B737NG 1/12 scale cockpit – joining the MIP/FMC pedestal/sidewalls

Hello everybody,

Before the storm and rain that weather reports seems to indicate, I would like to give a small but still a step on the progress of the 1/12 B737NG cockpit project.

I am currently working on how the joint of three basic elements will work. There is the main instrument panel that will be attached to the FMC pedestal, and on both sides the two sidewalls.

This process is a little complicated because I cannot glue these three sections due casting purposes. I have placed the MIP at 75 degrees on respect the horizontal, unlike the 15 degrees that most references indicate, taking the angle from the vertical. I found it easier to find the angle on flat (horizontal) than vertical.

I have worked on the lower section of the MIP in order to find the best attachment possible to the FMC pedestal, thus at the moment the MIP has a small structure on the back with the angle that is currently holding it on position, the lower section of the MIP also aids for placement.

Joining the sidewalls will be more complex, I have to prepare well the unions specially with the latest creation of the lower section of the MIP.

Reaching this point I think it will be very important to have a floor, marking where everything goes and temporaly fitting the structures there will help to work on the joining of these structures.
So far there is no detail yet on these structures, I still have to put the different screws on the FMC pedestal etc, so I am basically working on the main shape of the cockpit.

Project will be on pause as next week I will be working on the B747 cargo set, so I am hoping to follow the schedule and work each different week with each project.

During this past week I have been very busy finishing the molds of several GSE items and I have been testing them out, therefore I will be able to restock some of these items by the end of the next week.
I also want to give a little update on the decals. Having solved the problems with the printer, now another one came that the company is currently solving as I am waiting for a replacement toner at the moment. Once I am able to finally test the decals thoroughly, I will be doing the modifications needed in every single artwork created so far, so it will be a little bit tedious and time consuming but I am looking forward to it.

Hopefully everybody is alright and getting ready for the cold of the winter those that had a terrible hot summer.
Keep you all safe please.

Best wishes,
Guillem

Renewing molds and getting back to the B737 cockpit

Hello guys,

Today unfortunately I do not bring updates one the B737 cockpit project as I wished, reason being that I have been doing lots of new molds to renew them in order to keep the detail on the resin parts. Although I keep the molds as healthy as possible, there is always a moment where the result isn’t as crisp as the original and thus molds need to be renewed, I do that much earlier in order to not to cast any part with detail loss.

Although I did not work directly on the cockpit, I spent some time to get myself back to where I left the project, as it happens in such complex situations, I needed to realize what was going to be made next, what step, what area…
Since this is a big project, I will work on areas, however I feel that it is time to set what is going to be the main structure of the cockpit, prepare the base and prepare the union of the main instrument panel, glareshield and sidewalls. That will definitely be one of the most important steps so I am writing a list of things to be done in order to achieve this.

I haven’t been able to update the project during the weekend but I expect to do so during the next week in order to compensate the time spent in the  last days making the new molds.

Until then.
Best wishes,
Guillem

747-8F / 747-400F – Working with the deck (3)

Hello all,

I have been able to start the work on the cargo deck. At first I thought to leave the deck floor flat with just the engraving but then I thought to give a bit more volume and add all the several rails.

I would like to mention that all these are not placed randomly, they follow the same structure as the B747-8F deck. I was able to gather lots of reference photos so I am trying to reproduce everything I see.

It has been quite difficult to make a joining structure on the inside of the fuselage in order to place the entire deck, but currently it fits well. I had to fine tune and sand down the width to make sure both fuselage halves close properly. In the photos you may see a small gap between both fuselage halves and that is because they are not glued yet, both halves can be closed properly without the deck causing any issue.

The structure under the deck in the nose area will be very important as it will help the deck to be placed properly and will be an area with several details. This area can be seen in the last photo as a darkened area.

The rails have a thickness of 0,6mm which would be translated into approximately 84,6mm in the real aircraft. I think that 8cm would be a close match with the actual railing heights.
Since the engravings and details of the deck/rails are quite small, I was at first thinking to create decals for the anti skid sections only (refer to the black rectangles on the previous project entry), however, I may also be making decals for the rails to highlight their details. It would be a challenge to decal though, due the dimension of these small rails, but I may give it a try.
However, I also keep in mind the 100+ small sections going across the deck, so perhaps a painting technique such as the dry brush would also give a good result instead of adding 100+ tiny decals.

During this week I will be working on new stock and I will start to prepare the next step of the B737 cockpit which I hope to continue and update on the next week.

Best wishes,
Guillem

Progress so far

Hello everyone,

I though to give a quick update on how are things going now that we are reaching the end of September.

The first attempt with the new printer ended up in a disaster which lead me to return the printer as it jammed the paper every time. However, there is another printer on the way and I am hoping to work with it right from the start.
All these problems caused me to stop designing decals at the moment because the artworks will need an adjustment for them to be printed on the new printer with the best result possible.
It is somehow like the early days when I had to test a few things with the printing company such as lines color/thickness and all these matters. Needless to say colors will not be the same, thus artworks will need to be finetuned so that the output color is the desired one.
Lots of work on that regard, but I do like challenges.

Finally I made myself a schedule in order to make sure I do everything that has to be done, time to make units and time to actually work on the new projects.

On regards the new projects; I am expecting to update the 747 cargo set this weekend with photos of the work done so far on the deck. I was finally able to make a better fitting of the deck into the fuselage, so I am really looking forward to assembly a kit soon.
Once the main deck is done, I will focus the work on the interior panels, for this same reason I will include the galley section next to the cockpit part as the whole set will serve as ceiling for the first section.

I also have to say that the B737NG cockpit project isn’t dead, so I will be working with it alongisde the 747 cargo. One week I will work on the 747 cargo project and the next one with the cockpit and so on.

There are also a few things that I am going to change on the GSE models:

  • I will make new bigger molds for the baggage carts, belt loader and LD3 trolleys so that I can cast more units at the same time, so far making these units is a bit time consuming so I will try to make the new molds in a better arrangement (similar as I did with the catering) and thus  try to keep the catalogue alive.
  • The Tug MA50 may be the first product to be discontinued, the reason is that I would really like to work on a new tug, more detailed and realistic than the first tug I made, and I will base the new tug on the Charlette. That does not mean the MA50 model won’t be made in the future as I plan to have a few types of tugs, but I feel like I learned much more since I first made the tug and I really want to offer a more detailed product.
  • The same goes for the FMC15i, I feel like I want to make a more realistic and accurate model for this. Since I am doing the 747 cargo project, I may attempt to make a cargo loader with double sill to increase the bridge’s height. This one will be definitely a challenge, because I also learned with the catering truck on regards making movable sills, so I am really looking forward to this project.

I will upload some progress done on the 747 cargo set this weekend!

Best wishes,
Guillem

Printer issues

 

Dear all,

Sometimes I feel like I am under a bad spell because of issues appearing after issues.

So far the print tests were fine, but recently there is an annoying ammount of chances for the paper getting jammed (virtually, not physically) in the new printer. We are talking about one single print out of 5 or 6 attempts.

I won’t be giving brand names but the nightmare I am living with this printer is awful.

Feeling abandoned by the former company in front of customers with faulty decals and other issues, I saw myself forced to take measures and do things on my own; so far, the road is being very, very difficult.

I reject the option of contacting a second company because I want to face this myself, provide the decals going through my own inspection, due lack of trust, due viability, just in the same way I make each photo etched parts for all the items.

It makes me feel sad, because I worked so hard on all the artworks I’ve done so far, I find myself in an stressful situation which is affecting my work with the other items.

I keep in contact with the customer service to find a solution to this, but everything takes time and it is more pressure added to the list.

I do not know whether I lost the inversion or not, but I will defenitely do my very best to overcome this situation no matter what.

September has started the wrong way, but it is not how it starts but how it ends.

Will try to relax working on the current items and making stock units, unfortunately I can’t divide myself into two, so I have to learn to do both tasks in an orderly method.

 

Thank you all for your patience,

Guillem

747-8F / 747-400F – Working with the deck (2)

Hello everybody,

I have been able to overcome what I think was one the most critical points of the B747F cargo set, which was to make the main cargo deck (base shape) and actually be able to create a sort of guide for it to be attached to the fuselage.

I don’t have many photos but I wanted to share one that shows the detail that the deck will have, so far the details are designed with the computer and yet to be placed on the deck itself.

The set will also include decals, so I have been taking note of the different letters and marks that go on the side walls. I noticed some differences between the 747-8F and 747-400F deck systems, the 8F is using some wheels to guide the cargo into the deck, so I may rework that area for the 747-400F set.

As a personal note I would like to say that temperatures and humidity are not helping me to work with everything as I would like to, it is not a personal complain but more a technical issue since humidity makes things harder to work with.

August has been a messy month, so from September I expect to have a more solid schedule and be able to do things in a better order. The change of decals is more work piled to do, but I am sorting that out. Up until now I did not have a catalogue and projects to work with alongside, so I need to set a schedule to designate time for both, keeping the store with items and work with new projects and decal liveries.
I know that if I run to do things, there will be bad results, so I repeat myself that I need to take the time that it takes to do it right, there is no such thing as rush into modeling and specially when you are offering your work to the public, so things must be 100% correct.

Speaking of decals, I have done more tests with them (although not on airline models yet) and I am surprised by the decal thickness, I am currently using a 7 μm decal paper (carrier thickness) which allows for 0 appearance of decal edges, I applied decal softener in my tests, but even without it, decal edges are practically invisible, with softener, there is no way to see where the decal cut is. As soon as I can, I will upload photos of these tests and I am planning to do a full video on the decaling process of an A350 model for a full decal test

Will be representing the Air China’s A350 with the 2019 Horticultural Expo colors, I think this one will be a good decal testbed, since it will have big and small decals, colorful ones, blacks and also white decals.

Best wishes,
Guillem

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