Bstarr3

This is really impressive work, Pete. Love the detail! I've also been catching up in the general discussion thread on your exploits with the L-39 - very cool.

Nice work, Woody! Did you freehand that mottling, or use stencils or my dreaded scotchbrite pad?

For the DIY-inclined (I built my own spray booth, using the same plans as denders above), I ran across this amazing post on r/modelmakers: This genius built a downdraft right into his workbench! I’m considering doing this myself for my own new workspace after the move

The salt fading was one of the many things I was particularly impressed with and hope, in my own way, to emulate in my build (whenever I get back to it)

Well, sadly, this build is going on hold for the next few months (and just when I was getting into a flow!), as we've somewhat unexpectedly put our house on the market in order to relocate for a new job. So the junky modelling desk gets packed away, completed subassemblies and painted figures carefully put away for the next time. Hopefully, the next time I see you all, I will be posting some shots of my new and improved workspace in the new place.

Just wanted to bring this one back from the dead to say what an inspirational and educational build this was. I've got it bookmarked as a reference for my own F4U-1 that I've just gotten started. Really enjoy your builds, John!

Honestly, I’ve tried this a number of times but can never thin the scotch brite pad down enough without tearing it into little bits.

While I was puzzling about this motor issue and waiting for suggestions from the peanut gallery, I set about some figure painting yesterday. The kit pilot figure is actually pretty well molded for what it is. The detail is not as great as a resin figure, but looked like the face was well-sculpted enough that I could get a decent result with painting it. I’ve used this technique for my last few figures and been happy with the result. First I prime with Mr Surfacer 1500 black, then do zenithal highlights by spraying a light color - in this case MRP clear doped linen - from an angle above, creating highlights where they would naturally fall, and leaving shadows elsewhere. Then, I brush paint with Vallejo Model Colors, mixed with glaze medium. This creates a thin but even layer of color, through which the shadows and highlights show nicely. Here are the basic colors blocked in: I start with a base layer of brown sand on the face, then mix up a wet palette with sunny skin tone, brown sand, and buff, blending shadows and highlights between these three colors. that one brush is what I use for the whole figure, although irises of the eyes were done with a toothpick. here’s the finished work:

Thank you for this insight. I knew I’d get some engineer answers that I hadn’t even thought of. I assume the weight would be most effective at the tips of the propeller?

Telescoping brass rod is an idea. I’ll have to look at how I could rig that with a short distance. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks for the idea. Sadly, I think with the way I’ve already modified the kit part, I’m pretty well committed to a rigid connection, because the prop spindle no longer has anything solid to keep it in place against the front of the gear reduction housing, other than the motor shaft.

Beautiful work. And also, FYI, some of the best modeling YouTubes don’t have any narration at all…

Tonight’s update from the bench: Sadly, it appears that my proof of concept test was not rigorous enough. Although it spins the prop just fine, it seems my motor, in spite of all my efforts, is slightly off center. If I put the whole assembly together - motor, spindle, inside the gear reduction housing - nothing happens. If I remove the gear reduction housing, the spindle spins with the motor, but has a slight wobble on its axis, I’d estimate a half a millimeter to either side. Obviously this is keeping it from spinning freely inside the gear reduction housing. So, I ask the many professional engineers on this site: how would you tackle this problem? As I see it, I have to 1) ensure the motor is perfectly perpendicular to its baseplate, and 2) center the spindle exactly on the centered and perpendicular shaft of the motor. I’d appreciate any suggestions.

Che bella, Paolo! This really looks incredible, and the Tornado kit looks like a nice one. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what you did with the magnets on the canopy, but it looks ingenious. I'm trying some magnets on my current build so looking out for all the different ways people utilize them.

This just looks great, Chuck! No one would be able to tell how much you had to wrestle with this kit to get the final result