Rob's Buccaneer mob *finished*

[fredk]

You wouldn't happen to know where to find a good write-up, preferably illustrated, would you?

I found a few, but they all seem to indicate crash moulding will give me a canopy shape without any of the frames. Is that correct?

Not correct. The softened clear plastic will conform to whatever shape you have on your master

[rob_van_riel]

Round two coming up..

Seems like that whole RTFM thing paid off. After spending 23 hours in the mould, more than half of which in a heated or only slowly cooling oven, the resin comes out nice and hard.

Although far from perfect, I think that with a little TLC this canopy will do.


(click for larger image)

As it is, I see two main issues with it for future work.
First, and trickiest, are the air pockets. I have some hope that by paying a little more attention to how the resin flows within the mould, I may be able to at least eliminate most of them. If that doesn't pan out, I'll either have to live with them, or see if I can whip up a vacuum chamber somehow. I really hope I don't have to resort to the latter; I don't fancy a rarely used machine cluttering up the place any further.
Second, and hopefully irrelevant, is the somewhat coarse surface on the bottom. I suspect and hope this is a result of the botched first cast leaving residue in the mould, and the post curing of the mould, and thus avoidable by doing it right next time.

[DavidWomby]

I think that's amazing! What clear resin did you use, Rob?

David

[rob_van_riel]

I think that's amazing! What clear resin did you use, Rob?

I think I can see a future for this particular resin

It doesn't have a brand name, but this is where I got it from: http://www.siliconesandmore.com/en/poly ... clear.html;
I suspect it's a fairly generic resin, albeit generic for a fairly specific purpose.

I should point out that one of the components is market with a skull and crossbones. Whether that means "intended for piratical subjects and activities" or "careful, will kill you very dead" is open for debate, but I suspect the latter. Be paranoid, be safe.

[rob_van_riel]

I've sanded and polished the cast canopy, and dipped it in Clear. If it weren't for the air bubbles, I'd call it near perfect. The Desert Storm model has a chance again.



The previously bare plastic model, meanwhile, looks to be in a very sorry state:



This is somewhat deceptive though. I'm certain a nice dull base coat (not from a rattlecan) will do wonders for it, and there's very little correction work left on it. Just a bit of filling and sanding around the canopy, actually, and I'll have to repair the pitot, which I broke (surprise...)

[rob_van_riel]

I'm certain a nice dull base coat (not from a rattlecan) will do wonders for it,

There, told you a nice coat of primer would cheer it right up



The rather neat coat of Humbrol Dark Sea Grey is entirely due to the merits of the (very old) paint. Ages ago (1980s ?), Humbrol sold some colours pre-thinned for airbrushing, and some of that range is still sitting in my stockpile. The paint performed nothing short of outstandingly; there's some water trapped inside the model, and bits occasionally ooze out, and of course this happened in the middle of airbrushing. The paint didn't even blink, and did it's job as if the water wasn't there at all, simply shoved it aside to get to the plastic, not caring that droplets formed right on to of the wet, oil based paint.
No idea how more modern paints would handle this abuse, but I strongly suspect they don't make 'em like they used to

[JamesPerrin]

Impressive result for a first attempt and at a clear moulding. I have read that you need to carefully when mixing the resin to do it as gently as possible so you don't introduce air bubbles into the mixture. However without putting the mould in a vacuum I think you are always going to get bubbles in home casting.

[ShaunW]

I've never tried moulding anything and that is a great attempt Rob. The air bubbles are vexing and without them, I agree, that would be nigh on perfect. I don't think they do make paints like they used to. I've had older Humbrol and Tamiya paints perform through the airbrush better than their modern equivalents - probably due to some of the more noxious agents that they put into paints back then that wouldn't be allowed in today's aversion to risk society

[rob_van_riel]

Impressive result for a first attempt and at a clear moulding. I have read that you need to carefully when mixing the resin to do it as gently as possible so you don't introduce air bubbles into the mixture. However without putting the mould in a vacuum I think you are always going to get bubbles in home casting.

It was harldy the first attempt with rubber and resin, of course, but the way the clear resin behaves means is was rather closer to a first attempt than I'd expected. Maybe more gentle mixing is an option with this resin, maybe even allowing it to sit for a bit before actually filling the moulds. With the normal PU resins, with their 2 minute pot lives, such niceties are out of the question.

As I said, I'm not too keen on adding a vacuum chamber to the pile of tools, although I might consider it if I could get my paws on one that will double as a vacforming machine Two technologies for the price of one might be too much to resist

[rob_van_riel]

probably due to some of the more noxious agents that they put into paints back then that wouldn't be allowed in today's aversion to risk society

Hmpf..that's not even funny. Being rather more restriction averse than risk averse, this trend is taking way too much fun out of life for my liking. My sense of humour can no longer cope with it and laugh it off I'm afraid

[rob_van_riel]

The Revell kit has received it's dazzling paint job: overall beige. Except for the landing gear doors, which I forgot to take along to the paint shop A small oversight that will be corrected tomorrow when I fire up the airbrush again. Depending on how fast the Xtracolor paint dries, this one is now very close to completion.



The Matchbox kit, meanwhile, has the lower surfaces covered in grey, with more colours to follow the next two days, at which point it too will be nearly done.

[Old_Tonto]

Looking very good Rob.

[rob_van_riel]

Save for a sealing coat of gloss varnish, the paintwork on the camouflaged model is complete.



I didn't have any clear diagrams for the camouflage, and didn't really feel like spending hours fiddling with masking tape, so I freehanded it. It might not be accurate, but I like it.

[ShaunW]

Looks good to me Rob - no doubt someone will point out the camo should be hard edged but hey ho.....

[Stuart]

The are both looking nice actually.