French a/c group build 2012-13

VanceCrozier

Not sure if I dare look at this one for the GB or not, but I just ordered a late Christmas present...

Apparently I'm going for it!

Small parts count, minimal flash, really nice/fine details, a distinct lack of alignment pics etc. Plastic has an odd texture to it, feels gritty to the touch, but looks smooth, even after a warm soapy bath. I'm calling it "pre-primed" and hand-brushing metallics (aluminum, natural steel etc) as there are some things (ie top wing) that will have to be assembled out of sequence.

Nice little Czech-sized instruction booklet, colour call-outs are for Gunze though, I think. Acetate included for the "instrument panel sandwiches", and the windscreen. PE for IP, harness and other various bits, resin for the bulk of cockpit and a few external details, decals.

This'll give you 1/48 folks an idea of what I'm dealing with here! On the resin block at the bottom, 2nd from the right - the gunsight unit! One mis-fire on the resin, the oval support that sits behind the seat, just need to clean it up a little.

The "larger" IP sandwich.... after that shot I painted the back of the panel with silver so the show-thru areas would stand out without being too bright - but considering the size I'm dealing with, probably should have gone with white.


And THIS is the markings option I'll be going with. Of course, it was suggested to me by Agent 001 that I build the option that includes a black cat of the rudder.Yes, it really did have double-dots. My reading has shown the Spanish Civil War created some very loose regulations concerning this sort of thing.

Decided I'm not airbrushing this one, considering the bi-plane-edness of the thing. (although TECHNICALLY it's a "sesquiplane" according to sources...) Also contributing is the fact that some underside wing decals really need to go on before assembly for the machine that I'm building. So, I've started on the interior bits, which are now more gray than the last photos I shot. Should be assembling the cockpit this weekend, tiny little PE bits & all. Also hit the exterior surfaces with some good ol' Testors glass bottle aluminum. Mixed the (glass bottle) gloss green with white to tone it down, and started the outer wing panels. I actually hit that with a second coat after this pic, but you get the idea.



Trying to decide how much weathering to apply to this one. If I've got "the teams" right, it would have started with the Republicans, been captured by the Nationalists & THEN painted as I have it here. So I don't think it would have much weathering. Some faded paint I suppose from the Spanish climate...

Update! Kit instructions... following the map on the upper right left a LOT of space between the seat & instrument panel, and it looked like I was going to have some fit issues with the cocpit assembly, so I trimmed off the bottom of the instrument panel assembly & moved it closer.



Harnesses are BLOODY TINY!!! After a few test fits I decided to leave out the throttle lever & whatever little instrument cluster goes on the other side. I placed the siderails directly on the inside of the fuselage. Control stick added after this pic.



And this was the situation with the fuselage halves. The plastic is quite thick, so I don't think it was a warping issue. Cockpit was already a snug fit, so I decided I'd fill the areas after joining.



So - scrap sprue to the rescue, top and bottom.



And a little shim on the bottom.



Now ready for the fuselage stripe, and some filling around the cylinder head bulges - gaps created by the fuselage-halves issue I suppose. Looking back I probably should have tried to thin the inside of each half first. (yep, that's about all of the cockpit that can be seen!!!)



There - first use of the Tamiya panel-line highlighter. On small-scale stuff with fine details, I've started pre-washing the lines to make it easier to paint.



A quick look at the detail on the forward fuselage, verry nice!



And a quick look - this thing has a rather large upper wing...


And a problem area that I worked on last night. The ridges on the supports... they are sort of visible on some photos, but colour profiles seem to omit this detail. The sprue attachment points run right through the thin area on the edge... I tried to save the detail as I was cutting from the sprue but I quickly decided I could do more damage than good. So - rivet-counters beware - I've gotten rid of that ridge that may or may not actually be there! It'll look cleaner if nothing else.

ok Fellas,,, here's my F4U-7 completed...

Magnifique!! Love the striping on that machine Chief!

Progress - some more paint & started assembly...

The wing supports & connections are a little fiddy, but I should have this in time for my self-imposed GB deadline...

Theuns- That build is simply STUNNING! I have yet to brave NMF myself, but a build like that sure tempts me.

p38- That is probably the most colorful Corsair I've ever seen. Really makes it stand out.

REALLY impressed with the decals in the Azur kit, printed by AviPrint(?). Super-thin, i dipped them in warm water, they required no setting solution of any kind. Even snuggled down tight over the..... piece of cat hair that made its way onto the surface without my noticing?!?? Ah well, it's on the bottom, I can live with it.

Wing bottom:


Wing top:


Annnnnd started the prop. Need to add the darker-brown wood grain next.

ANyone know if there will be a French GB # 2 soon???

I have a 1/48 P-36 in FAF colors that needs to bee built asap LOL!

Theuns

I dunno, Vance hosted Sweedish, then French, I'm waiting to see what he has in store next!

French GB #2?!?!?  Sacré bleu!!!!  I hear rumblings of an RCAF group in here that I'm likely to get in on, but after that I'd be willing to head up another one of these odd-ball subject builds. And I have probably another 10 kits in the stash that would fall into the French realm as well.

RCAF huh? Sounds like it's time for me to go digging under the bed again. Although I may need to get some aftermarket decals...

lol, not surprising, but I'm already set! ;)

I've got a pair of 1/72 Sabres and a DH Vampire that would cover the theme.

Sorry Vance ,

I failed again to finish my builds for yet another GB .

I'm starting to give myself a bad image by not completing things , lucky for me everyone is quite mellow about who finishes and who doesn't . Other wise I probably would be excluded from joining in and tied to the fence post and whipped .

I better try a lot harder to finish my builds !

John .

Don't sweat it, John. I think I have failed to finish (or even start) twice as many group builds that I signed up for than I have actually completed. I think most of us here have, but we are trying to get better about it (promise!!)

Plus we all understand life happens. Heck, I'm normally gone half the year! Half the fun of these is the social interaction they bring anyway. So buck up, and let's build something!

Budd

Helo H-34

Sorry Vance ,

I failed again to finish my builds for yet another GB .

I'm starting to give myself a bad image by not completing things , lucky for me everyone is quite mellow about who finishes and who doesn't . Other wise I probably would be excluded from joining in and tied to the fence post and whipped .

I better try a lot harder to finish my builds !

John .

Good thing I can't find my flogging stick!!! ;)  The benefit of being the benevolent dictator of a group build is.... deadlines can be moved, including mine! I've got that Nieuport of mine ready for wings-to-fuselage assembly now, but still need to find some time WHEN I'M WIDE AWAKE to do it!

Go ahead & finish up that kit of yours, beyond the listed timeframe or not, would still love to see it.

Thank you kindly Vance ;

You truly are the most awesome "Benevolent FSM Dictator" on these forum pages , along with Stikpusher of course ....

I'll endeavour to finish my Sud Est H-34's .

John

Well I can't hold others to a standard higher than my own, can I??  Looking forward to the H34s

Cross your fingers folks, I'll be assembling the wings on my NiD52 tonight.

Hi Vance,

As always I've really enjoyed your GB. If there is a French #2, count me in already. I'm in the RCAF one too if I can just find that Chippy I want to build.

Cheers

Tony

taxtp

Hi Vance,

As always I've really enjoyed your GB. If there is a French #2, count me in already. I'm in the RCAF one too if I can just find that Chippy I want to build.

Cheers

Tony

Good to know Tony - #2 is very likely at some point as I have another 1/2 dozen French machines in my stash!

Alright, finally contracted one of those 3-armed Rhesus monkeys to help me with the assembly of the wings etc. Shallow attachment points, lots of "glue, hold, brace, let it set, back it up with CA later" going on here. Makes for slow going, but here we are.

I attached the lower mini-wing to the fuselage with two braces. Then I attached the "winglets" to the sides of the fuselage, butt-joins that are so thin I decided that using brass rod to reinforce... could cause more problems than they solved. THEN I ran those angled supports down thru the winglets & attached to the mini-wing.




As that was setting, I drilled out the upper wing attachment points so I could get a decent plastic-to-plastic join. Then I crossed my fingers, hoping that these will actually line up with the angled supports....


ANNNNND they did! (Thank you AZUR!!!) And again, lots of glue, rest, reinforce going on here. I actually laid the fuselage structure upside-down on the wing, lined up the attachment points & hit it with Tamiya Extra Thin cement, ran right in & made a great join. Then I added the weight of one "toonie" to help it settle into place. I would have preferred a little more, but everything else kept sliding off.




Annnnd just before packing up last night:

I can't say it's good looking Vance, but it's looking good.

cheers

Tony

taxtp

I can't say it's good looking Vance, but it's looking good.

cheers

Tony

HA!! Don't you know it, I doubt this machine won any beauty contests!

Pre-inspection, inspection. (Canadian beurocracy at work)



Wheels on, boarding step on, propeller dry-fitted, still need to trim the acetate for the windscreen, touchups tonight, hopefully.

Le Meouw !  Love the Agent Pics.. ! and cool builds !

Cat looks hungry. I think that thing better take off soon.

All decals on now. Not surprisingly the decals on the curved fuselage were a little more troublesome than those on the wing surfaces. I still can't get over how freakin' thin these things are, and ZERO decal solution. (to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if solvents would simply melt these things) The only problem I couldn't fix up was the 11 on the starboard side, got a little fold-under that I couldn't fix without risking the rest of the decal. Did a little touchup with a paintbrush. Some weathering next. Shot it with about 2 seconds worth of rattle-can dullcoat... then it crapped out on me.

Agent 001 approves of the tail markings.

The home stretch. Hoping a little weathering will blend in the not-so-perfect silver. That stuff was STILL tacky to the touch when I applied the Future? 2 weeks later???

et voila!

And my traditional pose, with my little buddy Fuji:


I see some spots that apparently had too much dust-weathering added. Need to do a couple of touchups today, always seems to be the case now that I'm photographing this stuff.










She's not quite square... :(


A little propeller blade work..


Kinda surprised at how LARGE the main wing is on this beast, had to have been a little awkward to deal with on the ground.

Congratulations on an excellent and interesting model Vance. I know that thing was a challenging build, and once again you've turned it into a little masterpiece.

I'm looking forward to your next GB, whatever that is.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks Tony! Yep, a challenging little build. All kinds of resin/PE for the cockpit, small parts count for the basic structure, then allllll that alignment fun with the wings & support structure! Certainly some things I'd do differently a second time, but I've learned a little along the way.

Vance that is really cool! Looks great!