The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

dwomby wrote:Good work going on here. 16 feet short? How the heck could they get the length so wrong?

David

So that they could fit it into the box?

general rocket wrote:

dwomby wrote:Good work going on here. 16 feet short? How the heck could they get the length so wrong?

David

So that they could fit it into the box?

Sounds as good an answer as any. They only seem to have one size box and according to a clip on Youtube, a 1/32 Blue Thunder helicopter kit comes in a B29 box.

Back to this build. Slow progress I'm afraid but she is up on her U\C and not a tail sitter.



There is a bit of a step where the neck meets the body so more filling and sanding required.
Every piece of this kit has flash and there are injection marks in some quite visible places such as the inside of the air intakes.
All these need cleaning up before progress can be made. I got the air intakes together but I am sceptical about their fit.
Just looking at them tells me it will be another 'Fit it at the top' episode then sand or fill the gap on the underside.



The instructions tell me to fit the wedge piece to the top of each intake but looking at pictures of the real aircraft these should be a hinged panel that opens to allow more air into the intake.
So I think i'll scribe the panel and fit a small hinge rather than follow the instructions. It should look like this:



I'm hoping to get the canopy sorted tonight and maybe the intakes attached.

They seem to have skimped everything on the research, don't they?

Spaceowl wrote:They seem to have skimped everything on the research, don't they?

They do indeed.

I managed to get the air intakes installed last night and as expected they fit where they touch!
May have to scrape away quite a bit of plastic on the underside. I decided to paint the canopy by hand rather than mask the poorly marked framework. I have applied a coat of that funky blue interior colour, still need to clean that up. Next I will attach the canopy parts with PVA glue and once dry apply the grey paint and then mask off the whole canopy whilst I spray paint the rest of the aircraft.

Which brings me to a question. What colour should I paint it? I prefer to use Tamiya or Xtracrylix paint.

I started to assemble the drop tanks too but they are a terrible fit and don't much resemble the real thing. I might see if I can replace them from the spares box.
one positive note is the nose cone. It fits like a glove so I can leave that off until all the painting is complete. Saves me having to mask a curved surface.

More to follow hopefully with pictures.

Old_Tonto wrote:one positive note is the nose cone. It fits like a glove so I can leave that off until all the painting is complete.

Nice to know that there's one piece that fits. Great job so far.

I may need an extension on this one but I'm plugging away at it.

Masking the canopy would have been tricky as none of the frame lines stood proud of the surface. I usually cover the whole canopy with tape then cut out the frame work using the lines as a cutting guide. So I decided to paint it by hand remembering to do the first coat interior Turquoise or whatever that Russian colour is. Then I attached the canopy parts which stood a little proud so more sanding. There was a small gap between the front and rear canopies that was filled and painted over.



I attached the pylons too as test fitting revealed a very big gap would be left after attaching them. More filler.
Once all was dry I masked the canopy off and applied a coat of primer. Followed by some pre-shading (new for me this) and a couple of coats of Tamiya XF-19 were lightly sprayed on.
Although the pre-shading does not show up here I think the camera flash obscures it. I can discern it with the naked eye and it does break up the vast area of grey.



She is a big lump of plastic and weighs a ton with all that filler in there. It is a good job the U\C is so over scale to support it?
Hope to get a coat of Klear on later then start decalling. Although there are a few small parts left on the sprue that are not shown in the instructions. I wonder if they are important?

Looks good. Must feel very rewarding to have reached this stage. Big so and so, isn't it?

David

Old_Tonto wrote:Although there are a few small parts left on the sprue that are not shown in the instructions. I wonder if they are important?

If it blows up Yes. If not you're alright!!.

This is a better image of where I am up to:



And yes it is far to big for any of my shelves in the modelling cave. Do you think she'll let me keep it in the living room?

I suspect not.....

It is a bit of a brute ain't it!

Old_Tonto wrote: >
And yes it is far to big for any of my shelves in the modelling cave.
>

Probably not. Mine (built as one of the ones used in the Stratos 4 anime programme) is also too big for the cabinet and sits on top of a bookshelf gathering dust.

David

iggie wrote:I suspect not.....

It is a bit of a brute ain't it!

I don't think it was designed for a lightweight aircraft competition!! .

Old_Tonto wrote:Do you think she'll let me keep it in the living room?

No. Put another way, no.

Two possibilities: 1 - hang it from the ceiling, old school way, 2- hang it tail down from the wall, as if it was a picture. I use the second method myself for the big stuff.

A friend does that with 1/24th aircraft. It soon filled the wall.

Impressive model, nevertheless.