Gremir P-61 Black Widow

[Erik Zwaan]

Looking good! Instrument panel, levers and pedals so nicely detailed. Interesting to follow along.

Erik

[modelperry]

Thank you all for checking in and for the encouragement and advice.

To address a few of the points raised:

I have the vacuformed canopy set for this model, so I'm good there.

I'm already trying to figure out where to stuff nose weight.

While the advice on the nose is good, there is a bit of a problem in this case. The nose art extends into the petals of the nose. If I do the whole putty/sand/ paint routine, the nose art get obliterated. I guess I could print the parts of the nose art out again and piece it over top like a decal. Thats why I'll build up the other nose first to see how things fit up to begin with.

Anyway on to last night's progress:

The pilot seat, belts and remaining front panel components were built up and installed. No fit issues.

greg

[palindrome]

Where did you get the canopy?

[modelperry]

Originally Posted by palindrome

Where did you get the canopy?

I got it from Orlik or GPM. Don't remember which. If you need one, look for the canopy for Answer's P-61 as it is the same model.

greg

[Don Boose]

Thanks for the canopy info. I was wondering the same thing. I think I bought two P-61 canopies about five years ago but cannot find them.

Don

[Isaac]

Originally Posted by modelperry

I'm already trying to figure out where to stuff nose weight.

While the advice on the nose is good, there is a bit of a problem in this case. The nose art extends into the petals of the nose. If I do the whole putty/sand/ paint routine, the nose art get obliterated. I guess I could print the parts of the nose art out again and piece it over top like a decal. Thats why I'll build up the other nose first to see how things fit up to begin with.


greg

Greg

As far as where to put the weight? In the nose with the putty!!!!

The nose art must be sacrificed if it goes to the petals. You can print that portion on a very thin paper and glue on later blending the edges with the paint you will used to finish the nose.


Make a spare nose to experiment.


Isaac

[modelperry]

Originally Posted by Isaac

Greg

As far as where to put the weight? In the nose with the putty!!!!

The nose art must be sacrificed if it goes to the petals. You can print that portion on a very thin paper and glue on later blending the edges with the paint you will used to finish the nose.


Make a spare nose to experiment.


Isaac

All good points. I will be making a spare nose out of the "times a wastin" parts and I've done the bond paper lamination techniques before with limited success. However the weight issue is not so easy as I intend to build the included radar equipment and have the nose be removable.

Thanks for the input, though. I do greatly appreciate it as I am sure other future builders of this model will too. Every bit of advice in these build threads has validity and can help future builders overcome their own hurdles, even if the thread builder chooses a different path. The end result should be the use of techniques that work for the builder and variation to help those who see things differently.

greg

[rockpaperscissor]

Beautiful job so far.

I ain't afraid of no petals. Have used this technique many times with excellent results: I form a block of Sculpey/Fimo, etc of appropriate size, and impress a rough approximation of the final rounded form desired using a variety of tools depending on the shape. This can be something as simple as a marble, a rounded pen cap, etc. For more pointed conical shapes, you can use something like a knitting needle - keep the point stationary but rotate the shaft around to create a larger "mouth". Anyway, once you have an approximation of the shape you need, lay a piece of Saran Wrap, etc over the top, and press it down to line the hollow. Take your part and start building a rounded curve into the petals, and then join the sides to form an opened petalled ring. When fully dry, press your part down into the plastic wrap lined depression. The petals will follow the countour of the hole as you press down, and will close right up at the tip. Then use a brush to liberally coat the inside of the part with glue and (here comes the boring part), hold it down until its dry enough to hold the shape without the petals separating. Viola!

An added tip: when cutting petals, angle each side cut inwards - they will join up more neatly.

[Isaac]

My feeling is that for a complete nose, petals look really bad. It makes a beautiful model look crappy.


And yes, I did build some if there is no choice, but I try to avoid it.


Even for prop spinners it looks better with conventional conical sections or better yet, a turned wood dowel or another material that is correctly shaped on a drill or a lathe. Also vacuformed spinners look great.

My opinion

Isaac

[scissorsandplanes]

First of all I want to express my admiration for the work done on the model.
The P-61 is on my wishlist for quite some time but every time I want to start designing it I sort of freeze with the complexity of its shape. I have done worse, but since I want to do it right I just decide... to do another model.

As far as petals is concerned, I'm in line with Isaac. I prefer cones. What bothers me most with petals is the presence of the lines (Nothing a little bit of paint can't handle) and the glue usually messing things up (at 1/100 scale you kind of notice that easily: big smudges compared to small parts).

The only moments I use petals in my designs is for gun turrets that are composed of several facets. Using the metal frames as joins for the petals doesn't show that much.

Just my opinion.
Bruno

Oh, I think I mixed up this site with a professional site on a different subject. Nagging in stead of praising.