yardbird78 Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Next project up to bat is the 1/48th Heller RF-84F Thunderflash. I am planning to use Micro Scale sheet #48-113 to make aircraft # 52-7429 from the 29th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, Shaw AFB, South Carolina. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 Well, at least I got it out of the box and sorted through the pieces trying to develope a plan of attack. The spoilerons on the upper/inboard portion of the wing have a bunch of holes in them. The model just has imbossed circles depicting these holes. I drilled them out to give the wing some depth. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shorty84 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Ahhh, another Thunderflash in the making. Will you rescribe the kit or simply stay with the raised details? Markus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 (edited) I am not masochistic enough for that rescribing routine, so I will just stay with the raised lines. I actually prefer that because I don't generally use washes and most scribed lines would be canyons if scaled up to 1:1. Another problem is that I am too ham-handed with a scriber and wind up with lines where I don't want them when I slip. My wife says I should not be allowed to handle sharp instruments. Darwin Edited February 27, 2011 by yardbird78 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julien (UK) Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Looking good, thats a nice kit. Julien Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tobiK Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Hi Darwin! You have a very caring wife! Give my regards to her! Not scribing does not mean automatically the model can't be built porperly! The only thing I am always worrying about are the sandend panellines and how to restore them. For me it seams the only good solution is the fine archer 3D decals for lines and rivets! (But scary expensive in the german LHS). Well, texgal beat you in the building-speed! But now, Darwin, beat her in making outstanding 48er quality! Go forrrrr!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 ....... For me it seams the only good solution is the fine archer 3D decals for lines and rivets! (But scary expensive in the german LHS).Well, texgal beat you in the building-speed! But now, Darwin, beat her in making outstanding 48er quality! Go forrrrr!!!! When I lose a part of a raised panel line to sanding, I use a knife blade to make a line in it's place. This raises the plastic along the edge of the line just enough to be very close to the original line. You have to REALLY look close to tell the difference. - As far as doing a better job building than Texgal did, I will try my best, but her work is hard to beat. Can you believe that RF-84 is only her 5th model ever and 4 of the 5 have been NMF? My first several models certainly never looked that good. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 I did some work on the cockpit and painted the driver, (oops, pilot). I didn't notice that nasty fingerprint on the side of the seat until I saw it in the photo. I'll have to fix that. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Looking good darwin your making fast progress Cheers Neo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 (edited) I have both sides of the fuselage together as well as the top and bottom of both wings. Everything seems to fit pretty well with only a small bit of putty in a couple of spots on the fuselage joint. The canopy fits very well to it's sill. I need to permanently attach the wings and then get a coat of primer on it. I am tentatively planning to use Alclad II for the first time, so this may work out well or be a complete disaster. I have read several articles in magazines and on different modeling forums about perfect surface preparation, different primers and general procedures, so I guess it is just time to jump in and see what happens. Darwin Edited March 2, 2011 by yardbird78 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 I got all of the major pieces bolted together and put a coat of primer on it. The wings fit just beautifully and didn't require any filler at all. For primer, I used Mr Surfacer 1200 thinned 1 to 1 with laquer thinner. I tried 2 parts 1200 to 1 part thinner and it was too thick, forming "spider webs" around the edges of the wings, etc. I thinned it some more and the spider webs went away. A couple of small drops of water got past the moisture trap and they are visible if you look closely. I plan to let it dry overnight and give it very light sanding tomorrow. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tobiK Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Happy micromeshing!! Alclad II will be great, you will see! :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 Today's progress report Alclad II, Duraluminum paint applied. My first attempt at using Alclad is probably closer to the disaster end of the spectrum than the spectacular. I thought that I had the surface cleaned really well and ready for paint. WRONG! There are all kinds of little specks of foreign debris, etc that show up terribly well. I think I put too much paint on, (in several layers). I am not particularly impressed with Alclad, despite so many people extolling it's virtues and realism. I don't see the look as any better than Model Master metallics. The big advantage to Alclad is it's durability. You can mask over it without any damage. Model Master metallics require a coat of clear gloss paint or Future and that detracts from the looks of the natural metal. Seat & pilot aboard, temporarily Painted the red trim and gray fin tip. The pilot already abandoned the project. The landing gear wells painted interior green Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tobiK Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 ah, yes, I see...that's the reason why I prefer recessed panel lines for NMF projects. It is so much better to prepare the surface before painting. The polishing can be done better, the raised lines always cause a "shadow" after spraying. It means, the NM color looks flat there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) I put the finishing touches on this plane a couple of hours ago and took some pictures. This is the first Heller kit that I have ever built and overall, I am quite pleased with it. The fit of all the parts was excellent with just a touch of putty in a couple of spots along the fuselage joint. It has raised panel lines and I left them that way because I am not masochistic enough for that rescribing routine. If someone did want to do that, it would be fairly easy because the raised lines are very fine and soft, so they sand off easily. That leaves a faintly darker line where the raised lines used to be that can be used as a guide to scribe the new lines. - The cockpit and instrument panel have moderately good detail that is very accurate for what there is. The seat is fair to good with no belts. I added red/green lights on the wing tips, the .50 calibre gun openings and the shell ejection chutes under the wing roots as well as photos of cameras behind the camera windows. There are 3 sets of double windows where one camera alternates taking photos from one then the other, so I only put one camera in each of those pairs. There is a window behind the nose gear that is the port for the pilot's viewfinder, so I put a very small lens there. - The balance seemed just a slight bit tail heavy so I put about 20 BBs in the nose to make sure that it would sit on all three wheels. The kit decals give you a choice of German, French or Belgian marks, but they were all unusable anyway. I used markings from Micro Scale for the 29th TRS at Shaw AFB, SC. - I noticed in the photos that the nose gear is a little crooked and a couple of other little flaws. I used Alclad II Duraluminum over Mr Surfacer 1200 primer. This is my first use of Alclad and the finished product leaves a lot to be desired, which is probably my fault for inadequate surface preparation. All of the joints were smooth and covered well, but I didn't clean the surface well enough of contaminates and the small pieces of crud show rather badly. Even after 4 days of drying, the paint was just slightly tacky and it was very easy to leave fingerprints. Darwin On to the photos: Marine Corps and Air Force reconnaissance for the 1950s Edited March 8, 2011 by yardbird78 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twhite80 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Looks great! Congrats on a nice build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikestomcat Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Nice Thunderflash Darwin, congrats . Youv'e finished two planes and I haven't even closed the fuselage on my RF-4C. Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jminer Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Very nice build! Colorful and I love the NMF. Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
texgal45 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Congratulations on completing your Thunderflash. I got mine finished first, but you did a much better job on yours. I really like that part of putting the camera image behind the windows. It gives a big boost to the realism. Are you going to do another recce bird for this GB or something else? The under-wing tanks have a different look to them from the rest of the plane. Did you paint them with the same Alclad as the rest or something different? Grandma L Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julien (UK) Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I really do like this one, Outstanding job Julien Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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