Here are a couple pics of Airfix’s 1/48 Mosquito that I’m building with Eduard PE.
The airframe was all ready to paint, I just needed to figure out a way to add the internal frames to the canopy. The Mosquito had frames that were on the inside only, and these weren’t depicted on the vac canopy. The answer was one of my favorite scratchbuilding materials, micro solder.
The first ones to be done were the ones that span the width of the canopy. I bent and cut the shapes on the outside of the canopy, then did the final bends while I held it inside tha canopy. The bottom of these were glued to the inside of the canopy at the bottom, where the outside of the frame would be painted. The rest of the pieces were bent to shape on the outside of the canopy, measured, and cut. These are held in place with Future. I added three PE handles, and scratched the rest of the detail. I used a PE instrument bezel for the round piece on the emergemcy hatch (probably for pressure release?).
Now I can mask it, glue it to the airframe, fill the gaps with Krystal Kleer, and start painting the Mossie.
i’m not even gonna bother commetning on this one. that looks AMAZING. but you knew that already… Looks really great and realistic. Where can I get my hands on some of this microsolder stuff?
Thanks Jeff, Jerry, kielers, masu, Rick, Tankmaster, and Bgrigg !
kielers - I thought of doing that also, but styrene tries to straighten itself after you bend it. The solder holds its shape.
Rick - the decals look a little flat to me. They can also be translucent, if you don’t apply enough paint to the clear decal film.
I got the solder at Radio Shack. It comes in a variety of sizes, and I find it to be a more appropriate scratchbuilding material for certain things. It holds its shape well, and you can also flatten it to get ultra-thin pieces that can be bent or curled.
This is the one I used on the frames:
It only costs a couple bucks, and will probably be enough to add detail to dozens (if not hundreds) of models.
Each time I read and see one of your updates, I am even more awed and amazed at your skill and imagination! Thanks for sharing and helping us all attain a higher level of detail and realism! You are what scale modeling is all about!
To me, stepping out of the “comfort zone,” and trying new things is the most fun part of building. It actually took longer to figure out what to use and how to do it than it did to actually do it. The look of the concave internal frames of vac canopies can be greatly improved with solder, I believe. And it’s not difficult at all. Try it for yourself !
