"Empire of the Clouds" -- ** Finished **

[JohnRatzenberger]

And here we are today.



I have glued on the tailcone and drilled the hole for the acrylic rod stand. The engines have had a rough sanding along the seams to make the problems visible. Then I sanded and fit both the intake and exhaust pieces in each -- that will add strength to them for the real cleanup effort. Last, I masked the intake pieces to minimize damage then slopped on some Tamiya Basic Putty. I'm sure sanding those four will take a few days to get right.

Time to start thinking about paint as I suspect I should get that done before final assembly.

[MerlinJones]

Good progress so far, John.
Be careful not to distort your bits through over-sanding. I've done this once and it was a 'mare to fix.

I'm also sure you're adhering to proper Health & Safety, with regards that nasty resin dust.

Regards,
Bruce

[JohnRatzenberger]

The engines have a sturdy support piece inside and with the intake/exhaust mounted at each end should stand up well, even to me. They were cast fairly round to start with so if I watch carefully I should avoid sanding through a thin spot.

We're in a spot of good weather and I've taken all this sanding outside, something I now do even with heavy styrene sanding any more. I'm tried of the mess and my workroom door opens into SWMBO's quilting room, where only fuzz & threads, not model dust, are allowed. That said, yes, I have a mask always.

That said, I love the smell of fresh resin in the morning ....

[JohnRatzenberger]

Here we are, quite a bit of progress in a short time.



I have filled and sanded in the tailcone. To keep the shape I sanded along the fuselage, back and forth with long strokes. I have only a little touch-up to do.
The engine nacelles have been similarly sanded, and have just a few touch-up spots.

I have sanded/cleaned the wings and sanded/fit them into the fuselage. I cannot do much more until I glue the holding blocks into the fuselage and fair them in properly. I have taken as much as I can get to from the inside to get them to fit smoothly, the rest will have to come off the top. They do fit tighter than shown in the photo.

It is shown in the hi-speed flight position that I will display it in. I am thinking that I should take off the rounded section of the wing swivels so that I have a clean line running all the way back.

It is time to think about prepping for paint. It will be white with just the intake sections polished aluminum and something exhausty on the rear.

[JamesPerrin]

Swift work on the Swallow.

[TimJ]

That's coming along well.

[MerlinJones]

Swift work on the Swallow.

Ooooh...I saw what you did, there!

Looking good, John.
Whilst I see the wings are moveable, are the engines?

Regards,
Bruce

[JohnRatzenberger]

Yes, the engines will pivot, albeit a bit too freely, with the wing sweep; see the hole in each wing about 1/3 from the tip ...

[MerlinJones]

Cool...I leurve W/F's

[JohnRatzenberger]

I have been working these past few days, with filling and sanding -- parts prep. I also sanded off the round wing swivel so the wings run straight back when in sweep mode -- looks better, I think. Today I painted with wings and nacelles silver. Tomorrow I will search diligently for flaws and get them out, then I'll paint those parts white.

After completely painted and dry I will then mount the wings to the fuselage and sand out the mounting piece to get a nice smooth fuselage. Then I'll mask the wings, spray the fuselage silver, take out any flaws, and then paint the fuselage white.

That's the plan anyway ....

Here's everything but the cockpit, in a test fit and swing-wing trial ....

[MerlinJones]

It looks fast. just sitting there!

Regards,
Bruce

[JamesPerrin]

Looks like some freaky bladed weapon at the mo'. Becareful you don't impale yourself.

[JohnRatzenberger]

I think I'm safe from impaling myself, but I'm absolutely frightened I'll drop either the fuselage or a wing and shatter one of the pointy ends/tips.

[JohnRatzenberger]

For the last few days, I have been working hard at getting smooth surfaces and getting a smooth, neat coat of white on the engines and wings.

With that accomplished, I have mounted the wings, being careful to not get CA anywhere near the pivot point.



From here I clean up the wing support piece -- fill, sand, whatever -- then paint the fuselage white; all without hurting the wing finish ! This'll probably take me a few more days -- I'm in no hurry to mess anything up. I also have to paint the 4 exhausts and the 4 intake sections and for that I'm going to experiment a bit; the silver you see is just undercoat.

Going good, just about according to plan, so I should have no problem finishing.

[MerlinJones]

Oh John! Why, oh why, did you have to go and say that!?!