Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat by ccoyle - FINISHED - WAK - 1/33 - CARD

[ccoyle]

2 hours ago, Dave_E said:

Are all those ribs card? They look like wood.

 

Yep, they are all card. They are part of the laser-cut frames set, cut from what the Poles call "beer mat" stock -- it is the same stuff used commercially to make disposable coasters.

 

On to skinning the spine. The kit includes joiner strips, which is nice -- I would have made them myself but the kit spared me the effort.

 

 

I glued the first four pieces together using their joiner strips, then glued the entire piece first along one side . . .

 

 

. . . and then along the other. The color registration is good.

 

 

I got a bit of a seam gap on the other side, which I'm going to try to remediate. We'll see how that goes.

[CDW]

21 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

 

Yep, they are all card. They are part of the laser-cut frames set, cut from what the Poles call "beer mat" stock -- it is the same stuff used commercially to make disposable coasters.

 

On to skinning the spine. The kit includes joiner strips, which is nice -- I would have made them myself but the kit spared me the effort.

 

 

I glued the first four pieces together using their joiner strips, then glued the entire piece first along one side . . .

 

 

. . . and then along the other. The color registration is good.

 

 

I got a bit of a seam gap on the other side, which I'm going to try to remediate. We'll see how that goes.

I'm interested to see how that seam gap is remedied.

[ccoyle]

8 minutes ago, CDW said:

I'm interested to see how that seam gap is remedied.

 Me, too!

[CDW]

14 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

 Me, too!

I have confidence you will getter done Chris.

[ccoyle]

Here's the patched-up seam. I first filled it without about three passes of canopy glue, then applied a thin wash of appropriate edge color, followed by a shot of matte clear spray to take the shine off the filler. It doesn't look too bad -- certainly not the Polish Touch, but better than the untreated gap looked. Naturally, bright lighting and closeup photography makes it look worse than it does at normal viewing distances and lighting.

 

 

And here's the rest of the spine.

 

[CDW]

That came out very nice indeed. Wouldn't know it was a patch if you hadn't said something about it.

[Old Collingwood]

I cant get my nut round  what you  do with  paper/card.

 

OC.

[Dave_E]

You mentioned canopy glue again. Did you say once you got from Hobby Lobby?

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, Dave_E said:

Did you say once you got from Hobby Lobby?

 

Yup. I like it, obviously -- great for more than just canopies.

[Canute]

Great for gluing PE to plastic and resin or wood to plastic or resin, too.

[Egilman]

6 hours ago, Dave_E said:

Did you say once you got from Hobby Lobby?

Yep the brand they sell is known as Formula 560....

 

A go to glue for many thing....

[CDW]

When canopy glue came out it (a long time ago) was used to glue clear canopies to R/C aircraft models. I learned quickly I had to literally tear/cut a model apart to break the bond between canopy and airframe once it set and cured. A very strong glue and it dries clear.

[ccoyle]

A bit more progress. I needed to take a slight detour and make the rudder so that I could confirm the positioning of the vertical stabilizer skin. Unlike many kits, the rudder has no internal framing.

 

 

And then the vertical stabilizer was skinned.

 

 

And that's it for the moment. Next up will be the wings' internal framing, but first I need to take a break and watch the Champions League final (I'm strictly a neutral for this match).

[ccoyle]

First step in making the wings was adding the remaining internal frames.

 

 

Each skin is a single piece, shaped, folded, and glued with the help of a joiner strip.

 

 

Each wing structure is then slipped into its finished sheath. No fillets have been added yet.

 

 

That's it for now.

[Landlubber Mike]

Amazing work Chris.  You've gotten really good at these card models.

[Matt D]

This looks amazing, Chris!  I'm really glad to see this kit.  Based on seeing your other card airplane models, I bought a Halinski P40 kit with the laser cut frames and the canopy option.  But when I opened it, I was totally intimidated by it!  I love watching you build yours, though.

[ccoyle]

5 hours ago, Matt D said:

I bought a Halinski P40 kit with the laser cut frames and the canopy option.  But when I opened it, I was totally intimidated by it!

 

Hey, Halinski still intimidates me, and I have many finished models under my belt!

 

BTW, which version did you get, Flying Tigers or RAF North Africa?

[Matt D]

11 hours ago, ccoyle said:

BTW, which version did you get, Flying Tigers or RAF North Africa?

Mine is the Flying Tigers version.  My main airplane interest US WW2 fighters.  I have a couple of plastic kits on the shelf.  This kit looks great and I’m thinking about ordering one.

[ccoyle]

6 hours ago, Matt D said:

I’m thinking about ordering one.

 

I have found WAK to be one of the fastest and most reliable shippers from Poland, and with the lowest shipping rates.

[rvchima]

On 6/5/2023 at 2:06 PM, CDW said:

When canopy glue came out it (a long time ago) was used to glue clear canopies to R/C aircraft models. I learned quickly I had to literally tear/cut a model apart to break the bond between canopy and airframe once it set and cured. A very strong glue and it dries clear.

I am also a big fan of canopy glue, but use CA for almost everything else. However, I've never built a card model. Do you use canopy glue or something else for most of your construction? How do you hold the parts together while the glue dries?

[ccoyle]

2 hours ago, rvchima said:

Do you use canopy glue or something else for most of your construction? How do you hold the parts together while the glue dries?

 

I've taken to using canopy glue as my all-purpose glue for card modeling. It sets quickly, so holding or clamping is not an issue.

[ccoyle]

Update: Fillets are done. These are always a tricky part of any airplane build, and these were even trickier than usual because there is a cutout for the wheel wells that leaves a strip only about 1 mm wide at that point for attachment.

 

 

 

And now we go back to the empennage. So far, I have only finished off the internal frames for the horizontal stabilizers.

 

 

That's all for now!

[ccoyle]

Horizontal stabilizers skinned.

 

 

Working on the elevators now. Same as for the rudder, there is no internal framing -- but there is a lot of fiddly folding, rolling, and gluing. Pics later.

 

Cheers!

[Old Collingwood]

This is  Crazy  good   -  looks  just like  the  skin of the  real plane.

 

OC.

[ccoyle]

6 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

looks  just like  the  skin of the  real plane.

 

It helps when each stabilizer skin is a single piece -- no seams! Also, Mr. Dworzecki is a master graphic artist.

[ccoyle]

Rudder and elevators dry-fitted. I will permanently attach these at a later date so they don't get knocked off during construction.

 

[GrandpaPhil]

Looking good!

[ccoyle]

So, after returning from a long weekend in Myrtle Beach, I made a tiny bit of progress. Work now shifts to making the 14-cylinder Pratt & Whitney radial engine.

 

[ccoyle]

Uh-oh -- progress may be slowed in the short term. My boss, a former A-6 driver who shares my affection for military aviation, surprised me at work today by loaning me his copy of Dead Reckoning, an account of the P-38 mission that took out Admiral Yamamoto. I haven't read a good history book for quite some time. Of course, I told him he'll be to blame now for my increased felt need to acquire a P-38 for my stash, a purchase I've been avoiding due to the finished model's size in 1/33 scale. And no, I won't build anything in a different scale, so don't ask. 😁

[Egilman]

2 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Of course, I told him he'll be to blame now for my increased felt need to acquire a P-38 for my stash, a purchase I've been avoiding due to the finished model's size in 1/33 scale.

You've always wanted to, admit it, just haven't convinced yourself yet... {chuckle}