Eduard 1/48 Hellcat Mk I

Post by **Garion77** » Tue Mar 02, 2021 1:39 pm

Hello everyone,
I'm going to give a shot at my first real building thread for one of my project. The only one I ever did was in a group build a while ago. Never tried one because I'm not that confident in my skills compare to others in this forum and I'm slow builder. So my goal is to kind of give me motivation to build faster and more constantly, COVID and winter already helping on that side. Also, I don't have a good setup for taking good pictures and not good at taking them so be mindful of that for me. So let's hope I have a few followers and people who like it. I don't mind bad critics if the goal is getting better. So don't hesitate !

As mentionner, my project is Eduard's Hellcat Mk 1. Kit I had in my stash for a while now.

Hellcat mk I by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

And I'll go for this paint job

Hellcat mk I by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

And I bought a bunch of extra for it

Hellcat mk I by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
As you can see, I got Airscale's placard, that I plan to use in other projects as well ; Metal guns, Ultracast's spinners and resin seat (Future pictures coming) and Eduard resin engine. That will be my first attempt at that much resin as the most I ever got was wheels !! I decided to go for the engine as they are so beautiful and detailed. And also did a pretty nice one on my P47 with the one included in the kit and just adding scratch building to it.

So that's it for now ! Pretty long post ! Another coming later today or tomorrow

Post by **digger303** » Tue Mar 02, 2021 2:16 pm

Sounds like you and I are in the same boat. Engine looks wicked.

Post by **Garion77** » Tue Mar 02, 2021 3:14 pm

OK.... when I wrote my first post, work had already begun on the kit and as always, on the cockpit. The first thing I want to show is the really beautiful resin seat I got from Ultracast (Canadian company

)

Hellcat mk I by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

I started by the seat because I didn't know if I would be able painting such small details So I told myself I would have the one from the kit if things got bad. But in the end, thanks to my new visors I was able to pull it off and it looks awesome !!

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Much better then any PE sets ! And my bad pictures don't show how really good it is

I used Vallejo paint for the interior green and detail painting. Try doing different tones on the seatbelts. It shows in real but not much in the picture. same for the interior green as it is darker at the bottom.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Tue Mar 02, 2021 3:17 pm

Oh wow
Nice kit and lots of extra goodies

Bon chance

Post by **BigWall** » Tue Mar 02, 2021 6:00 pm

Cool kit and the seat looks great!

Post by **DRUMS01** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 1:33 am

If your painted seat is any indication at all, you are going to nail this build. I'm looking forward in seeing the rest of the cockpit, the engine, etc. I also like your choice for the final camouflage scheme.

Watching this one!

Ben

Post by **Stokesy44** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:26 am

Only thing better than an Eduard 1/48 aircraft kit is a fully pimped out Eduard 1/48 aircraft kit!

I love those Ultracast seats with the resin harness. I've used them for Spitfires and a Corsair. Beautiful paint job on yours Sir.

Post by **Donkeywalloper** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 9:53 am

Lovely, lovely detail and work so far.
Not Armour but I can appreciate you chaps who love those Winged Things

DW

Post by **Garion77** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:30 pm

DRUMS01 wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 1:33 am If your painted seat is any indication at all, you are going to nail this build. I'm looking forward in seeing the rest of the cockpit, the engine, etc. I also like your choice for the final camouflage scheme.

Watching this one!

Ben

Thank you ! I do love this camouflage scheme too as I love all airplanes with invasion stripes. But it will be my first attempt at painting them

Post by **Garion77** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:34 pm

Stokesy44 wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:26 am Only thing better than an Eduard 1/48 aircraft kit is a fully pimped out Eduard 1/48 aircraft kit!

I love those Ultracast seats with the resin harness. I've used them for Spitfires and a Corsair. Beautiful paint job on yours Sir.

I'm not sure I agree on the Eduard kit

I do find most of them really beautiful and detailed. But the experience I had building them wasn't that good for now... but it's only my third Eduard kit as they are a bit hard to get by where I am. I had huge fit issues on my last one the Mirage. Worst fit ever. And by dry fitting things on this one seems I'm going to have a few problems too.

Post by **digger303** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:52 pm

Garion77 wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:34 pm
Stokesy44 wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:26 am Only thing better than an Eduard 1/48 aircraft kit is a fully pimped out Eduard 1/48 aircraft kit!

I love those Ultracast seats with the resin harness. I've used them for Spitfires and a Corsair. Beautiful paint job on yours Sir.
I'm not sure I agree on the Eduard kit I do find most of them really beautiful and detailed. But the experience I had building them wasn't that good for now... but it's only my third Eduard kit as they are a bit hard to get by where I am. I had huge fit issues on my last one the Mirage. Worst fit ever. And by dry fitting things on this one seems I'm going to have a few problems too.

I think it depends on if the eduard kit is a home grown one or a kit they have gotten from another source and tweaked a bit.

Post by **Garion77** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 1:08 pm

Good morning all... first of all thank you on the comments I already got. So work continued yesterday a bit through all the shopping for the makeover of our bedroom.
Still working on the cockpit. Everything was primed with Ultimate black primer and painted interior green with Vallejo. Did a bit of highlights by adding yellow to it.Painted the details with Vallejo black. I need to thin it a bit next time ! I always forget. I used pictures I found on the internet for the buttons. I didn't have to use my Airscale Placards because Eduard provided quite a few decals for the cockpit. But that's where I had my first problems !! First time using Tamiya's Mark Fit and the decals really had trouble going down. Was it the decals or the Mark Fit ?? I don't know. So the consequence was that the decal for the instrument panel isn't that well align.
I dry brushed a few details too ; I really need to get better at this technique ! Here are a few pictures. I'll try soon to get better quality pictures

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

On the next picture eveything got a gloss coat to get ready for a bit of weathering

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
I won't go overboard with detailing and weathering the cockpit, even though it was my first idea. Because we won't see much in this one even with canopy open ! So the next step will be to put on a was, a bit of dirt and scratches

I also drilled the tail wheel

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Post by **Stokesy44** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 6:52 pm

Garion77 wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:34 pm
I'm not sure I agree on the Eduard kit I do find most of them really beautiful and detailed. But the experience I had building them wasn't that good for now... but it's only my third Eduard kit as they are a bit hard to get by where I am. I had huge fit issues on my last one the Mirage. Worst fit ever. And by dry fitting things on this one seems I'm going to have a few problems too.

That's a shame. Well, best of luck all the same

Post by **Garion77** » Thu Mar 04, 2021 12:40 pm

Work continue quite a bit yesterday on the project even tough it doesn't show that much

As I showed yesterday I continued working a bit on the cockpit. But before closing everything up I have to decide if I'm going to use the belly tank because a slot needs to be cut out. Looking at the original part from the kit, it's pretty boring.... So having launch my self in basic scratch building recently for my last 2 projects I decided to give a try on the tank. My goal is to aim for something like that :

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

The only problem I have for now is the retaining straps. They have a section of them engrave in the kit's part. But I still have to make them longer and somehow show the change of size in them and the lifting eye. You see it better in this picture :

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Anyhow I started working on it yesterday. My first goal was to represent the vertical flange. At least, from the only information I was able to gather is that the one from the era of my model would be vertical and later version would be horizontal. I hesitated between to ways of making it : using a wire of some sort that I would glue in the middle of the tank or gluing a plastic sheet between the halves and and it down to the desire width. I decided to go with the wire because I thought getting an even surface of plastic sheet all around the reservoir would be hard. I started by gluing the two halves together and the part from the kit that represents the sway brace bars. The fit of that part was awful. And remove them as I would use metal tubing later on. Use filler on everything and cleaned it up. Them the gluing of copper wire was done. Would have been easier I think with lead but didn't have any of the desired width at the end.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Pretty happy for the end result ! Hope this post wasn't too boring ! I'll try my hand at the sway brace bars today and the refill cap (I'm not sure of the English word for it...

the place they fill the tank

) I have PE leftovers for it but I have to try to make it flush with the tank plastic

Thank you

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:44 pm

I am loving the details you are adding here
It looks like you are having fun

Keep at it, she is coming along great

Post by **BigWall** » Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:44 pm

Nice start on the scratch work!

Post by **Garion77** » Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:49 pm

Work continued a bit today. I won't work more for today on it. Going to buy my new car

And I kind of hit the wall with the detailing of the tank.

I was able to put on the refill cap flush to the plastic by scraping it with a no. 12 blade after marking the area, the glued the cap I had from leftovers PE of a resin paper gallon reservoir. Then I used a plastic rod to cut where the sway bars join the tank and glued it in place. Drilled a hole in it for a brass rod for the sway bar.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
(i sanded a bit the glued plastic rods to make them lower as they were Too thick at the beginning ; but was easier to cut and glue that way)

the result with the bars in place but not glued because I will have to adjust the length

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

And that's kind of where I hit the wall. Because while thinking on how I would make the straps I realized that I couldn't measure in any way the length needed for them before putting in place the belly tank.... So I have to make the decision now I cut out the slot needed in the fuselage and risk making a big hole for nothing if I don't like the end result of the tank or can't make straps....

Meanwhile I finished working on the cockpit.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

I think it looks good

tell me what you think... and I'll sleep on my tank problem

Post by **digger303** » Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:36 pm

That's a tricky tank problem you have.

Me I'd just push on and leave any cutting until the last minute. Which I'm not advocating you do cause I make all sorts of stuff ups.

Tomorrow we are going car shopping too, just second and though...it's for the missus

Post by **Garion77** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 1:29 am

digger303 wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:36 pm That's a tricky tank problem you have. Me I'd just push on and leave any cutting until the last minute. Which I'm not advocating you do cause I make all sorts of stuff ups.
Tomorrow we are going car shopping too, just second and though...it's for the missus

not for the missus on my side ! it was for me. and it's done. Going to get it next week.

Post by **mcirvingr** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 6:15 am

I bought the same kit a week ago. Looking forward to this build!

Post by **Stokesy44** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:14 am

Cockpit looks superb

Post by **Garion77** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 1:01 pm

mcirvingr wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 6:15 am I bought the same kit a week ago. Looking forward to this build!

Good ! I love the plane. One my favorite. That's I bought as soon as I saw it. And for me, in Canada where I am, Eduard kits aren't that easy to get. Well they are but almost always a lot of shipping to pay for them. I had a deal on this one. The fit, contrary to my experience with 2 other kit from Eduard seems nice. I was seeing a problem of fit to join the fuselage halves with the cockpit but I found a way to resolve it without a big gap.
Hope you like your build on your side and you like and follow mine !

Post by **Tomcat64** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:43 pm

Just caught up with this and really enjoyed reading through the thread - great work Garion

The cockpit looks great and I hope you manage to get a solution you like on the tank - could you use some thin strips of masking tape to make up the straps or will that just give a headache with the loops?

Looking forwards to seeing the progress.

Post by **Garion77** » Sat Mar 06, 2021 11:56 am

Tomcat64 wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:43 pm Just caught up with this and really enjoyed reading through the thread - great work Garion

The cockpit looks great and I hope you manage to get a solution you like on the tank - could you use some thin strips of masking tape to make up the straps or will that just give a headache with the loops?

Looking forwards to seeing the progress.

Thank you for the really nice comments. Really appreciated. I actually didn't thought of your idea ! May be I'm going to use it because I still don't know how I'm going to do it

At least I manage to find way to measure everything to get started.

Post by **Garion77** » Sat Mar 06, 2021 12:06 pm

Good morning everyone ! Hope everyone had a good week ! SO I'm still struggling to find a way to fabricate my straps for my belly tank and everything that goes with. At least I manage to find a way to get measurements for them by marking where the slot would be on fuselage and gluing the tank to it temporarily while it's taped together.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

My goal for the weekend, while not having much long period at a time for modeling is to at least know how I'm going to make them ! Meanwhile I started work on the engine.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Packaging could have been better !! As could it have better for my current kit too ! Seems Eduard cutting down on that ! No sponges for the engines as I saw in other youtube video. The box is quite small and everything was in the same bag.
But the details are magnificent !! Hope I don't screw up any of it in the process !! As for now, I took my about 2 hours and half to cut and clean everything up.... First time doing resin so...Never thought of that part !

I wish a good weekend to everyone ! Maple taffy time on the snow at home with the family this weekend !! as all the sugar shacks are close again this year because of the Covid

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat Mar 06, 2021 1:54 pm

That resin engine looks amazing.

Post by **Garion77** » Sat Mar 06, 2021 4:47 pm

As I got up early this morning and before everyone else in the house, I had time to plan out my first attempt at the retaining straps.

I was looking at the material I have home and decided to try out the straps with a thin plastic sheet that I thinned even more after cutting it to a desire width aid by masking tape. I had time to make my first attempt during the karate lesson of my son (on zoom with the covid)

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Then the hard part begun.... trying to copy the holding mechanism of the strap

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

I decided to use aluminum paper from a an old coffee bag, fold it in 2, and insert a 0,4 mm rod in it and tried cutting around everything to represent it. As the end result isn't that bad it looks out of scale to me.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
(needs a bit of cleaning again in the above picture)

Result beside the kit :

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

As I said it looks out of scale, and starting with the actual strap that I made 1 mm. I really need people comments on it and suggestion please.
I'll give an another try by making a strap less Than 1 mm. But it's going to be hard for the kind of rubber thing I'm trying to copy with the foil aluminum. And when looking at all that I decided to modify the fuselage too. Going to show it in future posts.

Post by **Garion77** » Sat Mar 06, 2021 7:32 pm

Garion77 wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 4:47 pm As I got up early this morning and before everyone else in the house, I had time to plan out my first attempt at the retaining straps.
I was looking at the material I have home and decided to try out the straps with a thin plastic sheet that I thinned even more after cutting it to a desire width aid by masking tape. I had time to make my first attempt during the karate lesson of my son (on zoom with the covid)

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Then the hard part begun.... trying to copy the holding mechanism of the strap
Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

I decided to use aluminum paper from a an old coffee bag, fold it in 2, and insert a 0,4 mm rod in it and tried cutting around everything to represent it. As the end result isn't that bad it looks out of scale to me.
Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
(needs a bit of cleaning again in the above picture)

Result beside the kit :
Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

As I said it looks out of scale, and starting with the actual strap that I made 1 mm. I really need people comments on it and suggestion please.
I'll give an another try by making a strap less Than 1 mm. But it's going to be hard for the kind of rubber thing I'm trying to copy with the foil aluminum. And when looking at all that I decided to modify the fuselage too. Going to show it in future posts.

I'm replying to my own post to show my second attempt at the straps... I changed my approach this time. Used the aluminum foil paper for the straps instead of the plastic sheet and used the plastic sheet for the attach point. In that approach, I would not put a horizontal rod to show a bar where the attach point hangs on. If I go with this approach, they would be only a rod glued being the straps going to the fuselage
You can see the difference between my two choices in the following picture :

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Hope to get a few response for opinions, critics or suggestions.
Thank you
Francis

Post by **Garion77** » Sun Mar 07, 2021 4:24 pm

Finally !!!! Did it !!! The result of the straps are in !

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

I finally used PE leftovers. The straps is actually the straps for 108 gallon paper reservoir I put on my P47. I cut my self from the rubber attached and embossed it to represent the attaching point.

You can see the difference between the others I had tried and the result if much better and good for me !

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

SO now only 3 lefts

The only problem with the method I've chosen is the straps I have aren't long enough to go around the reservoir. So I'll have to leave the molded ones and glue at the end the ones I made. I'll have to try to hide the joints with putty somehow.
Next we'll be putting the rods, for the sway braces, in the reservoir without gluing them so I can adjust them at the end of the build. Also, I'll have to put 2 rods in the fuselage for the attach points of the straps. I already mark where to drill the holes. I'll use the same method to adjust the length at the end of the build.

I also decided the modify the fuselage to represent this kind of vent beneath the reservoir

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
Should be easy to do because the markings are already on the fuselage. Only have to cut it, glue togheter and the wit a plastic sheets make the sides.

Post by **BigWall** » Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:52 pm

Nice solution for the tank straps. It's looking great!

Post by **Garion77** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 10:06 pm

Hello again everyone,
While finding the solutions for my tank straps and fabricating the 3 others I kind of got sidetrack on other scratch building.

As I said in my last post, I was going to make the kind of trap door/vent on the fuselage above the tank. So that part is done. Pretty easy to do. I cut out the pieces of the fuselage needed, glued them together. Then, after putting some filler and I cut out the sidewalls from a plastic sheet and riveted them. Made a slot on the fuselage piece with a razor saw to slide them in place. And glued everything in place.
Original piece on real plane :

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
My construction :

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

But the real thing that got me sidetracked was the cockpit ! Even tough I said it was finish... I realize looking at pictures of the real thing that there's a kind of tablet on each side

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
So I decided to make them my self to add some visual to the cockpit as were not going to see much of the rest of the stuff in it. I cuted out plastic sheet to the desire size, made the rivets heads by punching the plastic on the other side with a riveting tool and made the handle with a metal rod.
The only thing left is painting it, adding decals on it to look like the real thing and weathering.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

It had been painted but had to clean it because filler was needed. You can still see the small handle left with it. But I think when painted et decals put on it's going to look awesome.

Post by **RangerNeil** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 11:00 pm

I like the PE solution to the belly tank straps.. Nice going there. Looking forwards to seeing that engine assembled too!!

Post by **Garion77** » Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:00 am

Hello again everyone,
I've been busy with other things from work and our new house since my last post. But I was still able to work a bit on the infamous resin engine ! All the pieces had already been cut and clean. A lot of work !!!! I started the assembly and think I already made a few mistakes

As I said, never work with that much resin as being wheels my only experience and the seat on this ongoing project.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

It does look pretty good.... but now my problems/mistakes. I don't know if we see everything I'm going to talk about... First, I think all the cylinders were supposed to align together to form a kind of black ring that goes all around the engine... wasn't able to align them and forgot at the beginning. I should have plan more carefully the construction to separate my paintings. As you see int the picture both rows of cylinders, the first part of the exhaust, and the sparks plugs and inter-ear drain tubes are already in place. I should have waited for the last and paint the cylinders first. The glue and install the sparks plugs and finally the inter ear drain tubes.
Same goes for the first part of the exhaust. Should have waited to glue it after painted it.
SO all my painting will be more complicated. Let's hope I do something good anyway.
By the way, I decided to try my hand at a resin engine because I thought I did a good job on the included kit one of my P47 just by doing my first attempt at bit of scratch building
Here's a look at it :

P47 by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

So let's hope the resin one looks better or I will have flush my money away on it !!!

Post by **Kevthemodeller** » Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:32 am

Coming along very well, the aftermarket resin engine and detailing looks very nice

Post by **Stokesy44** » Thu Mar 11, 2021 8:30 am

Beautiful engine

Post by **RangerNeil** » Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:31 am

Love the engine detailing - definitely NOT a waste of money!!

Post by **Garion77** » Sat Mar 13, 2021 1:32 am

What do you think ?? Leave it on or not ? That is my question to all of you in my attempt to recreate the side windows frames....

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

I drew the frame on a piece of transparent sheet than taped it to a foil packaging I had. Made the riveting, primed it and painted it. At the moment it not glued on the window that why it's not that well align
So ! What do you think ? Leave it on or not ?

Post by **BigWall** » Sat Mar 13, 2021 1:59 am

I think you should leave it in.

Post by **digger303** » Sat Mar 13, 2021 12:56 pm

Post by **RangerNeil** » Sat Mar 13, 2021 1:44 pm

Leave it - looks very good!!

Post by **Garion77** » Sun Mar 14, 2021 6:18 pm

Hello everyone,
quick update of what I was able to do between plastering, sanding and painting at my house.
I decided to leave the window frame on. And the cockpit was installed in the fuselage.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
You can see in the above picture the kind of sidewall I made that was missing with the added decals. Unfortunately the little handle I made was eating by the floor monster... so will have to put another one.

I also added a few details the back wheel

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr
Put on PE strip and added rivet details.

I also scribed an access hatch with the riveting on the piece that goes inside the fuselage but shows on the outside in area of the belly tank.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

As for the engine... well I realized that I had cut off what represents the strips that holds the wire with each others thinking it was just to hold the PE in place. So isopropyl alcohol I unglued it and I'm going to use the extra one Eduard puts in. Going to keep the one with mistake for a future engine where I would keep it close. In the meanwhile I had time to paint the crankcase I think it's called and the exhaust. I was able to achieve a tonal variation on them but it doesn't show on the picture.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Post by **Garion77** » Tue Mar 16, 2021 11:19 pm

Small update...
the fuselage is fully closed now. I'm working on the seams line. Fit was nothing more than ok. The fit wasn't was bad as last Eduard kit, the Mirage, but better Than my only other one, a Bf109 E-1.
Work continued on the engine. It wired up, primed and painted in Alclad aluminum.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

Unfortunately, I think I went a bit heavy on the paint even tough I was aiming at the contrary. But still not bad even if I'm a bit disappointed.

Didn't do much work with all the work I had to do in the house. I am also playing around with the idea of attempting my first riveting project.... I'm doing some test right now. Really not sure. A lot of work for something that seems at first glance won't be that apparent, at least with my RB tools. And I never did that much riveting. My experience being limited to redo lost rivets. So we'll see.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Tue Mar 16, 2021 11:40 pm

This is some good modelling going on here

Keep at it

Post by **BigWall** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:22 am

It's coming along very nicely!

Post by **Garion77** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:17 am

BigWall wrote: Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:22 am It's coming along very nicely!

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Tue Mar 16, 2021 11:40 pm This is some good modelling going on here
Keep at it

Thank you to both of you !

Post by **Garion77** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 3:09 pm

Hello again,
As I said yesterday in my small update I was playing with the idea of riveting all of the plane. So I attempted doing so on the underside of the stabilizer.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

I would like to ear opinions on my attempt... And from people who does riveting... because the thing bothering me is the size of the rivet holes...as not being the same as the one from the kit... may be I'm being to fussy. But don't know how it's suppose to look since it's my first time.

Thanks in advance for the input.

Post by **digger303** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 9:50 pm

Nice work and your riveting is very good. As regards to that what I see is the new rivets are slightly further apart and a little deeper than the kit ones. They are however very sharply defined which is good. I don't do any riveting just the opinion of a observer and think the execution of you making new rivets excellent work.

Post by **Garion77** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:45 am

digger303 wrote: Wed Mar 17, 2021 9:50 pm Nice work and your riveting is very good. As regards to that what I see is the new rivets are slightly further apart and a little deeper than the kit ones. They are however very sharply defined which is good. I don't do any riveting just the opinion of a observer and think the execution of you making new rivets excellent work.

thank you for the input ! really appreciated.
Actually I think it's the camera playing tricks because the new ones are closer to each other then the existing ones. 0,65 mm for the new ones and 0,70 mm for the existing ones

But I just found other riveting wheels I have that are space the same distance from each other. What is actually bugging me the most is a bit like you said. The definition or sharpness of the existing ones against the new one... and their forms. And I'm saying to my self that everyone that does that technic must have the same dilemma

so you think I should keep them and keep riveting ?

Post by **digger303** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:57 am

I'm not a aircraft guy which is who you really need to answer that question. I have heard of guys re riveting everything, but usually that is with kits that have raised rivet lines and they swipe everything off and start fresh.
A heavy base color may soften the detail, but like I said HELP.....we need a aircraft guy to fess up.
Sorry I'm coming up short....

Post by **Garion77** » Fri Mar 19, 2021 3:51 pm

quick update... First of all engine is almost finish. Pictures coming once it is. But while joggling (still!) with the idea of riveting the plane, I realized that Eduard made a mistake in the molding of the horizontal stabilizers.

Sans titre by Francis Pare, sur Flickr

the way they molded them does that one side on top as the access hatches and the other side on the bottom. But they all should be on the top. I testing the fit of each others to fuselage, it is horrible.

Should post pictures of the engine before the end of the weekend

Thank you