A leap of faith

[burnie43]

Well I mostly always build something that stays on the ground cause cockpits cause me baldness, grey eyebrows and bad words !!! BUT in the past I have tried to complete a few 1/48 F-18's and F-15's ....yep the " F" word again !! I have completed only 1 or 2 WW2 aircraft but that was way in the past, I always found that the fuselage join was visible and when I sanded it all the lines went with the sander and it ended up almost square on top and the wing joints...oh man they were never the way that I wanted them.....I won't go on....
But just the other nigh I went into "retail frenzy" mode and ordered 4 WW2 aircraft....P-51 Mustang, P-40 and a P-37 I think,,,and yes I was sober !! I like these aircraft and i am going to try and really get out of my comfort zone so any hints, tips etc will be welcomed and 1 question.......
Where do I put the mud ?
Cheers
Mark

[wookiee76]

Test fitting, clamps and a gentle hand on the sander to keep a curve, any panel lines can be rescribed. Also once you are happy with the fit tape the fuselage halves together before gluing.

[SMAddict66]

These work really well at keeping those curves Mark

http://www.flex-i-file.com/flex-i-file.php

I know they're available a various modelling events, just not sure how many get up to Inverness

[burnie43]

These work really well at keeping those curves Mark

http://www.flex-i-file.com/flex-i-file.php

I know they're available a various modelling events, just not sure how many get up to Inverness

cheers Phil...there's a show in Perth at some point in April so I'll get em there...
mark

[burnie43]

Test fitting, clamps and a gentle hand on the sander to keep a curve, any panel lines can be rescribed. Also once you are happy with the fit tape the fuselage halves together before gluing.

lend me your gentle touch Wookie...lol
cheers
Mark

[wookiee76]

And if that don't work, it's hammer time! Me, gentle touch? I'm about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the gentlemans area!

[Avgas]

I wouldn't sweat the seam lines too much to start with. Take any away that are easy to fix obviously but just take it easy for the first few. Also instead of (you have already probably thought of this but just in case!) sanding down from what is already there try building up your seam line filler into a ridge so that you are just sanding filler when you start, so you are sanding down to the original surface if that makes sense rather than putting a smidgen of filler on and sanding away the plastic with your first strokes. It doesn't have to be a mountain of filler, just make it stand proud a bit.