Joel_W Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share Posted May 20, 2015 Ehi Joel great pit! I remember as a child when see pics of the Buffalos on my dad books that I think how in the World this little squat bird can be a match foe an Imperial Zeke? But is shape is adorable anyway! I follow your progress mate! Gianni Gianni, Thanks for stopping by, and joining the journey. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Great looking cockpit Joel ! Very neat and tidy with the details nicely picked out. Well done! Regards, Don. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Great looking cockpit Joel :thumbsup:/>! Very neat and tidy with the details nicely picked out. Well done! Regards, Don. Don, Thanks for those more then kind words. Still have a complete port side of the fuselage/cockpit to do, then some dry brushing and a few washes. As it stands now, it's just looks to "spit & polish" for the effect I'm after. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oppenheimerj Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Joel, i just realize this build is yours, not a big fan of the little Buffalo but your building progress is a pleasure to watch, every day we learn new things, i did not know that this airplane was used in the Midway battle , i thought only the british were the only ones to use this bird. From now on i will keep following this WIP for sure Best regards Jorge Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Joel, i just realize this build is yours, not a big fan of the little Buffalo but your building progress is a pleasure to watch, every day we learn new things, i did not know that this airplane was used in the Midway battle , i thought only the british were the only ones to use this bird. From now on i will keep following this WIP for sure Best regards Jorge Jorge, Thank you, and welcome to my build journey. Only the USN stopped flying the Buffalo in combat after Midway where it was literally shot out of the sky. The Brits, and the Fins had pretty good results with it. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 Work has continued on the cockpit and fuselage sides. I've finally finished detailing both fuselage halves, as well as the various cockpit sub assemblies. I dry brushed the Dark Dull Green with Model Master Aluminum Metalizer, which came out better then I thought. All that is left now is to add on a dark dirty wash. Before I can close up the fuselage halves, I have to install the MGs and ammo boxes, and the fire wall for the engine compartment. If you look closely at the IP, you'll see that I added a home made place card to the center. It's the best that I could come up with, and once the fuselage is closed up, you'll hardly see it, let alone be able to read it. Here's a few pictures of the fuselage closed up to give you an idea of how the finished cockpit will look. And here's a picture of the start of the gun/wheel well, engine compartment. And now you're up to speed with my progress to date. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimmaas Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Since the landing gear mechanism is next, this may be of interest.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taggor Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Hey Joel! Nice clean work. It seems to me as if your most recent builds have come together "effortlessly." Of course I know that's not entirely true, insert Spitfire painting here. I just really admire your work. -Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 (edited) Since the landing gear mechanism is next, this may be of interest.... Jim, Thanks for that link to those videos. I've been trying to find pictures of how the gear actually is raised and lowered, and how they should attach to the interior structure. As usual, the instructions are next to useless. At least now I have a working knowledge of it. Most likely I'll add pins to those rods and drill holes in the structure so that the gear is well supported. Joel Edited May 26, 2015 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 Hey Joel! Nice clean work. It seems to me as if your most recent builds have come together "effortlessly." Of course I know that's not entirely true, insert Spitfire painting here. I just really admire your work. -Mark Mark, Thanks so much for your comments. It means quite a lot to me. I wish I could say that my recent builds seam to flow easier then previous builds due to better planning, and realistic execution, but the Spit was almost a shelf of doom build because I didn't research the proper camo paint scheme. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rocat Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Great work, I'm following your wip! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 Great work, I'm following your wip! Rocat, Thanks for those most kind words. And welcome to my journey. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) While waiting for the glued up fuselage halves to completely dry, I decided to start on the wings. They come molded as 4 pieces; two per wing, on one large sprue tree with plenty of attachment points, so they looked flat and square. As I cut each off the sprue tree, it warped and twisted. Now I have 4 wing halves each looking contorted like they had some nervous disease. Needless to say I'm not a happy camper. :soapbox:/> My 1st thought was to see if taping the each wing half to its mate would solve the problem. It did to some degree, but the wing tips are still badly warped, and there is some twisting in each wing half. Later today, I'm going to try and cure their affliction by securely taping each wing half to the kitchen counter so that they lay completely flat. Then cover each of them with a rag that I'll continue to soak in boiling water several times. Then letting them cool down over a half hour or so before I remove the tape. Hopefully that will correct the issue. :pray:/> Joel Edited May 27, 2015 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taggor Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Sorry to hear about the warping of the wings. I hope you will be able to fix them. I am not very good at warped parts myself. I have a Monogram A-10 that I pulled out to check some proportions on. One of the fuselage halves is terribly warped and I did try to fix it with boiling water but, my tape kept coming off with the steam. I may have to try your method of taping it to the kitchen counter with some more "robust" water proof tape. I will be waiting to hear of your success with the wings Joel. I know it will turn out well! -Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 Sorry to hear about the warping of the wings. I hope you will be able to fix them. I am not very good at warped parts myself. I have a Monogram A-10 that I pulled out to check some proportions on. One of the fuselage halves is terribly warped and I did try to fix it with boiling water but, my tape kept coming off with the steam. I may have to try your method of taping it to the kitchen counter with some more "robust" water proof tape. I will be waiting to hear of your success with the wings Joel. I know it will turn out well! -Mark Mark, Well, the great experiment didn't work. The wings are just as warped and twisted as before. So as a last resort, I'm going to epoxy in 3 inch steel pins and see if that will straighten them out enough so that clamping and gluing will finish the adjustments. I took some pictures earlier, and will post them later. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taggor Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I am not sure how you glued them but, if you can take them apart fairly easily, it may work to make a styrene spar or contour pieces to straighten the warped area. Just guessing as I don't know the extent of the warp. Just trying to help too as I know you have a lot more time at the bench than I! -Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 I am not sure how you glued them but, if you can take them apart fairly easily, it may work to make a styrene spar or contour pieces to straighten the warped area. Just guessing as I don't know the extent of the warp. Just trying to help too as I know you have a lot more time at the bench than I! -Mark Mark, I haven't glued them together as yet. Just taped and saw all the issues. As for a spare, there just isn't any room for a plastic spar from the wing root to the base thick enough to force the wings into the correct shape. Hoping that gluing a few inches at a time will allow the wing to flex into position. The wing tips are a different issue, but lets see what happens. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 here's what the warp wings look like. Not a pretty sight. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spad Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Not a pretty sight. Definitely not! These are the little things that I do now diminish the interest in the subject that I'm building! Do not give up and move forward at full speed Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Definitely not! :bandhead2:/>/> These are the little things that I do now diminish the interest in the subject that I'm building! Do not give up and move forward at full speed :thumbsup:/>/> Well, the hot water rag idea was a bomb to be quite honest, so I decided to forge ahead anyway. I glued up the wheel wells and installed them in each wing. Then I mixed up some FS36440 light Gray using Tamiya XF-19 2 parts to XF-2 1 part and air brushed the wells. I glued up each wing using a lot of Extra Thin, plenty of 3M masking tape, and several small spring clamps. Will give it 24 hr to dry, then I'll remove the clamps, then another 24 hrs and remove the tape. The wings look somewhat straight, but the wing tips have a visible curve upwards that doesn't show in any pictures or line drawings. Joel Edited May 27, 2015 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimmaas Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Hey Joel - here's a section from the blueprints for the wing that show the wingtips have a marked upsweep when seen from the front. This was actually pretty common on US aircraft from that period as an aerodynamic feature. The wing should be dead flat along the top line, though. Edited May 27, 2015 by jimmaas Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Sorry to hear of your warping issues Joel. As Spad posted above, these setbacks can really have adverse affects on a persons motivation. You have done such a great job thus far continue to forge ahead. Have you tried a hair dryer? Care must be taken but I have had success in the past with some severe warping on old Monogram kits. At any rate I am sure you will sort it out. Best of luck ! Regards, Don. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oppenheimerj Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 sorry to hear the bad news, this kind of situations some times makes me want to throw everythnig to the trash and more reason after all the hard work you have done on the cockpit section, i hope you will come up with a solution, if not and if you like dioramas, you can do one with a crash landed buffalo, in this case people dont mind to see a buffalo with bented wings :D/> Joel i know you can pool this out and have a perfect wings Jorge Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Hey Joel - here's a section from the blueprints for the wing that show the wingtips have a marked upsweep when seen from the front. This was actually pretty common on US aircraft from that period as an aerodynamic feature. The wing should be dead flat along the top line, though. Jim, Thanks so much for posting that section of the wing blue prints. The kit wings once glued up, has that turned up lower portion of the wing tip, but there is also a slight turn up of the top side of the wing too. Each wing was warped to a different degree then the other, and after gluing and severe taping to pull the four sections square and flat, I'd est. that more then 80-90% of the warping issues are gone. Unfortunately, there is 10-20% that is still present. One wing has a really weird twist and dip about 2/3 of the way towards the tip. When I hand fitted the butt joints the wings look passable, and as long as you don't look head on, the differences shouldn't be very noticeable, if they are at all. With that being said, due to the slight warpage that still exists, I'm really concerned how it will effect the height and stance of the landing gear so that the F2A will have the proper seat. I can only sand just so much off the tires, and oblong the axil hole to compensate the differences in height. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Sorry to hear of your warping issues Joel. As Spad posted above, these setbacks can really have adverse affects on a persons motivation. You have done such a great job thus far continue to forge ahead. Have you tried a hair dryer? Care must be taken but I have had success in the past with some severe warping on old Monogram kits. At any rate I am sure you will sort it out. Best of luck :thumbsup:/>! Regards, Don. Don, Nope, never even thought of using a hair dryer, as years ago I really screwed up a warped fuselage. Ok, I destroyed it. So it's never been in my bag of tricks. As I just posted to Jim, the warps are now workable and passable to continue with the build. Of course the next issue is how to deal with the butt joint for the wings/fuselage. I just can't see a butt joint being strong enough since you can't clamp it to have some pressure on the joint while drying. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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