Vandy 1 VX 4 Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 (edited) Good Guy!! Great products!!! I know as I have a lot of them Edited December 24, 2012 by Vandy 1 VX 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 It has been some time since I posted progress on this project... I got caught up in several really good books and had trouble breaking away to work on the kit... I finally got myself back to the bench and started working on the interior fuselage and cockpit... below you can see right side of the fuse out wall with two Tamiya black boxes as well as some nice Eduard past ons... Here we can see the left interior wall of the fuselage... I really like the Eduard paste-ons... they're fun to apply and add nice visual interest... I applied the ones that I could manage and figure out... I actually like the stock control panels that Tamiya supplies and would have been pleased to just stick with the OOB panel, but for this kit I went AM as an experiment... Below is the Eduard control panel... It was way fun to put together and has marvelous detail... I tried spotting some Future on the dials to give a glass cover appearance, but I am not sure I was successful... the future seemed to dissipate... Nevertheless, I am pleased with the panel! Finally, I completed the pilot's seat too... As a result of Barracudacast's generosity, I was sent a new seat gratis to replace the one I botched up. This time I extricated the seat from the block without breaking off the back pieces; however, I managed to saw out a bit of the bottom of the seat leaving a hole... obviously still working on my resin extrication skills... Nevertheless, with some Evergreen strips and putty I repaired the seat bottom and as you see below, we are good to go... (you'll note I left the bracings and flash on the back to support the delicate back pieces until I am ready to mount the seat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloorwestSiR Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Hi Mitch, Looks great so far. I have a pair of these started and just received a couple more. The Eduard stuff is definitely nice and when you combine it with the Barracudacast bits, really make for an great looking cockpit. Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 Made some more progress on the office this morning... Some thoughts have occurred to me while building this kit: Choosing to go after-market adds a significant measure of complexity to the build work-flow... Organizing when to insert AM pieces is a challenge because of the multiple sets of instructions... I suppose a really organized modeler should note-out in the master instructions where to insert AM bits and pieces... I, on the other hand, having been flying by the seat of my pants... There is overlap between really good Tamiya parts, Eduard PE and Barracudacast resin... For me, more thought up front before purchasing all this AM stuff may have saved me some money... More importantly, I note, especially with the Eduard PE set that I am staying away from the add-ons that are really too tiny for my inability to handle them. Then it finally occurred to me that my various tweezers are not fine enough to do this work... they're sort of like trying to play the kids game Operation with your thumb and forefinger... This morning I ordered a set of watch-maker's forceps, which hopefully will enhance my capabilities at working with really small stuff... Last night I did an initial examination of the HGW microtextile harnesses and there is no way I could tackle those fine buckles without better tweezers... The instructions for the HGW harness are, to me, incomprehensible, and I am really not a stupid guy... are there any tutorials out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 Hi Mitch, Looks great so far. I have a pair of these started and just received a couple more. The Eduard stuff is definitely nice and when you combine it with the Barracudacast bits, really make for an great looking cockpit. Carl Thanks for looking in Carl... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 some minor surgery and the resin seat mounts nicely into the bulkhead... waiting for watchmaker tools before I tackle the harnesses... hopefully tomorrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daywalker Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Good to see this one again Mitch! Just received the masks I need for mine in the mail today, can't wait to get back to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Mitch Same here, nice to see you back at the Spit. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 Mitch Same here, nice to see you back at the Spit. Peter Good to see this one again Mitch! Just received the masks I need for mine in the mail today, can't wait to get back to it. Thanks for keeping up with me... got distracted by family, sci fi, murder mysteries, and spy stories, as well as a trashed resin seat... back on track now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 It seems everyone of these kits built here , has been a sweeta$$ beautiful build, and this is no exception. Just wonderful !..............Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 Below are two shots documenting the completion of the seat belt/harness portion of the Spit's cockpit... These were micro-textile belts manufactured by HGW out of the Czech Republic... As I recollect, I had to order them on Ebay. This was the first time I ever tackled anything quite like micro-textiles and PE fixtures... The very fine plain weave fabric was printed on the side meant for visualization. The underside of the fabric was undyed and showed tiny warp and filling thread interlacings that would actually appear out of scale. The various sections of the belts had to be cut from the base fabric it was printed on and then interlaced through various buckles and fasteners. Initially, I found the instructions incomprehensible, but after a night's sleep and focused concentration, I finally figured out what to do. I mentioned in an earlier post that I ordered a set of fine watchmaker's forceps to do this job... they made a huge difference... HGW supplies you with a pair of belts, which is good because I lost a couple of fixture/buckles to the ether... I also recut a couple of belt sections that I was not happy with initially after the first cut... Consequently, I could not build another set of harnesses, but that is ok, because I don't anticipate building another Spit anytime soon. I coated the belts with a Lifecolor brown wash to darken and soil them up a bit... Overall, I was delighted with the outcome and actually surprised that I could work at this micro-level... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinuheH Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 That belt really looks good, as does the cockpit instrument panel! Having nearly completed my Tamiya Spit (without any AM - complex enough for me as is) - I was struck by the number of tiny parts included in this kit and the dexterity required to mount them correctly - and here I was thinking that a move to 32 scale would alleviate my aging eyesight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdeanstrauss Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 That belt really looks good, as does the cockpit instrument panel! Having nearly completed my Tamiya Spit (without any AM - complex enough for me as is) - I was struck by the number of tiny parts included in this kit and the dexterity required to mount them correctly - and here I was thinking that a move to 32 scale would alleviate my aging eyesight Thanks for looking in... I really like 32 scale, but as you suggest a premium outfit like Tamiya offers some diminutive parts... they stretch my capabilities and aging eyes too... I frequently use my lighted magnifying glass, or throw my glasses off and get my nose down on the parts... The AM parts add some further depth; however, they do drive the cost up and some of it is so small, that, at least for me, is marginally useable... I am constantly impressed by the guys on this site who add in all this other scratch stuff like cables, hoses, wires etc., but as my 13 year old pointed out when we were looking over one of the WIP's, "dad you can't hang with those guys," which I have accepted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinuheH Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Thanks for replying - I have to agree with some of the scratch building work on this site - way beyond my skills, scope and available time - joy to watch though. Look forward t seeing more of your build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Mitch Nice job in tackling the belts .. they look spot on. Right now, I still use RB belts and find them very easy to use ... especially with the belts being pre-stamped and cut. I understand the HGW belts can now be purchased the same way, making life a lot easier. Totally agree about the instructions. Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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