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Paula & Dan · Last edited by Paula & Dan on Tue 26 Aug 2008 10:53 am; edited 1 time in total

Progress of Hangartime's build will be recorded here.
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Airbusians. Medium Bombers GB now underway.

Hangartime · Posted: Tue 26 Aug 2008 08:05 am Post subject:

Good excuse to pull this out and do the hunchback.
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Experience tells you what instructions don't.

Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Tue 26 Aug 2008 19:42 pm Post subject:

Will you be detailing the dorsal gun position at all? This always looks the weakest area of the Airfx kit to me.

TIA & All the best

Hangartime · Posted: Wed 27 Aug 2008 09:38 am Post subject:

I'd say it's a bit dodgy. The decals are out of alignment and the kit itself is somewhat basic. Then again - I do like a challenge. Could be interesting to see how it turns out. There's certainly no detail to speak of in the gunner area - apart from the gun. I can guarantee it won't be OOB and I haven't considered a colour scheme yet.
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Experience tells you what instructions don't.

Hangartime · Posted: Mon 01 Sep 2008 08:44 am Post subject:

Kick off - examination of parts shows a kit that looks like it would come up well with some attention - so I've just started tonight by concentrating on the engines. These are mostly free of flash but a little sharp, nothing sanding doesn't fix. Same goes for the props - all care due to the size but I'm concerntrating on 1 part at a time so it will stand up under scrutiny from the camera when close ups shots are taken.

You'll have to excuse the terrible shot - seen here are the engines which are 2 rows of 7 cylinders, cowlings and props. Once sanded the interior of the cowlings will need paint - though they will be put to one side until interior is looked at and assembled so it's done in one hit.
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Experience tells you what instructions don't.

Hangartime · Posted: Wed 03 Sep 2008 10:49 am Post subject:

Sprue shots - basic layouts

Doing the interior - 7 parts in all for cabin - so very easy to put together. I can spray and add minor details with this - bearing in mind both fuselage sides need painting as well (along with cowlings)

I think I may have a colour scheme - very simple - all over dark green with blue undersides, sounds boring but could be a case of 'less is more' - that or box version. Oddly enough the box shows more SM79's in the background dropping bombs while the torpedo versions are swanning off home away from the action.
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Experience tells you what instructions don't.

Hangartime · Posted: Thu 04 Sep 2008 11:07 am Post subject:

Landing gear doors, a bit think and quite plain. Most of the time these get replaced with tin - though not obvious - I always find small details can really lift a kit dramatically when/if it is seen.

Cutting around the kit part - metal was cut out - sharp edges rounded off with a metal file.

Once you have 1 part cut out - the rest is easy. Cut out again for other side (then 2 more for other wing) and a slightly smaller version for adding the interior detail. Internal wells get drilled out as per references on real thing.

Test fit - replacement is alot thinner and more detailed. Quite straightforward and simple to do and doesn't take long. Also easy to bend into shape over a pen or piece of tubing.

Opposite door made.

Again - fit and reference checked.

Wheels - quite thin on kit - fat on the real thing. wheels got a small amount of plastic card (1mm) in between to give a beefier look. It makes sense to do this to bring the underside up to equal standard when upgrading parts. Bulging the wheels will be next.

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Experience tells you what instructions don't.

dancho · Posted: Thu 04 Sep 2008 12:04 pm Post subject:

Standing by for details about those gear doors. They look very good indeed.
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“Build what YOU want, the way YOU want to, and above all, have fun.”
- Al Superczynski (1947 - 2007)

Hangartime · Posted: Tue 09 Sep 2008 10:33 am Post subject:

Been slowly doing this- wheels were sanded with a flat spot - then placed on a knife over a tea candle. About 30 secs will soften the plastic so it will weld onto the knife - then leave to cool. The cold wheel will come off no problem - if you take it off when too hot it will be like chewing gum.

Bulged wheel - a small but noticable improvement on the kit part - also a castable master for other projects or a future build of same kit. Minor filling and sanding to finish - then let dry.

Back to the interior - now it's all dry and it gets the interior green for Italian aircraft of the period. Also the seats and interior of gunner with some wear. I don't think this needs any extreme details - just enough to get by - you'll really only see onto the floor and the canopy framing obscures most of the detail in the cockpit too particularly when painted.

From hereon in - I think I'll concentrate on what you can see rather than what you barely will. Should be a nice clean build - panel lines need to be smoothed down alot as they're far too raised.

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Experience tells you what instructions don't.

Heinkel51 · Posted: Tue 09 Sep 2008 13:50 pm Post subject:

Very nice, like the tip for the undercart doors. What thickness tin ?

Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Tue 09 Sep 2008 16:20 pm Post subject:

Looks to me like that tin may have contained beer at one time!

It might be wise to sample a selection of beers, to ensure you have a variety of thicknesses of tin available for such projects!

Seriously though, this is a fascinating build and a very useful source for folk like me who are still learning the many techniques involved in detailing an aircraft kit.....Bravo HT!

All the best
Sgt.S

Hangartime · Posted: Wed 10 Sep 2008 07:48 am Post subject:

Thanks - sorry - no beer can here - it's 0.5mm tin - great for scoring and cutting with a scalpel and then shaping. Beer/coke cans are about 0.2mm and too flimsy. The other great bonus with .5 is you can file it to shape to eliminate rough edges or do complex curves.

Kept on with fuselage - seen here it's quite plain - a few raised panel lines but nothing bad, just quite flat. In references - the difference between metal and canvas is quite substantial, so this kit is ideal for replicating that. This is something I usually try with smaller scale fabric aircraft as it gives the finish product a step up.

From here a No10 scalpel is selected and surgery begins - all by scraping only. As the kit has panel lines, these act as a guide to scrape between to create a 'shallow' as in sagging fabric or highly stressed metal. All a case of simply 'scraping between the lines'. If you want to give it a try - you can use masking tape as a parallel guide, it also doesn't take long to do once you've had some practice. Once side to finish only takes about 15 mins. Forget about the rough look - it's easily fixed in the next step.

When done - a similar amount of time to sand and smooth out with fine sandpaper. This takes off any course scrappings - end result is a look of a stressed fabric surface - adding a more interesting look.

From here the rest of the fabric surfaces can be done in a similar fashion - so I'll be sorting that out over the next few nights.
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Experience tells you what instructions don't.

dancho · Posted: Wed 10 Sep 2008 14:40 pm Post subject:

Dude. You're pretty good at this.
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“Build what YOU want, the way YOU want to, and above all, have fun.”
- Al Superczynski (1947 - 2007)

Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Wed 10 Sep 2008 14:42 pm Post subject:

Well spotted.....He is, isn't he?

Hangartime · Posted: Sat 13 Sep 2008 01:56 am Post subject:

still mucking around with this - was ahaving a drive back up and clean out and found one I built several years ago. Long since destroyed.

This one was built completely OOB.

Still downing the fabric surfaces at present - will also be painting engines and fitting inside the nacelles.
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Experience tells you what instructions don't.

Heinkel51 · Posted: Sat 13 Sep 2008 23:18 pm Post subject:

ambient · Posted: Mon 15 Sep 2008 08:45 am Post subject:

Thats a cool trick for the fabric...great paint job on the old one by the way.

Hangartime · Posted: Mon 22 Sep 2008 11:22 am Post subject:

Engines and props now finished

Landing gear now painted and minor parts to be done, otherwise kit now pretty much ready to put together.
_________________
Experience tells you what instructions don't.