spacewolf Posted October 4, 2009 Author Share Posted October 4, 2009 Well, after several hours hunched over and totally focused I managed to get something that I think looks ok. Sorry I can't get better shots, my camera doesn't have the ability to do real closeup stuff. I painted the belts with a blend of Vallejo white and Tamiya red brown to get an off white. The leather was the red brown and the metal was picked out with Testors chrome silver. Not too bad for a first try I think, but constructive comments are always welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 4, 2009 Author Share Posted October 4, 2009 With the cockpit seat belts done it was time to button the fuselage up. Once the cockpit was in I glued the fuse together with Tenax, The tail was all set so I set about putting it on. A bit of warning here, the tail is designed to snap into place with bars on the inside of the fuse that fit into slots on the tab of the tail piece. During test fitting I found the fit was loose so I trimmed the bars off and again test fitted it. There was still a bit of trimming needed on the joins of the tail piece where it meets the fuse..a bit of work with a hobby knife and it was a smooth tight fit all round. I put it in place and ran Tenax into the seam. Pressing it together the melting plastic bubbled out, the sign of a good join. Again, be sure the top and bottom seams line up or you'll have a cockeyed tail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 4, 2009 Author Share Posted October 4, 2009 A little clean up with a file and you'd never know the seam was there. Sure looks like a 109 to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Nice work with the belts and pit Vaughn! Nice progress! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Slow going today. I wasn't happy with the detail on the rear deck of the cockpit so I started looking on the net for images. I sanded off the detail on the kit to smooth the area and am in the process of filling and sanding the fuse, a few shallow sink marks here and there, The holes you see are for the huge tabs on the canopy but the one on the right side (where the canopy hinges) has no tab on the canopy so I'm filling that with plastic. Once everything is smooth I'll start building in the detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 After finding some pics online I cut a new access panel and glued it in place. Wire was used to represent the spring loaded rods for jettisoning the rear part of the canopy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Nice work mate! The Macchi had the same horrible, over-sized holes for the canopy lugs - both for capturing the windscreen in the fuselage, and allowing the main portion to hinge. I let them be on that build, but I'd be tempted to delete them next time. Will you be using the kit decals? I'm really interested to see if they're as good as the ones in the Macchi were. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Nice work mate! The Macchi had the same horrible, over-sized holes for the canopy lugs - both for capturing the windscreen in the fuselage, and allowing the main portion to hinge. I let them be on that build, but I'd be tempted to delete them next time. Will you be using the kit decals? I'm really interested to see if they're as good as the ones in the Macchi were. Kev I'm going to be using most of them with custom additions that are being made by a friend of mine, It should look look like this ; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 The supercharger intake is a problem if you don't want to build a desert version. The sand filter is a wonderful part that captures the look of the real thing, but the regular intake was clipped for it, leaving you with a flat faced opening with a deep groove around it. Another odd thing that makes me think they had more things planned for the kit is the detail on the side of the cowling....even though the intake is closed off, the intake fan for the supercharger is there... To fix the problem I cut a piece of sheet to fit and using the old way of making holes, twirled a #11 blade till I had a hole and then finished it with round files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 Once the opening matched the intake I glued the part on and gradually trimmed it down to a smooth join to the kit part. A bit of putty and some sanding gave me the right look. Just for fun I opened the tube to the supercharger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Once again, great work Vaughn! I probably wouldn't have picked up the issue with the supercharger intake, so thanks for the alert. I really admire the effort and work you're putting into this build. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 A word of warning to those who may build or be building the kit, The supercharger intake is bigger than the mounting area on the cowl, when you line up the top seam, the bottom edge overhangs a bit, at least it does on my kit. Be sure and check before you glue... or you'll end up like I did, trimming and sanding the part once it's on the cowl ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 Once again, great work Vaughn! I probably wouldn't have picked up the issue with the supercharger intake, so thanks for the alert. I really admire the effort and work you're putting into this build. Kev Thanks for your kind words and you're welcome. I'm having fun with this and I like changing/ modifying things. This has been more of a challenge for me as all my ref. books are in storage, waiting to be sent out here, so a lot of my time is spent searching for pics on the net. Yes I could buy books, but I don't want to buy books I already have. It's been a learning curve in many ways. When I went looking for pics and drawings of the intake I was amazed how many drawings were different, even pics of different aircraft showed subtle differences. I had to sort of 'average' what I found to what 'looked right'. Also the intakes got banged around a lot, very few of them stayed smooth for very long, so a few dents, dings and scratches would be 'scale' ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 With the fuselage just about done I started on the wing again. The openings for the fuselage gun shell casings was opened and lined with heavy foil. The stiff aluminum foil came from a frozen Italian meal I got at the grocery store. I cut thin strip and wrapped it around a square file, trimmed the long end and superglued the piece into place. Be careful opening these square holes as you end up cutting into the supports for the landing gear alignment rods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 As I won't be using the drop tank fairing I needed to fill the alignment holes. Thankfully the pins on the part are over long so enough can be cut to fill the holes and leave more than enough on the part. I did the same with the holes in the wings for the under wing cannon just out board of the wheel wells. Once dry, a bit of putty and it's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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