1/32 Tamiya Corsair II, 1836 Sqd, FAA

[Crimea_River]

There are two things that I would consider Cory. 1) Glue in a rough piece of clear sprue now with CA glue after drilling a hole and painting a red or green bulb in the hole. File the lens to shape and sand with increasingly fine paper to blend the clear part into the wing. When done, coat it with a clear enamel. 2) make a bulb of stretched sprue and build up the lens around it using Testors Clear Parts Cement. You should be able to find this in one of your Edmonton hobby stores. It's PVA but seems a little stronger than wood glue. Build this up til you get the shape you want.

I would prefer option 1 for your larger scale. The cement in option 2 is not easily controlled for shape, might get air bubbles, and does not stand up to shaping well. It's the best solution for smaller scales but for 1/32, you might be pushing your luck.

 

[Catch22]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll weigh my options and give one of them a go. I do have some of that Testor's Clear Parts stuff so I'm set in that regard if I go that route. I might do a test on some clear sprue to see how clear I can get it after I sand it.

 

[Airframes]

After sanding clear sprue, polish it with a car body colour restorer (T-Cut is a UK brand), or liquid metal polish. Toothpaste can also work, depending on how 'rough' the surface is, but takes a lot of time.
A final coat of Future, or clear gloss acrylic will make it gleam.

 

[Catch22]

I do have some Tamiya polishing compounds of different finenesses (is that even a word?), I assume that would do it?

 

[Crimea_River]

You know, I've found that it doesn't need to be polished to the nth degree if you put a clear coat on it. I've finished the clear part up to a 12000 grit micro mesh pad then added the Future (other clear coat in your case) and got a great result. This Mossie was done this way:

The nice thing about the Testors is that it doesn't bond very well so if you don't like what you get, you can pull it off without damaging the surrounding plastic and start over.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Catch22]

Yeah, those turned out great Andy. I'll do some experimenting today.

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far Cory!

 

[Catch22]

Thanks Hugh, and sorry for the late reply.

Progress has been slower than I'd like, but I have made some. It was partially interrupted by an F-16 I built for my friend's birthday, and also by my own laziness when it came to the cockpit. I bought some BarracudaCals cockpit placard decals, which were a bit of a chore but added quite a bit. That said I wasn't able to use them all due to the fact that they wouldn't all fit over the detail they were supposed to. I also used an RB productions Sutton harness. I realized after that the kit actually comes with a PE Sutton strangely enough, but I still prefer the look of the fabric belts to PE. Good to know for the spares box. I've since got the fuselage together, with one possibly major hitch: a piece in the rear gear well popped out of alignment as I was putting the halves together, and the rear gear actually mounts into said piece. There's nothing I can do to fix it anymore so we'll see when I get to that point. I've also made the wingtip lights using Andy's clear sprue method and I think they turned out pretty well! I don't have pics of either of these steps yet but I will soon.

 

[Crimea_River]

Looks great Cory.

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Very nice looking innards. Hope things work out with the fallen piece.


Geo

 

[Catch22]

Thanks guys!

 

[Airframes]

That's looking the biz Cory - nice work.

 

[Donivanp]

I may have to look into those, I can see the work, Great work Cory.

 

[Wildcat]

Fantastic work Cory!

 

[Gnomey]

Nice work so far Cory!

 

[Catch22]

Thanks a lot guys! Just trying to figure out exactly where to place the scoops, as it doesn't seem consistent across aircraft. Once again going through Andy's 1/48 thread and other photos, it seems to be right about where the mysterious hand hold is (at least on this kit). I cannot find photos of said hand hold anywhere, so I'll probably fill it and put the side scoops there. Now the question is, should I drill the hole first or should I fill those first? Also, I'm not sure on the sizing. Andy had said he used a 1.7mm rod, so if I up that by 48, I get 81.6mm, and then divide that by 32 I get 2.55mm. Does that seem right to you guys?

EDIT: Forgot this photo.

Here's a photo of the actual aircraft, where you can see the scoop, but it offers no real clues as to its location as the quality isn't good enough. Also, while I have you here, would you guys agree those codes are white and not sky?

 

[rochie]

Good stuff Cory.

Look white to me re the codes as well

 

[Catch22]

Thanks Karl!