Alex Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 This is a placeholder for now - I've got other things to finish first, but since the GB runs through December I should have plenty of time. I've had this kit of an attractive silvery French aeroplane in the stash for a while, so it's time it got built. Kagemusha, Martinnfb, MikeMaben and 18 others 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 Lovely subject! Iain Alex and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Looks nice! Good luck with the build! Håkan Alex and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Interesting project Alex , Alex and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 What an elegant aeroplane Alex. Great choice. Will you build her in that scheme from the boxart illustration? Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 On 4/4/2024 at 4:32 AM, geedubelyer said: What an elegant aeroplane Alex. Great choice. Will you build her in that scheme from the boxart illustration? Not sure. Ideally I’d like to paint as many of the markings as possible, so that would suggest something simpler than that rooster roundel on the side. But we’ll see. geedubelyer, Iain, R Palimaka and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 (edited) This will be one to follow once you're ready. An elegant aircraft in its awkward French way. Richard Edited April 14 by R Palimaka Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 20 Author Share Posted June 20 It's not immediately apparent from the instructions, but this kit provides two options to build the instrument panels. You can either build them up from (many) individual pieces of PE and then sandwich the dial face decals between the PE faces and a smooth plastic backing, OR, just apply the decals over plastic pieces that already have the instrument bezel details etc molded in. Given that there will be other time-consuming construction aspects to this build, I'm going to press the easy (er) button and go with the molded plastic bits. coogrfan, Alain Gadbois, Azgaron and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 20 Author Share Posted June 20 Somehow a bunch of meetings got canceled today, and it's too darn hot to go outside for long, so I spent quite a bit of time on this model. This is a classic short run kit, so many of the parts need some refinement, like the pilot's seat, which I've sanded extensively to thin it down and smooth it. Probably still needs a bit more work. That's a LOT of sprue gates to clean up: The basic cockpit structure actually fits very nicely into the fuselage. I taped the cockpit assembly in place while the glue joints between the floor and the front and back walls set up to ensure it kept just the right shape. The fuselage halves fit pretty nicely - no major warpage or inconsistency of shape. The rudder is made from two halves of unequal size, presumably to allow the trailing edge to be nice and thin Note the very fine surface detail, which is characteristic of the whole kit. The way the rudder is done leads to this obnoxious seam down the side which will require plenty of work to fill and smooth, then restore the rivet detail. I wish they had done the rudder in the conventional way (even halves), the way the horizontal stabilizers are made. Those are easy to clamp up with these little copper electronics clips that I have. Shoggz, Landrotten Highlander, Azgaron and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 21 Author Share Posted June 21 The kit would have you construct the louvers that sit in front of the radiator cores from these pieces of PE, which have almost invisibly small tabs and slots on them. I fooled around with them for a while, thought about trying to build an assembly jig to allow them to be glued together in some semblance of the right orientation, and then decided that it would be easier to just make the louvers out of plastic card. Not as scale-thin as PE would be, but it also didn't take three days. I think they'll probably look fine once painted up. Now the next challenge is this: These exhaust stubs are clearly unacceptable as-is, and the combination of their small size and oval profile means that I'm not bullish on my ability to drill them out and have it look decent. Instead, I've got this 1.7mm brass tubing that I can slightly ovalize and use to replace them. Trak-Tor, Kagemusha, BradG and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_C Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 I don't know about anyone else, but the pics are just not coming up. I reported a similar issue to Kevin yesterday, and he thought it might be the imageshack server pitching a fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 24 minutes ago, Mark_C said: I don't know about anyone else, but the pics are just not coming up. I reported a similar issue to Kevin yesterday, and he thought it might be the imageshack server pitching a fit. Well, I know it doesn't help, but I can see them all fine! Are you behind a firewall or corporate network of any kind? Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_C Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 (edited) 55 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said: Well, I know it doesn't help, but I can see them all fine! Are you behind a firewall or corporate network of any kind? Kev No, I've had the same issue on both my work and home PCs, with two separate networks. It's really odd. As you may recall when we chatted yesterday, the problem fixed itself after a while. I wouldn't think that was a settings issue. Edited June 21 by Mark_C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_C Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 and . . . now the pics are back! Yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_C Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 On 6/20/2024 at 5:28 PM, Alex said: The rudder is made from two halves of unequal size, presumably to allow the trailing edge to be nice and thin Note the very fine surface detail, which is characteristic of the whole kit. The way the rudder is done leads to this obnoxious seam down the side which will require plenty of work to fill and smooth, then restore the rivet detail. I wish they had done the rudder in the conventional way (even halves), the way the horizontal stabilizers are made. Those are easy to clamp up with these little copper electronics clips that I have. Just a thought, FWIW. I have succesfully filled those gaps with putty (like the old Squadron Green and White), but instead of sanding it down, just dipped a Q-tip or other earbud in acetone and gently stroke the putty before it's completely dry. It should just come off and leave a neat, smooth surface so you won't have to worry about losing detail. Of course, you will likely have to mask the little rivet holes already there. It might be worthwhile to try. HTH Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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