1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache

[adampolo13]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Update w/ Help Needed)

Alright folks, tonight was good night. I got all the seam lines taken care of. What I like to do is sand them all down and hit them with a bit of primer to check. All's good there. I then moved on the finalizing the cockpit. Here's where it's at now.

(I see a few areas where I need to touch up some of the paint)

The next thing on my agenda is masking the canopy and attaching it. I am going to break out the polishing paper first though as there are a few scratches on the inside I need to buff out. But this project is a TON of fun.

Now here is where I need some help!

The areas circled in red, well there's a gap there. It is not as pronounced when there is pressure on it. I'm sure I'll be able to glue it down but there will still be a small gap. What should I do to eliminate it? I was thinking about maybe a very thin piece of styrene or should I glue the canopy in place and then try to fill the gap with CA via capillary action? You can't see it well in the picture but the frame of the canopy is covered in raised rivits so I don't want to destroy them with sanding. So, HELP!

 

[Eastrock]

The office looks great, Adam

 

[adampolo13]

Thanks ER. Now all I gotta do is figure out how to fix that gap.

 

[Neo]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

Great progress

To fix the gap i would glue the clear down the fill the gaps with clear window maker.

OR

this is what i do on wing joints and it work pretty good
1- place tape on both sides of the gap
2- apply some putty (you can thin it down but be carefull we dont want it to attack the plastic)
3- remove tape and let harden a little (hour or so or if your not in a hurry let it fully cure)
4- take some Q-Tips and nail polish remover containing acetone
5- dip the qtip in the nail polish remover and rub away the exess putty. Now be carefull not to rub the clear parts has it may fog them (you could alway leave the tape on the clear part side).
to this slowly but surely and dont apply too much nail polish remover.

Hope this helps

 

[Grendels]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

It kind of looks like a part is missing to.me. That would explain that gap. If not Neo gave good advice. The problem with using a strip of styrere is that you would have to sand it down unless it was cut perfectly to size.

 

[Eastrock]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

I agree with John you need some stretch sprue to fill the gap.

 

[Solander]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

I'd third that.
Beautiful cockpit btw, great job!

 

[rookie]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

might be able to fill it with PVA ? wont attack the clear plastic.

 

[TBadger]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

I'm sure you could get away with a sloped piece of styreneto help fill the gap. it'd just be hard to get an even slope. If you could get it glued down with a minimal gap, perhaps a slow setting gap filling CA would work to close it up...to prevent crazing maybe an accelerator would stop the chemical reactions quick nough to not cause glass fogging

 

[Junkie]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

Too me it looks like it's binding at the blue box area. Nice and tight at the green. Before trying to fill a seam I would try to improve the fit. You might be able to judge if a tiny bit of sanding where it's binding is all that is required.

If so...just sand it bit by bit...and test fit often. Really bit by bit, just sanding a hair off and testing. That could sort it out without the risk of marring the clear with anything.

 

[adampolo13]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

Thanks guys!!! My plan of attack for this evening will be to polish the underside of the canopy and then do a combination of Scott's suggestion and TRM's suggestion. I'm going to see if I can't get it to fit better and then fill any resulting gaps with PVA. Nice thing about PVA is I can wipe away any extra without damaging the clear.

 

[Cave_Dweller]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

It's looking awesome at any rate there Adam! Really dig the details you painted onto the MFDs

 

[adampolo13]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

Thanks man! I'm hanging out with the fam tonight so no real model time. I'll be back at it Friday at the latest.

 

[Glorfindel]

Re: 1/48 Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache (Updated w/ Help Needed)

Thanks guys!!! My plan of attack for this evening will be to polish the underside of the canopy and then do a combination of Scott's suggestion and TRM's suggestion. I'm going to see if I can't get it to fit better and then fill any resulting gaps with PVA. Nice thing about PVA is I can wipe away any extra without damaging the clear.

Looks like a strip of styrene would work great in there. The back and bottom look snug.
Clear parts! That's where they get ya.

 

[adampolo13]

Alrighty folks, a little bit of an update. First, I have to say thank you to everybody who gave me advise on how to fix those gaps. I have to give a big shout out to TRM as he suggested that I use PVA (a.k.a white glue). Well, I'm NEVER going to worry about gaps around canopies, wing roots, grab handles, nothing!

Here's where I'm at with the canopy and the wing roots.

After I glued the canopy down I mixed up a 50/50 mixture of PVA and water, not too think not too thin. Then I took a nice fine tip brush and dabbled the mixture in the gaps. The nice thing is that capillary action sucked the glue into the gaps, that and it is self leveling so I didn't have to sand anything down. Some of the larger gaps required multiple applications but it is SO EASY and you can clearly see it works very well. I also applied this method to the wing roots and the small gaps around the handles etc that I started gluing in place. I'm a happy camper to say the least!

 

[Quaralane]

Nicely fixed. Looking good

 

[adampolo13]

Thanks Q! Having fun, what its all about!

 

[Chris S]

Nice work Adam . That office looks great mate

 

[adampolo13]

Thanks man!

 

[Tanker52]

Cockpit details are nicely done. Your build is shaping up very well around the canopy. Great job.

 

[hooterville75]

Adam how did you determine the ratio of water to glue to get your mixture ???? That cockpit is looking fabulous. Glad you got the gap fixed without going to extreme. Looking good.

 

[TRM]

Great fix Adam!! Can't to see all the paint on this one!!

 

[Eastrock]

and he Scores!!! now we have a fighting chance lol

 

[Grendels]

Nice fix!

 

[CTspeedshop]

Getting in late on this one Adam. You're kicking some butt my friend!

 

[adampolo13]

Thank you very much guys! I haven't got any more progress to report on this one, I spent the day yesterday at ValleyCon! What a good time that was! I'm going to try and get some more work done later.

 

[TBadger]

I spent the day yesterday at ValleyCon!