Sikorsky JRS-1 with AM (Eduard) 1/72

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Rob!  Not that I've built a lot of kits or anything, but I'm not a big fan of trying to fit fuselage halves over multiple interior parts.  I guess I've learned enough on prior builds to recognize that I had to go slowly and in stages.  There's really no interlocking parts here for the interior (minus the wheel wells which are actually quite helpful to get the floor board in), you just have to keep test fitting.

Two of the biggest fit problems coming up are the canopy, which is too low and needs to be built up to sit higher, and the panel that closes up the rear top space on the fuselage, where the kit part is too big.  Apparently there are fit issues with the wings and tail as well.  Will have to see how the CMK parts work with it. 

[Peterpools]

Mike

Some really nice progress on the Sikorsky - front office looks mighty good. Nice work as well in fitting the interior bulkheads Some careful work adding the interior bulkheads as proof on how well the fuselage came together. 

Some very delicate and well-done work for sure.

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Interior is all painted and ready to be buttoned up:

Half of the Eduard resin passenger seats had broken arm rests.  I ended up cutting them all off, then replacing them with brass wire.  Won't be able to see them, but for some reason I feel better knowing that they are there:

Thanks for looking in!

[DocRob]

Nice seating, hard to believe, it´s 1/72, Mike. I had some issues with missing or broken parts from Eduard over the years, but their customer service always sent replacements. Takes some time, but they never let me down.

Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Rob.  I guess I could have asked Eduard for replacements, but with this being a limited edition release, I figured I'd just fix it myself.  These won't be noticeable anyway, especially as I'm not planning on opening things up - fixing the fit of the interior parts would take way too much time for limited benefit.  Would be fun to build one of these at a larger scale and open it up.  There are lots of pictures out there of Howard Hughes' S-43 (the civilian designation of the same aircraft), as well as of the military version JRS-1.

[Peterpools]

Mike

Nice progress on the Big Sikorsky and the seat repairs and the light weathering look just the part. 

I'm about close to you in the building stage with the Songbird and hopefully will finish the internal airbrush work today and finally be able to close up the fuselage and move onto the wings and gear.

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Peter!  

Any tips on how to glue in the small windows?  The windows install from the inside, so before closing up the fuselage I need to add the 20 windows.  I'll probably add the masks as well before buttoning up the fuselage, as I'm a little nervous about accidentally popping a window out, which would really be a problem once the fuselage is together.  I was going to use PVA glue like Gator's Glue, but I'm wondering if that will be strong enough.

[Peterpools]

Hi Mike

I know exactly what you mean as all the cabin windows on the Songbird glue in from the inside. making matters worse, they set in a slot which is almost too big for the window itself. I wish they would have designed the kit with side tabs allowing for using Extra Thin but of course not.  I decided to use Micro Kristal Kleer and it being a very thick PVA glue helped fill in some of the gaps. I took my best shot and fingers cross all will work out.

Another idea I'm still tossing over is before closing up the fuselage, running a strip of the Good Scotch Clear Tape across the entire cabin window wall, front to back, Not sure how that will work but it is extra insurance. 

In any case neither kit's window design is very good.

 

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Sounds like your Songbird has a similar window install as this kit.  The windows have a chamfer where the exterior is smaller than the interior opening.  The clear part windows have a small step, so you insert them from the inside smaller end first so that the larger end sits on the chamfered edge.  At least that's the theory, but the concept is difficult to execute at this scale and where the parts aren't exactly perfect.  The window openings were all sorts of sizes and some with a touch of flash, and the clear parts don't seem to be particularly crisp.  I cut out one of the small and one of the larger windows and test fit them into the various openings to have a good fit when I went to install them.

One thing I've considered is adding a tiny drop of CA to the inside edges for a bit of strength, but the clear parts actually look quite clear after dipping in Future so I don't know if I want to take that chance. Instead, I have some Testor flat clear that I might paint along the inside edge to help add as an extra adhesive.

I didn't feel like dealing with the windows last night, so instead cut out the control surfaces from the wing, and put together the wing tips, floats and seat for the wing.  Figured that would be a relaxing exercise, though there were fit issues with those parts as well.  At some point, I think I just need to work on a Tamiya kit for something more relaxing!

[Peterpools]

Mike

Good call for sure and might just go the CA route at the corners and see what happens.

[Landlubber Mike]

11 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Mike

Good call for sure and might just go the CA route at the corners and see what happens.

I ended up installing the windows tonight.  I ended up using CA.  Didnt really get any fogging.  I did get fogging when I tried to use CA debonder on a window where a little CA got on it.  Good luck with your windows!  I'm so glad that part of the build is done!

[DocRob]

I sometimes used CA on futurized clear parts and got no fogging. I always have a bad feeling about it, but it worked. 

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Mike

Glad the windows went well and all worked out as planned.

[Landlubber Mike]

Made some good progress on the JRS-1 the last few days.  First, installed all the interior components - bulkheads, cockpit, seats, windows, window frames, curtains, etc.  Given that you can't see much of any of the details from the outside, I didn't bother trying to make everything look pristine.

Then managed to get the fuselage buttoned up.  Surprisingly, very little filler or plastic strips needed, though the canopy is going to require plenty.

 

The top was a pain because you had to insert the rectangular piece in between the fuselage halves (you could cut this in half and model it as open), as well as the two forward top fuselage halves.  Not exactly easy to do, but eventually got there.

Thanks for looking in!

[Peterpools]

Mike 

Some mighty nice progress on the Big Sikorsky. Interior looks wonderfully busy and when seen through the porthole windows, will look perfect. Glad to see the fuselage is now glued up, looking spot on and the fit is a zillion years ahead of the Songbird in fit alone. I'm sure a lot has to do with the builder and I tip my cap. 

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks for the kind words Peter.  It might have been fun to open the plane up some, but the wacky windows were a problem.  I ended up needing to cut a couple out of clear plastic, and it's not as easy as cutting normal styrene even using the Dspiae circle cutter.  I probably had to cut at least five to get one decent one.  I didn't feel like replacing all 20'ish windows as that would have really tested my patience.

I think adding material to the bulkheads helped a lot.  I ended up having to remove some of the material with the final assembly, but the bulkheads really helped with the positioning and stability.

Good luck with the Songbird!

[Peterpools]

Mike

All your extra work is paying off and the Big Sikorsky is looking so good.🏆

Still banging my head against the wall as the Songbird keeps inventing new ways of each part or assembly not wanting to fit. I'm sure a good deal is due to all the compromises I had to make and they just keep adding up.

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

I'm sure you'll get it all figured out Peter.  Stay strong my friend!

[Peterpools]

Thanks Mike, still at it.

 

[Jeff]

Mike , you and Peter are exhibiting the true art of modelling. Your attention to details, problem solving and excellent skills with repair work are making this kit and the Songbird kit looking great. And the final result will be a model to be proud of. I’m looking forward to the next episode…
Jeff

[Martinnfb]

What Jeff said . Phenomenal work. 

[Landlubber Mike]

57 minutes ago, Jeff said:

Mike , you and Peter are exhibiting the true art of modelling. Your attention to details, problem solving and excellent skills with repair work are making this kit and the Songbird kit looking great. And the final result will be a model to be proud of. I’m looking forward to the next episode…
Jeff

Thanks Jeff!  I probably mentioned this before, but when I got back into modeling about a decade ago, I decided to build wooden ships as I thought I would be bored with plastic models insert tab a into slot b and paint -- at least that was what I remembered from building models as a kid.  It was only in the last few years that I saw some plastic builds on MSW that I realized how far the hobby had come with aftermarket, better kits, airbrushes, paints, washes, etc.  I tend to like the subjects in the plastic world a lot better than 17th-18th century wooden ships, so I've pretty much moved over to the plastic world.  

At some point I'll pick the wooden builds up again, but I'm having a blast with these plastic kits.  I complain about fit, but I think I secretly enjoy trying to puzzle solve.

[Landlubber Mike]

I've been making slow but steady progress on this kit.  Part of the slow crawl is my fault in using the very nice CMK aftermarket set.  But the main reason is that there are a lot of fit issues and other things like lack of connection points for important parts like the struts holding up the tail section and the main wing.  For some examples:

- Main wing tips are separate parts (in halves) that you have to glue together and then do some cleanup.  I ended up adding brass rod to help secure them:

- Engine cowlings are too small, so I added thin plastic strip between the halves to fit the engines.  Figured that was much easier than filing down the engines:

- CMK tail isn't quite right, needing extra plastic on the fixed part of the tail:

 

At the moment, I'm mostly done with the wing.  The CMK set is nice in that it gives you the control surfaces, but still quite a bit of work to add them.  I have a few bits of PE to add along with the exhausts, and then of course the pontoons:

 

The body is close to being done as well.  I have a few more pieces of PE to add, along with the cockpit and landing gear and some other odds and ends that I'm waiting to add as they are fragile and will likely bust off.  But, I think so far it's looking pretty good:

 

I'm still debating how to go about staging the painting sessions.  I might end up painting the wing separately, then adding it to the body and painting the body once the wing is installed.  Because the wing struts don't have attachment points, I'm a bit worried about glue getting where it shouldn't be.  Still a bit to go before I get to that stage so I can think on it a little more.

Thanks for looking in!

[Peterpools]

Mike

Awesome progress and looking so good. I wish I had your modeling patience and skills to keep at the Song Bird, but at my age, just not in the cards. 

Good choice on enlarging the cowlings rather then sanding down the engines but I wonder if that is going to cause any issues with the engine fairings on the wings?

I tend to try and glue on parts and assemblies before painting that might cause issues and ultimately mess up the paint. I would rather struggle with figuring out how to reach all the areas with the air brush then have to go back and fix glue marks on the painted surfaces, especially after they were decaled.🏆

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Peter, sorry for the delayed reply.  Have been flying solo this weekend with the kids and all their activities, so I haven't been online much.  

The cowlings thankfully are fine with respect to the engine fairings on the wings.  Like almost everything else on this kit, there are no tight fitting connections.  There's just a slightly indented edge to the wing nacelles where you locate the engines/cowlings.  I only had to add what amounted to less than 2mm of spacers on the cowlings, so we aren't talking much of a diameter increase.  The nacelles are hollow though, so I might need to come up with a solution to make sure that the engines are centered though now that I think about it.

I agree with you that it's better to glue as much as you can prior to painting, rather than paint first and assemble later.  Here I might be able to get away with painting the upper section of the wing before attaching it.  I'm a little worried that with all the taping for the chevrons and other non-yellow sections, I could possibly break off the wing from its struts if I assemble it prior.  The struts don't even have a locating tab or anything!  I assume that practically all of the weight of the wing is borne by the center column coming off the top of the fuselage.  For that center column, there was only one tab that fits into a hole into the fuselage, and that tab/hole fit is not very secure.  I ended up stuffing the hole with 2-part epoxy putty to help grab the tab, and then used two-part epoxy glue to adhere the flat section to the fuselage (that connection otherwise wasn't very secure either, as the rounding of the bottom of the column didn't really match the rounding of the top of the fuselage).  Anyway, the epoxy should hopefully make for a pretty strong bond.

I haven't quite reached your point with the Songbird, but all of the test fitting, filling, sanding, etc. has been a bit of a slog and I've been quickly losing interest.  But, I think I'm at the tail end of the construction part minus attaching the wing, so it will be nice to move onto painting and wrapping this one up.

Thanks again for looking in my friend!