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Post by RLFoster on Feb 8, 2021 14:18:18 GMT -6
What they said. Who knew?
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Post by JCON on Feb 8, 2021 14:24:06 GMT -6
What they said. Who knew? Touché!!! Got ya again Bruce!!!
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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Feb 8, 2021 15:01:17 GMT -6
I knew.
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Post by RLFoster on Feb 8, 2021 15:01:48 GMT -6
Who knew? Touché!!! Got ya again Bruce!!!
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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Feb 8, 2021 15:03:16 GMT -6
I been had.
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Post by BUCKY on Feb 8, 2021 15:06:58 GMT -6
Always happens to the good guys!
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DPNM
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Post by DPNM on Feb 8, 2021 18:10:19 GMT -6
This is a truly amazing build. Your work is a pleasure to follow.
The addition of the background of this subject is inspiring. Thank you for posting your research.
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rustybaer
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Post by rustybaer on Mar 3, 2021 17:46:58 GMT -6
Good brass work!
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Post by RLFoster on Mar 4, 2021 1:09:23 GMT -6
Thank you, Russel! Much appreciated.
The build has been on a bit of a hiatus lately while I had several extraneous issues pull me away from the bench. I'm really hoping to get more work done on the build this coming weekend...we'll see.
Thanks again...
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Post by JED on Mar 4, 2021 1:48:56 GMT -6
WOW it sure is proving to be a lot of work, those plates look the bees knees though
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Post by RLFoster on Mar 12, 2021 12:23:35 GMT -6
Hey Guys, You'd think after over a month of no updates that I'd have more to show, but I've been really lax in getting photos taken. Also, while the progress has been slow and steady, it's mostly been little bits and pieces here and there...nothing huge. Here are a few photos just to show that things are progressing. First of all, I broke out the kit's PE set for the first time to add details to the gun mount. The photo shows just the first two pieces attached, but all of it is now done and the plastic bits that go between them have also been attached. You note that the kit PE comes with both a replacement mounting ring and a screen for the engine intake, but these will not be used because the Eduard pieces are much better – more on that later: Next I added the two main gun mount supports and the side skirts that support the working platforms. The skirts were particularly problematic and actually took 3 days to attach, putty, sand, putty again, sand, and putty/sand one last time: There was a problem with the side skirts. They would be essentially sealing the entire area under the platforms and outboard of the gun mounts. However, those areas would still be visible from the ends. There is no way that either airbrushing, regular brushing, or spray cans would get into these recesses effectively after assembly. So I had to go ahead and paint out those areas with some cheap, black craft paint...this won't be the only time on this build: With those areas blacked out, I attached the two main work platforms to each side: This then allowed me to go back and reattach the lifting lug pin chains that I had previously attached, saw they were in the way of the platforms, and took off. The nice thing is that they now are all individually bent in different ways to sit on top of the platform surface. You'll also note the Eduard engine intact details mentioned earlier: That's it for now. There are now a LOT of fiddly PE details that need to be added around the platforms which lead up to the attachment of the safety rails. It's also nearly time to start working on the gun itself. Until next time...
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Post by JCON on Mar 12, 2021 12:33:52 GMT -6
Exciting stuff happening on your bench for sure Robert!!! Nice work!!!
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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Mar 12, 2021 13:43:22 GMT -6
Yes, that looks awesome.
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Post by JED on Mar 13, 2021 10:32:13 GMT -6
Looking good Robert
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Post by BUCKY on Mar 13, 2021 18:51:39 GMT -6
Looking good, bro!!
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Post by Dukemaddog on Mar 14, 2021 15:43:13 GMT -6
Gee, I thought you said you didn't get much done...
Looks like a lot to me, and it is all quality work! Way to go Robert!
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Post by RLFoster on Mar 27, 2021 9:33:20 GMT -6
Hey Guys, Time for another quick update on the build while it currently sits in the back room. I'm waiting for some required plastic rod stock to arrive before work can continue. As I mentioned before, the assembly of this model it going to produce additional areas where painting with the airbrush will be problematic...this is another case. After attaching the upper work platforms to each side, the areas behind and under the huge mufflers will be difficult to coat with both primer and paint: Therefore, the cheap black paint came back out and I quickly filled in these areas: Next came wrapping the edges of the work platforms with PE parts. Unfortunately, just like the underside, the edges for the lower platform are again too long for the kit part. Here is a shot showing one of the parts, sitting on the platform, with the fold marks clearly beyond the edge of both sides: However, unlike the bottom plate fix, this time the fix was very simple. First I simply removed the two end pieces by gently folding them back and forth until they “snapped” off. Then I glued the front edge piece to the platform, ensuring the rail attach points lined up with the brackets on the bottom: Then it was a simple matter of using PE snips to cut off the excess on each side and then glue the previously removed end pieces to each side: Thankfully, the edge pieces for the upper platforms were both the correct size and the rail attach points lined up with the lower brackets perfectly. With the edges completely done, I started gluing the platform supports into place. The ones on the forward section of the platforms simply glued into the existing holes of the side plate and aligned with the rail attachment points: The rear supports were a little more difficult. I had to cut the tube part of the supports off from the vertical pieces, glue the vertical pieces into place, shorten the other piece by about a millimeter, and then affix them back into place. The end result turned out pretty good: This is as far as I made it before I realized I needed some plastic rod stock I didn't have on hand. So I ordered it and now I wait. Here's one last shot showing how everything looks at the moment: Until next time...
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Post by JCON on Mar 27, 2021 9:38:31 GMT -6
Nice fixes on the long PE and the dark recesses!!! Coming along nicely in your hands Robert!!!
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Post by Beekster on Mar 27, 2021 11:48:43 GMT -6
Splendid stuff. The dimensional issues with all the P/E stuff looks maddening, though. The designers have a kit in front of them, or the original CAD files for the parts, so it's mystifying how they get things so wrong.
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Post by RLFoster on Mar 27, 2021 15:23:00 GMT -6
Splendid stuff. The dimensional issues with all the P/E stuff looks maddening, though. The designers have a kit in front of them, or the original CAD files for the parts, so it's mystifying how they get things so wrong. I agree that this is something that "should be" easy. However, as I think I mentioned (maybe not), I believe the folks at Eduard "assumed" those platform parts would work for both the Dragon and the Trumpeter kits, but only used the later kit to design the parts. At least that's my guess.
No biggie though...I love a challenge.
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