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

[PR19_Kit]

Minicraft's method of wing attachment does leave something to be desired, yes. 

They say it's to ensure the dihedral is equal on both sides of the model, but it's a RIGHT pain to get the two sets of tongues interleaved properly. On the bigger models, like the 777, it's even worse as they are so much thicker too! I tried sawing the tongues off closer to the wing roots on one of them I did, maybe a 757, and that worked OK, but then the correct dihedral is down to you.

[scooter]

Now, for the funny stuff....  I put the F-22 on my hook apparatus that I use to spray things and started bouncing it around to make sure the hook would hold....  it did.. it was a good "hook" but I got carried away and was really shaking the hell out of it like an idiot so it flew off and bounced off the floor.    This made the whole front end split apart along the seam. Apparently it wasn't glued too well; there was so much linear real-estate gluing the two fuselage halves together that by time I got back around to where I started I guess the glue was already setting up (I could see it laying flat).  Oh well.. I re-glued it all..  I'll have to sand that down again then I can prime it without the whole Shaken Raptor Syndrome bit.

Sometimes, especially on a large seam, I'll use superglue to reinforce the cement in place.  Usually holds a lot better too.

[NARSES2]

Must admit for longer/larger seams I use Revell Contacta or sometimes even regress to tube glue. On resin 5 minute epoxy.

[TheChronicOne]

Minicraft's method of wing attachment does leave something to be desired, yes. 

They say it's to ensure the dihedral is equal on both sides of the model, but it's a RIGHT pain to get the two sets of tongues interleaved properly. On the bigger models, like the 777, it's even worse as they are so much thicker too! I tried sawing the tongues off closer to the wing roots on one of them I did, maybe a 757, and that worked OK, but then the correct dihedral is down to you.

Aye!   I feel a little bit better about it now. Misery loves company, thanks.      

I actually think the way they are designed is nice and it worked like a dream when I was dry fitting things early on.  Fit so well and looked beautiful!!    It's just... by time it came for actual glue I had no mind to do it again because I thought, "Hey, everything fit so well!"   

Here's where I went wrong, in part:  once the one wing was on, the three tabs made contact with the bottom of the wing root on the other side so I GLUED them all solid. When it came time to glue the other wing on, they wouldn't intertwine any more because of this so I had to pry things loose. It was all down hill from there. 

Actually, I think I was too harsh and over critical of Mini's intructions. On reflection I'm thinking that if I had just remembered what I learned in dry fitting OR taken the step to do one last dry fit AGAIN right before glue then I would have avoided the whole fiasco. So.. this is all more my fault than anything... BUT... THAT SAID, I still think the inclusion of sentence or two in the instructions about the methodology would be a nice addition to the instructions. I highly doubt I'm the only buffoon that has done this. 

[TheChronicOne]

Now, for the funny stuff....  I put the F-22 on my hook apparatus that I use to spray things and started bouncing it around to make sure the hook would hold....  it did.. it was a good "hook" but I got carried away and was really shaking the hell out of it like an idiot so it flew off and bounced off the floor.    This made the whole front end split apart along the seam. Apparently it wasn't glued too well; there was so much linear real-estate gluing the two fuselage halves together that by time I got back around to where I started I guess the glue was already setting up (I could see it laying flat).  Oh well.. I re-glued it all..  I'll have to sand that down again then I can prime it without the whole Shaken Raptor Syndrome bit.

Sometimes, especially on a large seam, I'll use superglue to reinforce the cement in place.  Usually holds a lot better too.

Must admit for longer/larger seams I use Revell Contacta or sometimes even regress to tube glue. On resin 5 minute epoxy.

Man oh man, thanks guys, for the tips. I was sitting over here stewing on it because all I could figure was to try to do it faster and faster next time. I will use these methods instead!! After all, I have things like Antonov 124 in the works..... seams on a things like that.. yeesh! 

[scooter]

Man oh man, thanks guys, for the tips. I was sitting over here stewing on it because all I could figure was to try to do it faster and faster next time. I will use these methods instead!! After all, I have things like Antonov 124 in the works..... seams on a things like that.. yeesh! 

On the fuselage seams for that big bird, I'd glue in strips of styrene to give the cement something more to grab on to.

[TheChronicOne]

Man oh man, thanks guys, for the tips. I was sitting over here stewing on it because all I could figure was to try to do it faster and faster next time. I will use these methods instead!! After all, I have things like Antonov 124 in the works..... seams on a things like that.. yeesh! 

On the fuselage seams for that big bird, I'd glue in strips of styrene to give the cement something more to grab on to.

Great idea!! I love stuff like that. It will make the whole thing that much more beefier, too. 

Picking up a lot of good tips today. This is nice!

[TheChronicOne]

Pre-dawn before-work modelling has me in damage control. I've already been working on the engine pylons on the 737 which were warped and pushed out of shape when I had to bear hug the wings to get them to stay snugged up against the fuselage.  They're close to being back where I need them to be. I have a bit of putty on one and letting it dry then later I'll sand it off. After than I, need to mask up a whole bunch of wing and fuselage area so I can take my sanding block and get the wing roots smooth. At this point, I'll be caught back up to where I'm supposed to be.

Similar story on the Raptor. I'm getting the nose area sanded smooth, again, and it's about 90% of the way to the promised land. Had to put a bit of filler on one side and I'll let that dry then do the final bit of sanding later then it is ready for primer! Hopefully it's not too windy today. 

Nothing else has been done yet but I need to put a bit of a skim coat of filler on the bottom of the Fokker D.21 then I can proceed with gluing the wings on.

Liberty is still sitting around drying but I think it's solid by now.. I'll likely do one last bit of touch up sanding type work or any paint work in the cockpit that needs touched up then I'm going to start the process of gluing the canopy and wind screen on. I think I need to polish them some with me 16000 grit polishing pad and give them a run through some floor polish first. They came factory-fresh all gouged and pitted up and the stuff I've done to them since hasn't helped much so I'd like to get it "cleaned up."

That's about it, I guess.

TTYL! 

[NARSES2]

On the fuselage seams for that big bird, I'd glue in strips of styrene to give the cement something more to grab on to.

Beat me to it Scoot 

[TheChronicOne]

In juxtaposition to the other day, everything is going RIGHT today! No problems at all, really!   

So... the Raptor is not only caught up, but advancing to a new phase. All the sanding work on the nose is wrapped up and closer inspection to look for mistakes is done so it was washed then primed.





Best part is the intake modification and repair turned out really well!




I messed up a tiny bit of the primer by the weapons bay and dislodged a main gear but those are both extremely and quick fixes (gear I've already almost fixed already, the other just needs a tiny bit of sanding). 

I've also finished sanding the weapons and fuel tanks and primed that stuff as well. I skipped sanding off the mold lines on the missiles, however, so I might wind up sanding that down if they stick out too much. This stuff will not be seen 99.999999999999999% of the time so it might not be that big of a deal.. that said, there are transfers that go on them and I DO want to paint them up nice so.. we'll see.

The Fokker D.21 is caught up!! The bottom is smooth as a babies arse and looks good. I'll know for certain after it has been primed but I'm at the point now where I can stop working on it and move on with gluing. Up next are tailplanes, I think...  or maybe engine cowling but I think I have to paint and install the engine itself first?? Not sure.. I know they're separate pieces so I'll have to study the instructions again..


Just before the last bit of sanding.

Last but not least, the 737! I have the engine pylons fixed, again, and they should remain fixed unless something else strange happens... . . ... .




Look at all the glue on the wing roots!!    I had to, though!     Shouldn't be a problem to fix... the wings are nice and tight on the fuselage and have the proper dihedral so I'm not too torn up about it....   (No, spell check, I don't mean "cathedral." )



It's gorgeous!! I love a good airliner. 

After I glue some stuff to the Fokker I'm going to start the beautification of the Liberty cockpit glass then check over the cockpit to make sure it's done because it's time to glue them bad boys on...   

[PR19_Kit]

That F-22's looking pretty good, even though I really don't like the look of the real thing. It looks better in plan view than side on, as I've noticed through looking at your model.

Sink marks are a bit of a Minicraft trademark sadly. My M'craft 777 kits have the most terrible sinks on the engine pylons, but on the sides rather than the top. One good reason why I 'mixed and matched' mine with the Doyusha version, a much better engineered job.

[TheChronicOne]

As I was handling it earlier I found a couple of angles that made it look pretty neat. I have to say, it's really growing on me. I used to not care for these at all but between the design getting older and older and the fact that I'm pouring a bunch of labor into this facsimile of it, it has had the combined effect of me becoming a fan.

STILL, I am having the impression that this thing can't decide whether it is a pancake or a ninja star! 


Sink marks... yeah... two, in the same spot, on the tops of each pylon! As far as I can tell, those are the only ones so far. The stuff that happened on the nose was 100% user error so I don't count those.   

Doyusha, huh?? That's a new one on me, I'll endeavor to find one. I'd like to get my feet wet trying all the 1/144 airliner makers. I don't count my An-124 as quite being in the same realm as things like actual passenger jets so that means so far all I've got are Minicraft and Zvesda. Speaking of mix and match, I'm going to pick up an Airfix 727 soon and I plan to take one of my Minicraft 727s and do a mix match like you did on your 777.   

While on the subject of 727s...........     if someone, anyone, would know how to go about figuring out which carriers operated at which airports at certain periods I'd be forever grateful. I imagine this information is out there somewhere.... SOMEONE knows... but has it been compiled and put on the 'net? That's the real question. Anyway... I'd really like to do a 727, like one I flew on, but I don't know who it was that was operating them out of OKC in the late 80's early 90's for regional flights. My money's on Southwest but it could be a couple others, as well. I do know they handed out little plastic pilots' wings to little kids and they let me in the cockpit. They were eating burgers and the placed smelled like ketchup. 

[PR19_Kit]

Doyusha don't make too many kits, and they're in all sorts of areas, but the 777 is one of their better 1/144 kits. It's better engineered than the M'Craft kit, especially the wing/fuselage joint, but it comes with all three engines, P&W, GE and RR, none of which are all that accurate. 

It's a tad expensive these days, but then it is a BIG model.

This is my 777-900 from 2008 which uses the Doyusha parts for the central fuselage and inner wings, and you can see the spar that they use sticking out of the fuselage. It fits very well, and easily too.

That's a 1/144 DC9-30 in the foreground BTW. 



Southwest started off with 727-200s, and flew them from 1979-1987 according to Wikipedia, so it could have been one of them you flew on, but LOADS of US airlines flew them as well.

[TheChronicOne]

That is nuts!! I love it.     I'm having all sorts of PVC plumbing pipe projects flash before my eyes now.   I do like that spar design......  seems like one of those things that would work and be something universal across all sorts of manufacturers and aircraft kit designs.


Re 727: I don't think it was Southwest, then...   I'm thinking my voyage was in either '89 or '90 to be honest, almost certainly not 87. Hell, I was in kindergarten in 1987. About 5 years old. I think I was 7 or 8 when we flew from Oklahoma City to Little Rock. My second runners up are American Airlines and Delta. Man, if I could just get ahold of historical data concerning carriers operating out of Will Rogers (airport, OKC) then I could narrow it down.

Then again, I could always ask mama... she went with me but I doubt she would remember. Never know though? She's 86 though and has a lot more information stored in her memory banks so trivial things like that get lost while things like glorious meatloaf recipe take priority. 

[TheChronicOne]

This gon' be the last update for awhile. I got a lot done today and managed not to butcher things and have the whole ordeal degrade into travesty.    Time to stop, at least for a couple hours, and play some video games to decompress.

About all I've done since last time was work on the Fokker D.21. It's coming along nicely now, for sure! I have some sink marks to fill and need to check it all over again closely but the body is pretty much good to go. So, with that done I glued on the tail wings and the landing gear. Man, the dutch sure were fan of straight lines and 90 degree angles. 









Having moved past the moderate fitment issues this has moved up a level in the fun category and has turned out to be just what the doctor ordered as counter-part to the other more tedious builds. Painting this ought to be a blast, too.