CANicoll Posted May 30, 2016 Author Share Posted May 30, 2016 Been distracted quite a bit this past week, but wanted to provide an update so far. Have the center section mostly completed but finally got the HGW seatbelts on and shockingly, they went together really well. I need to work on the drape of the belts, and had to glue them to the seat to get them to set as they are now, but do like the look of them Here is a better look at the left side of the engine. No wiring harness as this side will be closed up - but it also shows that NONE of the top of the engine detail is visible under the radio tray - UGH. The exhausts were painted flat black inside and out, then liberally covered in Flory Rust wash. I need to check the references as this kind of looks a bit overdone to me, but I hate to say it but I like how it looks. Opinions are welcomed! Here is a look at the right side which I will have the nose and engine panels open. You can't see it in this picture, but the wiring harness is in place (but not highly visible I think). As usual, I've dry-fitted the left side of the fuselage and its a LITTLE tight where the two sides join in front of the windscreen. So have been working with a coarse sanding stick to try and narrow the fit a bit. It will close up, but its tight so want to work on that. Don't have to do the major surgery that JohnB did, but still have to do some work. Adding the top panels also show things are riding a bit high 'under the hood'. Will work on that too. Hope everyone (in the US anyway!) is having a safe Memorial Day. jgrease, tomv87 and mpk 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 Chris Super progress on the P-39 and I feel your frustrations with the kit. Terrific work on the interior and the exhausts look : Oh so good. Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted May 30, 2016 Author Share Posted May 30, 2016 Thanks Peter! Much appreciated. This is my few minutes of sanity at the moment but it will be next weekend I think before I can do anymore. I did also go for the Eduard masks for the canopy and wheels so that will make things a bit easier. I hope! Best - Chris mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 Great work, Chris! You're heading down exactly the same path I am with build - even the same markings! I also use a similar method for the exhausts, and have always felt that they looked a bit overdone, too. And like you, I like it! Looking forward to seeing more. Kev mpk and CANicoll 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted June 5, 2016 Author Share Posted June 5, 2016 So have dry fit the wings together, and don't see major issues with fit there I think. The wheel wells fit in pretty well and seem to be the correct height. BUT I did notice that the wing assembly for the right side has three tabs (as does the left side), but the fuselage on the right side only has two slots. Its almost comical. A rough fitting seems to show that the bottom of the wing will align pretty well with the bottom of the fuselage however the topside looks like about a 1mm gap on both sides. Once I get the wings together we'll see how the gaps line up. Might be a week for my next update. Thanks! mpk and LSP_Paul 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 (edited) Just a bit of a catch-up. Got the wings closed and the wheel wells seem to fit pretty well. Dry fitting the wings to the fuselage, however, reveals a 1mm gap at the top if the bottom is aligned properly - on both left and right sides. The wheel well extends out into an indent in the fuselage so this may be the issue - I'll chase later. Here is the engine and wiring on the side that will be open. The wiring harness is not as nice as Kev's but I'm going OOB so it will have to do (that is my excuse anyway!). Will likely dabble some gray powder on some of the exhausts later. A bigger problem is up front. A picture for Kev to show how the shells look with the top piece 'on', but obviously, my cartridge rack is sitting way too high. I think I just need to cut the supports a bit and reglue, but again, will take a look at that later. The purple you see is actually on the glue bottle I used to angle the fuselage for the picture. No purple in the nose! That's it for now! Chris Edited June 11, 2016 by CANicoll dennismcc, LSP_Paul, MikeC and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 A bigger problem is up front. A picture for Kev to show how the shells look with the top piece 'on', but obviously, my cartridge rack is sitting way too high. I think I just need to cut the supports a bit and reglue, but again, will take a look at that later. The purple you see is actually on the glue bottle I used to angle the fuselage for the picture. No purple in the nose! That's it for now! Chris Don't know if you have it or not, but this Detail & Scale book on the Airacobra, has some great shots of the weapons bay, if memory serves. mpk, fastzx and CANicoll 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 A great warts and all tutorial, I like the way you are overcoming the "challenges", keep it up. Cheers Dennis CANicoll and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Looks like you're way ahead of me, Chris. Before I broke my cannon shells 'belt' part, I noticed that three of the shells had a slightly extended nose, and these 3 didn't sit inside the rack properly, causing the entire thing to sit high. I trimmed them to match the others, but I still have no idea whether they were supposed to be like that. I hope you can get yours sorted! At least if all else fails, we can both just slap the nose panels on and forget about it! Kev mpk and CANicoll 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 Don't know if you have it or not, but this Detail & Scale book on the Airacobra, has some great shots of the weapons bay, if memory serves. Thanks Kevin - I do and I use it religiously. It has much better pictures than I'm finding on the internet. A very big help. Dennis, much appreciated! It definitely is challenging me. Kev, Mine had the same thing - three were longer than the others. I trimmed them back so they would fit into the tray. And that is a good point - just close it up and call it a day. :-) I'm going to try and trim the tray supports down and if that works, great. If not, then I will just have to close it up. There is too much stress on the parts if I just press the top panel down. Have a good weekend all! mpk and LSP_Paul 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 (edited) FINALLY getting back to it! Working on closing up the fuselage and yes, having trouble just in front of the windscreen getting it to connect. Ran into some fit problems on the wings to fuselage join, but think I may have a fix for it (and pictures to boot!). It seems like the wheel wells stick out too far from the wing root so a bit of work with a coarse sanding stick really closed up the gap on the top of the wing. Here is a 'before' picture showing the wheel well side. The red is the area I'm sanding off. Here is the 'after' picture: And showing the before and after on both wings for comparison: Looking from the bottom, you see how thin the side of the wall has gotten. But it fits so much better to the fuselage. I'd show the wings attached, but am letting it dry from joining the fuselage together and hopefully have the part in front of the windscreen finally joined. (Fingers crossed ) So that is part of the surgery going on, but what is happening under the nose is just heartbreaking. After cutting down the supports for the cannon magazine, it was still too high so had to take the sander to the top of everything. Ugh. But am really trying to keep the right side open (am closing up the left side) to show SOME of the terrific detail of this unique plane. Hopefully more tomorrow! Chris Edited July 10, 2016 by CANicoll MikeC, mpk, ShotMagnet and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piprm Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 (edited) Ah - Ha! This might be the answer to your fit problem - Kev! Phil Edited July 10, 2016 by Piprm CANicoll and LSP_Paul 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 It seems like you're having even more issues with your nose than I did with mine, Chris. It looks like you're on top of it, though. It'll be interesting to see how the wings fit when I get there, and whether I experience similar issues to you. Keep up the good work! Kev CANicoll and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Ah - Ha! This might be the answer to your fit problem - Kev! Phil It's a definite possibility, Phil. If I were building this kit all closed up, I'd be leaving out all that internal detail. Kev mpk and Piprm 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 I haven't found a fit problem that some aggressive sanding can't eventually fix! Piprm, mpk and LSP_Paul 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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