jssel's Red B or hooking a big big fish***finished***

[JohnRatzenberger]

I'd just sand down some ribs, then if it looked weird, lay on some .010 card as sheeting.

I think these were only on the Mk.II & III and not retrofitted to the Mk.I.

[jssel]

I have found a picture in the in Action book showing a flyby of a MkII with a center band of metal sheeting with ribs showing on either side. So.........I will sand that section smooth. My rails, by the way, are dry fit for the time being so I could have a looksee. Nice catch Brews and thanks John for your photo.

[jssel]

A little bit of excitment today as I stuck all the major components together to check alignment and fit. I had complained earlier about the inner wing struts being to short no matter how I aligned the top wing. Plan B: made new, longer ones out of stock rod. Lightly sanded on each side to flatten them out. Now everything appear in order with the lower strut bases puttied. The top wing will come back off for sanding and painting.

Out comes the 3x5 index cards for jotting down notes of things left to do. A modelers pre-finished check list. There is always something that I would normally forget.





One more thing I did was to file down the borders of the leading edge slats. Makes them more pronounced.

[Dirkpitt289]

It's looking real good Jim. Exceptional work.

[jssel]

This is Jeff reporting in and not Jim. Inch by inch, step by step.

The seats were scratched and put in place. A little more touch up is required.



Next, the nose was touched up by adding the breather tubes for the oil tank and a "nose gun" which was made from sprue.



The windscreen was fashioned out of a sheet of acetate.



And finally, the wing tips were drilled out for the position lights that will be made out of clear sprue. The wing did crack on both sides so a little more work is needed to clean that mess up.



So, some cockpit masking and off to the paint shop we go. I do not use white but rather Viet Nam Camo Grey 36622 which is a softer off white color. The actual camo will be put on with a hairy stick. Yikes

I am having great fun here and I hope Mr Hall is looking down and smiling.

[MerlinJones]

Proper fun with proper classic modelling.
Mr. Hall would be proud.

Regards,
Bruce

[jssel]

Undersurface color on. A little paint work on the engine. Will try for pictures later today.

Tuesday thru Saturday my girls (3) and I are making another attempt at backpacking Isle Royale National Park. A father-daughter jaunt. Last year you may remember that we were blown off Lake Superior by gale force winds and 6-9 foot waves. So far this month the weather bouy reports 1-2 foot seas. Much more enjoyable.

Tough time to break a way from the build, but I am leaving the project in a good place.

[jssel]

Yes sir. Last year was the Isle Royale Queen IV aka the Barf Boat. The Ranger is bigger so no worries. Opting for a longer ride but better passage. About six hours to the island. Dram. on standby

[jssel]

Back home and back on the bench. Painting done----pics soonest.

[jssel]

State of play after my backpack trip. The colors, including my attempt at shadow effect n the lower wing had been done. A little more touch up is needed in the corners. Sloppy paint removal to be done on the struts. Than I will continue on with decal prep.

[Martin R]

Jeff,

The colour scheme looks very good. I like the contrast between the white fuse and the dark TSS wings.

Is the horizontal tailplane really that skewed compared to the wings or is it a photographic effect?

regards,

Martin

[Tommy]

Looking great Jeff!

Tommy

[jssel]

Yeah, the horizontals are ok it is just the camera distortion. My Kodak Z740 point and shoot can get very funky sometimes.

[jssel]

By Jove, I think it's time to put some stickers on it.





Of course some gloss coat goes first.

[Dirkpitt289]

That looks so SWEET!!!!