H.G. has completed so much on the fuselage since the last post, and sent me so many photos, that I have to be selective. First, he stripped the old primer off the whole thing in sections, using a liquid I forget, which is probably a "trade secret" anyway.
Here are some examples of that process.
He is going to re-scribe the whole thing, and here are some of his tools and materials:
The black lines and the degraded plastic filler (below)
use a polystyrene concoction that is his own formula. Once it hardens, it will fill gaps and be sandable and scribable like plastic, more or less.
Here's his description of the re-scribing process.
Quoted Text
The old raised lines are used as a guide with the green tape. FBS is made of a thermo-stabilized polymer film with a rubber based adhesive that offers excellent conform-ability to irregular surfaces and tight curves. FBS tape provides excellent adhesion to a variety of substrates, a sharp paint line, and removes cleanly, leaving no residue. I find dymo tape too ridged and doesn't conform enough around complex curves, plus FBS being designed for the automotive industry naturally is more common hence far less expensive. I also use Tamiya flexible tape which is thinner but is even more flexible. The others used for your project is Japanese MT (Kabuki) and PACTRA "Trim Tape" and good ol' fashioned stretchy black electrical.
The lines stay until everything is ready to sand. They look deep but it's because the of the dark green plastic under the lighter primer and that there is a raised line next to them. In other places I leave the nice raised details that would be very tough to remake and appear to me should be raised anyway.
Next is scribing and riveting.
Quoted Text
For riveting I'll be following closely the wings, meaning the 0.75 mm next to the panel lines and a 0.65 mm double wheel in open areas. But before that can happen though a careful sanding with 1200, 800, 400 grits then all mistakes in the lines, current and previous, have to be filled with polystyrene filler (sprue goo). I use that type because it's easy to re-scribe and rivet. Once that hardens after a day or so I can go over the work again and make adjustments. Because of all the dust, oil and possible tape residue the lines and rivets have to be cleaned out in order to take a wash and have something for the oil weathering to cling to. MOST importantly is to absolutely preserve the mind numbing amount of interior detail.
I am flattered and humbled that my work on the interior has resulted in this level of effort.
There are other fuselage corrections that H.G. is making.
Look at the rear crew access door:
Here is a start on the replacement door coaming:
And last but not least, corrections to the fit of the cockpit glass.
Before:
After:
Much remains to be done on the join between the glass and the roof, but it will be, and there will be a surprise.
There will also be a surprise aft, but I won't give up any hints at this point.
