Halinski Curtiss Tomahawk IIB: A slow but steady build

[southwestforests]

Oh no!
But what is an epic model build without a dramatic recovery somewhere in the story!

[Olo]

Originally Posted by smithdr

Thanks, Erik...speaking of mistakes: My latest was last night as I was admiring my amazing work on the cockpit tub area and checking the fit of some of the cockpit skins. I suddenly realized that the rectangular box structure the formers were so carefully and strongly glued to was just a jig. Uh oh. I wish I could read Polish. It probably says in bold, Polish letters "DO NOT GLUE YOU MORON".



Lesson learned!



Dan

In the future if you need help with Polish language you can ask me This is beauty of paper models everything is fixable good luck

[smithdr]

Got the forward engine skeleton done and started adding some scoop action and the exhausts...I have no idea how to actually add the parts that make up the inner chin scoop. I shall do some major head-scratching and see what I come up with!


I also, though you can't see it, mixed two nice touch-up colors for my dark brown and sandy brown for the main skins. Should be a dawdle now! Ha, ha...A productive day on the Curtiss assembly line.



Dan

[birder]

Hi Dan, skinning took me the longest time to improve to get a smooth transition between segments, I think many would disagree with the way I do it, but I build the forward segments with each other and then insert the formers cause you can get nice seams that way and of course one never sees the formers, Halinsky overdoes them a bit but sure makes a solid model.

[smithdr]

Hi Glen,


After seeing some work/build by Ricardo, Erik and others (YOU!), I think that's a great idea and may be "the secret". I'll try and put the forward part together today and then insert my skeleton. New to me, but it's worth a shot. This is going so well, I don't want to ruin it with trenches...


More soon,
Dan

[smithdr]

Well...I really can't believe this worked. After lots of head scratching and "They can't mean the base is circular while the front will be kidney bean- shaped" incantations on my part, that's exactly what happened to the chin innards I just complete. Worked very well. I'll likely need to tweak a few things shape-wise once it all dries but I'm very impressed. Dang...this thing is well designed. I only added a strip of typing paper or two as these three "tubes" were rolled since I wasn't convinced everything would stay together but it all worked.


Onward and upward!



Phew...Dan

[birder]

These models are really fun, just to clarify Dan, I don't thing Erik or Ricardo use the method I was describing, it works for me.....looking forward to seeing more

[smithdr]

Not to worry, Glen. I just know that the on some builds, it seems to make sense as a nice way to get great seams. So far, this is working for me! (see below). I saw a person making this same model on Youtube and that's how they did it as well.



Things are fitting well and my seams are the best I've ever made. I made the first few skins all one giant, piece rather than my usual adding them to the frame strip by strip. Sliding this "sleeve" over the skeleton looks great. Most of the shots below are just test fitting but it looks good to my eye.


I'm not sure what "WPS" means but I hope it's "Cut out after you attach" or something. I do think I'll need to cut out the large exhaust hole before I cement this forward skin on. Maybe I'll make the exhaust stubs first and then...? Not sure which to do first. We'll see.



We'll see how far I get in the next couple of days. I am so surprised that all the panel lines, shark teeth, rivets etc. all match up. I'm not used to this!


More soon,
Dan

[Texman]

Those are some very clean seams Dan. Very nice!

[Olo]

Your model looks good although I would suggest to use lighter colors for edges so your seems would be even less visible .. One of my pals finished this model I am posting some pictures so you can see what I mean by using lighter colors.... WPS Wyciac po sklejeniu means ....cut it off after assembly.... Here are some reference pictures ..Hope that help