Hi everyone!
So I'm just starting out on this kit. Partly because I have some questions I hope people can help me out with
A couple of questions I had and maybe someone can answer or point me to sources...
1. Cockpit colours, the kit suggests the RAF cockpit green for the framework, lower parts of the sidewalls and details (rudder pedals, seat, footrests, firewalls etc), with black for the upper parts of the sidewalls, instrument panels, head armour, gunsight and gunsight frames. Does this sound right? I've seen others do Tempest kits that were entirely black interiors and still others that were almost entirely green.
2. Seatbelts, anyone have a picture of what these should look like? The kit instructions show how to thread them, but there's no "finished" picture so I don't know how much of the strap should be passed through the buckles, how they should drape and so on.
Anyway, on with it! I like to ramble so feel free to jump to the pictures if you don't care
I started off by polishing the canopy. Unfortunately it came slightly scratched and somewhat scuffed. The kit as a whole seemed poorly packed for such an expensive model, several of the resin bits were broken and many parts have scuff marks on them from rubbing against adjacent sprues, but anyway. I decided to start by polishing the canopy because I've never had to remove scratches before and needed to find out if I'd have to figure out a replacement part. I think in the end it came up alright. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any "before" pictures for potential buyers of the kit to check out.
I started with sanding out the scratches with 2000 grit, it took a bit of time but I didn't want to go lower grit lest I inflict larger scratches that would be hard to remove. Then for polishing I used a Dremel, I haven't seen anyone use this method before so I thought I'd mention it. Dremel brand polishing cloths are expensive and I couldn't find non-dremel branded ones, so instead of using a polishing cloth you can make a DIY foam polishing pad. Just grab a foam polishing pad from an automotive store, I think these ones cost me a couple of bucks for 2 pads, cut small circles out of them and just thread them on to the threaded Dremel head. Viola, instant buffing wheel that costs almost nothing! It's also less likely to leave a haze if you work an are too much like a cloth might, so it's a very safe polishing method. I polished it with Tamiya compounds, went through the range of coarse, fine and finish. Using the Dremel it only takes maybe 10-15 minutes to polish a canopy like this.
After the canopy I've just been working on the cockpit, cleaning mould lines, cleaning up the resin parts. The resin gunsight and gunsight frame came broken so I used the plastic part but attached the lower part of the resin gunsight to add some more detail. I also have the eduard cockpit set, but I may not use it because it looks a bit weird to me (it's rough and glossy where as it should be smooth and satin).
So I'm just starting out on this kit. Partly because I have some questions I hope people can help me out with
A couple of questions I had and maybe someone can answer or point me to sources...
1. Cockpit colours, the kit suggests the RAF cockpit green for the framework, lower parts of the sidewalls and details (rudder pedals, seat, footrests, firewalls etc), with black for the upper parts of the sidewalls, instrument panels, head armour, gunsight and gunsight frames. Does this sound right? I've seen others do Tempest kits that were entirely black interiors and still others that were almost entirely green.
2. Seatbelts, anyone have a picture of what these should look like? The kit instructions show how to thread them, but there's no "finished" picture so I don't know how much of the strap should be passed through the buckles, how they should drape and so on.
Anyway, on with it! I like to ramble so feel free to jump to the pictures if you don't care
I started off by polishing the canopy. Unfortunately it came slightly scratched and somewhat scuffed. The kit as a whole seemed poorly packed for such an expensive model, several of the resin bits were broken and many parts have scuff marks on them from rubbing against adjacent sprues, but anyway. I decided to start by polishing the canopy because I've never had to remove scratches before and needed to find out if I'd have to figure out a replacement part. I think in the end it came up alright. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any "before" pictures for potential buyers of the kit to check out.
I started with sanding out the scratches with 2000 grit, it took a bit of time but I didn't want to go lower grit lest I inflict larger scratches that would be hard to remove. Then for polishing I used a Dremel, I haven't seen anyone use this method before so I thought I'd mention it. Dremel brand polishing cloths are expensive and I couldn't find non-dremel branded ones, so instead of using a polishing cloth you can make a DIY foam polishing pad. Just grab a foam polishing pad from an automotive store, I think these ones cost me a couple of bucks for 2 pads, cut small circles out of them and just thread them on to the threaded Dremel head. Viola, instant buffing wheel that costs almost nothing! It's also less likely to leave a haze if you work an are too much like a cloth might, so it's a very safe polishing method. I polished it with Tamiya compounds, went through the range of coarse, fine and finish. Using the Dremel it only takes maybe 10-15 minutes to polish a canopy like this.
After the canopy I've just been working on the cockpit, cleaning mould lines, cleaning up the resin parts. The resin gunsight and gunsight frame came broken so I used the plastic part but attached the lower part of the resin gunsight to add some more detail. I also have the eduard cockpit set, but I may not use it because it looks a bit weird to me (it's rough and glossy where as it should be smooth and satin).
