>> **** DONE: 1/72 CAC CA-15 "Kangaroo" - Prototype / Weird Aircraft / Trainers

Gnomey · May 26, 2017

Nicely done so far!

Wayne Little · May 28, 2017

progress looks good so far.

parsifal · May 30, 2017

Thanks guys. Just a quick update, no photos, but should post some tomorrow. Had to go to Sydney to put my wife and son on a plane. They are on their way to Tatianas home (Kazakshstan) which soaked up most of the weekend.

I applied another coat of the Alclad, which went on really well (a big trick with this stuff is not holding the gun too close and definitely not holding the gun still...definitely light applications, gradually building this up is the way I'm approaching this) , but then as advertised, this stuff shows up every little sanding and/or surface imperfection. I found some further imperfections in the wing root and several other spots, necessitating a re-sand in those areas. Just about there now, but I would like the painting of the main body to be more or less done if I can.

fubar57 · May 30, 2017

Silver paint does that, one of the reasons I have so few NMF aircraft

parsifal · Jun 4, 2017

just a really quick update because its getting dark and I have to go and save my chickens from the foxes.

Have nearly finished the spraying of the the main part of the model. Its not great, and there are still bits and pieces to touch up, but its passable at the moment. I found it very challenging to get a decent finish, as you can see , as this aluminium shading is very sensitive to the surface beneath. I also found that under certain conditions the Alclad will lift and bubble. . I had to sand and smooth some of the bog I had applied which also removed the primer underneath. I initially didn't apply a primer coat for the patchng, thinking it would be okay, but when I did that the new alclad just bubbled and blistered at the seam. I had to sand again, re-apply grey primer and then respray.

Ive also almost pre-fabricating the under carriage. it was a little tricky, The guards for each strut come in two halves and are meant to align using a tiny lug They are supposed to fit snuggly together, but I found I had to do a lot of sanding and shaping to make them fit together.

Before painting I cut the canopy and plunder my scrap box for a dorsal antenna, since the kit does not have one. I only had a spare from a P-38 hopefully isn't too wrong.

NMF finishes are much harder than I had reckoned on, and build imperfections have made this a difficult painting exercise when I'm already got my hands full with learning how to paint silver properly.

.Anyway, a shot of the main progress thus far....

Wayne Little · Jun 4, 2017

Doin' ok with the new challenges..

Wurger · Jun 4, 2017

Crimea_River · Jun 4, 2017

Hmmm. Don't understand the lifting unless there is an incompatibility with the primer.

Robert Porter · Jun 4, 2017

NMF are very challenging, a tougher part of it is of course it shows every imperfection like a spotlight was used! Additionally getting tonal variations are tough but it certainly looks like you are coming along great!

parsifal · Jun 5, 2017

Crimea_River said:
Hmmm. Don't understand the lifting unless there is an incompatibility with the primer.

Im not sure either. But the retry seems to have worked. It may have inadvertently had some moisture on the surface, though I cant be certain of that. In any event, it did not like the surface treatment at all and bubbled up quite badly.

I applied a clear coat to this last night, which seems to have spiffed things up quite a bit. I also retouched the black shading in front of the cockpit, because the edges hadn't worked really all that well. Ive also put together most of the undercarriage assembly, which I do not like. The fairings come in three parts, a completely unnecessary complication in my opinion.

Ive painted the canopy framing as well seems okay to me , and glued in position the pilots headrest . The bubble hood does fit over this at the moment, but Im still not entirely happy with the fit. The bubble hood is not quite snug enough on the fuselage and need needs a bit taken off of the front (to make it a more dish shape at the base so as to follow the contours of the fuselage) to make it sit in position better. I hope I can do this without causing the rear part of the hood to hit up against the pilots head rest. Tolerances are really tight.......

I might post some progress shots tonite if I get time.....

Gnomey · Jun 7, 2017

Good work so far!

parsifal · Jun 8, 2017

Asmall amount of progress. I put a clear coat over the aluminium finish, after I had retouched the black anti-flash stripe in front of the cockpit. Finished the painitng and sanding of the hood and now have fixed it into place.