Author Topic: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B  (Read 7791 times)

Wizzel

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #15 on: July 20, 2016, 01:14:53 PM »
Like most of you, I've been busy with other stuff; allotment and garden projects for me when I'm not at work, but I've still managed to get some bench time of an evening.  The PZL is about ready to go together now; I have the tail section on and am happy with the finish.  The wing tips had some awful gaps between the upper and lower sections which I filled with my green putty/liquid poly combination - a picture of before and after sanding attached for you and although the finish looks rough in the picture, I have now primed it and it's spot on (battery ran out, hence no picture of the primed wing yet). 

So tonight, the wings go on and I can then start to assemble the undercart and mask off (some of) the extensive glazing with bare metal foil. Pictures of that to follow.  I also decided that at 1/72 scale, recessed panel lines could be a bit of a waste of effort and out of scale so I'm going to do what Barry Ketley did and put them on with pencil.  I had a quick trial over the primer on the fuselage and was very pleased with the look of it.  It'll also save me running thinned paint along them later on I reckon.  If it all goes pear shaped, remember I have the 'B' to try something else with.

Bigkev

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #16 on: July 20, 2016, 08:28:25 PM »
Hi Wizzel,
Nice to see the PZL coming along. Like the idea of Green Stuff and liquid poly, which I've yet to try.
Also I didn't realise the panel lines were done in pencil on Barry Ketley's models, now that's a new one on me, and I look forward to seeing it on yours. Bring it on.
Cheers,
Bigkev
I hope my next is always better

Wizzel

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #17 on: July 21, 2016, 08:16:03 AM »
Thanks Kev, it seems to work very well for me and I've always had problems working with just the putty on its own so this is the way ahead.

Anyway, my plans fell a little short yesterday as I was stung in the eye by a nettle so modelling was on hold.  his morning before work however, I got the wings on!  The starboard wing was set a little lower than the port and didn't fit right into against the fuselage fillets so I had to slice away a little at the top of the opening to correct that - something I would have ran away from not too long ago.  Wings on and tonight's plan is to get the seams filled and sanded ready for priming.  There looks to be a bit of a step on the inside of the port engine that needs attention too, now I've seen the photographs.  Funny how they show up every little fault that the naked eye misses - whether it's un-stung or otherwise...

Haddock

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #18 on: July 21, 2016, 10:38:11 AM »
Lookin' good, nice to see it all square and level.
Haddock.

Wizzel

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #19 on: July 21, 2016, 10:55:54 AM »
It took a bit of work to get it that way Haddock, but it was something I enjoyed putting the work into to achieve.  "Lots of fettling required" I think is the official term? 

Wizzel

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #20 on: March 15, 2017, 09:17:51 PM »
After a rather lengthy break, I am back on with this.  The reason for the break was the usual stumbling block which I have finally got the confidence to proceed with.  To explain.  The nose glazing had some very lightly inscribed framework on which I felt would be difficult to mask off or paint freehand so hit upon the bright idea of sanding it off completely, polishing the glazing and the working out how to put the framing back on.  The sanding and polishing went well and after a dip or two in Johnson's, the nose was ready to have the faming reinstated BUT, how to do this?

Well, at first, I had a break of about 8 months to think about it, then considered my options.  As I had by now intended to spray the aircraft, the framing really needed to be sprayed too as the paint I am using is ready thinned for spraying and is not easily brush painted, so I could:

1.  Make the framing out of sprayed Tamiya tape or sticky label, cut it into strips and stuck on.  I disregarded option 1 almost immediately as I felt the medium would be too thick and I would have prominent 'bumps' where the tape crossed over at junctions, plus it would not conform to the curves on the glazing easily.

2.  Make the framework out of sprayed bare metal foil cut into thin strips and stuck onto the glazing.  I have used this before and knew it would be thin enough and easy to apply to the curves of the glazing BUT would it take and hold the paint?

3.  I could cover the whole nose in bare metal foil and cut the framework out, effectively making my own mask, then spray the nose, peeling the foil mask off once the whole thing had been sprayed and finished.

Option 3 sounded like a lot of fiddly work so I decided to give option 2 a go.  Accordingly, I sprayed a strip of foil, gave it a coat or 2 of Johnsons to seal it and then some matt varnish.  Once completely dry, I put a new blade in my knife and had a go at cutting thin strips.  There was a bit of 'silvering at the edges and when 'burnishing' the foil onto the nose with a cocktail stick rubbed smooth with 1200 grit wet 'n' dry (the slightest little lump, bump or splinter will tear the foil), the paint sadly didn't hold too well.  Although it would be a grand way of doing a very well weathered nose glazing, this was not what I wanted to achieve so it was option 2 then.

Tonight, I bit the bullet, covered the nose in foil and began the painstaking process of slowly cutting away the strips that would make up the framework, first marking the rough lines in with pencil.  TO MY SURPRISE, I thoroughly enjoyed the process.  Taking it nice and steady and gradually getting each 'frame' to the correct thickness, I sliced and pared away minute strips of the foil, burnishing the edges back down once I had taken enough off.  It will take another couple of nights before I am done but at last I am making progress and have discovered another thing I can do!  So as not to waste the foil, I used the rest of the strip I had sprayed and filled in the areas it did not cover with 'raw' foil.  I hope you can see the results of my work and also the heavy chipping effect of my experiment. 

Hopefully it may inspire some of you who have not used the foil before to pluck up the courage and have a go.  It's wonderful stuff and I really don't know why I've been such a baby about it.

Kiteman

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #21 on: March 17, 2017, 05:12:48 PM »
Keep it coming Wizzel

Wizzel

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #22 on: March 25, 2017, 10:10:57 PM »
A little more progress.  I'm getting more confident with cutting the framework and though it's far from perfect yet, it's certainly good practice and you may remember the kit was only a few quid anyway so I'm losing nowt but gaining a lot if it all goes wrong.

There are a few sections of the nose glazing that are not quite right but I reckon I can sort that out by covering and re-cutting those small sections as the foil is that conformist.  The glazing HAD to be fixed to the plane at some stage so I decided to pass the point of no return and get it done.  This also involved fixing the Lewis gun in place first and I thought there being less chance of damage if I was just very careful rather than to cut off the barrel and fix it back afterwards where it was bound to sag or just drop off into the carpet 2 minutes later.

The cockpit glazing I decided to fit PRIOR to covering with foil and then cut the framework in situ.  It's going okay.  Again not perfect but I'm enjoying it.

The fit of the glazing is not perfect on either pieces - the nose glazing sits slightly high on the underside so I will be taking a sanding stick to the belly to remove the slight step.  The cockpit canopy broke the seal of the fuselage halves in between it and the nose glazing so again, I have a small step to fill and re-sand to profile.  GOOD PRACTICE.  I fixed the glazings in place with wood glue which hopefully will be strong enough to keep them secure but not mess up the transparency.  There is a little cleaning up to do around the edges but that's for another day.

A couple of pictures are attached so you can see my somewhat clumsy efforts so far. 

Oh, don't worry about the messy finish on the aircraft so far, I have been practicing airbrushing on it.  So far, it's had coats of panzer grey, flat coat (accidental winter finish!), rubber black, dark earth and light sand!  It'll get rubbed down a bit before the silver goes on.
« Last Edit: March 25, 2017, 10:14:33 PM by Wizzel »

Kiteman

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #23 on: March 28, 2017, 07:22:19 PM »
It is good to see that you are willing to experiment, learn and share your experiences with us. Thank you.

Bigkev

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #24 on: March 28, 2017, 08:53:06 PM »
Hi Wizzel,
Fully agree with Kiteman, its nice to see what you have done and your efforts to get a good result.
I'm watching this one closely.
Bigkev
I hope my next is always better

Kiteman

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Re: POLE TO POLE - PZL 37 A & B
« Reply #25 on: March 31, 2017, 07:43:07 PM »
smooth Wizzel, very smooth. Nice one.