Chronic's Research and Aeronautics Project (C.R.A.P.)

[TheChronicOne]

Welcome to my C.R.A.P.!   


I don't think I'm going anywhere so rather than making a bunch of individual threads for each thing I build, I'll be putting the majority of it here in the interest of keeping the board less cluttered and so more variety can be on the front page(s).

On with the show...   

For the Old Kit GB I'm building a Mig 27 but I need to practice on something before I do that one so... I grabbed the gnarliest kit I could get my hands on. I already built one of these, although slightly different, for my "American Military Yak 9."  This one is a Yak 7 with the extra glass. It won't be a whif but I need to practice on something that will have me using every skill. (Well, aside from air brushing..homie don't play that yet...  )


The Kit. Special thanks to Zenrat for identifying some of the pertinent info:  "..it's an RM models using KP molds." Made in Russia.

Anyway, after no less than 2 hours of triming, filing, and sanding down flash I managed to glue the wings together, fuselage halves together, then glue both of those pieces together to get the initial form. This plastic is so brittle.. I've had both halves of the fuselage have parts of the sidewall sheer off so I had to glue those back on....   The fitment is ridiculous:



...But what ya gonna do?! I picked this one on purpose because of the dozens of problems......    The little notch in the wing? I have no idea why that's there but I just "cleaned it up" a little and left it. I'm not going to spend TOO much time on this. This evening I'll be fiddling with some the small parts... the gear, control surfaces and stabs and all that good stuff.

That's all for now I guess... thanks for stopping by.   

[kerick]

That canopy is long enough for a two seater..........

[TheChronicOne]

C.R.A.P.

Hahahah!! I figured folks would get a kick out of that.   If nothing else, I'm sort of goofy....    This type of lame humour is typical for me.

[TheChronicOne]

That canopy is long enough for a two seater..........

Yeah, ain't that cool?? That's one thing that appealed to me on this kit. Oddly enough, considering the lack of quality elsewhere, it came with two separate canopies... this "long body" and a normal one. So that was a pleasant find. I'm of course using the extended one and having the other for the parts stash is awesome.

I didn't spend much time researching, but I did do SOME and found this tidbit on Wiki:

"Ya-27
two-seat prototype converted from a pre-serial I-26

Yak-7UTI
initial two-seat communication/trainer version, 186 built in 1941

Yak-7V
(vyvoznoy) two-seat trainer; 510 built in 1942/43 + 87 converted from Yak-7B

Yak-7K courier
VIP transport version. converted from Yak-7B, 1944."

I bolded that last one as it, to me, appeals the most. The kit box doesn't say which one it is..   (there's some Russian on the back that either says which one or is a unit designator, I don't know which as I don't speak Russian)    It has to be one of those, though. I also like the "communications" one.


A picture on Wings Pallete.

Thanks for the interest, y'all!   

[kerick]

That kit should be yuck instead of Yak......
You'll either improve your skills or give up model building!

[TheChronicOne]

That kit should be yuck instead of Yak......
You'll either improve your skills or give up model building!

LMAO   

I'm tellin' ya.....   

There's enough flash to scratch build a battleship....

[TheChronicOne]

Ha!! I just found this out on the internet proper and it cracked me up:

[TheChronicOne]

The work continues!



Of note in this picture is my Bic Cover-It correction fluid. I call it "Poor Man's Mr. Surfacer" and use it for the same type of thing Mr Surfacer would be used on. 



For the un initiated, Mr. Surfacer is pretty much a really thin filler used to get into and fill tight spaces or whatever.. I'm sure their website could explain it better than I but you get the idea. I'd say it's a close to paint as a filler could be and still be filler. 

Back to the correction fluid. I find it to pretty handy but haven't used a whole lot of it yet. So far seems to be so good, though. I've never used Mr. Surfacer products but heard they were fantastic.

[DogfighterZen]

C.R.A.P.

[TheChronicOne]

Happy to oblige both of yas!   

One note on the fluid, you'll need some pretty stout sand paper or files to start in on when you get to sanding it down. Hardens up pretty damn solid!  Not only that, dries really fast. But, it does seep into tighter areas decently.   

[TheChronicOne]

Moving forward...

Since this thing is going to have an "over all" paint scheme I'm going ahead with gluing on the horizontal stabs, elevators, and ailerons. One NICE thing I can say about this kit is that they can be glued in whichever fashion you choose. I like the "drooping gown" look, and, if I remember right, at least some planes look like this anyway when on the ground, powered down, and the pressure off of the hydraulics.

I've been moving pretty fast on this! I've been working on it today quite a bit but in comparison with the other one I built this is going much faster.  Hell, I'm near ready to start laying out camo but I think I'll file, trim, sand, and paint the landing gear and doors and all that tiny mess first. Get the hard stuff out of the way first, ya know? Also, I'm going to have to scratch build some of the gear because part went somewhere. Half of it is on the sprue and the other half. .....  ??     

Anyway:


I figured it would be fun to, on occassion, feature a kit from my stash for a background as a bit of "bonus" and something else to look at and maybe illicit discussion.

Thanks for lookin! 

[TheChronicOne]

Heavy artillery!!! 

Thanks for the bit on the Yak. I guess I should have known that. All direct controls. Not the only thing low-tech on the Yak... I was reading earlier today that the wings were wooden and the fuselage was cloth wrapped over substructure.  That explains the lines on the rear section! I always wondered about that. 

[TheChronicOne]

Heavy artillery!!! 

No not really, that'd be the dremel, drill and mouse sander.

Doubt I'll need to use those on correctional fluid....

Certainly not!!  In the meantime: fire up that Quickrete scratch build.......

[TheChronicOne]

Couldn't leave the models alone for long! I cracked the fuselage on my Bonanza   (see: current projects>aircraft)  and gave up last night but back it aready.

The Yak is ready for primer! Yay! I found out what the notch was in the wing....well... I found a picture anyway...looks like a landing light so I whipped out some clear sprue, chopped some of it up, crammed it in there, then slathered it with glue. I just now sanded it down to conform with the wing. That was all I was lacking before hitting it with the primer. I hope and pray not too many flaws come out. I don't planning on fixing much as this is Glorious Russian Model being built as an exercise. Not that I don't care about it or want to do well.. just won't be breaking my back to refine it.

I fixed the TURRIBLE canopy fitment issues to within the standards I'm looking for and am happy enough with it now...so... she's off to "our" (everyone of us who paint outside lol ) paint booth to lace Glorious Model with primer.  Then... hell I might let it dry for half an hour or so and start painting on it.  Can't wait.  Haven't done camo in about 25 years. 

"Bonus" kit this time as backdrop is the good ol' F1.

[TheChronicOne]

How's that for turn around?!

I can live with this!




OOPS! I Forgot: This particular version of the Yak 7 has fixed gear, I'll have to remember the the fact that I didn't put the gear doors into the wings and close it all up:




Goofy lil kits but they're growing on me. I wish I could get my hands on like 20 of them for about a dollar a piece.     or 10 for $2 a piece.  Great for practicing on.