Wolfman63

This next build is the 1/48 ICM 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 will be building this “in flight” and will be using many LED lights and some fiber optics to replicate the aircraft performing its visually stimulating night time routine. I estimate I will need about 20 LED’s and about 2 feet 0.5mm fiber optic lines. I began with the instrument panel. The kit has a generic layout of gauges. I searched online and located a photo of the C-18S instrument panel. I scaled the photo and made a decal out of it. The panel was then sanded smooth and the area behind the gauges and displays was cut out. The decal of the panel was applied to a thin piece of sheet styrene and glued to the front. I then made a light box behind the panel to enclose a “warm white” LED to back light the instrument panel. I then dug into my scrap photo etch drawer and found the flight control levers for the center console. Moving onto the fuselage I installed the interior bulkheads and scratch built a channel with clear domes to house the cabin lights. Another area that required modification is the wings. First, the kit only has one wing light and the actual aircraft has two. I measured the port wing light and duplicated it on the starboard wing. I then drilled out the under wing landing lights so I can later install clear lenses and LED’s. The last modification was to trim off the molded wing tip lights, drill a 0.5mm hole into the wing tip. I took a fiber optic line and heated the one end to form the wing tip bulb and fed the fiber optic thru the hold and into the wing. I will add the red and green LED’s. I am now laying out where the rest of the fuselage LED’s are going as well as the engine cowl lights. Check out all the photos and details from the start to finish in my build log at 1/48 C-18S Magic by Moonlight – David's Scale Models (davidsscalemodels.com)

I also took a photo in the natural sunlight to see the camouflage better.

The Do-17Z is now finished. I applied the kit decals and made the symbol on the tails for historical accuracy. Then the final top coat of clear was sprayed on to seal the decals and provide a nice finish. The canopy, nose, and underside windows were painted and the guns were installed. They were all then mounted on the fuselage. I cut off the tail navigation light which was molded with the model and made a clear lens. The propellers were panted and installed. I then added the antenna as the final step to finishing this build. This was a fun build. The kit is very good with the exception of the wing to fuselage fit. The clear parts fit great and were easy to mask and paint. The large canopy and nose are very good in clarity allowing the cockpit details to easily be seen. The decals went down very well and conformed to the surface with only a little decal solution. The details of the kit are well defined. Thank you for following along and happy modeling! Check out all the photos and details from the start to finish in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-do-17z-2-german-light-bomber/

Yes, it is. The real aircraft the bracing uses a lot thinner diameter rods.

Here we at the fourth week of the Do-17Z-2. After cutting out the exhaust areas on the cowl panels the cowls were assembled and installed. The main landing gear was installed as well. I then painted the landing gear and bomb bay doors and began painting the base coat. For the underside I used Tamiya XF23 (RLM-65), for the splinter camouflage on the topside I used Tamiya XF61 (RLM-71) and XF27 (RLM-70), and for the propeller hubs I am using Vallejo RLM-04. The aircraft has six machine guns that are provided in the kit. The forward gun sight is a molded circle. I trimmed these off and added some photo etch sights from my photo etch extras. I am working on the decals now. The kit decals are very nice. So far they are going on very well and conforming to the surface nicely. I should have this build completed by next week. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-do-17z-2-german-light-bomber/

Welcome to week three of the Do-17Z. This week I installed the bomb racks into the bomb bay. The main gear bays have been built up and the nacelles have been installed. The engine mounts were assembled and I started on the engines. The engine cylinders were painted using Vallejo Metal Air paint. I used manifold gray for the cylinders themselves and duraluminum for the block and pushrods and covers. The bell housing was painted german gray. I cut strips of photo etch and panted them khaki gray. These were then installed for the wiring on the engines. The intake tubing were painted duraluminum. There are two choices for the exhaust. One set has exhaust tips that sit just under the cowl and the optional set has the exhaust pipes exiting thru the top of the cowls. The scheme that I am doing has the latter style. The exhaust ends are just flat ends. I used a micro-drill bit and drilled the exhaust ends to open them. The engine was installed on the engine mounts then the assembly was installed onto the wings. The front of the cowling was then installed. The cowl side panels need to have the exhaust cut outs opened for the exhaust style I am using. These were trimmed open with a hobby knife and then a round file was used to smooth and shape the openings. I am now working on finishing the cowls and then I will be installing the main landing gear. I am getting closer to doing the initial base coat of paint. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-do-17z-2-german-light-bomber/

This second week of the Do-17Z I assembled the fuselage and added the tail wheel. I opted to add the extra fuel tank into the forward bomb bay. I then built the main landing gear. The wings were then installed. This required some work. First, the forward edge needed to be sanded on the inside to that it was the same height as the fuselage. There is also a 1.0mm gap on the forward edge as well. The rest of the wing lined up well on the rear and along the wing roots. I filled the gap with some putty. While the putty was drying I assembled the bomb racks for the aft bomb bay and started to build the main landing gear bays. Once the putty cured I wet sanded the areas. I still need to clean and add the panel lines in the area. I then had to add some putty to the forward bulkhead of the gear bays in a few spots. I am working on the rest of the main gear bays and then onto the nacelles/engines. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-do-17z-2-german-light-bomber/

This next build is the 1/48 ICM Do-17Z-2 World War II German light bomber. This is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. It was nicknamed the “Flying Pencil” (Fliegender Bleistift) and was known for its excellent handling especially at low altitude. Coupled with the twin engines and the speed it could attain it was more difficult to shoot down than the larger twin engine bombers. It was utilized early in the war until it was replaced with the Do-217 which had larger engines, longer range and a larger bomb bay. This model will be built using one of Eduard’s newer “LOOK” set which is a highly detailed resin instrument panel and photo etch seat belts. The scheme I will be doing is that of the Kampfgeschwader 76 (KG 76) stationed in France during August 1940. Starting with the cockpit the kit comes with some nice details. I used some of my spare photo etch to add some extra details like the wiring and replacing the plastic levers with photo etch versions. For the pilot’s seating area I made a decal of the compass face and applied it to the center piece. I then painted the Dornier logo on the center of the control stick. A few photo etch seat belts completed the assembly. The Eduard instrument panel was then mounted in place. The co-pilots seat was built and detailed with photo etch seat belts and mounted into position. I had to do some mold mark clean up in the center bay and installed the framing sections. I have just a couple of details to add and then the fuselage can be assembled. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-do-17z-2-german-light-bomber/

The Super Hornet of VFA-37 is I finished! I finished applying the decals and then top coated the aircraft. I then wet sanded the windscreen and canopy with 1000 then 2000 grit sandpaper to remove the mold seam on both parts. They were then polished with the Meguire’s Plastx cleaning/polishing compound. I installed all the weapons, centerline tank, and Litening pod to the underside. The HUD and windscreen were installed. I positioned the canopy in the open position and this completed the aircraft. The kit itself went together well with the exception of the intake fit. As noted this kit represents the early super hornet so I added the ECS tubes for the later version. The Furball decals were pretty good. The only issue I had was the walkway stripes fell apart due to the thin film when I tried to slide them off. I ended up using the kit decals for these. Overall I am happy with the final results. I also took some photos next to “C” model (also a Revell kit) so that you can see the size/shape differences between the two. I also included a photo with a VA-37 A-7E. I served with VA-37 and transitioned out just before the changeover to the F/A-18’s. I just need to build an A-7A with the early VA-37 markings to complete my set of VA-37/VFA-37 aircraft. Thank you for following along – Happy Modeling! Check out all the photos and details from the start to finish in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-f-a-18e-super-hornet-from-vfa-37/

The third week of the super hornet I finished the main landing gear. I then moved over to the missiles. I did not like the details and sizes of the kit missiles. I have two Meng kits that covers US missiles so I decided to use the AIM-9X from the one kit and the AIM-120C from the other kit. While they were drying after the initial painting I was looking over the fuselage and noticed that the kit does not include the ECS tubes between the tails for the later “E” version. I purchased the Eduard Brassin resin set and grafted these onto the fuselage. Since this is more or less a fictitious scheme I read that the US Navy is considering using a Litening targeting pod on the super hornets. So I used a 3-D printed Lightning pod and added a couple of Eduard resin GBU-54 bombs to the kit. With all the under wing stores built, painted, decaled, and ready for mounting I then started painting the base coat on the aircraft. I used Vallejo light ghost gray for the underside, dark ghost gray for the topside and the tails were painted dark sea blue. The gun plate was painted Vallejo metal color gunmetal. I am now working on the decals. Looks like I should have this build completed soon. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-f-a-18e-super-hornet-from-vfa-37/

Week two of the Hornet I cleaned up the fuselage around the intakes. Since I will be using Aires resin Exhaust Nozzles I had to open up and trim out the exhaust area on the fuselage so they can be installed. I then turned my attention to the landing gear. The kit provides a clear nose gear door. There are vents on the bottom of the door. Revell opted to use a decal as the screen and be seen on the inside thru the clear portion. I decided to open up the areas and install some aluminum fine screen to better replicate the door. The nose gear was then assembled and installed. The main gear needed some putty for some sink holes. While the putty was curing I added the outer section of the wings and the pylons. The horizontal stabilizers and tails were then installed. The main gear was then painted and installed. The kit main wheels have flat spots to simulate weight on the tires so I will install these after I finish with the landing gear bay details so I can get them in the correct position. Next up is building up the missiles and finishing the finer details of the fuselage so it can be painted. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-f-a-18e-super-hornet-from-vfa-37/

This next build is the Revell 1/48 F/A-18E Super Hornet. For this build I will be using the Eduard cockpit detail set, a QuickBoost resin ejection seat, and Ares resin exhaust. The scheme I have chosen to do is VFA-37. The decal set is from Furball Decals for CVW-8 in 2017. The squadron was actually flying F/A-18C’s at the time and transitioned to the F/A-18E in 2018. However since I served with VA-37 (with A-7E’s) in the 1980’s and the squadron designation changed to VFA-37 when they went to the F/A-18’s, I am using the 2017 scheme on this Super Hornet to honor my squadron. Starting off with the cockpit I detailed the instrument panel with the Eduard photo etch panels. The cockpit tub was also detailed using the photo etch. I then detailed the resin ejection seat which is a lot more accurate in size than the kit version. With the cockpit completed I turned to the fuselage. One if the negative parts of this kit is Revell marked the copyright stamp under the wing. Using a hobby knife and some sandpaper the marking is gone. I then prepared the intakes by filling the ejector marks with putty and filling the gap on the intake leading edge. I sprayed the wheel wells in white and then detail painted the cables and hydraulic lines that were molded into the bays. I dry fit the intakes to the fuselage and found the fit is poor. The intakes are going to require some shaping and putty to get them to fit correctly. Check out all the photos and details from start to finish in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-f-a-18e-super-hornet-from-vfa-37/

The MQ-8B Fire Scout is complete. This week I applied the kit decals for HSM-35. The decals were very nice. They went down nicely. The kit does not come with clear parts for the navigation lights. I used some scrap clear styrene and made the four lights. (One on top, one under, and the two side lights). Finally I worked on the rotors. The tail rotor is all photo etch and fits perfectly into its resin mount. The main rotor is a little tricky. There is a cup at the end to attach it to the hub. This cup is larger than the pin on the hub so there is a lot of play. Getting the rotor blades aligned takes some care. I taped down the ends of the blades using the work surface grid to line them up then positioned the hub in the center. Once I had everything lined up I glued them into place. I finally attached the nose turret and this completed the aircraft. The kit itself goes together very well. It would have been nice if they included a jig for the main rotors similar to the jigs you typically see with resin propeller sets for aircraft kits. The only fit issue was the nose to the main body but a little putty and some sanding corrected it. The decal set matched the reference photos except for the turret decals that were not included. If you want to try your hand at a resin kit, this would make a good start. It is not very complicated and it is an interesting subject. The final photo is the aircraft on the display shelf sitting next to my 1/48 AH-64 so this should give you an idea on how small this drone is in scale. Thanks for following along. Check out all the photos and details from start to finish in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-mq-8b-fire-scout-drone/

Next up is an interesting subject. This is the 1/48 Brengun MQ-8B Fire Scout. This is a helicopter drone built by Northrop Grumman and is used by the U.S. Navy. It is typically deployed on FFG’s and LCS ships. The reason I chose this is I am a member of the International Plastic Modeler Society (IPMS). I belong to the Mckinstry Chapter and we have monthly meetings. Typically each month we have a theme. One of the upcoming themes is “Missiles and Drones”. I looked over the available model kits of drones and thought this would be a little different than the combat drones many are used to seeing. This kit is a full resin model. Resin models are cast in resin rather than injection molded styrene kits. There are fewer parts than a typical model and instead of trees the parts are attached to the base of the cast. Many of the smaller parts can be trimmed from the base using a hobby knife. The larger parts require a jeweler’s saw to cut off the base. Once I had all the parts trimmed I started assembly. Resin models do not use typical model glue. They require a CA glue for assembly. I assembled the fuselage, tail boom and nose. The fit was very good except for the bottom edge of the nose which required a little putty filler. The kit come with a sheet of photo etch for some of the smaller details like the antenna blades. I added the photo etch pieces and then sprayed the fuselage with light ghost gray. For the turret under the nose I mixed some Pearl EX pigments in the Tamiya smoke paint. The main lens and the bottom right lens were mixed with gold pigments. I used blue pigments for the bottom and right side lenses. The left side lens I use the green pigments. Once dry I added a final coat of the smoke paint. I noticed that the decal sheet did not include the laser warning labels on the turret. I made my own decal labels and applied them. For the final step on the turret I drilled the holes in the back of the mount so I can add the cables later when I mount it. I am now getting ready to apply the kit decals. The decal set comes with two schemes and I will be doing the HSM-35 “Magicians” scheme. Check out all the photos and details in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-mq-8b-fire-scout-drone/

The final scene of the Tropical Tilly R4D-5 has the project completed. With the aircraft completed I then made the display base for the aircraft. Using an 18” diameter plaque I covered it using spackle. I laid out the ski pattern and the tail wheel pattern. Next I added the crew footprints and the sled trail from the cargo door to the edge. After the spackle dried I used the “snow” from the Scene-O-Rama kit and added some Jacquard Pearl Ex powered pigments. I used the Interference Blue color. Mixing this with the snow gave the snow a bluish sparkle effect. I then painted on top of the spackle with Liquitex gloss acrylic gel. This was done in sections so the snow could be sprinkled on the wet gel. Once cured, I sprayed a light coating of Vallejo gloss to seal the snow. The aircraft was then positioned and the base and using 10-minute epoxy, it was attached to the base. I then mixed the remainder of the snow I mixed previously into a small cup of the acrylic gel. This mixture was then applied with a toothpick to fill the small gaps between the skis and snow. I then used it to create the plowed snow around the wheels and snow on the wheels. The kit came with a photo etch boarding ladder. This was painted, attached to the aircraft, and then I made a trail of snow up the ladder and just inside the cargo doors. This interesting project is now complete. This has been a fun project. The extra work to the resin conversion kit was required because the resin kit is designed for the Monogram/Revell model and there are size differences with the Trumpeter version. The Trumpeter kit itself was good. The only negative is the interior bulkheads towards the front need to be trimmed down to fit inside the fuselage. Everything else fit very well. I did not use the kit decals so I cannot comment on their quality. The decals included with the conversion kit worked very well. I hope you all have enjoyed this “Hollywood” build. Happy Modeling! Check out all the photos and details from start to finish in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

Welcome to scene 10 as the climactic ending begins. I installed the skis and added the safety cables that assist in keeping the skis horizontal using EZ-Line. The engine bell housing and propellers were installed as well as the wing tip lights. One of the things not represented in the kit is the windscreen wipers. I took some spare photo etch pieces and made the blade and arms then installed them. I then added all the antenna wires both under the nose and on top using EZ-Line. There are two small “T” shaped antennas under the fuselage near the tail. I trimmed up some scrap photo etch to replicate them. Next I used some scrap photo etch and made the cargo door hinges. With all the small details added I thought I had finished the aircraft. While uploading the photos to the computer I realized I forgot to paint on the wing walkways and the anti-glare area on the nose. I painted them as well as the fuel ports on the top of the wings. While the real aircraft has the de-icing panels painted black, none of the screen shots show these painted the typical matte black. I left them unpainted to match the aircraft in the movie. So now the aircraft is complete except the snow weathering which will be added when I mount the aircraft to the base. For the final week of work I am building a snow base to display the aircraft. I bought an 18” wooden disk which came with a white washed stain on it as well as a Scene-O-Rama snow kit. I currently am still looking for 1/48 scale dog sled team and arctic crew figures. I have a friend who is looking to design files for the 3-D printer but these files may take a while. We went over some of the scenes from the movie (The Thing from another world – 1951) and he is going to pose them as they are returning to the aircraft with the frozen alien on the sled. When I build the base I will add in the footprints and sled marks so these can be added later. So the current display will be just the aircraft on the snow and assuming the crew is down by the buried flying saucer. Stay tuned for the conclusion of this project. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

Working on scene 9 of Tropical Tilly, the decals are done and the aircraft has been given a gloss topcoat. I then turned to the main landing gear. For the wheel I am using 3/32 aluminum tubing for between the struts and 1/16 aluminum tubing for the axle that extends thru the skis. With the slightly different shape and design of the kit landing gear I had to make changes to the width of the skis, the attachment point to the landing gear, and the rear horizontal stabilizer of the skis. I also added the attachment points for the cables used to keep them horizontal. The opposite attachment points were added to the aircraft as well. The ski bottom also has two skid tabs at the trailing edge. I made these out of tin lead. The skis were then painted with the bare aluminum paint. I spent some time reviewing scenes I the movie (The Thing from another world – 1951) and found some antennas on the bottom of the fuselage. One is in between the main landing gear and has antenna lines running from the front of the aircraft. The other two are on the bottom of the fuselage near the cargo door. I used some spare photo etch to duplicate these. I then installed the landing lights in the wings and am now starting on the engine bell housing and the propellers. I have a few more details that need to be added as well as mounting the cargo doors and installing the skis. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

Onward to scene 8, the work this week was spent preparing and painting the base coats. The overall aircraft was painted with Tamiya bare aluminum. I have a copy of the USAF technical order for painting numerous aircraft. I verified the yellow stripe is insignia yellow and the other color is international orange. I then loaded the DVD of “The Thing from another world” into the computer to see the placement of the yellow fuselage strip and the international orange areas. During the research I realized that the boomerang antenna and the forward mast antenna atop the fuselage which were mounted in the kit locations were in the wrong location. After some careful removal I relocated them to the same locations they are on the aircraft in the movie. The stripe area was masked and painted. The decal set provides a decal for the stripe but I prefer to paint it on. I next painted the international orange areas. While the pain was drying I looked over the decals. The USAF Tech Order shows that the R4D’s used the 40” stars and bars. The decal set comes with the 36” version. I then made my own 40” starts and bars decals. The one on the port side of the fuselage covers the fuselage and both cargo doors. I measured and cut up one of the insignias and put the decal sections on the cargo doors. While the paint was drying I did some more work on the main gear. I decided to use aluminum tubing as the axle for the wheels and skis. The plan for the upcoming week is to finish the decals and give the aircraft a nice gloss coat then work on finishing the main landing gear. Looks like just a few more “scenes” to finish this one. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

As we move onto scene 7 of the R4D this week I have the resin nose shaped. Need to scribe some panel lines and rivets still. I looked at the exhaust. The resin kit has the correct version for the R4D, however it was designed for the Monogram kit and is too large for the Trumpeter kit I am using. I used a styrene tube to make the exhaust and some aluminum tubing for the center portion. With the wings attached I then noticed this kit comes with the long scoop on top of the engines. The R4D uses the smaller scoop. I trimmed the kit scoop for shorter length and shortened the height a little. I used some styrene to replicate the backside of the scoops and blended it with putty. I also needed to fill I n the cut-out above the engine with some sheet styrene. While the modified scoops were letting the putty cure I looked at the main landing gear and the skis that will go on them. The kit provides rubber tires and they would not fit between the resin ski rails. So I took some measurements and decided to modify the skis. I cut off the rails from the ski and using .020” sheet styrene I made the bottom of the ski and added the rails. The rails have a crossbar. This needed to be removed and replaced. The rails needed to move out .005” on each side. With the skis modified I needed to change the mounting. The axles that came with the kit for the main wheels are too short to fit the skis. I will be using aluminum tubing to make the extended axles. Just a side note, I do not need to check the tail wheel ski. This will not be used. In the movie (The Thing from another world – 1951) there is a scene with Captain Henry and the Colonel where they mention on a previous landing the broke the ski off the tail wheel. All of the scenes in the movie with the aircraft show no ski on the tail wheel. This coming week I am getting the aircraft ready for painting. I have numerous panel lines and rivets to add back onto the areas that were modified and to mask off the areas. I am hoping to start painting by next weekend. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

Moving forward to scene 6 on the R4D-5 this week I loaded the cargo in the cabin. The two crates were strapped in using straps and rope as depicted in the screen shots from the film. I also added blankets and bags as well. The fuselage halves were then put together and clamped. While the fuselage was setting I started on the R-1830-92 engines. The detail of the kit engines is very good. The only thing you need to be careful with is making sure you don’t mix the left and right engine parts. The keyways are different between the sides which could affect the position of the front of the engine when it is installed later. With the fuselage together I started to fill the gaps and seams with putty. Aside from the gap on top of the fuselage there are uneven sections along the seam. There is also a gap around the tail wheel well which was carefully filled. While the putty was curing I built up the main landing gear bays into the upper wing sections and installed the engines. Turing back to the fuselage, the seams were wet sanded. The resin nose was then aligned and set in place. Once the putty is cured I will then begin to wet sand and shape it. Next up will be assembling and installing the wings and re-scribing panel lines/rivets. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

Here we are at scene 5 of Tropical Tilley. This week I detailed at painted the port side of the fuselage. I also noticed that there is what looks like tie down straps along the fuselage above the seats. I used some extra photo etch extras and cloth tape to create these mounts. I scratch built some of the avionics panels near the cargo door and modified the panel in the middle of the fuselage. The next thing I worked on was the overhead console for the cockpit. After detail painting in I noticed in the reference photo that the edge near the hatch on top it was marked with “ESCAPE HATCH”. I added this by making a decal for it. I then worked on trimming and shaping the interior bulkheads so the fuselage fits together. It is still going to require some putty but the gap is a lot smaller. Moving onto the cargo doors I removed the molded in handles off the crew door and replaced them with photo etch handles. The center light/ air vents for the cabin were detailed and the tail wheel assembly was built at detailed. The tail wheel hub required some trimming as it was too wide for the rubber tire. I installed all the windows and painted the circle in the middle with black rubber. Next I started assembling the outer wings. The kit includes landing lights in the wing. These unfortunately were molded in gray instead of clear. I drilled them out with a 4mm drill bit than painted the inside with chrome silver and filled them with acrylic gel to give them a realistic appearance of the landing lights. I ordered some resin crates to add to the interior. These were painted with Tamiya desert sand and then washed with Vallejo Mahogany to give them a real wood look. I am now making the cargo straps and rope that will secure the cargo to the fuselage. The cargo straps are being made using the same cloth tape as described in my “Making Cloth Seatbelts” tip. https://davidsscalemodels.com/tips-and-tricks/making-cloth-seat-belts-for-aircraft/ I should have the interior completed and the fuselage finally together by the end of the week. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

Moving forward to scene 4 of the Tropical Tilly. This week I detailed the port side of the fuselage. One thing I needed to do was to remove the extra window next to the cargo doors. There should only be six windows on the port side. While the putty was curing on the window area I painted the starboard side interior. I then added some weathering and added the seat belt storage bags. Turning back to the port side I needed to modify and relocate the control panel to fit within the ribs. Once all the ribs and spars were installed I checked the fit of the interior and after a little minor trimming it fit perfectly. I had a few fellow modelers let me know that putting the fuselage together was a challenge as the interior was slightly larger and caused gaps. I did a dry fit and found that the upper section of the fuselage has a huge gap just behind the cockpit. As it turns out there are a few areas that require some trimming. The first is the bulkhead just behind the cockpit seats. The edges need to be sanded on the sides and the top. The second area is the navigators section. The navigators table sticks out too much and needs to be trimmed to fit the contour of the fuselage. The bulkhead in front needs to have the top sanded down slightly. The last area is the top of the equipment racks across from the navigators section. I sanded down the outside edges and the top. The bulkhead to the cargo area fits fine and does not need any sanding. I still have a little bit of sanding to do on the top of the cockpit bulkhead and then it should fit a lot better. Once I get the fit corrected there are some more details that need to be added to the cargo area interior before I can put the fuselage together. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

Welcome to scene 3 of the R4D-5 conversion. This week I detailed the starboard fuselage interior. I used .02” X .04” styrene square rods to frame in the area. I also removed the bubble window atop the fuselage. The R4D did not have the bubble window. After removing the frame on the outside I used a thin sheet of styrene on the inside then filled the hole with white putty. Once cured I wet sanded it to contour the fuselage. I then went back to the interior details. I used .03” rods for the area across from the cargo door. From the reference photos these are larger than the upper section as they are used to tie down any cargo. I used a piece of .04” X .04” square rod on the emergency exit window to make the release handle. The kit had the release handle molded in, but since I was adding the spars/ribs I needed to remake it so it was flushes with the ribs. I drilled part of the way with a 3mm drill and installed a photo etch handle into the section. I then started adding the upper portion with .02” rods. This is very tedious as cutting and fitting each one takes time to trim and fit. It took a few evenings to install all of them. After I finished I checked the fit of the interior section. Next up is working on the port side interior then I can assemble the fuselage. I have heard the fit of the two fuselage halves on this kit requires some work so we will see how that goes. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

Moving forward to the next scene in the R4D-5 TFAW build, I continued with the forward cabin details. The bulkhead behind the cockpit was detailed using cloth tape to replicate the padded section. In the next section where the radio/navigator sits I added a lens to the light and detailed the seat. In the movie is a scene where a crewman reads from a magazine article on how the Air Force states UFO’s do not exist. After some research I identified the magazine as the March 1950 edition of the “Air Force” magazine. I decided to take a photo of the cover, scale it, print it out on paper, and place on the table. There is also a first aid box in the section behind the pilot. I made decals to properly mark the box. The forward section was then installed. Next I started on the cabin benches. These were detailed with photo etch loops and then the seat belts. With the benches mounted I checked how it mounts in the fuselage and marked where things line up so I can detail the fuselage. I filled the mold marks with putty and then trimmed the frame for the top bubble window. Since the window is not on the aircraft, I need to remove it and fill in the hole. The rear bulkhead was detailed and I started to add accessories for the interior. For the blanket rolls and satchel I painted and then weathered them with pastel chalk. Next I will be adding all the ribs and spars on the inside of the fuselage. Check out all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-r4d-5-tropical-tilly/

I use solid pieces and use different brushes and swabs to apply it. Weathering with Pastel Chalk – David's Scale Models (davidsscalemodels.com)