Alain Gadbois Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Excellent Richard! I really like the gunsight and the decal looks just right. Is the glass the kit part? Can't wait to see the fuselage closed up! Alain Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted November 23, 2018 Author Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Uncarina said: Really nice work, and shows the potential for working in this scale! Cheers, Tom Thank you for that! It's a bit of a double-edged sword for me. The size is easier to work with at my age with these eyes, but needs a lot more detail added to be convincing. 2 hours ago, Alain Gadbois said: Excellent Richard! I really like the gunsight and the decal looks just right. Is the glass the kit part? Can't wait to see the fuselage closed up! Alain Thank you again Alain! The gunsight glass is a rectangle cut from a sheet of clear plastic for a Mattel Vacuformer. The actual part in the kit is a really thick wedge of clear plastic that really wasn't going to work. I had earlier cut a piece of clear film but it was too thin. This might be a little too thick but I'm happy with how it looks. The fuselage is being closed up tonight. I was working up the courage to do it...so much stuff in there to align while gluing that I was afraid to do it last night. I'm ready today. Edited November 23, 2018 by R Palimaka MikeMaben, Martinnfb, Anthony in NZ and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted November 28, 2018 Author Share Posted November 28, 2018 (edited) Well, I did it, the fuselage is closed up now and there are plenty of gaps to fill and sand and prime. I've also started on an attempt to fix the contours of the upper nose. As it comes in the kit, the nose is very round in cross-section. In reality the top of the forward end of the cowling is flatter and has broader shoulders to cover the engine. It's a very complex shape, and seemed very elusive to most model manufacturers until recently. This gives you an idea what I mean, on the real thing: What I've done is built layers cut from thin plastic card, trying to form the shape as close as possible. Once that was sanded down a bit I covered and filled it with Tamiya putty and smoothed it into a rough approximation. Once it hardens solidly the sanding will begin, using cross-section templates from a set of plans. It sounds way more sophisticated than it looks right now. It's pretty messy. It certainly won't be perfect but it will give more of an impression of the correct shape of the cowling than what's in the kit. I also found that the opening for the exhausts and shroud is too big, so that has had a slice of plastic card inserted along the bottom of the opening. The exhaust shroud will have to be altered a bit to fit, and I'm hoping to find a way to make it so that the exhausts can be inserted after final assembly and painting. The intake for the carburetor under the prop needed to be widened and opened up as well. Once I've cleaned things up a bit I'll post photos. Edited November 28, 2018 by R Palimaka Alain Gadbois, Out2gtcha, Anthony in NZ and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 9 minutes ago, R Palimaka said: Those are two of THE most realistic figure models Ive ever seen. R Palimaka and Martinnfb 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted November 28, 2018 Author Share Posted November 28, 2018 6 minutes ago, Out2gtcha said: Those are two of THE most realistic figure models Ive ever seen. Lol!! Yeah, maybe I should edit that... Out2gtcha and Martinnfb 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted November 30, 2018 Author Share Posted November 30, 2018 (edited) Tonight was the first session sanding and priming the corrected nose. As I mentioned above, I tried to flatten and broaden the top profile by adding layers of plastic card, which was then filled with Milliput and Tamiya putty. Once that hardened it was sanded into shape and primed. It will take a couple of sessions of careful priming and sanding until I'm satisfied, but I'm quite pleased with how it's looking so far. Once it's all smoothed out, some of the panel lines and fasteners/rivets will have to be rescribed, and some small panels redone. Sorry for the mess. This was the beginning yesterday...the point where I thought, " Crap!! What the hell have I done!? " After one evening session of filing, sanding and a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000, it's starting to look more like what I was hoping. I can see a few divots, pitting and issues that need to be refilled and sanded. I think it will take a couple of repeat sessions of sanding and priming with Mr. Surfacer before I'm happy. And the opening for the exhausts, which have had the height reduced with a slice of plastic card and some Mr. Surfacer, again before finishing. Edited November 30, 2018 by R Palimaka Shawn M, Out2gtcha, Martinnfb and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony in NZ Posted December 2, 2018 Share Posted December 2, 2018 What a massive improvement! That nose contour on that kit is a shocker. That is really coming along nicely. Love each update Cheers Anthony Martinnfb and R Palimaka 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 (edited) Thank you so much Anthony! I was tempted to leave it alone just so I could finally move ahead and finish this model, but I had put so much work into the rest of it that it seemed wrong not to correct it . The top of the cowling out of the box is an almost perfectly round cylindrical shape, which isn't correct. This isn't perfect either, but looks more muscular and closer to the real thing. I've had two more sessions of sanding, refining and priming this area, and have blended in the corrections to the exhaust opening. I'm happy with how it all looks now. Some re-scribing of panel lines and rivets is next. In the end it wasn't that difficult a job really, once I got over the fright of smearing putty all over the nose. One thing I do need to do is put black backing plates behind the perforated carburetor intakes, and a representation of the intake tunnel behind the chin intake...to prevent the see-through effect. I should have done that before joining the fuselage halves, but got too excited. Fortunately, the design of the kit still allows me to reach in the nose to do that. Once that's done I can finally mate the wings to the fuselage, which is another frightening step! Thanks for following and the encouraging comments! Richard Edited December 3, 2018 by R Palimaka Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) Wow, things move fast around here. This was already back to page 8! She is huge! So the deed is done, wings and horizontal stabilizers are mated with the fuselage. Now the seam-filling and sanding begins. While it looked like everything was fitting relatively well, once I started applying putty and Milliput I realized what a filler pig she was. Most of the joints were pretty soft edged and required some putty and sanding and priming. It looks like there are going to be a couple more sessions yet. And then some rescribing of panel lines. Sorry for the poor quality photos, I was in a bit of a rush and just used my phone. Edited January 5, 2019 by R Palimaka LSP_Kevin, Alain Gadbois, rafju and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) I'm very happy with the new shape of the nose. It's much more "muscular" and looks more like there is a Merlin under there. Some fasteners, rivets and hatches have to be replaced, but it's mostly there. I filled in the pinch under the nose behind the carburetor intake, just enough to smooth out the curve. It was far too drastic in the kit. I also widened and opened up the carburetor intake a fair bit. "A fair bit"...How's that for precise? Edited January 4, 2019 by R Palimaka Martinnfb, williamj, Greg W and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Just out of curiosity, does this big kit come with any bombs? R Palimaka and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) Some of the various bits that have to be attached. Just reminding myself that it's getting close. Wheels, dirtied up slightly. Tail gear doors. The ZCY parts will glue into the opening of the well, forming part of the wall. Adding them after painting will keep them out of the way of the masking to come. The canopy. The kit canopy has a thickening at the bottom which forms a lip for the canopy to glue to the metal sliding part. It creates a lot of distortion, so I ground it off all around to thin it, and then polished with increasing grades of sanding pads and then polishing compound. THe photo makes it look cloudy but it's just the reflection from the windows. I'll get better photos on the weekend when it's finished. The clear part is crystal clear now, and thin. I glued a thin lip around the inside of the metal part to give it something to glue to. I will have to alter the front of the canopy, because the clear dome is wider than the metal frame at the front. Edited January 4, 2019 by R Palimaka LSP_Kevin, rafju, Martinnfb and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 4 minutes ago, LSP_K2 said: Just out of curiosity, does this big kit come with any bombs? Yes Kevin, it does. They are pretty good in shape, the fins are a bit thick but that's easy to fix. I think they would look really good with a little effort. You looking for some 500 lb. bombs? I've got ten of them... Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) The landing light. Nothing fancy, it's the kit part drilled out and inaccurate supports cut off. The light itself was one of the rear-view mirrors from the kit, sanded down a little and a hole drilled into the back to represent the bulb. I had one of the MV lenses, but it had gone yellow over the years. It's a tiny thing but it made me happy. And the prop, just because I like looking at it. Edited January 4, 2019 by R Palimaka Out2gtcha, MikeMaben, rafju and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony in NZ Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Oh my...…. Wonderful work my friend! Lost for words, just beautiful Cheers Anthony R Palimaka and Martinnfb 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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