Chronic's Research and Aeronautics Project (C.R.A.P.)

[TheChronicOne]

 

Thanks, gents. I figured it was, but, I've learned to try to not simply assume things... gotten myself into lots of trouble in the past! 


As far as an update goes... wow... the fitment of the cockpit canopies and the glass is pretty bad. I worked on getting the glass to fit and cleaned up the canopies themselves to a point but I know things will change after I get paint on. These are designed in a fashion that I can go ahead and install the canopies sans the glass and then save that for almost dead last. Won't have to mask and won't have to worry about subtle variations in the color between the body and the canopy frames. BUT... here's going to be some tedious putty work to get them right. It's currently a problem of "I can take away, but I can't put back." I especially can't "put back" material that was never there in the first place. . . .

Beggining work on the fuselage seams as well.. that's going to be a bid tedious. I'll have to mask over some of the panel lines to keep from obliterating them.

[Old Wombat]

Ah, the joys of kitbashing!

The one thing to get into the habit of is pre-planning, at least roughly ('coz every bloody thing changes ), what you're going to do & the order you'll be doing them in.

It's sort of like writing your own instructions for a non-existent kit.

[TheChronicOne]

One last CRAP-date! 

Main gear struts stuff is painted.

Nose wheel tire is painted.

Part of the main tires painted (the stuff close to the rim, I like to do the tedious stuff first before fatigue sets in). Decided not to push my luck, though, and left it at that.

Glued the tail piece on the rear end.

Painted all the gear doors and placed them into a zip bag along w/ the window glass stuff and a few other small things that will be added close to last. (I'd hate to lose anything!)

So, I'm finished with this "Xxxxx" of the RAF tonight. Yes, I still need to name it and figure out who made it, etc. 

Now, I'm kind of looking at some of the kits I got in the mail recently. Got a TAA Fokker Friendship... man, this looks nice!! Got it for a steal, too. Also got a Saab Lansen in the new boxing. Haven't looked yet, but, the box itself is BIGGER than I expected and WEIGHS more than I expected!! Always a good thing, I think!

Lastly, I bought a Japanese SNB-4/5 Benibato. This thing looks sweet as it is and he only wanted $6 for it so.... I was like why not?! Anyway.. it's a PM model. Not sure how good it is but I don't like the massive recessed panel lines. Matchbox ain't got $%&%$^&$ on this thing!  BUT, that's alright.. I figure maybe a couple extra coats of primer will help. The thing that has me wondering, though, is that it came with aftermarket transfers for a number of liveries for something called a "TP 4 Beech."      Stuff for Sweden. Two different float planes and one version with skids/skis.

This is really cool that this came with these neat extras! Also, came with resin parts. These appear to not have come with the kit itself as the skid/skis I mentioned look like they are in there along with a new set of props and spinners. There are actually a couple of printed off thing glued on the box, one showing an all red Swedish plane with these skids so I guess that's the version the resin stuff is for. Neat!!!  Best part is all this was a surprise. The listing didn't mention any of it. 

So, long story short....  a Benibato and a TP 4 Beech is the same thing?! I'm looking forward to the research on this one.

That's all for now I guess. I think I'll go play video games now. 

[TheChronicOne]

Ah, the joys of kitbashing!

The one thing to get into the habit of is pre-planning, at least roughly ('coz every bloody thing changes ), what you're going to do & the order you'll be doing them in.

It's sort of like writing your own instructions for a non-existent kit.

That is great advice and along with Chris's method of taking notes and doing checklist type things it would make my life easier.  I just need to get into the habit. I've tried to help things along by going through the instructions and eliminating all the parts I know I wont use and getting them well away from my work space. But uhhhh.....  I really should learn to get me a note taking system going......   

I mean, hell, right after I talked about it I turned around and completely spaced on the nose weight. Also, I forgot multiple times that I can actually install the engines/exhaust dead last if I need to so worrying about getting them to fit at this stage was a waste of time. So.. there's definitely a need for better organization here.. 

[zenrat]

...NEWSFLASH: I had a stroke of either genius or stupidity when it occured to me that I have an H4 Hercules in the stash in 1/200 scale and also...... a pair of C-5 galaxy wings and engines!!!!  NOW, I know, it's not proper for a boat plane to have engines HANGING below the wings but.... perhaps this sat tall enough off the surface that it wasn't a problem? Input, thoughts on this?? Either way, I just want to log this as a possible idea.. I think I'll fish the stuff out of the stash here in  awhile and see if it is even possible to mix this stuff together without having to call in a plastic surgeon.

Boaty McBoatplane GB coming up!!

Mount the wings upside down with the engines on top (as suggested to me by someone here when I was having a similar problem with the Gully Godwit).

[TheChronicOne]

Still haven't managed to find the Hercules kit. I got distracted.     

I hadn't thought of that option so when I do, I'll see if it looks alright or not. 

[PR19_Kit]

Beriev did almost that on the Albatross and the Be-2000, albeit with the engines mounted well inboard. Perhaps you could pair them up, a bit like a B-45, and mount them near the wing roots and on top of the wing?

It wouldn't do much to offload the wing's bending moment (JCF will explain if necessary....  ) but it'd look pretty good.

[Old Wombat]

You could try what I did on the Grebe, which was to invert the nacelles & swap wings (kept the taper correct) but fit the front of the engine right-way-up (easy with the Tracker engines being radials, not sure how that'd work with Herc engines).

Much of what you can do, or is easy to do, depends on how the nacelles connect to the wings.


Link to the Grebe build, nacelles in their unfinished state are on page 4: http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,43527.45.html

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks, tons, y'all for the input. I know I have this H4 kit but I STILL haven't dug it out.... it would appear to be in a rather unaccessable place in my stash so..  I'll need to do a general re-organize and clean up of the place to get to it but I'm getting more excited by the day to see if this stuff will work.

I'd like to participate in the BOATY MCBOATPLANE GB but I don't think I can manage more than 1 or 2 builds so if I can just make one good, cool one then I'll be happy with that.

IF this works.. I'd like to make this thing like a Vietnam era SEA camo affair.    A nation with that much coast line and water around? Makes sense to me!!

[TheChronicOne]

I mentioned the other day about getting this Lansen kit... how it felt heavy...

Well, turns out, someone crammed a whole 'nother Lansen off in there!!      Judging on the decal sheet and the differing color of the styrene I'm assuming the older boxing kit was put in this boxing along with the newer one. It'll be interesting to compare them to see how much the mold had "suffered" between the older and newer kit.



But anyway... I was really stoked and happy to see that!! It wasn't mentioned in the listing at all....  Kit only cost me $10, too, and I got it sent along with this Frienship airliner that I got for $15 and the Benibato that came with extra resin parts and transfers. Hell of a haul. If I wasn't trying to buy Christmas I'd go snap up a whole bunch of this guys kits to see how many more "surprises" I can get.

Also of note, I got that water trap and regulator set up yesterday that will go on to my air holding tank. If I have the proper hardware to put it on, I should be able to hook up my little $3 air brush and see if it will work good or not. 

Other than that, I have a lot of tedious seam work to address on my RAF Anti-Flash Aerothingy. I've adopted a policy of doing PSR on individual pieces and compartments before I glue other ones to it. This minimizes me breaking things as I GRIP and ELBOW GREASE on things. I suspect this will take quite a while because I don't want to erase panel lines and the seams are pretty bad. If I can get them done, however, I'll glue on the two canopy frame pieces and start PSR on those as well which come with poor fitment and big gaps... inexcusable gaps.

This be the plan for today.

[PR19_Kit]

I mentioned the other day about getting this Lansen kit... how it felt heavy...

Well, turns out, someone crammed a whole 'nother Lansen off in there!!   

RESULT! 

[TheChronicOne]

Yeah, bud!! That right there made my day.    Now, I can make one normal and one what-if. 

Update time! More glue being added to the seams on the RAF Anti-Flash AeroThing. I might be able to sand by this afternoon but video games are mighty tempting right now. I'm making headway again in one where I had to stop and redo a bunch of things because I accidentally threw all my weapons away. 

Next up I finish painting the tires then I will go ahead and glue the wheels to the gear and they will be done.

Added more glue to the "plugs" I put in the Ailewrongs. Will let dry, then flip them, and do the same on the other side then I think I can probably sand them up as well then I can glue them to the wings and they will be done aside from stores or filling in the holes where stores would be.

Reversing course a bit... I think I might finally be able to put some more coats of the silver paint on the Mitsubishi airplane. I'll have to give it a bit of a wipe down first as it's been hanging a couple weeks but that shouldn't be no thang. This would be nice because all that's holding this build up is getting the paint work lined out.

Next up, I have retrieved the air tank and all the pneumatic hardware I could get my hands on from my shop building and brought the stuff inside. After I paint the tires and get them glued to the gear I'm going to stop and see if I have what I need to get my airbrushing rig together or if I'm going to have to go shopping.

Also when I do this, I'm going to finally dig out the H4 Hercules so I can ascertain whether my idea is a good one or not.


Lots of different lil things going on! 

[DogfighterZen]

That second kit was a nice surprise, 2 for the price of one is always a bonus.
Re airbrushing, i know you're going to enjoy it, might take a bit more of preparation but, you'll see it's worth it.

[TheChronicOne]

AHHHHHH YIH!!!  Found the Hercules AND I appear to have everything I need to make my airbrush set up.    It's a shame I have nothing ready for paint but I'll figure out some way to test it out later if all I do is spray water onto a sheet of paper. 


:::times passes::::


Started writing this then ran off... oh well.. it works.    I have it all together now so nothing left to do other than fill up the tank and test things out! 


Now time to eat lunch then see what the Hercules says to the Galaxy wings. . ..    Hey there we go, I can call this thing the "Galacles" if everything jives. 

[TheChronicOne]

That second kit was a nice surprise, 2 for the price of one is always a bonus.
Re airbrushing, i know you're going to enjoy it, might take a bit more of preparation but, you'll see it's worth it.

Barring the tank itself not being any good (it ought to be, I used to use it all the time) and my main big compressor didn't magically go TU since I last used it I'll be spraying SOMETHING this afternoon!

I might grab my test bed model and spray it up . .. .