1/48 S/H CAC CA12 Boomerang ZA@O

[kahunaminor]

I thought I would share this with you here as it explains why I haven't got started on my JU87 for the GB. Forgive me if you have seen it elsewhere:

 

Having finished my 1/32 Eduard Bf109E-4, I though I would kick off the new financial year with an Australian project:

 

 

This is my first "limited run" kit so I am taking it a little slowly but I am surprised by the small parts count for what can be a very nice kit.

 

 

 

 

 

The A/M team:

The additional PE is from MPM and is supposed to be for the CA 13 but will do nicely. I won't need the Airscale instruments. I also got some True Details P-40 wheels (27") smooth tread.

 

 

The cockpit framing is coming together and the seat:

 

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Regards,

[kahunaminor]

Time for an update. Firstly thanks to Ed Russell for some timely advice and an a copy of the the Model Art article on the SH CA12. The kit instructions are a little confusing in areas as to placement. The first I discovered was the IP support bracket. The instructions would have you attach this to the rear of the upper IP in a vertical positions as shown in the photo.

 

 

 

Following a good look at some photos you can clearly see the "open" end of the bracket protrudes between the upper and lower IP, meaning it should be attached in the horizontal plane.The solid piece goes against the support on the firewall like this:

 

 

Another incorrect area is the MG cocking mechanism on the starboard side:

 

 

Doing so according to the instructions leaves the asembly at the bottom of the support cage and totally out of reach. It should be moved upwards and sit between the two diagonal braces, abreast of the foot troughs. The freshly chewed plastic shows where it was:

 

 

The cockpit framing detail is excellent but requires dry fit, dry fit and then some remedial work to get it to sit right. The fuselage sides have been painted with WEM RAAF interior green and aluminium. The boxes have been picked out in MM Aircraft Interior Black and the relevant PE.

 

 

You can see a bit of surgery to make room for the cage. The throttle control and the radio will be added after the cage is secured so I have left the areas bereft of paint to get a good seal:

 

 

The seat has been painted and the PE harness attached. Not entirely correct but close enough for me at that time:

 

 

The cockpit has been completed. The armour plating behind the head has had the kink removed, the lower IP has been painted and the PE attached, compass installed and the upper IP and boxes attached and wired at the rear. The IP faces will go on next and then coating, wash and weathering for all.

 

 

 

 

 

The wheel bay is in and ready for aluminium with a heavily diluted YZC wash. I also put some card behind the landing lights to fill the voids. It has been painted WEM RAAF interior green and black. I intend to add some little lenses to make the lights before covering the openings. The wing uppers and lower have been joined and I think I got the correct dihedral but it may be a bit flat. The transparencies have been added to the three identification lights and will be masked. The camera window in mid rear fuselage will be painted over.

 

 

 

 

 

I have also started work on the engine, fitting the main components:

 

 

 

Many thanks for looking and again to Ed for the advice and help. 

 

Regards,

[kahunaminor]

[kahunaminor]

Onward ever onward!

I have installed the main IP PE, harness and installed the seat. Some silver prismacolour pencil for various chips and Tamiya "dry brush effect" grey weathering pastel. Next a gloss coat, oilw wash and dullcoat for all the cockpit related areas.

 

 

 

 

 

[kahunaminor]

I returned to the problem of the fuselage and spent some more time dry fitting and pondering. Stephen's photos seemed to confirm my thoughts that the fuselage lacks circumference to fit all the innards and meet the wing root area joins. I think it goes further that that. The lower wing fillet join to the fuselage is also too thin and would benefit from creating a wider join with the lower wing.

 

 

If you continue that widening forward you end up with a gap at the lower front but the wheel well joins line up much better.

 

 

It has the effect of spreading the fuselage outwards to meet the wing root areas:

 

 

 

 

The fuselage will still need thinning at the wing roots as they are way too thick. I have thinned them here but a tad more may be required along the entire length, particularly at the trailing edges:

 

 

 

But even now it is a better fit. It still catches on the wheel bay rear bulkhead, causing some problems and I will have to take some plastic from there as well.

 

 

In securing the fuselage I am going to work from the tail forward and cement only the top seam. Hopefully this will enable me to fiddle with the placement of the various parts. Hopefully I can seat the cockpit, engine and associated bits in their correct places from underneath and I will then build up the gaps with plastic, dry fitting the wings to ensure a best fit.

 

Thanks for looking,

[kahunaminor]

Time for a small update.

As hinted at earlier, the tabs on the rear firewall will foul the MLG attachment points. These have been trimmed from square to triangular to accommodate the MLG leg. I wasn't happy with the attachment points, which seemed a bit shallow. The MLG legs were drilled and pinned and the attachment points drilled until just under the surface of the upper wing:

 

 

 

The pins can be finished off later but it provides a sturdier join.

 

I am still test fitting the fuselage and cockpit. I found the starboard secondary IP fouled the thick fuselage side wall so I removed a metric poofteenth (smaller than an imperial poofteenth) with a micro chisel:

 

 

The other side had some removed for good measure.This will allow the frame to sit better, allowing the radio to be seen:

 

 

Attached the cylinders to the crankcase. They still need a bit of tidying up:

 

 

I also drilled out the prop shaft as I had snapped it off due to ham fistedness. I shall pin the prop later.

 

Regards,

[kahunaminor]

Moving forward...slowly!

 

The assembly line:

 

 

I have completed the cockpit assembly, washed and flat coated. Still need a little highlighting of the IP and some future for the glass. The wash doesn't show that well.The gunsight and arm rests will go in at the end as they will be easily accessible (I hope):

 

 

 

 

The engine is moving forward:

 

 

I have commenced joining the fuselage halves. The tail area and the upper seam to the rear of the cockpit have been glued. Just forward of the tail wheel assembly and everything forward on the lower side and forward of the cockpit is still open. The join on the upper rear is quite good and will require minimal finishing. The plan is to shoehorn the engine and cockpit in and then commence sealing the uppers engine cover seam. Leaving the lower seam for modification. The clip just forward of the tail is inserted and gives me just about the correct gap all the way forward:

 

 

 

 

Many thanks for looking,

 

Regards,

[kahunaminor]

Hello all,

 

A small update:

 

Prepping the resin cannon. The pour stubs need careful removal. Rounded file followed by sandpaper. One down, one to go.

 

 

Work on the engine...5cm push rods cut from pre painted 0.5 rod. Only doing the front as I cannot get to the rear ones and I doubt they will be seen. Pipe work from cylinder heads to collector. The pipes from the front cylinders are way too short, so I will cut them at the mounts and replace them with relevant sized rod painted appropriately. Some burnt metal touch ups, PE wiring harness, gloss, wash and weather to follow. Then hopefully I can get it into the fuselage in close to one piece!

 

 

 

My wife is away in Melbourne for the rest of the week,the kids will be in school/daycare and with the forecast for pouring rain for the remainder of the week, I hope to get some quality bench time in!

 

Thanks for looking and regards,

[kahunaminor]

The engine is in!!

I had to sand the cylinders a tad on top and both sides as well as the firewall. A bit of finagling and it was aligned and in!:

 

 

 

 

The view from the front isn't too bad:

 

 

 

Still some touch ups to do such as the relief tube from lower sump to front plug, the air intake needs a tidy up. Oh and that bloody great gap at the underside. Still it is about where I want it and a dry fit tells me the wings should join nicely to the wheel bays for a good fit around the front. Now to attempt to shoe horn the cockpit in!

 

Regards,

[kahunaminor]

The cockpit is in!

 

After installing the engine, it was time to shoe horn the cockpit into the fuselage. It became obviously apparent that I had painted, or built, myself into a corner. There was no way the starboard upper cockpit bracing was going to go over the flap assembly on the starboard wall. I cut the frame at the rear and just aft of the secondary IP with my trusty RB U/F saw. Removed said piece and slipped, prodded and cajoled the main piece into place. By some miracle it fit. I then simply reattached the frame with a drop of Tamiya Extra Thin and as they say in the movies...voila! The flap control was carefully cemented in place. There is some clean up to thin the forward canopy join and the gunsight will be attached to a scratch built mount later before the canopy is installed:

 

 

 

It now sits a little higher as I had to squeeze the radio underneath but I think the arm rests (yet to be fashioned from card) that sit on top of the frames on both sides will hide the most of it anyway.

 

 

Flipping it over, the floor of the cockpit appears to be meant to sit flush against the wing fillet undersides. Not far off and within tolerance. The engine firewall sits just aft of the wheel well firewall so in theory, it has been a success. The cooler pipe will fit in but its upper cover will not, but I dont think it will be seen:

 

 

The engine bracing was cut in half and only the lower sections attached to the firewall and engine mount as again, the rest wont be seen on the finished build. I did a test fit and with some more slight sanding the wings should mate to the fuselage quite well. The wing fillets still sit a bit proud but some tape from wing tip to wing tip across the top to provide a little more dihedral and hopefully get the join more flush.

 

Thanks for looking and regards,

[kahunaminor]

It lives!!

Well the preparations to join the wings to the fuselage are complete. Final fitting showed that I had to sand away about half of the cooler ducting to enable the central wheel bay beam to fit. It is such an obvious item in the real aircraft that it cannot be omitted:

 

 

 

 

I then started at the front, gluing and clamping the wheel bays ain an attempt to get the best join: 

 

 

 

I then started the rear wing insert join on the one side. You can now see the reason for leaving the gap on the rear underside. The wing insert is too wide and attaching each side individually allows me to bet a better join on the wing trailing edges and fillet. By adjusting each side so the external joins matched (as best as one can) it eliminates a lot of sanding and re-scribing of detail on the underside. There are still some small gaps (apart from the one in the centre) but it should make the whole business less messy:

 

 

The wing roots remain unattached at this point. The join is much better than it would have been without the gap in the fuselage and hopefully I can close it further by adding a little more dihedral in the wings once all the other seams have set:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking and regards,

[kahunaminor]

I had to break up the photo set. Whilst the wings are setting up I constructed, sanded and primed the prop assembly:

 

 

I also went to work on the MLG. Kitchen foil for the oleos and the two part oleo retraction struts attached. I have also painted the wheels.

 

 

Thanks for looking and regards,

[kahunaminor]

Morning all,

 

A little progress, the small gaps in the wing root areas and under the rear fuselage have been filled with 0.05 styrene rod. These will be allowed to dry and then sanded and re-scribed accordingly:

 

 

 

 

The seam at the front of the wheel bays will need some cleaning up and possibly a dab of filler:

 

 

I have also turned my attention to the chasm under the engine bay. In a probably foolish attempt to preserve the lower intake, I have glued 2 strips of 0.075 strip to give me a single piece of 0.075 X 1.5 strip. This has then been sanded down to about 0.125 and inserted vertically, fore and aft of the intake lips. Once set they will be trimmed and the remaining gap filled with horizontal pieces of strip to plug the remaining  gap. I must remember to paint the interior side of the plugs aluminium to match the remainder of the cowl as it will be visible but unreachable after construction:

 

 

 

In the upper photo, you can also see the wing root join inside the wheel bay. Not bad on one side but a bit gappy on the other. I may remedy that or just leave it and repaint it aluminium and detail wash. The canopies have been dipped and masked using the Montex vinyl masks that come with the marking set for this aircraft (another first for me - masks instead of decal for the markings!).

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Regards,

[kahunaminor]

Well that's were I am now. I hope to finish this in the next couple of weeks and then crack on to the Ju 87 for the GB.

 

Regards,

[RalphSarc]

Looking good. Very interesting aircraft. Spent some time reading during an internet search!!

I admit it would be nice having some company in the Ju build, lol!!!

[JeroenPeters]

Great to see you tackle that gap! Persistence is a virtue! Very nice...

[kahunaminor]

A small update. The chasm has been filled with styrene rod, excess removed and the sanding process started (I hate sanding).

 

 

 

Hopefully you can see the intake has been preserved:

 

 

 

Thanks for looking and regards,

[Paulster]

Nice save.

[kahunaminor]

I commenced filling and sanding the various areas that needed it. I am using "Perfect Plastic Putty" for the first time and so far (touch wood) I am happy with the result. The first area was the front of the wheel bay joins. These need to be a single piece so the join between the wings and cowling had to be eliminated:

 

 

There is a seam that runs across the front of the actual wheel openings and the join line that was lost so it will need to be rescribed later. The rear wing fuselage join will also need some rescribing:

 

 

I am still working on the upper wings/fuselage but it is so much better than it used to be:

 

 

I have added 2.5mm "little lenses" to the landing light voids that I had previously filled with card and painted black. The clear covers will go on and masks will keep them safe (I hope):

 

 

 

I started working on the gunsight mount and associated bits. The support is 1mm square strip and a piece of card. It has been measured so the guns sight sits just rear of the IP. I used Gator's Grip to keep the resin gunsight in place and the PE top. Paint, weather and then another little lens will go in there before the clear parts and final attachment.

 

 

 

A shot from the front:

 

Thanks for looking,

[kahunaminor]

A lack of mojo has seen me slow a bit. Just a small update tonight. The gun sight has been completed. Support post from styrene, PE and .2mm lead wire for cable. I used a 1.5mm little lens and the glare shield punched from clear acetate that had been coated in clear green:

 

 

 

 

 

The landing light covers have been installed and will need some sanding to fit flush. The gun camera recess painted in preparation for a clear cover.

 

Regards,

[Paulster]

​Great attention to detail. Informative and inspirational. Scatch built the gun site for my G55, I feel your drive.

[One-Oh-Four]

Wow, great detailed WIP! Quite the project, certainly no shake 'n' bake! Keep up teh good work!

[kahunaminor]

Well it's been a while between updates! Family holiday and then settling back into life post holiday. I finally got some bench time.

 

Masked and sprayed the canopies with WEM RAAF interior green. The small piece out on its own is the armoured windscreen. Cut out of clear stock and laminated two pieces. The under side is fully masked and will be affixed to the canopy windscreen internally. From all the photos I have seen, a fairly obvious piece of equipment omitted by SH. Also omitted were the arm rests on both sides of the cockpit. The stock card will be shaped and fitted to replicate them:

 

 

I affixed the tail planes and filled some minor gaps:

 

 

The wing MG resin inserts were affixed using PVA glue and will need a smidgeon of sanding at the front to conform to the wing:

 

 

 

 

I also took the sanding sticks to the landing light covers and brought them back to conform to the wing profile better. Some higher grades, micro mesh and maybe a coat of future should restore the clarity.

 

Regards and thanks for looking,

[RalphSarc]

That's going to be a pretty aircraft when finished. Nice job so far!

[RalphSarc]

Oh where did you get your stand?