LSP_Kevin Posted November 22, 2011 Author Share Posted November 22, 2011 Hey, thanks for the feedback guys. Things are backsliding slightly at the moment. My attempt to clamp and glue the forward section of the gear bay to the wing didn't pan out too well. The epoxy glue I'm using (a relatively new pack of Araldite) is curing to a weird rubbery consistency, instead of the rock hard substance I'm used to. This normally means the glue is either not mixed properly, or not close enough to a 50/50 mix. But I'm pretty sure I had all this covered. Anyway, the force of the clamps I had on all day made the two parts slide apart, with the leading edge of the wing moving forward in relation to the wheel bay. Of course, I didn't discover this until the glue had gone off several hours later. I had to remove all the epoxy glue from the affected area (not normally something you can do if it's cured properly) and redo the join with copious amounts of CA.In the process, the other forward join on the wing centre section broke, and I've now ended up with this:Like with the 190S, Milliput should sort this out, and help reinforce the joins too. So I don't see this as a big deal (just a big pain!). What I don't have a ready answer for however is that a quick test fit of the wing into the fuselage shows that the engine plug completely blocks the proper installation of the cockpit tub (whether it be the kit one or the resin one from the Verlinden set). Here's an idea of how much it protrudes:I'm going to have to see if it's feasible to modify either cockpit to accommodate the engine plug. Any advice guys?Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 What a bummer. One problem after another. I feel your pain. The K-4 has not been an easy linear build. A lot of back and forth. About the engine block: Drill a hole in it so you can see its depth when sanding. Then you can plug the hole when finished. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted November 22, 2011 Author Share Posted November 22, 2011 About the engine block: Drill a hole in it so you can see its depth when sanding. Then you can plug the hole when finished. Thanks Mark. Unfortunately sanding down the rear side of the engine block isn't going to suffice, as I'd need to practically cut it down by half. The excess protrusion is at least 5mm, so I'm going to have to install a cockpit of some description 'around' it. Which may mean scratch building one (at least partly). And this was supposed to be the easier of my two 190 builds! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 I've managed to repair the broken bits on the leading edge of the wing:It needs a bit more finessing, especially in areas you can't see in the photo, but it's going to be fine. However, here's a couple of photos that show the issues the engine plug has caused:Unfortunately the shadows make it hard to see exactly how much the resin plug intrudes into the cockpit area, but if you compare it to the position of the tiny L-shaped shelf to the rear, or more obviously the rearmost exhaust opening to the front, you begin to get the idea. Another angle:There may be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel however. I've just done a quick eyeball comparison of the kit and Verlinden cockpits against the now-foreshortened space, and at the very least I think I'll be able to make the kit cockpit work with some surgery. So that's something. Not sure if I'm prepared to hack up the Verlinden cockpit tub, but I've probably got nothing to lose.However, I've also been struck by the perennial curse of resin wheel bays:Now that's a doozy of a gap! You can also see that the engine plug blocks the rear exhaust port. I'm not sure there's enough resin or plastic to remove to rehabilitate that yawning cavern, so things are about to get interesting!Stay tuned...Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Kev, from what I see, I would say you have a least 2 or 3 mm thickness on the sides so that should be enough I guess. Nice recovery as well on the broken parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Kev, from what I see, I would say you have a least 2 or 3 mm thickness on the sides so that should be enough I guess. Nice recovery as well on the broken parts. As it happens my friend you are in fact correct. I've already done one side, and a rough test fit shows that it's close enough for rock'n'roll. However, it has exposed a much more serious problem. The resin insert for the wing's centre section does not proceed forward at the correct angle to meet the fuselage. It bulges out and downwards to in fact miss it completely. Photos, when I get a chance to take them, will explain it much more clearly, but at this stage I really don't know how to get past this one. The distance it's off by is more than the thickness of the resin part itself. There's no opportunity to bend it back up, as it's locked in place by the presence of the wheel bay assembly. My only idea at the moment is to pack the area out with Milliput or plastic and sand the airport security out of it. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Would it be possible to cut the resin block right down to just above the level of the wheel bays, then glue a piece of plastic card in place, you might not loose any detail, and if you do you could always grime the area up, but pick out some of the detail by drybrushing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Would it be possible to cut the resin block right down to just above the level of the wheel bays, then glue a piece of plastic card in place, you might not loose any detail, and if you do you could always grime the area up, but pick out some of the detail by drybrushing? I'm not sure I'm understanding you correctly Andy, but I don't think it can be done. I've worked out that I can squeeze a modified cockpit in behind the engine plug by shortening either the kit part or the Verlinden part, and using the rear outside wall of the plug as the forward bulkhead/firewall for the cockpit. Maybe. The real issue now is making the forward wing section mate with the fuselage successfully (and not make it sound like animal husbandry...). I've filed down the wing roots and tops of the wheel bays to make sure the fuselage and wings and fit over them. Now that they do (more or less), this has revealed the extent of the wing centre's waywardness to be less that I first thought, so there's some hope. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 What I meant was if you were to cut the top off the wheelbay, so it's lower, then add a piece of card making a new bay roof, so to speak, quite a bit of work and you may damage the detail. Hope that makes sense... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 What I meant was if you were to cut the top off the wheelbay, so it's lower, then add a piece of card making a new bay roof, so to speak, quite a bit of work and you may damage the detail. Hope that makes sense... Yeah, that's what I figured you meant Andy. Too risky I think. Far easier and less problematic to cut up the cockpit at this stage. I don't think it'll be too bad actually, as I should only need to remove been 5 and 8 mm in length, most of which it tucked up out of view anyway. We shall see! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Hi Kev, Keep up the great work. Looks like there is still some problems to over come. Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 Here's the promised photo of the mismatch between the forward wing section and the fuselage:As you can see, the wing centre section is wandering off on its own, instead of rising up to meet the fuselage. I can force it up closer into position by about another millimetre, but that's it. The rest will have to be ground off and the part reshaped. I'm still wondering if it's worth the bother, especially given how easy it would be to completely destroy the general arrangement of the area. At this stage I'm just hoping it's not as bad as it looks. Any help or advice gratefully accepted!In the next photo I attempt to show how much of the kit cockpit would need to be removed for it to accommodate the resin engine plug:The faint pencil line is the rough demarcation point, but just forward of the central hump is the goal. I'll probably end up making this adjustment to the Verlinden part, as it has much better console detail and is more accurate for a D-series aircraft. But it will be a more difficult cut to make, as there's a great chunk o' resin involved. No point being precious about it!On a brighter note, I managed to find these Aber MK 108 barrels on my local eBay:Let's hope this build makes it that far!Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 Actually fellas, I think I may have found a solution! If I spread the forward fuselage apart, the wing section settles in nicely:I can't quite account for why, but I'm assuming it has to do with the resin wheel bays still doing some blocking. In any case, I think this is the way to go, as the resultant gap in the forward fuselage should be much easier to deal with than all that protruding resin. Beside, it should taper to a normal join at the nose anyway, so nothing too extreme. Hope returns!Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Excellent recovery job mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdthoresen Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Hey Kev, Nice work so far. that wheel well insert looks to be a thick piece of resin! I have been studying your fit problems, and when you said when you spread the nose a bit the wing dropped in, I went back and looked at the photo of the part. Could you possibly file down all of the sharp edges of the "engine box" to a slightly narrower profile, perhaps beveled or rounded to get the wing to fit the fuselage a bit better. I suspect that if you just beveled the edges, the more you got away with, the more the nose gap might close up. Just "spitballing" of course... Further more, as far as the cockpit tub, I would go ahead and cut that puppy off. You cannot see much past the instrument panel anyway on the -190, so I think you will get away with it just fine, particularly if you paint the outside of the wheel well black.... Keep up the good work. I like you approach to the older kits. We "Classic Bashers" have to stick together! THOR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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