Jaro Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Nice! It looks to me mojo is reclaimed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted July 24, 2021 Author Share Posted July 24, 2021 Thank you for those great reference photos, Reserve_22! I'll fix that lever on the instrument panel. I'll probably leave that wiring on the port side alone... I'm assuming that a little variation there would be quite natural. And a very nice model too! It's been an eventful week for our family. And not in the positive sense. Loss is never easy but you just try to pick up the pieces as best you can and move forward. Because of all of things going on, modeling time has understandably been cut short but I did manage to do a little work on the Komet when small windows of opportunity opened. This is my first attempt at fashioning harnesses using the buckle hardware from the Aires cockpit set and strips of foil cut from a wine bottle. After the seatbelts were completed, I started painting the cockpit components. Here's the painted seat placed in the cockpit. I brush painted the straps and due to the paint not being cooperative, I lost some of the stitch detail that I had impressed upon the belts. I thought it would look better if I painted the belts before mounting using an airbrush so I gave it another go. The stitch detail was from an old RB Productions cockpit set. The PE sprue has a corner that was fashioned like a mini-rivet wheel and when pressed into the foil, a small row of holes is formed to replicate a row of stitches. Luckily, I had save that little tool. The cockpit sidewalls have been painted. Here is a look at the painted cockpit without the seat in place. The overall cockpit was painted RLM 66 Dark Grey (Mr Hobby Aqueous). To impart some contrast, the fuel tanks, which form the walls of the cockpit tub, were painted in Tamiya Nato Black. After painting, the cockpit was weathered slightly by dry-brushing around the edges and some dry pastels along the floor. The seat is in the process of being chipped. Once that is done, I'll mount the seat belts. That's all for now! Paul in Napier, dennismcc, KiwiZac and 20 others 22 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Excellent work on those seat belts, John! The rest of the cockpit is looking terrific as well. Kev Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Excellent work on the cockpit John. I do hope that everything is okay with the family, and that you will get through this trying time. Matt Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 31 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said: Excellent work on those seat belts, John! The rest of the cockpit is looking terrific as well. Kev Thanks Kevin! 22 minutes ago, scvrobeson said: Excellent work on the cockpit John. I do hope that everything is okay with the family, and that you will get through this trying time. Matt Thanks Matt! Appreciate the supportive thoughts. Here's version 2 of the seat belts. The stitching detail came out better but there are less wrinkles in the harnesses that I liked with the first effort. A little bit too clean and smooth too... I'll try to smudge them up a bit. Like many cramped Luftwaffe cockpits, many of the details get hidden by the fuselage. Martinnfb, Troy Molitor, VintageEagle and 17 others 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citadelgrad Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Sending positive thoughts, John, i too am sorry you are going through trying times. the cockpit looks very nice, those seatbelts are just…really well executed. I wrestled with the pre cut HGW on my -47, and all i was doing was slapping together precision cut parts. To actually measure and cut and impart stitching, just really amazing, sir. As always, great photography and step by step. another thread i am using as a reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 If it's not too much trouble, you might want to check that red gauge on your instrument panel. The yellow undercoat seems to be popping through in places. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaro Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Looks great. Please check if it would be possible to reduce the thickness of cockpit walls (at least the upper part close to headrest)?. This may be beneficial if you intend to keep canopy open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wurzacher Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 On 7/18/2021 at 11:02 AM, reserve_22 said: Hi John. The lever from instrument panel isnt straight. Always interesting to see one of my pictures pop-up on the Net. This one is from a series I did back then in 2002 in Duxford. I have some more in the walk around section over on SPAModeler, John. But, as one has to be logged in to see those additional pics, it would not hurt to add some more here. Enjoy! Thomas LSP_Kevin, chukw, John1 and 12 others 13 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 (edited) Sorry for your loss, John. Great work. Wonderful references, Thomas. Sincerely, Mark Edited July 25, 2021 by dodgem37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Sorry to hear about your lose John. Positive thoughts for the rest of your family as well. Nice efforts as usual. The second attempts at the belts looks amazing. Kind regards from Marathon Key, FL. Fish on! lol. Troy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 Very nice work on the cockpit, John. I'm sorry about your loss. Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted August 29, 2021 Author Share Posted August 29, 2021 Hello again! I hope everyone is doing well! It's been a while since I've posted an update. Which reflects my absence from the modeling room. Due to various issues, my mind has not been on modeling and I've been doing other things. Finally got the urge to fiddle with the plastic and hopefully this signals a more consistent return to the modeling bench. Looking at other Meng 163 builds, I am probably going to deviate from the kit's instructions to hopefully circumvent some of the fit issues that arise from a standard construction sequence. Some builders have reported good luck attaching the wings to the fuselage first and that's the route I'm going to take. I may even attach the rear fuselage halves to their respective sides so that I'll have a complete left and right halves. All of my panels will be shut but I've decided to assemble the 30mm wing cannons since the under wing ammo chutes look up directly into the gun bay. The cannons are obviously designed to be seen from above. Note that the ammo chute does not line up with the opening on the wing bottom. The view from underneath into the ammo openings simply shows the featureless bottom of the guns. To keep things simple and preserve momentum, I am just going to paint all of this black. The instructions would have you foolishly glue in a delicate antenna into the bottom of the wings during wing assembly. I had other plans so I didn't mind it when the antenna broke when removing it from the sprue. Instead, I just glued in the antenna base, with the whip antenna replaced with a hole. A wire or piece of stretched sprue will be used for the antenna at the end of the build. I found a spare oxygen bottle in one of my Me262 kits and decided to add it to the shelf just forward of the fuel tank per Reserve_22's comment. Troy Molitor, LSP_Kevin, Uncarina and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaconroot Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 Great to see your return to the bench. Hope all is well. Looking forward to more updates. Jim Root Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 Good to see you back at it John. Thunnus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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