O1/L-19 Cessna Bird Dog- painted

I started applying the decals.  Problematic.  The ink seems to be lifting off the decals when they are wet- the decal film does not break (although a bit of that too), but if you touch the printing/graphics with any tool the ink flakes off.  I am having to touch only the carrier film surrounding the printing/graphics

Got the final coat- I hope- of the gray paint done.  Sorry the shot is so dark and lacks depth of field.  Camera is goofing up.  I usually shoot models aperture priority but it turned out really dark.  Tried general settings (completely auto).  Was lighter, but of course the area being dark, it opened aperture way up.  Maybe something wrong with my flash unit.

That Bondo is good stuff. Wet sands really nice.

Got the wing and tail surfaces on, and did some prime and seam/gap filling.  Fuselage seem did not take too much effort.  But there were major sink marks/lines at the trailing edges of both wings.  This photo is after the first application of putty, sanding and priming.  These sinks were pretty deep.  Did more putty, sanding and priming last night.  Hope it looks better this morning.

Here is the assembly with wing mounted.

I'll be putting on the windshield and rear window tomorrow.adding ailerons and flaps today. Instructions call for adding the hinges to the flaps before gluing the flaps in place.  I found it very hard to mount the hinges in excatly the perfect angle.  I found it easier to glue the flaps on with slow CA and check the alignment as the glue hardens, and then glue the hinges on.  The dimple on the hinges does not hold it at the right angle very well.

fotofrank

Don, did you mask the windows before you glued them in?

Are you using an aftermarket mask?

 

On the side and top windows, yes, I taped them before they were glued in, both inside and out.  I then removed the inside masking before I glued the fuselage together.  The windows have nice framing indentations molded in, so it is easy to cut the masking tape to good shape.  I don't know if precut masks are even available.

I may mask the windshield and rear window after I glue them in.  At that point the fuselage will be sealed, and I don't need to mask the inside and there is no framing or rear window and only a simple single strip in the middle of the windshield.

BTW, I am not gluing the door and door window before I paint.  I want to have the door open when finished, so the door and door window are now held in by thin strips of masking tape.  When I am done painting a believe I can just push in on those parts to take them off when I am  finished.

Don, did you mask the windows before you glued them in?

Are you using an aftermarket mask?

Got the fuselage together, and the rest of the belts.

Got the wing glued on last night, but don't know how well it turned out.  Photos maybe tomorrow.

JohnnyK

Nice looking engine.

 

I'm going to glue one cowl panel in the open position so it can be seen.

Nice looking engine.

Was test fitting the wing top to the fuselage and found a problem.  There are ribs at the inboard edge of each wing.  They extend a slight bit further aft than a locating post.  That slight extension prevents proper fit.  I have cut those areas back to the locating post to get the fit right.

If you have the kit, be sure to check the fit in this area before trying to glue the wing in place.

The kit instructions say to glue the bottom pieces on before gluing the wing on.  I am glad I checked the fit of the top piece on before gluing together the bottom wing sections. It would be very difficult to trim that rib if the bottom panels were in place.

Got a little more on the engine done- not quite finished though.

The pedestal that the front seat sits on is quite a structure, but it went together fine.

Working on the instrument panel.  I drilled out the instrument holes, then scanned the back of the panel and created a graphic with some instrument images I collected awhile ago online.  Put the graphics located behind the holes, printed it out and glued to back of panel.  Put some of that window glaze stuff over the instrument holes from the front.  Have some paint glitches I am working on.

The engine is a little gem. 

I still need to put plug wiring, and some plumbing, on.

Look into ADC grey FS16473

The landing gear is very weak,get some AM metal gear if not already aquired.

I went to Google and looked at "images" of this plane. The only plane with a NMF looks like it is in a museum. The Air Force versions seem to be painted a light gray.

There's a fellow in our club whose father flew O-1s in Vietnam. He's building five of these kits for family members! He says it's not at easy build, but he's pressing on to complete the builds. He says the biggest issue is that if there are alignment pins, they don't match up. Looking forward to your build, Don. All of your work is excellent.

I was looking at this kit just yesterday.  I'll be following along for sure to see how this one builds in your capable hands.