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Everything posted by DocRob
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What an amazing result Alan and it´s 1/700 , I can imagine how it is to work at it with tweezers and shaking fingers. I like the weathering and paintjob full of contrast. I also use a lot of CA, not only for metal parts like PE or white metal, but also for pre painted parts, where plastic glue can ruin the finish. My go to is Colle 21 which is odorless and I didn´t feel more airheaded then normal, even after using it for hours. I use water thinned PVA or Future only for tiny parts, which need to be glued flat onto larger parts, like an 1/12 dial, or for transparent parts, where the CA fumes can fog the clear. Cheers Rob
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The chebec is such a beautiful ship Yves, with it´s shape looking like made for speed. Your log is mouthwatering and I have to withstand myself from bringing frustration over me by trying to build one too. You can anneal PE parts for easier bending. It´s very easy, just heat the part with the tip of a lighter flame until it turns bluish. This lessens the crystalline tension of the brass and it is easier to bend afterwards, being softer and less springy. But don´t overheat and melt the PE parts. Cheers Rob
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Fokker D.VII by ccoyle - Kartonowa Kolekcja - 1/33 - CARD
DocRob replied to ccoyle's topic in Non-ship/categorised builds
Great work Chris, I always loved the combination of bright colored fuselages and lozenge camouflaged wings. Makes no sense but stunning looks. I have two Wingnut Wings D.VII in my stash and feel the urge to start one, when I see yours. No card, but high quality stuff as well. Cheers Rob -
Thank you Alan, the Martini´s are in the books, or better said, I prepared Tuxedo´s yesterday. I liked the looks of the car from the beginning, but even more in the white livery than in the red one, which actually raced. I will add some outdoor pics later, when the weather is fine and I can tame the cats. Cheers Rob
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Thank you Yves, there are not so many finished MFH kits. I built three, the Crocker motorcycle, the Cobra Coupe and now the BT45. As I guessed before, building a MFH Formula 1 kit was much easier than a full bodied race car like the Cobra Coupe with all it´s doors, bonnet, many clear parts, etc. Basically there were no real problematic areas through the build and I enjoyed it massively. The build took less than three months. What´s next, good question, cleaning the bench is a must, which is cluttered with parts and tools, jars and reference and then... I will be traveling a bit over the next weeks, so maybe a short project, probably not a MFH kit. Cheers Rob
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There is a song from The Reverend Horton Heat, which is called "It´s Martini Time". The song is like a anthem to me as I love cocktails and specially Martini cocktails, albeit, I never prepare them with Martini. Anyway, the BT45 would fit into the bar, but no chance, no models in the living area . After two more sessions, the BT45 was done surprisingly rapid in the end. The innards of the nose section fit perfectly and on went the nose. It is removable as are the cockpit and engine fairing. It felt nearly indecent, to paint the beautiful turned aluminum rims, but my car had them in black. After drilling all the needed holes very carefully, not to scratch the precious parts, I primed them with Mr. Surfacer 1500 black and found the matte black looked so good, why spoiling it with a color coat. Finally the tyres were mounted onto the rims and then I added the air vents, which proved fiddly. The tyres are absolutely perfect, with pre printed branding and much heavier and durable then e.g. Tamiya tyres. They need to be with the weight of the car, which is also supported by two spacers under the chassis. Well, let the pics speak: Cheers Rob
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Slowly, I´m nearing the finish line. I added many details to the body, like fasteners, bolts and rivets and worked on the final fitting of the body parts. I am always a little scared when it comes to vacuum formed parts like the smoke clear windshield. It´s always best to cut it with a pair of scissors, than sanding, because the burr is very hard to remove. Finally I got it done, using Tamiya flexible masking tape as a guideline. The clear part was glued to the body with 1mm wide double sided clear adhesive tape and then received the tiny rivets. The side air intakes are not finally glued to the body, I may let them removable for better sight on the engine, but then, I add some guiding bolts. Now I´m preparing the rims and the nose section and then wroarrrrrrrrrrr 🏁. Cheers Rob
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Today, I joined the engine with the monocoque. Test fitting was done before, but a last aggregate with three tubes attached needed to be fittet in between. That proved very difficult, but after some attempts, I got it done. If you ever build the kit, don´t glue the metal end plates (M142, M143) to the monocoque, like shown in step 13. Luckily I didn´t, because other ways I would have had to remove them to fit the engine in step 17. And finally, I tried the fit of the center body parts. Cheers Rob
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Thank you for your nice comment and for dropping into my log, Craig. I believe a forum like MSW is always a two way exchange platform, I give and I receive. I´m glad to share my experiences with my niche of modeling with you and benefited a lot through the input of fellow members in my threads or browsing through MSW, searching for help, information or just a friendly pat on the shoulder (literally). Cheers Rob
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The front section was really difficult to build together due to many intersecting parts. Finally, I got the coolers glued to the framework and let dry for a while. The next difficulty was to add the front section to the monocoque. You had to plan ahead and follow the instructions to the number, to get it done. Finally, I got the four connection points glued in, while fiddling all the other ducts, hoses and wires in. I´m lucky that this part of the build is behind me now and I can look forward to marry the monocoque to the engine section soon. Cheers Rob
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Today, I finished the front office. Before installation, I glued all the tubing and wiring to the backside with CA and let dry. Then I fiddled the steering column with the instrument panel in place and laid the wires in their correct places, a delicate affair. After adding the x-bar to the instrument panel, I made the final installments to the front side, namely the fire extinguisher pull ring and the steering wheel. Cheers Rob
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Today I finished the steering wheel, which was first airbrushed gloss black for decaling, then received the rivets, followed by a coat of semi matte clear. After drying, I masked the inner part and applied a coat of Tamiya LP flat black and dabbed in some black StreetBlister textile flocks for texture with a brush. I was not satisfied with the matte look and added a coat of Tamiya LP flat clear, again not flat enough. Finally, I used good old Tamiya XF-1 flat black. The fibers were finger dabbed into the fresh point and there are still some of them waiting for a shave. It looks a bit coarse in the pic, but this is heavy macroed. The instrument front panel, made from PE was also sprayed gloss black, followed by decaling the switches and dials, followed by a semi matte clear coat as a finish. I then added some brackets to the instruments, before gluing and riveting everything to the front roll bar, which was polished beforehand. The bezels are supplied as clear acetate circles, which I glued using Future. Last were the white metal switches, with only the fire extinguisher pull ring missing, because it´s to fragile Cheers Rob
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One subject out of an earlier phase of the build was still aggravating me, the coil springs, which hold the exhausts in place. There are eight and I couldn´t add a single one, despite trying really hard. Then I had an idea. What if I insert a copper wire into the coil spring, to bend it easily into the needed curve. I tried and it worked. Half an hour later, this issue was fixed and I have an open issue less on my schedule. Cheers Rob
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The cockpit tub starts to become busy. I added the seat belts to the seat and then this was glued into the tub. I really like MFH seat belts, as they look good and are relatively easy to assemble. There are white metal buckles and PE parts and two widths of blue ribbon. All got assembled using double sided tape, which has a strong bond and is supplied with the kit. I bought seat belt sets for other kits too, like for my 1/12 Tamiya kits. The manual placed the headrest/rollbar before the seat, but I chose to do it after, because it was easier to fiddle in the seat belts behind the seat. Cheers Rob
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Thank you Craig and OC, besides modeling, photography is one of my hobbies. I used to work semi professional in analogue times, but stepped out with the digital age, because I didn´t like the results earlier digital cameras were able to achieve and my go to analogue material became next to impossible to find. Long story short, since some years, I own a decent digital camera with good lenses and try my luck. Photographing model kits is not so easy. You need good lighting, solid depth of field and macro capabilities. I´m still in a learning process and have a long way to go. Photographed skillfully, the MFH kits nearly pass as real cars with all their brimming detail. Cheers Rob
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Today I achieved some very important and daunting steps, but firs things first. I finished the front section with all the parts added for the axle, brakes, steering and suspension. Some were a bit fiddly, but in all, the fit was great with that delicate section. It´s also quite robust. The axle screws are loose by design and therefore hanging on the pic. Next was the daunting part, the closing of the main body. There are so many intersecting parts, that even test fitting is a time and nerve consuming affair. Finally I got it done and everything fitted with a tiny bit of tweaking here and there. The floor pan and body are hold together with eight screws. Finally, I test fitted the engine section to the body and luckily everything fit as well. Cheers Rob
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After all the body work, now it´s all about subassemblies and not to damage the polished body with scratches or CA fingerprints. The polished tub went finally onto the floor pan and got screwed there permanently. I further added some details like the pedals. The rear of the tub received the gas tank with all the needed attachments. Then I finished the front suspension sans the steering. Most delicate were some turned pins and the intersecting tubes, which hold the nose in place later. There was a need for absolute precision, to prevent gaps from the monocoque to the nose part. Cheers Rob
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