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I have fond memories for this kit, even though I've never managed to finish one. Let's hope that doesn't hold true with this one.

Opening the box, I found the kit much as I'd remembered it: nicely molded, raised panel lines, and bereft of interior detail. Should make for a nice project, especially with that nice Starfighter Decals sheet.

SBC-4-1.jpg

The raised panel lines are not mostly gone with scribed lines replacing them. One of the upper wing halves is short shot. That will have to be dealt with.

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damn, Sir. A shame about that part. If it were me, I would cut back, from the center-section up to the mid-wing panel line, assemble the halves, then glue down some styrene sheet, shape the trailing edge and tip to the good piece, then sand down to get the right airfoil shape.

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Thanks for the suggestion. It's not that bad a problem. It would have been much worse had it been the fuselage.

It looks like this with glued wing halves.

SBC-4-2.jpg

I filled the missing area with melted styrene goop.

SBC-4-3.jpg

It's been drying for several days. I'll shave and shape it later today after work.

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Thanks for the suggestion. It's not that bad a problem. It would have been much worse had it been the fuselage.

It looks like this with glued wing halves.

SBC-4-2.jpg

I filled the missing area with melted styrene goop.

SBC-4-3.jpg

It's been drying for several days. I'll shave and shape it later today after work.

Looks like it should work, Sir. Best of luck with it.

I do tend to think in terms of major surgery; scratch-building does that to you. It often seems easier to go ahead and make a fresh part rather than fix an old one.

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Yeah, this will work. Plastic goop is pretty versatile stuff. I've been using it more and more. It's easy to apply, is easy to carve, feathers well, and scribes easily. The downside is that it takes a few days to dry hard.

It often seems easier to go ahead and make a fresh part rather than fix an old one.

So true. I won't shy from making new parts if that is easier or yields better results. In this case, this more direct approach seemed easier. I'll shape this a little better with a scalpel, sand it smooth, and then add the ribs to match the other ailerons.

Thanks for the advise. I'll be using sheet plastic route on the F2A I'll be building in the GB.

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I've read that one way to make the abovemetioned "goop" is to mix styrene shavings and methyl-ethyl-keytone (Testor's liquid cement). I have yet to try it, but it looks like a great method for some things.

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Luno13 - I made this using bits of excess sprue dropped into an almost empty bottle of Tamiya Extra Thin cement. The problem with using Testor's Liquid is the time for the goop to harden is really pretty long. The Tamiya Extra is pretty quick. I've been able to sand thin layers of this stuff in a couple of hours against a couple of weeks for the Testor's.

Mikester - Trademark fees are too much for something with so little future market.

Anyway. Back to the SBC.

SBC-4-5.jpg

The goop has dried. It's been sanded. The destroyed aileron ribs have been replaced with stretched sprue. Then it was sanded again and primed. A couple of times actually. There are a couple of air bubbles on the aileron that still need attention before getting some paint thrown at it.

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  • 2 months later...

I've had life interfere for a bit. Not so much time available for the workbench.

I have had a little time for some smaller bits.

SBC-4-6.jpg

The silver is Citadel mithral silver. The yellow is a lacquer from Green Max, a Japanese railroad color line. The interior part are from Starfighter. The engine is Quickboost's R-1820 for Hase's Buffalo.

I really don't like the prop Heller provides in this kit. It just looks chunky and lacks the very obvious counterweights and other protruberances at the hub. The blades are also poory shaped. So hunting around in the stash I found a Fujimi Claude kit I started a bit back. This kit has an exquisite prop. The blades are not right for an SBC, but the hub is a really good starting point.

I didn't want to steal the prop, but a little bit of casting should yeild a basic hub.

SBC-4-7.jpg

Sorry about the poor photo. The Fujimi prop is to the left and Heller to the right. The blob is a silicone casting block that is softened with hot water. The Fujimi prop was shoved into the heated silicone and when cooled, it was removed. This forms a nice cavity of the hub that was filled with Tamiya Light Curing Putty. Now I have several cured hubs that need detailing. The props will be added later.

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I've pointed them out to you numerous times, Mike. Like the last time at Yodobashi.You should pick some blocks up. It provides a very quick & dirty solution for some situations. Cheap, too. I've been using that blob for about 3 years now.

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I didn't want to steal the prop, but a little bit of casting should yeild a basic hub.

SBC-4-7.jpg

Sorry about the poor photo. The Fujimi prop is to the left and Heller to the right. The blob is a silicone casting block that is softened with hot water. The Fujimi prop was shoved into the heated silicone and when cooled, it was removed. This forms a nice cavity of the hub that was filled with Tamiya Light Curing Putty. Now I have several cured hubs that need detailing. The props will be added later.

That casting trick is very impressive, Sir. What is a good source for the materials? I can see a lot of uses for something like this....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry about the delay in response. I've been swamped at work for the last couple weeks.

Sadly, I think the silicone stuff is only available in Japan. I've tried looking for it on line and had a Japanese friend also try. No luck.

This stuff is made by Wave Corp. I use Tamiya Light Curing Putty for the resin, but regular casting resin would work. So would polyester putty. The LCP is so quick and easy. And for uses like this, I think cheaper.

blob.jpg

I have a modeling buddy who found another product called "oyumaru" that appears similar. You can try here. It appears to work in the same manner, but I haven't tried it nor have I seen its use in any Japanese modeling magazine.

*** OM, I tried to PM you, but your account is not receiving. Please PM me.

Edited by johnsan
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