Moebius Models Flying Sub With Extras
1/32nd Scale



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Brass, steel, plastic...

And Bits O' Frag Flying Every Bleedin' Which Way.

Welcome Back people!
Right then, off we go with some more slicey, dicey, oncey, twicey action.
First candidates for this round of fun , sun and suffering are the front instrument panel and the side box panel...thingies.
Here be the parts in question.


To start, the front panel went through the scrape the bits off,
cut holes for lighting and slap on the lovely PE stuff!










Now is that pretty or what?
Strictly speaking, this wasn't really necessary.

Reason being the client opted for the the whole shebang being sealed up.
Any lighting in the front panel would (more or less) cast light on the pilot figures.
Fair enough but seems a waste not to use the PE and may as well document it as much as possible.

After all, there may be some folks not yet decided if it's worth it to get the upgrade.
Well take this bit as a 'well this is how it looks' kinda deal so the choice is yours folks and folkettes.

Onward!
So them side box panel thingies.
Two pieces of PE detailing for each but not without the hack lumps out mayhem so...
First the side panels were marked pencil fashion and holes duly chopped out.
Simple enough done by drilling lines of small diameter holes and 'cut along perforations' deal.




So that sorted, the side box panels got the same detail remove/hole hacking lark done unto them.
Then just simply glued in correct position.




All good so far methinks.
The open holes where the original moulded bits for the side boxes dictated the fitting were filled in.
A shim of thin plasticard, a lick of filler and a brisk rubdown took care of that.




So the the PE bits and bobs.
No big deal after a look at the destruction sheet.
Then a smidgen of the slice/trim/cyano shuffle and it be a done thing.






Sharp and clean.
Me very much likey.

So next up, some engine can prepping.
Fitting these out same as before but no sockets required this time around.
A bit of marking and drilling doodad to make a fit for the LEDs.
Six 3mm ones around the rim and a center single 5mm LED.
The six small will do the flicker thing and the center one will be constant on.
In order, marked/pilot holes drilled/true size holes done.






Done and dusted.
So I was sent some metal parts to go in the cans.
No idea exactly what these are or where they come from but no matter.
Taped to a piece of card and the tape had some mega strong glue on it so into the cellulose thinners for a soak off.

Glue dissolved nicely and parts released.
Though for some reason one of them had cracked in two but no big deal in this instance.


Now idea I had being fit one about halfway down the can and the second backing the exhaust proper.
And here's the hick up.


Yep, they don't fit.
Oh well...
So first things first, a circle drawn on paper to start trimming down two of them to fit in the can.
And there was much pinging of shrapnel hitting the wall/ceiling/floor and so on.
My safety glasses earned their keep I can tell ya!
I think these things are steel of some sort but it's damn brittle whatever it is.

So some resting points required for the first bit so out with the chopper and some 1mm square strip sliced up and glued in.






Now for the part that will fit behind the exhaust bit.
Well easiest was is to create a rebate for it to sit on so a tiny milling bit fitted and a run round the edge lip.




A dose of primer then in with the silver paint.
Metal parts fitted and some cyano laid on.




Sweet.

Last bit for this update, the interior framework prep.
All parts removed from sprue and given a scrub up.
Now I remember this from the last time and the problem being moulding discs.
Caused by the pins the help get the parts out of the mould in the first place.
A nuisance but can be dealt with.

Out with the filler and a little bit scraped on where required and once cured, in with the riffler files.




Once all cleaned up and the filed down areas were given a rubdown with some very fine grade steel wool.
All smoothed off so a trim up and then time to get shot of the moulding seams.
Now the thing here is that going by the screen caps I have, sharp edges are the order of the day.
The upright parts first had the moulding seams removed via needle file and then finishing with 600 grit wet & dry.

Then the parts were laid flat and given a run over a hard rubber sanding block, some 600 grit again and plenty of water.

This flattened out the moulded raised rims just a bit to maintain the sharp edges.
The rounded parts were done in the same way but the inner and outer edges sanded first then the top and bottom faces.

After all that, the parts got another good scrub, rinse and left to dry.






Well that's that lot all prepped as far as can be.
Next up will be the framework assembly and wall panel sorting vis paint and lighting.

All to begin on the next update so until then, you merry lot go easy out there.
See ya next time gang!



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