Simon's Red From Under The Bed

[SJPONeill]

Will see how it goes - I just fished Tom Cleaver's original review from my archives and he mentions this but says that on his second build he overcame it by really clamping in the fuselage below the cockpit sill and the fit was perfect - he emphasises that all the cockpit attachment points must be firmly glued...

[SJPONeill]

Forgot to take photos tonight...painted the instrument panel and radio or battery or whatever that lives behind the cockpit; painted the seat (and dropped it on the floor - will see what crap and corruption it might have acquired in the morning); assembled the bomb and fit the bomb pylon; also polished the inside of the dorsal intake...

[SJPONeill]

Thanks, Brews, that's close enough to the word I used...I even thought about the filter when I sued it but thought I had seen it used here before and was expecting a kickback if the filter didn't like it, not a straight swap...

I'm polishing the intake with the same Gunze Burnt Steel I used on the other intakes...it's too dark really and should be closely to an aluminium colour but you can hardly see in the intakes anyway unless you really squint and hold the plane up to the light...it comes out as a dark iron sheen which works for me as my bigger achievement is getting an aircraft model to this state with paint actually on it...

[SJPONeill]

Jawohl, mein uber modelfuhrer!!

Today's main task while it is sunny will be to get into the garage and find the spares box that has the miss flattened tire in it and then it's be tire construction and painting tonight...

[SJPONeill]

Looked in the file on the PC and it said "...get up and find the missing piece - later on you'll be crying because you still have one flat and one whole wheel but want to go back the other way and have two whole wheels - don't try to pass the buck back to Eduard for giving you too much choice..."

[SJPONeill]

Still cranking along....

Lots of other things going on at the moment which has gotten in the way of modelling, extra work is good but only gives me one weekend day and not too many nights...not quite part of the plan for this time of year but still battling along....

Have been trying to get all the little bits out of the way for one great surge of completion next weekend. Fortunately I have a 3AM VTC on Friday morning which equates to a midday knock-off so I'll have all afternoon to mow into airbrushing etc...

In the meantime, little things have been happening....


Undercarriage bits being painted...


More little bits being painted on ten sprue - will touch these up just prior to fixing


First time I have used precut masks - definitely a simpler process than using tape but not 'all care, no responsibility' as some of the precut parts didn't quite fit in that they were just a shade too small like on the wheels....though I now seriously need to remember where I stashed my Maskol for the larger spaces within the precut frames...

[SJPONeill]

Well, the first phase of Op CUTTING IT FINE is on track...rose at 0300 for a VTC that I only managed to get into for the last five minutes but at least I am up and about and working so today's EKO is till on track for 1100 and then into it...

Last night I did some minor filling and sanding of seams and painted the exhausts my favourite burnt iron - I had a good look at the restoration and operating pics of our Spit IX and I think this shade will come pretty close to the exhaust of a well-maintained piston engine...

Also looking for the little gas torch that SWMBO uses for creme brulees so that I can temper the PE belts...obviously she is not home at the moment...

[SJPONeill]

VTC = video tele conference
EKO = early knock off

Off to do some normalising....

[JohnRatzenberger]

EKO, that's a new one !
Is that when you go in late, then leave early to make up for it ?

[SJPONeill]

Blasting away now...feel like I'm doing one of those blitzy thingies...

[SJPONeill]

What are you trying to say?

[SJPONeill]

Tonight's work area - tis raining outside which has put a bit of a damper ( ) on spraying operations...but have been beavering away on everything else...I thought it might be easier to address the fit issues around the cockpit by fitting it into the fuselage one side at a time; PE has been normalised and painted tan;


Canopy masking is complete


Wheels are half-painted German Grey - forgot that I had already added the masks in anticipation of spraying them so didn't have anywhere to pout the cocktail stop as a holder...


Instrument panel and rudder pedals...the macros setting doesn't quite go this close but it should look OK

[SJPONeill]

Had to re-attach the seat the the sprue as there was no place to handg on to it while painting it - paint is Tamiya X-9 Brown...also still on t5he sprue are the polished iron exhausts



Seatbelts awaiting silver buckles...

[ShaunW]

Woo get some, bit of a blitz here I feel. Sooner you than me getting up at 3.00am for a conference, I'm still half asleep at 9.00am most workday mornings!

[SJPONeill]

Didn't say that I woke up, just got up!! And even then that wasn't part of the master plan as I had thought to participate from the comfort of bed (camera OFF!) but the connectivity issues moved me out into the cold of the study...THEN I was awake!!


Cockpit coming together - has had a wash but made it too thin so will hit it again with a slightly thicker mix tomorrow...


Undercarriage doors wedged into a blob of plasticine while I paint the insides


the seat coming together...the sticky-up belt is like that because I thought that it might be easier to bend to shape once the rear end was secure...in hindsight, it is probably easier to prebend it to shape; had to shortehn the lap belts as they were way too long and would have reached all the way to the rudder pedals...


Insides doors masked and painted - must remember to remove all the inside masks before sealing it up!!

Trying out lots of new stuff tonight...in a bit of a rush but really enjoying it...if anyone knocks at the door tonight, I'm half-afraid it'll be Brews come down to give me some one on one motivating...