Spanish Civil War GB.

Scott! did I hear that your next one will be a snap tight?  wow, the glue got to you, or maybe it was the resin dust! 

Seriously though Scott your progress looks great!, wish I could say the same.

razordws wrote:

Sounds like a lot of work Scott but it looks like progress is being made.

Just when I thought the worst was over... LOL 

Actually, it's not too bad.  This is my first resin/pe/styrene kit so I'm learning as I go.  The next one will be a snap, relatively speaking. 

Looks like you're winning the war Scott.  Good luck with the cowl, it's a bit tricky to get everything lined up & fitted properly.

Regards,  Rick

whew, finally got the other wing on. 

Those resin gear wells were a bit cranky, they're not exactly shaped perfectly to fit in the wings.  If I had to do it all over again I would have done a bit of sanding/trimming on the front side of them as well to get them to be a little more flush against the inside of the wing.  I think that would have gained me a little extra space, although you can't tell at all now that the wings are together.

I will have a bit of seam work to do at the wing roots, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I'm going to get to work on the nose sub-assemblies now as I have another hour before my lovely wife gets home. 

Sweet mother of pearl!  I got the resin wheel wells glued in with super glue.... then went to glue the wings on.  Man, they needed more sanding.  These definately require a bit of work.  The left wing is on and clamped.  Right wing goes on later this evening.  Whew!

Time for a steak and some red wine!! 

Know exactly what you mean Scott.  I agree, if the resin becomes translucent, leave it alone.  I was able to thin the upper wing enough to get a good join without breaking through, so I assume you will be able to as well.

Regards,  Rick

Thanks Rick, I'm just a little worried about sanding too far through the wing, so I think I'm going to use sanding sticks from this point forward and just slowly thin the area above the wheel wells.

On the wheel wells themselves I managed to get the backing pretty thin.  I used my dremel to grind away the major stuff, then the sanding sticks to thin them to the point where I could easily see light passing through them when I held them up.  They're pretty thin so I don't think I can get away with thinning those further.  I should have enough room to play with on the upper wing though, just need to be careful.  I need to sand away a millimeter or maybe just a tad more, so it's going to be cutting it close, which I know you're aware of.   

Looks like some good progress Scott.

Regards,  Rick

I managed to make a bit more progress.  The lower half of the wing has been attached to the fuselage.  I had to do a little cleanup around the edges as these Classic Airframes kits tend to have a ridge along their edges that needs to be scraped or sanded to make the parts flat so they'll butt up flush against each other. 

I started thinning the upper wing halves where the wheel wells go, and after dry fitting noticed I need to thin about another millimeter and a half.  I'm getting a bit tired so I figured I'd better finish that in the morning.

Ya, I really want to build the CR.32, so I'll probably just build it as a side project once the replacement nose arrives.  I think I finally have enough skills to be able to do the CR.32 justice. 

I've been thinking.... which is making my head hurt.  I may finish this Bf109D as a D-1 instead of trying to convert it to a late B (there are a lot of little things I'd need to correct, such as the joystick... it needs to be one of those kind with the loop on top, as well as many other minor details with hatches, panel lines etc.  I don't want to do a "fake" B, if that makes any sense, for my whole 109 collection). 

I need a decent D in the collection anyway.  When I was at my LHS last week I was going through their decal sets (they have a ton!) and I remembered seeing a decal set for a Bf109D-1 flown by Gotthardt Handrick.  If they still have it I think I'll snag that tomorrow and go with that scheme.  His claim to fame was having won a gold medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, then he became a pilot in the Condor legion and later the Luftwaffe.  He had really unique markings with the Olympic rings on the spinner, and a cool looking "H" on the side. 

As I side note, I'll probably build my Bf109A kit as Staege's, unless I can get my hands on the 1/48 Hobbycraft B.... if I can pull that off I'll build the A as a V4.  Ok, it's official, my head really hurts now.   

Yeah,  makes sense, it's just that even 15 or 30 mins here and ther are hard to come by!

and not mention my desk and supplies are buried right now.

About your CR.42, keep at it dude, I'd love to see it!  I'm going to plug away at my Bf-109b.  There is a contest in June that I'd like to have it done for.  I think I can get finish it by then (fingers crossed)

I haven't received my replacement nose in the mail yet for the CR.32, and given that this GB is over in a few days I'm going to put it back on the shelf and save it for another time.

I am still slogging away on the Bf109. 

jboutin wrote:

Scott, sound like a good plan, maybe I should try it.  Right now I wait for a good chunk then spend most of the time dry-fitting/planning/test fitting.

I used to do that, and it would take me months to complete my projects.  It's amazing how just a little time here, a little time there all adds up.  I'm up to one to two completed models per month now.    mostly....

I totally changed my modeling philosophy, and it seems to be working.  I used to wait until I had a bunch of time (an hour or more) before I'd even think about doing some work on the models.  Now I just do what I can, 15 minutes here, 5 minutes there, 2 hours the next day.  Seems to be working as I'm able to keep these projects moving, and still spend time with my wife and kids, and get some things done around the house.

Jay, glad to here you're making some progress on the home renovations, and taking care of your family, that's the most important thing. 

Not much has happened on the Bf109 the past day or two, I've been busy putting the finishing touches on my P-40E for the CBI build.  It's almost finished, just need to add the landing gear, exhaust, flat coat it and attach the canopy and lights.

The Bf109's progress should accelerate hugely in a couple of days when I'm done with the P-40E.  Just need to get those ailerons fabricated so at least the wings will be 109B wings, then get the cowl and tail plane goodies assembled.  Then it's off to the spray booth.  I can't wait to see how the splinter scheme is going to look.    If all goes according to plan, I should be able to start spraying this puppy on Saturday or Sunday. 

Sounds wonderful Jay.  Hope all gets back to normal soon.  Just make sure your models are well out of reach for any would be 4 year old pilots!  vvrrrroooommmmm!!!  

Solid, look forward to seeing your future builds.

Scott, coming along nicely.  CA can be scarey at times.  Glad you saved it.

Wow, scott, looking good. Where do you find the time to work on your builds?  I will keep plugging away once the bench is cleared ( there's boxes on top of boxes on boxes in the spare room)

The painting went very well, it looks fab.  We painted the stair well over a year ago and we decided to continue with the same colour into the rumpus room.  The trim looks absolutely wonderful too! We also moved the furnature to the edges and man does it open up the room!  Now we just have to put all the boxes away back on the shelves and stuff.  It is a little scary with my wife opening a day home but I think the benefits totally outweight the risks.  She gets to raise our son, make some money and we can claim a certain percentage of our mortgage and other house expenses come tax time, which reminds me, I have to get on it soon  Here in Canada, April 30 is the deadline!

I'll keep you all posted as I get stuff done (bf-109b stuff).  Sorry about not finishing on time.

 Hi Guys....

 I thought I would have time to work on Franco´s DH-89 but no way, so I will just finish this build with the SM-81....Franco will have to wait a little!!!

See you all in another build.........................

Scott,  That's why I use Quick-Set Epoxy for installing cockpit details.  It drys fast & secure, but gives enough time for manipulation to get everything properly aligned.  CA can result in disaster, like the one you narrowly avoided.

Regards,  Rick

Man, if I didn't know any better, I'd almost say the IP and cockpit aren't supposed to fit into this fuselage, almost like it belongs in another kit!  

I almost had another disaster, I put the CA glue on the back of the right side panel, went to plop it in place and while doing that it just happened to make contact with the fuselage when it was almost all the way in, but was very crooked.... and the glue bonded instantly!  Yikes! 

I was lucky enough to be able to pry it off with an X-acto knife and quickly get it into place .  I had to do a bit more trimming on the back of the cockpit tub to get it in there.  It's not pretty, but it's in.   

It may look a little rough where the resin parts make contact with the plastic, but none of that will be seen once the canopy parts are installed, thankfully. 

I think what made the cockpit install so difficult was the fact that somehow I didn't get the IP trimmed properly, so it threw the rest of the resin parts slightly out of whack as ultimately, there is very little room for error as the tolerances are very tight.

Learned some great lessons on this build, which will make building my Bf109A and the other Bf109D much easier.  But that's ok, as I am trying to push my skills and learn new things.  I've learned an aweful lot about resin, PE and limited run kits! 

Bf109B update - The fuselage is together, and the IP has been installed.  Talk about a frustrating experience, the IP just didn't want to go where it was supposed to , and it's a very fine line between getting it situated just right or having it interfere with the windscreen.  I'm glad that on a whim I test fitted the windscreen right after I put the IP in.  The way I had it set up it would have prevented the windscreen from seating all the way down, and would have forced it to stick up at least a millimeter, which would have been very noticable.  Fortunately, I was able to reposition it.  It was odd though, no matter how I sanded and trimmed the IP, it just seemed to make the fit worse, if that's possible.  Good learning experience as this is my first non-Tamiya/Hasegawa airplane kit.

All I can say with this kit is dry fit, dry fit, dry fit.  I'm going to pop the main cockpit assembly in tomorrow.  I think I've earned myself some chill time in front of the TV. 

On another note, this CR.32 kit is pretty cool.  I love the pre-painted photo etch, very nice touch.

I picked up some super glue from the hobby store (among other things ).  I think I've got the resin fuselage components trummed to fit into the fuselage now.  Thinning the backsides of the cockpit sidewalls really paid off.  I had to do a bit of sanding on the back upper parts of the cockpit, back where the storage compartment is as it was just a hair too wide to be able to solidly join the fuselage halves together there.  I'll do one last dry fit before I glue it all in.

I have to go play IT support for our oldest son now, he needs some help with his wireless network, so I'll glue everything in after that.  I should have some pics later today. 

dry fit.... fiddle..... pick stuff up off the floor ... dry fit.... fiddle some more..... tape fuselage together..... dry fit.... sand...... dry fit.... pick more stuff up off the floor..... sand... dry fit......  reach for super glue.....   look around for superglue....  tear model area apart looking for super glue.... tear the entire den apart looking for super glue..... think about strangling the first living thing that comes into view (the cats are wisely staying out of my den at this point ).

Where the heck is my super glue?!?  I just used it last night!

hmmm suspects....... it's either the housekeeper or the damned cats.  My money is riding on the cats

here kitty kitty kitty.... here kitty kitty..... 

Maybe I'd be better served by carrying out some frustration cutting and sanding the resin parts for the CR.32 in stead! 

I can get some super glue tomorrow......

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Scott, tell your Wife that Charity begins at Home . Regards,  Rick

I like your thinking Rick! 

Scott, tell your Wife that Charity begins at Home .

Regards,  Rick

Thanks Dave. 

I've been reviewing a few photos of the oxygen tank/cover and I think I'm going to do a black oil wash to darken the inside of those holes. 

I was busy decaling my P-40 last night, so I'm planning on installing the 109 cockpit this evening, although my wife is trying to talk me into going to a charity event tonight.