Grunticus

The Storch is all but finished. I am still awaiting AM for the intended next kit, so in the mean time I decided to start this one. It's been in my stash for years. I had it in my hand a few times but put it back. Not this time. I have read about the few caveats this kit has like needing to thin the sidewall mouns (thanks Mike @MikeMaben ) to have an easier closure of the fuselage and the wrong colour call-out for the radio rack. If you have any other inportant thing, please do mention them here. I have not decided on the finish yet, but the included decal options are not tempting to me. The only AM for this one will be Eduard Brassin wheels, and HGW seatbelts. Cheers!

I have been a bit busy and, well, it's done save a round of light weathering. Next up will be the RFI. Thanks for watching, I had mostly fun with this little booger (actually I was surprised how big it is). The pitot tube will be put on last. The yellow seems a bit orange in these photos, but that's just lighting. The Norwegian roundels are laser-printed and I used white disk decals as underlayment. The aircraft codes were also cut with the Sihouette ot of white decal paper. Cheers!

I thought I was the only modeller on the planet with that list in his head. I made a flowchart of it and made sure it always ends in "Yes", just to be on the safe side

The fuselage is nearing completion. I have already cut the code letters and white disks, and printer NoAF roundels in the apropriate sizes for this aircraft (600 & 900mm). I had a tough time getting the engine and cowling assembled. In the end I cheated and removed the exhaust manifold from the engine and glued the exhausts themselves to the inside of the engine panel. Still a lot of sanding and puttying was required. My fears for smudging on the inside of the canopy came ut true alas. Not much can be done here. I added an extra brass rod at an angle to make a strong connection for the elevator. Now I have started finishing the wing seam puttying, and am preparig various struts. Cheers!

This is museum-quiality....art really. Mind-boggling what you are doing here.

Great job on that gear!

My favorite plane done justice with this spectacular finish. Great job.

The method with superglue and baking soda worked pretty well, I am surprised by how close it reacts like plastic when sanding. The shape is still off, but I managed to restore it nearer to what it should look like. The engine's in also. I's tight fit in every respect. It's far from perfect but not much will be seen anyway. The door is done. When I removed the tape there was a lot of residu on the windows, both on the Eduard-side and the homemade side (Tamiya sheet sheet). I hope this is not the case on the greenhouse. I could remove it easily with turpentine but the greenhouse is no longer accessible of course. I am filling the seams on the wings and started painting the stabilizers / rudders, slats and flaps. I will probably get around to painting the fuselage tomorrow. Cheers!

It's the same for me as most. I forget all the stress I feel from life / work things when at the bench. I always have an 80s radiostation playing when modelling and feel absolutely liberated from whatever burdons me. It recharges my batteries.

Before I attempt another repair (after I watch some tutorials) I set my mind on something different: the elevators. From Paolo's thread Iearned the tab and slot solution offered by the kit is unrealistic as there is a gap between elevators and fuselage on the real thing, to which they were attached with tubing. I had already seperated the elevators earlier. I have sanded the elevator's forward edge round, and the receiving end on the stabilizers concave, with the dremel, round files, sandpaper and lastly swipes with cottonswabs drenched in nailpoish remover. This gave a more realistic look than straight edges, especially since I want to let the elevator droop, like often seen on parked Storches without gust-locks. The right one received the same treatment of course. The look I want to achieve on the finished model: I drew a pencil line right through the middle of the filled in slot and drilled holes for the elevator shaft and the satbilizer attachment points, and pushed three brass rods throught the holes all the way through. I miss-drilled once but simply glued some stretched sprue in, let that dry, and re-drilled in the correct position. In the end they came out pretty even. I then drilled corresponding holes in the elevators and stabilizers. A first test-fit revealed it was all right. It's a little bit too tight in this photo below, so I sanded some more off the elevator and deepened the concave on the stabilizer a little bit more, and now all is good. Not too shabby Cheers!

Thank you for this suggestion Derek. I have this at home and will experiment a bit as I've never tried this method before. I have read the combination can be used for seams, but not for build-up. I will use some scrap part and see if this could be done by me. Thanks!

I can only concur, the best I have seen on a Tomcat model so far!

Looking good! I think you could get away with using the molded on belts.

The two part epoxy came loose while reshaping it. I will leave this self-inflicted fatal flaw as is and coninue my journey of gettting a NoAF Storch on the shelf. I have also enrolled myself into a highly regarded course where one is expertly trained in distinguishing up from down, to avert mistakes like this in the future.

Thanks Brian. For me it's at least once per build, but I don't let that deter me. It's just my nature alas.

No, plain old stupidity Edit: this has to harden 12 hours, and then I will try to reshape it. It's not a disaster yet.

Yes.... Obviously I'm an idiot. I'll see what I can do.

Rafju, thanks! I had not noticed. I modified it a bit with file and sandpaper, it looks more like the real one now. Cheers!

Your paint work is absolutely phenominal.

Rafju, do you mean the tiny chip on the edge?

Incedible weathering, so subtile and realistic! Well done.

Beautiful and different looks! Very well done.

Wow, an S-3, great (really)! I hope an S-2A Tracker will follow one day....

The other side was done in the same way, but almost no force was needed. The glazing is now installed completely, but some seams need a bit of work. All in all fit is not bad at all. I thinned the plastic on the inside of the openings on the cowling pan for a more scale-like appearance. Most engine parts are painted up and ready for assembly. Looking at photos there are many color variations to be found for the engine area. I just picked one.

I've made a glass dome from heated clear sprue pushed in to a 2mm drawing template. Looks okay this way. The last bits have been installed inside the cockpit and canopy. Time to close it up and sigh with relief. The chain mechanism is not completely in the correct position, but it was the only way it would fit and give the impression of the real thing, and I'm not prepared to reposition those tiny parts. The canopy does not fit naturally and the rear base end, it's too narrow. I have rigged it up with elastic bands, one clamp and a toothpick that acts as a lever until things lined up on the left side of the rear canopy, and at the windshield-end. I then applied Tamiya thin cement to the seams, let that to work the styrene for a while and lastly pushed everything firmly together. I will leave that to dry throroughly and then repeat for the right side. A little crazy this way, but it seems to work. Glued: Not glued (yet): And pray that the seats won't come loose which one did before. Cheers!