Ian's Flying Tiger

[Dirkpitt289]

I love the Phantom so this is a natural interest to me. I like the work you've done on the cockpit.

[Ian]

You want more? OK.

I've spent a little time at the bench today but I've not been taking progress pics as Harry seems to have taken over both the camera and the laptop today, as you may have noticed.
However, the upshot of todays plastic mashing is a completed fuselage & wings. A little sanding has been done and I'll need a bit of filler here and there where I haven't lined things up quite right.



I've made a start on masking the canopy, which appears to be a very nice (dry) fit.

[Sissel]

Looks really good, Ian!
You've gotten further than me...
Canopy masking!? Thanks for reminding me. Now where did I put those canopies...

Sissel

[Ian]

Ok - so the canopy is now in place.


But there are one


Or two


Gaps to deal with.


Out with the PVA glue (as opposed to the PVC suit).....

[jssel]

Good stuff Ian.

[Sissel]

Nasty gaps.
I take PVA dries transparent?
Great masking btw.

Sissel

[Dirkpitt289]

Nice progress but those gaps in the canopy are nasty. Could resolve the issue by leaving the canopy's open?

[ShaunW]

Nice work so far Ian. I fear however that the canopy gaps might be too wide to fill with PVA alone - best of luck!

[splash]

Thanks for the heads up on the canopy gaps I will look out for them when I get my nose done.

The easy option would be leave them open as the kit has good cockpit detail, but if the canopy was left open you would need a pair of a/c ladders. Time to do a quick search for images of a Phantom with its canopy open and no ladder.

[MerlinJones]

PVA-type glues will do the job, but you may need more than one application. Some shrink more than others when drying.

Regards,
Bruce

[Draken]

Wow! Ian you are a fast builder!

You already assembled most of the kit, and it looks pretty good.

Good luck with those gaps, they look quite nasty.
Give it a try with PVA.

To fill gaps in clear parts I sometimes use super glue of the kind made to repair glass (it dries clear), it is a bit tricky because you have to make sure the fumes don't fog the part. Blowing air (with the air hose from the compressor) on the part while applying the glue usually prevents this. However it always requires some sanding and polishing afterward to make a clean job.

Cheers,
Eugenio

[Ian]

Sissel - PVA glue does dry clear(ish).
Gaps have now been filled and the underside has had a quick spray of white. I'll do the the upper side tomorrow morning and then start looking for gaps to fill.

[TimJ]

Good to hear the gaps have been filled.

[MerlinJones]

To fill gaps in clear parts I sometimes use super glue of the kind made to repair glass (it dries clear), it is a bit tricky because you have to make sure the fumes don't fog the part. Blowing air (with the air hose from the compressor) on the part while applying the glue usually prevents this. However it always requires some sanding and polishing afterward to make a clean job.

Eugenio, if you dip your canopies in Klear beforehand, the Klear will usually protect the transparency from superglue fumes. However, if you use Zipkicker, or another setting agent, then even Klear might not be able to protect the glass from the fumes.

Regards,
Bruce

[Ian]

Filled, sanded and primed


Ready for paint!


For those that are interested in such things, the Toom will be wearing Norm '83 Scheme B and I will be using Humbrol 86 Light Olive (RAL 6003), Humbrol 116 Matt US Dark Green (FS34079) and Revell 9 Anthracite (RAL 7021). After studying photos of the real aircraft, I picked up the correct scheme from the Don Color website, which has 4-view colour plans and gives the correct colours to use (in FS & RAL). A very useful site indeed.