Thunnus Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 After assembly, the horizontal tailplanes were pushed into place. The fit is crazy tight... I may have to shave the tab thickness down before they break on me. The addition of the tail planes shows us how far we've gotten and also how close to painting we are. Wouter, nmayhew, Landrotten Highlander and 18 others 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wackyracer Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Brilliant work again John, The 152 is such a different bird, it has the nice Dora fuselage then those super wide and thin wings. Going to be a showstopper once the paint is on. Martinnfb and Scale32 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 I've painted the landing gear covers so here's what the completed landing gear components look like... The DF loop antenna was cut off and replaced by a strip cut from a Coke can... rafju, Rocat, Kagemusha and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lothar Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Fantastic work and paintjob on those landing gears, always a joy to see your progress !! Lothar Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Love the updates John. Thunnus and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Man, that looks great with the HD prop and cowls attached! Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Always joy to follow John. Thunnus and Lothar 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 Thanks guys! Once I shift my focus away from the trouble spots and take a higher level view of things, I feel better about this build. Stepping closer to the priming/painting stage, I am going to mask off the wheel wells using tissue paper. This is a nice and easy way to mask off big recessed areas like wheel wells. It doesn't work well in every situation especially if the recess is filled with delicate photoetched details but the Ta152H wheel wells are simplistic enough to not snag the dried tissue paper on removal. I start by stuffing a large amount tissue into the hole. Water will reduce the size of this mass by more than 2X so keep that in mind. Using a paint brush dipped in water, I begin to simultaneously wet the paper and start compressing it into the wheel well. Separating the task between the two major shapes of the wheel well, a second piece is used to fill the narrower leg portion of the opening. It's pretty easy to get the paper to move where you want it to, even pulling it up to cover up to the edges of the wheel well. Very easy, no mess and no measuring or cutting required. When the water dries the paper will stiffen and stay in place pretty securely until you need to remove it. The black areas around the exhaust pipes have been painted so I'm going to mask them off. Next, I'm going to mask the clear parts with the masks that Z-M provides with the kit. The masks are made of a thin, translucent aqua vinyl-like material. The armored headrest as well as the rear canopy guide are glued into place first. (https://postimg.cc/MnSqqYVz)] The flat panels of the windscreen present no problem for the masks but I'm dubious about the curved portion of the main canopy. Surprisingly, the main canopy masks seem to fit ok. The trick is to line of the bottom edges first where the canopy is the flattest. Once the bottom edge is aligned, slowly press the rest of the mask in place, working from bottom to top. The edges along the top frame bubbled up a bit at first but seemed to press down completely with some gentle rubbing. There is a chance that the canopy masks might lift over time so I'll keep an eye on that. If that happens, I can scan the used mask sheet to create new masks with a sheet of Yellow Tamiya masking tape. TAG, LSP_Kevin, dodgem37 and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett M Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 Huh, hadn’t thought of using wet paper towels before for covering large areas. Nifty! Great progress on this build, impressive as always. Michael931080, Thunnus and Martinnfb 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 Thanks Brett! It works better to use very soft paper like tissue or toilet paper, not paper towels. Checking the canopy mask today revealed that it had indeed lifted along the top frame. There have been times when I've persisted with this issue, tamping down the lifted areas temporarily right before spraying but it usually ends up with a compromised finish so off it comes. I scanned the Z-M mask and cut new masks using the Silhouette Portrait cutter. Instead of the normal Oramask 810 material that I use for markings, I cut the masks on sheets of Yellow Tamiya masking sheets, which is a material similar to their yellow tape. Due to the lack of flexibility in the Tamiya masking material, I found out that I had to cut the mask in two parts to allow the mask to lay down properly, without wrinkles along the frame lines. The Z-M masks MAY have benefited from this approach as well. Rocat, D.B. Andrus, LSP_Kevin and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggernut Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 I’ve been watching your build with great enthusiasm. I have an H-0 on my bench and am relieved that you’ve experienced a lot of the same issues I have. My biggest mistake was relying on the indentations in the lower wings when gluing the spars to them. Turns out there was about a 1/16” difference between the left and right bottom wing locations in relation in the spar. I found this out when I tried to install the center portion between the lower wing skins. Luckily I was able to remove plastic from the parts and most everything fit close. One wing is slightly bent but unless you’re really looking for it, it gets overlooked. Martinnfb, Thunnus and Kais 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 You're beating it into submission, one step at a time! Looking forward to seeing in primer and paint. Matt Thunnus and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninaustria Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Coming along nicely John! looking forward to seeing her finished! Cheers Alan ps. Is she a commission build or for your collection? Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 Thanks guys! One of the tougher builds I've encountered but I'm definitely over the hump and it should be more of a downhill glide rather than the uphill slog I've had to deal with. 14 hours ago, alaninaustria said: Coming along nicely John! looking forward to seeing her finished! Cheers Alan ps. Is she a commission build or for your collection? Alan...like most of my large scale builds, this one is for a commission. I just don't have the desire (or room) to store my completed models. I've got a coat of primer on her. Very light and uneven... just wanted to get a look at the all of the surface fixes, panel lines and rivets and make any last minute repairs before I start painting. One area needs some attention... dodgem37, Lothar, rafju and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 I've decided to group the prop into some sub-assemblies. The prop blades have been glued into the individual blade mounts. The cannon mounting plate has been glued onto the prop hub, trapping the brass prop axle within. I've scanned the Eagle Cal Ta152H decal sheet and have prepared four spiral masks. The first two were used just to work out how the mask best fit onto the unpainted spinner. When I thought I had that figured out, I painted the spinner white and applied the mask. It didn't go on as easily as I expected until I figured out to take advantage of the flex of the Oramask 810 material to pull the mask into the correct position. The black (Tamiya Black thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner) gave me a funky reaction that I had not seen before. The paint seemed to pool on the areas where the mask had been... some unseen leftover adhesive? So that effort was scrubbed off using iso alcohol. The second time around worked very nicely and I got a clean spiral right off the bat. In the meantime, the prop blades were being painted. I used a sandy brown as a base coat since the Ta152H had a wooden prop. Hairspray was used to do a little bit of chipping on the blades. The painted blades were given a couple of layers of salt fading to roughen them up a little. I still need to weather the spinner but prop painting is essentially finished. Martinnfb, F-4Phanwell, Kais and 29 others 31 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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