Airfix 1/48 H.S. Hawk T.1

[KennyX]

Hey Kenny - you're a monster Zorg! (Man I've got to go and watch that movie again soon!)

Thanks man - much appreciated.

HAHAHAHAAAA!!! My man!!

[Stuart]

So I'm slowly making headway with this - I've done all the filling and sanding (just a bit of rescribing to do) and I've puttied all of the gaps. around the wings and intakes - man I love Perfect plastic Putty!



I've also futured the canopy...



Annoyingly test fitting has shown that the PE I added to the top of the rear seat is stopping the canopy from sitting correctly, so I'm going to have to do some adjusting somewhere to get it to fit - shouldn't be too hard though.

Cheers!

[LyleW]

A hammer should do it.

[Stuart]

lol! Don't tempt me!

[BlackSheep214]

A hammer should do it.

LOL!

[KennyX]

That’s good work my man! Cheers on the completion of the filling and sanding. That’s The Good LORD’s Work you know. Because that’s where the great finish starts, and your amazing paintwork deserves a pristine canvas. I’m really liking this project. Liking it very much and enjoying seeing her come together.

Now, what can you tell me about this putty you’ve been using? I’m always on the lookout for new putty options and if you’re having great success with one, then I want to know more about it!

Keep up the good work chief!!!

[Stikpusher]

Looking good Stuart! I’m sure that you’ll find a fix for the PE fit issue. Open canopy in the worst case?

[BorgR3mc0]

Looking good. And like Kenny said: what specifically is good about that putty? I usually use Tamiya but putty and sanding is my least favourite phase of a build. So if there is a better way....

[Stuart]

Looking good Stuart! I’m sure that you’ll find a fix for the PE fit issue. Open canopy in the worst case?

Thanks Carlos. I got the canopy sorted, I very carefully thinned down the rear canopy rail with a fine pointed needle file until it fitted over the ejector seat. I stuck it down with a bit of glue-n-glaze. This is only the 3rd or 4th kit I 've used this on since I stopped using Tamiya thin, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed - it's basically PVA I think but it dries really clear. You can use it to create small windows etc.

[Stuart]

Thanks all - much appreciated!

As for the Perfect Plastic Putty. It's a water based putty that is pretty useful for filling small gaps and areas where you don't want to do sanding. Normally I use it on wing roots, around canopies, intakes etc. (or around areas were I wanted to protect the detail)

Here it is with my other go-to filler - Revells own brand Plasto. As an aside, this Plasto is really good, I started using after I'd tried pretty much every other brand of basic putty on the market (I used to have a drawer full of tubes that I'd tested!) and it came out tops - it's really fine, a good neutral grey, sands well and even takes a bit of a polish with the fine sanding sticks



(man I need to get a new tube)

I start by putting a dollop on a Pringles lid/paint tray (your flavour may vary)...



...and using a sharpened or chiselled cocktail stick apply it to the area (in this case the intake join). Note 1: It does shrink a bit when drying which when doing a bigger area such as this intake, so I'd normally use a few layers to build it up. Note 2: As it's water based you can re-wet it and remove what you've done before so I normally add a coat of primer between layers to protect it.



Then (straight away) using a damp cotton bud/Q-tip I remove the excess putty by wiping it 90'-45' to the gap. The bud will get clogged up pretty quickly so you'll need to clean off the excess or get a new one as needed. Eventually you'll end up with this, but don't try to remove all the residue now or you'll drag out what you've just done.







After it's had about ten minutes to dry, you can then go back over it and remove the last of the residue with a damp bit of kitchen towel (paper) or another cotton bud.







After it's fully dry I'll give it a buff with a dry cloth and then brush a bit of paint over it. I'm going to do this to mine later and then give it another coat of putty as the gap isn't fully gone in some places.

Just another note - this isn't a very good putty to use if parts are poorly fitting or will require a lot of sanding e.g. these intakes fit pretty well, for poorly fitting ones I'd have used normal filler and sanded to shape. The same goes for steps or anything that needs building up and sanding.

I hope that helps - it's another tool in our arsenal.

Cheers!