LSP_K2 Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 You'll get there, Kev. What you've done looks good so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Kev Way to go and some excellent progress on the Startocuiser. One tough build but when you're done - a gem will be the result Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted August 2, 2015 Author Share Posted August 2, 2015 Thanks, chaps. I know the pace is glacial with this one, and that's a bit boring for everybody (me included), but that's Modelling at the Speed of Life for you. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jessie_C Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Once it's all done and dusted it's an acceptable model. One of these is the Minicraft, and the other is the Welsh vac. I'll leave the question "which is which" to the observer. Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Once it's all done and dusted it's an acceptable model. One of these is the Minicraft, and the other is the Welsh vac. I'll leave the question "which is which" to the observer. Nice work, Jessie! If I had to gues, I'd say the Minicraft kit is on the left. Kev Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Nice work, Jessie! If I had to gues, I'd say the Minicraft kit is on the left. Kev Indeed, Minicraft on left, and vac on the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Nice work so far Kev Jess: My guess is that the left (Northwest airlines) Stratocruiser is the Welsh models kit. Cheers Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clunkmeister Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Kev, I've been watching this build since you started it. An awesome job you do, young Skywalker. I have recollections of these as a kid, and I used to lay on my back and watch them thunder over me, imagining the fuselage to be slightly slimmer and the belly loaded with 500lb gifts for our good friend Tojo. These, the Connie, and the C-54s fueled my love for all things multi round engine, and started me on a career path that ended all too soon..... This is turning out great, and I'm looking forward to the next installment. Ernst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted August 5, 2015 Author Share Posted August 5, 2015 Thanks Ernie. I did a little bit more work on this on yesterday, but am hoping to get something more substantial done before posting any more progress. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jessie_C Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Nice work so far Kev Jess: My guess is that the left (Northwest airlines) Stratocruiser is the Welsh models kit. Cheers Derek You got it! Soooo many people mistake that one for an injection kit Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share Posted August 9, 2015 So, I decided to push this one ahead a little bit today. Previously I'd noticed that the trailing edge on one of the wings was a little untidy: Gotta fix that! I've already begun the process, but forgot to take a photo, so I'll finish that story in the next update. In the meantime, though, I figured I may as well attach the engines now. For this task, I elected to use a two-part epoxy glue, rather than CA. Not only would this give me more working time to correctly position the parts, but being a set of butt-joints, it would also offer much more strength. My weapon of choice here is the mighty J-B Weld: This stuff is used to fix engine blocks, so it doesn't get much stronger than that! And here's the result: One of my concerns about fitting these engines was about them not being completely parallel to the fuselage, due perhaps to my not getting the nacelle faces completely true and perpendicular. Well, this in fact turned out to the case, with small but noticeable variations in the direction each engine is pointing. Oh well. This was never meant to be a show pony anyway, so I'll live with it. J-B Weld requires around 6 hours to set up properly, so I decided to (finally) move on to the fuselage. One of the first tasks is to paint their insides matt black: Once done, I take a cotton bud moistened with methylated spirits and clean the paint off the mating surfaces. In the photo above I've done the top part, but not the bottom. The point of painting the insides like this is to deal with the inherently translucent nature of thin polystyrene, and stop light leakage. For most military builds this doesn't matter, but for a fuselage that will be substantially white, it means less paint is needed on the outside to counteract the effect. Check out the difference in the photo below. The part on the left has a matt black interior, and the one on the right doesn't: Even if this doesn't make a substantive difference to the finished result, it's quick and easy to do, so there's no real reason not to. I also did it to the inside of the clear nose piece: I'm not sure whether I'll be using decals for the cockpit windows or not, yet, so this gives me the option of masking them if I need to. Minicraft provides the window decals, while the aftermarket decals only provide the silver frames. And they don't appear to be a good match to each other. As the latter is likely to be more accurate, I'll have to mask out the kit window panes. Anyway, that decision is a little further down the track! Kev Derek B and Girlscanplay2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 Well, despite being pushed for time, I decided that some token work on this project was better than doing none at all. Firstly, here's a shot of my one misaligned engine: Damn! The J-B Weld has really done its job though, so short of sawing it off and starting again, it's not going anywhere. To be honest, that's what I really should do, but I'm going to live with it, and disguise it by pretending it never happened. I've also got some ugly gaps to deal with: It'll be out with the Milliput for those bad boys. So, remember my dodgy trailing edges? Here's a pretty nifty way to fix them. Take some thin Evergreen rod and cement it to the problem area: It's better to use rod than strip, as it's actually easier to glue into place. Use a normal styrene solvent cement so that you can get a really good welded bond. Note that I have previously removed the primer from this area so that it doesn't interfere with the bonding process. Leave it to cure for at least 24 hours; you want it to be rock solid. If you don't feel that it is, you can always reinforce it with some CA. Next, take a fairly coarse sanding stick, and sand the rod almost completely away, using about a 30° angle: As you can see, this takes care of the ragged mismatch between the parts, and also gives a nice, straight trailing edge. But Kev, why don't you just use CA for this job? I hear you ask. It's true, you can, but I find the approach I've shown here produces a neater result, and it's much simpler to get a straight trailing edge. OK, that's all I managed for the weekend, but hopefully somebody found it useful! Kev Girlscanplay2 and Derek B 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Looking good, and I wouldn't use CA for that either... Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Girlscanplay2 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Well your approach really did gave you a nice straight trailing edge for sure! Very nice Kev!! Keep up the great work! Very informative info. Teresa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 Ron, Teresa: thanks guys! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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