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

[loupgarou]

Good work! I am rooting for you to end your build.
Ahem: Zenrat, on your aircraft: RSCAF ? Royal Socialist Cuban Air Force? 

[zenrat]

République Socialiste Canadienne Air Force.

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks, Mr. Creole Wolfie... 

Good news! I got some work done yesterday. All of the major construction, aside from gluing the engings to the nacelles and nacelles to the wings, is done!  Including closing up the fuselage halves. I store the plane on the floor. 

Today will be sanding seams and then gluing those engines and nacelles all up and then I guess I can start painting. Decided to skip priming to save time.

I'll have some pics by the end of today of what will look like a finished model.  Aside from the fin flash and tiny bits of color here and there where I painted thing aghead of time and engine cowls, it's all the silver of the plastic but the bit done may have it looking like it was deisgned that way, we'll see. I just know I want to capture that moment on "film" before I move on because might look neat!


EDIT: Too early and coffee hasn't kicked in... English skills are suffering... just re-read it a couple times. 

[TheChronicOne]

"Use Future to set decals, blah blah! It works great and makes them conform!!!" They said... yeah... all it did was melt and turn my paint into goo....   

I even managed to cut the stars out nice and crisp... I'll have to go back in and paint it again but it'll never look right. Oh well.  Damn paint residue got on the star, too...  but whatta ya gonna do?!  I wanted to try it and see what the hype was all about.  Maybe you can't use Future on acrylics?? Or the brand of them that I use?? I've noticed this crap before... This stuff would make a great paint remover! 

[TheChronicOne]

Note to self... mere hours before a deadline is NOT the time for experiments and trying new techniques.   

[TheChronicOne]

Alright.... broke out the ol fine hair stick and hand painted on this mess until it looked good again. It's not "flat" or "smooth" but it sure looks decent from more than a foot away so 'm happy!! Repair went well if you ask me.  (Other side looks great.. used plain water and it went without a hitch..)


Stuff looks skewed, but it isn't.. there's a bit of "faceting" going on here.

Otherr work I'm doing is smoothing seams. I've done all the ones on the engine pylons and the gear bays and also the belly of the craft. All that remains is to sand and file away the all important "main" seam down the middle of the top.  Might take 20 minutes then I can get back to gluing!!!!!   

[zenrat]

Yeah, don't use Future over acrylic paint without something else as a barrier.
I know that (I discovered it the same way you did - but on a model car).  I should have told you although i'm not sure if I knew you were planning to use it or if I would have remembered you use acrylics if I did.


Still, your save looks OK.   
That Ikarus kit behind it looks interesting.

[TheChronicOne]

Yeah, don't use Future over acrylic paint without something else as a barrier.
I know that (I discovered it the same way you did - but on a model car).  I should have told you although i'm not sure if I knew you were planning to use it or if I would have remembered you use acrylics if I did.


Still, your save looks OK.   
That Ikarus kit behind it looks interesting.

He heeeee!  Yeah, I'm with you, Fred, I think the "fix" turned out a little better than I thought it would and over all quality is only slightly less than it would have been otherwise. I hate it when things go wrong but like it when I can fix them relatively easy!!   

Oh boy, the pretty blue Ikarus Matica!! I'd never seen such a thing.....  it's one of them weird planes I had to have when I saw it. Spent more than I normally would for a kit, but, less than I would expect for such a "rare" and oddball subject. A resin doo-dad of a Yugoslav plane from the 1950's. I plan to build it oob because I really like the way it looks. I'm a sucker for blue and white.



This kit, for some reason, came with a little baggie stuffed full of bang seats. I have no idea what these ejection seats go to (damn sure don't go to this!) but I'm happy to have 'em. Dunno if they got placed in the box on accident or what (the type of baggie used is same as another in the kit so I dunno... )

[NARSES2]

Yeah, don't use Future over acrylic paint without something else as a barrier.

Really ? I use it over all of my acrylic paints and have had no problems whatsoever - touching wood. However I am aware the term "acrylic" can cover a multitude of different types of paint.

That rudder looks good 

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks! Probably the focal point of the build... I'm glad it turned out good.

This stuff I have... well.. it's generic polish. That might have something to do with it...   it just doesn't work all too well, period. When I coat a whole model with it the finish is never consistent and, then, if I use too much or am too heavy handed... or use too much elbow grease, it strips paint. lol   I've had to repaint portions of canopies, paint come off like on me rudder, etc. I suppose I could dip the canopies in the polish first THEN paint to solve that problem but still... this stuff definitely will eat away my acrylic if I'm not careful. 

[Old Wombat]

I've used the Aussie version of Future^TM over acrylics (Tamiya) with no real issues using the old hairy stick. Although I found it best to give the paint 4 to 7 days to dry &, even then, there was often a little bleeding of the paint. However, when I used the last of my stock through my airbrush it went on perfectly, with zero issues at all. If I ever get hold of the stuff again (I believe Australian law changed to make some of its ingredients illegal for environmental reasons) it's all going through the airbrush.

[zenrat]

When I had the problem it was brushing on "Pledge with Future Shine" (which is I think what they sold it here as - prolly the stuff Womby is referring to which is now illegal) over brushed on Tamiya acrylic that had dried overnight.
The result was a crackle finish which might have been attractive if it wasn't the roof insert on a 1936 ford.

As with a lot of things testing is advised.  As with a lot of us I can't usually be bothered and jump in with both feet risking ruining my work.

[TheChronicOne]

OK... I was -->||<--- this close to having to throw in the towel on this... thought I had a major automotive problem with my all important work truck.....  transmission was acting like it was about to go out.  Turns out it was just low on fluid and it's back to shifting like BUTTER again... love it... now, why in the hell did it get to the point where it was low on fluid in the first place???  Seems like ever since I had a new engine put in the thing has been sort of leaky... I'll just make sure to check the levels more often. ::shrug:::  whatever... anyway... 


Back to work on this thing! I'm going to have to pick my battles here.... not all the seams will be fixed adequately and I'll have to cut some corners but I think I can get this done pretty soon if I just stick with it.I need to get both inboard nacelles glued on then I can try to fix seams on them for an hour or so.... then I need to get to painting. I still need to work on the seam on top of the roof, as well, but after that I just need to paint the glazing and then... well, paint the whole thing. I've already started on it, in fact, cutting in around turrents and borders and the like...

It's looking like an airplane finally!   

[Gondor]

That's looking really good 

Gondor

[TheChronicOne]

That's looking really good 

Gondor

Thanks, brotha!!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Never woulda got this far with all y'all helping me along!

Painting the glazing and stuff now... first pass. I'll do another then take a toothpick to it to straighten things out. Also, I think on the second coat I'll use the next larger size brush. The one I was using was running low on paint too quickly for my liking and just seemed to be a teeny bit lacking for what I'm doing here. Anyway, not bad for the first "round."



Guess I better find the glass for the tail gunner position too before I forget it! 

I also glued on the starboard inboard nacelle/gear assembly... man what a crap fit... just.. not good at all and even if I were to put in a moderate amount of work there would still be problems like a gap that would have to be filled where one side meets the wing...I filed and made it better but it got to the point where if I took any more away to make it fit better, then on the other side I'd have to add stuff back!  So, I just found a middle ground then had to clamp the bejeebers out of it...     these old kits are so neat but when I see stuff like the fitment problems I've noticed on this thing I can see why people say these old kits are "obsolete."  Still... I love 'em... I'll never turn my nose up at an old kit (if the price is right) but man oh man, they can be a lot of extra work if you want them to be as "correct" as possible!   

Ah well, I'm all about the end result and I'm still feeling really good about that..I think once we're all said and done the over all package will be neat! I can't wait to see it.