F-84F - HobbyModel - 1/33

[Erik Zwaan]

Great looking ejection seat Ricleite. What are you using for edge coloring? By the neatness of it all I would say you're using felt markers. Looking forward to the next update.

Cheers,
Erik

[ricleite]

Thanks I choose not to add detail to the kits. Sometimes, it is useful to add tabs and reinforcements but they are always hidden...

@ Elliott - hmm, you made me curious Time to investigate...
@ Erik - correct! I use felt markers. Mainly Tombow dual brush pens. In my view, they give good results with almost no work.

The tail section has a lot of colorful markings. The horizontal tail structure is not very strong but, as it has to cope only with its own weight, I didn’t add reinforcements.

[Longbow]

Very clean build ! Well done

[MacSongLi]

Coming along very nicely. You build a nice clean model.

Gary

[ricleite]

Thanks, Longbow and Gary

I use the rolled paper strip method to model the tires. The wheel centers use the same method as I find the end result stronger than a stack of card circles.

[Don Boose]

Excellent wheels and tires. Do you turn them on some sort of lathe? If so, what do you use for a mandrel (mandril)?

Incidentally, I, too, like to use Tombow ABT pens interchangeably with Pitt pen brushes for edge coloring.

Don

[Mike1158]

Originally Posted by ricleite

Thanks, Longbow and Gary

I use the rolled paper strip method to model the tires. The wheel centers use the same method as I find the end result stronger than a stack of card circles.

Thanks for that tip, I will keep it in mind for my tanks.

[milenio3]

Neat progress on the airplane, Ric!
Always a pleasure to see your reports.

[Erik Zwaan]

Wow, that's a very neat way of making the tires! But I must say that using laminated e.g. 1mm thick cardboard circles, glued together and pressed in a glue clamp until dry yields the same neat result. After sanding the edges to shape the wheel I use a flat brush to sort of soak the sanded surface with white glue. This gives a strong wheel and prevents peeling off of the edges. What I like about the laminated cardboard treated this way is that it leaves the optical appearance of tire treading.
After painting with Tamiya rubber black I use a bit of grey to highlight the treading with the dry brush technique. Finally a puff of varnish to protect the whole thing and voila, 400 years later some art critic will conclude you were in fact a Rembrandt after all .

Because, and that's a fact: Paper modeling is Art. As you show us each time!

Cheers,
Erik

[ricleite]

@ Erik – I have no doubt that the “standard” method for the tires works very well It even allows getting some sort of tire treading, as you say. The fact is that I have easy access to a large scale plotter. It is good to limit the number of paper strip sections. A 25mm diameter wheel requires approximately 4340mm, in ordinary 80g/m2 paper.
I use very basic gouache paint. So, no Rembrandt aspiration for me

Answering to Don’s question, the process is entirely manual. I made an Excel spreadsheet to compute the varying width of the paper strips for the tire. Then, it is drawn, printed and cut with a small knife. Regarding the center, I only put glue at the beginning and at the end. The cylinder will be stabilized by the paper circles on both faces. Regarding the tire, I always keep putting tiny bits of glue during the rolling process, which is quite fast. A few minutes and it is done. So, no lathe and much less a mandrel. You just have to believe that a properly computed, varying width paper strip, will somehow transform into a tire. And it does!

Today’s pictures show the center fuselage, including the wing structure. I intend to make some add-ons to this structure…