International Scale Modeller

digger303 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 12:47 am

Thanks digger303!

Okay...

Things have departured a little bit....

But first thing first.... I have fixed the sinkmarks on the outrigger landing gears


I nomally use (very conservative amounts of) TET to glue clear parts, and normally that works perfectly fine. I have used Micro Kristal Clear and CA-clue before - which both have their pros and cons... Anyway, I used too much TET on the front part, which caused a disaster


If this have happened 3-4 years ago I would probably have binned the kit or ordered replacement parts... But reading forums, watching YT and Facebook groups is a great way of learning.... so I thought that I should have a go at fixing it

First I try to clean off as much of the paint as possible using IPA


Sand down and fix the messed up IP cover...


Sand down the glue and melted plastic on the inside of the windscreen


It doesn't look pretty...


But after all the glue are sanded away we can start polish the surface using Tamiya Polishing Compounds


I used all three grades Coarse - Fine - Finish

There is still a very small streak in the glass that I can't get rid of without sanding down a lot material... But it's acceptable

The IP cover was fixed too


And we can glue in the windscreen - properly


Eduard masking set


It doesn't fit perfectly so I had to adjust it a bit.


Okay, I think we are back on track again!


Tommy

Its all the small things being done well - that's what makes a great result.

Got to admire your skills and dedication Mark

Nice save Tommy and its funny how what we would dump before now is a challenge to put right and most of the time its never as bad as you think and has a resolve.

good save

Commiserations on the canopy - and an excellent save on that one. I just found to my own cost what can go horribly wrong with that particular element of a kit... Hoping I can save it as well as you have.

Stokesy44 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:27 pm Its all the small things being done well - that's what makes a great result.

Got to admire your skills and dedication Mark

Thank you very much, David

Hawkmoon wrote: ↑Fri Apr 24, 2020 10:00 pm Nice save Tommy and its funny how what we would dump before now is a challenge to put right and most of the time its never as bad as you think and has a resolve.

Yeah, isn't it? That makes this hobby so great, there are always new things to learn

digger303 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2020 12:54 am good save

Thanks digger303

RangerNeil wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2020 1:38 am Commiserations on the canopy - and an excellent save on that one. I just found to my own cost what can go horribly wrong with that particular element of a kit... Hoping I can save it as well as you have.

Thanks, hope you get yours sorted also


Tommy

Good save their Tommy I had something very similar with my Spitfire build

Kevthemodeller wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2020 9:27 am Good save their Tommy I had something very similar with my Spitfire build

Thanks, Kev!



I'm pressing on with the build...

Masking the cockpit tub to protect it a bit...




Next step is to remove that annoying seam in front of the air intakes... I filled the gaps with liquid sprue some while ago and now it's time to sand it down..





It took a while because I had to be very careful, but I'm happy that this is done - this was one of the problem areas taken care of

...but don't worry, this kit has plenty of issues left that needs to be taken care of as well, so the rest of the build is still far from an "easy ride"....


Tommy

Hey Guys!

One more short update

Instructions says there should be a small airscoop on the side of the canopy (E14). But that part is a big blob that can't possibly be the right one...

EDIT: ...or it is the "right" part - and in that case something have gone horribly wrong over at the Kinetic factory (again)



So I will scratchbuild one instead


Some PE goodies...



Tommy

Looking good Tommy...

I like your attention to detail with the PE.

Your work on the canopy has seems to fix the issue, good job!

Ben

DRUMS01 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:54 am Looking good Tommy...

I like your attention to detail with the PE.

Your work on the canopy has seems to fix the issue, good job!

Ben

Thanks Ben




Awwrajt! It's time to throw some paint onto this bird again...

Primed with Ultimate Grey Primer


Painted with Gunze H308


Wheels Primed with Ultimate White Primer (and some XF-2 White)


The masking set from Eduard didn't include any masks for the center- and nose-wheels, so I made my own set using the Silhouette Portrait. It took 5 minutes in total to setup the printer, draw some circles in Silhouette Studio and cut them using a scrap piece of masking sheet...


I tested a thing that have been buzzing around on the Internet; How to re-activate and brushpaint Molotov Chrome.

The idea is to put a couple of drops of crome paint on a palette and mix it with a drop of MrColor Levelling Thinner. The nice thing is that you can reactivate the paint after it has dried up using a MLT, so you can basically have a small palette with chrome on the shelf and you just add a drop of MLT when you want to paint something


The result is outstanding!



Tommy

Progressing along nicely.
Silhouette Portrait interests me as a bench tool to have....just can't quite see myself clear to that yet.
Thanks for the good tip on the chrome pens and if I could just add you can buy the 30ml refills and use them through a airbrush plus of course topping up your own pen.

digger303 wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 12:39 am Progressing along nicely.
Silhouette Portrait interests me as a bench tool to have....just can't quite see myself clear to that yet.
Thanks for the good tip on the chrome pens and if I could just add you can buy the 30ml refills and use them through a airbrush plus of course topping up your own pen.

A Silhouette is one of those tools that isn't neccessary to have, but once you get one it's hard to understand how you could get by without it, if that makes sense...

Great tip about the chrome refills, I'm curious to try airbrushing it...


Tommy

Hi Tommy all looking good on the kit

I spray Molatow all the time and as long as you do it in a certain way all will be fine. Clean the part and then use your favorite pressure setting around 20 psi should be fine. Some people like to use a semi gloss black or gloss black as an undercoat but I have found there little if difference in the result if you dont undercoat. First spray a light coat of Molatow to cover the part and leave for a couple on minutes then put down a very wet coat on top of it. Next you must not touch that part for a minimum of 3 days so it cures properly any contact before that will ruin the finish.

As an example of sprayed Molatow take a look at the fuel vortices on the Jaguar I am building right now, link below-

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=28393

Hawkmoon wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 7:43 am Hi Tommy all looking good on the kit

I spray Molatow all the time and as long as you do it in a certain way all will be fine. Clean the part and then use your favorite pressure setting around 20 psi should be fine. Some people like to use a semi gloss black or gloss black as an undercoat but I have found there little if difference in the result if you dont undercoat. First spray a light coat of Molatow to cover the part and leave for a couple on minutes then put down a very wet coat on top of it. Next you must not touch that part for a minimum of 3 days so it cures properly any contact before that will ruin the finish.

As an example of sprayed Molatow take a look at the fuel vortices on the Jaguar I am building right now, link below-

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=28393

Cool! That looks awesome

I will try when the next opportunity comes around


Tommy

Awesome work Tommy - I was hoping you were still working away on this one

Interesting tips with the chrome too - they've been filed away for future use!

Now that's a very handy tip Tommy

Thanks a lot, guys!

I'm moving on with the undercarriage...

Preparing wheels for XF-85 paint


Weathering...




Time to assemble the nose landing gear




I normally glue the wires on to the landing gear struts beforehand, but now I wanted to test to paint them separately... will it work ?




It went better than I had thought...


Weathering of inside of the doors


Final touchup of the headlight and position lights





Tommy

Very nice work there Tommy

Cracking detail work

Superb detailing on the landing gear

I can only echo what the other guys have already said, Tommy, that's just jaw-dropping work detailing the undercarriage

Thanks a lot for the encouragement and the kind words, I really appreciate that !

Ok, so the build have finally reached the worst part IMO; fitting the air intakes, aux inlets and the blow in doors.



I started by scratchbuilding the blow in doors


..and painted them in Gunze H335 (BS381C/637), which will be the cammo colour.


After that I had to touchup the paint of the air intake


I started to do some masking while paint was curing


After that I fitted the doors


And continued with masking....


Fitting the airscoops




More masking


The fit around the aux inlet ports are horrible, so the next step will be to fill, sand and touch up the paint before I can mask the inlets as well...

...BUT, we are one step closer to paint!


Tommy

More trails and tribulations but your getting there and nice work

Great to see it heading towards the final build stages Tommy and all your hard work is paying off now as those intake doors look great!

More superb detailing work there Tommy

Another step in the right direction... slowly getting there!

As I mentioned before the fit of the air intakes isn't great; and my excursions in 3d printing, scratchbuilding haven't really made it any better






But the seams have been sanded down, causing some damage on the aux inlet doors... but I have to deal with that later on...

So next step will be to start putting the aircraft together, starting with some photoetch that I want done before I put the main wing on.


Let's glue on the wing!






Lot's of work to fix those seams... but atleast it comes as no surprise


Tommy

Wow! That is one hell of a gap at the front of the wing/fuselage join!! As bad the one I had on the Mi-1...

Pack it out with some plastic strips I guess. Damned disappointing in the age of computer design , cad programs and cnc machines that crap like that occurs. Kits that everyone in the chain of production down to the modeler invests hard earned cash and TIME that is invariably flawed.

We have all had bad kits over the years with major fit problems but those same kits still have healthy sales figures so the people who make the things do not see a reason to improve on whats selling.

On another note all looks good to me and nice work

Man they really did reach for the big bucket of "things that could be wrong" with this one didn't they?

Hope you manage to get this straightened out Tommy, it really becomes a battle between determination to see it done, or just walking away sometimes.

Hej Tommy! I've decided to close down the Hovering SIG for the end of July so just a month to go if you can face battling this beast into submission

Tomcat64 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 03, 2020 3:16 pm Hej Tommy! I've decided to close down the Hovering SIG for the end of July so just a month to go if you can face battling this beast into submission

Thanks for the heads-up, Neil.
I will give it a go


Tommy

OK... it's time to face the beast

I have decided to finish this now... I have invested so much time into it so I better get it off my workbench and out out my hair before I start something new
The SIG deadline is in three weeks and I'm on vacation so I should be able to do it!

The seams on the dorsal and spine of the fuselage have been taken case of




And we have some more PE to put on




The clear-parts, especially the nav lights on the wingtips, required some work - let's leave it at that and not get into the gory details....


And a lot of antennas, airscoopes and what not


The mounting hole for the weather wane is too big, so I have to fill it and I will have to drill a new hole.




And the Aden gunpods... the location is extremly vague in the assembly instructions and when I look at reference photos the dimensions are way off, so they are not really providing any help....


The cammo will not require any masking at all, so my plan is to attach all the small parts to the fuselage before primer and only paint and weather the ordnance and the canopy separately.

Let's hope that the plan holds up...


Tommy

Hey Guys!

More work done on the SHAR... I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (or maybe it's a train driving towards me)

More doodads....






Wingfences - or whatever they are called when the only cover the leading edge of the wing



...and you guessed right; they didn't fit properly (not at all actually). I will have to figure out how to fill that annoying gap after I have applied primer so I can see how bad it looks

Flaps and ailerons




Outrigger wheels and canopy








Next up is masking of the aux air inlets (I haven't figured out how to do that in the best way yet) and the clear parts... and after that, ladies and gentlemen, it's Prime Time!


Tommy

I had a similar issues with the wind splitter's on my current build Demon, not as bad and not all of them. I used thick CA, worked for me.

Nice detail bits!

Kevthemodeller wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:11 pm I had a similar issues with the wind splitter's on my current build Demon, not as bad and not all of them. I used thick CA, worked for me.

Great tip, I will try that. Thanks Kev!

BigWall wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 11:53 pm Nice detail bits!

Thanks!

Ok... final masking before paint is done.


Black primer - finally!


There are some overspray/dust that I need to take care of


But the rest looks OK!





Tommy

Must feel good to get the primer on. Looks great.

primer looks very smooth from my view

Stokesy44 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 6:56 pm Must feel good to get the primer on. Looks great.

Thanks
Yeah, it feels good to leave the "building-phase" behind.

digger303 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 1:27 am primer looks very smooth from my view

Thanks, there are some rough surfaces on the top of the wing section. But I will fix that with a 3000 grit sanding sponge; a couple of strokes should be enough.

I will use the black basing technique so next step will be to do the marble-coat.


Tommy

Looking great Tommy! You would never know there were any fit issues at all. Looks like a Tamiya kit now that it is in primer.

The Ultimate primer goes on a real treat, doesn't it. A very gentle rub down with some 6000 - 8000 wet/dry will sort the areas of over spray out

bfrd wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 1:18 pm Looking great Tommy! You would never know there were any fit issues at all. Looks like a Tamiya kit now that it is in primer.

Kevthemodeller wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 6:02 pm The Ultimate primer goes on a real treat, doesn't it. A very gentle rub down with some 6000 - 8000 wet/dry will sort the areas of over spray out

Thanks Matt and Kev

Yeah, Ultimate primer is awesome - makes any crap kit look like a Tamiya

It will be a really tight squeeze to make it to the deadline, unfortunately
I'm on vacation now and I will go to our familys summer-house a bit up north in Sweden (Värmland) for a couple of days or so. But I will do my best to finish it when I get back.


Tommy

TommyKillander wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 7:18 pm

bfrd wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 1:18 pm Looking great Tommy! You would never know there were any fit issues at all. Looks like a Tamiya kit now that it is in primer.

Kevthemodeller wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 6:02 pm The Ultimate primer goes on a real treat, doesn't it. A very gentle rub down with some 6000 - 8000 wet/dry will sort the areas of over spray out

Thanks Matt and Kev

Yeah, Ultimate primer is awesome - makes any crap kit look like a Tamiya

It will be a really tight squeeze to make it to the deadline, unfortunately
I'm on vacation now and I will go to our familys summer-house a bit up north in Sweden (Värmland) for a couple of days or so. But I will do my best to finish it when I get back.


Tommy

enjoy the break

Have a nice break Tommy

Awesome work to finally get it to primer Tommy!

Enjoy your break and look forward to seeing it finished off when you get back

Don't worry about the deadline though

Thanks Guys,

I'm back after spending a week with the family and my sisters family. Great weather and lot's of out-door activity. But at the end of the week I was really longing for my workbench (and the brand new PRUSA MINI 3D printer that I just got)

Anyway, here's todays progress sofar:

Painted the air data probes with metal (the colour looked something like titanium or duraluminium on ref photos)


Sanded and polished the rough surfaces (it was overspray)


Painted the exhausts and heatshield with a mix of ALC-104 Pale Burnt Metal and ALC-113 Jet Exhaust (ratio 5:1) as a base colour




Misted a filter made from highly diluted XF-84 Dark Iron


I will gloss the heat-shields to protect the paint (and prepare them for weathering) before I proceed with the next step



Tommy