ScottsGT

I picked this one up last month. The author was a well known RC model designer and produced many kit designs for companies. He personally met and sat down with the Granville family and got the real scoop on these early air racers and why they gained a bad reputation. Here’s a hint: Owners were replacing engines with much bigger and powerful ones the airframes weren’t designed for along with modifications without consulting with the brothers.

So, you getting the .45 Colt cylinder for it? Back when I was reloading (and shooting) I loaded a lot of cowboy loads for my Ruger Vaquero and my Uberti 1866 using Trailboss power. Then it mysteriously disappeared from the market. Hodgdon says it’s coming back by this fall though. I still have quite a few reloads in the ammo case though.

Ugh… Discovered one of the cylinder jackets has a stripped hole for the head bolts and it was missing the head gaskets. Another $145 spent…. It’s all boxed up and put away until parts arrive from Japan in a few weeks.

I pushed the Duck aside for a few days for a change of pace. Couple months back I bought another RC airplane engine. Plans were to just swap out known bad issues connecting rods with updated rods and a better carburetor. Got it opened up and discovered bad bearings. So it’s all torn apart now. Waiting on new bearings and a good aluminum cleaner I can use in my ultrasonic cleaner. Before All scattered about polishing the crankshaft The hard part about disassembling these old, well used engines is all the old castor oil that builds up and makes parts stick together.

No updates unfortunately. Spent the past week on vacation at the beach and now I’m going to spend the next week playing catch up on the yard and getting the place ready for next Saturday. All three grandkids have birthdays in June/July and our daughter throws a huge birthday party for them here. This year we’re renting one of those giant water slides for the event. Oh boy! Hold my beer….

Ernie, you’re a good man perusing a great cause! Kudos to you for taking this on, especially in the summer heat of Texas.

Back when I was a youte, somewhere around 1982-4 I almost traded my ‘65 Fairlane for a basket case ‘40’s or ‘50’s? Panhead that was a former police bike. The Ford was actually in my parents name, so I needed their blessings obviously. A friend of theirs had just lost a son on a motorcycle accident a few years earlier and it was a big “Hell NO!” From them. Wife’s a medical professional. She sees it all the time and calls then donorcycles. She won’t even let me get the new Honda DAX 125 to ride up and down my street. 😢

So I did a dry fit of the interior main structure inside the fuselage. If you follow the instructions it has you glue these individual parts into one side and then you button up the fuselage. Glad I did it this way. The inner structure is a little too wide, bottom too thick with some high spots and you couldn’t get the bottom of the fuselage to close. Took some sanding and fitting to get this gap closed. This is where it had a few high spots. Looking down into the cockpit area. This gap does close up easily, but I still have some upper bulkheads to add. Things might change then. Finished the day with some interior green. But I did notice I forgot to fill in some of the holes removing the print supports, so I’ve got to go back with some putty.

Okay, it helps to use tools to hold things to make it work. And of course I figured it would be easier to glue in place after the structure is assembled. Hmmm. Not sure about that decision. Took me 30 min. fiddling with getting them in place. Fine tip applicators and Zip Kicker is a must working on these microscopic parts.

Started looking at the instructions and was looking at these seat parts. At first I didn’t see the rods coming off them Then looking at the parts carefully, there they are! Holy craptastic! They look like print supports Gotta be extremely careful separating these parts! But I managed not to destroy them.

Getting a little time in at the bench today. Proceeding with the cockpit/interior stuff. The top foot rails and rear bulkhead are next. Cleaning up the rails, I noticed some uncurled resin inside of cured bubbles. A little IPA dried them right up.

Spent a couple of hours this morning before taking care of the mowing and errands. spent time sanding down all the print support nubs. And yes, they are right in the middle of rivet details. Requires patience hitting those points and staying off the details you want to keep. But I got the fuselage halves sanded and primed. I will be having to replace some of those details on the seams. Just no way around it. Also started gluing up cockpit structure.

I know some states allow them to be hunted. And they are considered a nuisance wildlife in some states as well. My daughter works at a summer camp in VA. The geese had taken over the main activity field and small lake. They got permits to exterminate them. She said it was bad, like 50-75 of them taking over the place.

My only issue are your damned Canada geese. Can’t you keep those buggers up there and out of my hair? I don’t mind them coming in the yard and eating bugs and weeds. But when they poop everywhere it turns the yard into a minefield and my pup thinks the Easter bunny left her Tootsie Rolls to snack on. Lately I’ve been turning on my irrigation system when I see them out there. They run like their butts are on fire! I’m getting too much enjoyment out of it. It’s great to have an app on my phone for the system. Since I have a hose spigot out there I might buy some of those sprinkler heads with motion sensors to deter wildlife. I think my neighbor has reached his limits and is about to start taking them out with a pellet rifle.

Just started a WIP thread. But don’t expect much yet. Today was my day of hell in the heat. I started the day picking up a load of sod for a huge low and dead spot in the yard.

The fit is pretty darn good! One tiny gap at the front. Might be space for a part that goes there. We’ll see!

The carnage from 45 minutes of work.

45 minutes to free the fuselage halves from their jail. Cleaned up the glue surfaces so I could check the fit. This thing is going to be time consuming because all the print sprues leave a little nub that needs to be cleaned up. This could present problems if you also have rivet details you need to keep.

Let the fun begin! A big Grumman Duck has been my #1 Grail kit ever since I got back into modeling 25-30 years ago. Jeez, it’s been that long? Ugh….Im old. I’m starting with “sprue” removal.

Are you confusing me with John?

Anything someone with experience building or working with 3D printed kits? What NOT to use to clean the surface before priming? What to use? Planning on Mr. Color Primers.

I was thinking more like Carol Ann from Poltergeist because this kit scares me. 😱

Sounds like you’ve had quite the adventure! Good to see you back. Also glad to hear you found someone that appreciated your builds and took them off your hands. I hate to think one day mine might wind up in one of the county dumpsters down the road from me.

My turn! This will be a first for me. Well, several firsts. 1). First time I’ve had the bench already cleared and ready for the new arrival. 2) First printed model I’ve ever built. 3) First model I’ve ever spent this kind of coin on. I’ve come close if you consider kits + AM. Not gonna lie. I’m a little intimidated. I know nothing about 3D printed parts. What cleaners can I use before priming? Instructions mentioned priming before any paint goes on. CA and epoxy I assume are the only glue options. Maybe some white canopy glue too. Definitely won’t be cracking open the Tamiya thin cement or my sprue goo this time around. I think my first task will be cleaning off all the printing supports and priming each part individually before any assembly.