Eagles Talon X-13 Verijet!

[Andrew Gorman]

A small vac kit. 28 or so parts. I think it can be done.  Cutting out the parts should take less than an hour so starting ahead seems like cheating. I have an idea to use the finished kit in another project so I have incentive.

[sandiego89]

Neat, but I must have spent what seemed like10 hours sanding my Vacuform Eagles Talons Ryan Fireball from the backing material.  Very tedious.  Best of luck, the Vertijet is a great subject
   

[zenrat]

I was just reading the rules and pondering whether anyone would be brave enough to attempt a vacform kit.

Good luck.   

[Dizzyfugu]

It's the question what appears from it after a week! 

[Andrew Gorman]

I've really warmed up to vacuform kits.  Once you get the basic construction methods down-which can take a few attempts-it's a straightforward process to stick them together.  And if you keep looking, they can be dirt cheap! Mark the parts outlines with a permanent marker, cut through the backing sheet at a 45 degree angle and when you sand down to the black line you are just about there.  I really admire the dedication of the guys who built the masters and produced the kits in the 1970s! high tech at the time. 

[PR19_Kit]

I really admire the dedication of the guys who built the masters and produced the kits in the 1970s! high tech at the time. 

Too right!

I saw Harry Broadhurst's (?) 1/72 vacform B-P Overstrand at an IPMS meeting in London in 1969 or so, and it just blew me away! I just couldn't conceive how anyone could even THINK of doing something like that.   

[Andrew Gorman]

I didn't stay up late and I have errands and a hoarders estate sale to go to, but here are the bits as of 0850, PDT. Spats are of unknown origin, but I like spats!

[sandiego89]

whew! don't sand your fingerprints off!

[Andrew Gorman]

Just make a tab/handle from sticky tape to save the fingerprints.

[Andrew Gorman]

Made some progress today. The bulkheads needed some fitting, but everything else is moving along.  I'm going to use a spares box seat, which cuts the parts count down by 10, and it's a mild scale-o-rama for it's intended use. The estate sale as a good one- the intention was just to clear the place out after the demise of a Union Glazier who never threw anything out.  The dumpster parked in the driveway was a good sign! I left with a small vise, a nice pair of poultry shears and a US army ammo box. If anyone knows where the spats came from, I'm curious.

[zenrat]

The spats do look familiar.  Fiat CR32?

<no they had three struts per wheel.  But they do look like some i've used.>

[Andrew Gorman]

Fingerprint savers- just some tape to make a handle while sanding parts.  I used filament tape because it was handy, but it dos seem to last longer. Remove the tape when you are done before the adhesive has a chance to bite in. I also try to void as much sanding as possible.  Marking the part edge with a permanent marker and cutting through at a 45 degree angle reduces the amount of backing sheet material you nee to remove and gives you a stop line where the part begins.  I try to cut as much of this off with a sharp knife. and scraping seems to be faster and with more control than sanding, which is just for the final approach.  For big sections I've even used a rotary tool drum sander at low speeds while being very, very careful.