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

[TheChronicOne]

...Anyway..... I have plans today to work more on the 737. I guess going months and months between clear coats is a bad idea because the last one I put on did some weird.... something... on top... that makes the finish look like it has scratches... like really scratched glasses type. Fine scratches. Weird! I've never seen this before. I've seen plenty of crazing but this seems different. ANYWAY. now I have to wet send the stupid thing and try again. Typical! Going backward again. 

I think I have posted this before, but this is what a cracking clear coat looks like when you mix paint types and the enamel down below continues to gas out after the clear has hardened.
Charger Cracks 004 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

The thickness of the lines there is closer than the freaky "normal" crazing I'm used to but this stuff was even nuttier... much smaller and finer and tons of it... I've never seen it before but it's like.... say you have a 75 year old P-51 Mustang canopy and you're turning and banking and the sun hits the canopy glass just right and suddenly you see millions of tiny scratches.... it was like that. Here's the thing, I let the last coat of clear gas out for over a year so I was thinking that the extended wait is what got me but I have no clue, really, it was so weird.      Any how... I wet sanded it and she's ready for another coat which I hope to have on this afternoon. If the weird ultra-fine crazing happens again I'll snap a picture of it. Hopefully I won't have to do that though. Sheesh.  But.... this is hilarious... this little thing has KICKED ME ARSE for like 3 years now. It's just a wee Boeing 737 but I didn't know I'd have to mod the piss out of it when I started and that's my excuse (also not knowing how to deal with the masking... I've learned a lot in the years since I started it however so confidence grows! )

More sawing on the T-.....   T..... T-whateverinthehell it is. T-16 for now. I think I'm nearly ready to go ahead and glue the F-16 body together and start refinements to the area where the Talon nose will sit. At this same time I suppose I need to start getting the Talon cockpit/interior painted and glued in.  I also need to take my lazy self over to the aircrafts forum and make a thread for it.

[Flyer]

Ah OK, I see where your concern is regarding the F-16's "nosewheel" (intakewheel?  ) positioning, still doubt you'll need tail weight though. But now you'll probably prove me wrong. 

[PR19_Kit]

I'm going to do a 'tape up' of the 'Schnozz' to see if it might need a tail weight before I build it. 

[TheChronicOne]

Yeah do it!!! I'm just curious as hell. Little stuff like this is intriguing because it's unheard of.    No one ever says, "Ahh damn, I forgot the tail weight!" 


Not been doing much lately. Weather is partly to blame. Got cold and windy so my spraying of the 737 was on hold. I could have done more on the T-16 but had other plans, really. I'll probably be working on both today.

[TheChronicOne]

Ah OK, I see where your concern is regarding the F-16's "nosewheel" (intakewheel?  ) positioning, still doubt you'll need tail weight though. But now you'll probably prove me wrong. 

That would be a hoot! I doubt it seriously myself, but it did get me to thinking. I'm only extending the nose a little bit (but noticeable!) and in the real world explanation it's explained (I briefly touched on this by mentioning not having the heavier F-16's radar) but in the scale world, if I were to REAAALLY extend the nose then we'd have a teeter-totter. 

[TheChronicOne]

Well..... things are going well with the T-38/F-16 kitbash. Although, last night I was applying sprue glue in preparation for smoothing the joins/joints and got seriously blasted by the fumes even though I was venting the area... it doesn't help to vent if you hold the thing right close to your face while you apply the glue. It's sort of funny because you can see my faculties downgrade on the model itself. On the side I first started on, the glue is all nice and smooth and then by time I was blitzed the other side looks as if applied by squirrels.   

Crappy thing is none of it is dried up enough yet to sand and I don't want to add any more yet (I need to build up a couple areas a little more) until it's done gassing. This means I'm relegated to stuff like getting the gear and gear doors done up so that's next. Canopy is masked and ready. I'll also be painting the pilots to put inside the barren cockpit. Those pilots are reeeeeeally going to save the day because there's not much that could be done to make the inside better without a lot of work.

More problems with the @#%$*%&@#$%#%& 737.      The micro-crazing is back (I think this time around is because I didn't sand it down well enough and is broadcasting through this latest coat). Not nearly as bad this time... so I'm headed in the right direction but it means yet another coat of clear on it. That's alright because I WANT a ton of clear coats on it to really seal in the transfers that I have to mask on top of later.....   yikes. BUT, not only that, I want this sucker to SHINE and look real glossy so the more clear coats the merrier. By time I'm done it's going to be in 1/143 scale! 

Not much else going on. I messed with the Tristar the other day. I have about a million transfers for it.... some things there are three sets of: The set that came with the kit, the set that came with the PSA decals, and the set that came with the 26decals(I think it is?) Ultra Detail Set. Getting these sorted out is where I'm at... I have to figure out which ones I need and which I don't and of the ones I need, which of those are the best. Sort of mind-numbing.

[TheChronicOne]

Quick update. More work on the T-16. I think I have a name now, too. "Valon."  It doesn't mean anything I don't think.....  but.... sounds pretty decent.  Been painting wheels and the pilots and doors and stuff. Did a little more to the seams/joins where I bashed the kits together. Not in any real hurry with it. It's going to be probably 3-4 days before I can truly get into the sanding. In the meantime I can wrap up all the rest. I need to secure transfers, for one. I probably have some in the stash but locating them... I have a few Talon kits but most don't seem to have the scheme I want so may have to order in a sheet.

737 was glossed again yesterday I think it was...  looking better each time! It's not mirror finish glossy yet but the weird micro-crazing is gone now.

[TheChronicOne]

Got some decent work done over the last couple days. Getting all the small loose parts for the T-16 painted and ready while the glue on it dries. It's close....    I'd like to get on with the show. Next step is a bunch of wet-sanding and if that goes OK I can glue on the intake then prime it and we'll have a "complete" thing. I need to start working on getting the transfers ready. I think I have some that will work in my Sword kit but I want to keep those with that kit so I suppose I'll be ordering them in. I'm going for this type of scheme and would like to have it Sheppard AFB (Or Vance as an alternate):



BUT... with a twist.... I want to, perhaps, paint portions of the undersides and lower sections of the thing like the Tweets were:



Looks black, but was actually a really dark blue. I think it would look neat, but if it doesn't I can go ahead with the all-white scheme.


Wait a minute... this might mean I need to find some Tweet transfers as well....   Tweetfers.  Anyway.....


The work last night consisted of 737 shenanigans. I had to very carefully mask the top half of. Looks simple but I was masking atop already applied decals so I want as little tape and as much paper as possible on it...  I did pretty well... the only tape on transfers is down along the cheat line and is the width of Tamiya tape then all the rest is paper (with tape on top of it to hold it tight). It has.....  holy hell.... like....    10-12 or more coats of clear over the transfers at this point so the SHOULD stay put but I'll be reaaaaally careful when I un mask it to be safe.



This is actually pretty stellar.....   I had shelved this thing for awhile due to the difficulty of masking the stuff on the bottom (it's not just one shade, there are all sorts of patches, curves, and other weird stuff going on that make for masking hell) but since then I've unlocked a lot of new knowledge and am now totally confident I can get it properly masked and painted. So...... this thing could be done in a matter of days all of a sudden. This is if I really hustle. Realistically... I'm going to give it two weeks. I think I can safely say that I should be able to get it done within that time frame.

[DogfighterZen]

That T-16 is gonna look sweet with the Tweet's scheme. 

[TheChronicOne]

It better!!!  Or it's getting white washed like Tom Sawyer. I'd prefer the two tone over the more boring white but even that would be interesting to see....  I've already started painting some of the stuff the dark blue so we're in for the ride now and we'll have something to look at soon I hope.

[TheChronicOne]

Wow...  been awhile since I've been at "this" point. What I mean is that 2 of the projects I'm working on are waiting on things to dry so I've nothing left to work on but my PSA Tristar that has been gathering dust for a year. Nice to be working on one new build and two stalled ones. It'll be good for the mojo making progress on the old stuff.

SO, for the Tristar..... transfers... I have 3 sets to work with so I have to get them all organized then I'm going to start putting them on.... engines first, then wings.

In the back of my mind I'm starting to wonder if I could do a build for the GB. There's just enough time to knock out something small. For a while I've kept away from deadlines but I might be able to handle it now that I'm making progress on three different things.

[TheChronicOne]

Brilliant! Very happy to be working on the stalled 737 and now the stalled L-1011 both! As planned, I got the transfers in order for the PSA Tristar and applied the engine decals. There are a few left but they're small and/or harder to see so this is pretty much what they'll look like.




Rolls Royce!

For the 737, I sanded the bottom and did another coat of primer. It's looking pretty good now so I'll probably do a light sand once more for smoothness then apply one more coat of primer then I can start masking it.

The new T-38/F-16 kitbash is going well also. I managed to get it into primer yesterday and applied some putty on it today in the areas that need it. Next will be more wet sanding followed by what I hope will be the final coat of primer.

[PR19_Kit]

Great job on those Tri-Star engines Brad. 

They come to life with the decals on, don't they?

[NARSES2]

Great job on those Tri-Star engines Brad. 

They come to life with the decals on, don't they?

Totally agree with both of those statements 

[Rick Lowe]

Great job on those Tri-Star engines Brad. 

They come to life with the decals on, don't they?

Totally agree with both of those statements 

+1! 

'Valon' is looking good, too.