Jim Gausman DGA 1/48 U.S. Army 54th UAC U-1A Otter

[Don Boose]

And the third time seems to have been the charm.

Image 1 below shows my desk this morning with the first three fuselage segments cut out and glued up.

Yesterday, when Kevin Stephens and I consulted on Otter construction, he pointed out that he had painted the joining tabs with Tamiya dark olive drab acrylic, which helped hide any small irregularities in the fuselage edge. Image 2 shows me applying a mixture of 7500.039 Olive Brown and 7500.019 Olive Black Neocolor II. In the background is the watercolor box where I save the shavings when I sharpen by Neocolor water soluble wax crayons. Image 3 shows the painted tabs.

I don’t know whether it was a matter of more careful cutting on my part or the slight adjustment that Jim made in the outline of fuselage part 3, but the troublesome gap did not appear. It is hardly a flawless fuselage, but the little dents and smudges are appropriate for an Army bird that had been flying in Vietnam for a few years.

Now to try to get the forward fuselage assembled. One side effect of the previous problems is that I have several spares to practice on.

Don

[Uyraell]

This shows every sign of emerging as a mighty fine model, Don B. my friend.
I've watched with interest as this one has gone through it's various iterations of the building phase.
I've also picked up a few useful building tips that I'd otherwise have missed.

I'm looking forward to seeing your VietNam era Otter emerge in its' final and doubtless excellent form.

Kind and Respectful Regards Don B. my friend, Uyraell.

[The Orange]

Don,

What a superb recovery! I envy your determination and absolute expertise in this craft.

Picture 1 illustrates that point perfectly. I love the organization and overall cleanliness - is that a binder with build reference pictures?

You may have answered this in a previous post, but if you would be so kind to
repeat it. Do you prepare your printed model pages with any coating? I'd like to
experiment with a few surface preparation techniques. I have almost zero
time for serious building, but in this time of exams and hard studying, I believe I can
fit technique study into my agenda.

[Don Boose]

Thank you for your gracious words, friends Uyraell and Johnray.

For some projects, I use a looseleaf for easy access to references. In this case, the references include the build photos that Jim Gausman has provided with the model, as well as the images from Mike Scalingi and Kevin Stephens's builds of this aircraft.

Yes. I spray the sheets with Krylon UV. It helps to make it easier to wipe away glue smears and makes the model slightly resistant to finger smudges. It also gives the paper a very slight tooth that makes the Neocolor II edge coloring more effective.


Don

[Tapcho]

You conquered it Don. Very nice fit and all in straight line. It was the Jim's fix that helped with to fix the gap - I had to buy the kit and check it out myself. Looking forward your next steps. I have the 'Antarctic expedition' livery on hold and I' planing to build her along the Tucker snowcat model. Lots of orange on the ice and snow.

BR Tappi

[The Orange]

Any time Don!

Krylon UV...I've tried Krylon Matte, but never heard of a UV formula. Perhaps a trip to Krylon's website will better inform myself.

Forgive my asking, but anything requiring model coating is fairly terra incognita to me - Could you explain how many coats you use per sheet? And is the paper fairly water resistant afterwards? How "hard" is the paper once the coat has been fully cured? Any other interesting properties?

As far as schooling goes, it seems we share a connection. However, I tend to forget, that instructors are just as "swamped", if not more - and it looks as if you're no exception. I appreciate your contribution in the "classroom" and here on the forums, it certainly is no smaller than the greatest of efforts. Pray, what on-line forum is this? Is it
private? It sounds like a very interesting class, and a very interesting group of people you instruct.

[Jim Nunn]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

I stumble through this build.
Don

Don,

Like Wilfried I just stumbled in.

I wouldn't say you are stumbling through it the model shows off your meticulous craftsmanship with nice seams, panel lines lining up and when finished it will be a very nice model.

As you once pointed out a grunt building aircraft and a squid building armor who would have guessed.

Jim

[scyeige]

Hi Don, your work is very clean and very precise... I'll be watching to learn from you.
Thanks for posting your build...

[Don Boose]

Well, Tappi, the Otter will look very good in orange – a little like an elongated Noorduyn Norseman. I look forward to seeing your diorama.

Johnrae – I use one coat of Krylon, sprayed without much precision standing at the open door of my garage. I have sent you a PM regarding my Army War College classes.

Thanks for stopping by and making the encouraging comment, scyeige. I hope all is well in Singapore. The next class in our Asian Regional Studies elective concerns Southeast Asia. We do not have the honor of an officer from Singapore in this year’s class, but the Malaysian brigadier will be making a presentation as part of that lesson.

Jim – I am always pleased when you show up in one of my threads. I very much value your judgment, and although we have never met face to face, I never forget that you were bobbing around in the South China Sea, protecting our flank as our Mike Boats headed for the beach off Long Tuan District in my one amphibious “assault.” I hope soon to return to my three armored projects, the 1/35 Carden Loyd tankette, the Flymodel 1/25 M3 light tank, and the vintage decoupage toy Japanese Type 95 light tank.

For now, other than the shout out to friends, there is not much to report. I got home from work not long ago and my only work on the Otter tonight was to cut out tabs from a spare forward fuselage (single image, below). I subsequently colored the edges of the forward fuselage and burnished the windscreen and surrounding fuselage to try to impart some compound curvature prior to gluing up the assembly.

Incidentally, speaking of Jim and my Vietnam days, I have been trying to locate some old photos in hopes that I might have captured one of the 54th UAC birds at Vinh Binh airfield. It was a Terry and the Pirates kind of place, with all kinds of aircraft flying in from time to time, and I am sure there were visits by U-1As, although, since it was a couple of years earlier than the time portrayed by “Big Daddy 77,” the markings were probably different.

More later,

Don

“Pardon me boys,
is that the Vinh Binh choo choo?
We’ve been waiting for you since we lost our last crew.
Can you afford to board the Vinh Binh choo choo?
A carbine for fare
and some ammo to spare . . .”

[-Jim G]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

For now, other than the shout out to friends, there is not much to report. I got home from work not long ago and my only work on the Otter tonight was to cut out tabs from a spare forward fuselage. I subsequently colored the edges of the forward fuselage and burnished the windscreen and surrounding fuselage to try to impart some compound curvature prior to gluing up the assembly.

Don, Once you get past gluing the side tabs on the windscreen, the rest is easy!