AREA 88 : "A Close Shave"
1June 2, 2022That's a big fuselage for 1/144 scale. 🙂
2June 2, 2022That's just ONE of the wings...
3June 2, 2022There's the other wing. That's a huge base... which I won't be using, of course.
4June 2, 2022The tail... and the F-5E sprues look TINY in comparison.
5June 2, 2022A quick dry fit mock up. This is the ultimate David vs. Goliath project.
6June 2, 2022The engines could be better... so let's grab a few bombs and make them better.
7June 2, 2022Yeah. That looks much better to me.
8June 2, 2022Inside the wing wiring. Each wing has a white strobe light, a coloured (red/green) navigation light, and two landing lights. I used wire shrink wrap around the interior part of the LED to try to limit light bleed. Everything held neatly in place by a massive amount of hot glue.
9June 2, 2022All still fits inside. That's a good sign.
10June 2, 2022Same goes on the other side.
11June 2, 2022Now for the engines themselves. First some paint. I started this project partially because my main airbrush broke and I was waiting for a part, but for an interior splash of paint, my old (backup) airbrush will do.
12June 2, 2022Fans and exhausts fitted in place.
13June 2, 2022The engines look pretty good to me. Need some putty and sanding on the seams though.
14June 2, 2022Test fit on the wings... I count 8 working lights. So far, so good!
15June 2, 2022For the tail pieces, I'll solder on the resistors/wiring inside the fuselage instead of trying to cram it all inside that small space.
16June 2, 2022There we go. Using a toothpick, I added a few dabs of clear "5-minute epoxy" as a cover for all the lights. It should both protect the LEDs (and look more like a bulb) and diffuse the light a bit better. Now for some more sanding.
17June 4, 2022Now for the interior. First a coat of black to block the interior lights from shining through the plastic.
18June 4, 2022Testing the light brightness. I also added another coat of aluminium to reflect even more light.
19June 6, 2022Next a coat of aluminium to reflect even more light. Also cover the windows from the inside with 5 minute epoxy. I also epoxy-ed in some posts to hang the lights from so the spacing would be even.
20June 6, 2022All the Christmas lights hung from the chimney with care...
21June 18, 2022Everything looks good...
22June 7, 2022Also added some internal support for the main post. I don't need it getting broken inside the fuselage!
23June 4, 2022Testing the interior lights shining through the epoxy windows... looks good!
24June 6, 2022Now to test the interior AND the exterior lights.
25June 6, 2022To make it even more complicated, let's add the red fuselage lights to the mix.
26June 18, 2022Let's wire in the Arduino nano that will control all this mess of wires.
27June 18, 2022Ok.. don't forget the F-5E Tiger II! A good fit, but still needs some putty for the gaps.
28June 25, 2022Shin gets snug in the cockpit.
29June 25, 2022Ok. looking good. Canopy on, a million windows on the B747 masked... we're almost ready for some paint.
30July 23, 2022Big brother stopped by to compare paint jobs.
31July 23, 2022Looks good. Needs a bit of a panel wash and then we're ready for the decals.
32July 23, 2022Let's check those lights one more time...
33August 5, 2022Decals on... looks good.
34August 14, 2022Some masking and some painting happened. I won't bore you with the details, but it took a few tries.
35August 14, 2022The homemade decals on the B747 and the base look good... at least on THIS side. 😉
36August 26, 2022
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26 April 2025, 23:37 -
Album info
On Kanzaki's last flight before becoming a full-fledged Yamato Airlines pilot, he's forced to fly without the use of an auto-pilot. When the 747-200 he's piloting strays slightly off course, he learns the need to be ever alert after a near collision with his former friend Shin's F-5E Tiger II in a cloud bank over the Mediterranean.
