Challenge Build 737-268C - AIR SAUDIA -

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks, bud!!!! Back to work on this one. I gave it a final sand then sprayed it all down one last time in primer. There are a couple places where doors sunk in a tiny little bit. It's hard to see them, but under certain light it becomes apparent. This could very well go away under the decals but then again if the decals don't line up perfectly it could be a problem. I may wind up patching these areas or I might just leave them alone. I'll make a decision on that tomorrow then it's either a couple patch repairs followed by a couple more days of PSR or I'll proceed with appliance white. After that comes some tedious masking to get NMF going and the different greys. One "Boeing Grey" for the wing root areas and another shade for some stuff they sprayed onto the bottom.

[Ansett A330]

Remember this back on Page 2 :

[TheChronicOne]

Yeah buddy!! I used it to do the wings a long time ago. It's been months now, but the wings and tail stabs are all finished and have been sitting in a cupboard. I'm just needing to get the fuselage painted now. Two different shades of grey and NMF plus some nerve wracking masking. Hopefully it'll be better once I get into it. That's usually how it goes... the anxiety about the situation is worse than the actual situation. I know that's how it always is when I mask canopies. I did TWO the other night....one for a Royal Lao AT-28D Nomad (Fennec/Trojan) and one for an AH-1 Super Cobra. Each time I do one, it gets easier, but still... the 'thought' of masking canopies isn't usually a pleasant one. But... I'm getting off track here...

[TheChronicOne]

Initial coats of appliance white are going on. So far, I'm not impressed. I've likely done something wrong and will need to let these coats adequately dry then sand and try again.

I hope not, I could be over exaggerating things but I think I saw some orange peel. At least I'm trying. I'll get there eventually...

[TheChronicOne]

A bit of an update on the Tin Mouse. It would seem that my deletion of the surplus rudder hinge has worked well and the finish below the paint is adequate. Bad news is, however, that the initial layers of paint I've put on had orange peeled and there are a couple things trapped in the finish... dust bunnies or whatever. I'm going to need to do some sanding before I proceed with more coats. Not sure when I 'll start this. It has been drying now for... uhh.... 7-8 days or something like that but I might wait longer.



In the meantime, however, I can continue working on the engines. I've already started chopping them up. I cut them, then I'll need to file the pieces flush (and square) then I'll need to add either 4 or 5 mm in the form of a plug that I'll make out of.... something.



There's still even more little odds and ends I need to take care of like modifying the nose gear doors. I've already started by cutting them down but I need to put additional pieces on them that serve as the rear portion of the nose gear fairing. Also, the vortex dissipators need to be done but I'm pretty sure I'll wait until the engines are done. I've already made the stretched sprue, it's just a matter of getting them built and I figure I lessen my chances of breaking or losing them if I wait until later to do them.

[TheChronicOne]

Everything ground to a halt. I've been injured which has lead to being sick. That said, I have felt a bit better lately and have managed to sand the fuselage and fin in an attempt to rid myself of the orange peel. Soon, I will attempt once more to paint it.

I've also managed to finish a couple things which frees up more time for this one. I'm actually pretty enthusiastic about it... If I can get this next phase of painting to work out well, I might be able to get back on track to make the deadline.

[72linerlover]

Everything ground to a halt. I've been injured which has lead to being sick.

Hope you're getting better.
Take care of your health.

Eugenio

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks!! Been problematic for over a month then about a week ago it got really bad. Lost 20 pounds, couldn't eat... etc. All having to do with groin injury. Pretty miserable stuff. Thankfully, I've been feeling much better the last 3 days and it seems to be holding for now!

[TheChronicOne]

Back to work on this one!!!! I sprayed it once with appliance white but it went all to shit so I've since sanded it back down and it has say well long enough that I can spray it again. So, that's on the agenda for today. This time, I'm going to spray it in a place that isn't so problematic with dust and cramped spaces so I can get the spray right. These nozzles have a funny fan pattern that has to be accounted for.

ALSO, I've finally started work on modifying the engines! I have a plan, it's just matter of sticking to it. I'm merely going to elongate the nacelles to the proper length and beef up the pylons. Only other thing will be the vortex dissipators. Anyway.... my approach to this is to simply cut the piece off the rear of the engin and install styrene rod and glue it back on, with the 5mm space in between. Yes, 5mm instead of 4mm as I used a hack saw with a thick blade to make the cuts so I have to account for the material that is now gone away. After that, I'll fill in the area with milliput and shape it. Once dry, I'll sand it down and this will give me the proper "taper" going from front to back instead of having a tube piece in between two tapered pieces. After that, I'll build up the pylon area with miliput and mash it to the wing undersides to get the right shape then of course come back later and shape it with file and sandpaper.

Other things I still need to do are to mask the areas on the fuselage for the two shades of grey and for the silver color. Still need to make the aforementioned vortex dissipators. I'll do that after the engine work is done I think. I still need to make one last modification to the nose gear doors. I need to glue the gravel deflector plate to the nose gear. I've made the damn thing, at least, though! Boy that was tedious!! So... hard part is out of the way. I think I was going to wait unti near the end to do it anyway so I could make sure it's lined up properly with the ground. Then of course there's the decals and detail painting. Good news is, though, is that I'm working on it and am tackling what I consider to be the hard parts (BECAUSE I'VE NEVER DONE ANY OF THIS BEFORE... THE HELL WAS I THINKING?!?) PE scratch build and modifications all over the damn place. I've done very limited scratch build stuff before, mainly in the way of things like antennas, an double IRST for a Sea Eagle, and other simpler things... This whole gravel system and ADV stuff has me doing lots of junk I've never tried before so it's taking EONS.


TL;DR: Finally working on modifying the engines to make correct for ADV. Starting to see light at end of tunnel, but still long way to go.

[TheChronicOne]

Rolling around the idea of another sand and another coat of appliance white for the fuselage. It's pretty nice at current but there are issues in the finish here and there.... kind of bugs me.

Right now I'm working on the engine extensions. The way I approached it forced me into having to put excess Milliput on them and now it is a huge pain sanding it away. In fact, I've decided I need to stop and buy a Dremel tool and bits. I have a nice set of Swiss files but even with those this is too much. I need some power. I learned a lesson, however. Next time I will attempt to fill as much as I can with styrene before I putty so that I don't have a loose mass of putty that doesn't want to stay put.

Slow going still, but I'm determined to make sure this is done right. If it takes another half a year, so be it.