(DONE..FINALLY, sheesh! LOL) F/U-2 H.A.W.K., Vietnam era warbird (Pics page 14)

[TheChronicOne]

Careful with the gloss! Cold weather will make it dry slowly. It will be easy to build up too much and get runs. Ask me how I know this......

No fears, I've decided to paint inside the house like a buffoon...  all nice and temperature controlled but I hope Mother doesn't smell this crap.   

[kerick]

Yeah I keep puttzing around trying to build a spray booth in the basement. I have the materials.....

[TheChronicOne]

Yeah I keep puttzing around trying to build a spray booth in the basement. I have the materials.....

Sounds luxurious... at times likes these I can definitely see the merit and I imagine you have your fair share of less than ideal weather to deal with as well.  Dude, if you get around to getting that started, please do document it here as I'd love to see what you have going on. At some point I plan to experiment with airbrushes and the like and being a creature of comfort I plan on doing it in the house.

[kerick]

In the house is nice so you can have some temperature control. I have a fan and motor assembly from a bathroom exhaust fan plus a furnace filter to keep out dust as it dries. I plan on picking up some dryer ducting to vent it out side. I also have plywood left over from other projects. Just need to coordinate time and mojo.

[TheChronicOne]

I hear that, brotha!!  'bout how big you going to make the box??


In other news! I put two coats of gloss on the thing last night and even though a lot of my color paints were "rough" (like sand paper, not all of it went down well.. I'm doing the best I can with lousy situations and settings) I *THINK* it will accept the transfers. We're about to find out!!   

Since I cheated last night with the in da houze spraying that means I'm sort of back on a better schedule. I might be done with this by evening.

[Captain Canada]

Oh that's looking good ! Great to see one in a different scheme like that.

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks bud, wait'll you see it now!  It's not too shabby for a piece of Chronic Research and Aeronautic Project.      I totally dig it and I'm not even done yet... once I get the gear and missiles and canopy and all 'at on it'll look even better I suspect.

Good news!  Transfers are all on. Next would be the satin but I got to reading around how manufacturers paints don't play well with each other some times and have read a few things that scare me w/ regard to this (fogging, crazing, and other things that have completely ruined entire builds). I just realized my satin and my gloss are two different brands and there's no time to do a test on anything.  This gloss on here is still outgassing so I don't want to risk messing it up.. if it had been drying for a couple weeks I might consider it but it's not done drying so I'm going to stop rolling the dice on this finish and just cash in my chips. It's done. (I also came across a few pictures of SEA camo Phantoms that were glossy as hell... more glossy than this things current state)

On to gluing on the fiddly bits then I might have a sneak peak picture before I take the "real" ones.  I hope the sun comes out tomorrow because with all the snow it'll make it PLENTY bright enough for photography. 

[kerick]

Looking forward to pics!

[zenrat]

Do some testing with your clears.
And don't try to put automotive lacquer over enamel.  Chances are it will crack as the enamel beneath continues to gas out.  It may not, or it might trick you into thinking you have got away with it and then crack later on when you are least expecting it (eg. just before you get it out to show it to someone - this is particularly annoying).

Re.  Spray booths.  Everything i've read about building them says YOU MUST USE AN EXPLOSION PROOF FAN OR YOU WILL RIDE TO HEAVEN ON A FIREBALL OF YOUR OWN MAKING.

[TheChronicOne]

I will! I'm building a test bed plane just for these types of things.   I'm just out of time on this particular project.      Talk about down to the wire. This is the last day and in some parts of the world the deadline has already past and I'm technically STILL not done!    I still need to glue on the canopy and pogo wheels. One of which crumbled yesterday merely from me picking it up... no pressure was placed on it or anything... it just...  turned into two pieces. No indication before when I glue it all together and painted it that it would do this. But anyway... I need to glue on the canopy and these wheels then I'm done.  Not sure how I'll do pictures.

Damn good tip on the ol' exploding fan. I would have just put an of the shelf fan in mine and been done with it.. Oh boy!!  I want "explosive" paint jobs, not explosive ones.   

Stand by for pics....   most likely the next update here that *I* make will be pictures of this.

[Snowtrooper]

"Explosion proof fan"? Whaaaat? I know of lots of people whose "spray booth" is basically a cardboard box on its side with a hole in the back (former bottom), in which is a surplus fan from a desktop PC (running on eg. a 4,5V battery, not a full-on PSU) that blows the air into a surplus hose from a vacuum cleaner (which is hung through the ventilation window when spraying), all joints sealed with the almight duct tape.

Are you saying that this setup can explode even without a short circuit causing visible sparks (eg. static electricity igniting the fumes or something)?

[PR19_Kit]

You need a brushless motor driving the fan so that sparks off a commutator and brushes don't ignite the paint and thinners fumes etc. You can get flameproof brushed motors but they tend to cost a bit and weigh a ton.

[TheChronicOne]

I am NOT happy with these pictures. I tried in the kitchen with under a 5 bulb chandelier and tons of bright light streaming in through the windows but It gave me a series of garbage that looked like I smeared Vaseline across the lens. I will find and MAKE a way to take them outside but for now.. I'll drop a "preview."  I need to get everything else situated and might take a while. Everything is covered in snow.. 


The fin...

Give me an hour so and I'll get outside pics.

[TheChronicOne]

Score!! I found a large piece of tile that I stuck over an opening under the foundation. All I had to do was give a quick wipe down and it was good to go!  Pictures still aren't the best, but they'll work I guess. I really can't dedicate any more time to this and not just for deadline reasons.

Without further ado, I present the 1/48 Hawk (1962) U-2A re-imagined as the F/U-2 H.A.W.K. (High Altitude War Kite):

























Thanks to all of ya's that helped me along the way with everything from technical to the story aspects and all the rest. One thing I haven't done, but will try to get done, is write up the story to this thing and all that. Along with pictures, that's another weak point of mine.  The last time I tried it took like 5 hours because my "OCD" like tendencies set in on me. I'll get something together though, if I can.  No guarantees and please don't hold it against me. A good number of people deserve to be named in credit but with my tendency to blab and what not, this thing is like 14 pages now or something so just going through it all will take some time. Also, the "story" has changed a few times during the course of the build and I can't keep it straight in my mind any more so I'll need to sort that, too. Time is what I need, but do not have.

Anyway!!! Thanks and I hope you all like my plane.   

Brad

[RAFF-35]

WOOOOO!!!! Fantastic stuff, well done bud