Zola25 Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Nice work Chuck. Looks great /Niels chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themongoose Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 “How do you paint them, then insert them into sharp buckles without scraping off the paint?!” Ahhh an age old question my friend I assemble them all, paint them, and then scrape the paint off the buckle Derek B, chuck540z3 and scvrobeson 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-10LOADER Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Good lookin' pit Chuck, keep up the great work. Steve chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 I guess I'd suggest assembling the belts and then painting them so you can scrape the paint off the buckles Enjoy the cruise and vacation Matt Buster99 and chuck540z3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokey Pete Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Spectacular work as ever Chuck. chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copicops Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 I like that cockpit, very well painted chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 Thanks everyone! On 2/2/2024 at 12:11 PM, themongoose said: “How do you paint them, then insert them into sharp buckles without scraping off the paint?!” Ahhh an age old question my friend I assemble them all, paint them, and then scrape the paint off the buckle Now that sounds like a great plan. Thanks, I’ll give it a try! Cheers, Chuck Greg W and Derek B 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 (edited) February 16/24 Not a lot of modeling progress, mostly because the ejection seat is a model on its own and takes a long time if you want it to look right. With that in mind, I bought another Aires seat because the cockpit kit seat was broken and my repair of one of the corners just didn’t look right. This is the so-called Type A seat and as you can see, other than different colored resin, it’s identical to the cockpit set seat. Before I show anything new, its best that I review what you need to do to the seat in order for it to fit on the Aires cockpit set seat rail properly. This is what you get with no instructions as to how to get the rail past that valve-like feature at the back. After scratching my head for a bit, I realized that you cut off the valve, because the seat rail has a replacement valve, albeit bigger. Further, in order for the seat to fit low enough, the bottom needs to be sanded down, completely eroding off the lower control as shown. None of this in in the instructions. The correct position of the seat rail has the valve assembly attach to the middle-rear of the Flight Control System Recorder, while the back plate lines up with the triangular seat supports. This pic also shows that I used the kit air sensor pitots or “horns”, because they look good for scale and are much stronger than the photo-etch Aires version, which require the addition of a small rod for the pitot tubes. These parts were cut off kit Part G9 and glued in place. Modern Viper seats have black sheepskin seat cushions that replace the original olive drab version, so we modelers typically create this rough surface by various methods. Thinned putty roughed up with a microbrush is a common way of doing this, but I find it looks a bit too chunky for scale, so I tried some True-Earth anti-skid acrylic paint instead. I think this method nails the look. Besides being used for actual anti-skid surfaces, it would look great for Navy ablative coating on bombs as well. A close-up. The paint dries very quickly and is ready for flat black paint in no time. As mentioned above, I was dreading the seatbelts which are photo etch, which makes them stiff and hard to paint. Further, how do you not paint all the tiny buckles? A few of you above suggested assembling the seat belts, painting them, then scraping off the paint on the buckles with a knife. That turned out to work very well, so here’s what I did overall: 1) Paint the seats like I did the cockpit, using gloss black followed by grey enamel, then a sealing coat of X-22 2) Add painted detail and decals according to references. 3) Spray with dull coat to knock down the shine, especially the seat cushions 4) Anneal the seat belts with a flame for about 30-40 seconds to soften them 5) Assemble the belts according to instructions, which is very hard to do and makes the assembly of HGW cloth seat belts seem like child’s play. Since the Aires instructions are useless, I used mostly photo references to figure out what they should look like. Since they are metal and will scratch the paint on the seat, I assembled them and shaped them to my spare kit seat. If I did this again, I’d shape the seat belts before painting the seat 6) Paint the shaped belts with enamel paint, which can be removed with solvent as required. To hold the belts for painting and retain their new shape, I stuck them to poster putty rather than masking tape which would force them to be flat 7) Scrape the paint off the buckles with a #11 knife. Be careful to not dig down too hard, or you will reveal the brass underneath 8) Glue the belts to the seat. I used extra thin CA glue which is very tricky to do cleanly, but holds the belts rock solid immediately 9) Re-spray the seats with dull coat, to knock down the shine of CA glue residue The finished seat, at a magnification much more than can be seen with the naked eye, so please excuse the bits of crap here and there..... All of my reference pics show that the forward belts are a darker color than the rear belts and shoulder belts, so I painted them accordingly. I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Airscale and their fantastic 1/32 Modern Jet Cockpit Warnings and Labels decal set (AS32), which I’ve used on my last 3-4 jets. Every warning label you can think of is on this sheet, including some seat labels. They come off the backing paper readily in hot water and react very well to Microsol to soften them over curved edges, but you have to be careful to not overdo it. Take your time and you can position them on almost every complex surface imaginable. If you like to build modern jets, they are a must have. When the seat is placed into the cockpit, it really makes everything come together with additional detail and color. So that’s it for awhile Gents. As mentioned earlier, I’ll be vacationing in the southern hemisphere for the next 6 weeks, so modeling is on hold once again. No worries, because I always finish my models and have yet to have a model hit the proverbial SOD! Cheers, Chuck Edited February 17 by chuck540z3 Zola25, JayW, Michael931080 and 33 others 34 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayW Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Golly Moses Chuck - you can be very proud of that seat. I mean really. Kagemusha and chuck540z3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos07 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Chuck, Well done on the seat! Working the PE belts to lay like cloth belts is a skill I'll need to work on - you've made it look easy in the final product. The lambswool also came across perfectly. In my experience, over time, that wool tends to pack down and get much less "furry" after some use. And at scale, you've likely hit the perfect amount of texture! Enjoy vacation! chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankBuster Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Outstanding work, I like the way you did the photo etch belts, shame they dont make them with belts. Great time to come way down south some nice warm weather this year. Cheers. chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F`s are my favs Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 That seat is Legit, so clean and fresh. Happy vacations! chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 (edited) Thanks guys! As I review my pics above I see lots of tiny flaws, but when I look at the cockpit, I can't see any of them with my glasses on, so I guess I'll leave them as is. I'm pretty tired of the cockpit anyway and it's time to move on. Next up will be the landing gear bays which are mini-models all on their own as well. Cheers, Chuck Edited February 18 by chuck540z3 A-10LOADER, Buster99, F`s are my favs and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyrosjzmichos Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Lovely cockpit and fantastic work as usual Chuck! chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 So very spectacular Chuck! The build, detailed log, and your photography are truly inspiring! Cheers, Tom chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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