Pete's Eurocopter

flyjoe180

Joe
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Nice work on polishing those windows. I've used headlight polish compounds before for similar work.
 

stillp

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Thanks Joe. To be honest they didn't need much polishing, it was more a case of cleaning off the residue of the clear. Came of with little more than a wipe then a quick buff with a clean cloth.

Pete
 

stillp

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Had a long day in London doing some of the worky thing (I'm retired, but still do a bit occasionally) so didn't feel like doing much, but those tricky decals for the roof switch panel have had a coat of Galeria matt.
Remember I was asking if anybody could understand the instructions saying to place some decals inside, some outside? Here they are (well, the inside ones):
P1140183.JPG
Small aren't they!
And here they are in place:
P1140184.JPG
They can dry overnight and tomorrow I might fit these doors. I'm tempted to pose them open, but the masking will be easier with them closed.

Pete
 

stillp

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Hadn't realised it had been so long since I posted - I've been a bit distracted by helping an old schoolmate with some genealogy. Some progress on the Eurocopter, although not all as I'd like.
You won't be surprised to hear that the windscreen didn't fit! It needed squeezing in at the lower rear corners, and pressing down at the top. All curved surfaces so nothing for clamps to grip. Tried to reshape it a little after soaking in hot water, which helped a little. After a lot of attempts I managed to get it somewhere close with tape and rubber bands:
P1140185.JPG
After taking the tape off I found that the windscreen was sitting a bit proud of the fuselage, so after fitting all the doors first to keep the sanding dust out I sanded it down to be nearer to a flush fit, then micromeshed and polished it back to a reasonable semblance of clarity. I'm still not satisfied with the fit, but to be honest I'm getting demotivated by this kit - it has some lovely detail, but the fit of some of the major parts is terrible. I'm not going to take that windscreen out again, so it'll have to do.
Maybe it'll look better with a coat of paint, and I think it's at the stage where if I add any more of the small parts, they'll get broken off anyway, so it's time for a coat of gloss white!
On with the masking:
P1140190.JPG
Underneath:
P1140193.JPG
The intakes have been plugged with foam:
P1140195.JPG
And the exhausts (well, the holes where they fit) protected with some ear plugs:
P1140194.JPG
I've brushed some white primer around the windscreen masking, so the next task is a coat or three of Tamiya gloss white. Wish me luck!

Pete
 

stillp

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Well, I needn't have bothered with sanding and polishing the windscreen - the glue (Contacta Clear) seems to have relaxed a bit, and the corners of the 'screen are sticking out again.
I've just wacked a bit of filler around the edges and painted over it. At least it's all the same colour now. I just want to get it finished and move on to something less frustrating.

Pete
 

Jim R

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Hi Peter
Just had a good read through from the start. This has fought you all the way so hardly surprising that you just want it done with. Having said that you have done a fine job. Real shame about the screen as up until then you have overcome the other issues. Must be an old kit judging by the flash - the moulds have clearly seen better days. I look forward to the final reveal.
Jim
 

Si Benson

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Peter,
Just sat and had a read through with a cuppa. Looks like it didn’t have the best fit of parts but as Jim says, regardless of that you’ve made a good job of it.
Hope there are no more surprises and you get it finished .
Si
 

stillp

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Thanks chaps. It's a real shame about the fit issues, as there's some lovely detail on the mouldings. I can understand a bit of warping over time, but some parts being the wrong size by 2 - 3 mm does make you wonder about their quality control.
Still, I only paid £20 for this and a 1/35 Academy Pave Hawk.

Pete
 

stillp

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Well, the paint hasn't turned out too bad.
P1140201.JPG
Needs some touching up where the undercarriage has been brush-painted black, some of which ran under the masking.
The windows will be OK after a bit of work with a cocktail stick. You can see some of the mess caused by the problems with the windscreen in the pic below. I'm not going to try to clean that up, it looks OK from a few yards away, if you squint a bit.
P1140202.JPG

P1140203.JPG
There are lots of small detail parts to be added, including those two aerials(?) you can see in the pic above, but I think I need to add the decals first, or I'll be knocking off the details when decalling.
The instructions still have me guessing how some parts are supposed to fit - I'm thinking that the person who wrote them hadn't seen the kit! For example, there are two identical flat triangular that fit on the lower legs of the undercarriage. The instructions show these as parts 81(LH side) and 96 (RH). However the two are identical, both numbered 81 on the sprue. Just below the pic showing you to fit parts 81 and 96, there's a pic showing how to fit the tail rotor... which is part 96!
Oh well, onwards and upwards!

Pete
 

flyjoe180

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Coming along nicely Pete. Once you remove that excess paint with the cocktail stick no one will notice the other issue.
 

stillp

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Hi Joe, thanks, I was thinking no-one was watching!
I probably should have left the masking on, the top and bottom need to be painted blue. I've been working on some of the little bits that need adding onto the outside, but they're not going to be added until the painting's finished and the decals are on, or they'll keep getting broken off. The instructions continue to confuse...

I'll do an update later.

Pete
 
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Big Red

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You’re a better man than me Pete!
I’ve just caught up with this, and I would have abandoned it long ago.
Looking good from all the hard work.
Jim
 

stillp

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Well, I haven't been able to do much today, real life is getting in the way again. I've been preparing and painting some of the external details:
P1140258.JPG
This little fella looks like he belongs in Star Wars:
P1140253.JPGbut I think he's actually an IR camera. The instructions would have it fitted to a rail on the right-hand side of the undercarriage, but there's nowhere for it to fit! I'll have to scratch something. Meanwhile, there's a part (actually an assembly of 11 parts) that looks like a searchlight, but Revell call it an IR pod:
P1140255.JPG
There is a mounting point for that one:
P1140259.JPG

Hopefully I'll get a chance to do some more tomorrow but my wife has to go for a bone density scan in the morning.

Pete
 

stillp

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You’re a better man than me Pete!
I’ve just caught up with this, and I would have abandoned it long ago.
Looking good from all the hard work.
Jim
It's my first GB Jim, I can't give up!

Pete
 

stillp

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Oh bother! (Slightly stronger language was actually used)

P1140260.JPG
Dropped while removing the masking, and snapped the undercarriage off on one side. That'll need pinning.
Some overspray and paint creep too, but that's relatively easy to sort.

Pete
 

flyjoe180

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Woops! Had a similar event yesterday with three builds at once, I feel your pain on this one.
 
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