Who the hell would fly this?

[Leigh]

The Secretary of What if proudly presents a What if Achievement Medal for interior work on this project. Your outstanding work on this interior has been done in an exemplary and professional manner and is also in keeping with the highest traditions of What if Modeldom.
   For the Secertary of What If Modelers
      Eddie M.
       Kitbasher/scratchbuilder

Does that come with any monetary compensation?


K so all that time on the inside and I had to stop myself from taking shortcuts on the exterior. Refueling probe which has some method of extending/retracting 'cos the bloody rotor blades on this thing are huge. There's a winch to go above the cargo door but that'll be put on after paint. So far the hardest part has been making these multuple compound curves to fit on ie: donkey end of the I.F.R. and the radar tit on the roof. No amount of sanding and shaping could I seem to get a tight fit with no gaps. Spent a long time and finally said screw it I'll fill em with superglue and putty.
Anyone got any good tips for making these oddball shapes fit together?

[Leigh]

AAAARRRGGGHHHHHHH
Wel I dunno wot went wrong except maybe I couldn't be arsed to get the airbrush out. Put on the first colour a mix of green and black with rattle cans and disaster struck, the paint came out all fuzzy . Now I use spray cans alot, both my Crusader and Buccanner were done with rattle cans so I know how to use them effectively. Followed the same procedure as always, warmed the cans in hot water, wiped the model off with a clean cloth and alcohol. The finish isn't orange peel but fuzzy almost like a flocked Christmas tree. The only time I've ever seen this before was my Airfix Jag which I airbrushed with Tamiya acrylics and I blamed my inexperience and Tamiya for that.
Do spray cans go bad? Is it the moisture in the atmosphere 'cos it is a bit humid today? Is it Airfix?

So I'll let it cure overnight and see if I can sand it out.

[John Howling Mouse]

Aw FECK!!!  I presume the two cans of paint were the same brand/type of compatible paint?

This would be great if one intentionally sought a textured finish (i.e. on a hand-prop for grip, etc.).  But, FECK!!

As for the compound curves joining, that is still the real mystery to me re: kitbashing.  I'd say Eddie has the boldest experience with ramming stuff together whether or not the pieces were compatible.

From my own bag of tricks:

- I sometimes build up a rough joint using multiple layers of thin strip-stock styrene (like "Evergreen").  You just pack in the lengths to suit the gaps involved and stack whatever pieces provide a "wall" of sorts for the join.  You then fill the rough stacked layers of plastic strips with a smooth covering of your favorite putty.

- if the pieces involved permit, another thing to try is to actually cut into whatever your base piece is (e.g. fuselage or wing curve) and recess your appendage from the inside instead of the more common process of slapping the appendage on from the outside.

HTH

[BlackOps]

That sucks big time! I wonder if the can has lost pressure? I had a couple of cans that spit pretty bad on a project I was doing and I had wondered if it was because the cans were to hot and lost pressure (painting in 100 degree temps).

As far as complex curves I have been trying something new, I use a little Ave's Apoxie and put it on the bottom of the piece I'm going to attach, then press it firmly to the other part and then scrape away the excess with a clay tool or something similar then I wet my finger with water and smooth it.

I have used tis on small to meduim size parts with decent results. The Aves bonds the parts together with no glueing necessary.  A side note, Ave's is sandable when dry but is a bit harder to sand than regular putty.

Jeff G.

[nev]

heat, old cans, humidity.  It could be any or all those things Leigh

[Brian da Basher]

Leigh I'm gonna cut my finger with a hobby knife and spill a little blood as a sacrifice to the modelling gods on your behalf.

After all these misfortunes, this Roptodyne's BOUND to be a prize winner when you get it finished!

Brian da Basher

[Leigh]

Well after some tender loving care, we managed to get a finish that's somewhat acceptable. Alot of sanding and another coat of paint. Very strange the fuzzy areas on vertical surfaces almost came right off like it was a dust covering others on the horizontal were completely impervious to sanding . So all that rivet detail I was trying to save is pretty much gone, glad I spent so much time on those window plugs with rivets
Anyway here is the patient dressed of her wounds we hope for a full recovery.  

[Leigh]

Doctor, doctor come quick there's been a horrible mutation, something must have gone wrong with the operation, she's turned into a noodle sea monster.
No it's not spaghetti masking it's actually this elastic type yarn stuff that I unthreaded from a roll of gauze. It actually sticks to the first gauze I laid down real easy, dunno if it's static or wot.

Hmm maybe "Pirates of the Carribean II" affected me more than I thought.
Could this be the first model made of one of Davey Jones' crewmen?
If you've not seen it yet go , it's bloody marvelous  

[BlackOps]

Yor just determined to make this look fabulous aren't you     Now I'm very interested to see the results!



Jeff G.

[Eddie M.]

Hey, now that's a cool get up. Where have I seen that before?      
    Eddie

[Leigh]

Well boy aren't I the talented modeller, this weekend I've managed to create a suede finish, which when sanded looks alot like leather and now to add to my repotoire we have faux marble I should be an interior decorator.

[Leigh]

This is NOT the effect I wanted. It's kinda cool more so in some spots than others, but it looks more tropical to me, like a palm frond scheme I saw on a WWII Japanese plane once, and I've got this in a desert scenario. Then in other parts it's just a bloody mess, which is what I wanted. But this is not THE mess I wanted, I wanted a different mess, savvy?

[Leigh]

Now I know decals, glazing and weathering are gonna make a huge difference to the overall look but what I need from you guys is an HONEST opinion as to whether this works or not.
Gonna put it hold while I decide whether to re-paint nedd some help here lads.

[K5054NZ]

To be completely honest, when I saw the first pic I thought "Hey cool, he's got it flying out of Norway!".


Excellent for a winter theatre, but the idea that this is meant for desert ops? No. Sorry, but it doesn't quite work to me.



Don't get me wrong, it looks AMAZING   , but as a desert scheme it leaves a lot to be desired.



Tell ya what, I'm soooooooooooo tempted to track one of these down and do a similar conversion for use in the Falklands. I just keep seeing it in grey and green! No matter how she ends up!

EDIT
Lana says: "It looks like it's been underwater for ages! Like it's been shipwrecked or something."

[nev]

Whereas I think it really works as a desert scheme!  

The dusty, tattered look makes it look like its been left to rot in the desert for several years.  Its like Entropy, the longer you leave it, the longer it starts to resemble its environment.  Which is just how this sucka looks.

I imagine it at a Forward Operating Base in the shade of some palm trees next to an oasis somewhere