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Hi, all! A quick update on "Little Chief"...

Decaling is still in progress, but it's all stencils. It's tedious work, but when finished, they'll look great. But it's really not worth taking a progress picture, when you probably won't be able to see them. However, I have reached a point in the decaling, where I have stencils for the canopy. That means it's time to start work on the canopy, because it needs to be removed from its carrier, dipped in Future, masked and painted, all before I can apply the stencils. So, here are some progress pics of Canopy, Phase 1: Removing it from the carrier plastic.

As you may recall, this was a second-hand kit, and the clear sprue was missing. So, I bought a vacuform replacement from Squadron:

[ATTACH=full]4485[/ATTACH]

There are 2 canopies, in case you mess one up, or, if you're super-careful and super-skillful, maybe you're building 2 Monogram P-47D razorbacks at the same time, and you need two, anyway In any case, they're nicely done, the frame lines are well defined, and if this works, I think it'll look pretty nice on my model.

Now, preparing to cut, or more precisely, scribe. The problem is, how to provide a solid base to support the thin plastic? I've seen a lot of guys use putties like Blu-Tac or Silly Putty, and that's what I chose:

[ATTACH=full]4486[/ATTACH]

I wanted Sensible Putty, but they were all out. Seriously, you can see how I packed the canopy with the putty, and it worked beautifully! It's flexible enough to yield when it has to, but provides the backing that lets you scribe, scribe, scribe.

And scribing it is, not cutting. And I kept telling myself to be patient and go slowly, and it paid off. I used a brand-new Nr. 11 X-Acto blade, and that made quick work of it. With the jeweler's loupe deployed on my OptiVisor, it was really simple. Here is my result:

[ATTACH=full]4487[/ATTACH]

I hope you can see it well enough in this picture. There are a couple of stray scribe marks, and I'll need to sand the edges a little, but it came out pretty well, I think. I think I was worried the most when it came time to separate the windshield from the sliding canopy. I had already removed all of the carrier, and I could have stopped there. But I'd like to display the canopy open. But there, too, with the putty, and a little care, and it was simple.

Here the last picture, and this one is a cautionary tale for all of you:

[ATTACH=full]4488[/ATTACH]

Please remember that brand-new Nr. 11 X-Acto blades are very sharp! Yes, I slipped once, and after all, that was only Silly Putty underneath. Oh, well, we must suffer for our hobby. "Offer it up, Brad, offer it up", as the nuns used to say!

Thanks for looking, as always, comments/criticisms/tips are welcome!

YbiC
Brad

<blockquote data-quote="the Baron" data-source="post: 4152" data-attributes="member: 75">Hi, all!&nbsp; A quick update on &quot;Little Chief&quot;...Decaling is still in progress, but it&#039;s all stencils.&nbsp; It&#039;s tedious work, but when finished, they&#039;ll look great.&nbsp; But it&#039;s really not worth taking a progress picture, when you probably won&#039;t be able to see them.&nbsp; However, I have reached a point in the decaling, where I have stencils for the canopy.&nbsp; That means it&#039;s time to start work on the canopy, because it needs to be removed from its carrier, dipped in Future, masked and painted, all before I can apply the stencils.&nbsp; So, here are some progress pics of Canopy, Phase 1:&nbsp; Removing it from the carrier plastic.As you may recall, this was a second-hand kit, and the clear sprue was missing.&nbsp; So, I bought a vacuform replacement from Squadron:[ATTACH=full]4485[/ATTACH]There are 2 canopies, in case you mess one up, or, if you&#039;re super-careful and super-skillful, maybe you&#039;re building 2 Monogram P-47D razorbacks at the same time, and you need two, anyway <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin&nbsp; &nbsp; :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" />&nbsp;&nbsp; In any case, they&#039;re nicely done, the frame lines are well defined, and if this works, I think it&#039;ll look pretty nice on my model.Now, preparing to cut, or more precisely, scribe.&nbsp; The problem is, how to provide a solid base to support the thin plastic?&nbsp; I&#039;ve seen a lot of guys use putties like Blu-Tac or Silly Putty, and that&#039;s what I chose:[ATTACH=full]4486[/ATTACH]I wanted Sensible Putty, but they were all out.&nbsp; Seriously, you can see how I packed the canopy with the putty, and it worked beautifully!&nbsp; It&#039;s flexible enough to yield when it has to, but provides the backing that lets you scribe, scribe, scribe.And scribing it is, not cutting.&nbsp; And I kept telling myself to be patient and go slowly, and it paid off.&nbsp; I used a brand-new Nr. 11 X-Acto blade, and that made quick work of it.&nbsp; With the jeweler&#039;s loupe deployed on my OptiVisor, it was really simple. Here is my result:[ATTACH=full]4487[/ATTACH]I hope you can see it well enough in this picture.&nbsp; There are a couple of stray scribe marks, and I&#039;ll need to sand the edges a little, but it came out pretty well, I think.&nbsp; I think I was worried the most when it came time to separate the windshield from the sliding canopy.&nbsp; I had already removed all of the carrier, and I could have stopped there.&nbsp; But I&#039;d like to display the canopy open.&nbsp; But there, too, with the putty, and a little care, and it was simple.Here the last picture, and this one is a cautionary tale for all of you:[ATTACH=full]4488[/ATTACH]Please remember that brand-new Nr. 11 X-Acto blades are very sharp!&nbsp; <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin&nbsp; &nbsp; :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" />&nbsp; Yes, I slipped once, and after all, that was only Silly Putty underneath.&nbsp; Oh, well, we must suffer for our hobby.&nbsp; &quot;Offer it up, Brad, offer it up&quot;, as the nuns used to say!Thanks for looking, as always, comments/criticisms/tips are welcome!YbiCBrad</blockquote>

[QUOTE="the Baron, post: 4152, member: 75"] Hi, all! A quick update on "Little Chief"... Decaling is still in progress, but it's all stencils. It's tedious work, but when finished, they'll look great. But it's really not worth taking a progress picture, when you probably won't be able to see them. However, I have reached a point in the decaling, where I have stencils for the canopy. That means it's time to start work on the canopy, because it needs to be removed from its carrier, dipped in Future, masked and painted, all before I can apply the stencils. So, here are some progress pics of Canopy, Phase 1: Removing it from the carrier plastic. As you may recall, this was a second-hand kit, and the clear sprue was missing. So, I bought a vacuform replacement from Squadron: [ATTACH=full]4485[/ATTACH] There are 2 canopies, in case you mess one up, or, if you're super-careful and super-skillful, maybe you're building 2 Monogram P-47D razorbacks at the same time, and you need two, anyway :D In any case, they're nicely done, the frame lines are well defined, and if this works, I think it'll look pretty nice on my model. Now, preparing to cut, or more precisely, scribe. The problem is, how to provide a solid base to support the thin plastic? I've seen a lot of guys use putties like Blu-Tac or Silly Putty, and that's what I chose: [ATTACH=full]4486[/ATTACH] I wanted Sensible Putty, but they were all out. Seriously, you can see how I packed the canopy with the putty, and it worked beautifully! It's flexible enough to yield when it has to, but provides the backing that lets you scribe, scribe, scribe. And scribing it is, [b]not[/b] cutting. And I kept telling myself to be patient and go slowly, and it paid off. I used a brand-new Nr. 11 X-Acto blade, and that made quick work of it. With the jeweler's loupe deployed on my OptiVisor, it was really simple. Here is my result: [ATTACH=full]4487[/ATTACH] I hope you can see it well enough in this picture. There are a couple of stray scribe marks, and I'll need to sand the edges a little, but it came out pretty well, I think. I think I was worried the most when it came time to separate the windshield from the sliding canopy. I had already removed all of the carrier, and I could have stopped there. But I'd like to display the canopy open. But there, too, with the putty, and a little care, and it was simple. Here the last picture, and this one is a cautionary tale for all of you: [ATTACH=full]4488[/ATTACH] Please remember that brand-new Nr. 11 X-Acto blades are very sharp! :D Yes, I slipped once, and after all, that [b]was[/b] only Silly Putty underneath. Oh, well, we must suffer for our hobby. "Offer it up, Brad, offer it up", as the nuns used to say! Thanks for looking, as always, comments/criticisms/tips are welcome! YbiC Brad [/QUOTE]

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