Encore/Squadron 1/48 A-37B Dragonfly, Off to the Show!

Well I finally figured out the "floating tub" problem. Once you get the resin tub to fit there's no place to glue it to. The tub is mounted to the right fuselage half and the right weight must be installed first. After a bit of testing to see if the hot glue method would melt either the resin or the plastic which it didn't, I was able to tack the tub in. Evidently the hot glue shrinks slightly as it sets and things moved slightly as it cooled. I was able to cut it free and sucessfully held it in position as it cooled on the second attempt. I hope this helps the next guy who trys this! One step at a time. The instrument panel and hood now goes in before closing up the fuselage halves.

Max

Max - Sorry I mixed up your names, (Max and Cnq,) when I looked at his 1:72 build. Dumb, old guy stunt.

Your build is coming along really well, the cockpit and instrument panel details will stand tall when this one is completed. Your attention to build quality is going to result in a fine model, I'm enjoying seeing this one come along.

I was at an AF base once, when a bunch of the T-37's were shooting touch and go landings, many takeoffs and landings for some time. One of the observers was a pilot, he described the T-37 as the worlds most efficient way to convert jet fuel to noise. Loud little buggers.

Thanks for the post and photos.

Patrick

Everything looks really great!  Nice cockpit.

Toshi

OK, did you ever get to the point on a model that the effort was more trouble than the final product? I'm not one to give up on things but today was nearly the end for the Dragonfly project. I've been trying to get this cockpit together off and on for over a week. Nothing in the aftermarket parts fit or will even glue together. Today I began to think, isn't this supposed to be fun? I got the box out to put it on hold and decided to give it one more shot. I got out the hot glue gun to join parts that wouldn't join. Super glue only softens both plastic and resin parts that fall apart when trying to assemble down the line. Enough complaining, hopefully I'm past the no fit /no stick stage where plasic glue will work again. The instrument panel I have to admit looks good assembled but not after almost souring me on the kit. Let's move on to fuselage assembly and put that phase behind. Grrrr.

Max

Ah, the beginning of wings, I'm getting a little more enthused! Just a report to keep things moving.  

Max

Slowly but surely I get a few things done on the A-37. It's nice to have a model in the works again to help entertain me through the Winter. Today I fiddled with the wing tops trying to figure out how to pull them up against the fuselage. I tried weights, tape and such and finally solved the problem with these handy little clamps. A little extra glue marks and ooze outs but nothing that can't be fixed. That's the report on Christmas eve and have a good one!  

Max

Although the resin cockpit fought you all the way for a week, the out come is nothing short of fantastic!  Looks like it should be smooth sailing from here. Everything looks great!

Merry Christmas,

The Toshi's

With the experience from the top left wing cover making it fit to the fuselage I was prepared with more clamps to flex the wing into the fuselage for a nice glue joint. I also applied the glue to the fuselage instead of the wing which prevents the glue from getting on unwanted fuselage parts. Live and learn. This is minor stuff but it might help the next guy on this kit. I'm off to eat turkey!

Max

Brief update, Refueling plumbing installed along with hard points, engine cowls and such. Masked and almost ready for paint!

Max

Wow, check out these PE intake screens to replace the plastic ones. Kinda cool but underneath and will be painted light gray like the rest of the bottom. They are not quite in position but you can get the idea.

Max

Hmm--just as I suspected, another bad design. The screens are way to small to fill the hole and the wrong shape to attach to the plastic ones. If you even touch the screens with glue the screen holes fill up and disappear. Luckily all of this is not going to show unless you pick up the model and look. I think I'm back to the plastic ones and will thin them down to fit better.

I thought I'd at least try the PE folding intake screens and it came out fair. I filled the klunky slots for the plastic ones and fit and glued in the PE ones. For the next guy who does this be carefull not to get any glue on the screen part. I did. I shot the first coat of the light gray belly to see how the screens would look. They actually look good to the naked eye and with a bit more putty and paint they will be acceptable to me anyway. That's the report!

Max

Yay, Paint flying! I'm getting a bit more enthused now. It's been two years since I've used the airbrush and I'm a bit more shakey than I remember. Hopefully the camo will be forgiving and in the picture on the box it looks equally crude. We olde people does the best we can! 

Max

Hodakamax

Trouble began when I glued the small strip of instruments at the top to my finger almost instantly

Hey Max, this is a late reply to the above, just wanted to toss in that for this sort of thing I've taken to using Gator's Grip Thin Blend. It's like white Elmers, extremely forgiving, easy cleanup for unwanted blobs and such, slow setting which IMO is great for finickly little PE bits, no accelerated heartbeat due to nervous CA rush, no glued fingers.

Sorry the resin and fit is giving you trouble, but that cockpit really does look nice (great detail painting).

This is a neat little aircraft, I'd forgotten all about them.

It looks like I'm going to have to make some stand off masks for the camo job. The original appears to have been free-handed but between my unsteadyness and my spitting air brush I'm not getting the results that I want. Also I'm trying to use some old paint up which is never a good idea and the medium and dark greens are not far enough apart to stand out. It's time to stand down and make a long trip to the hobby shop for fresh and proper paint. I could order all of this but the kit numbers for the paint don't seem to match anything I can order or at least figure out. Be patient Silent Bob, I'll get it figured out. I wish you had built yours first! LOL!

And Greg, thanks for the glue info!. Hopefully I'm past the resin stage. Oops I forgot; resin ordnance to glue on. I'll try epoxy or Gator stuff, I'm done with the not so super glues I think.

Max

Finally fresh paint has arrived in the mail and I've purchased some Yellow Frog tape and other stores. Funny, one would think that bottled paint would last over 10 years even though it has been opened years ago. LOL! 

Having not done a complicated camo scheme for several years, I'm trying new ideas to get it done. I scanned the instruction sheet and blew it up to 100% and printed it. I do have a light table and was able to cut through the copy and a strip of Frog tape at the same time for the pattern. Right or wrong, it's one approach. We'll see. I also have some Silly Putty to try. Slowly moving forward, I'm glad there's no deadline! LOL.

That's the report,

Max

OK, I'm back, don't give up on me. After all that masking I decided that the lines between the colors were too sharp and not like most of the examples I've seen. I've been working on my airbrushing technique and I'm improving slightly on freehand. I'm getting there I think. I'll wear this thing down yet.

Just a report in case you missed me. LOL!

Max

PS--I think I just set some sort of personal record for number of airbrush color changes on one model. lol.

That is finally looking amazing with that camo on there, Max. This is looking really, really good!

Thanks for the encouragemt Mike and Bob! Every time I almost get it right I slip or the airbrush splatters and I have to keep going back with the adjoining color. Will this ever end? LOL!

Max

When I was a kid, my dad had books of the different aircraft from WWII (one for allies and one for axis) and Vietnam. I'm not sure why, but I was always fascinated with this one plane. I've wanted to build one for years, but I've never come across a kit of it. Anyway, glad this thread caught my eye. The build is looking great!

Wow!  Fantastic camoflauge work!!!

Toshi

Oops! Back to light gray again! Hey, thanks for the comments gang, you guys keep me on track!

Max

Max, I like paper masks that are held on the model with tape stuck over windows cut in the interior of the masks, gives good control and a soft line.  All the experts say you are supposed to start spraying off the model and move on past it before letting off the trigger but I have never figured out how to make that work on schemes like the one you are doing.

A few more notes on the camo colors and painting. The tan is MM Acrylic Dark Tan and the green is MM Medium green. MM Dark green did not have enough seperation and I mixed MM Gloss Black in small amounts to get the desired effect.

I'm having trouble with paint build-up on the needle on my Badger 200G airbrush making for short spray times. This requires running lacquer thinner through it or even minor disassembly between each color change.

Part of my problem is that I haven't ran the airbrush for a few years and I'm starting a new learning curve. I probably should experiment with some enamels before the next project which is a 1/48 Academy F-4C Phantom. The A-37 is practice for this project which I'm starting to see to be a good idea. 

So that's my brief report on the project and my trials and tribulations after my two year hiatus from modeling. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it again and as always, thanks for your comments and advice!

Max

Again thanks for the comments Gang. Yesterday was not the ideal modeling experience. Finishing up the camo went fairly smooth and I was somewhat pleased with the results at least for my skill level. The mounting of the seats was a different story.

The resin seats mount in a resin tub and require a lot of fitting in a small area to say the least. Finally I got them into position after cutting off all kinds of detail and plumbing that couldn't possibly be seen anyway. They still rocked a bit and needed some adhesive that you had time to work with and would be stiff enough to adjust them. This stuff is like trying to glue two bars of soap together. I had this problem when fitting the resin tub in the body. I finally got it secured with hot glue. Super glue works on glueing two flat parts together but not point areas.

First I tried setting the seats in a bed of silicone which would not adhere in any way to the resin. After cleaning up that mess, I tried to bed the seats in caulk and then contact cement each with its own mess and clean up to no avail.

Finally I applied a bed of Tamiya white putty which had the consistency to adjust the seats into their proper position. Whew, finally sucess. I'm certainly not impressed with resin on this kit. 

Well, thats my periodic report on this WIP adventure. I must admit that the seats finally look really cool sitting in the cockpit at least in my opinion! More to come.

Max

Any weapon loaders out there? First, would bombs and napalm be on the same load? Secondly, would the fuel tanks be inboard or does it matter? If so are either of these two configurations OK? 

Max

PS--I think the outboard green things are multiple marking rockets always shown outboard.

Max, nice paint work to date, lookin' good. Among my other AB's I also use the 200G, fantastic little work horse I think. I've experienced the paint buildup and spatter you described, here's what works for me to combat it.

I keep a supply of Q-tips handy and some lacquer thinner in a squeeze bottle. A couple of drops of thinner on the Q-tip and inserting it into the AB tip area, then a twirl around the needle and nozzle, will instantly remove the dried paint on the front bits of the AB. That takes care of the front of the AB.

Then I run the pressure up to about 25psi and spray out a short blast, to help purge any build up in back of the nozzle. I use very small paint loads in the AB cup, that way when I quickly run out I spray some lacquer thinner through it, then it's cleaned out well for another round of painting.

It doesn't take much time, well worth it in order to avoid the spattering you describe. Hope it helps. Thanks for all of the posts and photos.

Patrick