Dazzledovski's Red Secret-Revealed

[Dazzled]

Todays progress is mostly about construction.

Having got the clamps off I did a bit of fettling and attached the nose using Zap-a-Gap followed, inevitably, by filler.



In fact, filler is a bit of a theme with this kit.



As the picture shows, I've also got the stub wings on. These weren't a bad fit actually with the glue handily filling any small gaps .

I also put the top of the fuselage on. I didn't add any extra weight inside the fuselage as I did a quick "sit" check with the main u/c legs dry fitted and the weight in the nose seemed more than adequate. It's a shame about the fit of this panel though

Another fit issue was the "tailplane", if that's the right term. It sat proud of the fuselage when dry fitted so a little sanding and scraping was in order.

.

After this it was back to the assembling. The offending tailplane piece was attached, as were the flare dispenser pods on the stub wing tips. Then I set about the nerve racking task of cleaning up the rotor blades. I did quite well with only a minor smear of Zap-a-Gap needed on one to correcet a bit of overzealous sanding ( thank heavens there were spares in the kit )

So at the end of the latest session...



I gave the rotors a coat of matt black from a rattle can and mounted them to dry. The model is filled and ready for more attention (and probably filler ) and I've done a little tweaking of the exhausts, attempting to repair the gaps in the splitter plates.

Look out for future updates, which will feature:

Enter Sand (ing) man.
Fun with rotor heads and,
How to avoid throwing badly moulded exhausts accross the room.

Plus, the regular favourite, a grown man sobbing uncontrollably after dropping a vital part on the floor and seeing it disappear completely

[Jagewa]

Real life telly has nothing on this stuff

[Molly-new]

That is looking really good. I am also doing a Dragon build and can sympathies with all the problems you are facing. I hope my fuselage does not need as much filling as yours. I will be keeping a keen eye on this as I may get one to partner my Havoc.

[ShaunW]

I like to see a man having fun. Oh yes, that is a proper fillerski queen.

[Dazzled]

Been a bit slow on the modelling front for the last few days. Four early shifts, getting up at 4:30 AM, in a row leaves me a bit out of sorts for most anything requiring concentration. Unfortunately time at the bench looks limited until next weekend due to work commitments.

I have, however, made a little progress.



I'm pretty sure I've got the filling done. A finish off with Citadel Green Stuff seems to have done the trick. Got to get some more though as my pot seems to be drying out. Good thing we're heading into Cardiff on Friday. An excuse to visit the model shop .

I've also made some headway with the rotor head.



Parts have been sorted and a colour sceme decided on. Dragon's colour suggestions were interesting to say the least. I went with some excellent pictures I found on the internet. To my eye Tamiya Olive Green and Deck Tan look pretty good. A little metallic steel applied in select areas should enhance these further.

While I found some energy to remain upright at the bench I managed to muster enough enthusiasm to tackle the exhausts.



Cruelly pictured close-up their flaws are easy to see. The problem is the join right down the middle of the splitter plates. I'll have another go at them but I'm tempted to cut them out completely and replace them with styrene sheet.

That's all for now. More updates as soon as I can.

[JamesPerrin]

When you've not got much time at the bench it's a good time to get ahead on all those little details that usually hold you up at the end of the build eg painting, wheels, missiles, cleaning up small parts. Keep them in a little box and you can delight yourself when you come to final assembly.

[Dazzled]

Despite a pile of work commitments and Mrs Dazzled's list of DIY jobs, I've managed a bit more progress with this build.

Firstly, the filling/sanding is finished . Plus, the canopy is masked.



Also, those aren't trees or flags in the background. They are, in fact, the rotor blades masked up ready for their leading edges to be painted.



After this I applied a panel decal inside the canopy and fitted it using Clearfix.



Then I remembered the gunsight.

Luckily Clearfix takes a good while to set so off came the canopy again. A quick bit of embarassed fixing and it was back on again. Any gaps around the edges were filled with the ever-present Clearfix.



After drying overnight it was time for painting. First the canopy area was given an initial coat of Tamiya XF-22 to maintain the cockpit's interior colour.



While I had the airbrush loaded with XF-22 I decided to indulge in a little pre-shading.



Finally today, I swapped nozzles and colour cups and gave the undersides a coat of XF-23 (light blue).



This covered nicely, although I may do a little rescribing and a recoat. It rather depends on how much time I can find to spend at the bench.

[Dazzled]

The Belgian beer was great. Went down a treat and maintained my spirits through the filling and sanding stage.

[ShaunW]

Nice work Dazzled and I'm glad the beer was good! I know the feeling with the DIY stuff, Mrs W had me laying new turf on Saturday and it bloody snowed to add insult to injury

[Jagewa]

Sweet, it's looking great.

Cheers
Jim

[Barry]

That is a wicked looking machine. Can hardly wait to see it finished.

[Dazzled]

Onwards and upwards.

Finding holes around my work commitments, I've managed a bit more progress.

Having the underside nicely painted, I masked off ready for the camoflage.



I also got the u/c doors and pylons ready for painting.

A couple of coates of Tamiya's XF-60 (dark yellow) with a bit of corrective sanding in between, was followed by a careful application of XF-26 (deep green) using a fine nozzle and low pressure in the airbrush. This is the result, cruelly exposed under a camera flash.





It actually looks much nicer in real life. As a matter of fact, I got so carried away with the paint job today that I was almost late for work

I haven't been neglecting the other parts of the kit either. Work has continued on the rotors, undercarriage, intakes, gun and those pesky exhausts.



There's still a bit of work to do, particularly on detailing the gun which desperately needs a bit of sprucing up. Luckily the internet has turned up a number of very nice images that show the cable and pipework detail needed to enhance this area.

[ShaunW]

Good progress Dazzled. Sometimes the camera is not our best friend! If you're unhappy with the bit of overspray, a bit of weathering, say with a wash of oils, might tone it down or, if you're feeling brave, a careful overspray of the XF-60, perhaps itself lightened a little more in shade can work - or at least it does on tanks!

[Dazzled]

I'll be retouching with the XF-60, either with the airbrush or perhaps using the hairy stick, just to get rid of that overspray. It does look much, much better in real life than it does under the camera.

Of course I could just paint it all black

[Dazzled]

A little bit of brushwork has hidden the worst of the overspray although I've endevoured to keep as much of a feathered edge as I can.





It still looks a little harsh under the camera flash but I'm happy enough with it now to have removed the underside masking.

Black anti-glare and gun recess next