Tintin: Red Rackham's Treasure

[strobez]

So, in line with popular opinion, I decided to roll with the foil. Of course this meant I had to reshape the main vertical fin to fit with the overal lower profile of the new canopy. Which is okay, since I'd already half snapped it off so many times it was hanging on by the putty anyway. 

So I had to drill a hole, cut a slot and use CA glue to hold the whole thing together with a brass wire. Then I needed more putty to cover the seam. After getting all that done, I realized that I'd forgotten that the shark has a protruding mouth. So a bit more styrene, a bit more glue and and bunch more sanding... and here we are.



After priming it again, I noticed there were still a few bits of putty showing, so I sanded it some more. I did start to think this was becoming an exercise in apply, sand everything off, repeat - so I sanded very lightly in just the trouble spots.



It's still not perfect, but it's about as good as I can do I think. In the meantime, I laid down a couple of coats of paint on the stand. Happy enough with it, but still needs a few more touch ups.



Put it together and what have you got? A case of not measuring where the mouth would sit while on the stand! A close call... it just barely fits before the support post. Whew!

[strobez]

She's a keeper 

That she is... even if she likes telling people she's sure I'm going to leave her for a model one day... 

She likes to complain about my modelling hobby, and tease me about my "little internet friends" (that's you lot), but she's often finding neat little clips, tape, scissors or somesuch that she thinks I might find handy. I was complaining about mixing my paint and wondering where to get some ball bearings, and the next thing I knew, she came home with a string of glass beads that work like a charm!

[TheChronicOne]

[NARSES2]

I just tried that with my MB5 Monsoon cockpit and failed abysmally. 

When it was cut that narrow it just wouldn't stick, not to the matt green painted seat anyway. Maybe I should have glossed it first?

Not had that problem with tape seat belts or tape for canopy framing. Are you talking about thin masking tape or thin transfers strips ?

[PR19_Kit]

Tamiya masking tape Chris.

I painted some 1/4" wide tape, lightly stuck down on some styrene sheet, then cut it into narrow strips and tried to stick it onto the seat, but it just wouldn't stay down no matter how hard I pressed it.

[TheChronicOne]

ALTERNATIVELY, do a trick I picked up from Chris up there (Narses) and paint then cut strips of masking tape and use that.... What was it?  About .5 mm is about right?

I just tried that with my MB5 Monsoon cockpit and failed abysmally. 

When it was cut that narrow it just wouldn't stick, not to the matt green painted seat anyway. Maybe I should have glossed it first?

I think the key might be to buy the tape already at that width from the factory rather than trying to cut it down to size? Less handling and "stress" and all that.

Meanwhile.. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for foil tape. 

[PR19_Kit]

Could be right, yes. I may try and get some the next time I'm doing a 'visible cockpit' model.

[NARSES2]

Tamiya masking tape Chris.

I painted some 1/4" wide tape, lightly stuck down on some styrene sheet, then cut it into narrow strips and tried to stick it onto the seat, but it just wouldn't stay down no matter how hard I pressed it.

Right I do the same for seat belts except I stick the tape to a ceramic tile (shiny side) and then paint it and have had no problem at all. Some of the tape has been on that tile for a year or so and still works fine.

Talk to you at MK about it.

[strobez]

Not much of an update... but I was able to get some white paint on the sub finally.  I also managed to snap one of the rear fins off for the 2nd or 3rd time too.



I also added some "leather" padding to the stand. Needed a bit of paint touch up afterwards because I ended up scraping one of the posts while I was trying to do an inverted wrap around while using my tweezers in my left hand...



Every have one of those evenings where you seem to be knocking over or dropping things no matter which way you turn? Gah!

[NARSES2]

Every have one of those evenings where you seem to be knocking over or dropping things no matter which way you turn? Gah!

Tell me about it, some days you just want to  I give up and go and read

[kerick]

I've had those days! Just go do something else for a while or have an adult beverage.

BTW, you can get aluminum foil tape at most hardware stores. Its what is used to seal air ducts as duck tape is not good for that. One roll will last a life time. I made some quilted looking aircraft insulation once by placing foil tape with the paper backing still attached on a couple sheets of regular paper then drawing diagonal lines in a diamond pattern across it. The sharp pencil made just enough impression for the desired effect.

[zenrat]

Yep.  Clumsy days are a sign from the modelling fates that you shouldn't go near the bench.  Ignore them at the peril of your builds.

[strobez]

Alright.  So here's the final reveal! I had a bit of trouble attaching the canopy using CA glue and had to do a bit of tiny touch-ups to the paint.  I also noticed that the glossy black acrylic paint (Tamiya X-1) seems a bit spotier under sunlight than I thought... but it is what it is.  Overall I'm quite happy with the build.

[PR19_Kit]

Unless you knew it, it takes some thinking to see the Me262 in there. Excellent work indeed. 

[zenrat]

Absolutely gorgeous.