MaksArt 1/72 Lun Projekt 903

[MacSongLi]

WOW, that is a whole lot of formers. Very nice work.

Gary

[SJPONeill]

Thanks, Gary...they are all pretty simple shapes, even though there are a lot of them and the fit is such that they all go together really well... It's a great design...

[SJPONeill]

It's be a while since I've reinforced any models with expanding foam and I found that I had undergone some skill fade...

Trying to inject the foam directly into the honeycomb structure was kind messy with lots of wastage...

However, using the right tools, I was able to tidy the first batch of parts up...

I ran out of foam before even getting half the parts done so grabbed another can when I was in town - tossed up on getting two but figured I would be sweet with just another one; I really should listen more to my inner voice...these are the parts after the second go-round. This time I used masking tape to enclose the internal areas to trap the foam to both reduce wastage and encourage it to better expand into the internal spaces...here you see the parts just having had the tape removed...

Obviously a lot cleaner but still didn't have enough foam...

These three pix show how much cleaner it is when taping the parts first...

Next time I will try wrapping the larger parts in clingfilm and where necessary cut interjoining holes between the spaces to allow the foam to spread between them internally. Another problem that I encounter was that the tip of the dispenser tube accumulates a lot of excess foam which make sit difficult to get the tip into the hole left in the tape to squirt the foam into...

Thinner pieces like the wings, and tail pieces are probably better filled using foam board cut to fit the spaces - I can reprint the relevant former parts to use as templates for cutting the foam board to fit and, once it is secure in place, sand it to shape in the traditional manner...

My pix have now caught up with my build and so 'progress' may slow down for a while as I coordinate days off (with daylight saving just ended, the days are really long enough when I am working to slip in any outside modelling tasks like sanding foam) with decent weather...

[SJPONeill]

Just ordered 4 x Quickboost Gsh-23-2 barrels...had been searching high and low for them with no joy, then just stumbled over them looking for something else...

[SJPONeill]

Not too much progress the last week or so...still quite a bit of foam sanding to be done which is definitely an outside job on a sunny day - tricky as winter approaches and the days cool and shorten... The four 23mm barrels arrived tonight - very fast service from the Czech Republic - and I will offset the (minor) cost by selling off the Gatling barrels as I don't have any late model Hinds...these are way too delicate to make from paper but now that I have seen them and since I only need the barrels and not rest of the cannon that is supplied, I could probably have made these myself...will do that on the next one...

Have a couple of weeks of leave coming up so hope to make some major progress then...

[SJPONeill]

Still chipping away at this beast. I've got most of the larger subassemblies that I foamed with expanding foam sanded into shape, in have started to fill the gaps in the smaller and flatter parts with foam board.

Pix to follow just as soon as I find my camera. It can't be too far away as I downloaded my pix from Tupapakurua Falls last night...

[SJPONeill]

One of the wingtip outrigger pontoons taking shape...

[tatasam]

Hi tools Model buy in the same store
I look forward to further progress .

Henryk