I plan on getting the sides and floor done, as well as the bulkhead and the door so that I can prime and paint the inside areas. Even though you can only see it from the front assault ramp and the side doors, I just feel like I have to do it. It would be weird to build such a nicely detailed model and not have the interior done.
So, for the warpage. I had to boil up some water then let it cool for a short time. Then the whole side went in for a few moments, not even a minute. I didn't want it to turn to mush! Once they were out of the water, they were soft, I must say. I had to get them down on to the aluminum plate quickly. Mostly because the pieces were hot...
I could not put them square on the aluminum sheet, because the pieces are not flat, they have a lot of raised details. I had to pre-plan a method to get most of the surface area onto a flat plane and then know that I might need to use a blow dryer or even another hot water bath to adjust the rest of the piece. They actually came out pretty well, considering how they started... Here is the blow by blow for the progress thus far.
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| The original warped sides. Warped across 2 dimensions too, so it would be harder to straighten... |
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| The floor of the craft. Massively warped, but very easy to fix with hot water and a few moments on the aluminum plate. |
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| Here they are clamped to the aluminum plate. You see how I had to fit them on in a way that didn't warp them around the raised details that they have on the inside. |
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| Clamping on the engine covers and landing gear bays. They were epoxied on with 5-minute epoxy for strength. You can also see the engines are built, but I'm not going to attach them yet. They will get primed and painted first... |
So, there it is, started. A lot of work to do going forward! Getting a lot of inspiration from TemplarsCrusade01 and his Thunderhawk build... Thanks mate!!
Really smart to clamp on the aluminum plate. Saves your hands from burning and cursing at the resin :).
ReplyDeleteOh, there was still cursing going on, let me tell you :) What was nice was the aluminium wicked away the heat from the hot water rather quickly.
DeleteMy buddy and I assembled a Storm Eagle in a hotel room the night before the Team event at WarGamesCon a few year ago. The model had been painted and straightened as much as possible. We ended up getting it assembled with the help of a hair dryer and accelerator. It was an inch by inch process. Heat, glue, press together, apply accelerator, ......Rinse and repeat. I think I used my years worth of cuss words that one night.
ReplyDeleteOn the up side the model turned out dead sexy!
Youch! talk about being under pressure. Sounds like fun!
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