ORIGINAL: Oberst
You're doing a great job on your P-47. Looks like you search around for different scraps around the house to make scale parts for your airplanes. Job well done Sir! I have to replace my airbrush with a better system. The last airbrush I had was terrible and the seals leaked. I'll try to replace it all before my next project. It looks as if you did plastic models once, or you still build them, because I noticed the techniques that you are using for your P-47 is about the same way I did my models when I used to compete.
The only thing I question that you did to your Fokker Dr1 is, you used canopy glue for some scale detail for your trim tape. How does it hold up when you have to re-hit it with the iron? Most stock covered ARF aircraft like to wrinkle because they never seem to put on the covering right at the factory. It's like they don't pull or stretch it enough before applying the heat. I have to hit all my airplanes once a year to tighten up everything just before the new flying season starts up again. If I ever had to copy your method would it hold up?
I think they sell scale trim tape in 1/3 and 1/4 scale. I saw it somewhere on the internet, but now I can't remember where I saw it.
Pete
Hi Pete, good evening; ( at least here on Southern Spain ).
Tx very much for your nice words about my P-47 e-conversion. As the model is electric and I have no problem with engine residues I had a wider offer at the finishing time than I have to seal it to hold well the exaust residues caused by internal combustion engines, and you´re absolutly righ about using many of plastic modelling techs for detailing and finishing on this flying wood monokote model, all time thinking in lightness and scale.
For the Dr-1 at the beginning I wished to peel off the monokote and use a fabric covering and paint, cause it is a lot more scale that iron films on a WWI warbird, but I don´t like the extra weigh that the model could gained compared with monokote or oracover. Also I love your job of ribs reinforcement on the model with theses strips of covering over the plain landscape, so excuse me, but I copied your neat idea; ( as plan to do on others of your own, cause I liked very much your aproach to the representation of the fine details on this model ).
As said my idea is to use the strips lines for the rib streching and also show the sewing of the covering to the airframe. Usually this is very common on fabric covered models of that time on the early days, but I never saw or know how ribs streching and their caracteristic bulges of the sewing could be represented on the plastic covering. So I used a tech that I had done on others models and is to show them with little rectangulars dots of RC-56 glue. On others models I used the dots of RC-56 over the monokote mixed or painted once dried with silver paint for example to show rivets or little ex screws.
The idea is to go before on all the covered areas of the model with a good iron time with both the irons, the trim iron and the regular one, and also use some cloth to push down the film when the heat is still high and just be sure that the covering is ironed to all the inside wood on these ARF models.
Clean the model very well with rubbing alcohol and then I does the rivets or so with the canopy glue. Once dried i paint them and use a finish coat of brigh or matte barnish to protect them. After that you can clean the airplane as usual with no problems. I´m using this tech over glow and gasoline engines during years and no problem.
As you said, you must be very carefully for the wrinkles or repairs. You know that it doesn matter that you don´t like but you must live from time to time with wrinkles, so I always try to keep my models on the shade on summer time and not too much time on a closed car during that kind of hot weather. If the wrinkles happens, and that is inevitable many times, I just have a iron sesion with the irons, no heat gun at all, and reseal again very carefully the wrinkle area, using the little one on the rivets area and trying no to touch the simulated rivets, just keeping the point of the trim iron around and the own heat of the iron will tensile also the little area of the covering below the rivet, that is all.
On our DR-1 my idea is to use this tech of the rc-56 glue on a different aproach to show the sewing of the rib streching, instead of rounded dots of glue, it is aplicated with a paint brush on a rectangular pattern and use some tack tape that after the aplication are removed to keep the glue rectangular.... When all the ribs sewing bulges will be done, my idea is to paint with the same colour of the background or a little lighter and seal them with sintetic barnish...
Here is some links how I used this tech on my Yak55 M gasser with a DLE 55 and others models like the Extra 300 of Carl Goldberg
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http://www.acro3d.com/public/phpbb3/...6640&start=360
http://www.acro3d.com/public/phpbb3/...6640&start=390
Sorry for these blogs is in spanish, but if you want to deep more on these finish tech and others like show pannels an so over film, you can use the google translator tool, and also ask me whatever you wish.
Well Pete, I tried to explain the best that I can done, and excuse for my english. Please feel free to ask all that you wish as I do with you. It is a truly pleasure to share our experience with you and all the kindly readers. Always I try to learn things that I doesn´t known and also show and explain to others my aproach to these things and share bettwen all to do of our hobby a more enjoyment experience.Please, feel free to call me just Manolo, cause I´m just feel like your flying buddy....
Tx. again for all.
Manolo.