sea-monkey Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Here's my work in progress. Kit is the Academy. The Paragon slats and flaps have been test fitted to one wing, while the Black Box cockpit and Cutting Edge intakes are also sitting in place. I have also begun scratch building the forward wheel bay: For the Scaledown burner cans, I'm adding some rolled corregated aluminium to give some texture to the walls: Cutting Edge markings and Microscale stencils: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
modelsntoys Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Very Cool so far! Can't wait to see the finished product!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AndrewS Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 I agree entirely; very nice progress and looking forward to seeing more. Andrew. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Looking good there, especially that head on pic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sea-monkey Posted May 11, 2008 Author Share Posted May 11, 2008 Been working quite a bit on my sparkvark over the weekend - things are fairly slow but steady. Scratchbuilding the bulkhead console from scrap resin & Evergreen card. Unfortunately this part was missing from my Black Box cockpit. Taking ages but helps develop skills and gives you an appreciation for the work that goes into aftermarket cockpit: Some shots of the BB pit and Squadron canopy sitting in place: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nimrod77 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Cool ! Good work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Wow, that's looking very nice! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
soybetio Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Some shots of the BB pit and Squadron canopy sitting in place: Nice cockpit! How did you cut the vacuform canopy? it is perfect! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sea-monkey Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 Thanks! The key to cutting vacform canopies seems to be taking your time. Did this a while back but if I remember correctly I cut away quite a bit of the excess with scissors and then did lots of trimming with a hobby knife and constantly test fitted. This seemed to give me more room for error than scoring and cutting directly along the canopy outline. The clam-shell panels were carefully cut along the panel with regular, slow cuts of a hobby knife and I think I started this before the canopy was removed from the excess plastic as it was more rigid at this stage. the edges can be cleaned up with a sanding stick, though this material is quite different to work with compared to styrene or injected clear plastic. You have to be careful not to scratch the window panels as it would to hard, if not impossible to restore a clear finish with sanding. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jack-Swiss Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Now that's a very nice and clean work! I'm lookin forward to see some colours on those beautiful seats!!! Great job! Cheers :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Petrov27 Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Lookin great there - can't wait for more updates! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sea-monkey Posted May 18, 2008 Author Share Posted May 18, 2008 Things have been a bit slow this weekend. Spend several hours improving the details on the Black Box control stick and building the shaft. My camera's not very good at detail work but here's a pic: Here's a simple improvement for the fuselage vents which lack detail on the Academy kit. I sanded off the existing vent detail from the underside and replaced it with scribed Evergreen card: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nimrod77 Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 (edited) Here's a simple improvement for the fuselage vents which lack detail on the Academy kit. I sanded off the existing vent detail from the underside and replaced it with scribed Evergreen card: Now thats clever. Simple fix that looks good. Was the card that you used for the louvers pre-scribed or did you scribe them yourself? Cheers Edited May 19, 2008 by nimrod77 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sea-monkey Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 Now thats clever. Simple fix that looks good.Was the card that you used for the louvers pre-scribed or did you scribe them yourself? Cheers Scribed it myself, though you can buy Evergreen with this type of pattern I think. Spacing is 1mm which is probably a bit too wide but easy to measure. Made about 3 deep passes with my Tamiya scriber. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jack-Swiss Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Very nice!great scratchbuilding skills... Keep it up Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Colin W Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I like the mod to the vents. I thought of doing something to open them up but decided it would be a lo of work and not sure what it would look like. I wish Id seen this first! PS nice model coming along. Your picture host is blocked in china but Im on a trip to Philippines and can see them here. Colin W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sea-monkey Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 I like the mod to the vents. I thought of doing something to open them up but decided it would be a lo of work and not sure what it would look like. I wish Id seen this first!PS nice model coming along. Your picture host is blocked in china but Im on a trip to Philippines and can see them here. Colin W Thanks Colin. My photo host has a few drawbacks and I'm thinking about setting up a photobucket or similar account. I initially experimented with a different technique for the vents - I sanded the existing plastic very thin from the back and then made a cut with a hobby knife and pushed the plastic upwards. The effect looked good and quite like real vents but unfortunately, I cut though the remaining plastic cross supports and it was hard to get it looking uniform and tidy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jochemp Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 Good work mate, can't wait to see more of this sparkvark, Cheers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sea-monkey Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 Been spending what seems like forever finishing off the cockpit. Here's the latest on the aft bulkhead console - only have the buttons left to do. It's amazing what the camera picks up - to my eye the detail looks more subtle and refined - I guess that's why they say the camera adds 5 pounds :) Might finally get to paint this thing over the 3-day weekend! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AndrewS Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Very nice work in the cockpit, esp. with the rear bulkhead. Hope that your painting aspiration is acheived. Andrew. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dax Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 The aft bulkhead looks real good. Even though the pics look great, its easy to forget how small the assembly really is- looks fantatsic! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sea-monkey Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Been busy painting the cockpit - still have a lot to do but here's a couple of pics: Still not quite sure if everything is going to fit exactly how I'd like it - things are pretty tight! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Looking good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nimrod77 Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Great Job on that cockpit !! Love it, inspirational. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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