Clunkmeister

Harv, I usually do my own, but this time I'm having one of my guys do this bit. I'm not that bad of a hand with a TIG or a MIG, but I just can't seem to find the time these days.

I’ve been spending time with my 59 T-Bird convertible as well, trying to fix any obvious issues. I found some rust in the trunk floor brought on by a previous bollocky repair attempt. So we add new sheet metal and butt weld it to the good existing metal. Someone actually installed a patch panel over the existing metal, them sealed it all up with caulking.

LOLOL. And I used the SWAG method the same as everyone else would. haha! I never actually thought about that. I'll need a disclaimer at the end.

AND, she'll fly in this scheme as well, Jeff! Whoop Whoop!

Iain, I agree completely with your take on 104's nose turret. That's exactly what I thought that they did. The gun runs for elevation are still quite prominent, albeit sheeted over. And the rest of the turret just looks like it was either sheeted in aluminum or something similar. Those portholes are hideous, eh? As for the greenhouse, all I can say for sure is that this particular aircraft was used for long overwater sovereignty patrols, and being that they no longer had a need to watch for enemy aircraft, they were more concerned about keeping the sun's heat and glare out of their eyes.

I’m glad they didn’t go with the “Yellow Submarine” look, like these guys did. I’m curious as to the amount of Weed that was smoked before this abomination burst forth into the world.

Thanks, Cees. I will say that the feeling I had when I slathered Apoxie on an almost ready to paint fuselage wasn’t a very good one, but it needed to be done. The Maritime Patrol Lancs had all their defensive armament removed, and the front and rear turret cupolas were seemingly modified almost whimsically on a case by case basis. There are plenty of pics of FM104 from when she was serving in the 60s, but it’s almost as though the photographers were purposely ignoring the mods and trying to concentrate on the unmodified wartime looking parts of the aircraft. So good close up detail pics of the modifications are nigh unto impossible to find. This is one of the only ones I found. It certainly appears to have been sheeted over, probably in aluminum, then painted. It was also faired into the fuselage with all gaps being eliminated. I suppose just sanding down the frames was another option, but I wanted the smooth, faired in look.

Exactly the effect I’m looking for, Hubert.

ahahahaaaa! I LOVE it! Hehehe!

OK, it doesn't look like it in the pics, but everything blends as smooth as a baby’s bottom. I’ll mark the rivets on the plastic, rescribe panel lines, then a quick shot of black. Then some Squadron green and a final smoothing. I’m going to lightly river where the frames would be and recheck my work. Yes, it looks like crap in the pics, but in person it looks dead on accurate Mission 90% accomplished.

Sanding the front turret for all it’s worth, aaaand, it’s looking semi wonderful so far

I know it too, Harv. But don't tell anyone I think so too.

Will this mount on a Kubelwagen? :-l

My plan is to smooth it out tonight, then LIGHTLY run rivet lines down the framework areas. I initially thought about just using a solvent based putty like squadron white or green, but then I thought about shrinkage and cracking. A two part epoxy is the only way here. If it doesn't look right in the end, I'll pull it off and replace it. we gotta remember, it's a piece of plastic, not our entire existence. If I need to fix it, I'll fix it, but I have a sneaking suspicion it's gonna be just fine.

If I’m going to do this, I want it more or less right. If this fails, I’ll see about casting one

Ok, I've received quite a bit of feedback on this little episode, so let's talk about it. 1. Quite simply put, I completely missed the extremely obvious front turret treatment on this aircraft. Every single one of these postwar Lancs had it's own individual front turret treatment, and this one was sheeted over and painted. As it's a very obvious feature on the aircraft, it needs to be right, even if it is a seriously ugly feature. 2. If I would have seen this at first, I would have done this building up and smoothing out off the fuselage, but as it is, it should work out. If not, I have a spare turret, and failing that, I'll beg Mike to print a solid copy. (That might have been the way to proceed in the first place, but hindsight is 20/20. Either way, I'll know for sure tonight.

Thanks, Mike! Actually I got up early and gave it a preliminary cut with wet paper, and it’s gonna look great. The front just looked all wrong, and there is no time like the present.

If I’m going to do this, I want it more or less right. If this fails, I’ll see about casting one

Phantastic result, Phil! That’s exactly the look I like. Used, but not abused. It looks like a gun buggy should look. Not like it’s been ditched and rolled before landing back on its wheels.

Yes, call me insane

OK, me no likee the front turret, y’all. The front turret of 104 shows NO framing except for the blanked off gun runs. So, do I do it quick, or do it right? Do it right, of course! So I call my magic genie in two tins, Swami Apoxie, and he agrees to help. So, tonight we slather on the clay. Tomorrow, we sand!!! I love Apoxie Sculpt. It shapes easily with water, and sands very easily Like resin, actually. I’ll need to use some putty on missed areas, but the nose turret needs to be faired in to the fuselage. Gonna be great, I promise

So far so good, but not if I keep cracking finished seams and having to give up every Saturday for other duties.

Sorry for the lack of pics, folks. the issues I have is that I use my iPhone for a camera and the depth of view is not so good. Plus I'm a hideously bad photographer as well. I'll try to get more pics, especially when it isn't just a black blob on my bench. My camera shows little else as of now.

And I’ve always found the best basic white is often just buffed Tamiya primer.