Received this wood kit as a Christmas present from Dave. I am going to interrupt my "normal" builds and see how much I can do in a day.
The kit consists of thin, laser cut wood. The fuselage is built up in layers, while the settings and tail are single pieces. The markings appear to be printed on thin vinyl, and include panel lines. The instructions indicate the model should be painted to improve appearance and help the became adhere. Here we go!
The kit contents. The "lid", the markings and the "sprue" shot.
The first thing you notice is the plane is much smaller than expected. The central spin media out to just under 5.5 inches. The parts are connected to the sprue by small nibs. On the thinner parts, you can press them out. Ticket parts, such as the centre fuselage spine, need to be cut. I am surprised by how much detail the laser cutting process can create.
The kit went together quite quickly. Within two hours I had the fuselage together and sanded. There was a bit of a struggle to keep the fuselage straight. The thin plywood layers started to develop both a twist and a longitudinal bend. Brute strength, twisting the fuselage to the correct shape, was successful. The wings, and to a lesser extent the tail,we're a different story. Even applying heat couldn't remove twist in the wings. I was able to make some progress by rolling the wings over a dowel to get them close enough. The instructions suggest priming and painting but I want sure what to use as a primer. I had some white Krylon spray paint and two coats did the trick. By 3 the white was sprayed and the plane set aside to dry.
Missed taking a picture of the black painted nose before starting the decals.
The decals are vinyl stickers. They take some work to form them and get them to conform to curves. They cover pretty much the entire model, covering some of the laminations and define the panel lines. An hour later and the decals were finished.
The finished model looks pretty good and I am pleased with how it turned out. Thanks Dave for the kit! It was very enjoyable.
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