Vietnam Air War GB - Extended!

"Gentleman, we can rebuild him. Make him better than he was before..."

This is looking like it is gonna be an impressive piece of work once it is finished.

stikpusher

"Gentleman, we can rebuild him. Make him better than he was before..."

This is looking like it is gonna be an impressive piece of work once it is finished.

Thank you Stik.  I think I am about done with the "removing" of plastic except for any final fitting adjustments.  So now I can move to the "assembly" stage where I can finally see this thing come together! 

Ken

I salute to all that served in our country's military and give thanks on this day, Veteran's Day.   

Ken

Photo update MiG-17 Cockpit and power plant. Landing gear and fuselage next.

Nice work Mike!!  Very good detail paint work on the cockpit!!     

Ken

Hi Everyone,

You may have noticed that I have not posted any progress on my build for a few days.  The weather was really nice here so I took advantage of it and got some work done outside.  Today the weather returned back to cold so I am back at the workbench.

I took pictures but it is late and I do not want to spend the time to post them tonight.  I will post them tomorrow.  The first thing I worked on was the main wheel bays.  The Aires resin pieces are a lot taller than the molded in parts they are replacing, at least as they come out of the box.  First I filed down the top until I could start to see light through the part.  Then I filed the corners down at 45 degree angles so that when the top wing is laid over them it gives as much clearance as possible.  It is going to take some work to make it all fit.

The next thing I worked on was the avionics bay.  I started to put it into the hole that I had previously cut out and the super glue let go.  I will never use super glue again on resin.  It is worthless.  I will only use epoxy.  Unfortunately the only epoxy I had on hand was some super long setup time stuff.  So off to the store I went.  That pretty well finished off my evening.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

Here are the pictures that I promised last night.  In this picture you can see the difference in height from the original wheel well and the new Aires resin piece.  You can see the part of the left original wheel well in the left side of the picture.  That is the air brakes directly behind the wheel wells.

 Here is a closer look at the Aires piece before I started work on it:

 Here is what it looke like after I ground it down as small as I could:

 Another view:

 And here is a picture of the other piece:

I mixed up some epoxy and glued the avionics bay back together.  Hopefully it will hold together so I can get started on the fuselage tomorrow.

Ken

professordeath

It is looking good, Ken. The weather here in Southeast Texas is starting to do the opposite. Its getting cool so I am looking forward to some yearly yard overhauls to prepare for my holiday light explosion. I also need to clean out my garage which is something you will die doing in the Houston summers.

I'm beginning to hate superglue for anything but gap filling. I now use epoxy for my gear parts and weapons since they usually end up popping off with CA.

loving this build!

Thank you Jimmy D.!  I totally agree with you about using CA.  It is pretty worthless.  Another builder told me about another product that works pretty good on photo-etch that I have started using.  It is called "Gator's Grip".

Enjoy your cooler weather down there in Texas!  By the way, I was born in while my Dad was stationed at Amarillo Air Force Base.  We lived there for a few years then we were stationed at Randolph Air Force Base for a few years after that.  I wish I still lived there in Texas.  I hate the cold!

Ken

Hi Everyone,

Well the epoxy held and very well.  I did some filing and several fitting tests and no problems!  Here is a picture before I did the final filing.  You can see the panel rail is uneven against the fuselage:

 And here it is after I straightened it up:

 Well after all that work, I cut out the photo-etch panel rail (which came from the same Verlinden kit) and laid it on top and got a surprise.  It does not exactly match.  It is close, but not close enough:

Which means I have to do some more custom work to make this look right.  And I am going to make this look right.  What I think my plan of attack will be is to glue (epoxy of course!) the avionics panel in place first.  Then cut the fuselage just enough for the photo-etch piece to lay flat on top.  Then with the photo-etch piece out of the way, fill in the areas that need built back up with epoxy and square it off with a file.

Ken

professordeath

Ewwww....good luck with that. I know you will get it worked out for sure, but it is going to be some work. Let me ask you...have you used epoxy to fill before? My understanding is that it is really hard to sand and smooth. Never tried it myself, but I know the stuff is pretty hard. Just a thought.

I keep hearing about Gator Grip.....I need to try some for sure. I actually like the gel CA by Loctite. It works pretty good for photo etch and small stuff, but I've had no luck with any CA for landing gear, weapons and such...the slightest knock and they shear off.

Hi Jimmy D.,

That is a good point about using epoxy for fill.  This is going to be a tight spot to work in so it would probably be better to use putty.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!  I have been busy with a lot of other things instead of modeling but have finally got back to the bench.  I had the cockpit pretty much done except for the final assembly so that is what I am working on now.

In this first picture is the rear cockpit's front panel with the resin mold stub still attached:

 And here is the cockpit where it is to be installed:

Here is the panel with the resin mold stub removed:

And here is the panel from behind:

It took some filing to get it to fit flush.  Here it is epoxied in place:

Tomorrow when the epoxy is completely set, I will file the sides flush with the cockpit sides, then epoxy the rear scope in place.

Ken

I wish I could post some new pictures of my F-8 build but I'm just waiting until I get the AM Zuni rocket tubes for it. other than that it's almost done.

John

I have finished the Monogram's F-105D. Straight from the box an earlier post showed the build process.

The kill markings are from WWII when Col. Douglas flew a P-47 in the ETO. That is the main reason I chose them. They came with the kit and wanted to crumble when I strarted putting them on. Needless to say they were the hardest part of the build.  Comments welcome.

S.O.M.M., Cockpit and IP look great!

MKelley , Nice job on the Thud! I have the D and G kits somewhere in my disaster of a house. Seeing all this excellent work is making me crave modeling....have alot of my salvaged stuff at the rental, just gonna take a while to sort through it...basically had to grab as much as I could and chuck it into totes...have no organization whatsoever at the moment. Working 12/7`s ain`t helping either...except for when the time comes for buying replacement supplies....

It went together with little trouble. This is the 3rd or 4th one that I have finished. One of these days I am going to go whole hog with aftermarket goodies and see what I really can do with the kit. Thanks for kind words everyone.

troublemaker66

S.O.M.M., Cockpit and IP look great!

MKelley , Nice job on the Thud! I have the D and G kits somewhere in my disaster of a house. Seeing all this excellent work is making me crave modeling....have alot of my salvaged stuff at the rental, just gonna take a while to sort through it...basically had to grab as much as I could and chuck it into totes...have no organization whatsoever at the moment. Working 12/7`s ain`t helping either...except for when the time comes for buying replacement supplies....

Hi Len,

Thank you for the compliments!  I have not heard from you for a while.  Am I understanding you correctly, you had to evacuate your house?  Did you get hit by Sandy?

Ken

professordeath

The Phantom office looks excellent SOMM!

I love that Thud. Looks like that kit went together nicely.

Hi Jimmy D., thank you for the compliment!  I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

 

 

Hi Len,

Thank you for the compliments!  I have not heard from you for a while.  Am I understanding you correctly, you had to evacuate your house?  Did you get hit by Sandy?

Ken

My flood company sent me an advance but didn`t tell me I had to send the check to the mortgage company and have them sign it before I could deposit it. I have my builder waiting to go but we have to play these games...very sad and frustrating. Take it easy Ken!

Len

troublemaker66

Son Of Medicine Man

 

 

Hi Len,

Thank you for the compliments!  I have not heard from you for a while.  Am I understanding you correctly, you had to evacuate your house?  Did you get hit by Sandy?

Ken

Yep..hit hard. Lost my 1st floor and the house is uninhabitable for the time being. We are renting a house which FEMA is paying for, thank goodness. I`m getting quite an education on the insurance payout process...they don`t want to pay out...lol.

My flood company sent me an advance but didn`t tell me I had to send the check to the mortgage company and have them sign it before I could deposit it. I have my builder waiting to go but we have to play these games...very sad and frustrating. Take it easy Ken!

Len

Wow, oh my gosh!  That is terrible Len!  I am so sorry man!  I hope your family is okay?  What a way to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas.  At least your still alive!  I am glad of that!

Wow, your whole 1st floor!  I just can't imagine what that must feel like.  I hope your life gets back to normal soon my friend.  Please keep us informed on what is going on.

Ken

Thanks Guys! It took a little while but we`re settled in at the rental....waaay smaller than our house but,being everything else was scarfed up and FEMA was sending people 3hrs away from here  to live, we`re very lucky. My wife could make a refridgerator box "homey"...lol. Things are slowing down at work a bit...may be back to regular 8hr days soon. I`ll be able to sift through the stuff I salvaged...think I have all my paints and airbrushes...just a total mess. If we ever flood again I`m buying a big RV and living on top of a mountain....

Hey Len,  sorry to hear about the damage to your home.  Hope you are back to normal quickly and back to the work bench in short order!

troublemaker66

If we ever flood again I`m buying a big RV and living on top of a mountain...

You could come down here with us!  The last time I seen rain was.....well, never.  Its over 100F though,  I love it!  Something youll have to get use to.  (right now its 54F and I am freezing! Jesus!!!)

Right now it's 27F here, gonna get up to 31F  prime weather for hiding in the basement working on models,  just stinks when I have to go out to the unheated shop to search my stash.  LoL

Tal Afar Dave

Hey Len,  sorry to hear about the damage to your home.  Hope you are back to normal quickly and back to the work bench in short order!

Ripcord

troublemaker66

If we ever flood again I`m buying a big RV and living on top of a mountain...

You could come down here with us!  The last time I seen rain was.....well, never.  Its over 100F though,  I love it!  Something youll have to get use to.  (right now its 54F and I am freezing! Jesus!!!)

falconmod

Right now it's 27F here, gonna get up to 31F  prime weather for hiding in the basement working on models,  just stinks when I have to go out to the unheated shop to search my stash.  LoL

professordeath

Ripcord

troublemaker66

If we ever flood again I`m buying a big RV and living on top of a mountain...

You could come down here with us!  The last time I seen rain was.....well, never.  Its over 100F though,  I love it!  Something youll have to get use to.  (right now its 54F and I am freezing! Jesus!!!)

Lol...the temometer hit the high 50s for the first time here in Houston a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoy going out in shorts and seeing all the dorks in their winter gear....dressed like they like in Wisconsin or something. It's hilarious. 

Hi Everyone,

A little more progress.

In this first picture, you can see how the sides of the front panel to the rear cockpit are hanging over the side:

And here is the other side:

Here is how it looked after I filed it down flush with the rest of the cockpit:

 And once again the other side:

 Next step was to work on the scope.  It is shown here still attached to the resin mold base.  The scope is on the far right and the hood for it is on the far left:

 Here is a shot of the first test fitting of the scope.  As you can see it is sticking out way too far according to my reference photos.  So I had to file down the backside and keep test fitting it until it looked right.

 Next I epoxied the hood onto the scope:

Tomorrow when the epoxy is set, I will do the final touch up on the paint then it will be ready to epoxy into the cockpit.

Ken

Wow...found this on page 3...? Anyway, I actually got to do some building today, first time since the flood! I had this GB on my mind and , since I`m not sure if all the parts to my Mohawk are there, I started an O-2A Skymaster FAC, out of Bien Hoa AB in `69. I took some pics that`ll be posted soon. It`s the Testor`s kit and the fit seems pretty darn good so far. There will be no straying from this kit because I`m using the kitchen table in our rental home as my bench...one kit at a time...lol. Just feels good to be building. I`ve also been hand-painting everything so far, my airbrush is in the garage and I`m too lazy to run back and forth. The major part of the exterior will be airbrushed though...nothing like the smooth finish from an A/B.

I will inventory the Mohawk kit asap, it was going so well and such a nice kit that I don`t want to give up on it.

Len

troublemaker66

Wow...found this on page 3...? Anyway, I actually got to do some building today, first time since the flood! I had this GB on my mind and , since I`m not sure if all the parts to my Mohawk are there, I started an O-2A Skymaster FAC, out of Bien Hoa AB in `69. I took some pics that`ll be posted soon. It`s the Testor`s kit and the fit seems pretty darn good so far. There will be no straying from this kit because I`m using the kitchen table in our rental home as my bench...one kit at a time...lol. Just feels good to be building. I`ve also been hand-painting everything so far, my airbrush is in the garage and I`m too lazy to run back and forth. The major part of the exterior will be airbrushed though...nothing like the smooth finish from an A/B.

I will inventory the Mohawk kit asap, it was going so well and such a nice kit that I don`t want to give up on it.

Len

Good to hear from you again Len!  I haven't been posting anything of late because my Mom just had surgery a week ago Friday.  She is just getting back to the point where she doesn't need as much help and I can start to relax and get back to my workbench.  She lives alone and I am the only one that takes care of her.

Ken