Vietnam Air War GB - Extended!

Hi Everyone,

I chopped some more on the fuselage!  The Aires cockpit that I have already completed includes the front instrument panel that is molded into the fuselage shown here:

 Here is the Aires part:

 And here is the fuselage chopped:

Ken 

Hi Everyone,

After measuring the opening in the wings for the auxiliary air intakes I realized that they were already the correct size.  So that meant I needed to move the boxes inboard.  That meant more cutting on the fuselage.  Since there wasn't very much remaining between the hole already cut and the edge, I simply removed the small strip all together:

 I also cut out a squared area in the inside of the wing where the boxes will mount so they will be flush:

 I mounted the boxes to the wing using tape to get an idea of how they are going to look:

 Here is a picture looking at an angle that you would be more apt to see the auxiliary air intakes from once the doors are mounted:

Next on the agenda is to start cutting and fitting the fuselage for the Aires cockpit!

Ken

troublemaker66

Looks good to me Ken!

Thanks Len!  I am thinking about adding some wire to represent hydraulic lines to better represent the real thing.

Ken

Looks good to me Ken!

Hi Everyone,

I have the hole enlarged enough in the other fuselage for the auxiliary air intake to fit through.  I went ahead and fit the pieces together so that I could get an idea of how it was shaping up.  Here is how it looks so far (nothing is glued):

I will need to enlarge the original openings in the wing on the outboard sides so that the inside rail is showing like the other two parallel ones are.  I will also have to thin the plastic in the wing so there isn't a gap showing.

Ken

professordeath

Ahh! Well that makes a ton for difference. I alway buy kits telling myself that I'm going to throw all the resin and photo etch at them I can, but never do. It takes me long enough to just get one finished OOB. Lol.

I know exactly what you mean!   

Ken

professordeath

It's looking good, Ken. Your attention and dedication to detail is inspiring. I just can't force myself to do all that kind of work knowing it will not really be seen. I guess it's all about the satisfaction of knowing its there.

Thanks Jimmy D. for the compliment!  I actually plan on suspending it from the ceiling when it is finished so this will be visible.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

After researching the Aires auxiliary air intakes, I found that the detail is not all that accurate.  In fact, they actually lack a lot of it.  So there is not a real correct side for how they are installed, just as long as the engine and bulkheads are in the correct orientation.  With that, I have one fuselage hole finished cut out:

I will work on the other side tomorrow.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

I got a late start tonight but made some progress.  I marked the location for the holes in the fuselage where the auxiliary air intake boxes should go and made the first cut:

 I also cut off the resin mold stubs from the boxes:

I also spent some time researching my "The Modern Phantom Guide:  The F-4 Phantom Exposed" to get more of an idea of how it should look when it is done.

Ken

I got the molded on doors cut off:

Tomorrow I will work on cutting out the holes in the fuselage to make room for the interior boxes.

Ken 

Hi Everyone,

Well here is tonight's project.  The Aires Auxiliary Air Intakes:

 You will notice in the instructions shown in the next picture that they show cutting off the original doors molded into the wings and mounting the interior behind the wing.  What they don't show is that the fuselage is behind the wing, which needs to also be cut out to allow room for the interior "box":

 In this next picture you can see the wing with the auxiliary air intakes loosely attached to the loosely fitted fuselage halves:

 In the next picture you can see the fuselage without the wing showing the plastic I need to cut for the interior "boxes" to poke through:

 Here is a picture of the actual resin pieces.  Once again, very high detail typical of most Aires products:

Ken 

Hi Everyone,

Tonight I was only able to spend a few minutes at the workbench.  I test fitted the Aires exhaust and it appears that it is going to fit without any need to modify anything.  So if I don't have any interruptions tomorrow the next thing will be to start cutting to fit the Resin Auxiliary Air Intakes.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

Now that I have the fuselage cut and ready to mount the intakes, it is time to start on the exhaust:

I washed the parts in the vinegar water solution to remove the mold release agents and began cutting off the resin mold stubs.  That is as far as I got for tonight.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

I finally got done with documenting the process on how to install those DMold seamless intakes.  I put in the Aircraft section since I thought more people could benefit from it there.  Here is the link:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/150529.aspx

Ken

Hi Enrico,

Very nice work!  Great job!   

Ken

Hi Stick......I completely agree with you........but often we reproduce  a war's  background in which we can see  questionable situations...... but ,I repeat,the truth is the truth....without moralism.Finally we are only modeller......war time modeller....Ciao and have a good day.Enrico.

P.S.....excusme if my grammar is defective!!

I have no problem with it myself Enrico. I like it. Certainly the sort of morale thing I agree with. War is a dirty, nasty, mean, ugly, business. And sometimes the truth of that is quite offensive.

Ciao Enrico ;-)

Hi Stik......I only would mean that the  word on the bomb I've copyied from a true foto finded on the net (story is story....).....only this....ciao Enrico.

Enrico, regarding your bomb graffiti  remember Col. Kurtz's final lines (not his dying words) in Apocalypse Now about "...we train young men...." More true words of irony have not been spoken. 

Ken, I have yet to attend an IPMS Chapter meeting where I did not enjoy myself thoroughly. Always fun (in a model geek sort of way)

Hi Everyone,

No work tonight at the workbench since tonight was our local chapter's IPMS meeting.  Another great meeting.  We have so much fun talking about models.

Ken

Hi Professordeath......but the story is story......(in that rare case of the loser....)...anyway I 've just removed the very evil picture....Amen!!Thanks for your attention and suggestion...,Enrico.

@Len:....thanks a lot.....you are...too good!!!Ciao from Italy,Enrico.

Italian Starfighter

Hi all........finally ended......not a simply kit......but it has its charm ....the charm of seventy's.......!!!!!Ciao from Italy,Enrico.

Hi all........finally ended......not a simply kit......but it has its charm ....the charm of seventy's.......!!!!!Ciao from Italy,Enrico.

Hi Everyone,

Very close to having the cutting done for the left seamless intake.  Stopping and taking pictures really does take up a lot of time!

Ken

Thanks Ken, we won`t be able to see anything under the IP once the canopy is on, Just get agravated doing all the work just to have to pull it out. 

Thanks Enrico, I will take a look at what you mentioned. I`m afraid alot of the detail will be lost once the glass goes on so maybe it won`t matter anyway...

Got a little more done, nothing picture worthy, glued the nose on and sanded all seams, also used the Novus plastic polish system on the canopy glass...lots of tiny scratches...then dipped everything in Future. I tried dry-fitting the windscreen and it seems like a perfect fit! I`ll take more pics after I make a bit more progress.

Len

Hi Everyone,

I had to get some other things done tonight that kept me away from the workbench until late.  So I did not get very much done.  I thought about how little the instructions with the DMold seamless intakes showed where to cut out the fuselage and how I could not find where anyone else had documented it.  So I decided that on the second fuselage I am going to document my work on it so that others can benefit from it.  So it is going to be a little longer to do it since I have to stop and take a lot of pictures, but I think it will help a lot of other people out.

Ken

Hi Enrico, thank you for the compliment!

Ken

Hi Len,

Real nice work detailing that cockpit.  I am very sorry to hear about the trouble you had with the rudder pedals.  But with the way the rest of the cockpit looks I doubt anyone is going to notice!

Ken

stikpusher

Enrico, that Hun is simply SUPERB! You are a master!

Ken, great work so far on the intakes there. I have to watch how you do this as I have never seen the process for using those before.

Thank you Stik!  I appreciate the compliment!

Ken

Hi Troublemaker66:good cockpit work.......when you'll glue windshield and port side check the sistem leverage from same picture:the istruction kit are incorret................Ciao Enrico.