F7F-3N

[thug626]

Good afternoon BIll,
Yup, there's paint. And there's trouble. I did my darnedest last night with a primer sealer for the join at the nose. Alas, It was not enough. I broke down this am and busted out the Mr Surfacer 1000 and painted it on the trouble spots. It turns out there was one on the starboard leading edge near the wing tip and, on the top side of the aft end of the nacelle. Where the heck did that one come from? It looks like a dremel bit got away and left its mark. Only problem is, I didn't do any dremel work around that area. Any who, the mark was there and, necessitated filling.

Here is the mystery area. It's filled now. I've got the beastie in the display cabinet. It's warmer inside so, in a couple days time it'll be ready for some delicate sanding.



Not as much progress nor the type of progress I had hoped for. Poop! I got a couple of small things done, along with building a container to shoot the AB into when cleaning it. I'll trap the fumes. This was decided when I was working with the enamel based primer and, cleaning it out of the AB. It started life as a jar containing some delightful preserves a friend made for me. Now. it has been repurposed. The top was drilled out to accept a section of 7/16 tubing and, cut out to allow the jar not to over pressurize but, still trapping the fumes. The tubing is held in place with a couple of dollops of 5 minute epoxy.


The filter is a piece cut from some air filter stock that was to our old air exchanger for the house. Well that unit went belly up about 2 years ago and I found some filters just sitting around. Rather than toss them I found a new use for them. With the filters I found, it looks as though I've got a lot of new filter "stock" for a long time to come


Dave

[deafpanzer]

Glad you caught it early enough before you go too far with painting. Looking good and smooth!

Must be nice to have that container to trap old paint while cleaning!

[wbill76]

Better to catch it now when you can still do something about it Dave. Full confidence in the repairs and that AB cleaning rig looks like it will do the trick just fine.

[bullardino]

I can't say I'm happy to see you had to do some repair, but I know you'll get them right and the cat will be mighty fine

[thug626]

Good afternoon DickyF,
The nose join "boo-boo" wasn't terribly visible. Unless the light hit it just right. I was worried, that with a semi-gloss finish that the area might then become a glaring sore. THere's been far too much invested in this build to start cutting corners now.

Good afternoon Andy,
Agreed! I think today has been long enough for curing. Time to attempt some wet sanding. I am looking forward to testing the new paint/fume trap.

Good afternoon Bill,
I couldn't agree more. I was trying to visualize how the light was going to reflect with that kind of surface "texture". When I starting thinking of a semi-gloss surface, I realized there was more prep work to be done before the final top coat.

Good afternoon Luigi,
I wasn't either. I was very much looking forward to laying down the top coat last weekend. I even had the new insignia decals which had arrived the day before. Sigh…… any who….Off to the bench and wet sand this beastie. Styrene and Filler Deities willing…..a top coat this week!

Dave

[thug626]

Good afternoon gentlemen. Remember me mentioning those unsightly areas? What do you think now?


That was todays session with the wet sanding. Starting with a 1000 grit and working up to a 1500 grit. I may hit it with a 2000 grit for good measure. When I rinsed it with water and ran my finger over the surface, the water didn't stop anywhere (indicating a step) and, my finger didn't feel any "hitches". So far, it looks as though all edges are appropriately feathered. The only bad thing was the pitot tube got broken off at the end of the session…..and I was so careful. Ah, oh well. Perhaps it's for the best. We shall see.

Dave

[Leon]

Dave looks like you got the repaired area covered nicely.

[thug626]

NEMO, Yeah! I was thinking the same thing when I got it to this point. I thought to myself, "If it's this ugly now, it's gotta look good when done." Ferkin' H-E double hockey sticks! I hope it works.

Dave

[thug626]

Ah! Hello Leon. You snuck in there. Thank you. I theory, this should work.
Dave

[Deleted]

It takes a brave modeller to take a step or two back to achieve the finish they want so kudos to you for working on the refinish   Looks to have paid off nicely 

[thug626]

Hello Steve,
Brave or foolish? Hard to tell them apart at times. I actually took a huge step back on a Panther build some years ago. The top side of the hull "reacted" oddly to some pigments I applied. The color shift was horrid. This was after a very complex camo scheme was airbrushed free hand. I took it back to the base color (top of hull only) and worked the camo scheme back up.
It went from this. A big red shift. Not too apparent in the pics but, in person..ugh!


to this….


To this……


Dave

[fightnjoe]

dave from here it looks smooth. hope the paint goes smooth as well.




joe

[deafpanzer]

OH YEAH! I remember following this at "other" forum... great memories!

It sure made me dizzy every time I look at the camo! More please...

[bbd468]

Dave, it sucks ya had to do that, but if ya didnt it would drive ya NUTSO....yes? Keep pluggin brotha!

[thug626]

Hello Joe,
Thank you for the well wishes and the compliment.

Hello Andy,
That's right! I forgot that you saw that beastie at the "other" place. Perhaps I should do a crawly thing after this build….with a "dizzy" camo scheme.

I decided to hit the surface with a couple quick passes with some wet 2000 grit. I do believe it paid off. Remember the "uglies"? Well, here is the new and improved 'Cat.


Remember the unsightly "dremel" divot on the nacelle? All gone!


It looks like the top coat will finally happen this week?

Dave

[thug626]

Gary! Ya snuck in behind me before the door closed. Yeah, I would have loved to have gotten it right the first time but, now I know for certain what it takes with this type of finish. Seeing the digi photos removed any doubt regarding the redo. Darn glad I did it!
Stay tuned for the top coat…...
Dave

[deafpanzer]

Gary can be one sneaky ninja sometimes! LOL

Yeah nose looking much better now... hard work paid off! Now grab a cold beer as a reward...

[thug626]

Yes He can. I have an appreciation for that. I'm 6'1" and 230…..my family finds it "unnerving" that I can walk up behind them and they've no idea I'm there….until they turn around. I've instructed my daughters to let their dates know this before getting in the car.
As for the beer….. I'm all over it right now. The twins cooked dinner which by the way is ready I hear. Cold beer and dinner that I didn't have to cook. This is a good evening.

Dave

[deafpanzer]

Drinking a tall glass of highball right now... cheers my friend!

[fightnjoe]

nicely done on the recovery. looks silky smooth now.




joe

[bullardino]

What a recovery, Dave. The paint now looks perfect and even, this build deserved it

[wbill76]

Now that's what I call a flawless recovery Dave. Very nice work with the sanding.

[thug626]

Hello Andy,
Cheers back to you

Hello Joe,
Thank you. It was silky smooth…still is.

Hello Luigi,
Thank you. I was pleased and surprised with how it turned out.

Hello Bill
Thank you as well good sir. I am sold on wet sanding.

Good news. Bad news.

Bad first. The bird did not get its top coat as planned today.

Good news. The cowls, cowl flaps and, drop tank did get a top coat.

Better news. The cowls and associated flaps got the chipping treatment.
The color I used is Lifecolor Glossy Sea Blue UA 047 (FS15042).

For the chipping I used MIG Absolute Chipping effects.

The "Twins"

Dave

[M1Carbine]

Paint.....paint.....paint......chipping.................WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

looking SCCCHHHHHHHWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

Bob

[thug626]

Thank very much brother. Sorry about the coughing while on the phone. I am now "medicating" . I'm looking at today's progress and am pleased.
Right now I'm trying to figure out how and when best to to the dry transfers for the lettering. Not to mention the decals.

Dave

[M1Carbine]

Medicate and relax.....hell Im doing that now..........LMAO

Bob

[deafpanzer]

SSSSSSWWWWWEEEEEEEEETTTTTT chipping job!

[bullardino]

Absolutely fabulous, Dave

[thug626]

Good morning Brother Bob,
That's exactly what I did.

Good morning Andy,
Thaaaaaaaaaaannnnnk you!

Good morning Luigi,
Thank you very much.

I had contemplated shooting the plane this am but, due to time considerations, it'll have to wait until later in the week. I did get some house keeping and repairs done on the bird though. The port horizontal stab was a bit loose and upon a light wiggling I noticed a crack on the underside at the join. Quick setting CA to the rescue. The main wheels were loosed from their pour stubs and drilled out.
I had realized that I had forgotten to "chip" drop tank last night. I was worried that everything was to far along for it to work. So I hit it with the MIG effect and behold…..I was still able to chip it.


Remember the aerial in front of the RO's office? Remember how clever I thought I was with the soldered solution of two pieces? Well, never use two when one will do. I lasted this entire time and, when I inverted the plane I heard a very faint sound. Like something very small and metallic. I looked in the cradle for the 'Cat and there was a small piece of brass that looked awfully like my aerial. I checked and the 'Cat was missing one. So, I then went into my trusty stock of brass and used the same size. 0.010"x0.030". The holes were drilled out in series with a 0.011 carbide drill bit.


Here's the aerial. Nothing fancy just ONE piece.


The next piece to work out is the pitot tube.

Dave

[wbill76]

Nice progress in the paint and chipping departments Dave! I hear you on the PE issue...I got super paranoid when I was working on my 109 for little things like that to just suddenly detach and disappear down the maw of the carpet monster!