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Monogram A-6E TRAM 1/48


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Over the next few days I'll be posting pics of the wings. The wings will be folded and for this I'm using the Paragon wing fold set. Although the set is very nice, it takes a lot of work to make the inserts come out nice. There are plenty of variables that dictate how much work you'll have to put in to make them come out right. These variables include shrinkage of resin pieces, thickness along the wing where the cuts were made and a few others. For those that want an easier route to the folded wing look, Wolfpack now makes a kit for this bird that has wing-fold mechanism already built into the 4 wing sections. The pics below show how i decided to tackle the incorrect placement of the inboard wing fences on the Monogram kit. Before i explain why i went the route i did with this fence installation, I'll explain what happened on a different project. I installed the ventral strakes on a Hasegawa F-8 with super glue and after many many hours of filling and sanding the join area, it was finally perfect. This unfortunately didn't last long as i broke one of them off due to careless handling. Bottom line is, regardless of the fact i used super glue, the width of the strake where it meets the fuselage just isn't that wide, maybe .020 or so max and this just doesn't provide a strong enough contact area. To avoid this from happening again on my current project, i decided to measure where the fence is located and cut slits into the wing to accommodate the fence. I used Dymo tape to mark the cut line and simply used my saw blades to cut thru the plastic. Only thing i had to be careful about was making sure i cut 90 degrees to the surface so that the fences sit perfectly vertical relative to the wing. The Dymo tape in the pic looks bent because i had already removed it and then put it back on for the pic. Although not shown, the surrounding area was also covered during cutting to protect it from errant slips of the hand/saw. The fences were made large enough vertically to rest on the bottom wing and will be glued there as well. If i break these off by accident, i need to find a new hobby. The other pic shows both fences being made simultaneously to avoid any inconsistency between fences if made separately.

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Edited by wardog
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Got in a few hours to work on the model this weekend so i finished up the inboard wing fences. The process i used was rather simple and it worked better than i expected which is rare for me as nothing ever seems to go easy for me. Once i placed the fences in the slots i cut out, i simply glued them in with extra thin cyano and once dried, sanded away any excess glue from the general area. Once smooth, i followed with a couple of applications of Mr.Surfacer to fill any remaining gaps in the super glue. A little bit more sanding once dry to smooth it all out and presto, finished.

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As i mentioned in the beginning of this WIP, i typically don't build models by following the instruction sheet but rather with whatever section i just happen to be interested in. I have a good percentage of this jet built but really want to start the cockpit so i can finally glue the fuselage halves together. Main reason I've been delaying building the cockpit is I'm waiting to see if Aires puts out a cockpit for this bird. This of course hasn't happened yet and I'm thinking it probably won't. The best thing out there now, at least in my opinion, is the Blackbox/Avionics set. Although this set is nice, there are a lot of inaccuracies with it. I believe some of the details are done incorrectly and others simply do not exist on the real thing. Think I'll wait another month or so and if nothing pops up I'll just go with the Blackbox/Avionics set and make the best of it. If anyone out there knows something i don't, please feel free to share.

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Seems like my airbrush doesn't like enamels as much as acrylics. Needless to say, it will get smoothed out and re-painted.

Wow, you do excellent work, especially your scratch building of so much nice detail. Bravo! :thumbsup:

Since I use MM enamels all the time and have had the same problem with them "dusting", here's a few tips you might consider.

These enamels go on best with thin coats sprayed fairly close to the model at fairly low pressure (~15 psi). If you goose up the pressure and try to spray more of an overall cover coat, tight spots where the air/paint mixture blow around come out dusty due to the paint droplets drying before settling on the model. For these tight areas I thin the paint even more and spray at even lower pressures. Dusting still happens, but I find it happens a lot less now and a quick touch-up with 2000# grit sandpaper gets rid of it fairly easily. Also, don't use any "heat" like lacquer thinner which promotes drying too quickly. I find the Testors paint thinner dries quick enough and it's of course it's compatible with the entire Model Master line of enamels.

I really prefer enamel paints over acrylics for a number of reasons, but of course a respirator and a paint booth are a must.

Edited by chuck540z3
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Chuck, thanks for the kind words. I'm by no means a real experienced modeler like a lot of the folks on this site and the 2 projects I've completed in the last few years have been learn as I go projects. This is why each project usually takes me a few years to complete as I have to re-do everything. What I can say is that since I like super detailing a lot, i've become fairly decent at it. Problem is my painting skills are not up to par as the painting process is rather quick in comparison to the hundreds of construction hours spent on a model. This of course means the painting learning curve is a lot lengthier. I've only recently encountered painting issues with MM paints. When I painted my F-4 I used a Paasche VL and had no problems. Paint layed down great. I'm now using two better brushes, a Tamiya HG and an Iwata revolution and these are the ones giving me problems. Seems like they just prefer really thin liquids to spray good. I also changed laquer thinner brand and it may be too hot. I'll try your advice. Thanks for the help.

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What a great job you are doing here!

Of all the abilites you show, what I found more inspiring is the cleanliness of your work and how every piece is square and aligned.

I’ll be following this build with interest; thank you for posting your work.

Regards

Carlos

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wardog,

HELLO and :post1::punk:

How the heck did I MISS this OUTSTANDING ,FLAWLESS and SO VERY NEAT work..

I think this is EXEMPLARY , IMPRESSIVE bit of modeling.. :clap2:

The details is just MIND BLOWING and

BREATHTAKING...PHENOMENAL..EXQUISITE workmanship... :gr_hail::gr_hail::gr_hail:

I have a new FAVORITE Modeler folks...Ooops sorry, I mean MODELING GOD ! :smiley-whacky084:

HOLMES :salute:

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What a great job you are doing here!

Of all the abilites you show, what I found more inspiring is the cleanliness of your work and how every piece is square and aligned.

I’ll be following this build with interest; thank you for posting your work.

Regards

Carlos

Gracias amigo. I do try to put a lot of emphasis on making sure things are square as i feel the effort is worth the results. Sometimes i go a little overboard with it but i just blame it on a medical condition. Thanks for looking. Saludos

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wardog,

HELLO and :post1::punk:

How the heck did I MISS this OUTSTANDING ,FLAWLESS and SO VERY NEAT work..

I think this is EXEMPLARY , IMPRESSIVE bit of modeling.. :clap2:

The details is just MIND BLOWING and

BREATHTAKING...PHENOMENAL..EXQUISITE workmanship... :gr_hail::gr_hail::gr_hail:

I have a new FAVORITE Modeler folks...Ooops sorry, I mean MODELING GOD ! :smiley-whacky084:

HOLMES :salute:

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wardog,

HELLO and :post1::punk:

How the heck did I MISS this OUTSTANDING ,FLAWLESS and SO VERY NEAT work..

I think this is EXEMPLARY , IMPRESSIVE bit of modeling.. :clap2:

The details is just MIND BLOWING and

BREATHTAKING...PHENOMENAL..EXQUISITE workmanship... :gr_hail::gr_hail::gr_hail:

I have a new FAVORITE Modeler folks...Ooops sorry, I mean MODELING GOD ! :smiley-whacky084:

HOLMES :salute:

Thanks Holmes. No God here, just like to take my time with whatever project I'm working on. The longer you take the nicer they come out....usually. Thanks again.

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faboulous!!

you're doing a very nice job with that bird!!!

Are you using a pin vise n80 for the rivets or just a pin??

thank you

merci!!

olivier :cheers:

Thanks. For the rivets/fasteners, i typically use a thin needle in a pin vice or drills between a #90-97. I never use a #80 bit as i feel it's way too big for 48th scale. Personally i think it might even be too big for 32nd scale. The decimal equivalent for the drills i use go down to about .006 in. or so. The attached link shows some size comparisons between a #90 top, #80 center and a #97 bottom. These smaller drills are not twist drills like the #80 as the cutting flutes are different. They tend to want to thread themselves into plastic as opposed to removing the plastic like a twist drills does. This can sometimes be a problem as you have to twist them out as opposed to pulling them out which sometimes leads to EASY breakage.

http://s1185.photobucket.com/albums/z341/wardog10/?action=view&current=DSCN9273.jpg

Edited by wardog
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  • 2 months later...

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Haven't posted in a while as i've really tried concentrating on building the model. Here are a few "bad" pics of the RAT bay and the incomplete turbine assembly. Still have a ways to go on these as i haven't touched them in a long time. Been working on the cockpit finally and should have some pics soon.

Edited by wardog
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Found a few better pics of the stuff previously posted along with a few other things.A lot of this stuff is still to be completely finished but I'll probably wait until I get closer to the end of the build.

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