Pulp Plane Library

[Matt]

I think this has made the list already, but another showing.

1:48 Supermarine Walrus, from Smer.  I screwed up the cockpit when I oversprayed the model with Krylon clear overcoat. 

Picked up some after-market decals from Model Allianace.  The mode represents a Royal Navy aircraft flying on the China Station in the 1930's.

[ErikB]

Sometimes you can de-frost a canopy with gloss varnish, brushed on.  Might work for you.  Nice job on the plane, though!

[tin shed gamer]

Nothing wrong with another outing for the Walrus kit.(as its been noted I'm a bit of a fan personally I think its one of the most useful 'pulp' planes)

I do like the choice of colour scheme ,and the fact you've made it gear down.
As for the window glass I forgot to mask mine and ended up with the same effect.At least you weren't as daft as me and made a pilot drinking tea before you frosted the windows!
I understand that it is possible to reduce the effects in the manner mentioned.Never tried it myself but I've noticed that a second coat of matt varnish whilst wet does reduce the frosting so It may have work.Im  not doubting anyone's word only noting that through my own observations it seem more plausible that it first reads.
Admittedly I've not had the time to test it( there's no way id try it on a finished model without testing.)
Mark.

[Ballardian]

Matt - the Walrus looks great, even with the frosty screens - what did you use for the tensioning wires?
tin shed gamer - let me know if it works, I also had a 'hard of thinking' moment with some truck windscreens.

[Matt]

Thanks for all the positive comments!

I modeled this with wheels up or down options.  Used magnets inside the airframe, and then on the landing struts.  I had to modify the struts to sit on the airframe, and they are not parallel, but this isn't too noticeable.

The aircrew inside are painted up, but not as interesting as yours, TSG!.  I have done some initial tests with brush on gloss coat; so far inconclusive.  I am going to try a bit more and see how it works out. 

I am still working on decent flight stands, and a "seascape" base that it can sit in for water landings. 

The Walrus in flight!



I have several kits to follow this, including a Macchi Castoldi M.C. 72 (also from Smer).  However, I think the next project is going to be the Curtiss P6E Hawk from Lindbergh, which I got for Christmas.

[pistolpete]

Ooooohhhh that hawk looks mighty fine. I'm going to hunt for the Macchi Castoldi M.C. 72 first though.

[ErikB]

Not matte varnish but gloss to fix that frost.  You can also use white toothpaste and a toothbrush to polish off the frost.  That might be hard to control, though

[PortCharmers]

Hello Matt

Some thoughts about the frosty canopy, admittedlyof a  more theoretical nature, since I have never rescued a frosty canopy.
 
I never heard of Krylon clear overcoat and don't know why it effed up the canopy.

If it is matte, it would contain talcum powder, which I don't think you'll get rid of by overspraying with gloss varnish.
If it crincled up the surface because it contains some vicious solvent such as acetone, the varnish method could work.

Anyway, I recently read a magazine article by some scale-fundamentalist who decided that Hasegawa's B-26 was not good enough and started sanding away on clear and opaque parts alike. Apparently he polished the clear parts with 2000 grain sandpaper (would that be dust-paper?) and some sort of polishing paste. It looked smooth as a baby's bottom on the pictures.

Toothpaste could work fine as a polishing paste. With fine polishing work, I've made good experiences with half a Q-tip in a Dremel.

[tin shed gamer]

I've put my money where my mouth is.
So I've tried an experiment with clearing the canopy .Over in the workbench.(sorry the forum doesn't like my tech and is refusing to allow me to post a link)
Mark.

[ErikB]

Q-tip and toothpaste in a Dremel.  Great idea!

[Matt]

Matt - - what did you use for the tensioning wires?

Ballardian, overlooked your question on tension wires.

I used the thinnest brass rod I could find at the local hobby store.  It looked like wire, but was quite stiff.  I pre-drilled holes with a pin-vice in the locations where the wire would be anchored, and added the rod after assembly.  The engine wires were pretty straight forward, and I added them before the wings went on.  

The wing wires were a bit tricky.  I have tweezers that maintain their grip (i.e. You press on them to release what is being held.) that were very useful.  Getting the right length was also tricky, and I had a bit a wastage.  The pre drilled holes allowed me to seat the wires, and then drop on a bit of superglue gel to hold it in place.  A couple of the anchor points are not drilled, and are simply superglued, followed with a dollop of PVA/Elmers glue to hold it in place.

Here is a picture of the equipment, with a 25mm figure for scale.  The rod I used is the short material in the center.  I found a packet of rod, on the left, at a hobby store.  I think it was for making jewelry.  

[Ballardian]

Many thanks Matt, have tried various things in the past (guitar strings, stretched sprue etc.) but I like your approach (so will have to pinch it!).

[tin shed gamer]

Matt,
I used more or less the same method.
Florist's wire rather than a brass rod.As I've nearly 2 kilos of it(it seemed like a good idea at the time)
The only difference would be the number of profanities as I don't own magic tweezer's.

[FramFramson]

(it seemed like a good idea at the time)

[colgar6]

My first Pulp aircraft, the Avia BH-11, is described more fully here.  Hope this is useful/inspirational/amusing/whatever: http://colgar6.blogspot.com/2017/01/a-28mm-pulp-aircraft-bh-11.html



    Hugh