Beech C-45

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Well, here 'tis :blink:

....and post #500 to boot. Well, there ya go! <_<

Edited October 24, 2007 by damo

[Col.]

Any progress yet Damo? Looking forward to seeing such a lovely machine take shape.

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Any progress yet Damo? Looking forward to seeing such a lovely machine take shape.

Hi Col.. Nothing much to speak of yet, except for a squirt of interior green inside the fuselage, u/c doors and engine nacelles. This has shown up quite a few ejector pin marks, particularly on the cockpit sides. If anyone has some decent shots of the cockpit & interior of an RCN machine, please let me know...I feel the urge to try a little scratchbuilding . That's about it for now - I'm off to Perth on Thursday for the weekend, and I've a couple of busy nights before then. If I have time tonight, I'll post a couple more pics.

[martin_sam_2000]

Hi Col.. Nothing much to speak of yet, except for a squirt of interior green inside the fuselage, u/c doors and engine nacelles. This has shown up quite a few ejector pin marks, particularly on the cockpit sides. If anyone has some decent shots of the cockpit & interior of an RCN machine, please let me know...I feel the urge to try a little scratchbuilding . That's about it for now - I'm off to Perth on Thursday for the weekend, and I've a couple of busy nights before then. If I have time tonight, I'll post a couple more pics.

which aircraft are you doing it up as?? there are some pretty unique look sto the RCN expeditor

sean

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Hi Sean..At this stage, it's all going to be OOB, however, if you can point me to some pics, I'd really appreciate it. All the pics I've found so far have been of US versions (not that there's anything wrong with that ) with the occasional "other country" thrown in. Ideally, I'dve liked to do an FAA scheme, but have only found 1 pic in that scheme, and the numbers aren't really readable, so the next best option is RCN, which is one of the decal options.

[martin_sam_2000]

all im able to find through my sources are one pic of a FAA aircraft and its probably the same one you have seen

personally, i think y ou should do it up in the RCN scheme( :D ) not that iom partial to that or anything

sean

[Cap'n Wannabe]

OK, now for some pics

General test fit:

There'll be a couple of small areas to look at - I'll have to get the cockpit positioned exactly right, otherwise I'll end up with a large gap on the bottom of the fuselage, and the front of the stabilizer will need to be looked at.....nothing a bit of hamfisted putty and sanding won't cure :) . I'm ditching the side windows and using Testors Clear Parts Cement to fashion new ones after I finish painting etc. I'm also looking at some decals from CanMilAir - there's an RCN scheme from about 1956 that I really like....

Here's a shot of the cockpit - minus seats and control columns....I've since scratched throttle, pitch and mixture levers on the quadrant..

Hope to get some more done during the week...

[martin_sam_2000]

im assuming its the one with the blue and white rudders??

if so, it served with VT-40(training) and VU 32(utility). the blue and white stripes, however, meant that it was scheme used when it flew with VC-922(reserve) based out of HMCS Malahat in victoria.

the only problem is that the picture shows markings form the 1956 era, while 2341 was only assigned to the reseve squadron in 1960 and was assigned a '900' series number rather than the '854' that is given. it may never have had the 900 series painted on, as the navy was very slow at repainting thier aircraft( i have seen pictures of an aircraft in 1962 that had roundels that were suposed to have been repainted in 1951!!!)You 'd have to wait to see the instructions to get a bit more detail on everything.

all in all, its a great scheme. im doing my avenger in a dark gray over light gray scheme with blue cowling, blue and white rudder, and day glo cowling band, ver. and hor. stab. and wing tips. the thread is here if you want to see it:

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....14&t=115516

it was based with VC-920 out of downsview(Toronto).ive been working on it for a 6-7 months now so it will not be part of the group build

cant wait to see it finished,

sean

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Just ordered the decals today...

http://www.canmilair.com/products.asp?cat=51&pg=6

http://www.canmilair.com/proddetail.asp?prod=108

[martin_sam_2000]

thats going to be a great looking model. i cant wait to see it finished.

sean

[Rampage55]

Wow, now that's a great looking paint scheme. I'm looking forward to seeing this one progress.

Cheers,

Mark

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Here's a couple more pics - I'm just about ready to close her up, then start on the wings & stuff. I've added throttle, pitch and mixture levers, and splashed a bit of colour in the instrument panel, as well as adding [slighty overscale ] Tamiya tape harnesses.

Enjoy :)

Edited November 18, 2007 by damo

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Some filling and sanding on the fuselage, and now some rescribing to be done. All along the way, I've been checking the seams by burnishing some kitchen foil across freshly sanded areas. This really shows up the slightest seamline, so if any suddenly "appear", I'll be most annoyed. Today's pic is the LH fin/rudder. It's the first part to be covered in foil, and I reckon it's come out OK. I had done the other fin, but a piece of dust got in under the foil, so I had to remove it and wash all the adhesive off. It'll dry overnight and I'll have another go tomorrow.

I'm debating whether or not to dress up the u/c bays - I really want to get started on foiling the wings, but if I'm going to do the u/c bays, I need to do them first.....decisions, decisions!

[martin_sam_2000]

looks good so far. i cant wait to see this one done.

can you give me a quick walkthrough on how you apply the foil??

I have the foil adhesive, and ive played around with it on a spare model, but i cant seem to get the metal to sit still when i am burnishing it, and how do you deal with the seams??

thanks,

sean

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Hi Sean..I'm using an adhesive called Weldbond. It was recommended to me by a local art shop - I couldn't get Microscale Foil Adhesive at the LHS...It's kind of like white glue, and test pieces have worked OK. With the fins, I cut a piece of foil large enough to cover the whole fin, rather than doing individual panels, and placed a drop of glue in the centre. I then worked the glue around with an old paintbrush and placed the foil on the fin. Using a q-tip, I worked the foil onto the fin, starting in the centre and working outwards to remove any air bubbles. Once that was done, I took a fresh #11 blade and trimmed off the excess foil by lightly tracing the edges of the fin, then flipped the fin over and carefully traced the edges again. After I did that, I burnished the foil around the edges as best I could. Only one side of the fin is done to this point. I'm letting the glue dry overnight, then I'll gently sand the edges of the fin and repeat the process for the other side. When that's done, instead of sanding the edges, I'll use steel wool to try to blend everything together. Looking closely at the piece, I can see some fingerprints, so the whole thing will have to be polished when its all done.

If you're using Microscale adhesive, I think you're supposed to let the glue set until it's tacky. That will help with holding the foil in place..

[martin_sam_2000]

Hi Sean..I'm using an adhesive called Weldbond. It was recommended to me by a local art shop - I couldn't get Microscale Foil Adhesive at the LHS...It's kind of like white glue, and test pieces have worked OK. With the fins, I cut a piece of foil large enough to cover the whole fin, rather than doing individual panels, and placed a drop of glue in the centre. I then worked the glue around with an old paintbrush and placed the foil on the fin. Using a q-tip, I worked the foil onto the fin, starting in the centre and working outwards to remove any air bubbles. Once that was done, I took a fresh #11 blade and trimmed off the excess foil by lightly tracing the edges of the fin, then flipped the fin over and carefully traced the edges again. After I did that, I burnished the foil around the edges as best I could. Only one side of the fin is done to this point. I'm letting the glue dry overnight, then I'll gently sand the edges of the fin and repeat the process for the other side. When that's done, instead of sanding the edges, I'll use steel wool to try to blend everything together. Looking closely at the piece, I can see some fingerprints, so the whole thing will have to be polished when its all done.

If you're using Microscale adhesive, I think you're supposed to let the glue set until it's tacky. That will help with holding the foil in place..

ill have to try that leave till tacky idea. it sounds vaguely familiar . as for the size of the peices...it seem seasy with the smaller peices..but for a fusealge..imno tsure how i can get it all covered without leaving ridges where two peices meet. i thought about following panel lines but its gets complicated if the panel line does not run right around the aircraft.

any ideas??

sean

[Cap'n Wannabe]

With the fuselage, I'm planning to follow the panels as much as possible. The only reason I used 1 piece on the fin is because its reasonably small and easy to work with. Because the fuselage - and the wing, for that matter - is relatively larger, I'll pretty much be duplicating the panels using foil. I have heard that light buffing with fine steel wool hides any seams pretty well. There are some threads in tools'n'tips - this one sums it up nicely. HTH

[martin_sam_2000]

hmmm.. that does help a bit. Thank you. im going to have to get out the practice model adn try again.

sean

[Rampage55]

I'm looking forward to seeing the foiling progress. I've often thought of trying it but I always seem to loose my nerve. However when done properly it looks great.

Cheers,

Mark

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Bit of a minor setback with the foiling process - I applied foil to the other side of the LH fin, and the foil I'd already done started to lift. So back to the drawing board on this - all foil and glue residue removed. One thing I've learned.....nail polish remover takes off the Weldbond very nicely. :D

[Col.]

Sorry to hear the foiling isn't working out yet Is Alclad paints an option?

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Col, I'm not ready to admit defeat with the foil just yet..I'll try a couple more times, and maybe even invest in a sheet of BMF...

[Col.]

Col, I'm not ready to admit defeat with the foil just yet..I'll try a couple more times, and maybe even invest in a sheet of BMF...

Glad to hear that Damo, I know she's going to be a stunner once you get the metal finish sorted

[Cap'n Wannabe]

I'm back on deck with this build - I've blanked off the back of the engine nacelles and I've scratched some detail on the LH wheel well. Something I've recently noticed because of the difficulties I've been having with the NMF on the tail fins....I don't think the front section of the fin is NMF at all. It looks to me as if it might be a light grey instead.......This is the only pic I've seen of this particular bird, and the fin does not have the same reflective properties as the rest of the fuselage.

http://www.canmilair.com/products.asp?cat=51&pg=6

So the question is twofold:

Is the fin natural metal? If not, then what colour? Also, would the anti-glare panel on the top of the nose section be black or perhaps OD? I'm leaning towards a flat black, can the more learned amongst you shed any light one way or the other?

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Here's a quickie progress shot....started painting the fuselage. The stabilizer has been painted with Gunze "Alminume" laquer, the fuselage is Gunze Flat White and Flat Black. The rest of the fuselage and the wings will be BMF - I lashed out and bought some because I couldn't locally find a satisfactory adhesive for kitchen foil. Anyway, here's the pic..