dodgem37 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Great stuff, Thierry. Could you share your hinge-making technique? Many thanks. Sincerely, Mark Harold 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Thierry Fantastic progress and the level of details being added is amazing Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Thanks a lot! The technique to make the hinges is the following one: 1. Do not scribe the panel line where the hinge is located (this is not mandatory but but if you do it, this often creates problems to glue the hinge correctly) 2. Each time you throw away sprues, keep the long half-round sections 3. Use your favorite technique to stretch sprue to get a thinner half-round section 4. Cut to correct length and glue this where the hinge must be located 5. Use a brand new scalpel blade tip to simulate the separations between the different sections of the hinge 6. If necessary sand a little bit the top to get a flatter hinge as generally they do not protrude very much out of the surface. ... and you will get a reasonably accurate hinge. and at the same time use the tip of the scalpel blade to change flush rivets into screw heads where it is necessary on the kit! HTH Thierry Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloorwestSiR Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 (edited) I remember being part way through my build when you mentioned that the conversion set did not address all the changes needed. I think you made a list. At that point, I sort of gave up on my build. It's been in a drawer next to my workbench since. Seeing yours here sort of confirms it for me. Maybe one day someone will come out with a complete kit for us mortals. I forgot to mention that there is a build by a Japanese modeler who started with the Tamiya kit as his base. He's also published the drawings he made for his build. I have the links if anyone wants them. Carl Edited March 24, 2015 by BloorwestSiR Alburymodeler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Very impressive, Thierry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Thanks folks! I know the Japanese project for a long time! Terrific kit! And now, as promised, we'll have a look at the landing gear wells. The kit ones are simply... ridiculous. However, finding information about the area is far from easy as I've never succeeded in finding one good picture of the wells of the restored airframe. By the way, if you look closely at the Japanese kit, you'll see that this area is the least detailed one of the kit. This explains that! So, I worked mainly from a combination of TM views, pictures of the MK22-24 wells and MkXVII ones. Fortunately, it is quite easy to find pictures of such planes and with a little bit of analysis time, it is possible to re-construct a reasonably if not fully accurate replica. The kit openings have a wrong shape. You will see that I had to glue some strips of plastic to change the shape of the main well. It is less obvious but the other end (the one where the leg is fixed) should also be reworked. Obviously, this will have an impact on the shape of the doors. Fortunately, without going for 100% of accuracy, it is possible to correct noticeably the openings and the doors to get an acceptable result. Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 And now, we'll have a look a the wells themselves. Fortunately, the upper wing resin parts are quite thin and so, you have no problem of depth. I still have to add a lot of details (pipes, connectors, some strengtheners, etc.) but the main work is fortunately behind me! The difficult aspect was to estimate the correct height of the walls. This asked for a lot of dry fit tests with both wing halves. Do not forget to add the removable panels visible on the upper wing in the well. The white round one with the six screw heads is a good example. The ammo compartment large heating pipe is visible in the rear end of the well and was simply done with a corner of sprue. This picture also showed I added some aluminium strips with rivets. The ones in the drop-shaped area were made out of normal aluminium foil. This is easy to do but very fragile to use. So, be prepared to make a lot of spare ones...! Simply use your favorite Rosie wheel to make rivet lines and then cut strips with scissors. This should then be glued with CA glue. I used thicker alu sheet (from a milk tube) to create the ones used on the wall. The process to make them was identical. Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Nice details, Thierry. What is the blue on the spent shell opening? Thank you. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Hi Mark, Each time I'm purchasing fruits, ice cream or any other item sold in a vacformed polystyrene tray, I cut the bottom as this is a very cheap way to get very thin plastic sheets. This one was used for strawberries! With the help of a punch and die, you can then create very thin rivets or screw heads. This explains the blue color! Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 And I forgot to add one picture showing the well with both wing halves put together. With the last small details to add, I think this will be busy enough. Thierry Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 The black strengthener part showed under the upper wing is a Matchbox part normally used for the ammo bays. This may seem useless as the area has a completely different shape on the FR47. Nevertheless, I recommend simply cutting from the part the section that prevents adding the external wall of the landing gear well. Then, keep the rest and glue it. Indeed, this noticeably helps is positioning the resin parts in the holes made in the upper wing! I will come back with some other airframe details! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 I remember being part way through my build when you mentioned that the conversion set did not address all the changes needed. I think you made a list. At that point, I sort of gave up on my build. It's been in a drawer next to my workbench since. Seeing yours here sort of confirms it for me. Maybe one day someone will come out with a complete kit for us mortals. I forgot to mention that there is a build by a Japanese modeler who started with the Tamiya kit as his base. He's also published the drawings he made for his build. I have the links if anyone wants them. Carl Well, I'm well placed to understand the meaning of the stalled project concept ;-) The resin set replaces the typical Mk22-24 features by the FR47 ones but does not correct or detail the kit... So, indeed, we're on our own for this part. Frankly, I'll not blame them as practically speaking, a full resin kit would have been the only other reasonable option! Thierry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 'Each time I'm purchasing fruits, ice cream or any other item sold in a vacformed polystyrene tray, I cut the bottom as this is a very cheap way to get very thin plastic sheets. This one was used for strawberries! With the help of a punch and die, you can then create very thin rivets or screw heads. This explains the blue color!' What a great tip! Many thanks, Thierry! Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Paul Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Absolutely beautiful detailing Thierry! What a difference the details make in every respect. You're doing an inspirational job, keep up the fantastic work. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 This is really a special project Thierry, and one I will return to when I come to build mine. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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