Laurent Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Hi. I just started working on the kit. I'm not really fond of that plane (I prefer the Su-11 on which I'd like to represent the riveting) and I do not intend to detail it. The idea is to see the problems I may encounter while building Amodel kits. The first though that comes to mind is that the kit should not be difficult to build if the builder is methodical while building it. Amodel kits are of the shortrun type and the panel lines are finely recessed. In order to avoid as much as possible having to rescribe panel lines after horrible sanding sessions, dry fitting and parts preparation is absolutely mendatory. I just checked the fit of the major parts such as wing halves, fin halves and fuselage halves. Wing and fin halves are problematic because they are too thick. In order to avoid big steps between the fixed (wings, fin) and mobile surfaces (rudder, ailerons, flaps), plastic has to be sanded inside the parts with coarse grain sandpaper. Wheel well detailing must be removed in some areas so that the upper lower wing halves can be glued together properly. I may start gluing things tomorrow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DFN Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 J'attends le début avec impatience !!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastijan Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 I've built Kopro's Su-9 2 years ago and experienced no fit problems... It might be a better choice than Amodel, but since you're using it as a testbed... I'll start building Amodel's Su-11 in a month or so, so I'll keep you posted of the troublesome parts of the build... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted September 10, 2007 Author Share Posted September 10, 2007 (edited) I've built Kopro's Su-9 2 years ago and experienced no fit problems... It might be a better choice than Amodel, but since you're using it as a testbed... AFAIK, Kopro's Su-9 was a rebox of the Maquette/Cooperativa/MSV Moldova/whatever kit. I had it some time ago and I recall that the detailing was quite poorer (including the surface detailing). Here's Amodel's cockpit (twin seater tub because most parts are common to the Su-9U kit). Seat and stick not glued yet of course. The tub seems to fit the fuselage without any serious problems apparently. Beware: The seat side parts are very thin and they break easily. The front wheel well is hardly detailed but it exists (not blanking) The wing wheel wells are better detailed... no the lower wing half hasn't been pasted yet (but the landing light is ) :) Edited September 10, 2007 by Laurent Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mist Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 That tub outta be fun to paint Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 Here's the cockpit. The greenish color is because of poor lighting conditions when taking the pictures. I'll fill up the rear cockpit with plasticine to weightened the nose Cockpit pictures can be found in the Russian magazine M-Hobby issue #2 () Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mist Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 How are the eyes after that tub? :blink: Looking good man. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Su-34 Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Looks nice, Laurent!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted October 1, 2007 Author Share Posted October 1, 2007 (edited) Fuselage closed, wings and stabilators glued. No pics yet but only a few comments while the problems encountered are still fresh in my mind. - the seats provided by Amodel seem to be of the correct type for at least one plane. They don't match the drawings found in Zlinek, M-Hobby magazines but they match the cockpit pictures found in M-Hobby #2 - the cockpit/front wheel well block will not fit the fuselage unless the top and bottom edges are sanded to match the curvature of the the inside of the fuselage - grooves have to be made inside the fuselage halves so that the instrument panel can fit in it - Amodel has made holes inside the fuselage to indicate where the center body should be glued. The center body is held by four tabs (2 per fuselage halves) but the problem is that they are too short. I filled up the positionning holes (with plastic melted in MEK) so that the center body is correctly centered inside the intake - painting the inlet duct inside fuselage is hardly necessary since nothing of it can be seen once the dielectric radome is in place - as Sebastijan noted in his Su-11, the fit of the fin is poor; I've removed the locating tab, sanded the fin base so that it matches the fuselage curvature but also the front of it (otherwise, the rear of the fin base would be hanging over the jet exhaust); the fin looks too thick to my eye but it's difficult to correct - the Su-9 wings are very thick at the wing roots and I had to insert spacers between the wing halves so that they fit more or less the locating areas engraved on the fuselage halves Edited October 1, 2007 by Laurent Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 Slowly getting along... last week... Now... I've used scotch tape to protect the panel line as much as possible along the fuselage seam then applied some Gunze Surfacer. Melted plastic in MEK is used for the wings-fuselage seams, fin-fuselage seam and wings leading edges. Masking done with an analog to Tamiya Masking tape (the usual scotch tape probably wouldn't like MEK). Still some puttying and sanding to be done... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Su-34 Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 You're not using an airbrush? :blink: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted October 7, 2007 Author Share Posted October 7, 2007 Since the canopy will be closed, not for the interior. The rest will be airbrushed yes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
C5sparkcatcher Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Laurent, I do have to agree that I think the shape of the Amodel Su-9 is more correct. Looking good!! keep up the good work. Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DFN Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 Hi Lolo, How about your Fishpot ? Still in progress ? I've begin mine and I can say that it's quite.......different...... Hope I can see your quickly Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted November 2, 2007 Author Share Posted November 2, 2007 Hi Lolo,How about your Fishpot ? Still in progress ? I've begin mine and I can say that it's quite.......different...... Hope I can see your quickly :) It's coming along but very slowly. - I've used melted plastic instead of Surfacer to hide the fuselage seam: the seam was still visible and the NMF schemes would highlight it - I had big problem fitting the canopy: first the seat was too high so I had to cut the seat a bit; then I had troubles making it's axis parallel to the fuselage axis; finally the seat still pressed inside the canopy and the canopy had stress fractures inside... I've heated the fractured area with a lighter and the stress marks disappeared... but I now have tiny holes on the surface of the canopy; things aren't too catastrophic yet I still have puttying and sanding to do before painting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VG 33 Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Hi Laurent. It is nice and you are good at real modelling. Patrick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted November 4, 2007 Author Share Posted November 4, 2007 It is nice and you are good at real modelling. Thanks but what is 'real modelling' ? Some modellers (the majority perhaps ?) prefer detailing, painting and weathering. They often build kits that aren't too difficult to build because they aren't interested in the building process. I think that I belong to a group of modellers that like adjusting parts, gluing, puttying and sanding. I like handling and looking at the shapes of a 3D model of a certain aircraft I am (not Hasegawa or Tamiya) interested in. I don't really like painting and weathering as the look of a model is likely to be jeopardized during the final steps. Anyway. Is that 'real modeling' according to you ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VG 33 Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Thanks but what is 'real modelling' ? Some modellers (the majority perhaps ?) prefer detailing, painting and weathering. They often build kits that aren't too difficult to build because they aren't interested in the building process. I think that I belong to a group of modellers that like adjusting parts, gluing, puttying and sanding. I like handling and looking at the shapes of a 3D model of a certain aircraft I am (not Hasegawa or Tamiya) interested in. I don't really like painting and weathering as the look of a model is likely to be jeopardized during the final steps. Anyway. Is that 'real modeling' according to you ? That's a good answer. I'm about to start a Cooperativa Su-9. Patrick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted November 4, 2007 Author Share Posted November 4, 2007 That's a good answer. Mmh yes but what is phony modeling then ? To me there's no real or phony modeling. The only thing that matters is that the modeler is having a good time. Whether he's building a Tamiya P-47 or an FM Halifax, it is real modeling. Everybody modeler has a different approach to modeling and every modeler should respect the fact that the rest of the guys may see things differently that he does. I'm about to start a Cooperativa Su-9. Cool. You'll be building it for the GB ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VG 33 Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Cool. You'll be building it for the GB ? It's gonna be my contribution to this GB. Patrick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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