This is the mess i started with, a short-run kit, a PE plate
Soon to be passenger entrance
rudder also cut out
Passenger access, a nice PE part for it provided by Extratech
Passenger access ladder and door
Thrust reverser cut out
The landing gear provided in the kit was in one piece with the wheel and looked awful, so i tried to create something myself. Not sure if it's gonna be a big improvement, if any but the main thing is gathering experience and expand skills!
The main wheels were too narrow, so i cut them in half and added a plastic with the right thickness inbetween.
...made a silicone mould of it..
..and cast the wheels in resin
Main landing gear built from scratch
I did the same with the engine exhaust, simply because there were none in the kit. Made a master from scratch and cast them in resin of which i needed three
Now to the flaps, first cut them out
Mould them to the right shape (that was quite a challenge to make both exactly congruent)
and cast them in resin
in case you screw something up you can always cast a new part!
we are getting somewhere
Many details were missing in the kit and even on the PE plate, like this small (what is it called in english?) at the inlet of the second engine. I made this from PE scrap
The engine with the PE fan and a small scratched air scoop
the exhaust installed, the engine holders were also made new and cast in resin btw, the kit ones looked not right
primed, sanded and ready for panel line reworking
flaps in place
flaps detailing: PE parts
The little air inlet on the right side was also nowhere to be found in the kit, some spare plastic part and a little brass tubing were quite handy
a little more detailing
finally, the first layers of paint are applied!
Now let's do some positon lights, i wanted try this technique
cut clear sprue into shape, drill a little hole in it and get some colour into it
Cut out the part on the wing where the light belongs
glue it into place...
..now we habe some coloured bulbs with a clear case which has to be brought into shape yet
some sanding action while getting finer
in the end with 8000 grid micro mesh to get it nice and shiny
now to the red outer wing tips
position lights carefully masked with parafilm, this is quite flimsy because they are so small
position lights!
wheels painted, PE disc brake in place
engines painted
some progress on the little Yak
Base paintwork done, panels accentuated
Next step clearcote and decals. Worried about the window decals, i hope they will fit properly and won't look too bad.
PE passenger access ladder
Some progress here: decal application started
Contrary to my initial concern the decals behaved fantastically
The decals are rather thin, at the same time very tear resistant and even quite stretchy
so they could be aligned and applied correctly
very happy with the result!
light wash applied, sealed with semigloss clearcote
nose gear, made completely from scratch
main gear partially scratched, additionally many nice PE parts
the plane has been moderately weathered, here some streaks on the fuselage
Roll Out!
That was a quite long project which i paused many time that finally came to an end. A lot of additional work was necessary to turn the poor kit into something somewhat presentable. I hope you who followed enjoyed this WIP even if you did not comment 😉
OK I thought i'd dump some pictures of my current (long time but finally the end is in sight) project which i started back in 2015 and which i put on hold several times.
The protagonist of this project is a Yakovlev Yak-40, a small regional passenger jet built in the Soviet Union which made its maiden flight in 1966, the scale is 1:144. The selection of kits of this type in this scale is surprisingly good, unfortunately none of them stands out with exceptional quality, i chose the one from the newest moulds which happens to be the Czech producer "AZ Models". Additionally there is a nice PE plate from Extratecxh which i also use in the build.
I decided to make some improvements and additions to the model which are:
-building the whole landing gear from scratch
-flaps down
-passenger access ladder in the rear part open
-many small parts from scratch
-meh, pictures tell more than thousand words
many of the shown techniques were and still are new to me, like making the landing gear from hypodermic needle tubi
