SPA Modeler

Beautiful. Your work is amazing, John. The subtle details of wear on the metal hubs, the textures on the rubber from rolling over dirt, are presented so well, with such authority. What Carlos wrote applies: "properly operational." Indeed!

Nice work.................and great tidbits to know on the weathering side.

Thank you for the comments! I'm not sure I like the look of the tires. I'll have to sit on that for a while... I may get the urge to wipe them clean and give it another try.

The larger bending tool still hasn't come so I'm just passing time by doing some little things. I fabricated some details on the landing gear actuating rods per my references. See the little post that is sticking up from one of the assemblies? That will hold the thin cable that was used to retract the tail wheel.

Great work Jkim!

Very nice detailing on the gear struts! Those look like the tiny CPU attachment from the motherboard. Am I right?

I know I can a bunch of motherboard wirings at my workplace sine the our Tech Repair Dept toss a lot of motherboards,laptops, processors, etc... for recycling disposal.

Thanks guys! Love the big tire Bruce! From a Ju88?

BlackSheep214 wrote:Very nice detailing on the gear struts! Those look like the tiny CPU attachment from the motherboard. Am I right?

I know I can a bunch of motherboard wirings at my workplace sine the our Tech Repair Dept toss a lot of motherboards,laptops, processors, etc... for recycling disposal.

That is a great idea! I wish I had explored that option but these are fabricated from sheet styrene with holes drilled manually. The wires were added after the plastic box was attached and I added a small ring of brass tubing to serve as a wiring clamp. Getting hardware from an old CPU is definitely an avenue worth exploring!

Today is high school graduation for my elder daughter. Strange to think that our little girl will be leaving the house for college in just a few months.


I took the day off as my sister flew in from Hawaii to attend the graduation. So I snuck out into the garage for a few moments this morning to work on the Dora.

The windscreen has been painted with the interior color RLM66. Still toying with the option of displaying the canopy open or shutting it. The fit with the resin hood, windscreen and canopy looks pretty good. Slight overhang on the windscreen but nothing that can't be easily corrected.



Thinking ahead to painting, I trace a mask of the sliding canopy section.


The supercharger fan was painted.


And the supercharger intake was glued into place. The glue seam around the intake needs to be filled so that is why I am doing it now since it'll be much easier to access the bottom seam without the wing in the way.



The gap around the intake is filled with White Milliput. Once this is dry, I will blend the joint with Mr Dissolved Putty. I've been using this stuff more and more and I'm beginning to really like it. Compared to Mr Surfacer 1000, it dries faster, doesn't shrink as much (big plus) and sands just as nice.



The horizontal tail surfaces have been glued into the separate tail unit. Again, it is much easier to work on the joints with this tail unit separated from the fuselage.



That's all for now. USPS tracking says that my PE bending tool will be delivered today so soon I'll be able to play with the Eduard brass flaps.

Congratulations to your family, John! Best wishes to your daughter! Nice shot of you both together.

Thank you for the latest post. I am planning the seam attack / assembly sequence for the 1/72 scale Tank, so I am following very closely what you are doing. Actually, a few steps back when you were fixing the seal of the engine cowling, I was very curious about the final finish. Did you mask edges and fine sand the seam?

They grow up so quick, don't they? My best wishes to you and your family on this occasion.

Your Dora is progressing beautifully.