Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

And after dinner i managed to do quite a bit...



It's getting there...

[NARSES2]

It certainly is getting there, that's fantastic workmanship 

and the shipping was 6£ so, within normal standard shipping costs so, i'm satisfied now.

And at least he didn't charge you the full tracking price.

[DogfighterZen]

It certainly is getting there, that's fantastic workmanship 

and the shipping was 6£ so, within normal standard shipping costs so, i'm satisfied now.

And at least he didn't charge you the full tracking price.

Thank you, brotha!  I think i was able to get it looking ok, the blades are a bit short but i think they'll do, it's not too much of a gap.
Forgot to mention the fin was from an italeri F-16, cut and sanded to shape. Also forgot to mention that i took a couple of sensors from the AH-1T's tail to put on the one i built.





Today i'm gonna start working on the rest of the build because i wanna have the fuselage halves together to make adapting the fenestron easier. When that's done, then i can put on the fenestron and glue the rotor assembly in place after painting.

In regard to the Dauphin kit, the seller just replied, seems she was in Ireland with her daughters since December 19th, when she closed down the office for vacation and i sent the message on the 20th... talk about bad timing. 
She explained why the tracking number wasn't working, it's a royal mail tracking number that only ebay uses in case of any issues with delivery and not be responsible for reimbursement to the seller so there's nothing she could do about it, she has no control over that. She said normal royal mail tracked shipping to Portugal would be around 10£ and i paid 5,19£ so, it's all fair.
Seems like an honest seller so i'm glad i left positive feedback.
Still waiting for the ISM prize to show up, though...

[NARSES2]

She explained why the tracking number wasn't working, it's a royal mail tracking number that only ebay uses in case of any issues with delivery and not be responsible for reimbursement to the seller so there's nothing she could do about it, she has no control over that.

I wasn't aware of that. Probably explains a couple of my tracking mysteries, thank you. I don't think EBay or whoever should give the buyer it though if you can't use it ? Or at the very least EBay should explain what it is ?

Anyway you got charged the correct postage so no problems 

[TheChronicOne]

All this cuttin' and choppin'. Very ambitious, guv. 

[DogfighterZen]

I wasn't aware of that. Probably explains a couple of my tracking mysteries, thank you. I don't think EBay or whoever should give the buyer it though if you can't use it ? Or at the very least EBay should explain what it is ?

Anyway you got charged the correct postage so no problems 

I agree, why should they issue the tracking number to the client if it's not going to work? Why don't they have info regarding this issue? I'd never heard of it so it was a surprise for me too. But like you said, i was charged the correct amount so it's all good. 

All this cuttin' and choppin'. Very ambitious, guv. 

I was doubting i could do it but hey, there's only one way to find out, right? But there's still a lot to be done before i can say it was a successful job. I'm still not happy with the short blades so i'm going to make longer ones.
It'll also need a lot of nose weight... a quick dry fit check with most of the parts patafixed and taped in place showed that it will be very tail heavy so i'll have to find ways to fill in every millimeter available in the forward section of the fuselage.
Anyway, i'll try my best to make this work, although i'm not going to do all the mods i'd originally planned on doing. I was going to try the full AH-1Z upgrade but there's a couple of mods that i think would be too difficult for me to do. The 4 blade main rotor is very different and that would require major surgery on the Whisky's 2 blade set up. And the top section that covers the rotor is taller and wider and i don't know how i could do it without having to spend a bunch of hours doing the PSR on it.
Another difference is the flare/avionics bay under the stub wings, which wouldn't be too difficult but it would force me to sand and erase most of the raised detail on the fuselage.
That's why i've decided to just make it an early AH-1Z Viper prototype where the main focus was the integration and testing of the fenestron on the Cobra's airframe.

So now it's back to the cuttin' and choppin' 8 blades...

[TheChronicOne]

Smart, good thinking. Better safe than sorry; you can always try a little bit more on the next build instead of pushing your luck. We all know how that can end up....

[DogfighterZen]

Smart, good thinking. Better safe than sorry; you can always try a little bit more on the next build instead of pushing your luck. We all know how that can end up....

Yup, i've had to change plans on stuff i wanted to do before so i know i'd better not get greedy and just go with what is within my capabilities.
So, i've cut up another set of 8 blades, 1mm longer and that did the job, and i also attached the sensors i'd taken off of the Cobra's original tail. Now, all that's left to do on it is to cut the supporting rod to the correct size and i'll leave the fenestron aside till i have the fuselage closed up.
Next work will be done on the 4 blade main rotor and the cockpit.

[TheChronicOne]

That's the persistence and quality control we need in real aircraft manufacturing! I thought they looked good, but you're right, closer tolerances are required. Resistance is futile.   

[DogfighterZen]

That's the persistence and quality control we need in real aircraft manufacturing! I thought they looked good, but you're right, closer tolerances are required. Resistance is futile.   

I love this type of stuff and if i'm building something from scratch, why not try to do the best i can?  I wouldn't feel good about it and it would be something that would bother me every time i looked at it so, if i'm not happy and have the patience/time, i'm going to try again and again until i'm satisfied. That's why my F-16W took me over 2 years to finish.

Got some more parts done today, moved on to other parts as the fenestron is ready for assembly. I want to have a tail section much like the Dauphin's so, i had to find bits of suitable styrene for the horizontal stabs. Luckily, all i had to do was look at the Academy Apache's sprues...



From that i made the horizontal stabs and then i raided the spares box and found two bits of the Italeri Mig-37 ferret's wings, the bottom side bits to be more precise. Just flat and simple bits that were big enough for the vert stabs so i just took the Dauphin's bits and copied their shape onto those bits which were just junk inside the box... now they're vert stabs for a whif. 



Also managed to make the 4 blade rotor set up using the AH-1W and the T kit's blades...





EDIT: Clicked on the post button instead of the preview...

So, i think that i'm almost doen with the new parts for this mod so i might get to begin working on the cockpit.

[TheChronicOne]

Nameplates for the win!!   

[DogfighterZen]

Nameplates for the win!!   

Yup, kit nameplates are a handy source of good styrene for scratchbuilding, that why i have a bag full of old sprues and try to keep most of the bits that i've had to cut off some kits over the years, even if, at the time, they seem like they'll never be used.

On my F-15CSE and now on my 2nd F-16W, the fin bases are old faceted sprue bits that were simply cut to size and sanded to shape on the extremitiesthe rest was just as i wanted so no extra work there.





And i don't just use old kit styrene, the inside of the fenestron tail rotor is the inside of the lid of an ice tea 1,5L tetra pak carton box... and the F-16W's wings were were made of the clear part of an old CD case.



It's just a way of reusing old materials that would otherwise be considered garbage, i guess. 

So, plans, for today include painting the AH-1's cockpit and while i have the compressor on, i'll probably try to sprau some paint on the Spitfire and the F-16W's cockpit too but, we'll see how that goes...

[NARSES2]

Oh to have a young man's eyesight and steadiness of hand 

Seriously I am seriously impressed sir 

[DogfighterZen]

Oh to have a young man's eyesight and steadiness of hand 

Seriously I am seriously impressed sir 

Thank you, Chris!  Glad you like what i'm doing. I'm lucky that my eyesight hasn't gotten any worse but i do have a bit of Miopia and astigmatism but it's not very severe. I should really start wearing glasses or contact lenses in order to keep it as is for as long as possible but, both pairs of glasses i had back in my teens ended up broken in about 2 weeks of use so i just decided that, as it wasn't that bad, i would just wait until i really felt the need to use them. I'm starting to feel the need for them now and i'm not such a young boy now, i've turned 40 last September...
Still i can manage with small stuff, i guess. It's funny that you brought this up, i'd bought a magnifying lens with a led light quite some time ago from Lidl and never used it before. I found it a few days ago while going through boxes of stuff i had left at my parents house and found it. Today i decided i would try to save my eyes and make things easier by using it, seeing that i wanted to do some detailing on the F-16's cockpit and there were a couple of very small bits that i wanted to add.



It's not a very good solution cause it's not very stable and keeps shaking and it hard to focus my eyes with it. Still, when it stays firm, it does help but i'll have to learn how to adjust my movements while working under the lens.
I had done this work before without it so, it's not because of the lens that i'm going to do it better or smaller but it does help by not getting tired as quickly as i would without it.
And regarding to the work done, i had to do this before painting so...



Those of you who know Hasegawa's aircraft cockpits know they're not the most detailed out there, it's just basic as can be so i had to do something. Added the throttle, the emergency oxygen bottle on the side of the seat and the dynamic pressure sensors on the sides of the headrest, just the most noticeable things.



Now, on to the painting booth...

[DogfighterZen]

Well, i've managed to get the stuff painted so now i'm ready to move on with both the F-16W and the Cobra.



Hoping to get the detail painting done on the pits so i can close up the fuselages and begin working on the exterior mods.