Area 88 1/144: The Upside Down Bomb (DC-10-30 + Kfir)

strobez · August 05, 2018, 08:53:59 AM

Thanks Kit! You're explanation of the engines was invaluable. I'm glad they turned out alright.

At the moment, I'm hip-deep in the PSR phase. I did my very best to glue this monster together properly, but there were still some significant gaps. After seemingly endless rounds of putty/sanding, I decided to give it a bit of paint to check the seams. The ones on the underside jumped up right away. That area fore and aft of where the wings attach is a real pain. I'm pretty sure I've sanded almost all the way through and I'm still getting some gaps.

The topside is better, but no matter how well I sand it, there still seems to be a ghost of the seam showing through. I'm not sure how to deal with this. Do I just keep sanding and hoping it'll go away. There must be an ever-so-slight ridge, but it only seems to be detectable visually. My fingers can't find it. It's subtle, but it's annoying me.

PR19_Kit · August 05, 2018, 01:07:41 PM

Feel it with your fingers and see which side is highest, and then only apply putty to the low side before the next sanding.

That semi-permanent ridge seems to be characteristic if many airliner kits, perhaps because the seam is almost always straight and VERY long.

strobez · August 05, 2018, 07:03:01 PM

I'll try to be a bit more targeted in my PSR work. I might just have to accept something less than perfection though... that'll be a first for me.

<takes two steps back>

...

..

.

<watches lightning strike where I was just standing>

TheChronicOne · August 05, 2018, 07:10:59 PM

I've had the same thing happen to me and it usually proves to be mysterious. I've theories about how and why it happens but I just don't know in the end. I try to power over it with extra coats of primer then I try to lighten my touch when I sand. Sometimes it works, sometimes I repeat this process a million times until I settle. A few times, I think it was all in my head because after I actually primed it, the seam I thought I saw and thought was so bad disappeared.

If you figure this mystery out come let me know, bruh!

I don't care though, it looks like you're well on your way to a very nice looking bombliner. I have no doubt in my mind it will turn out to be glorious.

zenrat · August 06, 2018, 04:10:46 AM

The latest issue of SAM has an article on gluing fuselages together and they talk about the phantom seam on airliner fuselages.
They suggest adding a strip of plastic along one half to form a lip to help make the join more stable and secure.
Bit late for that now though.

What are you sanding it with? Sponges? Sandpaper on a block? Sanding sticks?
I find that when I get to this stage on a fuselage the best thing to use is a piece of wet & dry paper, by hand and not pushing very hard at all as the filler (mine anyway) is softer than the plastic.

The reason the seam can disappear with paint could be because it's not a height difference you are seeing but a surface texture difference.
When I was a building labourer I boarded out a lot of ceilings and no matter how smooth and flat the joints felt after sanding they always stuck out like sore thumbs until we got a few coats of paint on them because of the different ways filler and plasterboard reflected light.

NARSES2 · August 06, 2018, 07:17:04 AM

Quote from: zenrat on August 06, 2018, 04:10:46 AM

The reason the seam can disappear with paint could be because it's not a height difference you are seeing but a surface texture difference.

Yup and that can change in different lighting conditions.

Quote from: PR19_Kit on August 05, 2018, 01:07:41 PM
Feel it with your fingers and see which side is highest, and then only apply putty to the low side before the next sanding.

I know it's daft, but sometimes closing your eyes helps with the "feel" of things. Or in my case taking my glasses off

strobez · August 06, 2018, 08:14:21 AM

Now those are some handy replies. I'm sanding with various grades of wet/dry Tamiya (and similar) sandpaper. One thing I've noticed previously is that it's never too soon (at least for me) to switch the grades of paper. I find I have a tendency to try an muscle it out with a 180 or 240 grit and forget that moving on to a 400/600 or 800/1000 grit will solve some of my problems.

I never really thought about the way the surface texture reflects the light being a big part of the culprit. Hmm... words of wisdom to be sure.

NARSES2 · August 06, 2018, 08:22:28 AM

Must admit I normally start with 400/600 grit sandpaper (medium 3M sanding pads) then move to 800/1000 (Fine/Super Fine pads). I do like the 3M pads although they can be pricey in comparison to sandpaper.

I only use the coarser grades if I have serious re-shaping to do.

zenrat · August 07, 2018, 04:02:30 AM

I have some very worn 1000 grade wet & dry and an almost completely knackered sponge pad which I use for the final "sand". The one which is more of a polish.

Ghost seams can still pop up of course. Just when I least expect them.

strobez · August 07, 2018, 08:49:14 AM

I noticed that a worn out bit of 1000 grit paper works well as a final polish. I'm going to try that.

As for this build, I'm at the point where I'm starting to get into the weeds a bit because I'm no longer really sure which bits need work and which ones should be left alone. I'm thinking it's just about time to give it a coat of primer to start working just the problem bits rather than going over the whole thing again and again...

NARSES2 · August 08, 2018, 06:32:16 AM

Good thinking

strobez · April 18, 2019, 04:58:17 PM

Since I finally got the B-1/F-4E Area 88 1/144 project finished, it was time to turn my attention back to this baby. It got stalled while I waited for some tiny little SMD LEDs to put in the wingtips. I ended up butchering one of the ends trying to fit overly large bulbs in there, so I was somewhat disheartened, but I finally got the courage to carry on.

Luckily, I was able to scratch back and recover the missing wingtip in such a way that even I'm not sure which one I fixed, so that's a win in my book. Also, I had to reopen the fuselage (and the wings partially) to squeeze the somewhat complicated electronics in, but I got it done. It was a challenge since the SMD LEDs are TINY - even by my standards - and I also had to wire up a timing chip and a capacitor to be able to alternatively blink the LEDs. I added 4 small LEDs to the wingtips (two of which will eventually, hopefully, be red/green) and two larger red blinking LEDs to the fuselage. I also added two small LEDs to where the underwing bombs will eventually be - mainly to draw attention to the fact that they're there.

And just to prove it really does blink, I created a short YouTube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snq8n1g-9i4

Captain Canada · April 18, 2019, 05:08:47 PM

Nice work !

PR19_Kit · April 19, 2019, 04:12:34 AM

It's somewhat bizarre seeing that DC-10 in the vid, flashing away nicely, and knowing that only a few months ago the self same fuselage was sitting in my Loft!

You've made a great job of that Greg, much better than it sitting in The Loft and gathering dust.

strobez · April 19, 2019, 08:29:35 AM

Yes indeed! It's pedigree is not lost on me, so I'm hoping to make you proud.

I got the final wiring done and spent most of the evening attempting to glue bits and pieces of the spaghetti dinner of wires into strategic locations so that anyone peeking in the windows later won't be confused into thinking it's a scene from Snakes on a Plane.

The fuselage is now closed up and everything is glued more or less back in place. It still blinks, somI think it's safe to move on to the putty and sanding (again).