1/48 CT-156 Harvard II

[ALF18]

Time to show a bit of progress. I have more shots of the NFTC environment to show, but I'll hold them back, hoping to keep you coming back... kind of like a pre-commercial-break teaser!

The instrument panels are tiny, of course, and have lots of little dials. I wanted to show a power-off state, which means that the left-hand side dials are the only ones with any detail; the remainder are blacked out. Look carefully at this pic, and you'll see what I mean.

The G-meter and a few other dials are visible because they are physical instruments, while the majority of the panel is "glass", which is dark black/green when off. The decals, which you can just make out here, have options for all the instruments powered-on. A very nice touch for those who want to show it with electrical power (both DC from the Batteries and AC from a running engine) on.

In my case, I used a few decals for the bottom-left dials, and wanted to paint the remainder of them dark.

You can see my first attempt was to paint the instruments black. I didn't like how messy it was. So I redid the whole panel black, and scraped off the black to leave the grey underneath, making the demarcations more regular. My models never win contests, but they look OK from a casual glance into the cockpit, which is all they usually get from people coming by my office anyway.

And scraped, before decals, not quite finished...

Here is what the cockpit looks like installed in the fuselage, with decals applied to some dials, and decals for the side panels. I used green lumocolor markers over the black acrylic paint to give the illusion of glass in some cases.

I also applied a generous coating of Future over the side panel decals, to make sure they didn't eventually dry up and flake off.

More progress reported tomorrow.

ALF

[ALF18]

As promised, more progress.

Tail-sitters are always a concern to me. Just looking at this aircraft, I knew it was a probability. The instructions are very well done - they mention that 20 grams of weight are needed in the nose, and there is even a reminder at the step where you glue the fuselage together.

The only problem is that the fishing weights I used were made in China, and listed in ounces. Grams, kilograms, I understand. How many ozzes is a lib? No clue. So after an internet search, I figured out I need to put a lot of these little fishing weights in the nose. A little crazy glue and tape held them in nicely.

I also checked the fit of the resin nose piece. There are two bits of resin - the extreme forward fuselage, and the propellor spinner. The block came off easily with a small saw, and after some trimming with an exacto I checked the fit. Some gaps, but nothing too scary.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the fuselage halves mated up. Not much filling or scraping to be done here. The only concern is that a lot of the little antennae are already moulded into the fuselage halves, so any sanding or filling has to be done very carefully so as not to chop off or damage the little bits.

Here's how the underside fits. I have also installed the horizontal stabilizer in this pic. At first, there was quite a large gap between the horizontal stab and the fairings on the fuselage rear. I had to chop some of the plastic out of the slot where the stab slides into place, to reduce the gap to one that could be puttied.

ALF

Edited August 23, 2012 by ALF18

[ALF18]

Now was the time for the wings. As usual, the destructions said to glue the wing tops onto the wing underside piece, then glue the whole thing to the fuselage. Doing this in the past, I have usually ended up with big gaps to be filled upper wing to fuselage on each side.

So I used my usual technique - glue the wing roots (top) on each side first, let them set, then glue the remainder of the wing halves (top and bottom) together. Dry-fitting showed that the fuselage to wing join underneath was pretty good, and that the underside of the wing would sit in place and provide support for the wing tops as they set onto the fuselage at the wing root join. It's easier to see in this picture:

Here's what the wing underside joint looks like. Very nice fit by my standards, anyway. Note that the inner gear doors (the ones that open up from the centre of the wing, let the gear retract, then close up again), are moulded into the wing underside. This aircraft can have those doors (which I call D-doors, since some aircraft's doors are shaped like the letter D) open or closed when on the ground, shut down.

Typically, if you shut down the aircraft, these doors remain up, unless you actuate a switch to open them up. On many flight lines, the doors are usually left open and hanging down. In my case, given the difficulty involved in chopping the doors out of the lower wing, then adding detail inside the wheel wells and on the inside portion of the D doors, it was definitely not in the plan!

Here is how the wings looked before joining upper and lower halves together. The wing roots are firmly glued in place now.

After glueing the rest together, the inboard upper wing root gaps are not bad at all. Perhaps the area at the rear on the fuselage just above the wing needs a bit of putty.

I should also mention that there is an unexpected gap in the instrument cowling between the front and rear seats. Oops...

I think I got a bit lax in my glueing of the halves together, and might have missed out on some required trimming to get the cockpit to fit perfectly. My plan is to fill this gap with putty, given it will be inside the closed canopy. Hopefully my vacuformed canopy (kit part) will stretch slightly in width to not leave funny gaps along the canopy rails on the outside.

ALF

Edited August 23, 2012 by ALF18

[AX 365]

Nice progress so far, ALF. I used Model Master Insignia Blue enamel (same FS colour as your Acryl - 35044) on this Corsair and I applied two coats of gloss coat over top of it. It darkened up really well. Here's what I ended up with. I think it is extremely close to what you're looking for.

As for the canopy, as was stated earlier, white glue can be a modeler's best friend. Testor's Clear Parts Cement Window Maker is awesome stuff for filling gaps around canopies too.

Great work on the wings too. Minimal filling to deal with.

Looking good, bub.

[Emvar]

Hey ALF,

Looks good so far, I also have the Decals so I'm lurking like I usually do following your story and build.

I think the insignia blue is good if you preshade with black, will make the aircraft look a bit used and faded.

This is one of those group build I'd love to join..... But I work with Airliners.... I hate building Airliners.

[mawz]

Here's a couple Corair's done in XF-17, I need to shoot a few picks of the CT-155, just finished it a few days ago after 4 years on the Shelf of Doom

F4U-1D and Corsair Mk IV by mawz_models, on Flickr

[ALF18]

Nice progress so far, ALF. I used Model Master Insignia Blue enamel (same FS colour as your Acryl - 35044) on this Corsair and I applied two coats of gloss coat over top of it. It darkened up really well. Here's what I ended up with. I think it is extremely close to what you're looking for.

Looking good, bub.

Thanks for the comments, Mike

The FS number called for on the Caracal Models decals is 15052 - very, very close to 35044 (gloss vs matte, which Future will fix, and only 8 numbers off otherwise). I also like the colour it makes on the pics you posted. Nice looking Corsair, BTW.

I am about done trimming the vacuform canopy. I just need to do a final check on the fit, add in the resin cross-brace piece, and glue it in place. I might do the masking tape before glueing it in place - will be easier to apply with my fingers supporting it from the inside, than doing it over a floppy and mushy piece of vacuformed plastic.

ALF

[ALF18]

Hey ALF,

Looks good so far, I also have the Decals so I'm lurking like I usually do following your story and build.

I think the insignia blue is good if you preshade with black, will make the aircraft look a bit used and faded.

This is one of those group build I'd love to join..... But I work with Airliners.... I hate building Airliners.

Emvar - nice to hear from you.

I have been fondling the resin parts from the Classic Airframes F-5A you just sold me - I'm thinking of kitbashing it with the old Testors F-5A kit for this GB... way too many options!

As for this GB, you could do a CF-18, or a T-33, or a CF-5, or a Tutor - you see, one of your good buddies used to fly them

ALF

[ALF18]

Here's a couple Corair's done in XF-17, I need to shoot a few picks of the CT-155, just finished it a few days ago after 4 years on the Shelf of Doom

F4U-1D and Corsair Mk IV by mawz_models, on Flickr

Mawz

Wow, the colours look a bit odd in that pic - the Corsairs look dark green?! I suspect it's a trick of the lighting, camera, or computer screen hue.

Even in the linked photo album, they look green/black. That colour looks too dark for my preference - I'm glad you posted it before I went out and got a container of it.

ALF

[ALF18]

Remember what I said about the lack of numbering on the sprues?

Here is the main landing gear - surprisingly complex on this kit.

I was looking all around at the sprues, trying to figure out which part was which...

And then I found the answer key! Silly me - not reading every step of the instructions before assembly! Must be that Y chromosone.

Having identified the parts, I could then glue them together.

The gear looks like this:

ALF

[ALF18]

Thinking about the colour scheme and the gear colours, I think I'll paint the whole thing white Tamiya primer first. I will glue the wheels in place, so that the gear can be sprayed all white (primer). I'll then mask off the gear completely, and spray the other colours, starting with the Alclad, then the blue.

Now for the part I have been dreading all along - the vacuform canopy. I managed to trim it down to the right size, taking the great advice of chopping a bit at a time, fitting, then chopping again. A longer process, but here (dry fit) it looks reasonably close.

There is a little resin cross-beam stiffener to be glued in place. After checking the fit, I decided to not take any chances and glued it in place on the cockpit, instead of on the canopy as per the instructions. There were a few reasons for this:

-not sure if the cross brace would make the canopy too narrow, given that the fuselage spread slightly by the rear seat as I glued it together

-having taped the canopy prior to glueing it in place, I couldn't see at all where the cross-brace would go, and I didn't want it to catch on anything or get knocked off

-it may not have fit when glued in the right place anyway

I also decided to mask the canopy before glueing it in place - it is quite flexible, and I could use my fingers inside to burnish the tape down nicely by doing it this way.

A few last-minute exacto trims to some burrs, and ready for the white glue

Glued in place! I spread some glue in the gaps to fill them.

ALF

[Neo]

Looking great ALF nice fast progress !!

one thing i would recommend getting is testor window maker. it replaces that white glue you used and really dries perfectly clear.

BTW has school started back yet for you?

Take care

Neo

[ALF18]

Looking great ALF nice fast progress !!

one thing i would recommend getting is testor window maker. it replaces that white glue you used and really dries perfectly clear.

BTW has school started back yet for you?

Take care

Neo

Neo

Never heard of Testor's window maker - sounds like a good product. Now, maybe if somebody would drive up here with a bottle for me, I might pay for it plus a beer for "transportation costs"...

I'm hoping the glue will not show inside the canopy, and that the blue colour of the frames will darken it enough to make the white glue invisible. I realized afterward that my white glue is about 100 years old, and yellowing a bit.

Yup, school has started (6 August). I teach an Air Regulations course that starts 2 weeks prior to the normal return date for CEGEP, so that the pre-solo exam (PSTAR) can be written before the students start buzzing around the circuit on their own in September. Life is rough - I need 3 MORE months of vacation.

ALF

[CorsairMan]

I've seen these right up close in Kingston. They are very impressive and bigger than you might think. Compared to a cessna they might as well be fighter jets!

[Neo]

Hey ALF

Ill bring you one on my next trip with the kit from the raffle

If you need #15 humbrol too let me know

[ALF18]

Hey ALF

Ill bring you one on my next trip with the kit from the raffle

If you need #15 humbrol too let me know

Neo

No thanks on the Humbrol 15 - I have a new pot of that. Let me think about other colours, though... so when are you planning a trip?

ALF

[Big Daddy]

Great progress so far, ALF! Looking good! :thumbsup:

BD

[-Neu-]

Looking good alf. I like kits like these: they have a lot of nice bits but take a bit of work to get together. You're putting your skills to good use.

[ALF18]

Great progress so far, ALF! Looking good! :thumbsup:

BD

Thanks BD!

ALF

[ALF18]

I've seen these right up close in Kingston. They are very impressive and bigger than you might think. Compared to a cessna they might as well be fighter jets!

You're right - everything is relative. I look outside my office window here at the aviation college, and I see how small the little Beechcraft 23 Sundowners are... and when I compare the size of the Tutor model in 1/48 to this one, the Tutor looks small as well.

The Harvard II sure sits up high on its gear as well, and the flip-open (to the side) canopy is long and heavy.

Thanks for your comments!

ALF

[ALF18]

More progress.

Given that the landing gear struts and wheel wells are white, I decided to install wheels earlier than usual, and paint the whole thing white primer. I will then mask off the wheel wells and struts and wheels, and paint the blue, then uncover and do the black colour for the tires. I find black a lot easier to hand paint than white. Here are the wheels installed.

Despite having put gobs of weight in the nose, I found that after the tail was installed it sat back on its tail - not convincingly, but it did!

I took the prop spinner and sat it on the nose, further aft of where it will be once glued in place, and even without the weight of the prop blades, it is enough to make it sit properly. Moral of the story - don't skimp on nose weight for this kit!

I called the pic "phew"...

Here is the white primer, masked wheels and wells, and the silver leading edges for the wings and vertical tail. Next step is to mask off the silver, and paint the overall insignia blue.

Thanks for stopping by!

ALF

[Neo]

The spinner saves the day!! amazing how little it takes sometime!!

Great progress

Will be seeing you most likely @ thanksgiving long weekend

Cheers

Neo

[AX 365]

Coming along nicely, bub. The pucker factor has subsided, has it? Not to scare you, but I hope you have better luck with your Humbrol 15 than I did when a sprayed it on a Tutor I was finishing in Golden Centennaires livery. I had a really hard time with it. It came out blotchy and it had a very coarse texture, as if I has sprayed it over a piece of 1000 grit sandpaper. Poopy, daddy. Poopy.

[ALF18]

Coming along nicely, bub. The pucker factor has subsided, has it? Not to scare you, but I hope you have better luck with your Humbrol 15 than I did when a sprayed it on a Tutor I was finishing in Golden Centennaires livery. I had a really hard time with it. It came out blotchy and it had a very coarse texture, as if I has sprayed it over a piece of 1000 grit sandpaper. Poopy, daddy. Poopy.

Mike

Nice try, but your concern about Humbrol 15 won't faze me - because I'll use the Modelmaster Acryl Insignia Blue (or whatever it's called). I prefer to spray acrylics, because SWMBO doesn't complain as much about the smell. When I clean up with turpentine in the garage, the odour lingers for a couple days, and she wrinkles her nose at it a lot.

You are right about one thing - the pucker factor is easing. The canopy was a huge concern, and it turned out OK - as did the weight and balance. As soon as I can spray the blue, I'm into the final stretch.

ALF

[AX 365]

Mike

Nice try, but your concern about Humbrol 15 won't faze me - because I'll use the Modelmaster Acryl Insignia Blue (or whatever it's called). I prefer to spray acrylics, because SWMBO doesn't complain as much about the smell. When I clean up with turpentine in the garage, the odour lingers for a couple days, and she wrinkles her nose at it a lot.

You are right about one thing - the pucker factor is easing. The canopy was a huge concern, and it turned out OK - as did the weight and balance. As soon as I can spray the blue, I'm into the final stretch.

ALF

And the alarming part of this whole thing is that after I read your post ALF, I had forgotten that we had previously discussed the closeness of colours of the MM Enamel I used on the Corsair and the acrylic you planned on using on this build. I guess my parents really did cook with too many aluminum pots when I was a kid. I think I'm going to have to change my name to Al...Al Zheimer! Wow...

Edited September 7, 2012 by AX 365