It was supposed to be my first aerobatics lesson, too!

Here's me. Didn't get to fly on the day, unfortunately..

Thanks Wolf. I'll check 'em out.

G'day all....does anyone have any suggestions or know where I can find appropriate harnesses for the Revell 1/32 Super Cub? I'm happy to go with what's moulded into the seats, but I'd prefer something a little more realistic..

Thanks gents...I've ordered two sheets from Archer, we'll see how I go!

OK, I've been verrrrry slowly working on this as time and motivation allow, and I have to make a decision. There are lots of rivets on the top surface and sides of this model, but none underneath, and I'm not sure whether to remove them all, and just scribe the bottom of the fuselage, or get the dry transfer rivets. Having never used the dry transfers before, I'm a bit wary of them, but at the same time, it'll be an awful lot of work to remove the existing rivets....so.....what would you gents do?

Thanks Jim. On the lookout now...