1/32 Aichi D3A1 (type 99) Val. (Infinity Models) Final bits.

[KevinM]

Still looking good Ernie!

[Clunkmeister]

17 hours ago, KevinM said:

Still looking good Ernie!

Thanks Kevin!  I sanded the Milliput today, and I’ll apply one more tiny bit tomorrow as well.  I want the forward wind/fuselage join to be perfect. 

[Clunkmeister]

I started plowing away at this again. I’d like to have it at the IPMS USA Nationals in a month. 

[Clunkmeister]

I revisited my control surfaces today.  I had way too thick trailing edges, a d the halves were starting to separate, so off they came, they got split, and on to the sanding board they went.  MUCH better now. 

[Clunkmeister]

Got this in the mail today, a gorgeous prop hub, 3D printed by Mike Swinburne.  HUGE improvement over the soft kit part. This may be a new Bareacuda piece…

[BlrwestSiR]

On 7/9/2023 at 10:51 PM, Clunkmeister said:

I revisited my control surfaces today.  I had way too thick trailing edges, a d the halves were starting to separate, so off they came, they got split, and on to the sanding board they went.  MUCH better now. 

What's the best way to thin a wing trailing edge? Tape a piece of sandpaper to the bench and grind away? Or is there something better/easier/more consistent?

[Clunkmeister]

20 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

What's the best way to thin a wing trailing edge? Tape a piece of sandpaper to the bench and grind away? Or is there something better/easier/more consistent?

Honestly Carl, it’s simply a matter of sanding (trueing) the surfaces until you’re happy with them. If you build resin, you’re already familiar with the process.  
Generally, on a flat wing you can use a 8 1/2 x 11” piece of sandpaper and drag the entire part across, but pay attention that you don’t put too much pressure on one area.  
Go slowly, evenly, and carefully.   
Once you’re close, finish with sanding sticks. 
But check your progress regularly.  You DON’T want to go too far.  
You’ll be surprised at what you find.  
On short run kits, most likely you’ll see the sandpaper hitting the trailing edges about 1/2” inside the edge.  
Seeing that for the first time is a sobering experience, and ignoring it will cause unfixable gaps on the trailing edge. All the clamping in the world won’t help you there.  Your only hope is to fix the problem first. By trueing the surface. 
After that, thinning the trailing edges is simply a matter of going a little bit farther until you’re happy with the thickness.

 

[Clunkmeister]

Some meatballs and stripes courtesy of the trusty DSPAIE circle cutter.

Thats about as fancy a mask cutter as I’ve ever used. 

[Clunkmeister]

Aaaand like a fool, I put the wing meatballs are too far inward. Respraying. 😂

[Clunkmeister]

Well, I changed horses mid stream…

These are the brand new Art Scale Kits decals that I received quickly, before they’ve been released, with a promise that I will give an honest review after the Nats.

So I have applied the scheme I like the most: the attack leader from Shokaku.

 

[HubertB]

Wow ! Now, THAT is a spectacular scheme ! I like it a lot !

(Did you notice the slight asymetry in the wing root / orange fuselage / walkway area between the right and left sides ?)

This could almost push me in the « buyers » camp

Hubert

PS : I think your orange demarcation line is not the right side compared to the left one : missing a few mm outboard.

[Spitfire]

Now that is a surprising and eye catching paint scheme, presumably to identify it as the leaders aircraft.

Cheers

Dennis

[DocRob]

Wow, what a nice flashy surprise, the scheme looks great, Ernie.

Cheers Rob

[Bomber_County]

Ernie, great scheme looking amazing….

[Clunkmeister]

7 hours ago, HubertB said:

Wow ! Now, THAT is a spectacular scheme ! I like it a lot !

(Did you notice the slight asymetry in the wing root / orange fuselage / walkway area between the right and left sides ?)

This could almost push me in the « buyers » camp

Hubert

PS : I think your orange demarcation line is not the right side compared to the left one : missing a few mm outboard.

Yep, I caught it in the picture last night. I’m going to see if it makes sense to try to spray it in. It’s yellow/orange after all, and it might be tougher to do right than it looks.  But I’m going to try to fix it.

The Orange was apparently applied on ship, which is pretty cool.

Also, the early war Japanese equipment was built pre war, so the finish was much tougher and less prone to peeling off in sheets 

[Clunkmeister]

17 hours ago, HubertB said:

Wow ! Now, THAT is a spectacular scheme ! I like it a lot !

(Did you notice the slight asymetry in the wing root / orange fuselage / walkway area between the right and left sides ?)

This could almost push me in the « buyers » camp

Hubert

PS : I think your orange demarcation line is not the right side compared to the left one : missing a few mm outboard.

Yep, I caught it in the picture last night. It’s fixed. It turns out the issue was the walkway, not the orange.  The starboard side was too far outboard.

So I added a bit on the inboard edge, and removed the same amount on the outboard edge.

Fixed 

[Clunkmeister]

Looks much better now, no doubt 

 

[denders]

It looks great in person, Ernie!

 

[KevinM]

Shaping up real Nice Ernie!

[Peterpools]

Ernie

Looking mighty good

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Really nice paint job. Definitely distinctive that's for sure. 

[KevinM]

How are ya'll posting or reading my resolution is all mixed up?

[CrankyCrafstman]

On 8/2/2023 at 12:45 AM, Clunkmeister said:

Looks much better now, no doubt 

 

WOW! black and orange my favorite colors. Hey Ernie have you checked out my Tiger build recently I have the complete interior about 90% done and almost ready for paint.

Ron G 

[Clunkmeister]

On 8/13/2023 at 6:18 PM, CrankyCrafstman said:

WOW! black and orange my favorite colors. Hey Ernie have you checked out my Tiger build recently I have the complete interior about 90% done and almost ready for paint.

Ron G 

I’ll take a look, Ron. Thanks!

[Clunkmeister]