Italeri 1:72 Macchi C.202 "Folgore"

[dr_gn]

Yertis said:

How does paint take to the Klear? (Re the "24 hour / 24 week" Kittyhawk – I've never used Klear before, wasn't sure whether to paint the frame first or afterwards.)

Acrylic seem to take to it fine, never had much issue.

What I do is dip the transparencies in Klear, leave for at least 24 hours in the airing cupboard for it to harden, then mask and spray the frames. First coat isn't primer, it's whatever colour the inside of the frames is (usually cockpit colour or black), then overcoat with camo colour. Weather the whole lot the same way you weather the rest of the airframe, apply final varnish and only then remove the masking. If there's any minor bleeding of paint, you can usually remove it with a sharp cocktail stick, either dry, or dipped in thinners for more stubborn bits.

ETA, after dipping, set it to dry on a tissue, and make sure the excess Klear is wicking onto it.

[dr_gn]

Yertis said:

dr_gn said:

Acrylic seem to take to it fine, never had much issue.

What I do is dip the transparencies in Klear, leave for at least 24 hours in the airing cupboard for it to harden, then mask and spray the frames. First coat isn't primer, it's whatever colour the inside of the frames is (usually cockpit colour or black), then overcoat with camo colour. Weather the whole lot the same way you weather the rest of the airframe, apply final varnish and only then remove the masking. If there's any minor bleeding of paint, you can usually remove it with a sharp cocktail stick, either dry, or dipped in thinners for more stubborn bits.

ETA, after dipping, set it to dry on a tissue, and make sure the excess Klear is wicking onto it.

Thanks for that. The Kittyhawk 24-hr quick cheap childhood build has turned into £££ new compressor buying exercise

Why not - if you enjoy it?

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First guide coat on, just a bit of work on the front lower panel, but apart from that not bad:

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Still reinstating panel lines on the fuselage, so made a start on the u/c bay. It’s a notoriously complex area:



Some of it is included in the etch set, but it’s not great.

Ill try to scratch build the main components, starting with the exposed space frame, made with brass tube:

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Back to re-scribing, and correcting previous re-scribing. Seems to take either 5 minutes or 5 days.

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Bit more work on the pipes and details in the wheel well. It won’t be comprehensive, just the main bits and a few random wires:



And still reinstating some of the lost detail on the forward fuselage panels:

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Continuing with the stupidly complicated central wheel well: I made some spiral wound pipe out of lead wire:



Then found some random bits and pieces to add a bit of complexity. I think there’s even a Spitfire gunsight in there somewhere:



Added the central p/e stiffener and some more wiring. Will look ok with a matt coat at the end:

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Cockpit in, air filter fitted and wings on, with more fettling of course:

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Plenty of work to do on the wing fillets, plus the p/e flaps don’t fit too well ...

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Modified the flap recesses to suit the photo-etch assemblies - make their trailing edges flush with the upper wing halves. I’ll Araldite them in place tomorrow, and treat the remaining gaps with Milliput.

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henryk001 said:

Fair doos. At the scale you are using PE to add detail is really impressive. I think i would go crosseyed or worse if i tried to tackle
kits in 1/72. Im Struggling with 1/12th. Brilliant work

Thanks, yes this one is very fiddly. I think it’s got more photo etch than any other model I’ve built so far.

I’ve been following your GT40 build - very impressive work. I’ve got a 1:12 McLaren F1 car underway, but finding time to work on it is difficult.

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Araldited the flap innards in place:



And filled in the numerous gaps using Milliput, plastic card and sprue dissolved in liquid cement. Also cut out the wingtip light covers:





Plenty of flatting and re-scribing still to do there I think.

Also did a bit of work making a brass spigot for the aerial, drilled out the Venturi and made a more scale pitot head from brass tubes:

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CanAm said:

.......drilled out the Venturi ........
You make it sound so simple. How the hell do you drill out something so small so accurately?

Just using a micro drill - start it in what you hope is the middle of the hole and angle it while drilling if it’s not centred. Then open up with a larger one.

[dr_gn]

mcdjl said:

dr_gn said:

Just using a micro drill - start it in what you hope is the middle of the hole and angle it while drilling if it’s not centred. Then open up with a larger one.

So you start with a really small drill, then use a slightly less small drill? I guess we're still talking in the 0.5mm range? I tried it on some part but just ended up snapping it.

Yes.

If you're snapping a drill while just making a dimple in the surface of the plastic, you're doing something wrong!

It really helps to make sure the surface you are drilling is flat (use a stiff sanding stick).

I've got two drill holders - I sometimes use one to hold the part, and the other to hold the drill.

[dr_gn]

mcdjl said:

dr_gn said:

Yes.

If you're snapping a drill while just making a dimple in the surface of the plastic, you're doing something wrong!

It really helps to make sure the surface you are drilling is flat (use a stiff sanding stick).

I've got two drill holders - I sometimes use one to hold the part, and the other to hold the drill.

I've snapped drills...though i meant the plastic part which felt tin enough to start with.

Ah I see. Then you're putting too much force on the component. Obviously

[dr_gn]

Second stage of filling; the aim is to get the joint perfectly flat, then re-scribe the break line:



Also pva’d the wingtip light covers in place:

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Whoever designed the original kit u/c actuators must have been having a bad day. I’ve made some new ones out of telescopic brass tube:

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Sanded the lamp covers to profile and polished them back to transparent, then snapped them off for painting:



Nearly there with the gap elimination:





Quick guide coat shows a couple of flaws, but pretty much ready for re-scribing:

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More re-scribing. I forgot the rectangular wing root joint covers.

I also drilled it the wing gun ports. Unusually they are on the upper part of the leading edge. Not all 202’s were fitted with them, and they are smaller calibre than the nose guns.

[dr_gn]

Got the windscreen fitted with pva, using the canopy for alignment:



Also made the large and small m/c gun muzzles out of brass tube:





And with the scratch built pitot head in place: