Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

 And so, the Mustang, my 6th model is finished as possible, more here: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,40938.0.html
The title of the post has Part 1 in it because it's one of the scenarios i'm creating for my alternative history, that will extend into the 21st century. I've bought a lot of stuff just for the builds i intend to include in various scenarios but i had to start somewhere, so i thought it was a good idea to finish something and get on with exploring the course of events for the backstory.

Moving on, i need to decide if the next to finish will follow the course of events from the Mustang's scenario... also, i still want to write the whole of the plot since the day the PoAF joins the battle... but looking at the stalled builds pile, i do have 1 Bf-109F-4, 1 Fw-190A-8 and a P-47D bubble canopy, and a D Razorback still boxed in the stash...
Portugal had P-47s after the war, but i was thinking that, in the Mustang's scenario, this fits in as one of the fighters Portuguese pilots flew in combat... and i've never seen a P-47 with Portuguese markings and D-Day invasion stripes...
The other 2 would obviously fit in a very different scenario, can you imagine Salazar becoming a Nazi? It is known that in reality, he really didn't like Hitler and his Anti-Semitic ideals but what if it was the other way around? He did have business deals with the Reich with the export of Wolfram and also allowed some U-boats to dock at some of the Azores islands to replenish their supplies, so what if this went further? Could Spain also drag Portugal into the Nazi side because of their treaty? Oh well, so many unexplored possibilities... 

On a different front, i already have a tube of Dragon's white putty for a few weeks now, but i still haven't been able to use it and get the final putty sessions done on the F-16W, it's just too hot in the house for modeling... nothing done since the final coats of gloss varnish were applied to the Mustang, exactly because of the heat and being totally destroyed from work, but i need to get something done soon...
I could concentrate on the F-15CSE as there's not much to be done, just some sanding on the fin fairings and on to the paint shop... but you know, that could take some time...

[Captain Canada]

I like the idea of the P-47 in Portuguese markings with D-day stripes. perhaps the razorback could be sent to their units to bolster their numbers, as they were successful and needed in that day after the invasion ?

The 2 Germans can be victims of the PoAF 

[DogfighterZen]

That would do... but that also means another box out of the stash onto the bench... It is a great model, It's the Tamiya P-47D razorback and it would follow the story very well! As would the Bubble top, it's the Revell kit, also a great kit but i rushed things as with most of my earlier builds, the prop's already painted, not much of a problem, just have to mask it for the fuselage paint job, although it does make it harder to mask and paint the engine cowling.
It's also built in flight so i guess it would look good on a double stand with the Mustang.
But thanks for the suggestion, Captain! I appreciate it! It will be taken into serious consideration when i get a bit more time to sit at the bench.

[DogfighterZen]

 Ok, pulled out the Revell P-47D-30 from the stalled builds pile, i really don't feel up to the task of the Tamiya kit just yet... my skills haven't improved very much since my first builds and i just don't want to ruin an excellent kit... at least, not yet, i'll ruin that one later.
The P-47 has been almost totally built for some time, prop glued and painted matte black, an other one built in a rush before i made the decision to hold all construction work and wait 'til i got an airbrush to finish them, and after all, this will probably be the first i'll paint with the airbrush... except for the prop...  It fits the period on which i've placed the Mustang, and although the PoAF did operate the D-30 but only in 1952, when the newly appointed, old generals of the new PoAF, thought the jet wasn't going to make piston engines obsolete.
In my scenario, the Razorback Jug would've been flown by Portuguese pilots of the 1st Squadron in their first 6 months of war, then, when another Portuguese Fighter squadron is created to reinforce them, the 1st get the Mustangs and the new 2nd Squadron gets the Bubbletop Jugs, as the new pilots had no real combat experience, they were more likely to survive and come back home if they suffered combat damage.
I know that some American Squadrons changed from Mustangs to Jugs and others preferred to keep flying them instead of changing to Mustangs, so, i don't think it would be too unrealistic to have this duo for the only two operating Portuguese Squadrons, even if there were enough Mustangs for everyone.
Still a lot to do on this model, first, glue a few bits and fill a couple of seams. For the scheme, i'll have to decide if it will be pre or post D-Day.

[NARSES2]

Looking forward to this. I have plans for a Brazilian P-51 in Italy during 1945. Perhaps a Portuguese/Brazilian wing - common language ? 

As for the Tamiya P-47 ? It's such a good kit and just falls together with hardly any help from the builder  Just enjoy it 

[DogfighterZen]

 That sounds like a great idea! I did see a WWII Brazilian Jug yesterday while googling and found the roundel interesting as it was the US type white bar/roundel with the Brazilian Air Force roundel instead of the star. Better yet, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/GAC_P-47s_of_Brazil.jpg I think it could easily be done with Portuguese roundels.. but i can't imagine how one would mix the two of them... half of each, vertical split, half cross, half star...
Well, i don't know if the Tamiya Bubbletop Jugs suffer from the same problem as the Revell kits, but at least on my kit, the canopy doesn't fit, the windshield fits nicely but the canopy itself was probably molded for open display only as i've found that in order to close the thing, one has to sand and carve a bit of plastic of the fuselage around the pilot so the canopy frame sits flush with fuselage as it should, if you don't, neither the sides or rear of the canopy fit with the fuselage, leaving a millimeter wide gap between canopy and fuselage... I have seen Revell kits built with closed canopy and even the framing seems different from mine on the rear. Haven't read about any issues regarding canopy fit in reviews but i know that my canopy has a rounded profile at the rear and the ones i've seen on pics of the real bird, all are pointy. Anyway, it's going to be closed no matter what so i'll have to make it fit. I'll probably use putty or CA glue to build up the pointy bit missing from the plastic canopy. The rest of the bits missing were glued and all seams were filled with CA glue.
With so many new kits coming into my stash almost daily in the past two weeks, i've also been very tempted to start another model but i can't stray from my objective of finishing the stalled builds pile to gain more experience in building and airbrush painting  before moving on to knew kits... the Harrier GR.9 was an attack on that objective and, although i already have the 30mm gun pods, it still sits on top of the pile...

[NARSES2]

Re the Brazilian Mustang. I was just thinking of having a Brazilian squadron serving within the Portuguese Wing.

As for the Revell canopy. On a fair few of the more recent Revell WWII kits the canopy seems to go early during the production run ? I had 2 of their Me 262's and on the first the canopy was  on the one I got a couple of years latter it was 

The Tamiya P-47 canopy fitted like a dream on my build

[DogfighterZen]

Re the Brazilian Mustang. I was just thinking of having a Brazilian squadron serving within the Portuguese Wing.

As for the Revell canopy. On a fair few of the more recent Revell WWII kits the canopy seems to go early during the production run ? I had 2 of their Me 262's and on the first the canopy was  on the one I got a couple of years latter it was 

The Tamiya P-47 canopy fitted like a dream on my build

Bet they would probably do that if the number of Brazilian pilots wasn't enough to form their own wing.  About the canopies, i bought an Me-262 and the canopy on that one was bad, the framing was reduced to barely visible lines and was very scratched from not having it's own plastic bag and being inside the same bag with the rest of the kit.

I've been trying to decide if i should try to solve the P-47's canopy issue with the filling method or if i should buy a replacement vac-formed canopy to see if it fits better... hard part might be finding a proper one for this kit.
Anyway, lot's of stuff coming in so i have to re-organize my stash... storage space full... already ten or more boxes crowding the bench and this week, a few more should be delivered, including my first to be built 1/48 kits. I don't have a big display room so i normally would only buy 1/72, but as i've said before, i'm an obsessed Viper fan so i have to build a bigger one... or two...   
Chosen kits were, Tamiya's F-16CJ Block 50 and Kinetic's F-16E Desert Falcon. Maybe try the mix of the two to have the better Tamiya kit as base and the Kinetic to provide the bits needed for the Desert Falcon.
Another first for me this month, a Minicraft 1/144 B-1A. Bought with a scale-o-rama whif plan in mind... maybe also with a certain dose of kit bashing involved... 
But before all this, i have to actually have to keep finishing the SB pile off...

Here's how the Jug looks for now...



Here you can see the gaps...



This issue might even throw this one back on to the pile for some time, so i might have to move on to another one until it's all sorted out...
Hasta la Pasta!

[Rick Lowe]

It could be tweaked, if you were to carefully sand the bottom edge of the rear part, to get it to conform.
It might not end up to be precisely the correct profile, but if that doesn't bother you, could be an easy way to fix it.

I'd wrap sandpaper around the rear spine where the canopy goes and gently slide the canopy back and forth.

For What It's Worth, HTH

Cheers

[Dizzyfugu]

Or fill the gaps with white carpenter glue. Not perfect, but does the job well.

[zenrat]

You do know CA glue will fog canopies don't you?

Apologies if you do and feel offended by the question but better to risk offence than assume* you know and then find out you don't the hard way.


* for as we know, Assumption is the mother of all f**k up.

[Captain Canada]

I've got a little bottle of Testor's PVA type glue, that has a long thin nozzle that is perfect for these kinds of situations. Just a wee dab here and there and let capillary action do the rest, and then it is paintable when dry. Not the perfect solution, but the easiest !



PS-Finish the Jug...looks awesome so far ! Another gorgeous aeroplane we really don't see enough of.

[DogfighterZen]

Hey guys, first, thank you all for your suggestions and ideas, much appreciated! 

It could be tweaked, if you were to carefully sand the bottom edge of the rear part, to get it to conform.
It might not end up to be precisely the correct profile, but if that doesn't bother you, could be an easy way to fix it.

I'd wrap sandpaper around the rear spine where the canopy goes and gently slide the canopy back and forth.

For What It's Worth, HTH

Cheers

Thanks for the suggestion, Rick. As it is, the windshield fits perfectly, the front part of the canopy sits at the right place but the rear is just too short and narrow on the inside, right about the pilot's seat. That's where it creates the gaps you see in the pic. But looking at it again, i guess the canopy could be lowered about half a millimeter without creating a noticeable step to the windscreen and it would at least decrease the gaps...

Or fill the gaps with white carpenter glue. Not perfect, but does the job well.

I don't have any and never used it on plastic modeling but will get some to try out, even if it's on another build. 

You do know CA glue will fog canopies don't you?

Apologies if you do and feel offended by the question but better to risk offence than assume* you know and then find out you don't the hard way.


* for as we know, Assumption is the mother of all f**k up.

No need to apologize when you're trying to help, i thank you! 
Yep, i already know, and learned the hard way... Did it on my first 3 builds, including my F-15CSE, which i've managed to save with the use of acrylic floor varnish. A few months ago, a very good Portuguese modeler called Vitor Costa, shared on a Facebook group, his way of applying CA without it fogging up transparencies, he says he uses it on all clear parts and works like a charm. He just puts a few drops on a non-absorbent surface, (he used a cd as example), lets it release the gases that cause the fogging for a minute or two and then applies it with a bit of sprue or a toothpick. That simple! I've never tried it, but have read of people who did and also worked for them so i might give it a try sometime soon.

I've got a little bottle of Testor's PVA type glue, that has a long thin nozzle that is perfect for these kinds of situations. Just a wee dab here and there and let capillary action do the rest, and then it is paintable when dry. Not the perfect solution, but the easiest !



PS-Finish the Jug...looks awesome so far ! Another gorgeous aeroplane we really don't see enough of.

Captain, i will finish it, i've given up on the idea of buying another canopy, at least for now. I'm gonna try to sand a bit more of the pilot's seat and surrounding area, should at least decrease the gaps a bit, we'll see after that. Anyway, i'll see if i can get that Testor's glue too, might be useful if the sanding goes wrong.

I've also decided that after the Jug's canopy issue is solved, i'm gonna try and get a few of the SB pile on to the bench at the same time, the Eurofighter only needs the pylons in place, the F-15CSE only needs minor sanding on the fin roots, the Me-262 also minor sanding on a tiny gap. That done, only cockpit and pilot touch-up painting, masking up canopies, putting them in place and on to the paint shop with the 4!
Starting today, i'm gonna try to finish these within a month, if i can achieve that, it'll be quite a step forwards in clearing the pile and moving on to new builds. Only 8 to go after that...

Hasta la pasta, brodas! 

[DogfighterZen]

Decided to try a bit of each solution for the Jug's canopy, sanded a bit more of the fuselage to conform it to the curvature of the canopy's framing and the result is actually much better than i thought it would be. It only left the gap at the rear of the framing. I've masked the canopy and proceeded to put a few drops of CA on the rear framing and then left it to dry, hung on the vertical, by a bit of masking tape to the side of the bench, to let gravity work while it dries... when dry it will be sanded into the pointy shape it should have.

[DogfighterZen]

Ahah!! I've managed to do what i wanted with the CA glue, the framing of the P-47's canopy was extended and sanded into shape and now, with a bit of sanding done on the fuselage too, it fits almost perfectly, it's as good as i can ever get it to be so tomorrow is paint day!!