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HK B-17...C 11/2 progress resumes!


brahman104

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Craig, been quietly following this thread for a while. I'm amazed at every turn. Now you're tackling scratch figures too? All I can say is, thanks for taking the time to document and share this journey of yours. It is hugely educational, inspiring, and entertaining to see. Keep up the wonderful work.

 

 

Hey mate, thanks for following along on the adventure! It's been a great ride so far, and I might as well take the opportunity to learn anything I can along the way. I'm especially glad if anyone else can learn something out of my (many) mistakes too :)

 

Craig,

 

I'll be putting my money on you having some "Michelangelo" lurking quietly within ---- and the cork has just popped on that bottle!

 

The only thing I would have doubts about you being able to do is an absolutely straight out of box build!

 

 

Terry

 

You are of course, 100% spot on Terry. If/When I ever get this one finished, I'll be backdating the HK B-25J to a C/D..... you can see a common theme going on here ;)

 

Incredible work! Can't wait for more.

 

Thanks mate, slowly plodding along...

 

WOW !.....Harv :popcorn:

 

Thanks Harv! 

 

The pose is perfect!

Gonna be a real nice fig when you're done.

 

Cheers Shawn, I certainly hope it'll come out okay. It's taken many hours of playing and tweaking.

 

Sculpting figures, now? Is there no end to this man's talent?

 

Kev

 

You haven't seen me paint yet Kev!  :rofl:

 

Okay on with the pics. I've been playing around with "green stuff." It's incredibly tacky when first mixed, so I've learned to let it sit for about 10-15 minutes before attempting to use it. After using the two putties, I'd have to say that I can see why this gets used so much for gaming miniatures; it does have a nice smooth texture and is relatively easy to use. It also tends to hold together a bit better than magic sculpt when wet. 

 

tgv63NX.jpg

 

Once again, easy does it, working on a few areas at a time, then putting it down and walking away for a while. Patience seems to be the key with this stuff.

 

lOVav0w.jpg

 

I also remembered that I'd have to fit a control column in somehow too, so I widened the legs a little and bent in the right knee. This may cause clearance issues later on with the elevator trim wheel on the centre pedestal, but that's a future Craig problem.....

 

j0Ci5ZA.jpg

 

bjgUwDz.jpg

 

I figured hands might be a bit beyond my current abilities too, so I found some pre-loved ones that would roughly suit the purpose. I've still got to add fingers to the left hand but the pose is pretty close to what I'm after. Then they were blended in with green stuff.

 

xsBKkbW.jpg

 

hGJIHwk.jpg

 

mFoCCFn.jpg

 

A bit more to go tomorrow then a check coat of primer to see where I need to blend the two putties together. I can start painting, but I'll probably wait until I have some of the other figures ready as well. At this stage I think I'll have another in the nose, one in the rear fuselage and a few outside. 

 

Anyway, I think it's high time I got back to the fort itself!

 

Cheers,

 

Craig

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That is some nice modeling.  A bit fiddly, no doubt, to maneuver into position.  Good on you for not bending the framework.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

 

Thank you kindly Mark! Indeed it was fiddly :)

 

you gonna cast a few of those maybe.......

 

hint

 

hint

 

Hey Shawn, I did think about it, but decided against it for a few reasons. A) I wasn't sure how it would come out B) it's an extremely difficult pose to cast and I'm too scared to cut him up again and C) he fits into MY B-17, I'm not entirely sure he'd fit into a stock kit. I am flattered of course, but there's no reason anyone else couldn't do what I've done, and it's heaps of fun doing it! :)

 

Nice figure sculpting! Make sure you make a cast of that pilot, too!

 

Thanks Tim, as I said above, casting is a bit easier said than done in this case. Sorry to disappoint mate!

 

Wow,  great work on the figure!

 

Gaz

 

Cheers Gaz! Always a pleasure to have you drop by :)

 

Craig - just over the top.  Ingenius work on that pilot!

 

Hahaha, thanks Jay! Rest assured mate, there's more than enough ingenuity going on on those wheels of yours ;)

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Now that Irish is pretty much done as far he can be at this point in the build, I wanted to progress with another part I've been chipping away at for a while: the rudder.

 

As you saw recently, I made copies of the original 3D printed version and then added the rib detail using styrene. I'm really keen to try a tissue covering to simulate the fabric covering on the control surfaces, and I'm using "coverlite" as recommended by the modelling God himself, Alex Skylar.

 

I'm guessing at the correct layout of the internal structure of the B/C/D model rudder, as it differs somewhat from the 299 prototype photos shown in all my references.

 

Anyway, this is where I'm at...

 

2I3qMKA.jpg

 

I also added litho to the leading edge and the top, as this will be unpainted. I did this with rudder 1.0 (when it was waaaay too fat) and with proper annealing it didn't end up looking too bad..

 

SD9nrGt.jpg

 

I also added some gussets that should show through the tissue paper for a little more detail.

 

Lr3Sz6x.jpg

 

I also decided that I should have a go on a practice piece beforehand..

 

1OLxgOb.jpg

 

Hmmm, I was expecting a little better than this. I'm using a normal household iron which may potentially be a factor, but I did also coat the frame with a heat activate adhesive prior to the covering. I've read that this material tends to work at around 90-100 degrees celsius, so I'm running the iron at the Cotton setting. It seems to work well to actually adhere to the frame, but once the heat is out for a little while it tends to go loose in between. Perhaps I'll still need to apply a dope or equivalent to it. Anyone with recent experience in this? I remember doing it on Guillows models years ago so it's been a little while.

 

The point that I'm most concerned about though, is that I've made the ribs out of styrene. Now from what I've read, I shouldn't melt them, but I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps it'd be worth me cutting my losses pre-emptively and using basswood instead?

 

I'll ponder on this for a bit... anyone with ideas please feel free to share! 

 

Cheers,

 

Craig

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No experience, but I did read the instructions.  It seems to me that the adhesive is much like contact cement.  Apply to both sides, wait, then apply.  I'm going to make a couple of suggestions.  I have no idea if they will work.

 

Although the instructions say only on leading and trailing edges for frame, I'm going to suggest to apply the adhesive on the entire frame and sheet.  I'm also going to suggest doing one side at a time rather than trying to make a wrap-around, if that is what you attempted.

 

Two ways of application, one, tape over-sized material flat at the corners and place the part onto it and stretch until fitted.  Two, place the part on upside down tape, which will hold it in place, and place then tape down a stretched piece of fabric onto it.

 

If your iron doesn't fit with everything secured to a table, a soldering iron gets hot enough to tack things in place prior to ironing.

 

HTH.  Good luck.

Sincerely,

Mark

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Reading « 100º C » in the same sentence as « styrene » gave me the creeps :).

 

May I suggest another method I lifted from paper modelling tips? Use paper to simulate the fabric. Ordinary 80grs should do, but 60grs will probably be even better.

 

Cut a piece of paper slightly oversize to cover both sides in one go (probably with the fold over the trailing edge), soak it with diluted white glue, apply it over the frame, sandwich you rudder-cum-paper between layers of thin foam (in contact with the wet paper) stiff cardboard (to apply even pressure on the foam) and clamp this sandwich strongly. Let the glue dry overnight, and you should have a « fabric » simulation, with a slight depression between the ribs...

 

The glue-soaked paper will have become very stiff, and can be trimmed, sanded and painted.

 

Hubert

Edited by MostlyRacers
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Shawn M, on 05 Mar 2018 - 2:56 PM, said:snapback.png

with the old school Guillows style tissue, I applied it with thinned white glue which tensions it as it dries.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

The Guillows' tissue is "Silkspan", which I also applied with white glue, but they are recommending "UHU" glue these days.

 

In any case I would be leery about anything which is "heat-sealed to the model", and would have to experiment with using a heat-gun on a low setting after I made sure the tissue was firmly tacked in place.

 

Of course, you should to regard the grain of the tissue in order to determine the direction of the shrinkage and cut-and-glue it in place accordingly, and yours does not look quite right to me.

 

The idea of using a clothing iron to form tissue over a surface that is not flat doesn't sound right to me.   :hmmm:

 

On this website, that has the directions, they have a special "sealing iron" that they sell along with the CoverLite stuff:

 

http://www.hobbylinc...covcovq1804.htm

 

covcovr2550_285.jpg

Please also notice where it says: "If the CoverLite wrinkles around the iron, lower the iron temperature"!

 

That is why I would suggest that in addition to buying the special iron, also trying a heat-gun.

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