F-86F-30 Sabre by Egilman - Kinetic - 1/32nd scale

[Canute]

Agree on the replacements. The kit ones look like they're firing off to the sides, vice being bore-sighted to the flight-path. And like Dan said, they're a noticeably different shade from the fuselage sides.

[Egilman]

7 hours ago, Danstream said:

Good to see you back in action. Good move on replacing the gun ports although not trivial surgery. I am wondering whether it something could be planned at this stage for their finish. I mean, they have typically a shiny metal finish which stands out from the rest of the aluminium finish, hence could it be convenient to cover them with a kind of kitchen or tape foil now, before inserting them in their squared hole? Just a speculation, I never did it before.

Best regards,

Dan

Thank Dan...

 

Good to be back working on it again... RL was kicking my butt for a while there... The gun ports were made of forged steel so they will have a grey cast to them when compared to the bluish white of the aluminum... But, it depends on the light, in some photos they appear very dark grey in others they are almost indistinguishable from the aluminum.... When I do the finish I will be putting them in a pewter shade slightly darker than the aluminum finish... That's what I get from the pics I've looked at... 

 

I've got the right side rough installed right now starting on the left side... The inserts were designed for the Hasegawa F-86F so there are size differences to deal with... The Kinetic plates are a bit smaller than the Hasegawa ones so after cutting them out they have to be sized down a bit to fit the hole then contoured to match the curves of the fuselage side and fit the space... Thankfully the resin is softer that the usual resin used for AM parts so it shouldn't be an issue and I have some gaps to fill and smooth... Hopefully I can do it without sanding away too much fuselage detail...

 

Will show pics in a bit...

 

EG

[Egilman]

3 hours ago, Canute said:

Agree on the replacements. The kit ones look like they're firing off to the sides, vice being bore-sighted to the flight-path. And like Dan said, they're a noticeably different shade from the fuselage sides.

Thanks Ken...

 

Yeah they are noticeable right away, there are a number of ways of fixing them, replacing them with inserts I believe is the easiest.... The right side is rough installed, will post a pic in a few...

 

EG

[Egilman]

Ok Brothers, it's been a while since I've replaced panels... these are going to take a bit more work than the usual drop in application... The replacements are designed for the Hase F-86F-40 and of course they are a bit larger than the panels scribed into the Kinetic kit... So I had to not only open the panel but cut down the replacements to a push fit into the hole.. Thankfully the fuselage sides are thick enough to allow friction fit once you have worked them into shape... The problem is that you seldom get perfectly square joints sanding resin so some filling and shaping is required to finish them off... 

 

Here is what it looks like rough installed...

The resin is very soft so shaping it to the fuselage side shouldn't bee too much of a problem and the Hasegawa replacement panels are tapered which making the fills and smoothing absolutely necessary...

 

Starting on the left side rough install now...

 

EG

Edited July 10, 2022 by Egilman

[Canute]

Bondo spot putty and masking tape can be a friend.😄

[Egilman]

16 minutes ago, Canute said:

Bondo spot putty and masking tape can be a friend.😄

I'll be using Testors contour putty for this, easy application and sands easily... Sometimes the old standby's work best....

[Canute]

Yeah, the Bondo gets applied outdoors. I've tried the Vallejo putty; I'm not convinced yet.

[Egilman]

2 hours ago, Canute said:

Yeah, the Bondo gets applied outdoors. I've tried the Vallejo putty; I'm not convinced yet.

Me neither... {chuckle}

[Egilman]

Ok,  Short update;

 

The left side is now cut and glued in... My process is simple, old school and goes like this...

 

1st step, drill 4 holes in the corners of the panel you want to remove about 1/8th inch from the finished edges...

I used two of the existing holes... then you use a saw to join the holes taking out most of the material...

Then using a large #2 blade you shave down the edges to the panel edge line...

The last 1/32nd or so using a brand new sharp blade to get the cleanest cut you can....

Then it is just a matter of trimming the replacement panel until you get a snug push in fit, tight but not so tight to distort the pieces, you want it to just stay in place for gluing...

I apply a few drops of CA to the back side and leave it sit until dry....

 

They will be close enough to make final adjustments to the shape with sanding sticks... Any gaps being filled from the inside with modeling putty...

 

Here is how they look from the nose on position...

The right locations and not too much sanding to get the fuselage shape correct....

 

But before I go to filling and sanding, I have to add the Ammo Bay on the left side as the door for it formed the first step for getting into the cockpit... A prominent feature that is always open when the aircraft is sitting on the ramp....

This part is also designed for the venerable Hasegawa Kit so it's going to take some figuring in how I want to cut it into the fuselage....

 

Anyways, Onwards....

 

Thanks for following...

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by Egilman

[Egilman]

Ammo Bay installed....

 

Hole cut..

Installed....

Now the door doesn't fit perfectly, it's a few tenths of a mm off, but that was expected.... Besides it will be open functioning as the initial step into the aircraft and no one will see it...

 

That went a lot easier than I though it was going to....

 

Almost ready to assemble the fuselage....

 

Onwards....

 

 

[Canute]

Nice mod. And the gun panels look close to boresighted.

[Old Collingwood]

10 hours ago, Canute said:

Yeah, the Bondo gets applied outdoors. I've tried the Vallejo putty; I'm not convinced yet.

Some say the Vallejo Putty  does no dry  hard enough to samd?

 

OC.

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, Canute said:

Nice mod. And the gun panels look close to boresighted.

Thanks Ken....

 

I think they came out well...

They did line up nicely.....

 

Still need to prime them to see how smooth they actually are but I have a good feeling...

 

Thanks my friend...

[Egilman]

11 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Some say the Vallejo Putty  does no dry  hard enough to samd?

 

OC.

That's the issue brother, at least everytime I've tried it.....

[Old Collingwood]

23 minutes ago, Egilman said:

That's the issue brother, at least everytime I've tried it.....

Guess its ok  as long as  you dont  sand it.

 

OC.

[Canute]

It does seem to take multiple coats to build up. It dries, but it's soft. Then again, most of these putties are like that.

[popeye the sailor]

nice to see that the engine tests are going along splendidly  .........looks super!  the mods on the fuselage is looking really good too.  I'm in awe at those who can do it without much fuss.

 

great progress .......keep up the good work!   glad your feeling better!

[CDW]

You keep this up EG, and we will have to start calling you, The Plastic Surgeon General. Nice work, tedious too!

[Egilman]

14 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Guess its ok  as long as  you dont  sand it.

 

OC.

 

6 hours ago, Canute said:

It does seem to take multiple coats to build up. It dries, but it's soft. Then again, most of these putties are like that.

The real problem Brothers is that it doesn't adhere very well to the model plastic and tends to peel... And, like anything acrylic, once you get a corner lifted, it comes right off...

[Egilman]

45 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

nice to see that the engine tests are going along splendidly  .........looks super!  the mods on the fuselage is looking really good too.  I'm in awe at those who can do it without much fuss.

 

great progress .......keep up the good work!   glad your feeling better!

Thanks Dennis, it's appreciated... 

Except there is always a fuss with this kind of stuff... Will be showing what's next cause it doesn't quite fit as well as it seems, more surgery is needed.... Pics in a bit...

 

And hopefully the gods of no pain will smile on me for the next few weeks... (yeah right)

[Egilman]

33 minutes ago, CDW said:

You keep this up EG, and we will have to start calling you, The Plastic Surgeon General. Nice work, tedious too!

Thanks Craig! but I will say there are a few more plastic surgeons out there that make me look like an amature...

 

Got a bit more to do to fit it properly, has more to do with the thickness of the parts as shot by Kinetic, some serious thinning needs to be done... (and aftermarket is no help)

[Egilman]

Short update brothers...

 

I knew that installing the Ammo Bay was just went too easy... And I found out when I was trying to fit the forward fuselage halves together....

The back wall of the nose gear bay is way too thick and needs to be trimmed down on that side so it can slip into the space in front of the bay... I checked the two aftermarket landing gear setups for this kit and they have the same problem, I would have to thin them as well... Shouldn't be too much of a problem for the razor saw as long as I get the initial cut straight...

 

Failing that replacing the entire back wall with some .010 sheet styrene should do it....

 

I just knew that the Ammo Bay went in way too easy... {chuckle}

[mtaylor]

7 hours ago, Canute said:

It does seem to take multiple coats to build up. It dries, but it's soft. Then again, most of these putties are like that.

I've read somewhere that the putty is intentionally softer than the plastic for sanding purposes.  If it were harder, the plastic would take damage during sanding.   

[Egilman]

4 hours ago, mtaylor said:

I've read somewhere that the putty is intentionally softer than the plastic for sanding purposes.  If it were harder, the plastic would take damage during sanding.   

I've read that it is a wipe on wipe off type of stuff, only for filling gaps... Sandable smoothing fills take place after it is cured for at least a day...

 

I don't know, others may have a better understanding of it, all I know is I haven't found an application yet where it works like we understand normal putties do...

And it has come off everything I've ever put it on...

[Egilman]

Another small update my friends...

 

And another excursion with the micro saw....

The object here is to thin the back wall without breaking thru to the gear bay.... Far enough into the wall to clear the Ammo Bay insert....

 

Initial cut went like this....

That took off about 2/3rds of the thickness... Next is to remove the remaining corner from the intake planum....

Essentially a #2 straight blade run into the wall along the curve of the plenum, then a short straight cut along the machine gun bay... Once done, use a chisel blade to remove the triangular part along the plenum... And yes, that red splash on the side of the machine gun bay is my physical contribution to the build, courtesy of the #2 straight blade.... As the admiral would say, it is now officially mine.... {chuckle}

 

Done...

I will have to do a bit of filling along the joints when all is said and done... But it now ready for assembly.....

 

More later....

 

EG

Edited July 11, 2022 by Egilman

[king derelict]

35 minutes ago, Egilman said:

I've read that it is a wipe on wipe off type of stuff, only for filling gaps... Sandable smoothing fills take place after it is cured for at least a day...

 

I don't know, others may have a better understanding of it, all I know is I haven't found an application yet where it works like we understand normal putties do...

And it has come off everything I've ever put it on...

I think you are right. It works if you can smooth it into a thin gap and wipe off any surplus. It tends to tear when sanding I find and I hate the way it peels if you try to use it to smooth out a step on the surface and then profile it when dry.

Alan

[king derelict]

Nice clean cutting work there. It looks very good

Alan

[Old Collingwood]

Thats an Excellent save there  brother  - some fine handwork there.

 

OC.

[Canute]

Good job finessing the back end of the Nose wheel well and the ammo bins. Some injection mold makers make some thick castings. May have to resort to CA to tack that seam.

 

I tend to lay on some spot putty, very roughly smooth it out and leave it over night to set up. Of course, I do the initial patchwork out in the garage and wear a mask, since the Bondo has toluene and who knows what else in it. The chemicals etch into the plastic.

[Egilman]

3 hours ago, king derelict said:

Nice clean cutting work there. It looks very good

Alan

 

3 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Thats an Excellent save there  brother  - some fine handwork there.

 

OC.

 

2 hours ago, Canute said:

Good job finessing the back end of the Nose wheel well and the ammo bins. Some injection mold makers make some thick castings. May have to resort to CA to tack that seam.

 

I tend to lay on some spot putty, very roughly smooth it out and leave it over night to set up. Of course, I do the initial patchwork out in the garage and wear a mask, since the Bondo has toluene and who knows what else in it. The chemicals etch into the plastic.

Thank you my friends, old school the only way I know how to do it... (I would be lost without my microsaw) It's now time to glue it all together into one fuselage, and then prime and final smooth the joints to finish it off... Then the wings get glued together as well. from here on it should be a fairly straightforward build... The only issue I've got to figure out is the wing join gaps, probably some filler strips, the angle is slightly less than 90 degrees in a sharp corner so the joint has to be tight... I also have to cut off the left wing gusset, when the ammo bay door was open the wing root leading edge was removed and usually hung off a cable but was occasionally placed on the wing upper surface... I still have to figure out where to cut it....

 

I'm going to present her in alert mode, sitting on the apron in rapid reaction state ready to fly, just pull the engine covers, fire up the engine and go... So the assembly will take her to an almost finished state as everything except the left side Ammo Bay Door and Speed Brakes will be closed up.... Even the Flaps will be at 0 degrees... (very rarely were they anything but when on the ground) And of course, everything gets silvered....

 

So this should move along fairly quickly until it's time for Rub-n-Buff & decaling/stenciling, (there are a million of them) Landing Gear & Canopy will be the last parts done....

 

At that point I will probably revisit the engine and see if I can't improve the cart...

 

Again Thank You for the complements, it is sincerely appreciated....