(DONE, pics pg 16/17) NATO Reporting name "Bull." Cuban Tu-4 Heavy Bomber

[Gondor]

Nice!  I don't have to:




Thanks, Alastair! Saved me quite a bit of work there.  (not the least of which was looking it up myself...    )   

So all I have to do is fix up the wing roots and I'm back on track.

That's an outer engine. What you asked about

Is at the rear of the wing behind the inner engine.

Gondor

[TheChronicOne]

I was just wondering about that big gap at the trailing edge of the wing:



Seems like I'm good to go!

[Gondor]

I think your missing the point Brad.

According to the Instructions for the kit, that gap should be filled by the rear of parts 162 & 163 or parts 164 & 165 depending on which pair are used for which side. These parts form the sides of the undercarriage bay as I said earlier.

The pictures you posted are, I will agree are both of the trailing edge of the wing, however they are different areas of the trailing edge of the wing!

Gondor

[McColm]

The part should look like a V-shape from the top and a cone shape to fit flush with the main undercarriage landing gear housing.

[TheChronicOne]

Guys, I'm not talking about the undercarriage stuff at all. That glues in later... of course I'm not worried about a hole created by something not glued on yet;    I'm talking about that long gap there at the back of the wing (that's why I circled the whole long gap, not just the missing part where the parts glue on later)...It's the top of the wing, toward the rear, starboard wing... it's in all the pictures, it's just the picture I used is toward the outside of the wing closer to the aileron instead of like the picture of my kit which is framed closer to the fuselage but that is defintely, without a doubt the same gap.

Top of the wing, at the rear, behing the engines, I took the liberty of mashing two images into one:






That's definitely the same part of the wing, apparenty the plane was designed that way. I'm glad... that means I don't have to fill it in like I'm doing on the wing roots. 

[Leading Observer]

Looks like you are missing the back end of the undercarriage fairing to me

[Gondor]

Guys, I'm not talking about the undercarriage stuff at all. That glues in later... of course I'm not worried about a hole created by something not glued on yet;    I'm talking about that long gap there at the back of the wing (that's why I circled the whole long gap, not just the missing part where the parts glue on later)...It's the top of the wing, toward the rear, starboard wing... it's in all the pictures, it's just the picture I used is toward the outside of the wing closer to the aileron instead of like the picture of my kit which is framed closer to the fuselage but that is defintely, without a doubt the same gap.

Top of the wing, at the rear, behing the engines, I took the liberty of mashing two images into one:






That's definitely the same part of the wing, apparenty the plane was designed that way. I'm glad... that means I don't have to fill it in like I'm doing on the wing roots. 

You are correct that you do not need to fill that in as it represents the forward top edge of the flaps. Took a bit of working out what you were asking about but we all got there in the end 

Gondor

[TheChronicOne]

The flaps, huh!!  I could have probably figured that out by looking at the bottom of the wing. woops.    lol  I see down there, now, that the panel lines line up with the stuff on top.  This nasty croup crap I have makes it more difficult to think.    People keep telling me to go to the doctor but I can't afford the copay or prescripstions so I'm goging to tough it out at least until next week. 

Every once in awhile I come across this type of thing..... something that looks like a big seam needing filled and it turns out it is intentional. Last time was on a Romulan Warbird.

Good news on other fronts!! I should be able to devote some time to this today. Only one lawn today then should be home around noon or 1. 

What I got done last time, same for other wing (it's not much, but any steps forward are ones in the right direction!! )  :



Taped up things so I won't grind off the surface detail when I sand.... and put the first "pass" of filler in the wing seams. Putting another on today then I'll either set this down and start decaling my Tucano (blog thread) or start gluing the guts into this thing and cleaning up the joinging surfaces. There's still left over from the sprues that need to be hacked off, etc. 

I need to put weight in the nose of this contraption, correct??   I'll have to dig out my pellets. I found a bunch once and I don't have a pellet gun (just a BB gun, that doesn't shoot this calibre and style) so I'll just throw them into models.     Various small repairs also need done as I popped out half the bombs and a couple bay doors while handling the thing.

Until next time! 

[Gondor]

Yes you need nose weight. Its difficult to get enough into the airframe forward enough due to the glass nose. Start with adding weight around the nose wheel bay and behind the engines. Not much space where you really need it other than the bomb bays which you are having open so that's a no-go area weight as well.

Don't forget that the front upper turret needs to have some semblance of the workings hanging down inside the cabin. Doing so also gives somewhere to hide more weight.



I hope the above picture helps show you what I mean. Lots of people forget about the large "dustbin" like workings of the upper turrets which hang down into the crew spaces which for the forward one is a pity with all that glazing there.

Gondor

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks, brotha!!  Good info. I love having knowledgeable people to help me along! This is quite the build for a novice like me still new back to the hobby. I appreciate it!

I'll add the weight in like you said so I don't have that mess spilling into the cockpit. I found my lead pellets and they're nice and small so I should be able to cram into the pertinent spaces.

I see what you mean about the "dust bin." My little turrets are of a fashion that the lower part is definitely there, but, it sits in the midst of a platform type apparatus (that allows the turret to spin around) that sits inside a groove on the inside of the fuselage. The "platform" isn't by any means accurate and then even if I removed it, the dust bin area is the wrong shape. I'm thinking that it's far enough back that it will be OK.. when one peers inside through the glazing, they'll still see the "stuff" hanging down and hopefully won't be too glaring of an inaccuracy involving that platform..


The front upper turret assembly.

I'll do a series of test fits and "looking at" this stuff before I come to a conclusion. Right now, I have all the stuff sitting and drying up from gluing all the bombs and stuff back in and that second pass of filler.

I DID glue in the two "pressure cap" bulkheads or whatever the hell they're called on either sides of the bomb bays with the crew tunnel in between. Other than that, nothing else done...  had to let the stuff sit to dry then I've been back fighting the damned Tucano.. 

[Gondor]

That turret is typical of Airfix from the mid 1960's, in the case of their B-29 Scalemates says that it's from 1966. In those days a kit was as much a toy with several toy like features than a replica of an aircraft. For example, the toy like features of your kit include, moving propellers, rudder, elevators, ailerons and bomb bay doors as well as the turrets. The technology of the time also dictated how such moving parts worked which resulted in the "shelf" you talked about and also the "T" hinges on the bomb bay doors, both of which are "engineering solutions" of their day rather than true representations of the real aircraft, but at that time perfectly acceptable.

Gondor

[sandiego89]

Your fairing around the turret and floor should be just fine visually.  And as long as it does not interfere with the nose gear bay or the fuselage mating you should be good to go.    Someone would have to be really looking to notice anything "off". 

With the lead fishing shot they can move around a bit if you are not careful.  You don't want it to wiggle out, so you may want to create a cubby with scrap piece of sheet styrene and glue them shut.  The fairing around the turret is a great place for extra weight.   The B-29 is a real tail sitter so cram weight where ever you can.  As with any fulcrum closer to the front is better.  Last resort is a stand, which were used in real life, but it does look better with out the kick stand. 

[PR19_Kit]

And file flats on the bottom of the main gear tyres, it's amazing just how much that helps in critical tail sitting cases.

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks, y'all!!  Loving the help and advice and stuff.

I have a good method for my lead weights... I fill in with PVA and while it won't really "attach" worth a damn to the styrene it'll surely solidify around all the weight and make a "glob" wherever I put it that stays silent and stays put. It works well and the PVA itself adds that much more weight.

Will definitely flatten the tires a bit. I did that once before on my 1/72 Beechcraft Bonanza but had forgotten all about that particular method. Thanks!

And yeah buddy, woooo,  I've been "walking a line" on this one deciding upon what things to try to make "more accurate" and what things I genuinely want to leave original as respect to the kit and those that built them like this back in the day.... with all the chintzy moving parts and such... like the bomb bay doors... the way they hang there is so utterly wrong but then again, I want them open so I'll just leave them be.  Of course, in other areas like the cockpit, I tried to make things better.  It's a dance of sorts..     In fact, just this afternoon got to looking at the tail gun area and the kit calls for simply leave the whole area wide open where the guns stick out....   You could just look right in and see the gunner and the inside of the plane.  Well, there'll be none of that.. I'm thinking of taking a tiny patch of black cloth, cutting a slit into it, and cramming it in there to cover it all up and have it look much better.

ANYWAY!!  It's been awhile but I actually got a lot of decent work done on this today!



Lots of the interior junk glued in and I've also done numerous other things such as gluing some parts of the radial engine workings together, filing and sanding away burrs and imperfections, painting the engine cowlings (decided upon green) and a few other things I'm forgetting. I'm actually getting really close now to closing up the fuselage.

At this stage I'm concentrating on finishing up painting the engine cowlings and getting them together then I need to stop and paint the rudder white and either gloss it or Future it so  can apply the Cuban fin flash. I need to get this done sooner than later because I can't close up the fud halves without it being in place.

But anyway...  I've had a good day of modeling finally.... it's been fun even with the set backs and having a "worry free" day to do this and clear my mind has been a good thing for sure. 

[McColm]

I sometimes cheat when it comes to tail-sitters. I use a clear tube of plastic hidden by the main landing gear. Either glued to the lower fuselage or drilled so the tube can be removed during transit.
I usually avoid building straight from the box and rearrange the landing gear, so there's a tail wheel instead of a nose wheel.