GusMac Posted February 19, 2024 Author Posted February 19, 2024 On 2/19/2024 at 10:25 AM, DocRob said: Very nice progress Gus, the cockpit and seat are stunners. Printing lines are always a problem, but I also think the sides of the seat will be invisible. Good, that you got your camo masks ordered, it would be a pain to cut them yourself. Cheers Rob Expand Rob, JetMads actually provide a full set of correctly scaled templates in the instructions if you want to cut your own masks but there are only so many hours in the day and my masochistic streak isn't sufficiently developed for that. So, path of least resistance... 7
BlrwestSiR Posted February 20, 2024 Posted February 20, 2024 The cockpit looks great. Glad the seat fit, if just. 4 1
Martinnfb Posted February 20, 2024 Posted February 20, 2024 Exceptional work with some fine results ! 1 1
GusMac Posted February 20, 2024 Author Posted February 20, 2024 Thanks fellas. Got the cockpit sills on tonight with a bit of cursing. The 3D printed stuff is so fragile - I managed to snap both sills while trimming them to fit but thankfully the material also glues very firmly with CA so all recovered. Nose is also attached with epoxy. Will require a bit of filling but thankfully no major sanding, so that'll be tomorrow's entertainment once the epoxy is cured. 8
Peterpools Posted February 21, 2024 Posted February 21, 2024 Gus WOW, the front office with the ejection seat looks brilliant - the detail is amazing. Nice work on repairing and fitting the sills - I would have wished the 3D parts weren't as fragile but a plus in that repairs go well. Surely seems tweaking and fussing with most of the parts is part of the POA when tackling a 3D printed kit. j 2
GusMac Posted February 22, 2024 Author Posted February 22, 2024 Nose is now filled and rescribed, so it's time to set it aside and move onto the rear fuselage. The instructions would have you join this to the rear fuselage next but looking at other builds online that leaves you with a rather large, unwieldy piece to deal with as you attach the wings. So, plan is to assemble the rear fuselage and burner can and attach the wings to that and only then join this forward section. 6
DocRob Posted February 23, 2024 Posted February 23, 2024 Cockpit and nose cone look really good, Gus. I hear you on the templates, masks are the way to go, life is to short for self inflicted pain like this . Cheers Rob 2 1
PanzerWomble Posted February 23, 2024 Posted February 23, 2024 Is this going to have the crazy Swedish Splinter scheme ....talking of masochism ? 3
GusMac Posted February 23, 2024 Author Posted February 23, 2024 On 2/23/2024 at 9:40 AM, PanzerWomble said: Is this going to have the crazy Swedish Splinter scheme ....talking of masochism ? Expand Yep, if I'm going to push myself I may as well go the full hog! 😁 4
PanzerWomble Posted February 23, 2024 Posted February 23, 2024 On 2/23/2024 at 12:51 PM, GusMac said: Yep, if I'm going to push myself I may as well go the full hog! 😁 Expand Break out the scourges ! 1
Bomber_County Posted February 23, 2024 Posted February 23, 2024 Looking good Gus, of course you will be modelling instead of watching the Calcutta Cup………. 2
Peterpools Posted February 23, 2024 Posted February 23, 2024 Gus Looking good and always a treat to follow your progress. 1 1
GusMac Posted February 25, 2024 Author Posted February 25, 2024 Started prepping the parts for the rear fuselage. The 3D printed rear section needed a little sanding due to print lines but not nearly as much as some others I've seen, so slight bullet dodged there. There's going to be a fair bit of thinning and filling to get a snug fit with the gear bays though. Detail's fairly sparse there but the main doors are closed other than when the gear is deploying, so not going to bother trying to improve that. 6
GusMac Posted February 29, 2024 Author Posted February 29, 2024 Got the gear bays epoxied in and filled. Fit definitely isn't anything to write home about but the main gear doors are closed on the ground, with perhaps a little sag if the hydraulics bleed, so not going to worry too much about it. Also got the other parts for the rear primed. Nice detail on the 3D printed rear section. Metallics and weathering next. 6
PanzerWomble Posted March 2, 2024 Posted March 2, 2024 I forget how big these things are , and made from resin I'n guessing a fair few lbs too ? Burner can looks great BTW 👍 3 1
GusMac Posted March 3, 2024 Author Posted March 3, 2024 Made a bit of progress this weekend. First of all got the rear exhaust painted up and weathered and the reverse thruster petals installed with the top one drooping as the hydraulics bleed out. The flash has washed out some of the weathering in the photos but I'm pretty happy with how it looks. Also painted the reverse thruster nozzle so I can mask that off when I paint the exterior. 4
GusMac Posted March 3, 2024 Author Posted March 3, 2024 And now today's progress. First got the casting blocks roughly removed from the wings and started the repairs to the damage. The broken forward section has joined really nicely so I'm hoping once it's cleaned up it won't be visible. I also noticed the other wing tip was broken so I've epoxied a piece of the casting block to it and I'll sand to shape once fully cured. Then I attached the rear section to the mid section of the fuselage. Join is pretty even so just going to be a bit of filler required. 7
BlrwestSiR Posted March 4, 2024 Posted March 4, 2024 Nice progress Gus. The way you are fixing the wingtip is perfect as I have the same problem on my kit. 2 1
GusMac Posted March 4, 2024 Author Posted March 4, 2024 On 3/4/2024 at 12:23 PM, BlrwestSiR said: Nice progress Gus. The way you are fixing the wingtip is perfect as I have the same problem on my kit. Expand Thanks Carl, except it pinged off as I was sanding it down! Should have trimmed it a lot closer before I glued it to save putting so much pressure on it trying to sand it. I've trimmed and reattached it and I'll have another go tomorrow. 2
Peterpools Posted March 4, 2024 Posted March 4, 2024 Gus Nice progress and just a shame there is some shipping damage that had to be cleaned up and repaired. Awesome progress for sure. 1
GusMac Posted March 7, 2024 Author Posted March 7, 2024 Well, it hasn't been drinking a well known energy drink BUT it has got wings! Sorry, that joke probably only works if you get the same annoying RB adverts as we do in the UK. Anyway, after a lot of trimming, scraping and swearing I got the wings to a point where the gaps were as small as I was going to get so they've been epoxied in to place. Had to give it a wipe down as well to remove the blood from where I stuck a micro-chisel into my thumb, which just helped with the bad language. 😁 Still some fairly sizeable gaps so I anticipate the next few days are going to iterations of the fill, sand, prime routine until I get it looking reasonable. 6
PanzerWomble Posted March 7, 2024 Posted March 7, 2024 She's a big bird for sure , you're getting your exercise in moving all that resin around. 😀 2
GusMac Posted March 7, 2024 Author Posted March 7, 2024 On 3/7/2024 at 3:36 PM, PanzerWomble said: She's a big bird for sure , you're getting your exercise in moving all that resin around. 😀 Expand Yes, she's getting fairly weighty now, will save me doing some of my weight training with the missus. Given the length she's going to be, I've been pondering your method with the Lightning and contemplating doing at least some of the basic painting before I add the nose section. It'll be a very tight fit in the paint booth either way. 5
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