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Monogram 1/48 "Miller SNJ" -- FINISHED


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Yah, I was concerned. That's why I did the one on the stabilizer--try small in case they went south. The fit is nice, but they are goopy and the finish is a little rough. But, I do think I'll finish with them...

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I am glad that you went with the Miller Time decals.  I wanted to see what it would look like in that scheme and it looks good.  Sometimes those old decals go on rough but they settle down fine.

 

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The decals are almost all on.

snj-decal2.jpg

 

snj-decal3.jpg

 

All but 2 went on nicely. The top left wing stripe and bottom right wing stripe (left on the this view) are very prune-like :bandhead2:

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That's what I've been trying. Between leaving it alone for a few days during a business trip, and Micro Sol, it has improved.

But, it may just be that's just as good as it gets. The good news it's only 2 of the decals, but bad news is that one's up top. :dontknow:

 

There was a little voice telling me to paint those dang stripes! :bandhead2:

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Striving to be better, oft we mar what's well.

 

I'm going to have to live with that hideous upper wing stripe, lest I take a major step backwards.

 

The exhaust is painted and the engine is on. One thing I've never been happy with are my renditions of recognition lights. I've tried painting, reflecting things, and all manner of approaches. I was pretty happy with wing-tip lights on my XF5F painted with red and green Sharpies, so I figured I'd try that with the recognition lights. As they apparently had shiny bezels, I cut disks of Al foil with the #6 punch on my Waldron punch set and glued them in place for the bezels. I then colored more foil with sharpies, punched disks with the #5 punch, and glued them atop. I need to get a good marker for the "amber" light, but these aren't too horrible...

snj-recognition.jpg

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Made up masks in Inkscape for the 3 mid canopy components and cut them onto Frisket on my Silhouette Portrait. As you might have guessed, the six flat panels on each side of the vac canopy are different widths, as are the left and right side panels heights on the aft-middle canopy. Since I have 2 more of these kits in the stash--along with 2 more vac canopies--I'll add the forward and aft canopy sections to the mask when I do the next kit.

AT-6-masks-2.png

snj-canopymasked.jpg

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Finally gave up on the prune-like upper-left wing stripe and applied the gloss clear coat. It is what it is...

snj-gloss.jpg

 

Next I made up the belts from flattened 20 mil solder.

snj-belts4.jpg

 

I used a knife handle to roll it to 6 mils thickness and 36 mils width.

snj-belts5.jpg

 

I then used the buckles from the Lion Roar PE set. To get a buckle on, I'd bend a U into the solder, slide the buckle on both ends of the U, and then pulled it flat. The end buckle was easy, just make an L, slip on the buckle, and fold it back.

snj-belts0.jpg

 

snj-belts7.jpg

 

snj-belts8.jpg

Edited by dnl42
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  • 2 months later...
On 1/28/2019 at 12:49 PM, dnl42 said:

I'd bend a U into the solder, slide the buckle on both ends of the U, and then pulled it flat.

Now how absolutely cool is that! Wow, this looks like the best method of making seat belts that I have seen so far, and the additional buckles that make it real, is awesome. Thanks so much, now I just need to find solder in that size and practice, practice, practice! I love how solder is very pliable, no matter what shape you need, it retains it without a fight, very nice!

 

This puts to rest my question via the HDMI post, I just hope others follow this link, it is invaluable.

 

I do have one other question. Back when I was building models more than thirty years ago, we did not have the internet to learn from, and modeling was strickly a local only hobby, especially for those who had no means to travel or even buy magazines. Every penny went into kits and supplies. Anyway, I used to try different methods of fighting with decals, and that is what it always was, a fight. Anyway, I did the tiny pin holes before putting them in water, hoping to get air to escape easier when applying, this worked to some extent. I even tried lightly sanding the decal sheet to remove the sheen and allow air to escape, and this also had success, unless my memory is faulty. I do not remember if we had solutions such as microsol and microset available back then, if we did, I never used it, probably couldn't afford it.

 

My point is, since I have never used these products, and the videos/photos always speak of the crinkling of the decals as they melt into the mold of the plastic. This is going to scare me half to death. How do you know when the decal is still working into position, and when it needs more solution? Are the brands other than microsol/set good alternatives? I have seen products like Mr setter, and some from Tamiya as well. Even different strengths.

 

Do you know which ones are safe and which ones I should use in an emergency? When to break out the big guns (extra strength) solution for large and/or problematic decals?

 

Thanks, as always, one answer always leads to more questions!

 

 Anthony

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I tried my usual Micro Set/Sol as well as something new for me, MarkFit Strong. I should have gotten some Solvaset... I think that stuff has been around forever. I remember some stuff back in the day--it was in a bottle with a glass "applicator" built into the lid. Worked amazingly well. Anyway, the MSI stuff is my standard today. Works every time except when it doesn't--like on Tamiya decals.

 

I also have lead wire from UMM-USA. This is available in various sizes.

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  • 1 year later...

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