ghodges Posted March 12 Report Share Posted March 12 This is the 1/48 Lone Star resin O-47, a late 1930s/early WWII recon plane; and the only kit of this type ever in quarter scale. It's one of their best castings as far as detailing inside and out, and the solid cast wings fit like a glove to the fuselage (a good thing, as you'll see). It includes white metal detail parts for the landing gear, prop, antennas, and other assorted details. This is what you get in the box.... Here's the interior Here's the interior after painting. I did add a few assorted details from the spares box (ammo boxes, O2 cylinders, etc.) and scratchbuilt the rear gunner's seat/gun ring. I also scratchbuilt a new main instrument panel using the old "sandwich" method. The toughest part of the build was having to add and blend in the bottom side observation windows. Since they needed to be added to BOTH the fuselage and wings, each wing had to be glued in place BEFORE gluing the fuselage halves together; a first for me in almost 60yrs of building! Luckily, the wings slide onto the fuselage with excellent fit (improved with some test fitting and adjusting) and at the proper angles. This allowed the side windows to be glued from the inside and outside (for extra security) and also to fill inside and outside along the edges as needed. One thing missing from my kit was the rollover structure behind the pilot's seat that also serves as the antenna mounts. It was built up with tubing and sheet plastic. It can be seen under the vac canopy part, which is in place to drill the holes to test fit the antennas. The kit white metal prop blades were fine sanded and polished to be able to use them without painting, except for their tips and some maroon antiglare paint on their rears. The model was primed overall with Alclad Gloss Black enamel in prep for the NMF. The clear parts were actually painted silver before spraying the black so their interior frames would look silver. It took several rounds of primer to be sure everything was smooth enough for the NMF. I used Floquil Platinum Mist for this, since silver shows scratches very well and it was also the base paint for the "interior" canopy frames and the fabric covered flying surfaces. AK Extreme Metallics Aluminum was used for the base NMF with Alclad Aluminum panels added over it. The fabric covered ailerons and were painted Floquil Platinum Mist and flat coated. The antiglare panel (and interior) were painted with AK Bronze Green. The rudder striping was painted instead of using the provided decals. The kit comes with markings for 6 or more O-47s, including war game crosses. I did an Ohio National Guard bird. Here's the rest of the finished pics.... Critiques, questions, and comments welcome, as always! Gil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmorrissette Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 Cool plane. Love seeing different things. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montgomery Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 Impressive "paneling" paint scheme...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 12 hours ago, ghodges said: I also scratchbuilt a new main instrument panel using the old "sandwich" method. That’s a beautiful model Gil. I have only worked with resin once and that was figures. Did this require removing large blocks of resin and the accompanying sanding/smoothing? The details you added are incredible. Any chance you might explain the “sandwich” method for us newbies? Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bell Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 That's a little better than the Rareplanes vacform I did many years ago, 😀. Excellent finish, as usual. I have always marveled at your NM work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMF211 Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 THAT IS GORGEOUS!!! Well done on a rare kit!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted March 13 Author Report Share Posted March 13 That’s a beautiful model Gil. I have only worked with resin once and that was figures. Did this require removing large blocks of resin and the accompanying sanding/smoothing? The details you added are incredible. Any chance you might explain the “sandwich” method for us newbies? Most of the parts came as you see in the pic. The only one with a casting block needing removal was the gear doors, and they could be sliced away from the block with only a little cleanup of their edges needed after that. The engine can be put in the cowling without sanding down the thick rear (which I did), but that was a mistake since it was then too close to the rear edge to allow the cowling to fit properly on the fuselage; so I had to grind it down with a motor tool, which was more work than if I had sanded it down earlier. In general, most casting blocks are easily removed with a razor saw or by cutting with a knife blade. Big ones may require a motor tool with a grinding bit or a rotary saw blade, but most don't. However, whenever you do sand/saw resin, wear a mask as the dust gets everywhere and it's not healthy stuff to breathe in! The "sandwich" method for making instrument panels requires two thin sheets of plastic, with the rear one preferably being white. You cut the top one to the shape of your panel. Mark the positions of the instruments in pencil on it and then open up their holes using either a drill bit, the point of a #11 blade (twirled), or using a punch and die set. Add any buttons, instrument bezels, or other detailing to its front that you desire. Paint it AND the second piece of plastic black. Place the top IP piece over the painted second piece and using a pin (or other fine pointed tool) run it around the inside edge of each instrument hole, effectively scratching off the black paint and leaving a white circle for each one. Remove the top piece and use the tool to now scratch the paint off inside each instrument to mark each one, making tick marks and instrument needles for them. Once all of them are made/marked, cut the rear piece to fit behind the top piece. Next, get a piece of clear cellophane (from a cigarette pack or some such source). Cut it big enough to cover the rear instruments. Very carefully glue it to the rear IP part. You can trim it now, or wait and trim it after you add the top IP part, being sure as you glue it that the holes line up perfectly with the instruments on the back part. Trim any excess cellophane (if needed) and you should now have an IP with "glass" over the instruments. Here's a pic from my A-18 Shrike II build that shows what I mean... although in THIS case I glued instrument decals (yet another option this allows) instead of "scratching" the instruments on. Those other things are ammo boxes.... Hope that helps! Let me know if I wasn't clear enough. Gil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 Wow Gil! This is why I stay out of 1/48 scale aircraft! And resin too! I shudder to think how many times I would have stabbed myself trying to build this plane. You are a true Master! I bow in the presence of Greatness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 Gil, thanks so much for taking the time to detail the sandwich method. Very nicely explained but most likely not as easy as you make it sound. Scribing the tick marks and needles at a 1/48 scale must require a very steady hand. Was there no instrument panel with the kit? Just curious what lead you to scratch build it. Thanks again, I agree with Mark wholeheartedly!!! Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted March 15 Author Report Share Posted March 15 I got an "early private edition" for free as I was involved in the creation of the kit (indirectly). It seems my kit was missing a few parts as well as maybe also missing a page or two in the instructions (no painting/markings guide for the OD/gray War Games markings though the decals were included). That's the main reason I scratchbuilt the gunner's seat and gun ring, the roll over structure behind the pilot, and a new main IP. The down side is I had to rely on more of my own references and build some parts. The up side is I got the kit ahead of most others. It does take a steady hand to do the tick marks in a really neat manner (and mine is not that neat), BUT when you make the marks you can start inside and mark towards the outside and not have to worry about the marks outside the circle since they can't be seen; making the process a little less difficult. Or, you can use instrument decals (as in my example pic), though in my experience the tedium of punching them out is as much work as drawing the instruments. In the end, go with WHATEVER system works for you. If I'd had a good looking spare IP that fit, I'd have used it! Cheers! Gil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 Very cool. I understand about using decals since they cause me trouble when I put them in kit supplied panels. But, I can’t even get airbrushing right yet so scratch building instrument panels is something to strive for later. Amazing stuff Gil. Seeing what you took out of the box turn into that finished beauty is very impressive indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmarc Posted March 16 Report Share Posted March 16 LLLLLLLLLLLLLLooking great ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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