Planet Models XF5U-1 - FIN!

[scvrobeson]

This is an interesting topic on the whole walkway thing, hopefully you can get it all figured out for your build.

 

 

 

Good luck on the Reno trip. I know there is a model contest being held that same weekend in Reno, might be a fun stop

 

 

 

Matt

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks again guys and gals!

 

 

I think those areas are temporary protective coverings taped on to the aircraft so the techs can work on it without damaging it. Many aircraft have those during construction.

 

 

Ive come to that same conclusion Jessie. I came to that conclusion not only based on the nature of the work going on on the project, but also the fact that if you look closely, the walkway patters are different from pic to pic, also suggesting temp taped on walk ways.

 

Cool Matt, I'll have to check that contest out!

 

*EDIT* Reno contest is 9/7 the day before we leave.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Out2gtcha

[Guest Peterpools]

Brian

SWEET. Totally enjoying your work and ingenuity. Nothing ever seems to be easy but without any question, you sure have the Flying Pancake under control

Keep 'em coming

:popcorn:

[Guest Jessie_C]

Ive come to that same conclusion Jessie. I came to that conclusion not only based on the nature of the work going on on the project, but also the fact that if you look closely, the walkway patters are different from pic to pic, also suggesting temp taped on walk ways.

It might be fun to put some on your model. Army green tape, black canvas coverings, open hatches with tools and wires aroundabouts. Mr pilot could be in there ready to do a test engine run.

Edited September 4, 2013 by Jessie_C

[Derek B]

Coming along very nicely (and quickly) Brian...Russ would have approved

 

Derek

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks guys and gal. Now that I have a bit of possible bench time again, I can and will hopefully get back to this  thing. 

 

I also got the MD USN pilot in while I was a way, so now I can officially start sizing up the fit of a more correct/appropriate sized pilot for the XF5U. I also painted some panels around the exhaust Sea Blue, as well as the intakes and spinners. Hopefully will be able to progress a bit further this weekend -

[TaffyMan]

Verrrrrrry cool project Brain - And rapid progress

 

A plane I don't know a lot about? So am watching with great interest – If you got the pilot, we will soon see some character painting – Oh that wil be fun to watch.

 

Nice - very different from the big silver bird. Looked like a nice road trip to Reno! Liked the pics a lot.

 

Happy Days - Taff

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks Taff!

 

 

Well Im home now, and have gotten to have a little "breakfast" AKA modeling time with the Pancake.  Work proceeds now.................

I got home to find the correct True Details pilot I ordered had arrived, so I started fitting him. He is MUCH shorter than the modern pilot but does fit much better to this point. He also has a butt mounted WWII style chute, which I can cut down a bit if needed, if I run into any issues fitting the canopy later -

 

 

 

 

 

Next I  deviated a bit from not only my normal MO for building but from the PM directions a bit too. Mainly this is because of the need for it. The first need is that the exhausts are mounted in a tight exit hole, surrounded by air-frame colored panels. So how to paint these exhausts nicely without having to mask them off after the fact , and having them look like a mess with no dark sea blue up agaist them?  Paint the surrounding panels DSB first before the exhausts are applied, then just mask off those two panels when shooting the air-frame. Got them masked and primed in Tamiya find white, then later shot in Navy DSB -

 

 

Then next reason to deviate from the directions was the engine inlets. Let me explain - The "flying saucers" as I call them (AKA the bulbous, round intakes/fans for the two engines) have to be painted prior to installation..........there is just NO way around it; however, one also has to install the round resin "sleeves" that they mount to...................however THOSE have to be sanded smooth with the joints of the air frame AND painted as well. 

 

So then HOW do you paint and finish the flying saucers when they are not only directly in the way of sanding smooth the intake openings, but they also prevent you from painting the opening around the flying saucers?

 

 

Well I found a solution........................I cut two panels out of the bottom to access the back of the engine inlets to help with installation. marked off the panels to be cut out with Dymo tape. You can also see the two exhaust panels now finished in Navy DSB -

 

 

Then, once they panels were cut, I laid some styrene strip inside the edges to prevent them from falling inside once installation began -

 

 

The cuts actually turned out pretty well, and the fit is good when the panels are replaced, and should not take too much work at all to get then glued in and smoothed, after the intakes are secure -

 

 

Inside fit - Here the resin was SO thick, I had to use a Dremel tool to grind away some of the material prior to using a marker to make sure each side was clearly marked for which side -

 

 

Next up a bit of BAD news - The damn intakes/flying saucers didnt actually fit into the holes once the intake sleeves were glued in.       

 

 

Well, I found a solution to that too. What I did was attach some Tamiya strip take to each side of each intake and let them dangle there inside the holes temporarily while I will later glue the body halves together. Once the main air-frame halves are glued together, the intake sleeves sanded smooth, and painted, I will use the tape to maneuver the intake saucers to their final positions. then remove the tape, and glue in the panel covers. 

 

Pictures may be better at conveying what I mean -

 

 

 

You can see the sleeves the flying saucers (as well as the painted saucers inside the airframe too) attach too here, though they are only glued to the bottom (top in this pic actually) at this point for dry fitting -

 

 

All for now folks. Ill be back on this tonight for a bit and hopefully will have the two air-frame halves glued together before the weekend is over

 

Cheers,

 

 

[Guest Peterpools]

Brian

Nice to see you back in the saddle and back working on the Pancake. Some pretty neat solutions to some bad problems.

Keep 'em coming

:popcorn:

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks Peter...............I really was actually planning on moving faster than this on this one, but as the nature of the beast with limited run / limited fit kits like this, as there is always stuff to do to get it to look the way you want in the end.

 

Its not going to be perfect, but this isnt really being built as a contest model, but more for the fun of it, and cause I love the unusual air-frame.

 

Cheers

[Guest Peterpools]

Got Ya

[Out2gtcha]

Spent last night gluing the top and bottom halves together. Now fully glued and secured. Smoothing of the intakes has now begun and is coming along nicely IMHO. 

 

One thing great about resin kits, (and the PM resin is no exception) is they respond wonderfully to CA. The joints come out very strong indeed, and with a bit O Mr Surfacer, they completely smooth out and disappear without re-appearing later or cracking apart.  The PM resin is actually quite flexible and not brittle at all. So far so good, and will post some more pics tomorrow.   

 

Hopefully, I might even have the intake "saucers" glued if I can manage to prime the intake tunnels. Ill prime and paint the intake tunnels then glue in the saucers, with access help from the panels I cut out, then mask off the paint from damage, then continue assembly from there. I will sand and smooth the removed access panels prior to starting the air-frame priming overall.

 

Pics to come!

 

Cheers,

Edited September 25, 2013 by Out2gtcha

[DougN]

Looking good so far!  I really like seeing the problem solving skills at work, as that is usually the most helpful part of any WIP for me

 

Doug

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks Doug. I seem to always end up having to make some contraption, or use some unorthodox procedure to complete the build like I want. This build it seems is no exception. At the same time I painted the intake saucers, I also got the major painting done on the prop hubs/spinners -

 

 

Im definitely not 100% happy with them, but for this build Im really not worrying about it that much TBH.

 

After a major filling/sanding/filling/sanding session, I also knocked out the wood grain portion of the props -

 

 

I moved on to get the air-frame halves glued in their permanent positions. This took a bit of finagling to get the halves to line up, but I was most concerned about the panel lines lining up around the demarks where the halves meet. I used the "spot weld" technique and went around in critical panel line-up areas and CAed little areas, area, by area. This way I could tweak the airframe a bit to get things to line up, as normal with any resin build. Once I had things spot welded around the edges, I went back around the whole circumference and laid in some medium CA, then once dry, slathered on some Mr Surfacer 500 -

 

 

 

 

 

You can clearly see here while sanding and smoothing the intake tunnels, how difficult if not impossible this task would be with the intake saucers glued in place let alone fully painted (as they almost certainly have to be in order to get paint in all areas on them) -

 

 

MORE........................

 

[Out2gtcha]

After the MS 500 hardened off, I sanded things down to reveal a super smooth and completely undetectable joint -

 

 

 

After things set up, I started dry fitting the empennage; such as it is on the XF5U. Things actually fit quite well for a resin kit. You have to remember this is no Tamiya wonder kit, and is a limited run resin deal with DYI finishing and fit. YOU have to make it as smooth/seamless as you care to.

 

I used a small bit of wooden mixing sticks CAed together to make a spacer to go on top of the tail wheel well, to keep the 1/2s apart the proper distance for the elevators. They seem to fit ok and will be just fine with a bit of sanding and filling -

 

 

I also  test fit the ailerons, and those too, although not perfect, also fit well for an initial dry fit with no shimming, trimming or sanding done yet. This thing sure will be interesting looking once done -

 

 

 

After sanding smooth the MS 500, I decanted some Tamiya fine white, and shot it at very low PSI into the intake tunnels to (as Iain would put it) "see what were looking at" - 

 

 

 

 

 

Turns out, not as bad as I feared. There are just 1 or 2 minor areas still left to fill on each intake tunnel  -

 

 

After the pic was taken, I filled all these areas with some thick brush on MS white base 1000.  After a day or two to let everything else harden up, I will decant some more Tam fine white primer and go over the intakes (hopefully) for the last time before applying the DSB.

 

 

 

Cheers,