LSP_Kevin Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 Looking good, Brian! Kev Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petrov27 Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 Yep this continues to come together really well! Regarding the stainless steel tubing, nice solution there - what did you cut that with? I have some myself but cutting it has been a challenge - my usual razor saws don't do well with it and using a dremel was doable but getting a clean square cut is challenging.... Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 Thanks guys. 5 hours ago, petrov27 said: what did you cut that with? I have some myself but cutting it has been a challenge - my usual razor saws don't do well with it and using a dremel was doable but getting a clean square cut is challenging.... For the larger stuff, I normally use a thin cut off wheel on my Dremel, then smooth the end off with the flat part of the wheel. Open up the end with a round jewelers file. For the very tiny stainless tube (like on the nose pitot tube) get yourself a pack of straight razors from a hardware store, then take and roll the tube flat along a piece of tile (or anything ultra flat and smooth) with the razor blade or #11 blade, and the tube will snap right off. Martinnfb and Greg W 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citadelgrad Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Those skids are as flat as one could hope for. Excellent recovery, cant wait to see this in paint. Martinnfb and Out2gtcha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Thanks again guys, the kit while not perfect by any means fits really well, and the glass parts I just got done installing fit about as good as anyone could ask. Some more minor and some slight major progress! Martinnfb and Greg W 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Minor glitch in the Matrix...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 When last I left things it was a bit of a nail biting moment, to see if the skids stayed level and flat as I had left them........... Success! Not perfect by any means, but Ill take it, as this build is all about fun, and doing something different. Next up was a fairly scary part, the glass! I don't have a perfect track record on clear parts, so its always a crap shoot. In this case it helped that the fit of the clear parts was REALLY excellent. AAMOF, I could set the two side panels on without any glue what-so-ever and they not only stayed in place, but there were really no gaps. I have deviated from the ICM instructions on many parts of this build, simply based on instinct and the canopy parts were no different. I decided that the two immobile canopy pieces on the gunners starboard and pilots port were more important to get to fit right, VS the main overhead canopy glass as it had a much less positive attachment point, and had more wiggle room for adjustment if it was left for last. So that is exactly what I did: The fit of these parts was about as good as you could have ever asked for OOB: And now with the center canopy section added and glued in. No filler required anywhere around the canopy parts; Again, very nice fit here with little effort: More......... mc65, Citadelgrad, Landrotten Highlander and 20 others 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Then I used the two opening sections of the canopy as masking, using some foil glue and later will add a bit of Mr Masking sol NEO. Again, fit of the final two parts was near perfect had I wanted to close things up, it would not have been an issue; I then turned my attention to a few other minor details that needed to be addressed before a layer of Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 black goes on, and that included the tail skid and main landing light, not to mention some other tiny bits like the tie down hoops and stub wing inner pylons. After looking at many pics of Nam Cobras at rest, or ready to go out on a mission, I hardly found any that showed the later folding landing light in the down position. I found few that even showed it down on daylight take off or landing, so I wanted to portray my landing light in the folded/retracted position. This was a tiny bit of an issue, because ICM molded the landing light to be mounted in the deployed position only. The OOB folding arm on the light looked fine in the deployed position, but did not look right if you mounted the light in the retracted position, so I had to cut off the arm and make my own to fill the required space. After sanding the back of the light so it would lay flush and then gluing on the new scratched folding arm, I glued the whole thing in and smoothed things flush, then added some Archer rivets, and lastly a layer of Solva-set : I glued in some of the smaller tie down rings as you can partially see in the above pic, as well as getting the stub wing inner pylons glued together and set aside to dry. One of the last things I had yet to tackle, that if I didnt do something about the OOB part, I surly would have destroyed it was the tail skid. I knew for SURE, if I didnt scratch one up, it would be the first thing Id break off after installing it. This is a piece of hardened steel piano wire, cut and sized to the kit part. I took some needle nose pliers and installed the correct bend and then rounded the end off as most of the skids I've seen. This way at least it wont come off easy. Since taking these, I've already bashed it a couple times, and its done its job and survived without issue. Bit hard to take a picture of: All for now gents, but Im getting close on this one to getting some primer and then paint down! (the fun part!). The main and real reason I haven't done these last few details faster is that I had no Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 black, and neither did either of the two LHSs in town (both Hobby Towns unfortunately). So this meant having to order some on line, hoping my go-to SB.com had some in stock. WHEW! They actually did have some in stock, so I got two jars and hopefully that shipment will be here tomorrow or Wednesday. Thanks for dropping in on me and cheers! Buster99, daveculp, scvrobeson and 18 others 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
305 swag Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Is this kit available in the USA? The late model to be specific. Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 1 hour ago, 305 swag said: Is this kit available in the USA? The late model to be specific. Not really sure on that one. I got mine from Ukraine and took about a week and a half or so. Uncarina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Excellent update, Brian! Kev Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
305 swag Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 30 minutes ago, Out2gtcha said: Not really sure on that one. I got mine from Ukraine and took about a week and a half or so. Wow, that’s great! Nice build , keep up the good work! Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Thanks guys. The UPS man just now dropped off two packages (both from SB.com), one that I ordered on Sunday night and the other that I ordered yesterday morning. Its my Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 black! The second SB package contains some needed MRP paint including some gloss and flat clear I have been needing as well as the Swedish blue/gray for my eventual Viggen. SprueBrothers is not always the cheapest option, but they are competitive, and their relative closeness, means my delivery times are extraordinarily short normally. Plus when you order from them, at least you know there are no stock games and what you ordered shows very clearly in or out of stock at the time of purchase, which I like. For now I'm just happy this Cobra build can continue, as I was running out of things to do before I needed to lay down a layer of black primer then paint. On to some more progress tonight hopefully. Cheers! Uncarina and easixpedro 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 looking good Brian! Well done on the skids too! Craig Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 Good show, Brian. Sincerely, Mark Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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