Another Hasegawa T bolt Bubbletop, my first LSP. November 12, 2022, It is DONE at last!!!!!!!!

[Citadelgrad]

Thanks, Mike!  Tonight i ran over to Harbor Freight and picked up a box of nitrile gloves to replace the box my wife swiped for her hair escapades, and i wont be touching this without gloves for as long as i can stand it.  I cant handle a thumbprint at this stage.   
 

then i shot her with about 60/40 gloss to matte alclad lacquer, and am happy with the soft sheen it has.  The monotone of the eggshell “shine” really unifies the look, i had some spots that were far shinier than others, now it looks pretty uniform. 
 

then, unsatisfied with the night’s work, i found some canopy masks and went to town.  Man, is that a fiddly task.  I think i got them on straight, but it was a many attempt effort.   The corners and curves really fit nicely. Tomorrow i will burnish the heck out of it and shoot some alclad aluminum and see what that gets me.  
 

photos:

 First, after the Hasegawa Decal disaster of 2021, those kill markings that had me so freaked out came out as well as i could hope

 

Nice, soft sheen

 

and that canopy that i went 3 rounds with

 

next stop, oil streaking, some panel line touch up with oils where the pastel didnt want to take, and some ejection port staining. 
 

thank you for looking!  
 

when i started this build in….2017, i was a partner at a big firm, had a daughter playing high school tennis, and nobody worried about viruses.  
 

now i have my own firm, our daughter is in college, and im really having a go at an outcome that i never thought i could do.

 

having a blast every step of the way!

 

Bill

Edited September 26, 2021 by Citadelgrad

[LSP_Kevin]

That's really looking the business, Bill!

 

Kev

[Woody V]

5 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

when i started this build in….2017, i was a partner at a big firm, had a daughter playing high school tennis, and nobody worried about viruses.  
now i have my own firm, our daughter is in college, and im really having a go at an outcome that i never thought i could do.

 

Do you mind telling us your profession? I'm guessing by this build that it's something that requires unlimited patience, analytic problem solving and perseverance.

[Woody V]

Be very careful with oils over satin finish. Unlike over gloss it's quite hard to completely remove it if you mess-up, and a little goes a loooooog way. 

[bdthoresen]

1 hour ago, Archer Fine Transfers said:

Be very careful with oils over satin finish. Unlike over gloss it's quite hard to completely remove it if you mess-up, and a little goes a loooooog way. 

Yes. The tiniest drops you can possibly apply!

 

Thor    

[Paramedic]

Just realized how much I need more P-.47s.. it is my fav WW2 aircraft after all.. But i build other things.. And seeing yours makes me a little sad about that.. Fantastic. Love the 56th boys camos and stuff too.

[Citadelgrad]

8 hours ago, Archer Fine Transfers said:

 

Do you mind telling us your profession? I'm guessing by this build that it's something that requires unlimited patience, analytic problem solving and perseverance.

I dont mind at all, I’m a lawyer.  Dont hold it against me, though.

8 hours ago, Archer Fine Transfers said:

Be very careful with oils over satin finish. Unlike over gloss it's quite hard to completely remove it if you mess-up, and a little goes a loooooog way. 

I will do that.   I still have the mule to practice on.   I really only want to smudge around the ejection ports, a hint of streaking around the rear cowl, and some flaps dirt.   

6 hours ago, bdthoresen said:

Yes. The tiniest drops you can possibly apply!

 

Thor    

Will do, thanks, Thor.  Toothpick application?

6 hours ago, MARU5137 said:

Bill,

Decals et al looks AWESOME. 

Your work is very neat, methodical  and focused.

          

Thank you, Maru.

[Gazzas]

Excellent looking work!

[Citadelgrad]

I got the canopy sprayed alclad aluminum.  
 

 

see all that rivet detail?   Its giving me fits.  I tried a pastel wash, but it would not stick.   Even when i meticulously put it in every rivet hole and line, it was gone when it dried.  
 

then i wiped it off and tried Tamiya panel accent, same effect, which is, no effect.  
 

so i wiped that off, and decided to reshoot the alclad.  
 

so now we have virgin alclad.  Should i shoot that with clear lacquer tomorrow and try an oil wash?   Any other ideas?  The rivets are deep enough that this should not be an issue, so it must be the paint.  I plan to grime up the gear legs a bit, but they are alclad, too. 
 

any ideas? 
 

thanks,

 

Bill

[Woody V]

Try an oil wash.

You'll be amazed how many different color washes you can make with five basic colors - black, white, blue, red and yellow.

[Citadelgrad]

8 hours ago, Archer Fine Transfers said:

Try an oil wash.

You'll be amazed how many different color washes you can make with five basic colors - black, white, blue, red and yellow.

Thanks, Woody, that's the next step.

 

I did a rare weekday morning session today, but all I did was shoot gloss clear over the alclad and clean the airbrush, but every step is closer to the finish line.  I had hoped to put this on a table at OrangeCon this weekend, but there is no way I will be finished.  Too many setbacks on this one, but I am very happy with the results I am getting by refusing to move forward until I am satisfied I have the best results I can get.  

[Citadelgrad]

As i get closer to finishing this one, the punch list of what needs to happen to call it done remains pretty full.  I got some oil wash on the canopy, sprayed it eggshell to match the rest of the airframe and seal the oil, and sprayed the rubber cuff around the bottom of the sliding portion.  I still need to attach the internal frame, see about some internal mechanism, and take off the mask.  I hesitate with the mask because its a one ride ticket.   I dont want to have to remask if i forget something.  
 

i also cleaned up the long ago alclad painted main gear, removed and struggled with the crazy thin actuator mechanism, some gear door attachment yokes, etc.  i still havent touched the tail wheel, although the bay and doors are almost finished. 
 

i see that i needed to drill some holes to mount the sway braces on the drop tank...Way to go with the clear instructions, Hasegawa!  It looks like those will be surface mounted. 
 

still, its closer to finished than it was yesterday.  
 

photos. 

 

the tape makes it look really filthy and ratty, but its pretty clean, just some oil to try to pop the rivets.  None of this is glued up yet, but the fit is pretty amazing.  

Edited September 29, 2021 by Citadelgrad

[John1]

Fantastic work, she's looking great. 

[Citadelgrad]

More progress tonight.  First, a flub.  I stupidly spilled some CA extra thin on my bench, i thought it was extra thick, and was tipping the bottle to get some on a toothpick, oh boy.  Minimal damage, but one casualty was the left side windscreen lower portion.  I was able to get the ca off, but the prominent donut shaped rivets were lost.  I tried to use the beading tool, but the plastic is brittle, the angle is bad, and it just made rings where the other side looks much more complex

 

versus the other side

 

not to fear, i saw this on my bench

 

another mask for the windscreen…and of course the kit came with two canopies, one a 2 piece for open, one a single piece for closed. 
 

luckily i masked the clear part when i used the one piece as a mask, so it was a simple matter of cutting it behind the seam and sanding to the line. It is sitting in the “clean room” tupperware after a windex then future dunk.  
 

tomorrow i will remask and respray and be twice as careful. I will then pick the better one to attach. 
 

i also turned back to the gear.  This kit has some long metal actuator rods that sort of run parallel to the main gear leg.  If you were wondering what the limits of plastic molding are, these are past that limit.  I cut around them and still managed to damage them getting them off the sprue.  Due to the complex shape, they arent really subject to replacement with metal rod, although i may have to substitute a simplified version if the CA doesnt hold these now multi part assemblies together. 

 
i also bent up the “metal” portion of the brake lines, these terminate right before the oleos, where they are continued as rubber to the brakes.  

 

Thats a resin 90 degree fitting, but the detail is so fine that even gluing the part obscures the nut portions. 

 

i also got some paint on the tail wheel

 

and i tried to attach this brace with future instead of glue, not sure if its going to work yet

Thats where i pulled the plug tonight. 
 

thanks for looking.  
 

Bill

[Woody V]

2 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

I stupidly spilled some CA extra thin on my bench, i thought it was extra thick, and was tipping the bottle to get some on a toothpick

 

Trick I learned some time ago is to dispense a drop or two on the bottom of a paint jar (Testors, AK, Mr. Color) and dip your applicator into that instead of into the CA bottle.