**** DONE: GB-44 1/48 CF-104 - Military A/C of post-war time (1 Viewer)

[Crimea_River]

My least favourite stage of model building but a necessary evil. Doing good Geo.

 

[fubar57]

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The fit of this kit was a bit worse than Ole Yeller. Stage One of mud complete. I may get away with two sessions; the silver paint checker will decide. Awaiting Stage Two to dry

 

[Crimea_River]

More Bondo on those speed brakes no doubt.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[N4521U]

Those long clamps again.
May have to break down......
Nice so far!

 

[fubar57]

Thanks all. Both single seaters are just about up to paint stage; just need to give them a bath to remove the mud dust. A few more odds and ends to go on the twin seater yet

 

[fubar57]

Fit of the nose cone was far from great compared to the other kit. Managed to get ⅔ of it flush, mud on the rest

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Good work. Is Bondo your putty of choice now? I need to buy more putty as my 15 year old tube of Squadron has finally dried up.

 

[fubar57]

Yep. I've been using it for at least 6 years as other modelling putties are out of my reach and with shipping, cost. I just paid 12$ for a 4.5oz tube. Others warn of shrinking with this type of putty and the label mentions there may be slight shrinking. I just went down and looked at my Hobbycraft A-4 that I built in a 2012 GB. You may remember that it was about 90% mud. OK maybe not that much.....

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....there is no shrinkage to date. Another concern with these putties is flaking when trying to rescribe. Keep in mind that I rushed this to get the photo and this isn't my final mud session here. I also just used blue tape as a guide and you can see the skips. Another issue is I really haven't had much practice rescribing panel lines. Also note that this is the first layer of mud and sanding which I used 320 grit. Keeping the mud layers thin means I can usually start sanding after 30-45 minutes later. I think another way to really avoid flaking would be to scribe the lines before the mud has had time to fully set

 

[Wurger]

Looking good though.

 

[fubar57]

Thank you sir. I should have added that I used a fairly dull needle to scribe and I really need to replace it

 

[Airframes]

Geo, apart from using a scribing tool for straight lines, I also use the tip from a pair of drawing compass, chucked in a pin vise. Stronger than a needle or pin, with no flex, and can easily be re-sharpened, using a file.
Other scribing too;s include the scalpel, using both the tip and edge of the blade, and the back of the blade, and the razor saw.
Left to right - pin vise with compass point, scribing tool, scalpel, razor saw (coarse blade snapped at end, allows straight access.).

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Geo. It's generally frowned upon to try to scribe into ANY kind of putty as far as I'm aware as the flaking issue is pretty common. I have found success in painting over the puttied surface with a lacquer primer and then polishing the paint with fine grit sanding sponges. I then scribe into the paint very lightly by scoring with a scalpel or PE saw. I find most other methods to produce too much of a profile for 1/48.

 

[fubar57]

Cool, might have to find some lacquer primer. That line I scribed has since been filled in and sanded. One more small mud session and done. I thought I was done with the two-seater but I need to add the intakes and the nose cone.

 

[Crimea_River]

Tamiya's grey surface primer is lacquer based and works well.

 

[rochie]

looks good Geo

 

[Wayne Little]

Keep up the good work George.

 

[fubar57]

Thanks guys. Looking at masking options now. The large main gear doors apparently are only in the lowered position when the gear cycles so to minimize masking here I thought I would install them now. The only problem is a cross member (yellow part) has to be added after the landing gear is in place however I want these added after the main painting is done to minimize breakage and extra masking. I test fit the cross member and gear cover to see if I could cut the cross member to fit after the gear covers were attached. Its a good thing I test fit.....look at that whacking great gap...

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....so I check to see how the fit will be without the cross member and find the contour isn't even close

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As I am pondering how to bend this into submission I glance down at the instructions and notice that the gear covers, 15 and 16, don't completely close when the gear is lowered.....hmmmmm