Viper01 Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Great progress Guy! I just came across a french forum with a very interesting build. Don't know how good your french is but let the pictures do the talking! Link This guy also did a Tamiya 1/32 F-16CJ, link. Remy.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geedubelyer Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) Howdy folks, Im back with a bit of an upate. Sweaty, HOLMES, Marcel and Alexander thanks so much for the continuing support. I'm pleased that you like the build so far. Looking fantastic. I love the lens assembly for the TCS. My suggestion is just use clear plastic, maybe give it the slightest bluish tint but definitely skip the iridescent film on the TCS. I never saw any units that had that look. Some had a slight bluish tint but I've never seen a green tint on them...btw - you may want to consider VF-211 OIF/Last Tomcat cruise markings. Should have them out by the time you're ready to decal... -brian Hey Brian, thanks for the info. I'll take your advice and use the clear lens for the TCS.I've seen the artwork for the VF-211 markings on Roms' thread. Very nice I'll have a closer look further down the line. Were any of the low-viz birds really heavily weathered on that cruise? hey!............. what is the the lens you put in the TCS? ........................................ bye! Hi Rom, I'm looking forward to your next update. I'm hoping to see some progress on the gear legs.The lens for the inside of the TCS is scratch built. See below for a quick step-by-step. Really cool stuff as always, Guy! I'm always amazed by your innovative approach, and the resourceful solutions you come up with for some tough 'fixes'! Really nice work on those engines (kitchen foil?), and a great start on the chin pod. VERY inspiring- thanks for sharing more of your incredible stuff. Rob P.S. Although it doesn't seem to affect the quality of your work , maybe a small "space heater" would make your work area more "user friendly" - at least here in the U.S., these are available for around $20, and have an adjustable thermostat (so to avoid "desert-like" conditions...). Can't wait to see what's next! Hi Rob, a pleasure to see you stopping by. I used the foil from wine bottle closures for alot of the scratch work. It's thicker than kitchen foil but easier to cut and use than brass sheet or aluminium drinks cans. I do have an oil filled electric radiator in the hobby room and try to sit astride it when the temerature drops too far...... BTW, I regularly look at the photos of your F-14 as inspiration. I'm still waiting to see them posted over in Critiques....... AS, always a pleasure to see you, thanks for the encouragement. Hmm,....fibre optics eh? Now there's a possibilty..... Nah,....on second thoughts, maybe not. I'm not really into these dynamic models. I admire those who can achieve great things with miniature electronics etc. but I would n't particularly want one in my display cabinet. Hi Remy,...Wow! that's a couple of very nice builds. Thanks for the links,....bookmarked for future reference. O.k, here's a short step-by-step on how I made the TCS lens. I made this one quickly for this update. I'd take a bit more care over some things for the actual part but I hope these snaps give you the general idea...... You'll need the following. I chose the shiniest foil I could to give the highest refection. The brass tube has been sharpened with a file and emery paper to act like a cookie cutter. I've made a number of these with various gauges of tube. At one end I've filed the inner edge of the tube, at the other I've filed the outer edge. This way you get two slightly different diameters. Place the foil on a slightly soft surface like a cutting mat and press down with the tube. Twist the tube whilst applying pressure to cut out a circle of foil..... The soft surface creates the concave shape to the circle like the refector in a lens. Punch a small hole off-centre. The disc is flattened but can be brought back to shape with a rounded implement. Edited January 15, 2009 by geedubelyer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 thanks right now i'm detailling the nose landing gear! bye Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Howdy folks, Im back with a bit of an upate.O.k, here's a short step-by-step on how I made the TCS lens. I made this one quickly for this update. I'd take a bit more care over some things for the actual part but I hope these snaps give you the general idea...... You'll need the following. I chose the shiniest foil I could to give the highest refection. The brass tube has been sharpened with a file and emery paper to act like a cookie cutter. I've made a number of these with various gauges of tube. At one end I've filed the inner edge of the tube, at the other I've filed the outer edge. This way you get two slightly different diameters. Place the foil on a slightly soft surface like a cutting mat and press down with the tube. Twist the tube whilst applying pressure to cut out a circle of foil..... The soft surface creates the concave shape to the circle like the refector in a lens. Punch a small hole off-centre. Guy, neat and creative work - like I mentioned before, hats off to you for taking the time to photo and detail the steps you do - it really helps understand the process and tools Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geedubelyer Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) thanks right now i'm detailling the nose landing gear! bye Ah good,..pictures soon I hope. The next stage for the TCS lens involves punching another disc, smaller this time. (I used the #2 hole) and fixing it to a short length of rod. I chose to use clear stretched sprue for mine. Your mileage may vary..... Put them all together and whaddya got? I found a suitable length of plastic tube for the lens shroud and gently eased the foil assembly into the opening, set back from the end a little. Clear acetate is used at the very front of the camera portion with another small hole punched in it. This is set flush with the front of the tube. As I said earlier, this was just a quick effort to illustrate the techniques. With a bit more care the end result could look better. The whole lot is painted black and then mounted within the TCS pod. I'll post up finished pics in the future so you can judge for yourselves whether it's worth the extra effort. Edited January 15, 2009 by geedubelyer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eastern Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Hi, Guy! Great progress and very nice "step-by-step-how-to-make" guide. Thank you for such useful and educative thread. Cheers and happy modeling! Alexander. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geedubelyer Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) Guy, neat and creative work - like I mentioned before, hats off to you for taking the time to photo and detail the steps you do - it really helps understand the process and tools Hi Ken, we posted at the same time so I've just seen your post. Thanks for your kind words, much appreciated. I'm pleased that you enjoy the updates. If anyone finds any of these ideas useful then it's well worth the time and effort. Next up, the latest on the jet nozzles. I used some plasticard to fill out the edge of the nacelle in anticipation of the sanding process. Once this had set I could begin to sand back the lip of the nacelle. Before.... .....and after. Hello Alexander, I'm pleased that you like the short step-by-step. For anyone unfamiliar with this model here is a view of the forward fuselage side. There is plenty of scope for additional work here. The ladder housing is molded as a box without any detail inside. from pics on the web and in books there appears to be plenty to add if the modeller so desires. I'll re-visit this bit later on in the build. A couple of other areas for consideration are the gun muzzle, the NACA vents and the gilled vent slightly below the windshield. There are two oval shapes below the bulge of the gun muzzle. Should these be holes? I'm sure I've seen a pic of these two and they appeared open or was I mistaken......? The sides of the NACA duct are n't very crisp. I thought about trying to sharpen them somewhat but now I'm having second thoughts. Read on to see why...... Here is a pic of the gilled vent I mentioned a moment ago. Something like this is just crying out to be opened up since the full sized version is easy to peek into. The only trouble is,....ambition got ahead of ability on this one. I suspect the best way to fix this will be to remove the gills altogether and replace them with new ones from strip plastic. I'll let you know how it turns out. And it was all going so smoothly too...... Edited January 16, 2009 by geedubelyer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anders_Isaksson Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 (edited) Great work on the beavertail there, not to mention the other details as well! :) Please forgive me if you already explained this earlier in this thread, but what tool did you use to make those narrow cuts between the beavertail and the nacelles, a saw, scriber or something else? I am also working on the forward fuselage of my Tamiya Tomcat, and I will certainly check in here to see what you are up to... :D Cheers, Anders Edited January 16, 2009 by Anders_Isaksson Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DexHex Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Amazing!! An ispiration to us new modelers.... John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eastern Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Something like this is just crying out to be opened up since the full sized version is easy to peek into. The only trouble is,....ambition got ahead of ability on this one. :( I suspect the best way to fix this will be to remove the gills altogether and replace them with new ones from strip plastic. Hi, Guy! Having ambitions like what you have is really nice way to rise above yourself. ;) Maybe it's not likely "in English" but I hope you understand what I mean. I admire your meticulous approach to any detail but...how about rivets and panel lines - they look not so crisp, do they? As for the gills, replacing them with plastic strips would be the best way out. It will give you, first, a possibility to arrange the opening nicely and, second, to make the gills to be neat and look more life-like. Cheers! Alexander. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gambler Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I suspect the best way to fix this will be to remove the gills altogether and replace them with new ones from strip plastic.I'll let you know how it turns out. As for the gills, replacing them with plastic strips would be the best way out. It will give you, first, a possibility to arrange the openingnicely and, second, to make the gills to be neat and look more life-like. I agree with Alexander Guy, I think you will be pretty right replacing them with strip, that should make it a lot sharper! Cheers, Jeff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alpagueur Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Amazing job and great attention to details! Really love the exhausts cheers, Luca Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CW4 Erick Swanberg Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Guy yes those should be hollowed out Erick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geedubelyer Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share Posted January 17, 2009 ..................Please forgive me if you already explained this earlier in this thread, but what tool did you use to make those narrow cuts between the beavertail and the nacelles, a saw, scriber or something else? I am also working on the forward fuselage of my Tamiya Tomcat, and I will certainly check in here to see what you are up to... ;) Cheers, Anders Hello Anders, thanks for stopping by. Oops!, I should have mentioned that I used an etched saw from Airwaves for the fine cuts, sorry Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I hope you can share the progress on your build here on ARC.Amazing!! An ispiration to us new modelers....John Hi John, welcome aboard, so glad you like the progress and I'm thrilled that you feel inspired. I get the same feeling when I look at many of the marvellous builds here on ARC. This is a great modellers resource. I hope you feel right at home here.Alexander, Jeff, thank you for the support. I'm a bit concerned that I'll be able to align the gills neatly but I'll give it my best shot. Hello Luca, good to see you again. I'm happy that you're enjoying things so far. Guy yes those should be hollowed out ErickHi Erick, thanks for confirming that. I've also noticed small strengthening plates around the mouth of the larger of the two holes. I'll try to replicate that using metal foil again.Thanks for the comments folks, much appreciated. Now, I'm off back to the grindstone........ Cheers, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HWR MKII Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 hats looking great GeeDub. Im normally not a fan of toms but your making this one look really good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anders_Isaksson Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 (edited) Hello Anders, thanks for stopping by. Oops!, I should have mentioned that I used an etched saw from Airwaves for the fine cuts, sorry Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I hope you can share the progress on your build here on ARC. Many thanks for the info! I have one of those etched saws lying around here somewhere, so I guess there's not much to stop me from begin making those cuts...! My build is posted here on ARC, in this thread over at the Tomcat Group Build 2.0, feel free to drop by if you wish. :o So far I have spent most of my time on the Aires cockpit, and I am looking forward to see what you think of this set once you get that far on your build. Cheers, Anders Edited January 17, 2009 by Anders_Isaksson Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geedubelyer Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 (edited) hats looking great GeeDub. Im normally not a fan of toms but your making this one look really good. Hi HWR MKII, I'm pleased you like the progress. Perhaps I'll manage to convert you into a Tomcat fan before I'm through.......? :D My build is posted here on ARC, in this thread over at the Tomcat Group Build 2.0, feel free to drop by if you wish. So far I have spent most of my time on the Aires cockpit, and I am looking forward to see what you think of this set once you get that far on your build. Cheers, Anders Hello again Anders, thank you so much for the link. Now that I've found your build thread I'll stop by regularly. Since you are on a tighter schedule than me I hope I'll be able to crib plenty of ideas from your build as it progresses....... :lol: Other than ARC, here is what has occupied me today... On the face of it, not much at first glance but,......there's more here than meets the eye. 1/....I managed to redo the gills of the vent below the windscreen. This is the second version. The first version came together beautifully. The vanes were all parallel, equally spaced and turned at the same angle. As I was adding a few rivets around the edge of the panel I slipped with the rivetting tool, stabbed myself in the finger and knocked the first four vanes out of the vent :wacko: ....grrr It's funny how the second attempt is often poorer than the first try. Ah wwell, it's better than it was..... 2/,....There was a large, raised, rectangular plate molded on the surface of the fuselage which I removed. It was then necessary to replace the lost strengthening plate. I added an additional plate that many reference photos show. 3/,....There seems to be a small rectangle missing on the upper fuselage so I got the scribing templates out and set to work. 4/,....The step openings have a certain amount of strengthening added inside. I used metal foil to add this. 5/,....The prominent stiffening plate surrounding the RIOs' step was also added from foil. 6/,....I employed a hook shaped scribing tool to increase the depth of the louvres on this gun gas vent(?). I also sanded it down slightly in an attempt to make it look more even and crisper. 7/,....Hmm, lucky 7. As I mentioned before, I thought the NACA ducts were a little soft. The best solution seemed to be to remove them and then re-construct them one I'd hollowed out the scoops. Easier said than done and this process took some time. (Scroll down to see a better view of he finished articles). 8/,....I opened up these two holes. I then realised I'd taken too much out and had to fill them back in a bit.....oops! 9/,....The muzzle of the gun was opened in readiness for the addition of the Eduard etch parts. Before I do that I chose to reconfigure the shape of the recess a little. The kit version looked slightly off when compared to photos. I can't quite put my finger on why it looks odd so thought I'd fill the opening some and then I can re-shape it how I want it. A couple more views from different angles. Well that little lot kept me out of mischief for today. I wonder what tomorrow will bring......? Cheers, Edited January 18, 2009 by geedubelyer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PapaSmurf630 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Good job so far Geedub. I'd actually pay you to build a 1/32 Tornado as your next project "It's funny how the second attempt is often poorer than the first try." That's funny, I always find the second or third attempts to be the best Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eastern Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Alexander. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HWR MKII Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 (edited) Good job so far Geedub. I'd actually pay you to build a 1/32 Tornado as your next project "It's funny how the second attempt is often poorer than the first try." That's funny, I always find the second or third attempts to be the best I have the tigermeet ECR Tornado in my build line. I have heard the kit is OK overall but the pit could use some more detail definition. The IPs are sadly flat for the scale. Im sure good painting could make it pop but i like a more chunky look. GeeDub i wouldnt mind doing a cat it just seems that the tamiya and revell ones need a disappointing amount of work. Even more than the flanker. At least the flanker has sets to fix it. The toms seem like they need alot of surgry to get looking good Ill see how the trumpeter cat shapes up and go with that one if i like it. I dont mind putting effort into a kit but sometimes i just want to build. A tomcat would fall into the just want to build pile. Edited January 19, 2009 by HWR MKII Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Great work with the front fuselage! Really makes a lot of difference! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alpagueur Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 A very, very beautiful work geedubelyer, it seems like it is going to be another masterpiece! (starting from an honest but not irresistible kit, that is your great effort/challenge). I really love the F-14 curves Luca Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shizman Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hi, Guy! Having ambitions like what you have is really nice way to rise above yourself. Maybe it's not likely "in English" but I hope you understand what I mean. I admire your meticulous approach to any detail but...how about rivets and panel lines - they look not so crisp, do they? As for the gills, replacing them with plastic strips would be the best way out. It will give you, first, a possibility to arrange the opening nicely and, second, to make the gills to be neat and look more life-like. Cheers! Alexander. :lol: You could always create some photo etch replacements and use those. That's what I've done to all the grills that I want to open up as well as pieces that lack detail. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimz66 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Amazing progress keep going. Very well done. Can't wait to see this one through. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Zactoman Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Very inspirational as always! I'm still hoping for that F-16 walkaround photo-shoot... :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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