American Eagle ATR-72 1/144

[TheChronicOne]

Totally. Thanks!!!!

So anyway!!! Two transfers left.... the silver things that go on the nacelles, then I'm going to cram a chopstick into the gear bay and clear coat it.

I've done a wee bit of dry fitting with the gear and as I suspected I'm going to have to whittle and cut down the nose gear but I think the gear in the back will work. Not sure though, the "stuff" in the gear bay is a bit weird. There are raised parts with cutouts in them and I'm not sure the purpose but from what I've gathered so far, the gear attach to these then there are two parts to the gear doors that go on after. I'm just worried about the stance. Even with dry fitting, it's hard to tell the complete story on the MAIN gear until they're attached. I'm toying with the idea of applying a teeny tiny bit of CA to them just to temporarily attach them so I can check the stance then I can easily snap 'em back off and either adjust them or glue them on properly. After that, I can do the nose gear. I save it till last so I can cut it down if need be.

[TheChronicOne]

All the transfers are on now. I decided to gloss coat it outside in the wind... to compensate for said wind, I held the can a little too close to the subject. Wind lets up a bit, clear goes on heave, and had some pooling up of the material. This not only had a deleterious effect on the transfers ("melted" and warped a couple of small transfers and put a small dip into the cheatline) but it mixed with the adhesive and ran it out and it turned yellow. I've had this happen before and I was able to UV bleach it away. Problem is, this is literally the worst time of the year to be doing this because ... we JUST had the Winter Solstice here and the sunlight is the weakest and most inderect it could possibly be. Coupled with being winter and cloudy all the time I just haven't been able to completely zap away the yellow yet. I'll get it done eventually but this single handedly has set this thing back by weeks so far.

BUUUUUUUUT.......... I've gone ahead and worked out the maing landing gear and have them on now. It took a fair bit of adjusting and all that but I eventually figured it out and they're on and look good. Next I'll put on the nose gear then all that is left are gear doors and the props.



Look closely there to the rear and you can see some of the yellowing I was talking about.

[F-27pax]

This is looking pretty good. Pity about the yellowing. I've had this problem a few times with rattle can clear top coats. It's the reason that I almost invariably airbrush on the top coat to have a better control over the amount going on. You'll just have to make sure nobody picks up the model to see this little problem.

[TheChronicOne]

Weeeeell.... there's another yellow splotch on the side of the thing....Terrible! I have to try to get that offa there if I can. It may take awhile but if the sun ever returns and it's not too windy I can keep sitting it outside until it goes away. Last time I used this technique it worked in less than an hour! But, this was in the middle of the summer... strong direct sunlight all day long and no clouds.

STILL, even the "bad" splotch isn't that noticeable and the lil airplane looks really nice! I'm so happy with it! I'm about to start working on it again shortly. I'm going to get the nose gear on then I may as well put everything else on as well. It's finished at that point... just the pesky yellow will remain.

Lastly, thanks!! It's been a labor of love. Even with all my mistakes it's been a ton of fun to work on a subject that I'm really happy to be doing.

[TheChronicOne]

All done!



1/144 ATR-72, American Eagle. Kit by F-RSIN, decals by Nazca. Finished with Rustoleum appliance epoxy then some Krylon gloss clear. OOB aside from the aftermarket decals. No mods of any sort.












This is only the third airliner I've ever made and I've only been doing them for a year now so It could be better but I'm very happy with how it turned out!


I'll grab more pics later, in particular some with it sitting with the other two!

[RayS]

Missed this one being finished Brad. Nicely done!

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks, bud!!!! One of my favorites for sure!