Nearing the end of January already. A couple of bike rides, and an afternoon of skiing, and lots of reading. Time doesn’t seem to go any slower when you are retired.
Retirement has allowed more time at the bench but not as much as I would have thought. There are just so many other interesting things that get in the way and divert my time. A first world problem for certain.
Much of my recent reading has been research in preparation of starting the next two models. I am surprised but I find this research to be quite enjoyable. It used to be about getting information to make more accurate models. It is now more about learning the stories about the pilots and crews, their accomplishments, or how they influenced history that I enjoy most.
Dakota
Not a lot of progress on the Dakota the last couple of weeks, as I have been preferentially working the CL-52. AI have managed to get the wheel wells repainted, and applied an initial gloss coat, partially in preparation for application of the decal stencils, and partly to protect the paint. I have worked hard to get thin paint layers but that means any handling of the plane, including resting it on a cutting mat, causes the paint to abrade and scratch.
Next up was the remaining decals. Most of these were stencils, and kit cones with a lot of stencil decals. The task became simpler after applying the first stencil, as it virtually disappeared when applied to the olive drab. This halved the number of decals to apply, as there was no point continuing to apply the small stencil decals to the green if they weren't going to be seen. Application to the bottom took a couple hours.
The kit has really nice panel lines, and begged for a wash to highlight them. I often use an oil based wash, but this time picked Flory washes. These are clay/water based mixes, and can be either rubbed off or removed with a wet paper towel. A lighter colour was picked for the green areas, while "dark dirt" was used for the bottom.
Time to install the landing gear. The gear consists of 8 pieces per side, with 4 of these being very small braces that have to be added to each side. The parts are very tight fit, in a very confined wheel well. Choice words were necessary to get the main leg and two actuating legs installed, but weren't enough to get the braces installed. Oh, by the way, don't drop a tire. It is remarkable how far a round tire can roll, and how far it can get. That set the tone nicely for the remaining four braces, which proved nearly impossible to install. An executive decision was soon made to only add the external, more visible ones, to maintain sanity.
Photo 1 - wash applied to the underside. Still to be cleaned up.
Photo 2 - wash cleaned and first stencils applied.
Photo 3 - stencils complete and landing gear installed.
Not much left to do, with the props and exhaust about the only things left. to install. I am contemplating using a "scrubbed" oil paint application, around the wing roots and engines, to represent dirt and wear from crew servicing the engines.
CL-52
Most of my hands on modelling time has been focused on the CL-52. A silver finish is renowned for showing all the construction flaws, and it certainly did this time. Even though the model had been primed, there were still too many construction errors, scratches and general surface roughness still visible. Most annoyingly, a ghost seam had appeared on the fuselage bottom. Back to the filler and sandpaper.
The second silver application was much better. Photos of the real airplane showed quite a bit of variation between panels, and I wanted to replicate that using different colours of silver paint. A paint map was created thru careful study of real pictures, and this was used to guide the masking. Lots of masking. In total, it took 3 separate masking sessions, using 5 different shades of silver paint.
Photos 1 & 2 - Fixes complete. Lots of sanding and polishing
Photo 3 & 4 - 3rd round of masking in progress. The different shades of silver can be seen on the trailing edge of the upper wing, and the rear of the fuselage underside.
Photo 5 - The marked up painting diagram showing desired outcome.
Photo 6 & 7 - Finally unmasked.
The silver paint is not especially fragile, but I was still nervous about scratches from handling and decal application. Next step was therefore installation of the main gear to keep the fuselage off the mat. The wing outriggers will be the last thing to add as they will otherwise inevitably get broken.
Here it is ready for decals.
The prototype plane didn’t have a lot of markings, and this is reflected in the kit decals. The real planes had walkway markings on the wings and along the fuselage spine, between the rear of the cockpit and the tail. The kit decals include these as a black outline, with the interior filled in a light grey. The wing walkway decals also incorporate the stars and bars into the walkway decal, which will obviously need to be cut out. As can be seen in the picture above, a light grey was mixed and sprayed on the wing where the US insignia would otherwise go. The intent is that the walkway decal can be placed on either side of the painted grey area, and the black outlined restored with thin decal stripes.
The dorsal walkway proved a different challenge. I couldn’t find a good picture showing the top of the wings, but there is a picture taken from just above the Iroquois pod, looking forward, that clearly shows the orange visible between the black dorsal fuselage walkway outlines. That suggested the dorsal walkway consisted of only the black outlines, without the grey fill, along its full length. I decided it would be easier to use thin decal stripes rather than try and cut out the grey center from the kit decals. It also makes me question if the grey center was present on the wing walkways. Given I have already painted the grey walkway fill on the wings, I will go forward on the assumption it was present.
Decals went on without incident, though I suspect the CanMilAir decals are slightly oversized. It is most noticeable on the X059 tail codes, which seem to cover too much of the tail compared to pictures. It is also noticeable on the fuselage roundels, which are supposed to fit inside the orange bands rather than overlap slightly. It looks okay and I can live with it.
Photo 1 & 2 - Decals complete
Photos 3 & 4 - Gear and outriggers installed.
Pretty much done now. A clear overcoat needs to be applied to protect the decals. The canopy is the only part remaining to be installed. Should be able to show finished pictures next week.
That's if for now. Take care.
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