Wolfman63

This past week the Jupiter 2 was fully assembled and completed! With all the electronics mounted I assembled the interior walls and details. This went together very well and quicker than I estimated. Installing the ceiling was a little tricky as the instructions recommend not gluing the support walls until the ceiling is in place. This was actually a nice note in the instructions. It did take some adjustments to get the walls lined up and into the ceiling slots. Once the ceiling was set I then glued all the supporting wall attachment points. I then installed all the ceiling and wall LED’s and then tucked the wires down. I cleaned up the hull, primed it, and painted the silver exterior. For the battery case I used some sheet styrene and made a case. I added some photo etch handles and a hoist ring on the top. The box was painted aluminum and then I made decals calling it the “Fusion Core Emergency Recharge Unit” with some radiation and two man lift warning signs. I completed the hull by adding the windshield and the radar bubble on top. The client wants the ship sealed so I began the process of gluing the upper hull to the lower hull. Due to size, a slight warp in both halves, and a tight fit due to all the wiring this was a very tedious process. I had to slowly glue the halves at about 2” at a time. Due to the contour of the hull I could not use clamps so I held the halves together, glued the seam, I then held the section until the glue cured. A little final clean up on the seams and the Jupiter 2 was finished. I hooked up the power for the lights and the battery box for the sound board and performed a final check of the lights and sound. Check out the video of the final operation of the electronic features in the build log link below! This project was an interesting change from doing military aircraft. Moebius did a decent job with the kit instructions. They even have little helpful notes to aid in assembly. The only thing I would change on the instructions would be to organize the painting instructions better. Some of the minor assemblies painting notes are scattered within the assembly instructions. Some of the parts required some clean up due to mold marks. The kit decals had two issues. The green radar screens were smaller than the area where they go and the astro-contol station gauge ring decal was thick and cracked easily. Since the assembly fits inside a clear dome the thicker decal was hard to get in correctly. I ended up making my own which made it a lot easier to assemble. The Moebius light kit was ok. I changed the landing bays lighting and made mounts for some of the LED’s as the instructions wants to mount them by their wires and “floating” the LED into position. For the accessories, The Tenacontrols remote control board works very well and is easy to wire up with the enclosed instructions. The Starling sound board works well. It would be nice if they could add a power supply input so that you can use a different source beside the batteries. Using a different power source changes the input impedance which changes the timing of the sound causing the cycle to reset way too early. The resin figures of the Robison family were excellent. Clean up was easy and the figure details were great. I did not use the extra decals. The colors used on the decals seemed off and the resolution of the print was too low for what I prefer. Many of the panels looked much better painting them. Overall it was an interesting build and not as complicated as I first thought. I hope you all have enjoyed this project. Thank you for following along. Happy modeling! You can see all photos and details from start to finish in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-35-jupiter-2-lost-in-space/

This is the 5.5 week of the Jupiter 2. After ten days of an unscheduled break for a minor medical issue I am finally able to get back to the bench! The “.5” (half week) notation is because I have only had a couple of days of work on it. I started with installing the deck LED’s. I am using the acrylic gel medium to hold them in place. For the freezing tubes the instructions tell you to glue the wires down with the LED bent upwards. I did not like how they just hang there so I used some thin styrene sheets and mounted the LED’s to them then attached to the bottom side of the deck. With the LED’s mounted I then checked out the sound card. The sound out of the speaker is a little muffled and since the saucer will be sealed I decided to make a speaker grill. Instead of drilling holes like I have seen on other builds I decided to cut slits on the cargo doors. The doors have ribs already so I just sawed them open. Once cleaned and repainted they will be very hard to see but allow the sound to project out. Next I purchased a small dual relay board. These relays will be controlled by the remote control board to turn on the light kit and turn on the sound card from the remote. I mounted the speaker by using two styrene square rods then mounted the relay board in front of it. I then removed the batter board from the sound card and ran the power to a mono jack. The battery pack was then mounted to a mono plug. This will allow the battery pack top remain out of the ship and allow batteries to be changed in the future. I plan on making a battery box to look like a storage container that may have been used aboard the ship. Next I need to sort out which LED’s go to which walls and then mount the LED boards to the bottom. I can then start installing the previously completed interior pieces. You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-35-jupiter-2-lost-in-space/

As I finish the fifth week of the Jupiter 2 project I have completed all the interior sections. There are a couple of things to note. The lighted tubes near the freezing tubes are clear rods. However there are a couple of air bubbles inside each one. The next is the range decal that goes on the astro-control is very thick and does not fit very well when being placed into the clear dome. The decal ended up getting damaged so I made my own using thin film decal sheet. This laid down better and did not get damaged when inserting the assembly into the dome. For the interior bulkheads I covered them with some thin white sheet styrene to mimic the views in the TV show. I then assembled the freezing tubes. The clear base was left off and the photo etch grates were installed. I also painted the inside of the top with chrome paint. This reflects a little light back down and gives some very good shadow lines and highlights on the figures. Starting with the lower section I sprayed flat black over the landing bays to aid in preventing and internal lights from shining thru the plastic. Since I replaced the clear fusion engine piece with thin styrene I decided to use the clear piece to seal the fusion lights from shining elsewhere. I painted the inside with chrome paint to reflect and extra light back down and the outside flat black to block and light towards the interior. Once the fusion core light board was mounted the cover was then installed. I now need to sort out the bundle of wires and LED’s to start mounting the LED’s that go into the floor. You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-35-jupiter-2-lost-in-space/

The fourth week of the Jupiter 2 I am still working on the interior. The main deck was painted, all of the walls have been painted, and I am still working on the various consoles that adorn the panels. It is slow going on detail painting them. There are a few of them that required modification as well for the light kit. On the computer panel there is a red LED that sits above the sphere in the center. The left panel is a bay of circuits that is illuminated by an LED behind it. I did some testing and the LED does not illuminate the panel evenly. I placed a thin sheet of thin styrene behind the panel and now the illumination is evenly diffused to cover the entire panel. The next sets of panels are the three panels that sit behind the freezing tubes. The client purchased the Fedoratron photo etch set that adds the panel inserts as well as the floor grates for the elevator and freezing tubes. The inserts to the panels fit on top of the kit clear parts perfectly and look great. The rear parts of the panels are clear parts and per the instructions need to be painted with a thin coat of white. This is due to these will be illuminated with blue LED’s. I also looked at the ceiling which requires modification for the light kit as well. One thing is there are a lot of mold marks which need to be filled. While looking over the reference photos there is a flush mounted light in the hallway to the upper exit door. The kit part has this molded in and the light kit has you drill a hole for the LED. Since it can be seen thru the side window I am going to cut out the area and make a flush light with the LED behind it. I still have center assembly to build and the freezing tubes to build. Once these are done I can finally start installing the light kit. The placement of the LED’s requires a lot of the interior to be assembled so that the LED’s can be mounted to their respective areas and the wiring can be routed to avoid being seen. You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-35-jupiter-2-lost-in-space/

This third week of the Jupiter 2 is the start of assembling and detailing of the interior. First I finished the lower section and landing gear. With all the gear completed and installed I mounted the LED’s and did a light check. The landing gear bay lighting effect looks identical to one of the very few reference photos and much better than having just one large LED sticking out the side wall. Moving onto the interior I started with the main console. The light kit has two green and one yellow LED that mount under the console to illuminate the radar screens. I first masked and painted the backside flat black to aid in blocking any light showing where it isn’t suppose to. The kit has decals for the radar screens. The only issue is the green radar screen decals are smaller than the screen on the panel. The center yellow screen is properly sized. I scanned the green screens into my computer and resized them to fill the side radar screens. The radar decals were then applied to the backside of the panels. Using the instructions and a few reference photos I painted the panels, switches, knobs on the panels and displays. The light kit LED’s were mounted to the deck and I dry fit the console onto it for the light check. The LED’s illuminated the radar screens perfectly. Next I started to build up the seats for the main console. I started by drilling out the holes in the seat frames and painting the seats. The next console has a large monitor. The extra decal set has different images that can be applied to the monitor screen. The client picked one of them. I cut open the monitor screen on the console and then using thin styrene sheet I made a new monitor screen. This was done so that the monitor can be illuminated with an extra LED. One thing to note is the Moebius light kit LED boards do have open sections so additional LED’s can be added to the kit. Continuing to work on the interior and then will begin the installation of all the electronics. You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-35-jupiter-2-lost-in-space/

The second week of the Jupiter 2 has been spent on preparing the lower section of the spacecraft. I continued with the landing gear which also has stairs to enter the ship. The molds for the stairs appear to be slightly warped. Each step had a varying thickness. I used 400 grit sanding sticks to level off each step on all three stairs. The stair rails also required a lot of sanding to fit as well. Once I had everything sanded, shaped and fitting well I used putty on the seams then sprayed them with the aluminum base coat. While the landing gear was drying I then turned to painting the figures. I used chrome for the outfits and silver for the shoes and small gloves. The color photos I used for reference showed the pilot and Dad with large gloves and the rest of the family had silver gloves that looked like latex gloves. I then painted the faces with eyes closed and hair. Finally I used Vallejo transparent red for the uniform piping. Moving back to the ship I looked over reference photos from the TV show and noticed the fusion engine covers looked flat white. The kit has a clear panel and the LED’s from the light kit do not line up with the openings. I used so .010” styrene sheets and made covers to replace the clear part. This looks much more like the TV show effects. The client wanted the fusion cover with the extended panels instead of the bottom without panels. The kit does give you both styles of fusion panels. I dry fitted the landing gear which requires some twisting and flexing to get them into the bays. I looked over how the landing gear bays and landing gear need to be assembled as the instructions are vague on the order of assembly. It looks like the landing gear needs to be installed, then the entry doors, which I painted and detailed, and finally the side walls of the bays. Before I assemble them I installed the nine LED’s using acrylic gel for the bays. Once cured, I will finish detailing the landing gear and then install them all. I need to start preparing the lower section with the lights as many of the LED’s in the light kit need to be places on the floor panel. I also need to see how the sound board and the remote control board fit inside as well. You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-35-jupiter-2-lost-in-space/

This next build is a commissioned build of the Moebuis 1/35 scale Jupiter 2 from the TV show “Lost in Space” The client supplied the kit and all the accessories he would like added to the kit. The TV show ran from 1965 to 1968 and was produced by Irwin Allen. The premise of the show was the Robinson family set out look for other planets for space colonization. The ship was knocked off course and they were lost in space. There is a stack of accessory items that were supplied by the client. The first add-on id the Moebius Light Kit, this is a kit sold by the kit maker Moebius to illuminate the interior and provide the engine and external lights. The second add-on I will be using is the Starling sound board, this provides the sounds of the ships engine spinning up and running for about 20 seconds. A remote control system to operate the lights and sounds via a 4-button remote control is supplied by Tenacontrols. The next two add-ons are a full set of decals from TSDS and Green Strawberry’s 1/35 resin figures of the Robinson family. These figures will be placed in the cryo tubes that suspended the crew for the long journey into space. I will also be adding some other details to improve the appearance of the final kit. I started with the cleanup of the resin figures. The figures needed to be removed from the casting base and then I needed to clean up the areas between the legs and between the arms and body. The lower part of the ship was the next area I worked on. First the light kit has you drill a hole in a side wall of the landing gear bays to place a large LED. The actual lights portrayed in the show are on the topside of these bays. There are three lights that they have you paint two of them and drill out the third. These drilled out holes according to the light kit are for the power connector, interior light switch, and engine light control. Since the switch functions will be done remotely and I will be relocating the power connector. With that in mind I drilled out all three lights in all the bays and inserted a clear dome. Instead of one large LED sticking out of the wall I will be using three small LED’s to replicate what was seen in the show. Next I started working on the landing gear and entry stairs. The first problem I encountered is the kit molding is not the best. The stairs thickness is not even. The second issue is the side rails have many mold marks and when dry fitted to the stairs the bottom platform has lots of gaps. I started off sanding the top of each stair to make them an even thickness and then filling the gaps and mold marks with putty. I also did a check on the light kit which was recommended with the instructions. All the lights work fine. I also tested the remote controller and the sound board. I need to plan out how to hook the lights, sound, and controller board together. Since the three separate card use different voltages I will need to design a power divider board to accommodate them. You can see more photos and details in my build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-35-jupiter-2-lost-in-space/

After eleven weeks the 1/32 Trumpeter A-7E Corsair II of VA-37 project is completed! For this final week I added the fuse lines to the bombs then installed the missiles, drop tanks and bombs to the aircraft. With the aircraft completely finished I then took the base and aligned the aircraft so the holes for the wiring could be drilled. I then painted the edges black. The main surface was then painted using light, medium, and dark gray to replicate tarmac cement with some weathering where the engine exhaust would be. After the paint dried I measured and scribed the seams in the cement. The rear edge was then trimmed out to accommodate the connector for the power and two grooves were made with a dremel tool to route the wires. I then mounted the aircraft to the base and ran the wires the connector. I added four felt pads to the bottom. I had a brass nameplate made completing the project. The date on the nameplate is the first day I checked into the squadron. As for the kit, it went together very well. Some details like the exhaust area needed better details and there were a lot of badly placed mold marks. The fit was very good. The thing I did not like a lot was the kit decals. A lot of the placards for the aircraft and weapons were just blobs instead of legible placards which was a disappointment considering the large scale of this model. The weapons decals sheet was also off register. The aftermarket decals were nice but very fragile (most likely due to age). Overall I am very happy with the final results. Thank you for following this tribute build and happy modeling! Here is a link to a video of the completed project showcasing the lighting that was added. https://videopress.com/v/wYwmsKmt All of the details and photos from start to finish can be seen in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

Ten weeks into the Corsair project and I have completed all of the under wing stores. The aircraft will be armed with two AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles, twelve Mk-82 Snake eye bombs mounted on MER’s, and six M117 bombs mounted on TER’s. The inboard hard points will hold the drop tanks. Starting with the AIM-9B’s I cut off the nose and scratch built the IR sensor windows. These were them built up and painted. The MK-82’s required a lot of putty around the fins due to gaps. The M117’s only needed a little putty along the seams. I then built up the MER’s and TER’s and painted them. The kit supplies decals of the placard’s for the ordinance and the mounts. However, I decided not to use them. The decals are very poor for 1/32 scale and the registry of the decal printing is off. The placards look more like blobs rather than actual placards. This was strange as I typically work with 1/48 scale aircraft and similar decals were legible at the smaller scale. I will most likely seek out better quality decals which can be applied later. I then mounted the bombs and missiles onto the racks and painted the drop tanks. I am getting ready to install these onto the aircraft and then do some final weathering. Next I will be getting the display base detailed and wired for the lights and power. More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

For the ninth week of the A-7E I completed the base coat of paint then added the decals. The decals proved to be challenging. These were made by Cutting Edge many years ago. (I obtained my set from Ebay a few years ago). The decals were very delicate. The “bull” for the tail cracked into different sections. So the decal needed to be carefully placed and aligned the sections. The rest of the decals went down well. I then added the custom numbers and pilot name. With all the decals applied I then added some light weathering to the panel lines, landing gear bays and wheels. Finally, the aircraft was sprayed with a clear coat to seal everything. Next I built up the Head-Up Display. To add the glow of the HUD I panted the base using glow in the dark paint with a coat of Tamiya clear green paint and then the clear lens supplied with the kit. The kit provides the photo etch sides for the HUD glass. Instead of using the kit HUD glass I cut a piece of clear acetate for the HUD glass. The photos of the HUD illuminated looks much brighter than in reality. This will now illuminate the HUD when the lights are turned down and add to the other illumination already installed. I then painted the windscreen and installed it. The canopy part had the notorious seam down the center. This was sanded and polished. The kit photo etch includes the mirrors and handle for the main canopy so these were installed as well. This basically finishes the aircraft itself. Now it is onto the ordinance and drop tanks that will be loaded on the aircraft. Once these are built, painted and detailed I can then start on the display base. Looks like I am only a few weeks away of completing this project. More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

Welcome to the first update of 2023! This is the eighth week of the A-7E Corsair II project. The main base coat of the white underside and the gull gray topside was done. I attached the wing assembly to the fuselage and completed all the internal wiring. The wing assembly required a little putty to fill in the minor seams to the fuselage. I ran the power wires down the main gear struts and thru the resin wheels. The landing light on the starboard main gear door was mounted and I routed the fiber optic lines for the AoA lights on the nose gear door to the LED. The nose gear was then installed. The aircraft is now sitting on the landing gear. I then did a light check and all is good. I still need to add the rest of landing gear doors, flaps, and rear stabilizers. I still need to paint the base coat of the “Bull” blue nose and tail. I also made the specific aircraft decals for the correct numbers and the pilot name. After the other details are installed I will be decaling and then onto weathering the aircraft. More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

Happy New Years and the final update for 2022 with week seven of the A-7E Corsair II build. With the holiday season we had family from out of town visiting and other holiday festivities going on so I did not have a lot of time on the bench. I started by working on the metal landing gear and the resin wheels and tires. The landing gear struts required a little clean up with a fine file. I trimmed and cleaned up the resin wheels and tires. The resin wheels and tires are a lot larger than the kit wheels and tires. I also installed the hard points onto the wing assembly. Next, I sprayed the wheels as well as the avionics doors, landing gear doors, and the underside of the wing assembly with a base coat of white. The tires were painted with Tamiya XF85 Rubber Black. I am now working on masking the fuselage so I can paint the white base coat. Once painted and dried I can then start masking for the gull gray topside. Wishing everyone a safe and happy new years and we will see you all in 2023! Happy Modeling. More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

The year is coming to a close in just a few days. This year I completed eight builds. The first build completed was the Trumpeter 1/350 USS Hornet CV-8 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid. This build was for a museum to display during a celebration in April. It included fully detailing and illuminating the hangar deck and displaying the ship at sea. The full build can be seen at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/ The second build was a Tamiya 1/48 P-47D Razorback. This was a commission build. The aircraft was fully detailed and custom decals were made replicating the “Gail Ann” of the 381th Fighter Group, 19th Fighter Squadron at Isley Field, Saipan. It was mounted in an acrylic case with the base representing the airfield. The full build can be seen at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-p-47d-razorback-gail-ann/ The third build was the Trumpeter 1/48 C-47. I converted this to the R4D-5 called the “Tropical Tilly”. This was tribute to the aircraft used in the 1952 Sci-Fi classic movie called “The Thing from another world”. The build incorporated a resin conversion kit to add on the snow skis, scratch built interior to match the movie, and was mounted on a base covered in snow to replicate the scene when they first arrived at the “Thing’s” flying saucer. The full build can be seen at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/ The forth build was the Brengun 1/48 MQ-8B Fire Scout. This was the first full resin kit I have built. The Mq-8B is a U.S. Navy helicopter UAV drone built by Northrop Grumman. The full build can be seen at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-mq-8b-fire-scout-drone/ The fifth build was the Revell 1/48 F/A-18E super hornet. I built this as a tribute to my old U.S. Navy squadron VA-37. When I served with them they were flying A-7E Corsair II’s. Right after I left the squadron they were re-designated as VFA-37 and were flying F/A-18C’s. A few years ago they upgraded to the F/A-18E super hornets. This build utilized some resin accessories to add details. The full build can be seen at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-f-a-18e-super-hornet-from-vfa-37/ The sixth build was the ICM Do-17Z WWII German light bomber of the Kampfgeschwader 76 (KG 76) stationed in France during August 1940. The full build can be seen at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-do-17z-2-german-light-bomber/ The seventh build was the ICM 1/48 C-18S “Magic by Moonlight” Air show Aircraft. The aircraft was also nicknamed the “Beech Twin 18”. The pilot, Matt Younkin performed aerial stunts at many air shows. One of the most visually stimulating displays was Matt performing his stunts at night with all the lights (plus extra lighting) turned on. With that in mind, I built this “in flight” and used many LED lights, some fiber optics, and created the smoke trail to replicate the aircraft performing its visually stimulating night time routine. The full build can be seen at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-c-18s-magic-by-moonlight/ The eighth and last completed build was the Great Wall Hobby 1/48 P-61B. The P-61 nicknamed “Black Widow” was the first aircraft specifically designed to be a night fighter. It was built by Northrop at their Hawthorn California facility. The aircraft was used in most of the theaters during the war. The scheme for this build was the “Lady in the Dark” which is “unofficially” credited with the last Allied air victory before Japan surrendered (VJ day) in 1945. For this build I used the Eduard “BigEd” detail set which has eight photo etch sheets to detail this kit inside and out. The full build can be seen at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-p-61b-black-widow-lady-in-the-dark/ I am currently working on the Trumpeter 1/32 A-7E as a tribute to the squadron I served with and will be making this my commanding officers aircraft. It is being fully illuminated with LED’s and fiber optics. This will be the first build to be completed in 2023. The build is currently at its sixth week. You can follow along at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/ To preview some of the builds planned for 2023, I have some commission builds. So far one is the 1/35 scale of the Jupiter 2 space craft from the TV series “Lost in Space” which will utilize the light kit and a sound board designed for the kit. Another commission build will be a 1/48 AV-8B Harrier to be built representing a special flight for the client. There will be lots of other regular builds as well. Have a Happy New Year!

The sixth week has all the lighting installed. Once I had the fiber optics installed for the wing tip lights I was able to locate a video of night operations on the USS John F Kennedy. While watching the video I realized the wing tips have two lights on each side. So I ran a second fiber optic line under the forward slats. These ran to a 3mm diameter tube. The fiber optics went into one end and a 3mm LED was mounted at the other end. One tube for the red side and one tube for the green side. These were then tucked into the wing assembly. Also while I was watching the video I noted that the top of the tail had a light on each side. The kit supplies two clear lenses for these. I drilled out the back side and mounted two pico sized white LED’s inside the lenses and used acrylic gel to hold them in place. I then wired everything up and did a light check on all seventeen LED’s. All are working fine. You can see a quick video of the light check in the build log on my blog. For those interested in everything I used for lighting I am using: 8 - white pico LED’s (fuselage lights, tail lights, landing light, and the AoA lights), 2 - red flashing pico LED’s for the fuselage, 4 - red pico LED’s for the cockpit side panels, 2 - 3mm red LED’s (one for instrument panel the other for the wing tip lights) and 1- 3mm green LED for the wing tip lights. I am also using about 38” of 0.5mm fiber optic lines for the wing tips and the AoA lights. I then started to build up the flaps, rudder, and the fuselage details. One thing to note is the rudder does not fit the tail. I needed to sand the bottom edge and match the angle of the rudder to the tail. I also sanded the fuselage seams and nose. I still have some more detail parts to add to the fuselage and then I can get things ready for the base coat of paint. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

Five weeks into the build of the A-7E I have assembled the fuselage together. Before putting the fuselage halves together I needed to correct the details of the tail cone. There are ribs inside the cone. The kit had some rounded ribbing which looked to small compared to the reference photos and had some mold marks in between the ribs. I filled the mold marks with putty then sanded the inside smooth. Using .020” square styrene I added the correct ribbing. Looking over the reference photos I noticed two small formation lights on each side of the fuselage. One behind the cockpit and one near the tail. I opened these up and added lights behind. Later I will add a lens. I built and painted the 20mm gun that sits on the port side and installed it. The avionics bays, landing gear bays, intake, and cockpit were all installed. I routed and attached all the wiring and added wires thru the top which will go the wing section lights. I then slowly joined the fuselage halves together. I need to make a note about this kit. The intake assembly has tabs that hold it in place. If you are building this kit I would recommend only gluing the rear tabs. If you glue the front ones the intake may be too close to one side causing the front edge to not be centered in the fuselage. The mouth needs to be centered for the intake lip to fit properly which would require the intake to be a little loose to line it all up. Once the fuselage was finally together I then looked over the wing assembly. The light on the spine was all molded in plastic. I cut off the light lens section and drilled out the center of the housing. I used some clear styrene rod and made a clear lens. Just under the lens inside the housing I added a flashing red light. I looked over the wing tips and due to the thin edges I am unable to house the wiring for the LED’s for the wing tip lights. I decided to drill a .050mm channel so I can use .050mm fiber optics for them. I need to make a light box to house the wing tip LED’s then build up the wing assembly. Once I get the wing assembly mounted I can then finish the exterior details on the fuselage and get ready to start painting. More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

For the fourth week I built up and detailed the starboard side avionics bay. I used 32 awg wire for cables and made some more nameplate decals for the equipment. This completes the avionics. I then started on the intake and nose gear bay. First, the intake trunk was filled with some very bad mold marks. These needed to be sanded, filled with putty, and then sanded smooth. For the nose gear bay I added some photo etch panels from my PE scrap drawer for the two ends. On the aft end I made a box to house the LED for the Angle Of Attack (AOA) lights. This is the small panel that sits on the gear bay door. These were shown in week 2 (Incorrectly named recognition lights). The final sub-assembly that needs to be done so I can put the fuselage together is the exhaust can. Again the can was filled with large deep mold marks that require a lot of putty. Once these were filled the exhaust was assembled and painted. It was then weathered using pastel chalk. I used black, dark gray, light gray, blue and rusty brown inside and out. Next I will be detailing the fuselage around the cockpit area and the exhaust then I can start routing the wiring. More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

As I move into the third week of the A-7E Corsair II I detailed the port side main gear bay. There is a panel of nine gauges. The kit version just has them portrayed as rings so I made the panel and gauges from scratch then hooked up all the lines to them. I added a few more lines as well as the other power line that will run down the landing gear into the display base. Next I turned my attention to the port avionics bay. Many of the avionics had lines marking the handles. I removed these and then using some small staples I cut and bent them to make the handles. I then drilled holes to fit the 32 awg wires to represent the electrical cables for the equipment. I then made some small label decals for the equipment. I used the reference photo to duplicate these. The reference photos show a green tank (Oxygen?) in the forward section. I used a fishing weight and some PE scraps to replicate the tank and then scratch built another piece of equipment. While certain steps were drying I located the parts for the landing light that sit on one of the main gear doors. I drilled a slot on the rear side and inserted a PICO size LED and used acrylic gel to glue it into the back of the light bezel. I painted the inside with chrome silver then put the clear lens on it. I am now starting to work on the starboard side avionics bay. I started by removing some molded in details to replace them with the equipment shown in my reference photos. Once this is completed I then need to start on the intake, nose gear bay, and the exhaust which is getting me closer to assembling the fuselage together. More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

Moving onto the second week I continued working on the instrument panel by building the light box. I am using a 3mm red LED mounted thru the bottom. The front was detail painted for the switches, knobs, and markings. I then assembled, detailed and painted the resin ejection seat. I also made the decals for the seat warning labels. While the instrument panel assembly and ejection seat were drying I was looking over the other areas that will be illuminated. The recognition lights on many Navy aircraft sit on the nose landing gear. On the A-7 specifically the panel is mounted on the port nose landing gear door. The kit has this panel molded in clear. This made it easier to illuminate. I drilled a 0.25mm hole from the backside halfway into the panel. I then attached three 0.25mm fiber optic lines. On the front side the molded light locations were painted using Tamiya red, green, and yellow clear paints. The fiber optic lines will go to a light box to be mounted later. I did a quick check and the effect worked great. Next was the belly light. The kit has the light molded into the bottom panel. I cut off the “lens” and drilled out the hole. Using a clear styrene tree I cut, trimmed and shaped a new lens. I then mounted a flashing red LED behind the lens. Next I needed to detail the main gear bays. Using reference photos I added the lines and hoses to the port side bay. I also added the aircraft ground point and markings. The wire coiled up in the photos will be one of the power wires for the LED’s. This will travel down the strut replicating the hydraulic line and pass thru the wheel and tire to a spot under the display base. I will add the other power wire on the starboard side gear as well. With all the cockpit assemblies completed I did a test fit into the fuselage. I needed to do some minor trimming of the cockpit tub for the instrument panel light box but everything lined up perfectly. I am now working on detailing the starboard side main gear bay then will need to get the intake and nose wheel bay built and detailed so I can start putting the fuselage together. More details and photos can be seen from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

Here is the first week of the A-7E build. Starting on the cockpit, since I am illuminating it, I needed to scratch build the side panels. Using reference photos I started on the starboard side panel. I cut a panel out of thin sheet styrene and scribed in the panel lines. I used styrene round and square rods to make the large knobs and switches. For the toggle switches I am using .25mm and .5mm fiber optic lines. The gauge was made from scrap PE. The panel was then sprayed with a thin flat black coat. I trimmed out the section where the kit panel mounted to and installed the new one. A second panel was cut out and mounted 0.3” below the new panel and I installed two red LED’s to back light the top panel. For the port side panel I followed the same process. I cut out some holes for the levers and the hose that goes to the ejection seat. I added two PE levers and the kit lever. The panels were then detail painted the various colors like the yellow warning lines, red switch covers and the gray knobs. I mounted two more red LED’s under the panel. Just to note, while some of the panels were drying I started to look at the ejection seat. The early A-7’s used the Escapac IC-2 ejection seat. The later A-7’s used the SJU-8/A ejection seat. This kit has the IC-2 seat. The aircraft I am building requires the SJU-8/A so I ordered a resin accessory from Aires. I also ordered the resin wheels from Reskit. The kit comes with rubber tires but I need solid wheels as the wires to power the lights will travel down the landing gear struts (representing the brake lines) and thru the wheels and tires so they can be routed under the base. With the side panels completed and illuminated I started working on the main instrument panel. I replaced the kit back panel with a thin sheet of white styrene. I also cut the top housing off the kit piece and attached it to the new piece. The kit comes with a film for the gauges. I panted the radar screens with clear yellow which should give them the more typical orange look. I need to see how the instrument panel fits inside the fuselage so I can make the light box holding the LED’s will fit into the fuselage. More details and photos can be seen in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY My next build is the 1/32 scale Trumpeter A-7E Corsair II. The scheme will be that of VA-37 “The Bulls”. This has been a project I have been planning to do for a while. Back in 1982 while serving in the U.S. Navy I checked into my new duty station at NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville Florida and was assigned to the Attack Squadron VA-37. I spent 3 years with this squadron which included a cruise aboard the USS Carl Vinson CVN-70 during her 1983 maiden deployment and a 6-month deployment to Iwakuni, Japan where we were part of “Team Spirit” in 1985. As a tribute to my time serving with this squadron I will be making this aircraft number 300 which was flown by my commanding officer CDR R.L. Ramsay. I will be building and detailing this aircraft to match his aircraft as well as illuminating the cockpit, wingtip, fuselage, and landing light using LED’s. It will be on a display base replicating the tarmac at NAS Cecil Field. I will be using Cutting Edge’s decal set. I should also note that this kit comes with photo etch, metal landing gear struts, and rubber tires. I will actually be officially starting this tonight so these first photos are setting up to start the build. I will be designing the backlit side panels and the instrument panel which will be illuminated with red LED’s. This is how the cockpit was illuminated at night. Check out my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-32-a-7e-corsair-ii-va-37-the-bulls/

The “Lady in the Dark” is now finished! First, I know it has been two weeks since my last update. We were out of town last weekend visiting friends. To bring everyone up to date I completed the decals and then weathered the exhaust using pastel chalk. For the exhaust I laid down a medium brown followed by a light gray and finally a streak of black giving the exhaust staining some depth. In the reference photos there are two short whip antennas on each side just behind the nose cone. I use 30AWG wire to simulate these and then sprayed the final top coat of matte on the aircraft. The canopy masks were removed and I then added the wire antenna from the tails to the rear of the main fuselage using EZ-line. I installed the propellers completing this build. This kit is good in details but has some issues during the build. As stated previously the fuselage assembly is challenging due to the belly guns. The other issue with this kit is the decal sheet shows the wing insignias incorrectly. The previous confusion with the landing gear was due to the Eduard instructions only showing one side of the landing gear bays and showing the numbers for both sides. This led me to assemble the main gear bays backwards. Aside from the incorrect instructions the kit decals worked well. They went down well and conformed to the surface details. Since I changed this to wheels up, this is now displayed hanging. Overall this kit had its issues but in the end it makes for a nice looking P-61B. There are more photos and details from the start to finish in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-p-61b-black-widow-lady-in-the-dark/

Week 8 of the P-61B has been a tough one. You build many models long enough you do make errors occasionally. Many mistakes can be corrected, some modelers move the model to the “shelf of doom” to figure out how to fix it later, some just leave the mistake and continue on, and some will put it in the circular file (aka trash can) Now onto the mistake I made. To start off it was noticed by a few that the main landing gear was installed backwards. The struts should be outboard with the wheels facing inside. I then assessed what it would take to correct the issue. Due to the large amount of photo etch and the current level in this build I had three choices. The first option was to cut apart the wings and booms to swap the complete landing gear bays. The second option would be to leave the landing gear with the incorrect configuration. The third option would be to remove the landing gear and install the landing gear doors closed. After careful consideration I chose the third option and finish the build “in flight”. Originally I was going to build this kit wheels down and I have the 1/48 HobbyBoss P-61C that I was going to build “in flight” to hang in my studio. Now the GW kit will be the hanging kit and I will use the already detailed SAC metal landing gear on the HobbyBoss kit. With my decision made, I carefully removed the landing gear and reworked the nose gear doors so these could be closed. I spent most of the week adjusting the fit of the landing gear doors. I then built up and painted the turret. I used the Vallejo metal air for the gun barrels. Moving forward I painted the propellers and applied the decals. I then started applying the decals to the aircraft. I used the kit decals for the “Lady in the Dark” scheme. The decals are slightly thick but with a little decal set and decal solvent they laid down very well. The red walkway lines come in four separate sections but line up well. The red triangles require a little care as there is no carrier film in the middle so they can be easily distorted. Next week I will be weathering the aircraft with pastel chalk and then applying the final top coat to seal everything. There are more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-p-61b-black-widow-lady-in-the-dark/

Welcome to the 7th week of the Black Widow build. The past week has been spent on completing the base coat of paint and building up the landing gear. Starting with the nose gear I added the supports for the fender and then added some photo etch to detail the fender. The SAC metal landing gear strut required some minor clean up. On advantage to using the metal struts is the strut shock cylinder can easily be polished to a high shine. I added the landing light from the kit to complete the strut which was then installed. I then added more photo etch details on the nose gear bay for the doors and installed them. The main gear struts required less clean up. Once painted I added the photo etch lines and hoses. The main wheels even have a photo etch ring for the inboard side. The struts were installed and the gear bay lines that were previously installed were attached to the struts. The main wheels have a flat spot to replicate the aircrafts weight on them. I dry fit the wheels on then sat the aircraft on them. With the wheel flat sections aligned up I placed a drop of glue to hold them in place while I glued the rest of the wheels onto the axles. The nose weight calculations were good. The aircraft now sits perfectly on the tri-gear so I will not need to add any weights to the engine cowls. I am working on the main gear doors then I can begin applying the decals. There are more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-p-61b-black-widow-lady-in-the-dark/

Arriving at week 6 of the P-61B the wings were assembled and the rest of the details for the main gear bays were detailed. I then worked on the fuselage by adding the photo etch details and prepared the nose as well. I weighed the model and calculated the weight required to place in the nose so that the model will sit correctly on the landing gear. I used some 5-minute epoxy and mounted the weight into the nose. The wings, nacelles, rear stabilizer, and nose were installed onto the fuselage. I then gathered all the canopies and began masking them with kapton tape. You can see my Tips and Tricks section for more information on masking with kapton tape at https://davidsscalemodels.com/tips-and-tricks/masking-with-kapton-tape/ With all the canopies masked I then installed them. The aft canopy over the radar operators section was an excellent fit. However the front canopy was not. It required some trimming and sanding to get it very close then I used a little putty on the front edge and the top of the rear edge to blend it with the fuselage. I then masked off the landing gear bays, rear crew entry, and the gun turret area. Everything is now ready for the basecoat of semi-gloss black. Once the painting is completed I will then move on to the decals. There are more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-p-61b-black-widow-lady-in-the-dark/

The fifth week of the P-61B I started assembling the nacelles and detailing them. The photo etch set has all the interior walls and bulkhead details. This required a couple of days sanding and scraping the kit details off the parts and preparing them for the photo etch parts. With the basic walls installed I started adding more of the details. First was the mounts for the oxygen tanks. The oxygen tanks themselves were made from 2.5mm styrene rods. These were cut to length and the ends sanded down to round them out. They were painted with insignia yellow and slid into place. On the bulkhead I added all the photo etch for the wires and hoses. The part of the hoses seen in the photos sticking out will ultimately attach to the landing gear strut. Just to note a fellow modeler noted that the kit struts have the incorrect length so I ordered the SAC metal landing gear struts for this kit. They should arrive early next week. After assembling the nacelle halves I needed to cut out the supercharger intake screen so that the photo etch screen could be attached. For the top side of the landing gear bay I needed to remove a plastic brace and then install the photo etch panel. I am now working on adding some more details in the landing gear bay then I can get the assemblies mounted to the fuselage. There are more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-p-61b-black-widow-lady-in-the-dark/