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Academy 1/32 F-16I SUFA

moon puppy said:
I have a buddy who's pestering me about this. I told him I'd give it a shot, can you share your experience?

Sufa is looking great! Nice to be busy isn't it? :soldier
Click to expand...
Yeah, busy is good! I have only painted fly fishing poppers so far like frog and bee patterns. This one is a blue back shad, which I haven't done. I have been watching a video on how to do it. It doesn't look difficult, but there are some stencil patterns I need to get first.
 
Probably too late but here is the makeup.
1696600919466.jpeg
 
In between drawing and setting up the new shop space I found time to work in the front landing gear. It is not done by any means, but I finally got the wheel on, strut glued in and support aparatus drilled and hosed. The hose is a dark blue in the reference, and I have light blue, so a bit of transparent black should fix that. Oil, rust, and what not come next.
1000007360.jpg
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1000007358.jpg
 
Two things have happened. Trying to insert one of the hoses into its hole led to frustration, mostly because O couldnt see. I had on my magnifiers, and using the micro tube applicator on my bottle of superglue I held the hose in place and tried to squeeze the smallest drop onto the hise end. Nothing came out. Squeeze a little harder. Bear in mind my field of vision to the side was nil. WTF? Why isnt the glue coming out? I removed the magnifiers and the reason no glue was coming out was because the micro tip has slipped sideways on the regular tip and was pouring glue all over the wing. Cursing wildly the whole time I removed as much glue as I could. Gonna be some paint touch up here
1000007394.jpg


This area was where I was trying to fit the hose

1000007395.jpg



After cleanup I poured glue out onto a bottle cap and scooped some up with a piece of stretched sprue. The damn hose slipped in like the mother trucking trickster that it was. I had been trying with that piece of sprue to nearly ten minutes before I tried my micro applicatir tip. Stupid model.

Thing number two. I am trying to test fit the piston (actuator?) and it sprang out of sight. Again, I had the magnifiers on so I have no idea even which direction it went. An hour later on hands and knees with a flashlight I decided to just make another. Of course I had to make 2. Here they are before painting. Those were the sizes of tube I had on hand, and it took some reaming out to get them to fit inside one another. They are a little bigger thickness-wise on the body. The piston is the same size. I sut a tiny piece of tubing to be the attachment ring, drilled a hole in its side and superglued the piston into the hole. It seems to hold. Now to paint the body. I will leave the piston natural metal. The pistons slide in and out so fitting should be easier.
1000007392.jpg


I am not sure why I can't model without multiple fiascoes on every model!
 
Greg, I NEVER apply CA directly from the bottle, tube or whatever! What you had happen is exactly why I don't. Instead I have a little platform made from a wood block and a used sapphire watch crystal. The crystals usually get badly scratched or a chip on the edge where they might leak so they have to be replaced. I epoxied the crystal bad side down so that the pristine inside surface is up. My applicators are made from acrylic rod, but you could use some sprue pieces or wooden dowels and various sizes of steel wire. The tips of the wire have a sharpened chisel end straight or slightly angled and are polished. They will pick up the CA and you can flow it exactly where you want it since it has a sharp chisel end. Just place the end where you want it lined up with the joint and touch it. The CA flows right where you want it. It can take a few pick up and applications, but better to place many small amounts and get it just like you want it rather than OOPS!
I have used these to place and draw the CA along a seam like a wing root where there was a slight gap and was able to fill the gap and work a very fine fillet along the seam. No filler was needed. You can also mix several types of CA together and get some different properties. I have even mixed old thick CA with new thin CA and ended up with a thin slow set CA that when bonded was quite strong.

Anyway here is my CA applicator set. It is fancy because I have access to the parts to make it. You can use a glass slide and that will work just as well.
Sapphire CA mixing pallet.jpg
 
Heavens Eagle said:
Greg, I NEVER apply CA directly from the bottle, tube or whatever! What you had happen is exactly why I don't. Instead I have a little platform made from a wood block and a used sapphire watch crystal. The crystals usually get badly scratched or a chip on the edge where they might leak so they have to be replaced. I epoxied the crystal bad side down so that the pristine inside surface is up. My applicators are made from acrylic rod, but you could use some sprue pieces or wooden dowels and various sizes of steel wire. The tips of the wire have a sharpened chisel end straight or slightly angled and are polished. They will pick up the CA and you can flow it exactly where you want it since it has a sharp chisel end. Just place the end where you want it lined up with the joint and touch it. The CA flows right where you want it. It can take a few pick up and applications, but better to place many small amounts and get it just like you want it rather than OOPS!
I have used these to place and draw the CA along a seam like a wing root where there was a slight gap and was able to fill the gap and work a very fine fillet along the seam. No filler was needed. You can also mix several types of CA together and get some different properties. I have even mixed old thick CA with new thin CA and ended up with a thin slow set CA that when bonded was quite strong.

Anyway here is my CA applicator set. It is fancy because I have access to the parts to make it. You can use a glass slide and that will work just as well.
View attachment 162827
Click to expand...
OMG, you saying this reminded me that I have Cyano applicator tube made by BSI in the drawer directly under where I made the mess. I swear, I can't remember anything. It drives me nuts. There they are,...right there. Suck up some CA and put it where you want it. Won't happen again sir!
 
1697570126308.jpeg

Are you not the proud owner of a Cap-Holder-O-Matic?
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Cap-Holder-O-Matic Modeling Tool. TLAR Models #419

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I am probably putting the cart before the horse putting the nosecone on and affixing the access panel before weather and decals, but I really wanted to see it all together. I gotta tell you, putting all that wiring inside the nosecone was not an easy task. The wiring connector bracket thingy was teally cool looking metal L with brass rods for the wires to go into, but I simply could not get it put together; I really needed four hands. The final bracket became a piece of square styrene rod with holes drilled through. I was trying to put the wire through the little oval wiring guide first. I finally had to put all the wiring together then thread each wire through the guide backwards, which was still difficult but easier than the other way. I like the way it turned out in the end.
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I was working on the targeting and navigation pods. The paint was a custom mix which I will never achieve again LOL. The lens' for the Litening target pod turned out great. I first used silver reflective fingernail foil as the base, then used colored film cut out with my micro punches. Gator Grip glue held them in place and I let the dry. Then UV fly tying resin filled in for the glass. There is a tiny bubble in one of them! Drat it all
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Then I set about putting on the decals. It went well I thought, until they dries and the big decal for the closures had silvered like crazy! What to do? I will see what alcohol will do; it can't be worse than it is now. It removed the carrier film completely and left the decal alone!!!

20231101_202138.jpg

A coat of matte varnish took care of the rest.
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That's it for today. They are ready for installation!
 
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