scooternutz Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 (edited) Fixed the wheel well and my Zacto intakes arrived today. They are everything I could have hoped for and I am more than happy I placed the order. The packaging is top notch and the pieces are just the best. You have to see it to understand what a superb product this intake kit is. Now on to the chop shop! The top left cutout I scribed with a blade but I was putting too much pressure on the fuselage half. I could hear my wheel wells cracking. I decided to finish the cuts with my Dremel. I am not graceful with a Dremel at all. You can see my choppy cuts compared to the nice edge of the scribing. I knew I was going to do some filling and after dry fitting I knew that most of this would be hidden. As you can see I will have to re-scribe some panel lines but I cut these holes out in no time. The Zacto instruction are very clear when it come to what needs to be removed. Here on the top of the intake Zactoman wants you to save some of the air splitter edge to meld with his pieces. I am not that good at chopping a model so I cut the entire splitter off of the fuselage half. I will add some strip styrene to build the splitter so it works. If you looks real close you can see one of my dog hairs on the piece. My dog Kirby lies under my table and feels the need to shake and scatter fine dog hairs everywhere. Swiffer Duster is my best buddy for this. Edited August 2, 2014 by scooternutz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooternutz Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 To save any seam filling I may have to do after the intakes are on I decided to fill the holes level with the rest of the fuselage. This way the intakes will have a flat surface to mate with. I glueed some styrene sheet to the back to give me an anchor. I cut some ill fitted styrene to fill the holes and used some CA gap filler to seal it up. Sanded and done. It looks worse than it is. It is really smooth and blended. I will scribe some panel lines in later. Going to take a break for a bit. The pictures span about 5 solid hours of work and it was all cutting and sanding mostly. I am going to finish painting the wheel wells and add the little pieces and move on from there. Til next time.... Pfuf and Out2gtcha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooternutz Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 I want to add: If one decides to build this model with the Zacto intakes it is best to cut the holes before doing any work on the lower half fuselage. Tony T 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Taking notes, as I have the excellent Zactoman inlets with another set on the way ! Great build. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Great work! Told you, you would not be sorry with any of the Zacto products............the SU intakes of Chris were 1st rate, and the best money I spent on any of the AM for mine. I messed with my OOB intakes to the point where I wanted to ditch the build..................but the Zacto intakes pulled the build back from the brink and allowed me to finish with gusto....................I hope the same for you! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Smith Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Hi,i follow your build, a Sukkhoi,mmmmh I have some problem to close the fuselage with the resin bay from Wolfpack,maybe with Aires it's ok.... Jean-luc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooternutz Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 After a weeks travel to Florida and back I was itching to get back into my model. And my JH jig arrived while I was away. I assembled it the day before, sanded and put a coat of MinWax clear on it. I assembled my wings before I left and the time had come to glue them into place. I dry fitted, just the bottom half, for an hour, contemplating. Those that have built this one know where I am at. After shaving the Aires wheel wells and "ensuring" the top and bottom fuselage fit together I glued the wings to the lower half. I married them with the bottom seams and was feeling pretty confident. Dry fitting the top half the wing root doth not align at all my Lord!! I am freaking at this point. I mean freaking! The seam was too raised to fill or sand and the front slats would have never lined up. The Aires wheel wells were the culprit. The last thing I want to do is pop the wheel wells out and sand the back again. It is already paper thin on both of them. After popping the wells, no choice, out and trashing the lower half I decided to shave the walls of the wells. I would lose some detail but I really had no choice with my skill level. Remember these wells are painted and done. Shaving, sanding, removing old putty, and coming up with a new plan.... The wheel wells were so butchered at this point I used strip styrene to fill in some gaps. I was almost ready to salvage the OOB wheel wells or order some new Aires parts. You can see at the bottom of this picture just how thin I had to make that wall. Rather than use putty again, I filled in the gaps with styrene and CA gap filler. After I would apply the CA use some quick set in a dropper. At this point I did not care if the quick set drooled everywhere. Sanded and ready for whatever is next. Sanding took about two and a half hours due to not exerting too much force and cracking the wells off. Around 0045, early this morning, I washed everything up and am very relieved. The wells lost some detail on the edges and the Zacto intakes will cover most of the well up anyway. I have fitted the halves together and everything works. The wells are a few millimeters off from each other due to my poor chopping skills. Once fully assembled, this offset will be obscure. Till next time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooternutz Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Hi,i follow your build, a Sukkhoi,mmmmh I have some problem to close the fuselage with the resin bay from Wolfpack,maybe with Aires it's ok.... Jean-luc If I were to do this again I would stick to the wheel wells that came with the kit and add the detail. Thankfully the wheel well doesn't hold the main gear strut. I would worry that it would not hold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Chris Fantastic work on the front office and taking care of the nasty front windscreen seem as well. I've been switching over to Series 7 Kolinsky Red Sable brushes and while they need a bit of extra care, are in a class by themselves. Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavens Eagle Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 I have recently been using the Games Workshop brushes. Mainly the sizes 0 and 1. Have found that they hold and keep the real nice sharp points, flow paint well, and the tips don't curl. Have one size 0 that I have been using for a while now and it has been holding up quite well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyZeit Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 I also use the series 7 brushes had mine for a year and they show no signs of wear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrease Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Great work! This plane definitely takes a lot of patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooternutz Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 The top and bottom fuselage sections are together and I think that may be one of the hardest steps of this build. Clamps, quickset, glue, patience oh my! The halves went together but left some nasty seams on the top wing root. I added some putty to raise the wing a little and feathered it so it slopes down but makes the wing smooth. Only a little putty on the sides. Just glad this step is over. Now it is looking well on its way. Til next time... Girlscanplay2, Uncarina and Out2gtcha 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Nice!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Smith Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 A big bird !!! Clean Job !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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