1/48 Atomic Blossom

[Fruit]

Hey everyone, haven't posted anything in a while; until now!

INTRODUCTION (Quite Lengthy!)
If you guys didn't know yet, I am primarily a paper modeler; but do delve into plastic models as well (in fact I have a Tamiya 1/48 Mk VB Spitfire currently in the works).

The atomic blossom is an "alternate dimension" sort of aircraft; initially I was going to put this in the aircraft category, but I thought it didn't quite fit. The original creator of this interesting vehicle is Keith Thompson. You can read more about the atomic blossom and others on his site,

http://www.keiththompsonart.com/ --------------- or directly to see the article on it; http://www.keiththompsonart.com/pages/blossom.html

As for the model itself, it was 3D modeled and template provided by Tezko (thank you Mr.Tezko for making this model possible; Mr. Tezko did get permission from Mr. Thompson to create a model of the atomic blossom). I'm going to assume that most of the modelers here aren't familiar with Mr. Tezko; but he runs paperhobby, which can be found here;

http://myhobbycraft.blogspot.com/

Mr. Tezko is an excellent modeler and designer.
___________________________________________________________________________________

Alright, onto my build of the model. There are two templates of the model, and there is a black/white version and colored version. I chose to build the b/w version for personal reasons; I plan to paint it and add more details to make it true to Mr. Thompson's depiction.

I enjoy doing the assembly line type of work in progresses; expect lots of narration and pictures to come soon!



Sort of a close up of a template

 

[Grendels]

Please do post updates! Paper models have interested me for a while and it would be nice to follow one from start to finish.

 

[SLW45]

That looks and sounds neat. Please post away

 

[Quaralane]

Should be interesting to follow.
Paper requires a lot of the same techniques used in scratch-building.

 

[Fruit]

Thank you Grendels and SLW45! ;D

Alright, after 1 hour of work on the model, I've cut out 11 pieces from the model. These are the (A) pieces, forming the front and middle areas of the fuselage. I've divided my next update into two posts because I believe the limit of pictures on 1 post is 4 pictures, and I have 7.

The first series of pictures pieces cut out; no real forming of the pieces at the moment. (Please forgive the picture quality. My lighting isn't the best at 10:30 PM, since I'm working on this model at night at the moment).



Here's the layout of the 11 pieces. I was surprised that this kit has a cockpit, something I'll need to explore further as I progress in the build.




I've been modeling for 10 years, on and off, and I'm still a sophomore in High School. However, I've only been paper modeling for 3, almost 4 years. After all that time, I think the most important tip that I learned is the importance of cutting. Now you must be thinking, seriously? Cutting? Cutting is easy! Well, there's different methods to cutting, and mastering all of them is beyond me at the moment. Cutting is essential, as it can make or break a model. Sure, one can use fillers but paper is unforgiving. (Don't let that deter you though!)



Here's what I think the most difficult part of the cutting process is, at where the cowling should be. The half rings that you see here are the most difficult to cut because if they don't exactly match up to the other section(s), then you have some gaps. I usually cut these shapes with the usual straight down 90 degree trace, but afterward I take some 1000 or higher grit sandpaper and carefully sand down the arcs at about 30-45 degree angles. Sanding at edges are an effective way of matching up arcs and making sure the gaps won't be too visible. I'll have pictures to what I've explained when I get to forming the general cowling area (even though there's no cowling! )


Next update being written as we speak!

 

[Fruit]

I hope so Quaralane, maybe not as interesting as some, but I'll try!

Next update:



I've laminated these pieces to some cardboard; many paper modelers insist on using cereal boxes for lamination of "formers", but I use any cardboard from packages similar to cereal boxes, and in this case, I've used an ice cream cone box. In my previous post I emphasized the importance of cutting, but from this picture, you can see that I've not been cutting with care. This is because I see no need to when laminating, since I'll need to cut it out again with the added lamination; in fact, I should have not even cut these individual pieces out. Rather, I should have cut around them in a square fashion and pasted them onto the card backing and cut with care from there. Ah well! :

Little bit of notes on this picture; the glue that is on the toothpick is tacky glue. In my modeling arsenal, I have glue ranging from cements to super glues to water based glues. When working with paper model, I mainly use a combination of tacky glue and super glue. Specifically, I use Aleene's tacky glue and Loctite super control gel. Also, if you look towards the two pieces that are similar on the lamination (lower left corner), you can see that I've not conformed to the outline of the model. I did this on purpose, since I prefer a curve at the bottom of the fuselage and make appear more natural.



More techniques! When dealing with aircraft, and other cylindrical/ "tubular" shaped objects, rolling these items to shape is key! But, when dealing with heavy paper weights, rolling requires some aid. Here's the flat piece.



I then flip the piece over, opposite the side that is being displayed.



Finally, you take a (preferably) a stainless steel or steel typed cylinder and use it as the item that rolls across the flat piece. Roll back and forth across the piece as the green arrow indicates. It's also a good idea to use a relatively soft surface to lay the piece on. I suggest using a mouse pad for this. Usually the edges at which the piece meets itself requires a smaller diameter cylinder to roll with, so this process is usually repeated.

That's it for now, I believe it's time for me to head to bed!

 

[Grendels]

A very nice update!! Thank you for taking the time to type this up with pretty clear directions!!

 

[Quaralane]

Your instruction texts work really well with the pics.
Looking forward to more

 

[Squee]

Cool very cool. Can't wait to see this progress!!

 

[Fruit]

Thanks Quaralane and Squee!

No major updates as of yet, but soon there will be. I've done some pre-planning for the cockpit area. The cockpit tub and cockpit leaves much to be desired when wanting to include more detail; but I believe Tezko still did an excellent job nonetheless.




Cockpit area! What I did was kit-bash this area and I'm going to go off of what I think it would look like, since there are no interior shots of the original concept. I know that bits of it are based off the Mitsubishi, but I'm pretty sure the cockpit area was changed a bit.

As for the kits that I'm using, they are the Judy from Mr. Inwald and the A5M4 Claude from Marek. The Judy is generously available for free at Kartonbau.de at 1:16 scale (Lief Ohlsson re-scale) and 1:33 at Fanatyk Kartonu.

1:16 - http://www.kartonbau-forum.de/wbb2/thread.php?threadid=14053&hilight=Yokosuka
1:33 - http://fk.konradus.com/modele/modele.php (Scroll down to model 28)

I've taken the Judy and downsized them to give me 50%. I've never created the Judy, but it does look like an interesting project for the future.

The kit on the right is Marek's 1:33 Claude. I've downsized it to make it 60% of its original print. The model is created by Marek; a profilic paper modeler/designer, and is available at ecardmodels.

1:33 - http://ecardmodels.com/product_info.php?products_id=497

I bought the model because I had seen a build of it and thought it was interesting. Marek has some really great models, I'm probably going to try my hand at either his Corsairs or Bristol F2b next.



From Inwald's Judy, I plan to use the instrument panel and various other bits to detail the cockpit. Notice the X-acto knife as a scale reference.



Mainly, I'll use Marek's Claude's seat and foot pedals because I prefer the Inwald instrument panel and other bits. Again, the knife is there for scale.



Here's a better sense of how tiny the pieces are.

And now onto the actual building!

 

[SLW45]

This is really cool. Looking forward to next update

 

[Quaralane]

Wow, those are some tiny parts

 

[Grendels]

Nice, and you are adding in extra details.....

Just great!