TorbenD Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 (edited) Thanks Peter and Tony, much, much appreciated Evening all it's been a while but in between bits of normal life stuff I've managed moved on a little with this build. First up I added a circular fillet to make sure the final length correction is achieved and spinner has more a blended visual profile join with the nose. The well-fitting nose gun panel is not glued on so I can still add weight to stop this becoming a tail-sitter. Next came several sessions of Mr Surfacer, sand, scribe repeat, followed by more Mr Surfacer, sand, scribe repeat (etc. etc.) as I attempted to make good the fuselage. Pretty pleased so far given it's my first attempt at scribing - I have to admit I've been very impressed with RP Productions' Scribe-R - both single and double variants have been great to use as have their photo-etch micro files. Not forgetting to add a line the top (piano-style) hinge on the spine between the tail and intake which Kevin noted in his KH build - missing from every plan I could find but clearly visible on a few photo references where this access panel is hinged so the starboard side is open. Not by any means the final scribing session but I wanted to get a good start before adding the wings. More later, Torben Edited August 12, 2017 by TorbenD Hubert Boillot, Shaka HI and Gazzas 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 (edited) cont. The final job before fitting the wings was to extend the air intake tunnel sides and fit the splitter - I replaced the kit one with thin plastic card for better scale thickness and to make sure it started the correct distance from the front of the intake (the kit one sits too far back). A quick dose of black was painted on and within to add depth for the shadows - once the top coat is sprayed on this area the final colour should drift down the intake much as the real thing (hopefully!) When dry fitting the wings to the fuselage I found I could flex everything so it would squeeze/pop in to place (more or less) with a very tight join, but concerned that if there was too much tension in the join it could give me potential cracking problems later on I felted away until it fitted as best it could where the few good touch points and there was no need to flex anything. Talking of flex, SH plastic is quite soft so I added lots of spacers under the wing tops so that no flex would occur on once sanding started in what is but a simple butt join on the top edge where it hits the fuselage fillet. Once sorted over several measure twice cut once sessions I finally got the Tamiya Quick Setting Extra Thin out! Fillet and shims of plastic card were added where I could to improve the surface ares of any joins with scribing friendly material. In the end, because of all the prep, fettling etc. the gaps front and back weren't quite as bad as originally feared - I kind of met halfway with spreading out the fuselage and bringing in the wings. Joins below don't have their shims yet. .. although kiss-joint this ain't!!!! Along the way I've started trying to clean up the wing root intakes which took a bucket load of Mr Surfacer, sanding sticks and patience and still needs further work! Once fully cured (48hrs) Any fillets where trimmed back and all the joins front back and topside along the wing roots received a good but localised thrashing with various grades of sanding sticks (mainly medium and heavy) and diamond files to address any major ‘steps' and shape issues. The rear join by the radiator exits under fuselage received the most attention to blend everything in - I took this opportunity to (re-)thin the trailing edges of the wings at the fuselage join so scale thickness is further improved. Now more confident that I can restore any lost detail later on, I've taken the decision to be far more vigorous/heavy with the sanding than I'd normally be in order to get the shape and joins as right as I can before going any further with the fine grades. Rough work more or less done... Next steps... Mr Surfacer, sand, scribe, repeat Thanks for looking, Torben Edited August 12, 2017 by TorbenD Hubert Boillot, Shaka HI, Gazzas and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monthebiff Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Now thats some seriously nice progress Torben, very nice scribing indeed. Regards. Andy TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Nice work, Torben! It seems it doesn't matter where you turn to get a 1/32 P-39 done, you're in for a lot of work. Kev TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Torben, A most impressive build todate. This certainly wasn't a build for the faint of heart, but you mastered it in fine style. Looking forward to seein some paint on it. Joel TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe66 Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Torben, Like several others, I've missed this build thread until now and have just read through it all.....fantastic work. I too am a fan of making bits-n-bobs out of materials at hand rather than expensive PE aftermarket for that gizmology ideal. Your use of simple things like stretched sprue is perfect and those switches and such look great. All in all you have a first rate build going on ! Love your work and looking forward to seeing more. Joe TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted June 10, 2017 Author Share Posted June 10, 2017 Gosh has it really been nearly 2 months - apologies for the late personal replies it's been a bit all work very little play and I haven't found the time to post. Now thats some seriously nice progress Torben, very nice scribing indeed. Regards. Andy Thanks Andy, it's definitely a learning curve and I feel like I'm still away off on that skill compared to others in this forum - I will definitely need to refine a lot once I get some undercoat on. Nice work, Torben! It seems it doesn't matter where you turn to get a 1/32 P-39 done, you're in for a lot of work. Kev Ain't that the truth Kev, but that's have the fun.. I think!?! Torben, A most impressive build todate. This certainly wasn't a build for the faint of heart, but you mastered it in fine style. Looking forward to seein some paint on it. Joel Cheers Joel - It'll be a while yet before I can get some paint on, as you'll see with what follows there's plenty of fettling to do. Torben,Like several others, I've missed this build thread until now and have just read through it all.....fantastic work. I too am a fan of making bits-n-bobs out of materials at hand rather than expensive PE aftermarket for that gizmology ideal. Your use of simple things like stretched sprue is perfect and those switches and such look great. All in all you have a first rate build going on ! Love your work and looking forward to seeing more.Joe Thanks Joel, such comments from the forum members genuinely keep me going... that and sheer bloody mindedness!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted June 10, 2017 Author Share Posted June 10, 2017 (edited) Mornin' from not so sunny Yorkshire - tipping it down today so found some time for a proper update. Plenty of blending in around the wing roots and front and back join but reckon I've broken the back of that particular task. On checking references further I reckon AH574 did not have the belly fuel tank/bomb rack - I assume they wouldn't want it potentially fouling any cables on the accelerator launch trials (had it ever been fitted in the first place) to this so it had to go. Micro chisel, micromesh and re-scribe. I also scribed the wing root behind the radiators and pretty pleased that everything lined up with the joins on the fuselage! I finally got round to putting the shaft into the open wheel well with some aluminium tubing that had been thinned to the right diameter. .. which meant I could add the nose weights - Liquid Steel from Little-cars - without them falling through the gaps in the wheel well. All was drenched in super glue to make sure it would never move. I quick test on some temporary legs and she's definitely no tail sitter. Phew! More to follow Torben Edited August 12, 2017 by TorbenD Shaka HI and Gazzas 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted June 10, 2017 Author Share Posted June 10, 2017 (edited) On with the nose... My first plan was to add the nose guns before sealing everything in so after a couple of sessions with drills, awls andvery fine round files i got the correct shape cut through the solid nose guns channel that SH don't supply. Aluminium tubing filled down whist spun in my drill complete the guns poking through - with everything lined up I was initially pretty pleased with the result so I glued the panel in. ... but try as I might I didn't feel comfortable with the finesse of the gun tubes, they felt (and probably were) too big in diameter and how far they poked out . I was also having great difficulty in working around them to blend in the panel edges so I decide to remove them - fortunately without to much collateral damage. The shot below still has wet Mr Surfacer as part of the recovery process but the nose shape and blending in is pretty much there. In hindsight I should have been more patient with the nose guns which I will now probably add after painting. That said, I'm now toying with the idea that they may have removed them and fared over the holes for AH574 as they did with the wing guns? My reference are not too clear in this area. Anyone any thoughts on that front? I know they kept the nose cannon - I'm guessing effort and weight distribution (aircraft lateral balance) would have stopped that from happing. Thanks for watching - a chunk more to follow on later with the detailing the tail section if I get the time today. Cheers, Torben Edited August 12, 2017 by TorbenD Shaka HI, monthebiff, Hubert Boillot and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monthebiff Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Nice progress on the nose indeed. Regards. Andy TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Torben, Simply outstanding modeling. I'm really impressed houw youd dealt with each separate seam issue, especially those horendous leadng wing/edge gaping canyons. Joel TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaka HI Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 What a b*tch of a kit! Excellent progress, Torben. TorbenD and Joel_W 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Some very nice and instructive detailing. Thanks! Gaz TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 What a b*tch of a kit! Excellent progress, Torben. Shaka Hi, Sure seems that way. I've never get this far for sure on it. That's why my P-36A/C Hawk is still on the shelf, especially as it's a NMF !! Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted June 11, 2017 Author Share Posted June 11, 2017 Nice progress on the nose indeed. Regards. Andy Thx Andy, although painful, removing the nose guns was definitely the right thing to do, it's only a bit of time and tubing that got lost along the way. Torben, Simply outstanding modeling. I'm really impressed houw youd dealt with each separate seam issue, especially those horendous leadng wing/edge gaping canyons. Joel Cheers Joel, plenty of Mr Surfacer has sacrifice itself to finesse the joins, the insides of the vents are drowning in the stuff! What a b*tch of a kit! Excellent progress, Torben. Thanks Shaka, I'm genuinely enjoying the challenge of bashing this one into submission . As I think I said before she ain't that bad join wise (ok so the wing roots must have been checked on a Friday night after a few too many beers ) , but a lot of the issues I've had with fit have been because I've made corrections that have had knock on affects. Before I started mucking about with the doomed nose guns the fit of that panel was bob on. Some very nice and instructive detailing. Thanks! Gaz Thanks Gaz - the joy of this sight is the friendly, positive support and generous sharing of such stuff - I've learnt so much from others. More to share in a mo' from the tail end... Torben Shaka HI 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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