Fuji FA-200, 1/20 Nichimo

[mgbooyv8]

Hi guys,

 

This is a small update, not much work was done on this one.

I finished some other models though, but they are 1/72.

 

The mating of the wings with the fuselage was succesful.

A good bond and no seams to fill at the topside and only a bit of filler required at the seams on the bottom.

Here is it is with tape removed while test fitting some interior components. They fit remarkably well!

The floor also stiffens up the construction, so the model becomes a bit more rigid.

 

According to the instructions, the parts covering the cockpit are the last items to be installed.

It is better to install them earlier, any seams can be addressed before final painting.

 

Now I understand why they were packed in their own blister. The mouldings are beautifully thin:

There is a seam in the middle, to be removed, meaning a multi-part mold.

This is indeed needed, the sliding canopy (middle part) has integral slding rails.

The inner side has some detail, but also some ejector pin marks, which will have fo be filled:

 

I have separated the parts with a small razor saw.

 

Most probably, when new, the fit of the horizontal tailplane must have been very good, ensuring good alignment.

However, this is no longer the case, there is always some damage when dismantling a kit.

Therfore, the horizontal tailplane got a brass pin, to ensure alignment:

 

The elevators will be connected as well.

 

To be continued.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

 

[mgbooyv8]

And rightly so Maru!

Time flies, my last post was 3 weeks ago!

Well, I had an excuse, I finished several other builds, although not LSP.

 

Anyway, I had fitted the horizontal stabilizer and wanted to check how much lead would be needed to put the model on its nose gear:

 

Well, as you can see, that is quite a lot.

I don't think I can cram that whole lot in, forward of the main landing gear.

I hope the engine assembly will help in reducing the amount needed, but I'm not very confident.

We will see.

 

Today I did something very interesting.

I decided to do an Advanced Upset Prevention and Recovery Training at "Wings over Holland" on Lelystad Airport.

Last week I had a very interesting theory evening and today I had my first flying training which is executed on....

The Fuji Fa-200, this one:

 

Well, very interesting I must say!

The flight instructor brought me in abnormal flight attitudes which I had to recover.

I learned a lot and have a lot to learn obviously!

Two more flights to go and looking forward to it.

It is something which I can recommend to all private pilots.

 

The Fuji is aerobatic so is a perfect mount for this type of training - I had my first tail slide!

And it flies very nice I must say!

So, actually building this model was one of the reasons to do this training now.

 

I had another suprise. Guess what was parked in the hangar?

 

The PH-MBK, the actual Fuji I'm modelling in its Martinair guise!

The plane is now privately owned.

It is partly in its original colour scheme, so I now know that the red was an orange-red colour.

Needless to say I made lots of pictures!

 

On my model, I need to fill a gap at the root of the horizontal tail plane.

On the original, there is something which is not on the model, but very obvious on at close range:

 

An external heavy-duty mount. I checked old pictures, and it is original. Nice detail to add.

 

I need to make a start to the interior, so the pictures I made will come in handy.

 

To be continued.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[mozart]

Fascinating Peter, you can’t get better than the link of Pilot+flying training+model+real plane. Brilliant! 

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks Max, I think you hit the nail on the head!

Although I'm not a little bit jealous of you, flying a Tiger Moth.

That's still on my bucket list.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks, Maru! 

Indeed it is very nice to be able to photograph the plane I'm building.

 

A tail slide is an aerobatic aircraft manoeuvre.

You are going up vertically until the aircraft stops.

Then it slides down backwards (the tail slide) before the nose turns to the ground and you recover the aircraft.

Pictures say more than 1000 words, so here is a short Youtube movie:

Extra 300 doing a tail slide

The tail slide is in the beginning of the movie. 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

Edited December 3, 2020 by mgbooyv8
extra comment added

[mgbooyv8]

You're welcome, Maru! 

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[mgbooyv8]

Well, time flies fast!

It's been more than 3 weeks since the last update.

I have holidays now, and intend to make quicker progress.

Anyway, there IS progress.

 

I've filled in the  gaps between the horizontal stabilizer and the fuselage:

 

It is probably not very visible on this picture, but I used some plastic strip and Vallejo arcylic putty.

The latter can be smoothed with a wet finger or a cotton bud, which saves sanding and damage to the surrounding surface detail.

 

The fuselage has a luggage hatch modelled-in:

 

Which PH-MBK does not have. (note that there are plenty of Fuji's with a luggage hatch, the kit is correct for them):

 

So, away it went:

 

I used 2K putty for this to avoid shrinkage.

The rivets will be reinstated later with Archer or Mikro Mark rivet decals.

 

Remember that the model can be motorized and equipped with working landing and taxi lights?

Well, these features need a switch and Nichimo cleverly uses the control yokes as switches.

Therefore, large bushes are moulded below the glare shield and behind the instrument panel to install the switches:

 

But I will need all the space available to put my ballast lead out of sight in the fuselage.

Soo,these had to go:

 

The parcel shelf has some cut-outs to allow the backrest of the rear bench to swivel upwards and access the batteries needed for motorization and lights:

 

These were filled in with plastic card and sanded smooth. 

Reinstating the surface detail (straight ridges) with stretched sprue is in progress:

 

More has been done, but that is for the next update.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[Out2gtcha]

Excellent update!  I like the re-filling with stretched sprue..............an art form in iteself. 

[mozart]

Lovely work Peter. 

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks guys!

Happy new year to everybody!

 

Work continued, only interrupted by the festivities.

The front seats have a four point harness.

The shoulder belts have a reel, which is bolted onto the spar, just behind each front seat.

The belts pass a frame on top of the seat back:

Note that apparently the seats of PH-MBK have been recovered fairly recently in nice red leather.

The seats have always been red, but whether originally it was leather, fabric, or a combination of both, I don't know.

The side panels seem to be original, and apparently, they were covered in black fabric.

 

Both seat backs got a scratch frame on top. It was made from wire and plastic strip:

 

The glare shield and the instrument panel got a coat of Humbrol 85 Coal Black, the side panels got a coat of Revell 9 Anthracite:

 

The floor also got a coat of Humbrol Coal black and the separate carpets got Revell Anthracite.

The separate rails of the forward seats were painted aluminium. 

 

Next, the floor was assembled:

 

The seat parts got a primer coat of Revell 75 and then I turned my attention to the engine.

 

The kit depicts a Fuji with a 180 HP Lycoming O-360, however PH-MBK has an O-320 of 160 HP.

From the outside, they look similar, but the capacity is different as is indicated by the type number (capacity in cubic Inches).

The accessories mounted on the engine types can be different too.

I can expect some modifications on the kit parts.

 

One of the funny things of this kit is the way the cooling fins of the cylinders are represented. They are made of small die-cut metal plates of several sizes.

When alternate sizes are stacked over a plasic core, the illusion of cooling fins is created.

Here are the required parts:

 

The crank case and sump have already been assembled.

Each cylinder was assembled fron this set of plates:

 

Would I have enough metal plates?

No, I needed to make one smaller rectangular one from plastic card:

 

With four cylinders assembled, there were two round plates left, and the cylinders were glued to the crank case:

 

Somehow, the metal plates were a bit springy, probably caused by little raised edges from the die-cut process.

When pushed-in, the cylinders came slightly back.

To give the possibility of small adjustments, I didn't want to use superglue and I couldn't clamp them properly while the glue hardened.

As a result, each cylinder is about 1mm taller than it should be, but then, so be it.

Without rocker covers, the engine fitted comfortably between the cowling panels.

 

The pushrod tubes and the rocker covers were fitted:

 

I hope the engine will still fit within the cowling.

An initial check indicates it will tight!

 

There was only one intake tube that fitted:

 

The other three intake tubes had to be lengthened with a piece of rod, as had the exhaust stacks.

But that is for the next post!

 

I want to assemble all engine parts which will have the same colour.

The standard finish of Lycoming engines is "Lycoming Gray", a dark blue-grey colour.

A search on the internet yielded links to touch-up sprays but no guidance to a colour code or an equivalent modelling paint colour.

Sooo, I will have to match something to pictures and to my memory! 

 

To be continued...

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[LSP_Kevin]

Wow - super progress, Peter!

 

Kev

[Out2gtcha]

Indeed, great update! 

[Alain Gadbois]

The cylinders in stacked plates is a great way to avoid cleaning up mold lines!

Very interesting update! Such a different model to what we are used to.

 

Alain

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks guys!

Alain, indeed those stacked plates avoid cleaning up mould lines of cylinder fins.

In hindsight, I think I should have run the backside of all those little plates over a piece of sanding paper, to get rid of the die-cut ridges to lose the springy-ness of the stack and making the cylinders just that mm narrower.

But that would be too much work.

 

I fitted the rocker covers and the pushrod tubes. The latter were just long enough:

 

 

Note that the round hole in the middle of the ridge of the crank case has been removed.

It was supposed for a fuel injection valve and lines.

But the engine I am making has no fuel injection so this had to go.

 

Anybody who has been flying behind a Lycoming will notice immediately that something is missing: the oil filler pipe and cap (with dipstick) behind the rear cylinder at the right side.

This is not in the kit and will be added!

 

The inlet and exhaust pipes were lenghtened with a piece of rod. To keep track of the right part numbers I labelled them and taped them on a small piece of wood:

 

Here the inlet pipes are fitted:

 

Now, all kit parts of the engine that will be grey are fitted.

The engine is now ready for its primer coat.

 

5 hours ago, Alain Gadbois said:

Such a different model to what we are used to.

 

Indeed it is, that's why i decided to do a WIP to show what it is like.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks Maru!

I painted a lot of small parts today, including the engine.

An update will follow on one of the next days.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter