First Ever Official RPF Group Build - IT HAS BEGUN...

Re: First Ever Official RPF Group Build Sign-Up Thread - all experience levels wanted

One more day, boys and girls

(y)thumbsup:love:thumbsup:thumbsup

I started removing the first bits from the sprue and dry fitting. Looks like I may have to re-arrange some of Special Hobby's instructions, as some of them seem to be way out of order.

-Fred
 
This is it, ladies and gentlemen - START YOUR ENGINES.

Remember - plenty of pics, WIPs and tips - and don't be afraid to ask questions.

-Fred
 
Well, here is where I'm at.... cutting open the plastic wrap!

IMG_0149.jpg


Thats what my kit looks like. And my wonderful tie-dye bed sheets that aren't the best backdrop ever...

Lucky for me, the windows on this thing are VERY small. So I don't have to do a ton of intricate cockpit work ('cuse you ain't seeing it).

Now... just to find the time... and the workspace...
 
are we posting everything in this thread?

also, could we ask a mod to sticky this?

We are indeed posting everything here.

We could try getting a mod to stick it (the thread, not the other thing :lol). Does anybody know if there is a General Modeling moderator. I'll see if I still have any contacts in the Mod Squad and maybe we can get something done.


Liz, that looks like it should a fairly fun kit. I wonder why they attached the wings but not the elevators? Some weird decisions they make.

I've been plugging away at my kit; I hope to post pics tomorrow.

-Fred
 
ok, as promised here are some pictures

First up, the fuselage halves. For scale, that's a 16" ruler in the middle. The kit supplies resin dump tubes, but they mostly break. So on the bottom half, I substitued brass tubing. It's a shade larger than the resin tubes on top, but infinitely stronger.

fuselagehalves.jpg



A close-up of the Washburn Observatory's Star Tracker camera system. This is completely scratchbuilt. From cutting open the panels to designing the cameras. The doors are just in place for the shot, not attached yet. While flipping through the book Hypersonic, I saw a picture of the Star Tracker and knew I wanted to add it - and voila.

washburncamera.jpg




This is the ejection seat and cockpit tub. The cutout in the right hand side of the tub was going to be for wiring details - before I realized that the seat completely blocked it and wouldn't be visible after it was built. The PE pieces on the ejection seat were last minute scratchbuilt details I decided to add. They're supposed to be the hinges for the stabilizer wings. The only photo I had was a small, blurry picture, so I guessed as best I could.

ejectionseat.jpg



And finally, the landing gear and bay. There was absolutely no detail in here - thank God for primeportal.com. I added internal structures and the piston that opens the bay door, as well as some prominent wiring. The insulation sheet is just made from tinfoil that I scrunched up real tight and then spent 10 minutes unfolding again :cry. They styrene bits on the oleo are scrathbuilt details I added. There's only one picture of these things, so it's a guess as to what they look like unfolded or what they do.

landinggear.jpg



Next up, trying to figure out how I'm going to paint the main IP. This thing has about 42,000 buttons - all of which are of a contrasting color to the main fascia. I think I'll paint it black, for the buttons, overcoat with the correct blue/grey and then sand the high points to reveal the black - see you all in 6 months :cry:lol .

-Fred
 
There will likely be a delay before I get started as I want to finish my Moonraker stack first. But, I haven't done any work to my M2-F2 yet, just popped the pieces off the vac sheet. However, I may start with the biggest lifting body of them all, Shuttle Enterprise (it qualifies for my collection since the body flap and rudder/speedbrake designs were an offshoot of lifting body testing). Plus, I want see if I can build it with a tailcone, as it appeared from its first drop test. :) Model kit used will be the Revell orbiter.
 
But I made a critical, non-recoverable error. See the black square? It was after I secured the decal that I realized there was panel line for it - you can see the panel line under the decal.

So both the square and the insignia are out of position.

attachment.php
 
That interior looks good, Rob! Too bad about the decal - I do the same crap all the time. Usually, it comes from following the vague instructions and then seeing how it was supposed to be on the real deal.JMC, don't worry about the delay - we have until August 31st.-Fred
 
That interior looks good, Rob! Too bad about the decal - I do the same crap all the time. Usually, it comes from following the vague instructions and then seeing how it was supposed to be on the real deal.JMC, don't worry about the delay - we have until August 31st.-Fred

That's exactly what happened, Fred. The instructions sheet didn't show the molded in panel line, and I was clueless enough not to notice it at first.

My only recovery option would be to sand off the decals, repaint (which may not be so bad since I can mask per panel lines, and just paint the one section), and add new decals.

I still have two of the insignias on the original decal sheet. I could copy and print these onto a new blank decal sheet and hope the coloration is rich enough and correct.

Or I could just buy another kit to get more decals!
 
That's exactly what happened, Fred. The instructions sheet didn't show the molded in panel line, and I was clueless enough not to notice it at first.

My only recovery option would be to sand off the decals, repaint (which may not be so bad since I can mask per panel lines, and just paint the one section), and add new decals.

I still have two of the insignias on the original decal sheet. I could copy and print these onto a new blank decal sheet and hope the coloration is rich enough and correct.

Or I could just buy another kit to get more decals!


There has to be some company that makes a national insignia decal sheet in the correct size. Heck, you might be able to contact Pegasus and they might even hook you up.

-Fred
 
That's a good point. I did try to find an outlet for Pegasus, but couldn't (probably didn't look far enough).

But yeah - that insignia is so common that even at that scale, it likely out there somewhere.
 
Hey Rob,

I put out a call to the guys at FSM. If anyone is going to know about available decals, it will be these guys.

I'll let you know if I hear anything back.


P.S. How big are the N.I. decals, in inches/mm?

-Fred
 
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My only recovery option would be to sand off the decals, repaint (which may not be so bad since I can mask per panel lines, and just paint the one section), and add new decals.
Hi Rob,
Did that decal get a clear-coat over it yet? If not, you should be able to remove it, maybe even without mucking up the paint. it might lift off with masking tape (could lift your paint too), or try some Micro-Sol (prolonged use of that might also soften the paint, so be careful. I've also taken decals off with careful wet-sanding.
 
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