Ju 388- Planet Models 1/48 Resin

Thanks, guys- man, that pup is cute- and good as gold, too.  :D

Here's the latest update on this resinous adventure- show 'em, Fritzi!

Great little how-to on the gear doors - not bad work on the rest of it either... trim tabs?!?! Are you kidding me?!

great vacuforming solution

Awesome work.  And who woulda thunk about making _two_ copies to add the inside panel details but Chuk?

Interesting that an old friend (who does not participate in this hobby now) were lamenting the fact that we both miss our Vac-U-Form machine from back in the day.  And again, I miss that machine!

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Enlightening as always Chuk! Noticed some changes to your formats. Looking good and as they say a photo is worth a thousand words (well at least a few hundred anyway)

I also have my old Mattel Vac-U-Form still.  All the parts molds etc, and even a couple 3 of the original plastic sheets. Made a jig years ago to drill the holes in new replacement sheets.

As to plastics I have used, Styrene seems to take too much heat, thus as I see you have the aluminum heat cover.  I found that .010 rigid vinyl works great in the MVUF. It seems to have a lower softening temp and vacs perfectly. Pulls down quite easily and is as rigid and glueable as styrene.  I have used rigid vinyl sheet, cut to size in red and transparent blue.  Still have quite a stock of the transparent blue sheets.  They vac, cut, glue, paint and about anything else that evergreen does.

Check with a plastic supply house in your area. If they don't have any, they can get some and the base color shouldn't be too much of a problem. It is also a lot more economical than buying Evergreen sheet.  I like Evergreen, just not for the Mattel.

Here's a pic. One gold chrome, 3 yellow and a molded blue original Mattel sheets of plastic. The dark transparent blue sheets were cut and drilled from some stock .010 rigid vinyl I bought and cut up years ago.  I have over 100 sheets of this stuff and it works great.  Just wish I could have gotten some clear or solid color stuff.  Have used red in the past and it worked just fine too.

Cheers!    

Paul

P.S.  The fuselage halves are my WW1 Hannover CL.IIIa  that I am building over in the Great War Build.  Thinking about starting another thread to cover it as I have been doing a Chuk style documenting of the build. So far my posts are on pages 47, 50, and 51 if you are interested, or PM me.

Keep up the great work Chuck!  You keep pushing me to do better and it's FUN!

Chuk you never cease to amaze.  I like the use of other products too.  Spackle and white out.  A question... when the buck is seal with the CA and sanded smooth... s it good enough to make a clear vac copy... like for a canopy?  Seeing the heat cover reminded me of a site seen a longtime back for the vacuum upgrades.  I just ordered the kit to improve the old girl.

Way to go!

Looking forward to next episode.  Great tips and of course the gals are always fun.

Your style blows me away. This is the way directions should be. Tons of pics displaying "ample" talents...

Great looking progress,nice tip with the white out thanks for sharing!

Thanks, guys! 
Well, I'm back, and have been sneaking time at the bench over the last several weeks.  Sorry to be absent for so long- life has been keeping me busy! Take it away, Hauptmann Hannah!

The beast get final shapes , awesome !!!

Welcome back Hannah! Uhh, I mean, Chukw! Shaping up nicely,

Your skills amaze me

Was the coffee black or with cream and sugar?

Patience of a saint I tells ya. Wow!

Thanks, guys?  Jim, whazzat about?  

A brief but significant update today.  With Pfennig and Hauptmann Hannah on special assignment, Fritzi will debrief us on recent events.

Hey Chuk!

The plane is looking good! Making great progress there!

Never thought of the beading tool idea. Have one of those sets around (got it brand new back in watch school took a couple of jewelry classes) Will have to figure out where I put it.  Am always finding tools etc. when digging through storage stuff these days.

Have been scratch building an engine for my 1/48th Hannover  coming along quite well.  WW1 Argus engines weren't used in many planes and there aren't any good kits out there with one to pattern, so just using drawings and scratching it.  It is getting old with all the scratch building on that kit and really need to try out my new airbrush, so am building a new paint booth.  (can't find all of the old one) Want a BIG one and want to vent the fumes outside.  About 1/2 done on that.

Keep up the great work!

chukw

Oh good, I wasn't the only one making bomber noises last night! (I had dry-fitted Airfix's old 1/72 He177, chased the cats around a little bit....)

Thanks, fellas!

Got a little bench time in- I'll let the Hauptmann take over!

You had me at "smooth flowing curves"....

I've gotta try that thinned-putty trick some time, could save some sanding hassle if done right.

Remember that part of the "trick" is that this is a RESIN kit.  The resin doesn't react to acetone and lacquer thinners as styrene does.  There is a story someplace on here where a guy tried to strip the paint off of a model in order to "redo" it.  Placed the model in a tub of lacquer thinner and came back a short while later to find a tub of goo.

Great job Chuk!  The 388 is coming along quite nicely!  Wish I had your skills at drawing your little helpers.  They do add some fun to your posts.

I like that curved rasp; I don't have anything like that in my tool kit.

These are some funny little animations you've got there, all these captions I each picture is really helping me learn more, thanks!

Always look forward to your updates.  Keep up the great work!

Thanks a bunch, fellas! 

Good call, Paul- do not use acetone on styrene!   Use nail polish remover instead- it's basically thinned-down acetone that will not only NOT melt your model, but leave smelling as fresh as a spring morning.  ;)  BTW, your Hanover build is Top of the Pops!

Great updates, Chuck!  I like the recovery on the tail wheel doors, especially, well played!

Regarding using acetone, I use it--but not to strip paint, that's insane!  I use it to thin putties and make my homemade Mr. Surfacer (either to remove excess putty applied to the seam/gap, or to mix on the palette and then apply).  The quantities are small enough not to damage styrene parts, since the acetone is so volatile that it evaporates immediately.

For stripping paint, I've started using the automotive de-greaser  SuperClean.  Not only does it remove paint really well, and you can use a batch of it over and over, but it completely removes grease and oils from the surface.  I use it now, to clean sprues on new kits, a couple of drops in a bath of warm water.

Chuck,

Where did you get your bead tools (Rivet maker)?

Chuck  Thanks for the complement!  It is very appreciated coming from you.  When I looked through your Me 410 build a few months ago, it really fired me up to do a challenging build.  (didn't expect it to be quite that challenging when I started it   )

Hercmech  The beading tools are a jewelers tool used for setting stones on jewelry.  Mainly for rounding over the prongs that hold the stones in place.  You can find a reasonably priced set  ( $29) at Rio Grande .  I set the link to the page with the set.  If you are interested check out their catalogue as it has all kinds of useful tools for model building.  Files, saws, saw blades, pliers, etc.  Some items are pricey, some not, one thing though is that there are some really nice tools if you have a need or want.

Thanks, guys!

Back with more!   Even with a four-day weekend I feel like I haven't gotten much done- you be the judge.  Hey. Fritzi!