Trumpeter 1/32 P-47D Razorback "Eileen"

[Citadelgrad]

20 minutes ago, John Stambaugh said:

Am really looking forward to this build. Must say that although happy with my rendition of this model, it will no doubt compare as sophomoric to what we will see here. 

Yes, my anticipated RFI post for my own T Bolt has become less hopeful.

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  Most of the stuff that I'm doing here has been learned/copied/imitated from what I've gleaned looking at other builds (including yours Bill!).  If, in turn, my build helps others then I'm happy to have contributed to this endless cycle of learning.

 

A bit of detail work on my day off... the reflector glass is actually supposed to be oval in shape but I can't cut an oval that small so it's going to be circular instead.

 

 

Here is what the gun sight looks like in place and covered with a coat of primer (Mr Primer Surfacer 1000). I added a couple of wires coming out of the mounting bracket.

 

 

I added some detail to the otherwise plain sides of the Bendix-Scintilla magneto.

 

 

Here is a look at the Eduard photoetch instrument panel. On full display is the noticeable texture of the painted surface... it's quite distracting, in my opinion.

 

 

Each instrument has what appears to be a drop of clear gloss to simulate glass although ideally it should be a flat level surface, not curved.

 

 

Trying out a new clear flat finish...

 

 

The front panel was sprayed with the clear flat and this dramatically diminishes the texture effect.  The two instruments hanging off the bottom of the backing panel were also sprayed with the clear flat and you can see the difference that the flat coat makes. I ALWAYS spray my Eduard pre-painted parts with a flat coat!

 

 

The assembled Eduard instrument panel looks pretty good but we'll have to compare it to the Yahu panel, which is enroute.

 

[Citadelgrad]

I think you will like the Yahu, John, I used that in mine and it was really something.

 

That Eduard looks pretty good, too, though. 

[scvrobeson]

The Eduard one certainly looks better after the flat coat, but is there some sort of drop-shadow on each gauge?

 

I'm enjoying your build so far John, they're always so informative 

 

 

Matt 

[MikeMaben]

Nice stuff John.  Yeah , Yahu wins every time.

[Woody V]

2 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

Nice stuff John.  Yeah , Yahu wins every time.

The Eduard sets are printed with UV inks and the texture is simply the nature of the beast. Think of the very first ink jet technology. Perhaps the technology will improve over time, but who knows?

 

Yahu, on the other hand, appear to be printed on a traditional printing press similar to what is used to print magazines and therefore their products are not only smooth but can produce much finer detail. 

[Greif8]

Mighty fine detail work John!

 

Ernest

[Citadelgrad]

I always hesitate to post a photo on someone else's thread, but this isn't my work, its just a decent shot of the Yahu P 47D panel.

 

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys! I'll do a side-by-side comparison between the Eduard and Yahu panels when Yahu arrives.

 

14 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

The Eduard one certainly looks better after the flat coat, but is there some sort of drop-shadow on each gauge?

 

I'm enjoying your build so far John, they're always so informative 

 

 

Matt 

 

Thanks Matt. No drop shadow.... it looks like an error in the registration of the color print.  I think there is supposed to be a uniform light grey bezel around each instrument but the pitch went low and away.

[wairco]

Beautiful work !! I must say that I learned a lot of how you do things especially in the meticulous treatment of small parts. Thank you for sharing all your techniques!

[Thunnus]

4 hours ago, wairco said:

Beautiful work !! I must say that I learned a lot of how you do things especially in the meticulous treatment of small parts. Thank you for sharing all your techniques!

 

Thank you!  I use magnifiers when working and using those really helped refine my technique.  I find that if I can make it look ok under extreme magnification, it's going to look good to the naked eye.  Good photographs accomplish the same thing and I often notice little errors by reviewing my work photographically.

 

Frustrated at the delay of couple of shipments including the Yahu panel.  There are a multitude of other things that I can proceed with without working on the cockpit so I found one of those today.  I noticed that this port was not molded completely.

 

 

The shape was kind of weird too, as the horizontal lines followed the curvature of the forward fuselage.  I don't have any parallelogram templates so the new one will have to be square.  First, I fill in the old panel lines with black CA glue.

 

 

Shot with some CA activator, it is ready to sand.

 

 

The template of the panel is placed on the model and secured in place with tape.  For me, this is the most important step.  I learned from experience that holding the template with just your fingers is a recipe for a shoddy scribing job.

 

 

Using a sewing needle chucked into a pin vise, I scribe the new panel.  Lightly at first and then with a little more pressure as the groove deepens.  I'm going through both plastic and the harder CA glue so it is important to keep constant pressure on the needle as it goes around the template. If the needle gets caught on something, don't force it through.  Instead, trace around in the opposite direction to see if you can get through that spot smoothly.  The horizontal line that you see within the new panel is a pencil guide mark that I used to guide re-placement of the template after the first attempt.

 

 

Once you are able to make complete circuits around the panel in both directions, the template can be removed.  The new panel is cleaned up by tracing the panel with needle, giving it a light sanding and using a stiff paint brush to remove the sanding burrs and dust.  Lightly running Tamiya Extra Thin cement into the panel lines can also help to smooth them out.

 

 

With all of the visual interference from the old panel lines, it's hard to see what I've done so I spray a light coat of primer to check my work.

 

 

After the primer is dry, I can replace the circular fasteners with a beading tool.

 

[MikeMaben]

Oh yeah 

[Greif8]

Your scribing skills are boss John, and thank you for the step by step on how to scribe an access panel!  That is one of my weakest modelling skills.  I really need to practice on a paint mule or some scrape.

 

Ernest

[Dennis7423]

John, you must be commended by how absolutely clean your work is. Outstanding job! Looking forward to more updates.

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

[Uncarina]

Very nice tutorial John! It’s amazing how Tamiya Extra Thin cement can wick away those small burrs and imperfections. Your attention to detail is just one of the many things that make your models stand apart.

 

Cheers,  Tom