Zenrat's Flying Circus

[NARSES2]

I love the cartoonish look the shark/tiger mouth gives the picture.  I'm trying to figure out how to make it look like a carton in 3d.

I think the sharks mouth transfers need to be larger than 1/72 scale but not 1/48th ? Then it's down to how the eyes are placed in relation to the mouth I think ?

[zenrat]

Hmmmm, yes.  I could make bigger decals or just paint a bigger mouth.
The eyes definitely need to be bigger.
I'll undercoat it in white and try drawing some ideas on it to see how they look.
Colours also need to be bold solid colours - no subtle shades.
Today I carved off the exhausts (moulded in situ) with a view to replacing them with bigger ones.  I also found a bigger wider replacement prop which I cut down and reshaped making it more paddle like.
Both changes I feel will add to the cartoon look.

[zenrat]

The spinners in my engines and propellers box are all either bigger or smaller than the diameter of the Kittyhawk's nose.
I have therefore selected one smaller and am extending the nose with styrene sheet which I will file to a taper.  So far I have added 2 layers of 1.5 mm thick card.
Is a Kittyhawk a raptor which feeds on cats?

I have also succeeded in forcing the interior of the Wirraway into the fuselage.  And without resorting to a hammer!
As it's an Australian aircraft i've painted the interior Colourbond Rivergum from a rattle can intended for touching up sheds.  I think that is appropriate.
Once everything was adjusted or replaced after I broke it it fitted quite well.  The fuselage halves coming together neatly.

[TheChronicOne]

The spinners in my engines and propellers box are all either bigger or smaller than the diameter of the Kittyhawk's nose.
I have therefore selected one smaller and am extending the nose with styrene sheet which I will file to a taper.  So far I have added 2 layers of 1.5 mm thick card.
Is a Kittyhawk a raptor which feeds on cats?

I have also succeeded in forcing the interior of the Wirraway into the fuselage.  And without resorting to a hammer!
As it's an Australian aircraft i've painted the interior Colourbond Rivergum from a rattle can intended for touching up sheds.  I think that is appropriate.
Once everything was adjusted or replaced after I broke it it fitted quite well.  The fuselage halves coming together neatly.

  Well on your way, bud!

[zenrat]

Is a Kittyhawk a raptor which feeds on cats?

Yup!

Eagle/Hawk/Kite/Falcon inspired paint job in order?

No, not on this one Brad F.  Raptors tend to be shades of brown which is a bit drab.  Now Parrots on the other hand...   

The Kittyhawk will be in an almost RW scheme.  I'm still thinking about colours but currently am favouring a desert scheme of yellow and brown over sky blue.

Did I mention I was working on another van?
I'm working on another van.  It's a Japanese kit (Aoshima?) of a Mitsubishi Delica 4wd minibus thing.  Lets just say it's going to be armed, beaten up, painted red and named "Post Apocalypse".  I've been wrapping the steering wheel and patching the seats with silver painted 2mm masking tape to replicate duct tape.

Regarding the Wirraway.  I had to amputate the front portion of the interior floor in order for the wings to fit.  Not sure if that was due to me gluing parts in the wrong place (if so, it's not obvious) or the kit design.  Whatever, the part I cut off can't be seen when its all closed up anyway.
IIRC Special Hobby also do a 1/48 Wirrraway.  Could problems be due to the 1/72 example being  pantographed from that kit?
It could just be me of course, but I never have these issues with longer run kits.
Still, it's character building stuff which will stand me in good stead when I attempt on of the A Model Yaks in the stash.

The Kraz trailer is in primer.  I am at the stage of putting together.  The thing has hollow vinyl tyres which exhibit a common problem of the type - they are narrower at the bead than the rims are, leaving an unsightly gap.  Stuffing the tyres with tissue paper should do the trick.  It'll have to as I can't find any resin wheels with sagged tyres for this kit.

[Old Wombat]

Did I mention I was working on another van?
I'm working on another van.  It's a Japanese kit (Aoshima?) of a Mitsubishi Delica 4wd minibus thing.  Lets just say it's going to be armed, beaten up, painted red and named "Post Apocalypse".  I've been wrapping the steering wheel and patching the seats with silver painted 2mm masking tape to replicate duct tape.

Can't wait for this one! Although I'd be naming it "Apocalypse Post".

[NARSES2]

I've built the Special Hobby Wirraway and can sympathise as it was an absolute  I think they just over extended themselves if I'm honest, especially with the interior. It looked very nice but seemed to have been designed by someone who wasn't talking to whoever designed the main fuselage mouldings. I must admit you can get that with SH of that period as they were pushing the limits of their abilities. They have obviously learned from all of that as their latest kits have been really good (My Gnat is on here) and they also seem to have reached the stage where resin is no longer necessary for smaller bits and bobs, thus possibly one designer and no communications problems ?

[zenrat]

I think you are right Chris as the wings didn't want to have anything to do with the fuselage and I had to trim away more floor, sections of undercarriage housing and the top of the wheel bays
They are now glued firmly in place but with horrendous gaps along the wing roots.  These could have been avoided by moving the upper wing parts inboard but then the raised rib which runs round the entire wing would not line up on the leading and trailing edges.
Engine, exhaust and cowling are resin.  The cowling looks warped.  It has a distinct oval shape which I think isn't prototypical.  I'll try hot water but at least SH include styrene parts if I screw it up.

The Hasegawa Kittyhawk on the other hand is, in comparison a delight to build.
Nose is now built up enough for the replacement spinner to fit and i've attached the lower wings half.
Kittyhawk WIP 31-7-17 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

I took a cigarette lighter to the Delica body today to add some dings and dents.  I got a bit carried away and have had to remove and replace a couple of melted sections of the rear door.  Ooops.

[NARSES2]

I took a cigarette lighter to the Delica body today to add some dings and dents.  I got a bit carried away and have had to remove and replace a couple of melted sections of the rear door.  Ooops.

Ah memories of trying to add "battle damage" as a kid. Used to try and use the gas ring on the oven ; with some interesting results 

[PR19_Kit]

I took a cigarette lighter to the Delica body today to add some dings and dents.  I got a bit carried away and have had to remove and replace a couple of melted sections of the rear door.  Ooops.

Ah memories of trying to add "battle damage" as a kid. Used to try and use the gas ring on the oven ; with some interesting results 

I've still got a couple of those IMC (?) 'Battle Damaged' Viet Nam area kits in The Loft, a Mig-21 and an F-4 I think.

[zenrat]

I took a cigarette lighter to the Delica body today to add some dings and dents.  I got a bit carried away and have had to remove and replace a couple of melted sections of the rear door.  Ooops.

Ah memories of trying to add "battle damage" as a kid. Used to try and use the gas ring on the oven ; with some interesting results 

I've still got a couple of those IMC (?) 'Battle Damaged' Viet Nam area kits in The Loft, a Mig-21 and an F-4 I think.

For dents in car bodies a ciggie lighter is fine.  The trick is to hold the body next to the flame not above it.  I was doing this but neglected realising that while the corner of the rear bumper was next to the flame the tailgate was above it.
D'oh!
The plastic the bodies are made of is usually so thick that small to medium dents can be made by gouging and sanding,
For major damage cut the panel off and make a replica out of thick foil (pie tray or milo tin foil are ideal) and crumple it.
For rust, with a dremel (on slow or it will melt the plastic) grind away the inside of the body until it becomes wafer thin and then poke it away.
When modelling missing body trim drill holes to resemble the mounting hardware but do it before you carve/sand the trim off so you know where to put the holes.
Use rock salt to replicate broken windscreens.
Here are a couple I did earlier.  The Chevy surf wagon won peoples' choice at the first show I entered.  Which was nice.
65Chevelle005 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
65Chevelle010 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
It has a wet suit (rubber glove material), sleeping bag (blue disposable overall material and felt), blankets (felt) and an esky (resin) inside and I cut and lowered the rear seats.
65ChevelleWIP21-05-08 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

25TTallTRatRod008_zpsd1824a9a by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

[TheChronicOne]

Loooooooove that wagon...         

[zenrat]

It's an AMT '65 Chevelle Wagon.  Originally an annual promo the kit (and the '65 El Camino which shares a lot of the parts) has an "all moulded in one" chassis, very limited under bonnet detail and a hole through the engine for the front axle.
Body is good though which is the first thing you look at.

Here is the front seat area of the Delica.  Seats are from my parts boxes.  I swapped them because they had more of a pattern moulded into them which would look better through the duct tape.
Delica WIP 1-7-17 02 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

And the wonderfully fitting Wirraway.  Left wing root is OK, but the right one...
Wirraway WIP 1-8-17 01 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

[NARSES2]

That Cheve is fantastic 

[Old Wombat]

Does your photo deceive me, or is that Chevelle right-hand-drive?

I hope my "revised" Special Hobby Boomerang goes together better than that!

(I've got another older version but that's going to be kitbashed with a FW.190A-8 into one of apophenia's wonderful creations. )