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Guest Peterpools

Brian

Holy Cow, the Big Six looks fantastic and the base is something else: great call.

Keep ‘em comin

Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks boys!

 

Ah, the joys modeling..............especially a cursed build.  Another day, another case of 1 step forward and 3 steps back.............

 

Ill start off with the first steps forward. Well actually, I even had to start that process with a step back.  I started finish sanding on the aileron I had previously  broke then attempted to fix with a piece of wire and some epoxy. That didnt work out so well, and the wire once again started showing through, and that let the aileron crack again.

So, I said @#$* it, and just make a new one our of two piece of super thin card and a piece of very thin round stock styrene.

 

Here you can see the old one with the crack and attempted mending exposed along with its replacement that I made. The replacement aileron turned out surprisingly good, and doesnt look bad here, even before painting:

 

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The gray background roll I have setting on a card table for pics is not quite 100% flat, and the aileron doesnt way enough to push it down so it looks a tad bowed, but is actually perfectly flat:

 

20180630_140503-XL.jpg

 

 

 

When that was done I shot (what I HOPE is) a final coat of white on the nose of the Extra, as well as the  new aileron, so i put those two aside and decided to continue working on my base and additional engine.

Here is the additional Lycoming Thunderbolt with the ignition wires now placed into their respective ignition distributor caps. This was a complete PITA, as the yellow wire is quite stiff, and broke off from the top spark plugs uncountable times. The black tips into the plugs will get touched up later, along with some other minor boo-boos on the engine. I also have yet to make the single silver wire to each cylinder from the top 6 sided coil, but you get where Im going with it:

 

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I also managed to make a new starter motor complete with gear from a misc watch parts set and some tubing:

 

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20180630_210424-XL.jpg

 

 

 

 

MORE..................

 

 

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After I got some more progress done on the Lycoming, I decided to turn back to the base. Here is the base after measuring and making some appropriately sized squares for the black and white checker scheme. I cut them out with my Silhouette cutter, then masked off the edge where the base would remain shiny acrylic:

 

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I then shot the black using some rattle can black lacquer I got the hardware store. This went on a tad thick, and when the initial masking was removed, it created some chipped edges. So................back to the drawing board, and I had to RE-mask the black squares, this time only doing 1/2 at a time. I had a bit of major chipping on two of the squares so I took those down to the white again:

 

20180630_135853-XL.jpg

 

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I really didnt want to put down nearly as much black on my repair job of the chipped corners, so I opted for some flat black enamel, which usually dries very hard, and resists pulling up with masking tape. 

In the end this seemed to work out great, as I took the masking tape off of the last 1/2 of black checkers, and things looked great. I then took some 6000, then 8000 grit finishing clothes to the base overall, to smooth the demarks between the two colors out. I thought this worked out grand at the time, as after finish sanding and some touch-ups, it looked pretty good to my eye, nearly ready for a nice clear coat:

 

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Looks pretty decent right?  Well gents right after that point is where things went wrong. HORRIBLY wrong. 

 

I normally don't have paint reactions, least of all with enamel. The particular enamel coat of black I had here had been dry for the better part of two or 3 days, so I wasn't terribly worried nor even thinking about paint reactions.

I had picked up a brand new rattle can of Tamiya TS-79 semi-gloss clear, which for a big part like the base was perfect, as I had used it to great effect in the past.

This time was not one of those times.   I sprayed an initial light layer of the gloss on the base and it looked terrific. After putting this fog coat on (even so for a fog coat it was a tad heavier than most fog coats since it was a rattle can) I then proceeded to put another layer on after a bit.

Just after I put this second layer on, I started to notice a bit of "crinkling" on one of the squares of black. Then another and another...............and then ALL the black squares exploded with paint crinkles like you put paint stripper on them all, and even the nice pristine edges I worked so hard for bulged out with the crinkled and wrinkled black paint.

 

I couldn't even take any pictures of it after that. I just stopped straying and put it away in the corner. Its bad enough the there would be no way to salvage it without sanding all the clear off, then sanding all the black off, and effectively starting over. 

I just cant do it. The Extra itself is (at this moment anyway but I fully expect more disasters) still on, and Ill still attempt to finish it, but I cant start over on the base, and if there is no base, there cant really be an additional engine on a stand either. 

 

So, the engine and the stand are gone for the NATs. Probably for the best, as even taking the tiny model itself will be a huge deal, and fitting the base and extra engine would have been a lot not to break all the way down to Phoenix. I will likely finish the base and additional Lycoming, but for now Im just going to try to finish the model itself, as the way this build is going Im not super confident even that will happen. 

 

Cheers for now till the next disaster, 

 

 

 

 

 

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That's a shame, Brian, as it all seemed to be coming together nicely. Try to get some acrylic craft sealer to overcoat the base when you finally get back to it. I've used it to seal the paper prints I use for some of my bases, and they impart a nice satin sheen once dry. You just have to watch out for brush strokes, as they're not really airbrushable.

 

Kev

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Guest Clunkmeister

Oh Man, Brian, I'm hurting for you, man, seriously. I just think back to the mad dash I had last year with the Felix, and airbrushing clear flat in the hotel room...

 

You can strip the base and start fresh, or leave it solid obsidian like you bought it. The base looks great.

 

That big ol' 6 cylinder looks ready to come to life. The new starter and ring gear/flywheel make all the difference, man.

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Thanks guys. It WOULD have been quite disheartening to come this far and have the base go South like this.....but there legitimately have been SO many things that have gone wrong on this build, it really didn't even phase me much.

 

I will definitely repair the base AND finish the Lycoming Thunderbolt, but it won't be before the Natinonals in Phoenix, unless I get completely finished with the Exta itself. The way things are going I'll be 100% lucky to even get the model itself done!

IF, I get the Extra done completely, i might have a go at fixing the base, but with the work left to do it's highly doubtful.

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Guest Peterpools

Brain

Just have never seen a run of bad luck like this - if it were a movie, no one would have believed it :(

I know how hard you worked on the Lycoming and then the base, but I'm with you and just let both be until you have the Extra finished - that will be a victory in itself. If there is anyone who can pull off finishing the Extra with everything that has gone south, my money is riding on you.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...

THanks boys.........................

 

Well, after a week of work, and other stuff effecting getting more done on the little extra, I have finally found some time to continue. Ive forged ahead with the masking for the blue, now mostly 80% masked. Right now Im just waiting to remove those masking strips on the wing roots, as I need some liquid mask to continue, and a refill on all my Tamiya kabuki tape.


Ill get a refill of Tamiya tape and some liquid mask, and finish the masking tonight, and if all goes smooth, I will shoot the blue on tonight as well

So heres where Im at right now:

 

20180710_215927

 

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No pics, but I also sprayed some MM Guards red on the prop tips, in anticipation of hopefully also masking the prop tip stripes off, then shooting some satin black on the props. After the black dries, I will mask the blades off and paint the prop blade bases with some aluminum, then should be ready to insert into the spinner for full prop assembly. 

 

I'm hoping, if I can just get this last complex masking step out of the way, and get the blue done, I can maybe, FINALLY move onto the touch-up process. As with any scheme as complex as this, there is likely going to be LOT of touch-ups, and if I can just get to that point, I can start to finalize the scheme itself, and once that is done, I can think about an overall clear, then decals.

Once decals are on, Ill start to feel a lot better about this build and the actual possibility Ill get it done for the NATs. 

There is still a LOT left to do here, including figuring out how I want to finish off the details for the canopy closure, AOA wingtip indicators, and the tail-wheel details. 

Hopefully Ill have another update soon gents! (and preferably a good one)

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Also forgot, I have not even tried to fit this back in its newly made carrying case either!  Need to do that tonight too, so I know that if I DO get this done in time for PHX, that it will fit in its transport case with the MXY-7

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Thanks Anthony!  I actually feel good about things at this point................Im sure that will change quickly though. Masking complete, including liquid mask sections that will likely need to be touched up later, but that wont be an issue since Ive come this far. Lots and lots of line straightening and point sharpening and what not, since the bulk of this has been masked for several months:

 

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There is SO much to this scheme, that I totally anticipate the touch-up part of this taking every bit as long as the prep work for the actual paint did. 

 

MORE.................................

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