"Here Puss.....pusspusspuss....."

[Che Guava 5,111]

I did think I might bend the rules somewhat with this one, maybe a Catalina or somesuch, but realising there were no rules decided to meekly comply with the no-rules bar one rule.....

....finished of course as the one that @RWG686 and I encountered in East Fortune last week, but in an earlier guise. I have put some pics in 'Walkaround' but due to it being jammed into a dark corner couldn't actually walk around it.

[Mad Steve 25,049]

Aye caramba... 

Weeeeeell, if no one has a complaint, you get the one and only slot open for just such an occasion 

[Blue Noser 4,873]

Any complaint as to its suitability would be way outnumbered by my intrigue in seeing this built, so Cracketh on I say!

[Che Guava 5,111]

So anyway....

...assembled the impossibly small but adequately detailed interior, 5 bits, in no time at all. (Look at the size of the little jump seat for the third occupant!) Control column not installed as the kit has supplied the egg-shaped yolk (not making this up!), while my subject has the more usual hand-grip style which I'll add later. 

While waiting for my eyesight to recover...

...I cleaned up the larger components - a very slight bit of flash in places, and file off those rather wide fill-channels that limited-run kits seem to need. Wings are moulded in one piece top/bottom, so no filler. Woo-hoo! Will probably paint them and stick on the decals before attaching them to the fuselage. Nice detail. All looks pretty straightforward. So far.

[Gorby 21,590]

45 minutes ago, Che Guava said:

(Look at the size of the little jump seat for the third occupant!)

So they could only take a second passenger if they were a smaller scale? 

[steelpillow 1,008]

1 hour ago, Che Guava said:

Control column not installed as the kit has supplied the egg-shaped yolk (not making this up!),

Well, just a bit. The control is spelled "yoke", after the similarly-shaped thing put over the necks of beasts of burden so they can pull stuff along. English spelling, don'ch'a luv it!

[Che Guava 5,111]

6 hours ago, steelpillow said:

Well, just a bit. The control is spelled "yoke", after the similarly-shaped thing put over the necks of beasts of burden so they can pull stuff along. English spelling, don'ch'a luv it!

Yup. Like coke, toke, and 'You're under arrest'. But that's ok, I can take a yoke. 

Edited May 24 by Che Guava

[steelpillow 1,008]

1 hour ago, Che Guava said:

Yup. Like coke, toke, and 'You're under arrest'. But that's ok, I can take a yoke. 

Don't forget oak trees, ochre pigments, and all those friends called Bowker or Rowker.

[Che Guava 5,111]

On 5/24/2023 at 6:41 PM, steelpillow said:

Don't forget oak trees, ochre pigments, and all those friends called Bowker or Rowker.

Sure, its enough te make ye boak, so it is. 

[Che Guava 5,111]

But I digress....

Interior in, rough seatbelt impression (new method - thick aluminium cut from tea-light holder painted tan but leaving a wee bit to look like a buckle, this stuff bends better than masking tape and thinner than lead tape), plus oversize (oops) control stick. Almost none of which will be very visible through the thick but clear glazing. 

A bit of a mismatch between the fuselage halves means a bit o' filler will be needed, but just a light skim.

[Che Guava 5,111]

"All looks pretty straight-forward so far" he sez....

...well, the side windows fitted fine, but the front windscreen (part of the cabin roof moulding)  doesn't. Not nearly. Not even close. The centre screen seems too wide.

Only thing for it - cut the corners off and re-shape all three tiny panels to fit. 

[Che Guava 5,111]

Windscreen should look like this...

The lower framing isn't visible as it extends down to the firewall and is concealed by the engine cover (a bit like the screen-wipers on a modern car). Centre panel 'vee' is much narrower than the kit. Oh well, here goes with Che's chopper!

[RWG686 40,515]

32 minutes ago, Che Guava said:

Oh well, here goes with Che's chopper!

Could you sand off the V and re-polish?

[Che Guava 5,111]

3 minutes ago, RWG686 said:

Could you sand off the V and re-polish?

I could, but I've just noticed the internal combing inside (the grey bit) and I'm trying to fit it with the windows still in place. Really, could the manufacturers not at least provided this bit on the moulding?

[Jessie_C 13,970]

An alternative approach is to mask off the canopy, slather on the Milliput and sand to shape once it's dry.

[Che Guava 5,111]

....then I looked at my own pictures (why'd I not do that first?) and, well.....

...those front three panes are flat glass, not slightly curved as in the kit. Complete replacement of those makes it much easier.

[Che Guava 5,111]

After I'd finished putting in the extra cockpit detail without removing the side windows (which felt like trying to rearrange the living-room furniture through the letterbox), I tried a few photographs...

...but they didn't really help, so here goes with the 1000 words a picture is supposed to replace. First, a 2mm strip of 10 thou card bent to shape was glued just inside the front of the cockpit.  On top of that, a bit of bent stretched sprue painted black to represent the combing top, and underneath that, a little bit of flat card, black with four blobs for instruments. Oh, and also I replaced my very overscale joystick with one that's slightly less overscale than the first one. I am confident that little of that work will be visible once enclosed in the canopy. Still, its the thought that counts.

On the next row of pics, the canopy shown with the side bits cut out, the front vee filed flat (it was remarkably well curved so I was a bit worried about filing right through). as much as I polished, the area completely, still remaining matt. On an old canopy I first tested some 'Crystal Clear' - it wasn't. Then I tried the 'clear PVA' glue I found at 'The Works' (other art suppliers are available). That seems to have worked, through there are a couple of file scratches still visible. I'll try another coat of this stuff, but I'm going to use the transparency anyway, however it turns out - 'cos life's too short, and anything that helps to obscure my attempt at an interior is fine by me. (Though I did start 'Plan B' and cut a replacement front screen, which now I won't need. The two little side-screens will be done with flat bits cut from, well, something I haven't decided on yet.

Edited June 3 by Che Guava

[steelpillow 1,008]

Aha! So the bottle of PVA glue has to have "Clear" written on it! Never came like that in my day, was always white stuff that dried to a dull milkiness. Egad, remind me which century this is, would you?

[Jessie_C 13,970]

12 hours ago, Che Guava said:

The two little side-screens will be done with flat bits cut from, well, something I haven't decided on yet.

Ferrero Rocher boxes make the best clear parts. I'll even volunteer to get rid of the useless chocolate to make your job easier.

[Che Guava 5,111]

Munching underway as we would speak but it's rude to talk with ones mouth full, or mmmmmm, if you prefer.

[Mad Steve 25,049]

19 hours ago, Jessie_C said:

Ferrero Rocher boxes make the best clear parts. I'll even volunteer to get rid of the useless chocolate to make your job easier.

You dont eat Chocolate?....

You Canadians are weird 

[Jessie_C 13,970]

13 minutes ago, Mad Steve said:

You dont eat Chocolate?....

You Canadians are weird 

Note that I didn't say anywhere how I would dispose of it, did I?

[Mad Steve 25,049]

Ahh.... Okay, gotcha 

[Che Guava 5,111]

Ok, so I changed my mind. Twice. The filing flat of the front windscreen, polishing, then covering with that 'clear PVA did actually work, but I still wasn't happy with the result as the panel still didn't look flat - probably because the inside was still curved - so I cut it off. I then set aboot the box of Ferreros, and after a sleep to recover from that much chocolate, cut some wee shards of the box with which to fashion replacements, but the plastic was too thick to fit on my new instrument panel top, so Plan P was invoked - mi Esposa was despatched to the local Panaderia to buy a pack of Pineapple Tarts (just for the clear box, you understand). Perfect. Get the kettle on.

I thought I'd try making the front and sides as one piece, but several attempts proved fruitless (apart from the pineapple of course), I suppose just too many angular variables, so I settled for cutting three separate bits....

I now wish I had replaced the ripple-frosted glass shower side-screens (sic) the kit provides too, my home-made front is frighteningly clear. (I did reposition the port front one after knocking it a bit squiffy taking this pic). Now maybe I can get back to building this hypothetically straight-from-box kit.

[Jessie_C 13,970]

Well that looks far superior to what the kit gave you. And I'm quite certain that Richard can assist you in dealing with the suddenly homeless pineapple tarts. It would be cruel to let them suffer.