Eduard 1/48 Bell Airacobra Mk.I - RAF brief service

[yak face]

Great progress dave , useful reference for when i get round to building mine ( the release with the naughty nose art - i think it will be the same plastic , but its only the weekend edition so no nose weight or PE for me :crying

[stona]

Looking good Dave!

Further confirmation of my suspicions....cockpit PE is mainly for the builder and not really for show!

Absolutely. Little bits of PE to represent various levers etc. which are smaller than a human eyelash are definitely for the builder.

I usually try and fit them, but I honestly don't sweat about the odd one that goes missing, nobody looking at the model will even know.

[Dave Ward]

At times you have to think that there are evil spirits lurking, trying to catch you out! I had the canopy sprue, kept safe in it's plastic bag - then, I stood up to answer the phone - >crunch< I'd somehow dropped the bag, and managed to put one of my size 11s on it. Main canopy shattered into 3 pieces -totally unrepairable!
I very nearly said a few blasphemies! :rolling:
Contacted Eduard, next morning, email, asking for my address - which I supplied & they told me one clear sprue will be posted to me - I feel a bit better now, but what are the odds on me dropping the thing unnoticed, the phone ringing & me putting my foot on it. (phone call was an Amazon fake call, as well )
Luckily, I can go most of the way to making the Airacobra before I need the canopy, but really!
Dave

[Mark1]

Ouch!!:worried:

[JayCee]

Know how you feel Dave. Been there, done that.
John.

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
Shame about the canopy but if Eduard come through pretty quickly then all credit to them.
Jim

[Dave Ward]

The airframe mostly complete - the fit is a bit patchy, a lot of trimming & sanding & a lot of dry fitting.

A touch of filler here & there, but not too bad. There are several bits of PE added - two mesh filters at the rear of the wing root inlets.............totally invisible, I should have used the plastic parts. There are PE parts for the flaps on the 3 radiator duct outlets ( just above the wheel wells ), and plastic parts - I cannot see any benefit to using the PE, it just looks like a fret filler!
I'll give the joints a primer test, before masking up & spraying overall primer. I can work around the lack of a canopy for the moment.................
Dave

[Dave Ward]

I blocked all the openings, either with wet tissue paper, or masking fluid. After an overall covering of grey primer, I painted the 'Sky' band around the rear fuselage, then masked it up, after drying. I then sprayed the underside with Medium Sea Grey. After more drying, I masked up & sprayed the upper surfaces Ocean Grey. After an hour or so, I brush painted the Dark Green Camo pattern.

A little bit of touch up needed here & there but not bad. I'll give it an overall gloss spray, before decalling, I'll be able to work around the missing canopy & doors almost until completion
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

Coming along Dave. Decals soon....

[Airborne01]

Dave,
My right knee (guilty of crimes against small pieces) empathises with you!

[Dave Ward]

After an overall spray of gloss varnish - the decals.................................



I'm using MiG decal solution, and these Eduard decals seem to be reacting a lot! They're wrinkling up far more than I've seen before - I haven't even put the second part of the solution on yet! I hope I don't have to go hunting in my extensive spare decal files ( OK, the shoe box ) for replacements.
Dave

[adt70hk]

That's not good Dave....

[Mark1]

Oh dear! I won't buy a bottle of that then.never had any problems with good old humbrol decal fix.

[Tim Marlow]

That’s exactly what it’s supposed to do though....it’s what Micro Sol does in my experience?

[Dave Ward]

That’s exactly what it’s supposed to do though....it’s what Micro Sol does in my experience?

Tim,
it's just the degree, and speed that is unusual...............
Dave