SPA Modeler

Stikpusher wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2023 7:04 pm

cbaltrin wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2023 5:11 pm Well it took me a full hour to get one main gear strut on.. ugggh. It's amazing how 30 year old build memories return in an instant...

What?! One hour for one main gear strut! Whiskey Tango Hotel?

Yup those "A" shaped retraction struts are a pain in the arse to get in there correctly...

Great.... I don't recall such a problem when I built that kit. But I did do mine over 30 years ago, so any such problems are long forgotten...

Not too far off on the light. There were at least two types, I have a photo of an AD-1Q with the light on the front corner of the tip inder a plexiglas cover that fairs to the wing shape, but it looks like the version you are doing and most of production is like this photo. Just a standard GA fixture, really.

jeaton01 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 08, 2023 5:31 pm Not too far off on the light. There were at least two types, I have a photo of an AD-1Q with the light on the front corner of the tip inder a plexiglas cover that fairs to the wing shape, but it looks like the version you are doing and most of production is like this photo. Just a standard GA fixture...

Thanks John. Those are some great ref photos. Will have to save these for my next A-1 build.

Obstacle: I had to find a way to re-clear-coat the wings, after applying glossy non-skid decals ...

Looks like a neat way of doing that!

The wings should get a flat coat anyways. Right?

They are already flat...except for the glossy walkway/nonskid decals I added a few days ago...
I have to re-flat them while protecting the fuselage--mainly the Tamiya weathering pastel I used for exhaust staining...

Got ya. One trick I like to do is skip decals for walkways and use paint. I'll paint those in flat black, mask 'em off, and leave 'em masked until the final reveal when I also take off clear parts masking. That usually gives a nice dead flat walkway area. Its rare that you get any markings on walkways, so that is usually not a problem.