VV's "vacant made me do it" Chinese Condor

[VickersVandal]

So, emboldened by my success with the Fokker F.III and completely awed at the speed of vacant's Condor build, I am going to very foolishly attempt to build the J&L Curtiss Condor (same kit as vacant's). It will be the BT-32 bomber variant is Chinese colours as the personal transport of Chiang Kai Shek. This is part of my 1930s Chinese Nationalist Air Force build theme. Profile here:
http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/1202/pics/10_1.jpg;

Below is the kit. It is old, fairly perished and with some very thin and fragile or entirely missing sections. The fragility worries me - could end badly. The missing sections are probably nothing a bit of careful scratchbuilding can't handle.



I might cast up some resin copies of the engines from my DC3 if I get time. The kit parts are unusable in my opinion. The wheels look fine though. Props are taken care of - I still have some white metal Aeroclub Hamilton Standards. They'll do.
It will need extra windows and gunner's blisters to make it the bomber variant. Plunge-moulding ahoy!

This build is likely to proceed quite slowly as I have used up most of my holiday time on the other build and have a lot of work to do in the month ahead. We'll see how it goes. I guess nothing ventured, nothing gained...

[vacant]

I see you have the same thin and holed piece of engine nacelle and as I did. The BT-32 will be more diffiult than mine to build, so best wishes with it.

[VickersVandal]

Thanks for that. It will add difficulty, but I think it will be fairly manageable.

All parts cut out:

[VickersVandal]

I thought I'd share a pic of the sanding setup I've come up with. I do my work at the dining table, so I need unobtrusive, mess-free techniques. I can't have polystyrene dust going everywhere.
I'm using 120 grit wet&dry. A heavy glass lasagne tray provides a flat base and allows wet sanding to keep dust to a minimum. I've nicked one of the kids' water bottles to keep it supplied...

Two fingertip-sized squares of blu-tack provide something to grip the part with, particularly as the plastic becomes as slick as anything the instant it gets wet. Even when wet, blu-tack works as long as you dig your fingers in slightly. Part must be absolutely dry when you put it on though.

This setup is working extremely well so far.

[VickersVandal]

AHA! Surplus Stranraer cowlings! Slightly oversized but will do the job and save me some scratchbuilding.

[Barry]

There was a question at the end of Vacant's build about where that one long strut goes when the gear retracts.....It looks liket it slots into the wing and nacelle. I guess
the kit designer didn't know about that either.

[VickersVandal]

Yeah, thanks for that. I saw it in vacant's thread. It helps a lot with figuring out this undercarriage.

[VickersVandal]

I found my gun blisters

No need for plunge moulding.

[AndrewR]

Don't paint the eyes, it'll make the recce version...

[VickersVandal]

Literal laugh out loud!

I was hoping they'd be the right diameter and they're pretty much spot on. Curvature is not quite right but it'll do.

[VickersVandal]

Found some plans - now I can start on an interior. Nothing too detailed, just enough to be visible through the windscreen.

http://s295.photobucket.com/user/sandgl ... -.jpg.html;

Anyone know what colour the interior should be, given it was the military export version? Would they havve been likely to use the cockpit green/yellow in the early to mid 30s?

[VickersVandal]

Well, this is the current state of things....



Floors, locating holes for windows and large glassed area on aft fuselage cut out. Given the amount of transparency that will be there, I want to give it some framing as per this:

http://www.airminded.net/shortsubjs/condorwreck.jpg;

(which I think happens to be the burnt out wreck of the actual aircraft I'm building)

There's definitely a DNF here unless I build for the next 48 hours straight...