Hartman #4 the HL-1 in 1/48th

[hawkeye2an]

Very neat and clean

neat and clean?

Looks like it's been beat with the ugly stick at this point, should polish up nicely in the end though.

 

[Lucky13]

Looking good mate!

 

[hawkeye2an]

Fuselage and wings now complete.

Lower wing attached. With the humidity here up in the high 90s it takes about 3 days for glue to dry and about a week for paint.

 

[B-17engineer]

Looks great!! Heat must be real brutal!

 

[Airframes]

Certainly does look good. Send some of that heat this way please - it's done nothing but p**s down all year. I'm considering tying an anchor to my house, just in case it decides to float off during the night !

 

[Wayne Little]

progress does look good.....

 

[hawkeye2an]

Fuselage looking right.

Series of laminates to get the odd shape of the nose right.

 

[B-17engineer]

Looking great!

 

[hawkeye2an]

Today I am using a product called STRUTZ from a company called SKYBIRDS '86 out of UK.

The strut material is beautiful to work with, easy to cut and holds whatever shape you bend it.

The following pics show about 15 minutes work to produce two real nice landing gear struts for this build, and they are VERY sturdy.

I went to order more of this wonderful product from Roll Models and they don't have it anymore. I can't find any info on the net either. I was wondering if any of my buddies from the UK could help me with a source?

 

[B-17engineer]

Interesting! Very cool.

 

[Crimea_River]

Looks like nice material. Wish I could help.

 

[Wayne Little]

Interesting, haven't heard of STRUTZ before..?

 

[hawkeye2an]

Interesting, haven't heard of STRUTZ before..?

Grab them if you can find them, wonderful stuff.

 

[hawkeye2an]

Pic 1 - making the prop, the original is in front.

Pic 2 - this gives an idea of how many different parts were used. White parts are styrene sheet. yellow tail is made from a Jenny wing. Bi-wings are from a Stearman, fuselage from a Tiger Moth, interplane struts are from Strutz, cabane struts from the Tiger Moth.

 

[hawkeye2an]

Spent the last three days trying to get a decent silver doped finish on this beast. It was so frustrating because I test painted the red and then sprayed the silver over it no problem, then went to spray the model next day and it crazed as soon as it hit the red. Threw it in the strip tank removed all the paint and tried again, same thing. Threw it in the strip tank and removed all the paint again. This time I masked off for the red and sprayed it., let it dry and then masked off for the silver. Decent but not great results but it'll have to do. I wasn't even trying to get a NMF, just the grayish silver dope that planes in the 20s all seemed to be sprayed with. I HATE SILVER PAINT !!!

 

[B-17engineer]

That looks Fantastic!! Well done Andy!

 

[Crimea_River]

Turned out good despite the challenges. Could you describe the strip tank thingy and what you use as the fluid?

 

[vikingBerserker]

Great work!

 

[Wayne Little]

I think you have done a great job Andy...well done mate!

 

[hawkeye2an]

Turned out good despite the challenges. Could you describe the strip tank thingy and what you use as the fluid?

I use Scalecoat II Washaway. It's something the railroad boys came up with. Here's a link:

Scalecoat II Paint

I know others use brake fluid, simple green etc. What makes this stuff so good is the fact that it only eats away the paint, not the putty and models like this have a LOT of putty. It's also quick, usually about an hour in the tank then over to the sink for a quick toothbrush scrub and you're ready to paint again. As for what to use as the tank itself, I have several cheapy Tupperwear type boxes that I use depending on the size of the model. You want it just big enough to fit the model. This stuff is a little expensive but it can be used over and over as long as you keep it in a container that seals up properly.