Anthony in NZ Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Chuck, your attention to detail and finishing is second to none and your skills have helped inspire me with my own work. Thanks so much Cheers Anthony chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarioS Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Love you work Chuck looking very good no, sorry!... I mean It looks Great That cockpit in that last pic is amazing (real looking) chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squizzy 78 Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Amazing work as always Chuck! I really do like watching your work on the panel lines and rivets with the wash in it. It's a joy to watch your work! chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 Thanks Guys! Someone at ARC has mentioned that I should have a “Y” shaped seat belt on the back that’s green, but I can’t find any pics that show this clearly. Without a seat back cushion, like my resin seat, it’s hard to know what should be there and what shouldn’t. Anybody have a good pic? Cheers, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel111 Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Silky smooth skills there, Chuck! Love the way the cockpit turned out, wow! That does look like quite a tough little kit to master, phew. Cheers, Marcel Harold and chuck540z3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 I sent you a couple drop box folders via PM. Maybe you can find something to help there. chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 2 hours ago, chuck540z3 said: Thanks Guys! Someone at ARC has mentioned that I should have a “Y” shaped seat belt on the back that’s green, but I can’t find any pics that show this clearly. Without a seat back cushion, like my resin seat, it’s hard to know what should be there and what shouldn’t. Anybody have a good pic? Cheers, Chuck The butt snapper is behind and in the middle of the shoulder straps on your resin seat. chuck540z3, Anthony in NZ and Winnie 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnie Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Harold got it. I sent a link to a picture from "ejectionsite" on the other forum. Strangely difficult to find a good picture of the Norair seat on the internet... I know of one in Norway, but the website it was on has changed, and now a dummy is in that seat.... Harold and chuck540z3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 (edited) February 9/19 Time to finish off the front fuselage once and for all, with the windscreen and gun doors installed permanently. In sort of random order, let’s start with the glare shield and HUD. The Black Box (BB) resin kit doesn’t come with a HUD, so you are asked to create one from scratch. While there are lots of options to do this, the kit HUD isn’t too bad, although it’s a bit too thick, so I went with it. It needs to be sanded down from the sides, however, because it’s about 10% too wide. Unfortunately, the BB assembly that holds the HUD is crude and not uniform, so you need to use a filler of sorts to get it to lay straight and flat. I tried a number of water-based glues to do this, but all failed due to their thickness, which quite frankly made a big mess. Thankfully, clean-up was easy with water, so that I could start all over again- about 5 times! The solution, although it was a big risk, was to use thin CA glue instead. There are no ways to start all over again with CA glue on painted resin, so I sucked up some courage and taped the HUD in place, then oozed from the sides some thin CA glue on a microbrush. As hoped, the glue worked perfectly, running down the HUD assembly by capillary action, while creating a strong bond. Normally you wouldn’t risk using CA glue on clear plastic for fear of fogging, but in an open environment, the CA fumes won’t hang around, as they would in an enclosed canopy. For the circular glass lens behind the HUD glass, I used a drop of Future/Pledge mixed with a little clear green acrylic paint. The entire glare shield was then dulled down with Tamiya pastels, to create a bit of a weathered and rubberized look. On the left side of the HUD should be a shielded gizmo that I found was an “AOA Indexer” from references. While the BB kit was missing this feature, the kit has this part, but it is very crude with a big seam line running through it. Cleaning it up and adding some brass for the shield on the top along with an Airscale placard, it turned out pretty good. After it was assembled, I drilled a hole and inserted it beside the HUD. Note the big gaps along the gun door to windscreen panel lines. More on that later. Another view from the top. Another part supplied in the kit and BB resin set is the compass on the windscreen on the right side. Both are crappy, so I made one myself from styrene rod and more Airscale brass bezels and decals, with a wire attached to the back. For the compass holder/bracket, I modified an Airscale bezel that had an extension that I cut out, bent, then glued to the windscreen. The compass was painted black, while the bracket was painted cockpit gray, after masking off the entire windscreen and painting the front gray and the rear black on the inside only. Dry fit, albeit a bit crooked. Now it looks more the part than the kit offering. Now the gun doors. As mentioned earlier, they are made to be in the open position, so they don’t fit at all. The door latches are also made in the open position, while the surface is lumpy, due to the ribbing on the inside. To fix this, I sanded the surface smooth, then carefully trimmed the latches, scoring a cut on the inside, then pushed them into the open holes. A view from the inside, showing the ribbing and the latches closed on the top panel and still open on the bottom panel. Before getting active with gun door modifications, I glued the windscreen in place to protect the HUD, etc. The windscreen and canopy are not very well cast, with lots of marbling in the clear plastic. After polishing both with Tamiya polishing compounds, they are better, but the real flaws are within the plastic, so you are stuck with what you get. From a distance like this, the flaws are invisible, so “good enough”. Note that I did not paint those areas under the windscreen that are in contact with plastic, to ensure a strong bond that won’t let paint get into the windscreen area. Using a sanding stick only, I carefully sanded down every panel to get them to fit, starting with the bottom gun door glued closed. This took a long time and some of the panel line gaps were tight while others were too large. The big gaps were filled with CA glue, then sanded down and rescribed, creating a more uniform look like the real deal. After a lot of work, I’m pretty happy with the clean and uniform look now. Edited February 9, 2019 by chuck540z3 Out2gtcha, jgrease, Anthony in NZ and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 (edited) Just for laughs, I put on the canopy to see how it would fit. Almost perfect! Very surprising, since a canopy closed option is not available without extensive modifications, that are not described in the instructions. The fit is so good, that I think I will be using the canopy to seal the cockpit, using masking solution as the “glue”. Next up, the engines. I have a few surprises that I think you will like, but like everything in my builds, this will take a while! Cheers, Chuck Edited February 9, 2019 by chuck540z3 MikeMaben, Doctorgaz, Anthony in NZ and 20 others 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F`s are my favs Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 These pix are.... mesmerizing! Well done, Chuck! chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaxos345 Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Excellent work Chuck!!! As always!!!! John chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squizzy 78 Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 I'm thinking that the model companies should pay you Chuck for building their kits, as I have no doubt that sales go up when fellow modellers see your build threads. Great work, looking forward to seeing more. chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Very sharp work. Great show, Chuck. Glad you're here. Sincerely, Mark chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themongoose Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Dang i like your method of closing the hinges on the gun doors, genius! Gonna use that for sure. williamj and chuck540z3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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