Catch22
Major
Looks great John!
<-- **** DONE: 1/48 P-38J Hill's Angels - Twin Engined Aircraft of WWII
- Thread starter JKim
- Start date
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Crimea_River
Marshal
Ditto that.
John, though the overall fit is not bad, I did have some issues with some local areas on mine:
John, though the overall fit is not bad, I did have some issues with some local areas on mine:
- Thread starter
- #24
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Thanks for the pics Andy! I don't expect much different on my build as the lack of any positive fitting guides makes for vague fit all around. I've re-verified the fit of the Aires resin cockpit to the fuselage but I'm having trouble with the coaming piece. Once that is dealt with, the cockpit should be ready for some paint.
Great work so far John!
fubar57
General
Lots of work in the cockpit area but looks under control
- Thread starter
- #28
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
As far as aftermarket resin cockpits are concerned, I consider this Aires pit one of the better ones in terms of fit. After removing the step on the canopy rail, the cockpit tub slipped into place on the upper fuselage piece and it was just a matter of sanding the cockpit tub bottom and wheel well top to get the lower fuselage piece on. No radical shaving of the sidewall/fuselage interior required. The Aires instructions are pretty bad though and they do not show how the cockpit pieces fit into the fuselage... had to figure that out myself.
Got the coaming thing sort out... will be using the kit piece after some surgery. Ready to start painting the cockpit so I should be making another report soon.
- Thread starter
- #29
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Okey dokey... some more work to report on. The last piece of cockpit fitting was the coaming piece that goes over the instrument panel. As I report on earlier, the resin coaming is designed to be a drop-fit replacement of the kit coaming and even comes with alignment pins to help slot it into place. However, the dreaded resin shrinkage has made this piece undersized. I don't have many positive experiences bending resin parts to I decided to see if I could perform some surgery and use the kit coaming, which fits much better.
The Academy plastic is on the softer side so that trimming easier. Using my Tamiya cutters as pruning shears and an X-acto knife to clean up the cuts, I removed the shroud over the instrument panel.
With a few more cuts, I was able to get the kit coaming to fit over the resin cockpit.
I wanted to salvage the instrument shelf that was molded integral to the resin coaming so I sawed it off.
I can place the shelf directly on the cockpit floor.
I used a piece of sheet styrene to bring the instrument panel outwards.
I threw in the armor panel, seat and control wheel just to see how everything fits.
Final verification to make sure the the instrument panel face fits behind the relocated instrument shelf... it looks like a go!
Almost time to paint! But I'd better attach the seatbelts first. I've tried to put some curvature into the belts to reduce that straight-as-piece-of-metal look.
Some of the little PE bits get glued on too. I like to dab white glue onto the ends of the PE switch gear to give the ends a round appearance.
After giving the cockpit pieces a black base, I sprayed the parts an interior green color (Tamiya NATO Green). I'm going to take my time and paint as much of the little resin details that my patience and eyes can stand. Here are the seat and the main cockpit parts about halfway through the painting stage.
The Academy plastic is on the softer side so that trimming easier. Using my Tamiya cutters as pruning shears and an X-acto knife to clean up the cuts, I removed the shroud over the instrument panel.
With a few more cuts, I was able to get the kit coaming to fit over the resin cockpit.
I wanted to salvage the instrument shelf that was molded integral to the resin coaming so I sawed it off.
I can place the shelf directly on the cockpit floor.
I used a piece of sheet styrene to bring the instrument panel outwards.
I threw in the armor panel, seat and control wheel just to see how everything fits.
Final verification to make sure the the instrument panel face fits behind the relocated instrument shelf... it looks like a go!
Almost time to paint! But I'd better attach the seatbelts first. I've tried to put some curvature into the belts to reduce that straight-as-piece-of-metal look.
Some of the little PE bits get glued on too. I like to dab white glue onto the ends of the PE switch gear to give the ends a round appearance.
After giving the cockpit pieces a black base, I sprayed the parts an interior green color (Tamiya NATO Green). I'm going to take my time and paint as much of the little resin details that my patience and eyes can stand. Here are the seat and the main cockpit parts about halfway through the painting stage.
fubar57
General
Sweet
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Good stuff John.
Crimea_River
Marshal
Great stuff John. Really looks the part but you might want to spin the crank handle on canopy retraction wheel 180 degrees as the outward facing handle is on the hub.
- Thread starter
- #34
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
I think it's correct... the axis of the crank is closer to the outside edge of the circular panel. No?
fubar57
General
It looks like your crank handle is in the center......
- Thread starter
- #36
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
The circular plate doesn't rotate. Look at the picture of the real cockpit that I posted. The handle is located on the upper edge of the circular plate at around the 11 o'clock position. It cranks the window up and down like a car window. The cranks on the resin set are correct.
- Thread starter
- #37
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Thanks for checking in guys. The painting of the cockpit parts is just about complete. I've given the parts a dark wash and a flat coat.
A view of the starboard sidewall panel mounted on the cockpit floor. Remember guys, that circular plate on the sidewall doesn't rotate! The handle is located in the correct position and is used to roll the side windows up and down.
Here's a look at the port sidewall in place. I lost the handle of the window crank when I was wiping the wash off.
The port side with a few more cockpit components in place. I'll do a little more weathering on the pit before I start assembling. Those seatbelts look too pristine don't they? I futzed the brass instrument panel painting and will have to repaint it.
A view of the starboard sidewall panel mounted on the cockpit floor. Remember guys, that circular plate on the sidewall doesn't rotate! The handle is located in the correct position and is used to roll the side windows up and down.
Here's a look at the port sidewall in place. I lost the handle of the window crank when I was wiping the wash off.
The port side with a few more cockpit components in place. I'll do a little more weathering on the pit before I start assembling. Those seatbelts look too pristine don't they? I futzed the brass instrument panel painting and will have to repaint it.
Last edited:
Crimea_River
Marshal
My mistake John. I thought he circular plate moved but you're right, it doesn't. It's probably a removable panel for maintenance of the roll down mechanism.
Love the pit. It looks excellent.
Love the pit. It looks excellent.
le_steph40
Senior Master Sergeant
- excellent John, as usual
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