AZ Models 1:72 Supermarine Attacker

[Guest]

This morning I looked to get the fuselage together, so I lightly glued the instrument panel and the tub in to one half to test fit the fuselage halves.
There is a significant lack of helpful location on either the kit (i.e. none!) or in the instructions, so I went for roughly align the panel with the end of the tub consoles.



The tub is clearly far too wide!




Out it came and I took a flat needle file to the sides of the tub and achieved a much better fit.
However, there is a significant vertical difference in the size of the fuselage halves and I've ended up with a decent step.




I'll tackle this once the glue is dry.

Next was looking at the wings. I popped them off the sprue and there is still a significant amount of cleaning up to be done. Thankfully this is a process I quite enjoy!



I expected the fit to be terrible, but after I cleaned up the sprue remnants the fit was actually pretty good, so I glued them together, deciding the flash clean up would be easier with the wings assembled.



That's it for now. Next up: fuselage and wing clean up.

[Dave Ward]

Chris,
the joys of short run models! I leave the glue well alone until I've dry fitted and adjusted things for 'best' fit. It can help to add plastic card strips to aid location in fuselages. I go back to the old method ( from making vacforms ) by having a sheet of wet & dry on a thick piece of flat board, and sanding component faces square ( use wet, less dust! ) - I even do this on mainstream models occasionally, if needed, removing location tabs/pins in the process.
Dave

[Lee Drennen]

Chris
It’s looking good and nice progress

[Guest]

The issue here is I didn’t dry fit properly, so had to rectify a painted tub, which is why the precision of the needle file was useful.
Good tips though! Measure twice, cut once....

[Guest]

Thanks Lee!

[Lee Drennen]

Your Welcome Chris be dropping in to check the progress now and then

[Guest]

Chris,
the joys of short run models! I leave the glue well alone until I've dry fitted and adjusted things for 'best' fit. It can help to add plastic card strips to aid location in fuselages. I go back to the old method ( from making vacforms ) by having a sheet of wet & dry on a thick piece of flat board, and sanding component faces square ( use wet, less dust! ) - I even do this on mainstream models occasionally, if needed, removing location tabs/pins in the process.
Dave

Hi Dave,

What you mentioned about dry fitting has been playing on my mind and I wanted to satisfy myself that I had done what I could, and I think I have.
The two halves are fractionally different sizes, with all the step being created by the LHS half. Oddly, the LHS is 'taller' but the RHS is longer!

There is a good deal of very fine detail that is going to be lost during clean up.

[Dave Ward]

Chris,
you just have to bite the bullet, fill, sand, and rescribe. I apply tape on either side of the joint - damage limitation, and only do small areas at a time, letting things dry off before moving on.
Dave

[Guest]

I'm going to try to deepen the detail whilst it still exists before I put a file anywhere near it.

[Guest]

I decided that the step was too large and thought I’d look at it to see what could be done.
The old contacta I had used had not sufficiently bonded the very hard plastic that this model was molded from, so a steady hand and a sharp blade was all that was required to separate the two halves of the fuselage.

I cleaned them up again, had a torrid time fitting them back together (the tub put on weight) and ended up with this:



I’ll let it set and see what I get.

Nothing to lose I guess...

[colin m]

Wow, this makes vintage Airfix look like a modern Tamiya. Well done for persevering.

[Guest]

It’s about the size of a twix. Makes you wonder if it’s worth all the effort!

[Guest]

The problem I have had and which has stalled the build is the wings. There are no locating aids and the fit is terrible. I found a few minutes this evening at the bench and received the extra thin glue I was waiting for to execute my plan, so got on with it.

I decided that I'd probably mess the whole thing up if I tried to work on the joins and reasoned that filling would be better, since you can take away but you can't add. The only issue then was how to set the angle in both vertical and rotation relative to the fuselage, keeping the whole thing stable whilst the glue set.
What I decided to do was to create a cradle on a piece of ply I use to hold my 'parts on sticks' while they dry and other cutting activities, then mount the wings and apply extra thin so I didn't have to handle the model.

I found a 1:72 drawing of the aircraft which I used to work out the wing angle. I then marked out a centreline and positioned two cotton buds on the lines, taping them down. This is the cradle for the fuselage.
Then I tacked the wings with CA and as luck would have it, my scalpel blades are the exact same diameter as the required rise, so these would support the wings.



Once it's set overnight I'll lift it and apply glue to the underside to properly secure them.

I'm glad I got on with it. I have been scratching my head over this for a few weeks and have a habit of overthinking problems.

I also cleaned up the intake cowl's........eurgh.



More to follow.

[Dave Ward]

Chris,
with short run kits, and butt joined wings, I drill holes in the wing roots & fuselage <1mm dia, and use copper wire as the strength member - copper, so you can adjust the dihedral, etc before committing to cement!
Dave

[Guest]

Chris,
with short run kits, and butt joined wings, I drill holes in the wing roots & fuselage <1mm dia, and use copper wire as the strength member - copper, so you can adjust the dihedral, etc before committing to cement!
Dave

Good tip! Won’t be the last time I need this, so thanks!