The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Oh man that really looks the business, Fred. Top work.

Thank you all for the kind comments!

Got the windscreen in place. This builds up from three pieces. The instructions recommend assembling it, then attaching it to the fuselage, but I assembled it in place since the whole thing is pretty floppy until the glue sets, and I didn't want to build it, then find it didn't fit! I used "Elmer's Clear School Glue" for the first time, and it worked quite well. The clear parts on this kit are excellent, very clear and free of distortion. This will be pitiless toward any mistakes I made in the cockpit!

As childish as it might seem, I'm excited to have reached this point, because the aircraft is now "flyable"!

Gonna have to try that Elmer's clear glue; I have been using the white stuff for years and it works reasonably well too. That Arado is looking top gear, man!

Thanks, gnomemeansgnome! I've used white glue in the past, but when I saw this, I thought "Why not try a glue that's clear in the first place?". It's perfectly clear and colourless in the bottle, and it dried the same way. Also, it was easy to work with and clean up, and it didn't fog the clear parts at all.

We'll see what happens when I put the antenna mast on. It attaches to the windscreen frame, so it will test the strength of the bond a bit!

That Arado is really nice and is something I look forward to seeing upon its completion. Nice models and great tips in this thread.

Superb work Canuk. I'm loving this build.

Thanks, everyone! Propwash, I'm very happy if these tips are helpful!

Got the amidships part of the canopy done. The glazing on this model comes as a series of basically flat pieces. This is a bit of a nuisance to build, but I guess it's necessary because the canopy sides are almost vertical, and this would be very hard to mould as a single piece. A good outcome of this is that Revell has included framing detail on both sides of the canopy pieces, so for the first time, I tried masking and painting the inside and the outside of the frame. It's hard to tell, but this does end up looking better than painting the interior colour on the outside of the frame, then covering it with the exterior colour.

This centre section of the canopy is made of three flat pieces which all lean against each other like a house of cards, and with very small attachment points, it was a nightmare to build. It would probably be easier for someone with four tiny little hands. Anyway, I got it tacked together with the clear Elmer's glue, then trickled a little Tamiya Extra Thin Cement into the joins to firm it up a bit.

I hope the photos give a good idea of the excellent clarity of the parts. Nice job, Revell!

Holy Moses! You're killing me with awesomeness. The sharpness of your work is astounding.

Fred, I was going through your older posts and admiring the marder you built. Can you share a few words on how you weathered that kit? I have a NATO tricolor M1, and I'm just not sure how to best approach it's finish. For now it's been base coated with a deep dark green, but I would appreciate some of your guidance on how to do go about the rest.

Beautiful Fred. She is flying together now and looks awesome. Great seeing you experiment with different materials. I am going to have to try that clear glue.

I was going to try they Elmer clear too but it's very expensive to buy in the UK! Ten quid for a smallish bottle seems a bit on the high side......
Love the cockpit glazing work so far Fred, keep up the good work!

Thank you, all! Yes, I like working with the Elmer's clear glue. Iggie, I'm sorry to hear it's so expensive where you are. That's more than 16 of our feeble dollars. Outrageous for a small bottle of glue! Paul, I find I'm picking up the pace now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Softscience, thanks for your comment. The sharp moulding on the glazed parts makes it easy to cut the mask and get a good result. It also helps that the parts are flat, and all the cuts are straight lines! Thanks for asking about the Marder. I'll post some info about it later today!

That is just beautiful, Fred. Elmer's is too expensive for me as well. I'll stick to Glue 'n' Glaze - that cost me about £6.00 four or five years ago and I thought that was a bit pricey! I've found G 'n' G works well enough and is good for making small windows too.

ShaunW wrote:That is just beautiful, Fred. Elmer's is too expensive for me as well. I'll stick to Glue 'n' Glaze - that cost me about £6.00 four or five years ago and I thought that was a bit pricey! I've found G 'n' G works well enough and is good for making small windows too.

Thanks, ShaunW! I'm not familiar with Glue 'n' Glaze. I've heard of products which allow you to make small windows, but I never understood how they work. Do you somehow stretch the liquid across the opening? If you recommend it, I'll try finding it here. I have a few future projects in mind where that could be very useful!

Canuck2016 wrote:

ShaunW wrote:That is just beautiful, Fred. Elmer's is too expensive for me as well. I'll stick to Glue 'n' Glaze - that cost me about £6.00 four or five years ago and I thought that was a bit pricey! I've found G 'n' G works well enough and is good for making small windows too.

Thanks, ShaunW! I'm not familiar with Glue 'n' Glaze. I've heard of products which allow you to make small windows, but I never understood how they work. Do you somehow stretch the liquid across the opening? If you recommend it, I'll try finding it here. I have a few future projects in mind where that could be very useful!

Glue 'n' Glaze is arguably fancy PVA, Fred. To make a window it is indeed a case of building up some of the glue in one corner and "stretching" it across the aperture using something like a wooden tooth pick. Takes a little practice and a degree of patience but it does work, initially the product looks cloudy but dries nice and clear - as I said earlier I've had my bottle at least 4 years and I've made quite a few windows and always use it to attach clear parts such as canopies. I've found that the glue will also attach small PE parts as well.