F-16a - building report

[ricleite]

A smile big enough to swallow almost everything
The canopy is simply fantastic!

[YOAVHOZMI]

thanks you guys for the kind words.



And on the chapter today ..... some creative work.

And this time ... an oval and gray dome on both sides of the nose.





In the files, this part consists of two parts .... one is flat with the shape of snow shoes and the other the dome itself with many slots on the sides to get the desired shape.








I do not like very small parts with lots of slots and so I turned to a different direction and it......design the part with the help of clay/plasticine.

At first, I took a piece of plasticine of the right size and designed it in my hand to the shape I wanted.

Then I cut in the middle the plasticine into two pieces with a cutting knife.

After that, I pasted the 2 halves of the plasticine on the two flat pieces and continued to shape until the desired shape was achieved.

At the end of the process, I applied gently a super glue on the parts to maintain the shape of the plasticine.








The gray dome is glued on the nose of the model.






So what do you think is better?
the original part, or the design part?

I also ask this, because I know that there are paper model builders who do not like to use materials that are not made of paper.


best regards

YOAV

[Kevin WS]

The design part is definitely better.

I think with paper models you have sometimes to accept the limitations of paper, and if something else will do the job - I think use it. Examples that are more obvious are rigging (!), canopies, thin rods, tiny gun barrels etc!

[bigpetr]

Hi Yoav,

did you try to waterform the domes? I have experimented with it and this shape and size is ideal for this technique.

You take a flat part, make it wet and then gently and slowly push it by some round shapde tool.

[YOAVHOZMI]

Originally Posted by bigpetr

Hi Yoav,

did you try to waterform the domes? I have experimented with it and this shape and size is ideal for this technique.

You take a flat part, make it wet and then gently and slowly push it by some round shapde tool.

I know this method.
I used it in the past for small round parts to produce round domes for aircraft's nose or armament.

I think that in this case, the method of waterform is not the best, because of the oval shape of the part and because of its depth.
But maybe I'm wrong.

What's more, with the Plasteline coated with super glue, I got a semi-gloss finish, which is exactly the same like the real bird, that the oval dome is in a semi-gloss texture compared to the colors of the plane, which are completely matte.

Anyway, thanks for the tip.


regards

YOAV

[Ponytail]

I'd prefer the original paper part. With the slot that gifs the papermodel its character.
Using the design makes it difficult to get the right color and shine. I don't spray papermodels with some laquer...

[Richschindler]

Your make up part certainly looks much better than the original paper one. I know the paper police might have something to say about it not being 100% paper. But I like it anyway.

[YOAVHOZMI]

A collection of items made of plasticine and assembled in my various models, such as....
wing edge lamps, joystick head, fuel pipe nipple, dome of the stop parachute , antennas and more.

YOAV

[Boris]

HI Yoav
Or you can vacuumform these covers from thin plastic and then paint it

[YOAVHOZMI]

Originally Posted by Boris

HI Yoav
Or you can vacuumform these covers from thin plastic and then paint it

This is a bit problematic, because there are lamps with a diameter of 2 mm, and make them with a vacuum box it is a little bit difficult and takes a lot of time and a lot of preparations and accessories.
and even more difficult it is then adapted to the designated hole/place in the model.

With colorful plasticine it is much easier and faster....to me anyway.
And I have many colors of plasticine.

take care my friend.

YOAV