Wingco57 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Peter, it seems the quality of your work is increasing daily. Playing devils advocate here, but don't you look at the earlier work and think: hmm that could be done better? This is the future Telford winner, if not this year, certainly the next. Cheers Cees 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remcohe Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 It's like looking at the real thing Remco 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wackyracer Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 It just gets better and better with every update. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoggz Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Incredible stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 evening ladies - thank you for your kind words, I very much appreciate you stopping by ..so, on to whats been going on... ..I finished the side console by adding a handle for the emergency gear drop and the piping & valves to the fittings.. I made the handle end from tube & sprue to try and get the moulded rubber shape right.. ..also fitted the throttle quadrant and all the connector rods and added some placrd decals to finish up one of the sidewalls... ..needed to paint the rear bulkhead & seat so first shot some alclad.. ..lazily dinked some maskol about the place to allow for chipping the paint & shot some tamiya black (a mix of blacks actually..) and tried to give a battered look to the seat - this is a tired old firebomber so figured it would have seen quite a lot of abuse... ..working up to getting the cockpit parts into a workable group to slot in after I detail the fuselage exterior... ..and this is what it sorta looks like all together.. I still have to do lots more, but the key is does it fit, and can it be droppen in through the cockpit aperture.. ..it's like brain surgery and definately a bad way to do it, but so far I can egt it all in and out ok... ..so, I have some more to do to get the basics in here done, but actually the focus next is to get the fuselage ship-shape and then add all the panel lines & rivet detail - the airfame is split in the sense the nose half is all flush rivetted and the rear is dome rivetted like a battleship so will test me in getting it looking right.. ..I also got a very kinfd invitation from the Planes of Fame museum in Chino to crawl all over their F7F-3N when I am in LA next month - that has totally made my week! until next time.. TTFN Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingco57 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Repeating myself Peter, but this is fantastic scratchbuilding. Impressive how you manage to Fit the interior despite a fully closed up fuselage. Fantastic, Cheers Cees 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper-Mint Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Absolute craftsmanship mastering. I am very impressed Peter. Your work is full of love and passion. Cheers, Laurent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 evening ladies - thanks for stopping by so after spending some time hanging around the 'pit and getting part way there, I thought it a good idea to get back to the fuselage and get it in some sort of shape where it is actually worth dropping a cockpit into... ..spent some time filling dinks & seams and got it into basic primer - the finish is quite rough as I have to spray it outside - no matter though, it will clean up... ..now up close and personal the F7F is smooth riveted at the front and dome rivets at the back, also the airframe I am modelling has some great contrasting natural metal toning where this is going to be really important to the finish - here is N7654C... ..and here you can see the overlapping panels, quilting, rivets and surface texture typical of the rear fuselage which is where I thought I would start... ..I had always been a bit worried about how I would scribe & rivet at this stage - the subsurface is not really like injection plastic so may not take the pressure, or lead to chipping when I hit filler etc. I also thought about maybe going for resin rivets, but on an NMF bird the tests I have done with Alclad mean it is really hard to get rid of the carrier film (you can see it through foiling too..).. ..at this size & scale it would be hard to get right... ..anyways I thought I would throw some panels on and see what it looked like... started with the plans and marked some out... ..they can be seen more clearly here... ...not happy - it looks too clean, too uniform and not really what I am after... ..then I had my Alan Clark moment and remembered his method of skinning in lithoplate or pewter - beautiful, real, textured and quite mind blowing to look at... ..that was it - I have some 6 thou plate on order, I have some experience of working brass sheet, I have tools and motivation - why not do it - afterall the saying goes there is more than one way to skin a Cat right? ..the next post will hopefully be a start on the process, or a graceful exit and back to looking at getting the effects in other ways... until next time... Peter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Oh-Four Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Somehow I haven't looked in for some time... My mistake! Inspirational!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beychevelle Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 There are builds...nice builds, really nice builds, fantastic builds, but there's a point when builds become scary.This is a complete new class on my scale: frightening builds You entered the twilight zone of modeling and I'm afraid there is no way out...poor sod Rob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 There are those who glue the plastic, those, who are modellers, those who are supermodellers, then magicians, and then nothing, nothing, nothing and then Peter from Airscale... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 you guys are too kind! thank you so, we're off! the litho plate arrived and I have the next day and a half off so on with it... ..the sheet is 6 thou and from a printer (£14 GBP for 10 x A4 sheets) so one face has stuff on it... ..the other side is nice... ..I tried a test piece, annealing it, embossing it on different surfaces etc... learning about the material - I also tried to discolour it by boiling with an egg but that didn't work... ..got some impact adhesive & cleaner - I thought I would try spray as well as painting it on... (£18 GBP all in...) ..I made the template from tape and cut out the first panel... ..masked up for the first adhesive spray - it goes on both surfaces - good job I did the panel first as it goes everywhere and I added to this masking to prevent a gloopy aeroplane... ...VERY carefully applied the panel - it doesn't move about like a decal and I suspect peeling it off would kink the material... ...when annealed it is quite maleable (I will use pewter for proper compound curves), I also decided to detail after applying as there will be no way to emboss the rivets from the other side and have them all line up accross multiple panels - an ugly concession to accuracy as I really wanted raised rivets at the rear, but hey, I am hoping the overall effect will be worth the loss... ..I have been using tamiya tape as templates and marking out the panel with a pencil - the scribed line is a good guide, and the last panel laid is used almost like a brass rubbing to get the correct shape to match up to... ..I soon got into a routine and have one side done (well half of one side - the easier half..).. each panel is anything from 15 - 30 minutes to make & fix. I have stopped using the spray adhesive as there just isn't enough control so use a soft flat brush. Mind you the solvent to clean the glue seems to destroy brushes and just about everything else pretty quickly so care is needed.. ..I am ending up scribing the airframe anyway so haven't saved any time as I need the scribed lines to determine the panel shape - I finished up the rear end and started on the fin... ..I needed the two big panels on the fin to run all the lower panels up to - it would be much harder to make all the lower panels end in a straight line separately.. ..I burnished the shapes where the panel has to curve at the leading edge with a cocktail stick and cut out the part for the rear of the fin.. ..after quite a few hours work most were done - the photography is rubbish as is the lighting sorry... so much to learn... I have also laid some test panels on an old kit to experiment with finishes as the test parts I did came out a bit weird - they seemed to have colours in them - greens & reds faintly visible and different layers of grain when finished with micromesh - i have some different grades of wire wool on order as thats what I have heard is supposed to be used... ..only trouble is I may have doubled the time to finish it by doing this! TTFN Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators JeroenPeters Posted March 28, 2015 Administrators Share Posted March 28, 2015 Just read up. Just love this beyond any modeling i've ever seen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkranias Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 truly a pleasure to watch. During a build session I would love to be at your bench and just observe. I'd be willing to hold the beer (or whatever) for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 truly a pleasure to watch. During a build session I would love to be at your bench and just observe. I'd be willing to hold the beer (or whatever) for you. thanks Rick - you might need some headphones though - I can assure you there is quite a lot of choice anglo saxon expletives going on while I am doing this bit so, all the time I am getting somewhere I thought I would drop in another update - I am sure once the novelty wears off I will slow down a bit... ..I have a small problem as I have been learning more as I move forward from the tail - each panel seems to teach me a new trick and I wish I had been doing what I do now from the first panel... ..I should have added the rivets as they are much easier while the panel is flat.. ..I should have scribed access panels etc for the same reason.. ..I should have varied the grain of the metal to contrast panels.. ..I should have riveted onto a cutting pad as the perspex sheet I used for the first two spine panels is too hard & the depressions are too small.. ..I should have used a wide, flat, soft brush to apply the impact adhesive.. ..I should have deeply scribed the whole fuselage to give guides for the tape templates.. oh well, we are where we are and lets look at it this way, it can only get better... anyways.. I needed to do the top of the spine as I want to try to do the lower fuselage panels in one strip curving right under the bottom and up the other side to reduce the number I need to make.. ..I started with a tape template / rubbing which is transferred from the scribed lines (or fitted panels) and this time added the rivets/access panels,panel lines by scribing, scoring or using a rivet wheel.. I had scribed the access panels on the airframe so they can be positioned correctly and these too were transferred to the template.. ..this is a different panel, but once detailed I roll it on the back of a stiff cutting mat to impart curvature - the mat must be flawless as any lumps or bumps will transfer to the part.. ..and this is just about good to go... ..THE most critical stage is applying the glue - I mask where I am putting it on the fuselage, but the masking must be removed immediately or when you pull it off you pull off the glue with it (it's like elastic..).. I also hold the panel on a rolled bit of tape so as not to get glue everywhere... ..and the panel fitted - carefully lining up and then squeezing it down with thumbs & fingers is key to getting a solid & neat fit.. ...a few more of the airframe as it stands... thats all for now.. TTFN Peter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingco57 Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Amazing progress Peter, Will the Skins buttjoint at the top and bottom, or will there be a capping strip? Cheers Cees 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsta Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Just stumbled upon this thread Mindblowing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsta Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Dumbfounded! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Amazing progress Peter, Will the Skins buttjoint at the top and bottom, or will there be a capping strip? Cheers Cees Hi Cees - I haven't quite figured that out yet - some skins butt join each other on the underside, while some go all the way around. In some places there are some 1-2mm gaps I might have to deal with by letting in a strip or covering somehow. The problem with this skinning is you can't just fill and cover up your mistakes! anyways, still plodding along... added more panels - same format - scribe a deep panel line to follow... ..the nosecone was really hard to get right - and even now I am not 100% on it... ..I used 1mm flexi tape and made up 2 layers to guide the scriber... ..there are two quite prominent forward hatches (50 cal ammo access) so I wanted to cut these out rather than scribe them... I punched the radiuses and filed the opening - then fettled a new panel to fit.. ..and fitted - there is a hinge at the bottom I will add later - and yes the fastenings are random like this! ..and to round off this is where I am at.. ..thats all for now - back soon TTFN Peter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkranias Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 thanks Rick - you might need some headphones though - I can assure you there is quite a lot of choice anglo saxon expletives going on while I am doing this bit Colorful metaphors often emerge from my bench. Ask my 8 & 10 year old kids. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 evening folks I tried doing some of the nose plating in litho but the part I made wouldn't take the curvature without wanting to kink. Luckily the sheet of pewter I ordered arrived so I tried using this - it's nice and maleable and fairly straightforward to work with ..as I have been doing, I added the vertical rivets before fitting - all the horizontal ones will be added once the plating is complete so they all line up.. ..I wanted to do the top nose panel (the one with the circular fuel filler..) which is the first real compound curve.. ..first step is to burnish masking tape down over the panel and pencil mark the outlines from the scribed lines and adjacent panels.. ..next transfer the tape to a small sheet of (expensive) pewter - as the fuel filler cap has 16 fixings around it I got an image off the internet & printed it to mark out where they need to go to be equally spaced.. ..added another circle and soon had the marks where I could emboss the fittings.. ..added all the other markings to set out all of the fasteners this particular panel has all around the edges... ..embossed & riveted, you can see how soft the pewter is by how it 'blows' underneath - this needs to be burnished out with a smooth rounded object (I have a bit of steel rod)... ..the lower image is the finished panel.. ..I spend some time finely tuning the fit by carefully sanding the edges with a sanding stick, constantly trial fitting and taking it really slowly as you can always remove material but never add it back... ..I also mask the area the panel fits to ready for the adhesive... ..and the panel fitted in place... ..still got more to do, but it is getting there... TTFNPeter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingco57 Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Peter, You make it look so simple. Looking at your tutorials it seems to be too. That metal skin cannot be created by painting alone. CheersCees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 thanks chaps ..but the big news is I got a box of initial 3D parts today from Tim - I am amazed that turning bytes into bits actually works.. check this out.. ..this was the point I was rubbing my hands together... ..engine parts... ..and with a light coat of mr surfacer so I could see the 'stirations'(?) these will clean up nicely... ..and nosewheel parts... ..and mainwheels... ..the parts will clean up I am sure and are far, far superior to anything I could have scratchbuilt.. Big, BIG thank you to Tim for getting me into this Rhino lark TTFN Peter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper-Mint Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Hello Peter, Fitting and finish on the panels are top-notch. Looking forward to see the nose covered. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonathanReed Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Just incredible 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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