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Now that I've finally got all the modelling tools and supplies unpacked and set up, AND have finished repairs to move-induced damage on my completeld plane (not much needed actually - finished it all in one evening), I'm jumping in earlier than I had hoped with my 1/48 Prowler in VAQ-137 markings.

The markings predate my time in the squadron but are from the squadron's first cruise after bein re-established.

Most of the work tonight was sorting through all the resin that comes in the Black Box cockpit set, and starting the task of removing the incorrect plating on the underside of the airframe. Tomorrow before going into work (night page again this week) I'm going to start removing excess resin from the cockpit tub and the pour stubs on the seats.

The CE correction set should be in the mailbox soon!

Edited by Karl Sander
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Update-

Well, first the "new" shop. I'm pretty happy to have it done, and my mental health is surely the better for having it up and running :worship:

shop.jpg

That's my new spray booth (right next to the window - you can just see the edge of the window casement on the left edge of the picture). For orientation, a little further left the L-shaped computer desk starts up. Between the desk and the workbench(s), I've basically got a big U shaped thing going on taking up 3 walls of my extra bedroom.

The two models on the right side of the picture are getting "repaired" - the Tomcat (one of the very first models I ever did on my own way back when - and veteran of several moves) is getting a pitot-tube reglued, and the Intruder is getting the canopy glued back on. I finished up the Intruder before my move and posted it here:

A-6 Intruder

OK, THAT picture was from Sunday night.

Monday night I jumped in and got to work on my entry (possibly first of a couple, work and travel schedule permitting). Sorry for the fuzzyness of the picture, but I think it shows the point. On the left is the fuselage half I've started to work on - to the right is the half I've yet to touch. I haven't gotten into cutting off incorrect scoops yet, preferring to wait for my CE correction set to arrive lest I confuse myself. But I have started grinding off the armor plating Monogram erroneously left molded on. Hopefully that shows itself a bit in the picture, despite the blurriness. It's given my rotor tool and myself the chance to reaquaint ourselves after the 5 month haitus caused by my move! :cheers: Just in time too, next up is cleaning up the resin cockpit tub and removing the pour stubs from the seats....

ROOK620-1.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sweet set up and job so far bro.... nice FRTC chart for wall paper.

Missed you at da club tonight (yeah, yeah I bailed early to pack)... and I'm back to SoCal after the outbrief tomorrow!

If I don't see you then, I'll catch up with you later..... Tailhook '06 at the latest!

Spongebob

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Sweet set up and job so far bro.... nice FRTC chart for wall paper.

Missed you at da club tonight (yeah, yeah I bailed early to pack)... and I'm back to SoCal after the outbrief tomorrow!

If I don't see you then, I'll catch up with you later..... Tailhook '06 at the latest!

Spongebob

Between air wing and Hook, I'm in self imposed "rehab" now. My body is NOT happy with me these days....

No guarantee that the "rehab" will last we get down to Holloman Monday night for det :P

Till then, you'll know where to find me.

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After seeing you in the VFA-125/122 Admin at 0315 last Friday, I can't imagine why your body would be upset....

For everyone else reading this thread:

Spongebob & Kolja @ Hook '05: (Kolja on the right...)

:P

Note, he does get up afterwards.....BTW, no pics in order to protect what's left of our careers

:)

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After seeing you in the VFA-125/122 Admin at 0315 last Friday, I can't imagine why your body would be upset....

For everyone else reading this thread:

Spongebob & Kolja @ Hook '05:  (Kolja on the right...)

:)

Note, he does get up afterwards.....BTW, no pics in order to protect what's left of our careers

:lol:

Friday night was nothing. I lasted til 8AM Saturday that night till the contacts dried out and I took that to mean it was time for bed.

Now, Saturday night, sometime after having a dip of Cope, a cigar, and a beer all at once I started having problems...

alcoholic.gifthud.gif

I might still be drunk as I've decided it would be a SWELL idea to rescribe the Prowler :P

Edited by Karl Sander
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Here's where it stands Friday afternoon (slow goings as I catch up on chores around the house - and sleep - after the air wing).

But you can see (hopefully) that I'm ALMOST done rescribing the left half - just have the tail area left to do. I also removed the HF antenna along the spine, to be replaced with the CE part. Cockpit tub and instrument panels have just a little touching up to do. Seats need some final painting (touch up the straps, add buckles and the red stickers) and then some drybrushing.

I flipped the seats over to show off a little known fact that I didn't see in the references - the rocket motors are color coded for each position (because each one has a different time delay for safe separation from the other seats). Pilot = brown, ECMO1 = purple, ECMO2 = orange, ECMO3=white. I obviously didn't paint all the way to the bottom, since I figured you wouldn't be able to see all the way down there.

ROOK620-2.jpg

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Saturday night -

Cockpit done and assembled - seats as done as they will be at this point, and installed. That means I could place the cockpit inside the fuselage and put the two (rescribed) fuselage halves together. There's only one place where the fuselage did not join correctly because of the new cockpit - it's on the topside between the front and aft cockpits. That arch-like piece has < 1/4" gap that will be easy enough to shim and smooth out. No big loss there, as there were some sink marks and other unsightliness here anyway.

This is the first time I've rescribed an entire model - usually I only rescribe what I manage to obliterate in filling and sanding. There's some minor room for improvement here and there (I know where to look to see where the scriber wandered off on its own - but I think I managed to clean most of those areas up and I don't plan on pointing them out!). But overall, I'm pretty pleased with how the rescribing has turned out so far.

Being occaisonally accident prone, certain parts of the cockpit and seats will wait till the very end - control stick, throttles, ejection seat handles, etc.

Pictures when the cement sets hard enough to take off all the rubber bands!

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Lookin' good Karl!

I do have a question though. Why is part of the tail look like it's been cut out?

Is this something regularly seen on Prowlers?

Tomcat minds want to know.. :o

Brian,

Replacement part supplied in that location from the CE set.

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After seeing you in the VFA-125/122 Admin at 0315 last Friday, I can't imagine why your body would be upset....

For everyone else reading this thread:

Spongebob & Kolja @ Hook '05: (Kolja on the right...)

:huh:

Note, he does get up afterwards.....BTW, no pics in order to protect what's left of our careers

:P

Great model but can we hear more about Tailhook 05??????? :wave:

Stephen

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Here's what it looks like Saturday afternoon, 9/23. Cockpit's installed except for easily breakable stuff like ejection handles, control stick, etc. Also cleaning up the seams. The white piece in the middle between the two cockpits is where I used sheet styrene to bridge a bit of a gap.

ROOK620-3.jpg

I also had a bit of a crazy idea while I was on TAD. It occured to me that one side of the Monogram molding had the boarding ladder down and the other side showed it up - I realized that I don't really remember ever seeing a Prowler parked like that. So now I'm going to try to make THIS side...

ROOK620-4.jpg

...look like THIS side:

ROOK620-5.jpg

It also occured to me that since the canopies were going to be open and the ladders were going to be down, I should drop the front seat boarding platforms. Shouldn't be all THAT hard, but I sure wish I had thought of that before installing the cockpit and joining the fuselage halves. Oh well...

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This is the right side as of Sunday night. Contrast to the picture a couple posts above:

ROOK620-6.jpg

The front cockpit boarding platform on the left side looks the same.

For the platforms I used the smallest grinding bit I could find for my rotor tool and slowly ground away some of the plastic, following inside the scribed line. I didn't go all the way through (this is where the thick plastic comes in handy!) so i didn't have to build a "back" wall for the platforms. I cleaned them up with the hobby knife and some jeweller's files, as well as a laquer thinner-soaked Q-tip to help smooth everything out.

For the boardling ladder on the left side, I used a cutoff wheel in the motor tool to make cuts on the top, bottom, and "aft" side then used the hobby knife to free it from the false plate of the intake (several repeated passes till the plastic came off). I used sheet styrene to rebuild that false plate (I copied the profile from the otherside, then just flipped it). I also used sheet stryene to build "sides" for the ladder well. The aft side is seen here built into the side of the engine trunk, I put the other side on the back of the intake. Then I cut a piece of styrene matching the height and width of the ladder well on the other side and installed it to make the "back" of the ladder well. I superglued it at the bottom first, then after set worked my way to the top to let it naturally bend to the right contour.

I also thinned the back of the kit intake trunk (stopping just sort of sanding through the compressor face) to make sure all this extra styrene would not royally screw up the fit of the intake assembly.

Meanwhile I've also rescribed the keel piece and have been attending to the various seams left over from joining the fuselage halves. Before bed I will probably do my first round of spraying things white - namely because of the need to assemble the nosewheel well before installing the keel. I figured painting it ahead of time would be easier - and applying a wash to the nosewheel well will DEFINITELY be easier when it's in peices! While I'm at it I'll also spray the portion of the main gear wells that are molded into the fuselage - will be easier to get at them this way before installing the inboard wings...

Edited by Karl Sander
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Haven't had a chance to do anything this week - and so far today I've been "recovering" and watching football, but this evening (after some chores around the house) I hope to give some detail to the nosewheel well, put it together, and put the keel into the fuselage... pics will come presuming I get off my hung over butt and get anything done...

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So here's some Saturday night progress.

I got the intakes assembled and installed. This is the side where I'm scratchbuilding the boarding ladder - not fitting too bad considering the extent of the surgery I did:

ROOK620-8.jpg

Interestingly though, on the other side where Monogram's molding gives you the option of displaying the ladder open, there's this rather unsightly gap (which left me wondering if I forgot something or managed to screw up some other way):

ROOK620-7.jpg

I fixed it with some sheet styrene cut to fit (more or less <_<):

ROOK620-12.jpg

Edited by Karl Sander
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I also put the nosewheel well sidewalls on, which allowed me to install the keel. I haven't put the part with the arresting hook in yet, but I've starting working on it. I ground off the antenna for the APN-153 doppler radar (it's not on the version I'm depicting). Unfortunately, the plastic wasn't thick enough for me to get away with it TOO easily. I put sheet styrene on the backside, and will blend everything out with Squadron green.

I'll also redo the ALE-39 expendables dispenser. Monogram has it molded in the right place, but it's just a collection of raised bumps (sorta rivet like) and isn't all that convincing. I plan to sand/file the two square shapes down just a bit to recess them, then drill out the holes. I'm sure THAT won't give me fits at all <_<

ROOK620-9.jpg

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I also started working on the wings and Paragon wingfolds. I'm starting with the left one first.

I measured and cut the kit wings per the Paragon instructions, then put the wings together. As you can see, I still have to remove the outboard flaperon (I haven't quite decided on the best way to do that to acheive the right look). In this picture I've got the inboard wingfold installed and am starting to blend it in with the kit wing. I haven't done the outboard fold yet. You can compare it to the kit's as yet unmolested right wing.

ROOK620-11.jpg

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This one's for you, Brian <_<

I've also installed the Cutting Edge replacement HF antenna (the fairing that goes along the spine). Just a little blending needed - due more to my cutting job than Cutting Edge's part (all of which are up to their usual high standards).

ROOK620-10.jpg

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Karl,

great looking work, and its realy coming along well! with all the modifications and additions your putting in, i wouldnt be surprised if your prowler weighs twice as much as an OOB one when its finished!

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Thanks guys!

You're right, the resin is definitely adding some weight. I think the stryene I'm adding will actually turn out to be weight neutral compared to all the armor plating and other stuff I've ground off. The styrene I use for this sort of work is pretty thin and light.

A little bit of progress tonight - nothing particularly photo-worthy but was nice to spend some time unwinding mid-week at the workbench (and ALWAYS nice to make progress).

I'm continuing to blend in various aftermarket and home-made additions. I think I'm pretty much done blending the home-made ladder on the right side and will start adding steps sometime this weekend or early next week. I also think the new HF antenna on the spine is blended in pretty well.

Ironically enough, some areas of the join between kit keel and kit fuselage sides still need some filling and sanding...

But I spent most my time working on the left wing (I decided to do all the left wing up to painting phase first before moving on to the right wing so as to avoid making the same mistake twice simultaenously, and also to LEARN from whatever mistakes I ran into on the left wing!). There's quite a bit of filling and sanding after attaching the resin wingfold parts - most likely due more to my imprecision in cutting than due to the casting of the parts themselves. There's also lots of armor plating to remove (and a little bit of filling where my grinding got a bit carried away... :cheers:)

A word of advice on the wingfold set. It's very well done and well engineered, but there are lots of other parts besides just the "plugs" that go in the wing around the fold joint. One of those parts is the flaperon, and the "innards" of the wing beneath it.

On a Prowler at rest with the wings folded, you will see the outboard flaperon hanging a bit from it's hinge line. (It's on top of the wing, but with the wing folded the outboard flaperon faces down - confused?).

Paragon lets you model this, but in order to do so you need to cut/carve out the flaperon on the outboard part of the wing. You'll insert a resin peice that represents the "insides" of the wing behind the flaperon, and also a thinner resin peice that represents the semi-loosely hanging flaperon.

Anyway, long story short, my advice is to remove the plastic from the kit piece BEFORE putting the upper and lower halves of the outboard wing together. It will simplify your cutting, filing and fitting. I did not do this on the left wing - I got away with it but it took extra work. Believe me, I'll cut before assembling the wing on the right side and make life easier for me!!

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