Old Man

Not sure, Sir. There are adhesives for putting down gold leaf, which I have seen modelers say they prefer for foiling, but the craft brands available here in the U.S. may not make it out there, either. Some of the larger hobby shops in Japan or Hong Kong or Australia might stock the Micro-Scale, and be able to mail order it. Years ago, people used furniture varnish for the purpose, but from reading I gather that that is pretty tricky, though it does work: the stuff is not sticky for a while, and then sets pretty quickly, so that a practiced knack is definitely necessary.

Happy to be of some assistance, Sir. A 'Hustler' in foil in 1/48 would be a sight to see....

Thank you, Sir! The steel wool treatment grew out of my desire to have the dull side of the foil exposed. The adhesive does not grip so well on the shiny side, so I tried roughing the shiny side up with steel wool, and found this did the trick, and let me put the adhesive to the originally shiny side successfully. I noticed that it also made the foil more flexible, or at least it seemed to me that after the foil treatment it went over things like blisters and strakes better. So I kept at it, and took to doing it on both sides. The stuff can certainly be used 'as is', but thinner is better. It

Thank you, Sir.

Thank you, Sir. Glad you liked it.

Glad you like it, Sir. I have no pictures that are that in-progress, but it putting the foil on is not that hard, though it takes practice. Basically you cut a piece to the approximate size you need (a little over-size), put it on the plastic, and burnish it down with a Q-Tip and toothpicks. Start at the center of the piece and work outwards (usually). If you get a bit of 'bubble', just prick it with the knife-point and press down again. You do have to be sure there is nothing on the surface, and that the surface is smooth, but I do not think it needs to be quite so mirror finish as the metal

Pretty much my period, Sir. I would be very happy to see this start up, and participate.

It's funny 'cause it's true, Sir.... "Stan Mack Funnies ... all dialogue guaranteed over-heard verbatim."

Thank you, Sir. I expect to have it done in a couple of weeks. There really is not that much left to do on it. It has been quite a bit of fun so far....

Excellent work, Sir! Wonderful subject, one a lot of people seem to have shed any memory of at all.

I join in the thanks to our host, Mr. Mikkel. This was a great idea, and a lot of fun. I have been wanting to do a Chilean Hawk for some time, and it was good to get off-center on it and actually do the thing.

Armor people might be able to help, too. There just isn't much over-lap in shapes between automobiles and airplanes. And you have to have most of the thing hollow, for the passenger compartment and 'under the hood'; usually in an airplane it hardly matters what is under the surface for just about the whole thing.

That is a bit out of my field, Sir. I expect you are going to have to look into vacu-forming, and carve everything out in bass-wood. I expect the engines are not that much different from aircraft engines where it comes to detailing. Lots of sizes of wire (look into beading wire at a craft store, and rip up lengths of electrical cord), and Plastruct or Evergreen rod and sheet in various sizes, are the basic materials. The saving grace of scratching detail is that, if you decide you don't like it, or you drop it, you can just chalk it up to experience and do it again. Have you looked into the

Here is an excellent primer to the subject, Sir: http://www.wwi-n-plastic.com/Book/harry/contents.htm It focuses on the use of plastic sheet, in 1/48 scale, but much can be adapted to other scales. Much does depend on the scale you build in, and of course, your subject. I do quite a bit of scratch-building, always in 1/72, and usually of biplanes of the WWI period, or a little later. What exactly is it you are setting out to build?

Thank you, Sir. Just for the memories, here is a picture of how the cowling started out....

Gracias, Senor! It was a good group build, and I am glad indeed of the extension we had.... http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showforum=253

This is a bit out of my usual run, but I have wanted to do one of these, and do it in bare metal, for a long time. I was hoping to get it done in time for the Fourth, and took a solid two-week rush at doing so, but could not quite manage it (in part because of the damned heat). However, here are a couple of pictures of how far I have gotten.... It will be finished as a machine of the 50th Reconnaissance Squadron at Hickam Field in the summer of 1941. I want to thank Mr. Aitken and Mr. Matsuoka for cuing me in to a genuine Pearl Harbor subject (the kit markings were spurious and only D-ty

Curtiss sold nearly as many 'Hawk' fighters abroad as it did to the U.S. Army and Navy combined. Chile's order for eight P-1A Hawks, followed by an order for eight P-1B Hawks, was the first substantial foreign order for fighter planes Curtiss received. This build is something between an extreme conversion and a scratch-build: it employs the wings of a Monogram P-6E kit, as well as that kit's interplane struts and a portion of its forward decking (much altered); the rest is scratch-built, save the spinner and wheels, pinched from the spares box. Decals are home-made. Wife worked wonders

Curtiss P--1A Hawk, Groupo de Aviacion No. 1, Alto Hospicio, Iquique, Chilean Air Force, 1929.

Finished under the wire, Gentlemen.... More pictures in the Finished thread above....

I have slowed down a bit on this, but am pretty near done. Painting, rigging, and decaling are complete, and aileron actuating struts have been applied. The best thing I can say about the Testor's decal material is that it is readily available. There was some bleed in some of the decals, even after a week's drying for the ink, and for the sealant coat. It was not immediate, but became apparent ask the decal settled in drying after placement. One was bad enough it had to be removed, but otherwise it could be dealt with by over-painting. I usually over-paint a bit anyway with these, as

Here is a good look at the radiator front. Wife has done wonders producing decals for me on this project (she is a true witch at photo-shop and manipulations). The national markings of the period had a different proportion than the modern ones, so some serious work was necessary. The tactical marking (or serial), and the Curtiss logo, have been applied. National markings will go on next week. The lacings are also her decal work. Here is a good look at those of the decals already applied.

Here is the assembly under a first coat of primer. Here is the model re-primered, after adding raised detail from strips of foil tape, adding radiator shutters, and landing gear. Here is a look at the landing gear, which is practically invisible at most angles on the model.

Here is most of the interior before the fuselage is closed. Gun breeches are tucked in under the fore-decking. Here is the thing pretty much assembled. The exhaust runs are from .75mm rod. The lower wings are filled at the top to make up for root fillets moulded into the kit fuselage pieces. The turtleback is a solid piece, filed to shape. The tail surfaces are .375mm sheet. The radiator tunnel is assembled on the model.

Here is a good look at the radiator front. Here is a good look at those of the decals already applied. And now we are up to where the last posted pictures were...