TorbenD

my last built : 
 



 

 

 
 

Further progress... Preparations for the painting.
 

 
The A5M4 is assembled.
Then I took a brake from the A5M4 to start working on the carrier deck display base.
 

 
4 mm strips of balsa wood stained in different tones to make a natural wood deck.
 
 
 
 I couldn't resist to try the arrangement for the base.
 
Next the weathering: There are photos that suggest at least some of the A5M4 had some weathering..
 

 

 

 

 
These photos gave me the courage to start the weathering process. I didn't want to do another A5M4 which came right of the factory.
 

 
Continuing on with the salt weathering...
 

 
It's a mess but it does the job...
 

 

 

 
The result of the salt weathering...
 

 
Next I used some diluted clear orange with a mask, to add the shade of the lacquer at least used by some of the carrier based A5M4.
 

 
The engine has been fitted.
 

 

 

 
And the landing gear. I like the 'battered' worn look of the aircraft. After all I didn't want to do another 'shiny' A5M4 coming right out of the factory.
 
Cheers: Kent
 
 
 
 
 
 

Nakajima Kotobuki engine in the works...
 

 
Humble beginnings.. The gearbox of the engine in the High-Tech kit is replaced by a very nice resin part.
 

 
I've thinned the 'ring' almost into it's half, to get a better fit with the photoetched ignition wires.
 

 
Adding the 'push' rods, 0.4 mm  rod with hollow tube as sleeves, in both ends. Sparkplugs also added.
 

 
'Scratched'  back ring and cowling ring. The air intakes have been reshaped, They triangular shape to fit the space between the cylinders. + One additinal...
 

 
Phot of the A5M cowling shows the three intakes and their shape as well some more details.
 

 
The spark plug ring has been fitted + the back ring.
 

 
Cowling 'stringers' have been fitted. And Just for fun - The kit doesn't have any exhaust except the 'stubs' protruding from the cowling, so I experimented
to see if it would be possible to scratch some exhausts from stretched sprue. Again they will probably not be visible, But I know they are there. I think they
turned out ok. I will not hesitate if I ever again would need exhausts..
 
The propeller was 'puttied' for sink holes on the backside, and a big 'nut' has been added in front.
 
Cheers: Kent 

The Hi Tech parts of the kit. Resin and PE. Kit parts for cockpit walls and floor.
 

 
First I have thinned out the cockpit pieces as well as the fuselage, to avoid the 'double' layer in the cockpit area.
 
 

 

 

 
Drawings and a photo providing some info as to the layout of the cockpit.
 

 
I've put some stringers in the back, I don't know if they are going to show, probably not, but better safe than sorry..
 

 
Works on the right side of the Cockpit, adding some extra details, cables etc.
 

 
Same on the left side of the cockpit.
 

 
Details of the cockpit.
 

 
The resin Instrument panel is very nice in the 'high tech'. The floor has been converted as per drawings. Resin seat and the cockpit wall behind the seat.
 
Cheers: Kent

Just managed to squeeze in a small order of raised rivets - a real shame I couldn’t have stretched to invest in more of your great products to stock up for future builds.
 
All the best with your new venture - I’m sure the cats will love it!
 
Torben

IMHO they’ve absolutely nailed it... period. 
 
Having seen this in the flesh this weekend, from the correct raised rivets behind the cockpit to the accurate way panels on the rear fuselage overlap rather than butt join she’s a doozy! You can see the love and attention that’s been put into designing this. 
 
I hope it sells like hot cakes...
 
Torben
 
 

IMHO they’ve absolutely nailed it... period. 
 
Having seen this in the flesh this weekend, from the correct raised rivets behind the cockpit to the accurate way panels on the rear fuselage overlap rather than butt join she’s a doozy! You can see the love and attention that’s been put into designing this. 
 
I hope it sells like hot cakes...
 
Torben
 
 

IMHO they’ve absolutely nailed it... period. 
 
Having seen this in the flesh this weekend, from the correct raised rivets behind the cockpit to the accurate way panels on the rear fuselage overlap rather than butt join she’s a doozy! You can see the love and attention that’s been put into designing this. 
 
I hope it sells like hot cakes...
 
Torben
 
 

IMHO they’ve absolutely nailed it... period. 
 
Having seen this in the flesh this weekend, from the correct raised rivets behind the cockpit to the accurate way panels on the rear fuselage overlap rather than butt join she’s a doozy! You can see the love and attention that’s been put into designing this. 
 
I hope it sells like hot cakes...
 
Torben
 
 

IMHO they’ve absolutely nailed it... period. 
 
Having seen this in the flesh this weekend, from the correct raised rivets behind the cockpit to the accurate way panels on the rear fuselage overlap rather than butt join she’s a doozy! You can see the love and attention that’s been put into designing this. 
 
I hope it sells like hot cakes...
 
Torben
 
 

IMHO they’ve absolutely nailed it... period. 
 
Having seen this in the flesh this weekend, from the correct raised rivets behind the cockpit to the accurate way panels on the rear fuselage overlap rather than butt join she’s a doozy! You can see the love and attention that’s been put into designing this. 
 
I hope it sells like hot cakes...
 
Torben
 
 

IMHO they’ve absolutely nailed it... period. 
 
Having seen this in the flesh this weekend, from the correct raised rivets behind the cockpit to the accurate way panels on the rear fuselage overlap rather than butt join she’s a doozy! You can see the love and attention that’s been put into designing this. 
 
I hope it sells like hot cakes...
 
Torben
 
 

IMHO they’ve absolutely nailed it... period. 
 
Having seen this in the flesh this weekend, from the correct raised rivets behind the cockpit to the accurate way panels on the rear fuselage overlap rather than butt join she’s a doozy! You can see the love and attention that’s been put into designing this. 
 
I hope it sells like hot cakes...
 
Torben
 
 

IMHO they’ve absolutely nailed it... period. 
 
Having seen this in the flesh this weekend, from the correct raised rivets behind the cockpit to the accurate way panels on the rear fuselage overlap rather than butt join she’s a doozy! You can see the love and attention that’s been put into designing this. 
 
I hope it sells like hot cakes...
 
Torben
 
 

Planning on going both days so will deffo pop along to the Sig table. Looking forward to it

Planning on going both days so will deffo pop along to the Sig table. Looking forward to it

Time to make a mess! Work on the ventral fuel tank continues...The basic shape is now completed, but refinement is required.
 

 

 

 
Derek

She's up in the RFI, link here

Thanks everyone for all your help!

Final details are added before dealing with the patina.
There’s a rubber (?) shock-absorber installed on the windshield rear edge (red) and a leather coaming (green) on the cockpit opening.


 
Rolled wire simulating cables is added to the actuators on ailerons and elevators.




Serial number decals are added. The number is wrong for plane R-5 (should be 229) but… ah well.


 
PATINA TIME
In the case of our Belgian Fiat, it’s not so much to show wear and tear - the planes were almost new when they were destroyed-  than to accentuate the contrast and details of certain parts of the model and also to give an overall sheen to deepen the colours.
There are various techniques to achieve this but my two favourites are the wash and the filter both using W&N artists’ oil paint.
Here’s my palette for the patina work. 
The different ‘regular’ colour washes are contained in the surrounding wells.
In the center are dabs of paint straight from the tube ready to be mixed with Liquin for use with the pin wash technique.

 
A few pics after the first series of washes.
We’ll let a few days for the oils paint to settle down and will revisit the model with fresh eyes.










Until then,
Cheers,
Quang

The Fiat gets strutty 

Painting started;
Lower surfaces painted Medium sea grey.
 

Some progress 
Oil cooler is from Hasegawa kit.
Radiator is from Grey Matter set
Wingtip clear parts are from Tamiya spare box
I have used Tamiya s ventral tank.
 

Welcome back guys...
...  I present you with another mojo-sapping irritant.

Yes, widening the vertical fin also makes the fit of the rudder balance wrong.
 
So, I added a shim after sawing through the long-since-dried glue joint.

 
This took care of the port side shelf...  mostly.

 
But now I have some weird geometry happening.

Most of us know that one side of the rudder should be mostly flat.   with the port side having an arc to make up for the torque caused by the rotation of the engine and propeller.
 
So...  If I had my druthers...   and another un-touched rudder to assemble...   instead of inserting two rounded, and tapered bits of sprue.  I would have made a single, wider piece that was flat on one side in hopes of keeping the starboard side of the vertical fin flat.

The thought of tearing the vertical fin in half fills me with dread.  So, I'm just going to live with it.
But anyway...   you are forewarned.
 
...and another fly in the ointment...   All of the external surfaces have a fine texture.  I mention this because I am going to used HGW rivets.  I haven't used HGW transfers in quite a while (2-4 years).  But I do remember that they only want to stick to a very smooth (faultless) surface.  Are they any different, now?
 
Good luck, fellow G-14 builders....

Covid 19, holidays and illness have hampered me somewhat of late, however, some progress has been made (ejection seat completed). 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Derek

hi everyone thank you so much for stopping by and your kind replies
 
 
Hi Craig - I did consider 3D printing and I sort of tried it, but they are quite organic shapes and I am not very good at those so soon decided to just make and cast them like I did with the Spit
 
 
 
Thanks Andy - those pics are lovely - I really like they show the tonal difference in the stainless steel exhaust panel which is reassuring as I made this in PE out of laziness, but actually it is good having it in nickel silver as it contrasts with the litho
 
 
Hi Paul - thanks. Good question - I think it could work - I wanted to do an HK Lancaaster as a Lancastrian, or a B17 as a Boeing 307 Stratoliner, both of which would lend themselves well to skinning, but then if you tried it on say a Spitfire it might be a bit too hard as the compound curves would be pretty tight and I think skinning a smaller model would be pretty tricky. Not impossible, but hard I would say
 
 
Hi Tim - I am not sure what that is? I have my 3D designs printed, and as yet have not had to use a 3d print as a master for casting resin, but sure it would be pretty straightforward - that or resin printing is neither of these things in which case the answer must be no  
 
 
Hi Thomas - the trick to making holes & cut-outs is to do them first when you have more material in hand - just scoring around an access panel for example means I can drill a hole and score into the corners then hold the sheet in a hold & fold and neatly break out the panel. The flap ribs however were designed in PE so it may be you are seeing things I didn't actually make
 
I moved onto start skinning the upper nose - this is aa complicaated little area with the big caarb intake and two gun fairings meaning it's not a simple task. one plus is that the anti-glare panel is painted over this so I had decided to not try and skin the gun covers but see if I could get away with fairing them into other sheeted areas..
 
..first step was get a tape template of the central skin panel covering the carb intake & mark the rivet lines in situ so they are right vertically & horizontally..
 

 
..the template is removed and put on a sheet where the borders are scored, rivets added and in this case a Prestone access paanel cut out..
 

 
..with that panel laid down it sets the borders of the main upper cowling panels..
 
..same process repeated..
 

 
..both sides done at the same time so the rivet patterns carry over both sides & line up..
 

 
..those panels were made up - it took a few tries to get them right and good neat panel lines where they meet top and bottom..
 
..the black dyno tape is where I need to add material next time i try, and the top panel was perfect but I laid it down in the wrong position and it got stress wrinkles on removal so a hours work became scrap pretty quickly..
 

 
..when they were right they were fitted..
 
you can see where the gun covers have just been cut around and a small nose panel added & faired into the Carb intake casting at the front....
 

 

 

 
..then the skins were masked up ready to fill the gaps around the gun covers..
 

 

 
..filled and primed with mr surfacer but sanded back..
 

 
..and then a template used to score the panel line for the gun cover fairing..
 

 
..and the nose cap of the fairing scribed & the whole lot cleaned up - I aalso went over any rivets that needed it..
 
..not happy with how the raised rivets at the front of the main panel came out, but it is what it is...
 

 
..the panel behind this has two piano hinges, so I made up the full set and added the top one first, bordered by the hinges...
 

 
..then the side panels were added using the same masking & thin contact cement process..
 

 
...both side panels added..
 

 

 
..and the area is about as complete as I can get it before adding the wings & fillets as these need to be there for subsequent panels..
 

 

 

 

 
..I guess its wings on soon and working up the considerable wing fillets..
 
TTFN
Peter