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A 1/72nd C-17 Globemaster - the hard way.


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Tommy,

The completed decaling is just near on perfect. Looking forward to the NMF.

Joel

Thanks Joel - the job's made easier when the decals perform so well, I must confess.

Very impressive your work !!

Before applying a coat of matt, you'll apply the wash?

The areas of wear have had a very light panel wash, such as the flaps and spoilers etc. I must confess I'm not a fan of all over washes highlighting every panel line, to me it makes the panel detail out of scale, and when you consider the fine tolerances on an aircraft such as the C-17 very few panel joins are visible. Also, pictures I've seen of this particular aircraft show it very clean and well cared for, so I'm keeping any weathering to an absolute minimum.

With the decalling complete I've been busy once again on the C-17.

The model has had a coat of flat varnish to kill the glossy sheen (beautiful for decaling but not so good for an in-scale military finish!) and has had a few other details added.

I have sculpted the various sat-com fairings from Milliput, sanded them to shape, sprayed them white and added them to the upper fuselage. The large centre fairing will be painted a very light grey in due course:

18122982211_f55c6b83e5_c.jpgS1030295 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

With the painting now complete I've removed the masking from the engines and cockpit windows - I'm glad I spent all that time making the cockpit interior as there's lots to be seen through the large windows:

17935695509_52284e38f4_c.jpgS1030319 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

And some general views of the model as it stands now:

18121933525_4a317ffdc7_c.jpgS1030311 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

18118443512_9d52acfb94_c.jpgS1030324 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

18095438636_d28cc6449a_c.jpgS1030336 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

17935694329_a1b2db0f1b_c.jpgS1030321 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

The varnish will now be allowed to harden for a good 48 hours and then I'll commence with the metal leading edges, pylons and exhaust cones.

Getting there now...

Tom

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Tom,

As I've already said, the build to date is simply spectacular in every aspect one can think of. I do have one question. The lower rudder on the inside face surface has the continuance of the number 1 rather then on the side that I would expect to see it if the rudder was in the neutral position when the crew painted it on. I know that it's a minor point, but for some reason it's been nagging at me.

Joel

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Tom,

As I've already said, the build to date is simply spectacular in every aspect one can think of. I do have one question. The lower rudder on the inside face surface has the continuance of the number 1 rather then on the side that I would expect to see it if the rudder was in the neutral position when the crew painted it on. I know that it's a minor point, but for some reason it's been nagging at me.

Joel

Hi Joel, and thanks for the kind words.

The lower part of the one does actually have a gap where the rudder would be in the neutral position, it just doesn't show up on the pictures very well! Perhaps I should have made it larger, but I promise you it's there!

Tom

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Absolutely jaw-dropping incredible.

Pretty sure that building a 1:1 scale C-17 out of chewing gum and cocktail sticks would have been easier than Combat models.... Your Globemaster looks like a 1:1 that was hit with a shrink ray. Stunning.

(Wrong base assignment though. The best C-17s, everyone knows, are the McChord AFB C-17s.)

C-17A%2099-0062%2062%20AW%20LOAD%20MRAP%20FRIDAY%20SEPT%2011%2009%20-%20090911-F-8716G-006%20550X366.jpg

~ Tracy, unrepentant homer ;)/>

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Hi Tom!

Well, I don't think I can say anything which wasn't said already. I'm simply lost for words when I see how you transformed the Combat Models "shell" into a well detailed scale replica.

Watching your build makes me really want to start a vacu kit myself. So when I find myself under a pile of sanding dust in the near future I know who to blame... :P

Cheers

Markus

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Absolutely jaw-dropping incredible.

Pretty sure that building a 1:1 scale C-17 out of chewing gum and cocktail sticks would have been easier than Combat models.... Your Globemaster looks like a 1:1 that was hit with a shrink ray. Stunning.

(Wrong base assignment though. The best C-17s, everyone knows, are the McChord AFB C-17s.)

C-17A%2099-0062%2062%20AW%20LOAD%20MRAP%20FRIDAY%20SEPT%2011%2009%20-%20090911-F-8716G-006%20550X366.jpg

~ Tracy, unrepentant homer ;)/>/>

Many thanks - it's interesting that you show a McChord based C-17 as that was going to be my base of choice if I went for a USAF bird!

Mission Accomplished!! Great job!

I.Martin

Many thanks!

Hi Tom!

Well, I don't think I can say anything which wasn't said already. I'm simply lost for words when I see how you transformed the Combat Models "shell" into a well detailed scale replica.

Watching your build makes me really want to start a vacu kit myself. So when I find myself under a pile of sanding dust in the near future I know who to blame... :P/>

Cheers

Markus

Thanks, Markus! I'm glad this build may have inspired you to tackle a vac; it seems to be a dying art and to turn another to the 'dark side' would be great to hear!

Many are put off by vacs as they perceive them as difficult and basic (which to be fair this one has been on both counts!) but with a little extra elbow grease and some trial and error they can be made to rival any injection-moulded kit.

Tom

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Thanks again for the kind words gentlemen... it's very kind of you!

More mundane tasks getting completed... today it's been scratch building the main landing gear doors. There were very simple to make, with plastic card forming the main shapes; one for the outer sections sprayed grey, and another for the door linings which were sprayed satin white. The door actuators were made from scraps of plastic and Evergreen:

18078291608_5d74a62af2_c.jpgS1030358 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

The wheels have been added to the landing gear axles, and the doors installed:

17643507394_630e39284d_c.jpgS1030364 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

Now the same process will be applied to the small upper doors on the sponsons and the nose gear.

Slowly the 'to-do list' is getting smaller.

Tom

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How do you form the curved doors? Do you glue the inner and outer pieces over a mold to form the curve? Do you rely on structural parts to force the curve? Do you rely on plastic's plasticity and deform it, perhaps with heat?

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How do you form the curved doors? Do you glue the inner and outer pieces over a mold to form the curve? Do you rely on structural parts to force the curve? Do you rely on plastic's plasticity and deform it, perhaps with heat?

The doors were formed by simply wrapping the card around a pen - it was as simple as that! A few 'wraps' and holding them in place for a minute or so gave the plastic card all the curve it needed, and then it was just a case of sticking the inner parts to the outer sections and they stayed happily in place.

Tom

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Tom

Fantastic, Amazing, Spectacular! Your work is so inspiring that I only hope I can get slightly close to this level of detail and accuracy with my attempt at the Combat Models kit.

Please keep the information coming on this build.

Jason

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Tom

Fantastic, Amazing, Spectacular! Your work is so inspiring that I only hope I can get slightly close to this level of detail and accuracy with my attempt at the Combat Models kit.

Please keep the information coming on this build.

Jason

You're very kind Jason - and take it from me you'll have a lot of 'fun' with this kit!

I've not had as much time at the bench as I'd like of late, but I've got a few little bits done on the C-17 recently.

I've added the natural metal areas to the APU area, pylons and leading edges of the wings using Bare Metal Foil - there's no better way to recreate metal than using... well... metal:

18024596454_62f289b0c9_c.jpgDSC_0004 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

18647280855_14a1ae1d63_c.jpgDSC_0010 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

I've also added the protective metal areas to the underside of the flaps immediately behind the engines to protect them from the hot exhaust gasses when they're deployed:

18620938026_6c1439447b_c.jpgDSC_0020 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

Not much left to do now... scratch the last wheel doors, add a few aerials and the cockpit glazing from acetate:

18620927766_10283b8f51_c.jpgDSC_0005 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

18026612763_9f6cb4bcd0_c.jpgDSC_0008 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

18024591794_1e2257bfa0_c.jpgDSC_0002 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

So hopefully, next time I post it'll be saying she's all done!

Tom

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Tom,

Just a few steps from the finish line.

Since coming back into the hobby like so many others, I've become addicted to both Model Master Metalizers and Alcad 11 NM finishes. I have to confess that I've completely forgotten about Bare Metal Foil that I used for years. You've demonstrated just a few applications where it's the equal to Metalizers, and a lot quicker and easier to apply.

Joel

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Masterfully done!

Perhaps you can pose that beast with a baby elephant to give us some sense of size!

Many thanks - and yes it is a big beast of a model - tall too, so shelf space is going to be a struggle with this one!

Superb, Tom. Just superb.

Thanks!

Awesome C-17! You've made it look so easy to build this beast.

Thank you - and it may have looked easy, but I can assure you it wasn't! What I tend to do is only show you the successes - perhaps I should show a few mishaps, too. Believe me, there are plenty!

Tom,

Just a few steps from the finish line.

Since coming back into the hobby like so many others, I've become addicted to both Model Master Metalizers and Alcad 11 NM finishes. I have to confess that I've completely forgotten about Bare Metal Foil that I used for years. You've demonstrated just a few applications where it's the equal to Metalizers, and a lot quicker and easier to apply.

Joel

Thanks Joel - I love Bare Metal Foil, as you say it's so easy, and providing the surface beneath is blemish free, there's no better substitute for NMF in my opinion. If you want to cover a whole airframe though it can be rather time consuming, not to mention rather expensive. Kitchen foil may be my next experiment.

No further progress to report unfortunately, as being a teacher and nearing the end of the school year, the only thing on my work bench at the moment is exam papers to mark and reports to write... still, the holidays are not far off!

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