Variable Geometry: the Swing Wing GB

Everyone's chiming in with progress today.  Lots of eye candy and good reading.

Wingman:  I'm really liking the paint job on the Tornado; it looks to be nearing completion and there's another waiting in the wings.  Also, I always look forward to the little teaks and improvements that you addd to your builds.  I always come away from a GB with a couple of new tricks and techniques.

Wow!!  Harshman joins yesterday and he already has the Flogger cocpit started and a pilot figure seated.  That's quick work.  I'm assuming that teh fuselage and wings aere only dry fited at this stage?

Eatthis:  Yep, gotta say that the paint work on the Tomcat looks convincing.  A nice amount of weathering.  I'm always impressed by the size of the F-14; that's a big aircraft even in 1/48. 

Don

my progress so far im gluing it together a bit at a time then il fill the seams then paint it properly

some of my progress..

Welcome Harshman! Looking forward to your build.

Here we go. A few more pics...

First, I wasn't sure about the main landing gear. The main strut never touches the bay and the way the retraction arm works it attaches at the rear of the bay on an angle. There's only two butt joints holding everything together and supporting the plane. I doubted it would hold so I drilled the joints and added some .018 wire.

Got that done week before last. Then it was on to decaling. May be 1/72 but it still comes with a bunch of stencils and other decals. Took quite a while. As you can see, I did put the walk outlines on the stabilators and they didn't silver at all. Took my time, poked a few holes and applied solvent a couple times. Wish now I had trusted the other outlines. Oh well, next time.

Still have a few parts to finish painting. Wanted to prime the gear tonite but ran out of time. Still have to make a final decision on what colors to use on the exhaust nozzles.

Got the final coats of Future on this evening so first of the week it's on to weathering and detailing.

Took a little time last week to start trimming out parts for the next Tornado. A British GR.1.  It will be wraparound dark sea gray and dark green. The top sections of the wing are going to be a real pain, there's major sink marks all the way across about a third of the wing. Stabilators have big sink marks on the underside and the front fuselage sections have some good ones too. I may just buy another kit off ebay to replace the wing sections. Extra parts would be good anyway.

That's all for now...

Tony

Harshman!!!!!! 

Harshman II

I finally got a Academy 1/72 MIg-27 swing wing plane...  Maybe is time, I got to join this group build.

But I decide to have a crazy load for the Mig-27, making it into a multi-role fighter. Laser guided bomb, R-77 BVRAAM and Vympel AA missiles.. Is it possible for this group build?

Welcome to the party, Harshman.  A fine addition; we were lacking in Soviet swing wingers.  I've added your kit to the build list on page 1 and I'm sure we're all looking forward to following your build. 

Don

Bish

Harshman II:

 

 

Maybe I am interested in building a Mig-23 and will join later... Thanks pal!

 

Be nice if you can. And if you do i will switch my MiG 23 for a 27, we can have the pair then.

Hi pal, I finally got a Academy 1/72 MIg-27 swing wing plane...  Maybe is time, I got to join this group build.

But I decide to have a crazy load for the Mig-27, making it into a multi-role fighter. Laser guided bomb, R-77 BVRAAM and Vympel AA missiles.. Is it possible for this group build?

No joy tonite fellas. Spent most of the nite working on my daughter's computer. Darn virus'. I don't have many pics this time. Honest. Was going to shoot some more Future tonite so I could get on with weathering but that didn't happen either. Daughter comes first. Hopefully I can work on it this evening and get a few more pics.

Thanks for the compliment Kevin.

Tony

Wingman,  I don't think anyone will complain if you post a bunch of pics.  From what photos you have shared with us thus far, I am sure they will be great.    Your work thus far has been fantastic.

Wingman_kz

Sorry Don, I couldn't help but laugh. Remember the last time you said that?

Ah yes, I remember...   But having alot of photos is a luxury in Group Builds, so post away my friend.  You won't see me complaining about bandwidth...

Don

Sorry Don, I couldn't help but laugh. Remember the last time you said that? But yeh, it is time. I've taken some just haven't done the editing and uploading. If they don't get done tonite, tomorrow for sure. I've been a little distracted the last couple weeks, turns out I'm going back to school this fall. It's been a long time...

Kevin and Don, thanks for your opinions on the decals. See, the whole wingwalk outline was joined by clear film. I didn't figure there was any way that was going to lay down without silvering. There were several big blocks of clear film in the fuselage outline too. What threw me was the little outlines on top of the intakes. Just about all the other decals layed down fine but the carrier around those intake outlines didn't. And the paint was pretty smooth there. So, since the other outlines were on that same part of the sheet I figured they'd do the same. Kinda wish I'd tried them without cutting them up. Oh well. Unless I come up with something else I'll probably just leave them off and promise to do better next time.

Kevin, I think those engines look good. I like the burnt iron and drybrushing. I need to come up with something just a little more brown than the burnt iron for the nozzles on the Tornado.

Tony

macattack80

I did get the engines assembled.  As you can expect the fit wasn't that great.  I wasn't expecting it to be.  From the reviews I have read this was supposed to be the worst fit area of the entire kit. 

The fit wasn't as bad as I was expecting.....nothing a little putty and Zap-a-Gap couldn't fix.

Well now, that doesn't look too bad for fit.  Hope my set goes together as nicely.  Should get to them soon.

Wingman:  given your situation, first choice would be not to put on the decals.  Second choice would be to look for other decal sets that may have lines that you could use.  Masking or freehand painting would be more effort than its worth and stands a likely chance of not looking to your satisfaction when completed.

About time we see some recent photos, no?   ... 

Don

I did get the engines assembled.  As you can expect the fit wasn't that great.  I wasn't expecting it to be.  From the reviews I have read this was supposed to be the worst fit area of the entire kit. 

The fit wasn't as bad as I was expecting.....nothing a little putty and Zap-a-Gap couldn't fix.

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The seams down the sides of the engine bays went together without too much trouble.  No putty needed.

I painted the flameholders Testors Burnt Iron Metalizer then dry brushed aluminum.  I think they look OK.  The photos aren't that good.  Sorry.  The first pic is before the dry brushing and the second after the dry brushing.

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Wingman, If it was in 1/48 I would get new decals, as for 1/72 I would leave them all off unless they really added a killer look to the model.  I definetly would not attempt to mask and paint a line that narrow and I am not that steady with a liner brush to attempt to free hand it. 

If the decals provided broke apart on you I might consider getting aftermarket decals.  I would be a little worried if I replaced them with another set of the kit decals. 

These are just my opinions I am providing as you asked so nicely   I am sure it will look good either way judging by your progress pics.

Very nice work Don! That looks great.

Let me ask you guys a question. Or two. Suppose you destroyed the wingwalk and fuselage walk outline decals to one side of your build, what would you do? Would you a) try to mask and spray  b) freehand it with a brush  c) omit said decals? Or, another possiblity, can you order replacement parts from Revell Germany as you can from Revell?

These are narrow little lines in 1/72 and a couple sections of the fuselage outlines will be next to impossible to mask. I am terrible with a hairy brush so that's pretty iffy. I do have the same decals in red that I could attempt to apply again and use as a guide.

Most of the decals to this kit layed down well but I didn't trust these to do the same so I cut them into sections and trimmed away as much of the carrier as I could. To their credit I suppose, they are pretty delicate and once I trimmed to nothing but the stripes they just broke apart when applying. Oh well, live and learn and apply to the next one.

Tony

PS...Oh yeh, this was the first side so these decals aren't on the other side. Yet.

Holy Guacamole!!!!!!  Thats pretty sweet Don!!!.

1/24 scale spark plug wire is detail wire used for "wiring up" a model car engine.   What you ended up using is probably a lot cheaper and looks probably better anyway.  Once again, nice work.

macattack80

What do you plan to use for the wiring?  Might I suggest some 1/24 scale spark plug wire?

Hey Kevin, I'm probably showing my ignorance here, but what is 1/24 spark plug wire?  I ended up using lead fly tying leader wire that I got from Cabela's.  Comes in a pack with 6 spools of wire from 0.01 to 0.04 diam.  I like it because it is soft and flexible; easy to form, but care must be taken not to manipulate too much or it simply breaks.  For most of the wiring, I used 0.02 diam. and in hindsight I should have used smaller.  Nonetheless, I think that the launcher is a reasonable facsimile of the medusa-haired 1:1 version.

You can see a couple of places where I was a bit heavy handed with the CA.  But then again, these photos show the launcher at about 3-4X life size.  It's not really as bad as it looks here. Not to say that I can't work on my fine gluing skills...

The actuator wires coming from the rear are 0.01 diam wire. 

Finally, did some additional detail work on the attachment points themselves. 

Now I need a drink and then it's ready for some paint and washes.  This for me was a complex piece of scratch building, although none of the steps by themselves seemed that technically demanding.  Devil is in the detail and I still admire the guys who can do something like this cleanly, and get all the wiring taut and straight without glue balls.  That's all for tonight.

Don

Everything is looking good fellas! Fantastic! Can't wait to see the plumbing on the launcher Don, that's gonna be cool.

No pics tonite but I'm still plugging along. Shot some Future and have about half the decals on. Only thing left to paint is the main gear and tires. Had to do a  little drilling and wiring to make sure the gear stays together. I'll get an update soon.

Tony

Travis- Awsome looking Spark Vark! Really cool weathering.

Pordoi- Nice looking Bone. The bays look really good.

Macattack- I'm in awe of your scratch building. I hope I can get that good.

WOW!!!  That looks fantastic Don!!   It can be a model kit in itself.     What do you plan to use for the wiring?  Might I sugest some 1/24 scale spark plug wire?

A quick update on detailing the rotary dispenser; although it was 2 hours of work...  what can I say,.. I'm getting into it...  

Next up,  the wiring...

Don

Pordoi, I did dry fit the top half this morning.  The fit isn't too bad, relative to the fit of the kit thus far.  It looks like you can get a pretty good join on one side but will be a little overlap on the other.  Not a huge step but enough of one where it will require a bit of sanding.   Get some advil and prepare for "tennis elbow"    The aft area of the center section will require some putty....no real surprise there though.  All in all...nothing we can't handle or haven't handled yet.

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Travis, your F-111 is quite the dirty girl    Looks good.  I have messed up a good decal job masking myself.  It can be a little frustrating. 

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  That one f-111 that looks like she's been around the block a few times.  Looks like you're almost ready to claim a badge.

macattack80

Don, Looks like i am past the bomb bay frustration!!!  Time to keep building and find some more!!!    Thanks for the encouragement.  I am very motivated with this build as it is my first GB and I am indeed learning a lot.

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I guess I will finish up those engines then move to the forward fuselage.

Now that's a real doomsday machine.   Really, if you had issues with warped pieces, it doesn't show.  Have you dry fitted the top half of teh fuselage yet?  If so, how was the fit after all of the bays are installed?

Don

Travis, your F-111 is quite the dirty girl    Looks good.  I have messed up a good decal job masking myself.  It can be a little frustrating. 

Don, Looks like i am past the bomb bay frustration!!!  Time to keep building and find some more!!!    Thanks for the encouragement.  I am very motivated with this build as it is my first GB and I am indeed learning a lot.

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I guess I will finish up those engines then move to the forward fuselage.

Hey all,

Well I finally got some time back on the kit and took some update pics. I guess par for the course on this build I somehow ruined one of the better decals I put on while remasking the the canopy. I am going to try and fix it with a fine point red pen.......we'll see!

I got the decals on, did the wash using acrylic craft paint thinned in soapy water. I mixed burnt umber, midnight black, and white to get the good dirty grey.

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After a couple of "wash" cycles I went back over some of the lines with a sharp pencil to vary the colors.

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The kit has decals from the Super Scale Set, AMT, and Monogram. I took the ones that looked best and added to the look and finish.

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I went with some heavy wash in some areas to give depth. I plan on hitting the plane with another overcoat of Testot All purpose Dull Coat to knock everything down in sheen!

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What suprised me in my research for this build was how dirty the rear lower fusilage was. Most of the pics showed oily sooty streaks with lots of buidlup. I am guessing this is due to the fuel dump mechanism on the tail. I used Gunze Oil and Tamiya Smoke to get this effect. Agian it is a little heavy in an attempt not to lose too much when the Dull Coat is applied.

Thanks for looking. Hope to have some more pics soon. I need to clean the clear parts up and attach the canopy doors next.

Travis

pordoi

 

This is when I give it a rest for a few days and come back fresh.

Yeah, I can second that! I just finished up one of Italeri's older 1/48 scale P-47s. It was a frustrating build, warped, poor fit, lots of seams, you know, the usual things that make you wanna pull your hair out. So I'm kinda sittin' back for a couple days before starting something fresh. Its kind of a detox period. This way, I don't carry the same frustration or mistakes into my next build. So I haven't started the Tornado yet, but I hope to soon!

There are a lot of fine builds goin' on here so far. A couple of really nice looking Lancers. I've never built one myself, or seen one being built so this is a very cool treat for me. And there is some excellent scratch work to go with it!

macattack80

.... I know that my kit is all boogered up.  The warping is kinda bad.  Oh well.  I am learning a lot and having fun and that is the point.  Rant over. 

Kevin,

Well to be honest, it's hard to see the problems that you're having from the photos that you've posted, so you must be dealing with them pretty well .  It can get frustrating spending so much time and effort and perceiving to accomplish only a little. This is when I give it a rest for a few days and come back fresh.  If you're going through one of these phases, hang in there. What you've shown us so far looks really nice.

Don

Great work on the Cat and the Bones. They look great. Hope to start work on my cat in the next few weeks. Need to order some stuff for it.

Pordoi, thanks for your input.  I will probably just keep the .020 styrene on there I guess.  Nice work so far on your Bone.   The rotary launcher is looking quite the part.  You are very ambitious.   As for the SRAM color....I am not too sure why they painted the tail fins orange either.  Maybe higher visibility for loaders/handlers?  Either way they look kinda cool.  After seeing more and more of you actual model kit, I know that my kit is all boogered up.  The warping is kinda bad.  Oh well.  I am learning a lot and having fun and that is the point.  Rant over. 

Hey all,

I've been struggling with a cranky DSL modem and haven't been able to keep current.  Thanks for keeping the GB lively in my short absence.

eatthis:  the F-14 looks fine to me; a nice weathered gray.  Keep on going; you're off to a great start and may be the first to claim the F-14 badge who actually built an F-14.

oddmanrush:  Well, now that Bish has shown you the secret handshake, you're part of our crew.  I would have shown it to you personally, but then I would have had to kill you...   Top secret, you know...   but you catch on quickly.. mums the word.

macattack:  Looks like you and I are tacking the same components of the B1.  Nice painting of the SRAMs, although I wonder why the fins were painted orange.  Can't see any purpose and its not like someone on the receiving end would notice or care...  The 0,020 card looks fine for the vortex generators from your photos but I'm sure that the 0.010 would be fine also.  Whether it's accurate???  The 0.02 in 1/50 scale (well almost) would be 1" on the 1:1 aircraft.  From my photos, that may be a bit generous but certainly not something that warrants a re-do.  Your call.

And thanks for the advice on mounting the bays.  I've made some progress there as well.

I've gotten the rear landing gear bay and aft bomb bay assembled and glued into the fuselage.  The landing bay required some sanding of the support posts in the fuselage to fit but overall it was a relatively minor issue.  The aft gear bay fit with some small seams that were filled with thick CA. I then painted all of the joints black to highlight any areas that still needed work.  From the inside, here's what it looks like:

The fit of the bays was impressive; I guess that I was expecting to deal with gaps betwen the side walls and the fuselage, but nope...   Some pics from the outside showing the gear bay and aft bomb bay with an empty TMD mounted.  It will stay that way.  Another TMD in the center bomb bay will carry a full cohort of ten CBUs.

... and a closer shot of each of the bays showing some of the plumbing and scratch work that was added:

The other two bomb bays are still works in progress.  At the start, I purchased a set of 4 resin CBUs from shull24.com.  After receiving them, I made the decision to fill one bay completely with 10 CBUs and leave the other empty.  However, the resin bombs were a bit on the expensive side so I purchased the Hasegawa IDF weapons kit which supplies 6 CBUs.  Perfect eh?  Wrong!!   The Hasegawa CBUs are about 0.25" longer and greater in diameter than the shull24 resin bombs.  They wouldn't fit in the bomb bays...     So I bit the bullet and bought another 2 sets of the resin CBUs.  So that bay is on hold until they arrive and get painted.  The fore bomb bay will carry 4 2000 lb JDAMS mounted on a rotary dispenser.  I started modifying the kit rotary last night..

... to look a bit like the real thing...

Here's what I've gotten so far:

left side:

right side:

bottom:

The front end of the 1:1  rotary doesn't bevel like the kit part, so a short piece of 0.5" plastic tube was filed to fit over the kit rotary and glued into place.  The large circular end piece was scribed from plastic sheet usign a quarter as a template.  Two pieces were glued together, a center hole drilled out by successively larger drill bits until it fit over the flange in the kit part.  The edges of this were beveled by filing and "bolts" were added by punching holes with a sharp pointed dissecting tool.  Boxes and plates were constructed from rectangular plastic tubing or sheet, respectively.  The holes represent anchoring points for the spaghetti wiring that is present on the real thing.  We'll see how that goes. 

Overall, it's been a productive week; things have gone together and I felt like I moved towards completion of this beast, although clearly there's still alot to go.  BTW, the fit of the center fuselage to the fore cockpit looks horrendous.  I anticipate some real fun when these parts get joined.  Hint:  buy stock in anyone who manufactures sand paper.... 

Don