DeHavilland Comet-4 by Comet Studios

**scyg** · #1 12-23-2008, 09:23 AM

Having grown up on card modeling and East German Plasticart model airliners in 1/100 scale back in the 1970s, when I saw Comet Studios' creation (Models - Comet Studios) I just had to give it a try.
To prove that I've actually done something, here are two pictures:

So far, so good, though the radome is probably a bit too "pointy". I'll see when I've managed to get a few more sections together.
Oh yes, and the bottom picture shows the first lesson I've learned - inkjet prints don't take well to white glue. Something like the smudge on the blue part would not show up this badly on offset print.

**scyg** · #2 12-23-2008, 11:22 AM

Well, seeing as I just got a big job order to be knocked out before New Years, not to mention the look I got from my wife when she saw me "mucking around" with models in the midst of Christmas preparations, this is likely to be my last post in this topic for a few days. Here's what I've got done so far:

**scon10** · #3 12-25-2008, 08:48 AM

Looks good. Don't forget to spray inktjet fixative onto the printed sheets before handling them. It will prevent strains etc from glue and -if you do that- varnishing the finished model.

Zathros · #4 12-25-2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scon10

Looks good. Don't forget to spray inktjet fixative onto the printed sheets before handling them. It will prevent strains etc from glue and -if you do that- varnishing the finished model.

Where do you get that from, or what else can one use as a fixative?

Good start on the model.

**Lex** · #5 12-25-2008, 11:19 AM

I can't help but to say that you must have had a vast amount of experience. I'm looking forward to this build!

Scon: I'd love to hear more about that fixative or something...

**scyg** · #6 12-25-2008, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lex

I can't help but to say that you must have had a vast amount of experience

Thanks, but I wouldn't call it vast. I've built some models in the past (the only one I've still got up on the web is at zealot.com: [photos] RWD-4 MM 12/1996 - Zealot Hobby Forum), but I'm still a learner and a dabbler at best.

And Lex, as long as you've dropped by, I want to thank you for giving us all this little bundle of joy. And Merry Christmas, everyone.

Now that I'm thinking about it, perhaps it would be better to start over having fixed the printouts. Any suggestions for fixatives?

**scon10** · #7 12-26-2008, 05:43 AM

Lex, if you look at this thread, you'll see the discussion on inktjet fixatives:
Red River silver paper and the glare
Regards.

**scyg** · #8 12-26-2008, 10:48 AM

Welcome back from the holidays. Despite the dire consequences, I managed to get a couple of hours in on the Comet this morning. Since I had the nose part pretty well advanced, I decided not to go ahead with the fixative until the model is complete, when I'll spray it with glossy lacquer (type not decided yet - still waiting for recommendations). I'll definitely fix future inkjet printouts, as they are too delicate for even the minimal handling I try to give them during construction (see below).

I started off with the pilot's cabin, which after a few tries fit together as well as I had any right to expect:

After thinking a bit about how to put the nose together, I decided to get rid of several parts of the very comprehensive structure - I left out parts B1 and B2 and I'm planning to leave out B8 and B9. I kept B4 - B6, but that could probably be left out as well. I'll be retaining B10 only because it is needed for the forward landing gear, which I expect will require additional reinforcement as things stand (but more about that when I get to it :-) ). Here's what things looked like before I inserted the nose formers:

For future builders, one word of warning - the formers don't take their thickness into account, so you either have to cut them slightly smaller or sand them down before gluing.

I try to do most of the retouching before putting the parts together:

And here are the four rings that connect the pilot's cabin to the cylindrical part of the fuselage:

and the whole section assembled:

Because I had constructed the nose a bit differently than designed, I had to double up frame B7 and connect this part without a joining strip. Unfortunately this resulted in a bit of a jog just aft of the pilot's cabin, but it's not too bad. What's worse is the glue damage on the other side of the fuselage, forward of the Union Flag. Here's my poor attempt at retouching the stain (though it doesn't look this bad without the macro magnification):

Anyhow, so far I'm very pleased with the fit of the parts and the alignment of the graphics - big kudos to Lex.

**Lex** · #9 12-26-2008, 12:01 PM

Thanks, that's a very nice fit! About the paper thickness, I'm too used to build with 80g printing paper, whose thickness causes little trouble, and so that is why I warned (did I?) about fitting issues with thicker paper.

I love the edge colouring too! I never expected to see it done down to the smallest detail like the union flag.

And thanks for the link too scon!

**scyg** · #10 12-26-2008, 11:06 PM

The current state of things:

Unfortunately all too late, I noticed that my printer had played an ugly trick on me and printed one sheet of fuselage parts lighter than the other. This is not a problem with the file itself, so no need to worry, but for me it's too late - I would have to rebuild a huge section of the fuselage or the entire nose to correct it. That would spoil the fun a bit, so I'm just going to leave things as they are. Anyway, the difference is not too glaring in normal light.

One more thing - I can't edit the posts above, but I meant to say that the formers don't take the thickness of the joining strips into account, not their own. Just to clear things up. But as Lex said, everyone uses different paper, so it's probably better this way.