IMC 1/32 Bell 206 Jet Ranger

[LyleW]

Well, spent just about all day getting this done....



I also moved printers around yet again as the color laser decided (or the computer did) to drop the wireless connection. I have everything in one place now.



Okay, I got all four doors "done", so to speak. They really are fragile. The small styrene rod, 0.5mm, worked pretty well.



Then, while waiting for the stuff to dry so i could add more frame, I thought.....why not make a decal of the 206 instruments. Yeah, that's the ticket. Which led to the moving of printers. Sigh. Anyway,



Still a few details to try and pick out on the IP.

[LyleW]

Sure is quiet around here today.

Happy with the doors. If I get to feeling really frisky, I may try to remove some of the blemishes the pictures highlight.





Working on the interior. Sure is fun. I had no luck on pictures, so I took some artistic license. The doors will likely be closed, anyway. Belts are a self-adhesive lead take, about a 1/4" wide that I cut into strips.

[speedgraflex]

Now that looks great, Lyle! If you are concerned about strength of your new horizontal braces, why not add some CA to the interior joins followed by a light sprinkle of ground sprue dust to add mass to the join? Alternately you can use baking soda, but I find sprue dust to be sandable after it sets. The coolest part is the set time is so fast you can add to the rear joins, it sets in seconds, flip it over and add a little to the front joins, it sets in seconds, then flip it back over to hit the rear joins again. I always follow up with a very light sanding with 600 grit then I brush on pure CA. And yes I have done this with kits as old as yours.

Hey! I missed the latest post. Better late than never! Looks great, Lyle.

[LyleW]

Thanks Bruce. I did hit the joints with CA, but without the styrene dust. Do you simply use a grinding tool or sandpaper?

[speedgraflex]

I started some drawings for you, too—but I ran outta time. I usually grind a piece of sprue—from the kit but others have suggested using softer, fresh sprues (your call)—using a flat file. My tip is to grind it into a small square of paper folded in half to give myself a natural channel to slide the dust where it needs to go. I would probably do a light sanding to make any painted surface or slippery plastic surface more receptive to glue. I built a ‘66 AMT Enterprise - the first version with plastic that looks like yours - using CA and sprue dust on all of the joins. I basically gave up on plastic cement but I did not have Tenex so that is probably why.

[BlackSheep214]

Looking good, Lyle.

[LyleW]

What a gorgeous day! Sunny and near 70F (21C)……

Not a lot to report. I am not happy with this build at all. It is about 50-50 - kit has issues and then my rust. The interior just looks cartoonish to me and I don't really want to repaint it, but who knows. Anyone have any interior shots of the military version? My guess is it would be an off-white (yellowed with age0 or a light gray. Given how the kit is molded, it will have to be a VIP transport of sorts.

Most of that work on the cross bracing will have to come out and re-installed AFTER the windows are in place. Duh.



Build up some sub-assemblies and then decanted some of the primer to touch up things.



Also, added parts I forgot...notice the white collective sticks?



And, the pedals. They simply glue flat on flat to the sides of the console.



I guess my oatmeal is wearig off! Mostly, I need to build a lot of kits, trying things and getting gooder at them. I'm not there yet.

[speedgraflex]

Keep going! You need to google the Kiowa from the Sixties-Seventies. Simple all flat black.

[Stuart]

When I first saw the one on the left I thought it was a coffee machine

You're cracking on with that interior Lyle - it's looking good!

[LyleW]

When I first saw the one on the left I thought it was a coffee machine

You're cracking on with that interior Lyle - it's looking good![/quote]

Thanks for the kind words on the interior. We will get there. I may go around the barn a few times in the process!

The coffee machine comment made me laugh! My tastes in coffee are dump-the-ground-coffee-in-the-maker tastes.....Basic. Black. Coffee. The story on the printers is this:
The one on the top left is the HP Office Jet 8600 that had the display/control panel go bad. It still basically works, but you have to use the PC to manage, then it dropped wireless and with no panel, couldn't reconnect. I replaced it with the Canon on the top right. Then discovered hat with a 7-port USB hub and a cable, it still worked. The scanning app fro HP is 100 times better than the utility on the Canon.

The bottom left is a Samsung b/w laser that I had sent to me by a rep while still working at JCPS. It never went on the books as inventory and when I retired, the boss didn't want it. I even managed to order two toner cartridges earlier in the year and all that came home with me. It is by far the best b/w laser I've ever used. Better than the HP Laserjets. The bottom right is the Dell color laser - mostly used for decals. Got it several years ago from Staples at a great price online.