SPA Modeler

speedgraflex wrote:I was thinking of some great advice I received from a film instructor; he said, “Our goal is always the same : start everything the best we can and then make it better.” I am so excited to see new assessments being made and improvements making Black 1 even better. Go for it, John! Time for the JB Weld magic!!! Cheers!

If I may, that advice I will copy-paste and take and use myself (and actually translate it to Swedish, my mother tongue and a language that I use pretty much in my work).
That is really a good one, thank you!


- Kari

KSaarni wrote:If I may, that advice I will copy-paste and take and use myself (and actually translate it to Swedish, my mother tongue and a language that I use pretty much in my work). That is really a good one, thank you!
- Kari

Please do — and that’s very interesting about your background as well, and is really cool. One of my best friends is a musician whose grandparents are Swedish and studied both Swedish and Norse. Let me know your translation, if you please. Send me a PM.

Very good and apt quote, Bruce. Describes the mindset very well. Having a 2nd crack at Black 1 doesn't necessarily evoke pride and admiration but rather a vague sense of missed opportunity. Now that I'm confident that I can restore Black 1 to its previous level, the game changes now to what-can-I-do-to-improve-her?

But first things first... the bottom seams were given a mottle preshade to restore some of the lost depth.


[imagehttps://s6.postimg.cc/jd4t684g1/IMG_2306.jpg[/image]


Some post-shading was done but the pastel wash is yet to happen.




Time to glue the tail back on. Equal amounts of JB Kwik are mixed together on a piece of scrap paper. The mixture is dark gray and has the consistency of cake frosting. Time starts ticking once the two components are mixed together so you can't dawdle.




I've decided to use two adhesives to re-attach the tail. The JB epoxy is applied to the inner contact areas. The outer ring of contact will be secured using Tamiya Extra Thin. Tamiya Extra Thin sets pretty fast so I'm hoping that it helps me hold the the tail and fuselage together while the JB hardens, which is about five minutes.




So far so good. I'll give the joint a closer look and clean it up before fixing the black and white ID band.

Looks like immediate post war aftermath condition now...

Now THAT is some bonding! Whoo-hoo.

jkim wrote:
A slightly bigger and longer brass pin is used. Bigger and stronger is the theme here.

Have entirely missed this post with all fantastic close-ups... But what an elegant tail wheel and turning mechanism.
This is what I call truly professional work!

Amazing John!

(PS. the tailwheel axel in Hasegawas kit, was it round as the axle in Revell was annoyingly totally oval)

- Kari

John, I am curious how you generate these patterns as a preshading technique, pressure, tip and above all the technique!

Thanks guys! I keep finding lots of residual damage on Black 1. Mostly glue seams that have become undone (easy fix). Some stranger things like, the terminal ends of the brake lines on both landing gear legs have disappeared although the landing gear legs and doors remain in place.

I tried to cut the wave marking as a mask and it was a failure. I can't cut the curves smooth enough even with a swivel knife. Will have to figure out another way. I DO have one white and two black wave decals left over so I have a possible back-up with me just having to come up with one white wave somehow.

Bruce... the preshade mottle is thinned Tamiya black shot at low pressure. Thinner/paint ratio is somewhere in the 8:1 range. I'll shoot on a Post-It until I get the spray pattern I want.

jkim wrote:Bruce... the preshade mottle is thinned Tamiya black shot at low pressure. Thinner/paint ratio is somewhere in the 8:1 range. I'll shoot on a Post-It until I get the spray pattern I want.

Thank you so much, John!