Wolf Buddee Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Amazing work here too Karim! The Tamiya Tomcat is a great kit but it does need some tender loving care to address some of it's shortcomings but you seem to have it handled very well indeed. Wonderful! Cheers, Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Intakes are great ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karimb Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Good evening guys... gonna answer the comments and then on with the evening post... Thanks for checking in Karim Terrific plan and execution .. the intakes look perfectly smooth. Aces on the progress Keep 'em coming Peter Peter, thanks... well i am glad things worked out at least 'according to plan'... i was darn worried the acetate might react weirdly to the lacquer.... Thanks for taking the time to drop a word Anything new with the seversky? I like your intakes Karim. I did something very similar with a 1/32 F-4 many years ago (I remember using 0.5mm thick plastic card for that). Keep up the inspirational work Karim Derek Derek thanks... I hope the WIP will encourage some of the guys that have this kit in the stash to start working on it. Its alot of work but im sure the result is gonna be pretty good at the end, worth all the effort... Thanks for leaving a word Karimb, nice fix on the intakes ! I like your thinking......Harv Lol Harv, thanks Great fix on the intakes. Looking forward to your next update. Merci Pascal... this update is going to be a short one though. Life's 'real' issues kicked in a bit today and got me distracted from the kit Amazing work here too Karim! The Tamiya Tomcat is a great kit but it does need some tender loving care to address some of it's shortcomings but you seem to have it handled very well indeed. Wonderful! Cheers, Wolf Wolf, thank you for the kind words...the kit overall is actually very enjoyable to build. alot of shortcomings as you put it though...now the trouble coming ahead is the painting lol its a BIG model... Intakes are great ! Loic thanks Well, lets have that evening update then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karimb Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Good evening everyone... Sorry todaya the update is going to be a bit on the short side... today had some things to urgently attend to in relation with my work and the move in January... That kept me away from working on the model until after lunch, so i had a shot all afternoon at finishing the stuff i could finish today. I dont have alot of photos to show today though so it will be a single post... First order of business today was to attend to the joint between the engines and the intakes that i had glued in yesterday and puttied overnight. Now looking at the references the place the two parts are joined, there is a panel line that runs across. There was a quite visible 'step' between the two parts on either side, so what i did was to sand the step down and blend everything in, then reputty and sand to get a smoothed out finish, then i scribed the line that goes across and rescribed the panel line that runs from front to back on the two parts (intakes and engines behind) into one continuous line. That done (sorry no photos but i will tomorrow post one) i decided to tackle the main landing gear. I started off with the wheels assembly and for some reason it popped in my head to check the rim shape with the references pictures i have and there and behold, the wrong rims...not really wrong, but wrong for the variant we're building. with the kit you get the wheels of the prototype F14 (YF14 i think the prototype was called) anyways a photo below Not seeing any other option at this point, the decision is theyre going on the kit... Moving along, the actual landing gear assemblies look correct in shape and detail, mostly. The main struts come in two parts that sandwich a metal pin for added stregth. To be honest i dont really like this arrangement (its the same for the nosewheel strut) because youre left with seams and its very difficult to putty and sand parts joined in that manner, specially the sections that you could paint in metalizers end up with a seam running down the middle... well i tried best as i could to get those sanded correctly with a diamond curved file. I also used the 'welding' technique with the styrene cement in order to get the least possible amount of seams...I studied also some of the parts against the references and one thing i found was a missing 'spring' on the part that locks the gear strut into the 'ident; in the intake. photo below In order to get a similar look i went back to the bag of 'special' goodies i keep for such occasions, and i had some tightly wound compact springs left over from the tamiya T72A armour kit (i knew a day would come id use those...) now the issue is their diameter is too small to fit around the kit part, so i ended up stretching them and 'screwing' them onto the part. The end result is not very much like the reference photo....come to think about it, it just popped in my mind now that i could have wrapped fuse wire on the part like i do for oxygen hoses and it would have turned out much better than it looks (shows you guys how absent minded i was today lol ) Anyways this is what it ended up looking like...now that i think of how wrapping fuse wire would have looked, im pretty pissed off. The only reason why i dont go back and get the part off to reqork it is i used on this part styrene cement, and not CA on which i could have used debonder Got the photoetch on the main gear too, and thats alot of 'piping' to go lol....some are not present on the references, but i left them on anyways as they add a 'cool' factor Below some photos of the assembled main gear struts and one photo of the assembly dryfitted to the main gear bays... Im happy to say the joint between the gear and the aircraft is pretty positive and solid, no swaying there I also worked on two of the main LG doors, and they are pockmarked with ejector pinmarks. I filled those in, making sure to protect the surrounding details, then sanded down the raised details required by the eduard set, and added the PE. I decided against installing the PE hinges as from previous experience, i find these very brittle and the parts often break off the kit (although the hinge thickness of PE looks more to scale than the kit provided one...theyre THICK) I will file down the hinges of the kit parts until they look a bit better, at a later stage...a photo of the main gear door below just so you get an idea of where you will find the pinmarks. The PE parts that go on the doors are two different sets of 'ribs' to replace the kit molded in ribbing, and two hinges. Also a panel sheeting and two hinges (that go together, as you have to chop off the kit hinges in order to install the panel sheeting), that i opted to leave out One more assembly i worked on was to finish the crew boarding ladder. You could build the ladder just out of PE but again i worried it might end up too brittle in case it gets bumped when the model is completed, so i went for a bash between the PE and the kit provided parts. I used the PE 'sides' to the ladder and kit parts for the joint ladder/fuselage. I also used some parts from the kit ladder to do the steps. An inaccuracy here on my part, i used squared cross section bars for the ladder steps instead of the circular ones that are shown in the Eduard instructions, and on the references, but i doubt it would show to that extent once theyre painted. also used the step 'sheeting' to give texture to the kit steps... but decided to remove them at a later stage as they look like 'plates' sitting on top of the steps. They were still there in the picture though... I also sanded down the outside face of the pilot and RIO boarding steps, added the PE face to those, and simulated the antislip texture on the inside of those with putty and an old brush...no photos of those though... Managed to also add the lumps and bumps for the ECM/sensors antennas to the sides next to the intakes, and worked on the arresting hook assembly. Got the arresting hook assembly minus the arresting hook put on the fuselage and glued, the fit there was great almost no seam at the joint... i then added the PE parts to the arresting hook proper and put it aside in order to paint it later and reinstall it separately... Also added some little bits and pieces to the fuselage assembly... The plan for tomorrow is either to prime the whole fuelage/wings and the gear parts i did today, then paint the gear parts white prior to detailed painting, Or to start work on the front office with the ton of PE there... still havent made up my mind though... I think It makes more sense to get a start on the pit and nose then prime the pit and the fuselage/wing then paint....then after that we still have the seats and closing the front fuselage section and the addition of all the colour PE and the canopy .... alot of work still before we get to the real painting stage... And that is going to take time too as i decided to try out a different technique called 'black' basing, thought up by DougATX, and then this time no chipping on the aircraft, ill do rather the salt technique, i havent done that one in a long time and i think it would look more appropriate on a bird spending time on a carrier at sea, rather than chipping.... Loads more work to come i guess lol... Well, thats it for tonight i guess... Tomorrow ill try to be more focused on the work ahead (you guessed im not happy about the 'spring' part on the main gear lol ) Thank you everyone for following, and for the kind words and support Stay safe and happy modeling Karim Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Good update Karim. I use soft solder or copper wire of the correct diameter wrapped around a suitable rod for my springs (much easier to work and control). Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 You are doing some really fantastic work with this build Karim! It's coming together very nicely indeed. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Great work on the intakes. Almost makes a lot of the crying over this subject seem unnecessary. You make it look easy! John thank you ...how are things going at your end? any new masterpiece in the works? Thanks for leaving a word my friend Karim "Masterpiece"? Probably not. Since I finished my Sturmovik the other day, I dove into a 1/48 scale Ju 188, which will be kind of a test run for the one I will be doing in 1/32 scale. I'm trying to keep things moving along, as I have a couple more builds lined up for other people and the AIMS conversion for the Ju 388 should be available around February, according to Pastor John. I'm also going to have to build yet another shelf unit to house all these big planes. I may need an entire cabinet for just Junkers aircraft. John karimb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Excellent progress ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Karim, you're a machine! Speed plus quality - this is another excellent build to follow.. One note of caution. I saw you were using a marker to label some of the parts. I've seen the inks in those type of markers seep back up through paint and varnishes... (some people have used markers for preshading). So I'd suggest using a cotton swab soaked in alcohol to remove the marker prior to painting... Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Paul Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Great Detailing all around Karim! Keep up the great work! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Karim For a "short" update, you covered a lot of ground. Glad the intake assembly is finally behind you and making steady progress on the Big Cat. Mains look really good and the wheel hub must surely be some of the parts from the original; release that Tamiya never converted. You made the right call going with the kit parts, as they look good. Nice decision as well with the boarding ladder by combining both the kit and Edwards parts. Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karimb Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Good evening everyone... im gonna quickly answer everyone and then as usual the evening post... Good update Karim. I use soft solder or copper wire of the correct diameter wrapped around a suitable rod for my springs (much easier to work and control). Derek Derek, the issue with the springs got dealt with today... i think i was so p****d off yesterday when i realised i used to do it just like you said (i used the coiled wire around another wire trick for the oxygen hoses usually) so today one of the first things i did was to solve that issue and now i my mind is rested lol Thanks for following the build and for the support You are doing some really fantastic work with this build Karim! It's coming together very nicely indeed. Kev Kev, thank you for the kind words im glad youre enjoying it Great work on the intakes. Almost makes a lot of the crying over this subject seem unnecessary. You make it look easy! "Masterpiece"? Probably not. Since I finished my Sturmovik the other day, I dove into a 1/48 scale Ju 188, which will be kind of a test run for the one I will be doing in 1/32 scale. I'm trying to keep things moving along, as I have a couple more builds lined up for other people and the AIMS conversion for the Ju 388 should be available around February, according to Pastor John. I'm also going to have to build yet another shelf unit to house all these big planes. I may need an entire cabinet for just Junkers aircraft. John Lol John, ill just call the solution to the intakes a lucky one... It was the easiest one that came to mind at the time, and i guess it worked out a treat I looked up the Ju188 yesterday to be honest i think there's a streak of madness in you lol...i will be massively looking forward to seeing you do your magic on the conversion... to me looks pretty complicated but the airplane is really beautiful. It must be also quite big in 1/32... Ive also started looking for some realestate space to park the tomcat once its done, so i know what you mean with building another shelve... i just pack them and box them in a big cupboard, i have no space to display them at home to be honest... Thank you again for the kind words and the continuing support my friend Excellent progress ! Loic thank you Karim, you're a machine! Speed plus quality - this is another excellent build to follow.. One note of caution. I saw you were using a marker to label some of the parts. I've seen the inks in those type of markers seep back up through paint and varnishes... (some people have used markers for preshading). So I'd suggest using a cotton swab soaked in alcohol to remove the marker prior to painting... Matt Matt thanks for leaving a word... i took a picture just for you of the marker pen i use. Its nothing special, a good quality one, but it has an 'eraser' on the back, and it works lol. i never thought it would work but it does... Ive already had those horrible marker bleeds from below the paintjob and since i use a pencil because it leaves no trace, but with the grey colour plastic of the kit, the pencil barely shows so i have to keep turning the parts around to get a good shine to see the part numbers. In this case i use the marker, and then when i want to paint i paint one side, let it dry, erase the mark on the other paint over, then place a postit on the part with the part number... takes some time, but this way i am sure what the part is and that there is no bleeding. I also do my best to mark parts in areas that dont show like gluing surfaces and the such... Thank you very much for the pointer, it almost bit me this time when i primed the intakes lol and since, ive been taking the time to erase the markings... Great Detailing all around Karim! Keep up the great work! Paul Paul its good to have you here thanks for taking the time to leave a comment Karim For a "short" update, you covered a lot of ground. Glad the intake assembly is finally behind you and making steady progress on the Big Cat. Mains look really good and the wheel hub must surely be some of the parts from the original; release that Tamiya never converted. You made the right call going with the kit parts, as they look good. Nice decision as well with the boarding ladder by combining both the kit and Edwards parts. Keep 'em coming Peter Peter my friend thanks for leaving a word.... I had to go with the 'mixed' media boarding ladder as the etch one would have been too dang fragile... I think i was in a bit of a haste yesterday when i was working on the main landing gears, so i did some modification on those today to get them up to standards compared to references. I had made some booboos with the wiring and i redid the whole spring assemblies... Hows the seversky build going? i apologize for not having had the time to leave a word though i will make up for it Thanks again for the continuing support and comments Well below is the days update... had a pretty rough one... but accomplished some progress though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karimb Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Good evening everyone, again lol Today was very hectic to me...long and complicated story. to make it short, my daughter was at her mother since yesterday and she got sick (sore throat/tonsillitis) and my ex being so selfish and not wanting to bear any responsibilities of parenthood called me saying she was too sick and couldnt take care of her. So along come 'papa' to pick up his lovely daughter, took her to the doctors got the medicine and taking care of her at my place. The good thing is shes over at mine's until tuesday wooohooo lol I did have time to work on the model all morning until early afternoon so we did get a chance progress and advance on the kit... Ill split the posting in two due to the restriction on the number of photos i can post... To be honest, after yesterday's 'debacle' with the landing gear, i did lose some sleep over those lol. I just couldnt leave the 'springs' the way they were as a solution to improving them was there all along in front of me and i had used the 'wire wrapped around a rod' technique before. Also i had a feeling of something being awry in the gear and after comparing the assemblies to the reference photos it finally jumped at me, i had done the brake plumbing wrong... some photos below of the corrections and how it looks now Looks much better indeed... Also just for a change of pace, i had lebanese airforce Puma helicopters flying over my house all morning in some sort of training flights in pairs pretty low...managed to grab a photo of one for you guys...i like the puma helos alot although they are getting pretty old by today's standards... i wonder if there are any in 1/35 scale Also, this is for Mattlow the picture of the marker pen i use, sorry i know its not of importance to the tomcat thread but its something i use often in my arsenal of tools, and i find its great because it is permanent until you 'erase' it with the built in eraser in the back lol, so sorry again guys Moving on, i continued work on two of the main landing gear doors, they also were pockmarked with ejector pin marks so i had to fill those in and sand them smooth, no real issue there except the time it takes to putty, let dry and then sand... Having puttied them and put them aside to dry i worked on the two side pylons that are attached next to the intakes. The left one will be carrying a phoenix and a sidewinder, the right pylon will be carrying the LANTIRN and a sidewinder (more on the LANTERN issue below when we start with the front office) The fit on those parts was lovely and there was almost no seam left after having joined the parts together. I just used the welding technique and sanded the ozzed plastic off and there you are, no seams at all. Also of note, the sidewinder pylons have the cooler heads molded on and the detail on those is very nice, also very good detail on the inside of the rails. i took a photo of that but i dont know how good it shows though...so below photo of the gear door and of the sidewinder pylon head after all that done, smooth sailing, i decided to tackle the front office starting today since i wasnt in the mood for priming of painting. The second part of the post is going to be below with the preliminary comments i have to do regarding what little work i did on the cockpit before going to go get my daughter Whitey, Tewika and Derek B 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzie Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Revell do a puma in 1/32 scale, nice pins by the way Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Karim Most important of all, how is your daughter doing? I hope the medication is starting to take effect and that she will be feeling better. Terrific re-do on the gear .. looks right on the money and you're so right, the spring looks perfect now. Looking forward to the next update and photos. Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now