SBLim-2A by ccoyle - WAK -1/33 - CARD - a semi-tutorial

[ccoyle]

Introduction

Welcome to yet another build log for a non-wooden, non-ship model! This build is inspired by a discussion that was had in my A6M5a build log. Fellow MSW member Craig (CDW) shared that his only attempt at card modeling was "a disaster," in his words, so I suggested he take a look at WAK's skill level 2 kits and offered to build one along with him, whichever one he wanted. He took me up on the offer and chose the SBLim-2A, so that's how the subject of the build was selected. Richard (Richard44) has also expressed an interest in building this kit -- let's see if we can get any others on board, maybe?

 

BTW, except for a very simple, free, downloadable, flyable MiG-15 glider I built many years ago, this will be only the second jet I have ever built in card. 😮

 

The Subject

The SBLim-2A is a Polish, license built, two-seat reconnaissance variant of the MiG-15, built by WSK-Mielic in the 1950s. It's actually a conversion of a conversion. Originally, 227 Lim-1 (Licencyjny myśliwiec - licensed fighter aircraft) were built; some of these were later converted to SBLim-1 two-seat trainers (equivalent to the MiG-15 UTI), and some of those were later converted to the SBLim-2A. Confusing, right?

 

The Kit

 

The kit, representing an aircraft wearing the 1993 livery of the 7th Naval Special Aviation Regiment, is designed by Lech Kołodziejski, a respected designer who has published his own designs under the brand name CardPlane. I have built five of Lech's CardPlane kits (see the finished non-ship models section). Lech's CardPlane offerings were all models of either prototype aircraft or planes that entered into very limited service. His designs published by WAK have been more widely recognizable aircraft. Some of his recent efforts, including this one, have been collaborations with graphic artist Marcin Dworzecki, whose work is second to none in the hobby. As you can see, I purchased the available molded canopy and laser-cut frames.

 

A quick pitch here for WAK. They have become one of my favorite publishers and a first-choice vendor. They offer a large selection of kits and always process orders promptly, package them securely, and offer very reasonable shipping rates compared to other vendors. If you shop there, tell them I sent you!

 

The kit is designed with amateur builders in mind, and it shows. In this next image you can see, for instance, that only very rudimentary cockpit elements are included. Stuff on the side walls is printed rather than being separate parts.

 

There are likewise no separate control surfaces nor landing gear bays. (EDIT: Upon further inspection, I discovered that optional wheel well parts are included.)

 

Lech draws pretty easy to follow diagrams. Horrible white balance in this shot -- sorry!

 

There's a lovely three-view.

 

Finally, as a huge bonus, but not shown here, the kit includes instructions in English.

 

The Purpose and Guiding Philosophy of This Build

We all know that when it comes to beginners and wooden ship models, there is such a thing as "too much model." This is certainly true for card models as well. If you have never built a card model before and decide to start with Halinski's Bf-110G-4/R8, you will fail miserably (heck, even I'm not ready for that one). The WAK Skill Level 2 kits are a good compromise between detail and ease of construction. At least I hope that will prove to be the case, because I haven't built one yet -- but I trust Lech. I have titled this as a semi-tutorial, because it is not my intention here to describe every necessary tool and basic technique for building a card model; if you need that kind of help, you can find it in our Torpedoboat V-108 tutorial. So I will not, for example, demonstrate how to fold a part or roll a tube, but I will try to include as much detail as is necessary to get a novice builder through this project. And speaking of 'novice,' I will also try to make this build as much as possible an "out-of-box" project -- except there is no box, of course.

 

So, join us on this adventure, won't you? And if you're feeling particularly bold, get the kit from WAK and jump in! Come over to the Dark Side --er, I mean, the "wonderful world of card models"!

 

Cheers!

[ccoyle]

Part 1: Cockpit Assembly

I started by separating the booklet pages and giving the parts pages my usual coat of matte clear varnish spray (some modelers have suggested that gloss varnish soaks into the paper better, and the shine can be knocked down later with a top coat of matte).

 

To make the pages easier to handle, I separated the cockpit parts from the fuselage parts.

 

Fold lines need to be scored in advance. For this I use a straight edge and a small-diameter manicurist's spotting tool. A scribing tool could also be used for this task, but it makes a sharper crease, which makes the ink more prone to cracking when a part is folded.

 

The part is then cut out and folded.

 

This task is repeated for the observer's tub. I wrote the part numbers for the two tubs (sounds like a missing novel in the LOTR series -- "Book 2A: The Two Tubs, in which the fellowship finally bathe after weeks on the road without showering") in pencil on the reverse side just to help distinguish which is which. Afterward, I glued one side of each tub. Leaving the other side open for now will make it easier to add internal details, such as the seats.

 

A quick note on edge coloring: At this point, I'm not sure how much, if any, of these edges will be visible later. To be safe, I have colored the cut edges with a gray Crayola marker (hi-tech, I know). At some point, each builder will need to decide on an edge-coloring technique to use and start thinking about matching colors in the kit.

 

That's it for this evening, but looking ahead at the build sequence I saw that laser-cut parts will soon be needed (if you are using them), and I was going to conclude my workbench session by numbering the parts with a pencil. But I was pleased to learn that each part already has its number laser-engraved, eliminating the need to manually add one -- a very nice touch!

 

See you next time!

[ccoyle]

Found this image at Wikimedia. This is the actual aircraft depicted by the kit. It is on display at the Katyn Museum.

 

[Ian_Grant]

Seems to be a very small aircraft; kind of stubby.

[ccoyle]

18 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

Seems to be a very small aircraft; kind of stubby.

 

A lot of 1st generation jet fighters had that stubby "pilot strapped to the back of a jet engine" look.

 

On the plus side, the finished model should not take up too much precious display space.

[ccoyle]

The instructions call for the first section of fuselage to be be built next. Here is the section and its joiner strips.

 

But before we can move on, we need @CDW and @Richard44 to make a decision: wheel wells or no wheel wells? If the latter, then we will need to remove part of the joiner strip before gluing it to the fuselage piece, as indicated here:

[CDW]

If it’s ok, would prefer to try my first card model with gear up.

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

If it’s ok, would prefer to try my first card model with gear up.

 

The option is to do no wheel wells -- gear up would require some modification, but I could probably do that without too much difficulty. I can look into it.

 

EDIT: Gear-up is definitely doable. Doing so would require making a stand, but that would not be difficult.

[CDW]

1 hour ago, ccoyle said:

 

The option is to do no wheel wells -- gear up would require some modification, but I could probably do that without too much difficulty. I can look into it.

 

EDIT: Gear-up is definitely doable. Doing so would require making a stand, but that would not be difficult.

Either gear up or down is okay with me, I just thought the added issues with wheel wells might be a lot for a 1st kit. I'll follow your lead whichever that is.

[Richard44]

I'll try for the wheels down. I can always use the photo copied pages for a second go 😁. Wheels though, not easy to make realistic looking ones 😬.

[ccoyle]

9 hours ago, CDW said:

Either gear up or down is okay with me, I just thought the added issues with wheel wells might be a lot for a 1st kit. I'll follow your lead whichever that is.

 

Tell you what, I will go for gear down and add the wheel wells, but will point out how to do the simpler versions.

 

6 hours ago, Richard44 said:

I'll try for the wheels down. I can always use the photo copied pages for a second go 😁. Wheels though, not easy to make realistic looking ones 😬.

 

Wheels are not too hard to make, just a little labor-intensive -- but that comes later!