SPA Modeler

I found the main mistake for the wrong cockpit position. The fuselage is too short, especially behind (!) the cockpit. So I decided to do another cut. This change is referenced to an additional drawing I found. It is showing the He 100D-1 while the one we used before was a pre-productional drawing for the He 100 V-4.







I also applied several cuts at the cowling. I think the best way to get the right shape is not to do a cut-out but to keep a connection as pivot point. Think with both ways I am almost there.


I also printed out the exhausts and tried some first fittings.

Oh my! Homemade 3D printed exhausts! That’s a nifty add on!

Thanks for following along, Tom, Mike, Stuart, Mark, Lyle, Torben and Carlos! Having caught up with the work Marius is doing (remember he is 9 hours ahead of me) and thinking about his methods, I am going to follow what he is doing and chop the fuselage in half. I am thinking about the cowling slice. I know that will work well, too, but I have to make two wedges of the same size in order to achieve a good registration between the two halves.

1965 tooling. Not from a smoke free home. I let the plastic breathe for two weeks first.



Zona makes the best saws. Period. ‘Nuff said.

And lo, I found my childhood self-healing matt! I knew I would find it one day. So today was the day of finding. Now I can look like a pro.



Remember “Gattaca?” Ethan Hawke? I feel like I just surgically added length to the legs. Oi. Painful. Well, the starboard side is fair to good after 40 minutes of labor (shaping, carving, filing, sanding, gluing). The other side is cut, but I am going to take a break. I am going to watch the latest episode of “The Bad Batch;” I fell a little behind watching the show.

Below: an “A-B” comparison with decent blueprints Marius found.



Chopped! Sheet styrene, heated and carved. Liberal thin CA to hold the edges together. I don’t want to melt the edges with cement, so I used CA. Afterwards, I grinded away using 400-800 grit sanding pads after some heavy vertical passes with a file. Is it strong? Meh. It’s... sturdy. But I can add strength to both sides when I add more CA. For now I take “sturdy” as good enough and will move to the port side of the fuselage next. There’s no flex, but I’m not happy with the joins yet.

Ciao.

Nice to see you both jumping into such a large project!
I don't know if I could do this level of corrections. I'll be following and learning from this.

I'm also behind on the bad batch, I wanted to watch the last season of the clone wars again where they introduce them before watching the first episode.

Clint! Skol!!!



Background from “The Bad Batch!”

It's excellent seeing these old kits get a bashing - nice work both.

I'm not sure I'd worry to much about interior detail, I doubt hardly anything would be seen, even with the canopy open.

Are you going to put any form of reinforcement on the inner side to increase the rigidity beyond a basic butt join? Perhaps a couple of lengthwise stringers?

Stuart wrote:I'm not sure I'd worry to much about interior detail, I doubt hardly anything would be seen, even with the canopy open.

Stuart,

Thank you for following along and your comments. You raise a good point about interior detailing. I agree. There are a missing rear pair of windows (well, technically Lindberg left these as engravings not as openings) that need to be created somehow; maybe by drilling openings, maybe a vacform or some other method. I do think you are right about providing basic details of a cockpit. At the moment I am thinking about the canopy design, a pair of visible handles on the center section, the gunsight, and the exterior rails. Let me find the photos we have to explain what I wrote more clearly.

You see the handles on the canopy here. I think these are to facilitate exiting the cockpit.



You see the wiring that is visible which may be nice to add color—they ran the electrical along the top interior edge. Correction! Those look like activating cables! See their sleeves? I’m not sure yet what these are.

Bruce I think I have some leftover PE parts from either a 109 or 190 you are welcome to have. Foot pedals, maybe a IP and side panels.

Tomorrow is my son's communion so I won't be able to post He 100 news today or tomorrow.
Bruce, you implemented the elongation of the fuselage perfectly. I am with Carlos, you should stiffen this sections massively from inside. That will help to handle the model in further assembly.


The cockpit modifications can work without PEs. I was working on a Fouga Magister in 1/72, and tried to improve the Heller cockpit with decals (home made) styrene elements, tape for the belts and 3D-printed buckles (self designed and printed at home). I think it is not too bad and might work for the He 100 as well. For the IP I have got a Yahu board for the He 112 as backup.