A 'virtual' Short Super Sealand amphibian - SORTED!

[PR19_Kit]

Working on the Super Sealand's wing floats now.

The resin is a bit soft and there were a number of air bubbles on the surfaces so they needed some PSR. That wasn't too bad except they're so small that trying to hold their curved, slippery shape while sanding wasn't the easiest job! However that's sorted now and I've attached the struts, which took some serious engineering.

I didn't have much confidence in a superglued butt joint holding on through mucho moves to shows and back, so decided to add some wire struts to the joint. The problem was the struts are only 1 mm wide at the joint surface and so is the wire............

I drilled the floats in the correct place, after lots of measuring from the plans and drawing in the bits, and glued a length of wire in place, and then sawed a 1 mm wide slot in the strut to take the short length of wire. They'll need some PSR later of course but they should be OK.

[PR19_Kit]

After doing other things for a couple of weeks (like building ROCKETS for goodness sake!) I finally plucked up enough courage to put the canopy on the Sealand. Superglue was a no-no of course as it would have frosted over on the inside with the fumes, and Lift Here recommend 2-part epoxy. As it happens I have some to hand, but it's the type that's meant for metal, so I tested it by gluing a small bit of the canopy offcuts onto a bit of scrap resin from the kit and it worked a treat! 

So I mixed up a tiny bit more and applied it to the narrow ledge around the cockpit and gingerly held the canopy in place, taping it down as soon as it was correctly positioned.

An hour later it was on there for good and seems really strong too.



I've done a bit of PSR where it overlaps the roof, but I don't need it anywhere else as the real Sealand has sliding side windows so it's fine for them to stand proud a little. I can mask up the windows now and then start the proper primer and PSR routine on the whole model.

[Gondor]

I hope that epoxy is not holding your car together.

[PR19_Kit]

No, it's spot welded!

[PR19_Kit]

The Super Sealand's  done with all that PSR and priming stuff, at last!

It took a bit of an age, specially round the cockpit and the new engines, but now it's ready for some paint. 

[Wardukw]

That's looking yummy Kit   

[Old Wombat]

She's looking very, very good, Kit!   

[Rick Lowe]

 

[PR19_Kit]

I've spent the last two DAYS masking up the Super Sealand to paint the blue parts! And it's used every bit of my meagre masking tape supply as well.

It's such an awkward shape to hold and to mask around and I'd wish the lunatic who designed the colour scheme on the FS model further if it wasn't me who did it in the first place! 

This disastrous looking pic is how it is prior to me having at it with the blue spray.........

[Old Wombat]

We can be our own worst enemies, sometimes, can't we.     

[kerick]

Those civilian aircraft with all the stripes down the fuselage can drive ya nuts! I'll go with the camo pattern please! Good luck with the masking!

[Rick Lowe]

Those civilian aircraft with all the stripes down the fuselage can drive ya nuts! I'll go with the camo pattern please! Good luck with the masking!

Indeed.
There again, some of the Military schemes can be annoying - the RNZAF Bristol Freighter in white over silver with blue cheat lines springs to mind...
So I'm still debating which scheme to do mine in... only been cogitating for a few decades now, but as it's not on the immediate build list, there's time.

[PR19_Kit]

As an old time Airliner modeller I'd use decal stripes normally for this job, but I had to match the fin colour with the stripe EXACTLY and that's never easy with a decal/paint mix, and I had the correct paint to hand anyway.

The blue came out really well actually, no bleeding at all, and just a few tiny blemishes to sort out. It's the white next, once I've bought more  more tape tomorrow.

[Rick Lowe]

The blue came out really well actually, no bleeding at all, and just a few tiny blemishes to sort out. It's the white next, once I've bought more  more tape tomorrow.

Result! Nice when that happens. 

[kerick]

The blue came out really well actually, no bleeding at all, and just a few tiny blemishes to sort out. It's the white next, once I've bought more  more tape tomorrow.

Result! Nice when that happens. 

Excellent!