Alex Posted November 5, 2022 Author Share Posted November 5, 2022 17 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said: Welcome back, Alex! Looking forward to your updates. Kev Thanks Kev. It’s good to be back. LSP_Kevin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcleon Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 This is looking great Alex! Yes, this kit is on my next-buy list too - would love to do Pat Pattle's machine! I do like your idea for the tailwheel - always good to add later! I will borrow that idea. And yes, a modelling space and spray booth are essential, in my opinion! More power to your modelling arm! Regards, Marc. Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 Nothing too fancy - just some basic cockpit. I added a couple bits that were prominent in photos and not supplied in the kit, but far less than a determined scratchbuilder could do. The Quickboost resin seat is quite nice. As are the Kelik (Made in Ukraine!) 3-D printed IP decals. Now on to getting the fuselage halves joined up. There's a slight twist to the starboard side piece that's going to make that a challenge. Then I'll need to figure out how to bend the resin piece that forms the top of the pilot's harness to drape nicely over the back wall of the cockpit (and remember to do it *before* gluing the canopy in...). LSP_Kevin, BradG, denders and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradG Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 Cockpit is looking great Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 8, 2022 Author Share Posted November 8, 2022 Closed up the fuselage and working on smoothing out the seams. The top went well with not too much work to do. The undersides, however... I know that this separate plastic polygon is there in service of there also being a Sea Gladiator kit, but man, that's going to be a lot of work to make it disappear while retaining the ribbed look of the fuselage... ICM did a nice job with the engine on this kit, which is good given its relatively exposed position. There are not a ton of exterior parts present on the relatively simple Bristol Mercury 9-cylinder for the OCD type to replicate, though I will definitely be adding the sparkplugs and ignition wires. Here are most of the parts with just some initial layers of paint down on them. By far the greatest challenge will be the exhaust collector ring - the individual cylinder exhausts feed forward into the main forward cowl ring, which then collects the exhaust into two pipes that come rearward. As this photo that was originally posted by Mozart shows, those collection ducts pass through the other sheetmetal sections of the cowl before joining the pipes. And all of it has some complex patina to it. ICM also supplies the rocker arm covers, which are visible on top of the cylinder heads in the above photo. They only call for using them, however, if you plan to display the model with the cowling sections removed: Presumably because the plastic cowling sections are far from scale-thin and won't clear a scale-size engine. But, I'm concerned that if one looks closely enough into the front of the cowling, at an angle, the absence of those parts will be obvious. So I'm contemplating sanding the tops of them down and/or thinning out the cowl sections from underneath to try and get the needed clearance. Yep, that's some OCD. :-) denders, Rockie Yarwood, Rick Griewski and 6 others 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 8, 2022 Author Share Posted November 8, 2022 The other thing I'm on the fence about is insignia. I have these decals in part because I thought that I would not be able to cleanly mask the central crescent and stars figure in the roundels (and I still believe that). But I could easily do the rest of it, and I'm kind of allergic now to the way decals look, and how much work it takes to bland them in to a surface finish. So I'm wondering if I should try to trim the central green disks out of those roundels and only use those, painting the rest of it. If I try that, I need to find a green that is a close match so there is not a jarring difference decal : paint. Maybe I should fire up the Silhouette and see if I could do an OK job even on the details if I cut masks in Kabuki tape? Remember when I said this was going to be a quick build? Landrotten Highlander, Rockie Yarwood, Fanes and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockie Yarwood Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 Great progress, Alex. I think you should try the Silhouette, nothing to lose but a little time and masking material! Alex and Panzerwomble 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 Yep, Silhouette all the way! Panzerwomble and Fanes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 6 hours ago, Rockie Yarwood said: Great progress, Alex. I think you should try the Silhouette, nothing to lose but a little time and masking material! 2 hours ago, mozart said: Yep, Silhouette all the way! What masters Max and Rockie said! Its wonderful to be able to cut your own stuff. If the cut is too deep it might hinter the tiny stars some, but I'm betting you might be able to pull it all off in the Silhouette! Uncarina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 14, 2022 Author Share Posted November 14, 2022 I've been delinquent on updates here. Plugging away, though. Fuselage and lower wings are joined up and largely cleaned up. I need to do one more pass with filler (using Vallejo acrylic putty and liking it a lot) along the wing root. Everything that was not an acute angle join (all the seams on the undersides) were filled with CA. I am pondering whether I want to install the main landing gear struts before starting painting. One thing that I definitely want to get done before I start painting the fuselage and wings is to finish building the engine, just to get all of the parts consolidated and out of the way. That means I have to get after those plugs/wires now. Here is the cowling section through which the exhausts pass, joined up with the Quickboost exhaust pipes. These will be tricky to paint, as that section of cowling under the bowtie shaped straps is meant to be heat-distressed bare metal, like the exhausts, while the areas to each side are as part of the camo scheme of the aircraft. I think the straps should probably be ~steel in appearance. LSP_Kevin, Landrotten Highlander, Phantom2 and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 Good progress Alex, a clean precise job! Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcleon Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 This is looking great, Alex! A lovely cockpit and the engine details coming up beautifully - do what you think here, your interpretation is good... The overall assembly is very good, you are making it look so easy! Could I be the only voice in the wilderness encouraging you to use those decals? They really look OK... Regards. , Marc Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 16, 2022 Author Share Posted November 16, 2022 Most of the way there with the engine. The outer collector ring / exhaust is going to get painted separately and probably installed last thing. As you can see, I decided against trying to thin down the rocker arm covers and install them. Too much work for little real benefit, I think. They would be so hard to catch a glimpse of once the full cowl is in place. Even this (back) side of the engine will be nigh invisible once the model is buttoned up. Rockie Yarwood, denders, Trak-Tor and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted November 16, 2022 Share Posted November 16, 2022 Great work, Alex! Kev Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockie Yarwood Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 Terrific work on the engine, Alex! Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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