Coastal Command Neptune (Revell 1/72nd)

[bluesteel]

Looking good there. Will this have de-icing boots? I ask because I find holding such models between leading and trailing edges the way to go.
Have you got the dimensions of the tanks handy? I've got a fair few odds and sods in the Bits Box...something might be a good starting point.

Regards,
Bruce

No, it doesn't appear to have black icing boots either in the schemes or photos. But the gloss seems to have dried enough overnight and doesn't seem to mark up as much now, and where it does I can buff out with a spectacles cloth. There are side elevation and plan views of the tanks as well as one x-section. I'm going to have a go with plastic card sections first, then balsa if that fails.

[bluesteel]

More work tonight painting the exhaust and cowl flap areas, then removing Maskol and replacing the Krystal Klear windows:

[bluesteel]

Finally started work on the big tip tanks. Using the Warpaint 1/72nd plans as templates, I produced and cut out a centre whole length section, then sections through it at about 1cm intervals, cut them in half, glueing them either side:





Then I glued longerons on the outside to build up a skeleton structure, then filled with filler. Once dry I can sand smooth and add more as required to get the final shape:





So far the technique is looking promising. But I will have to blast mould a transparency for the truncated tank end.

[bluesteel]

What's Fimo Bruce?

[bluesteel]

Ah, Google is my friend. Is it Staedtler modelling clay by any chance?

[bluesteel]

The plastic card + Plasto method didn't work very well,it failed to set overnight and is still pliable, but worse it's cracked in various places. So I've reverted to the tried and tested Balsa laminate and talc method. At least I can use the balsa plug from the nose of the light nosed tank as a mould for blast moulding the glazing:

[bluesteel]

Even though the balsa tanks have been heavily talced, it need a lot of Tippex - sand - prime, Tippex - sand - prime, Tippex - sand - prime, Tippex - sand - prime, to get towards a surface smooth enough to take a coat of gloss blue:

[bluesteel]

After a days worth of work it's now smooth enough I think for the gloss blue coat:




It's highlighted a couple more blemishes I need to deal with, but they are almost there now.

[bluesteel]

Disaster on the crash moulding front this morning. I've tried seven times with different thickness's of clear plastic card and each time the mould while heated goes fine to produce the right shape, but when it cools it disintegrates and/or cracks. I've tried cling with the mould in place, and removing it with the same result.

So I've had to give up for now and see if I have anything transparent in the spares box that might fit. The only vaguely close part is an old nose transparency, not sue what from, a Halifax maybe. It's not long enough and also has a flat vision panel which gives it the wrong shape. But it's better than nothing for now.

[bluesteel]

Eureka! I've worked out what the problem with the crash moulding is. The last time I'd done any was over 15 years ago without any issues. But then I was at a different house with an older electric cooker to use as the heat source. My current cooker is a Halogen, and it pulses the heat. So as long as I time the extraction to crash when a hot session has just ended, it appears to work OK. The result I have at the moment isn't as deep as I'd like, but it'll do for now and is better than the borrowed observation blister. I think I need to get a candle or single portable hob type unit for future use.

[bluesteel]

One tank in position. Now to work on the searchlight structure that sits on the front of the other one under the glazing. One problem though, my Midnight Blue rattlecan has run out and I won't be able to get any more until next weekend.

[bluesteel]

You might want to try some micromesh polishing cloths on that paintwork, Julian. I'd start with the 8000 grit, and just work on smoothing that orange-peel down a little. You'd be surprised how quickly and effectively you can do this, in fact the trick will be to not overdo it.

I'm probably going to mask it up again and give it another coat of Midnight Blue to sort out the tanks. But if there's any roughness left, Micromesh it will be, although I've run out of finer grades.

[bluesteel]

Ah, Google is my friend. Is it Staedtler modelling clay by any chance?

Sorry, I missed that question, Julian. I cannot confirm or deny. It is a modelling clay that hardens by heating to 230F for 30mins. It's similar in consistency to white Milliput although obviously it doesn't work with water the way that Milliput does. If you have Milliput, you could use that just as well, but you then have to wait for it to harden. 30 mins is a very convenient waiting time compared to overnight.

The Staedler stuff I've found via Google is called Fimo and it says one version of it hardens in the Microwave in a mater of minutes. It looks to be useful stuff and I'll have to track some down in the UK.

[Karaya]

Whew, breathtaking build. Working with gloss colours really gets the heart rate going. Keep it up, really looking forward to the final model.

[JamesPerrin]

The Staedler stuff I've found via Google is called Fimo and it says one version of it hardens in the Microwave in a mater of minutes. It looks to be useful stuff and I'll have to track some down in the UK.

There is also some clay called Sculpey that also hardens in the oven. The guy on ARC who posts all the scratchbuilt oddities (Gabriel??) uses it to make vacform masters. I bought some from a hobby shop in Leeds a couple of years back but have not had cause to use it yet.