| Image Comments |
| iseaalbert | 23-May-10 06:50 |
| cessna 425. scracthbuilt acrylic |
| poppy | 23-May-10 07:38 |
| This is magnificent!!! Any build pics? |
| JohnG. | 23-May-10 07:57 |
| Wow...this is terrific!!!! |
| iseaalbert | 23-May-10 09:56 |
| Sorry, no build pics, but I can tell you that I worked with good three view drawings. If there are cross sections, much better, but not necessary and a lot of good reference material as well as trips to the local airfield of course. Then is just straight forward carving technique. Only thing is that is a heck of a lot harder than balsa wood. You need to work with rasper, files, sand paper and a small disc sander is very helpful. |
| frwyflyer | 23-May-10 10:07 |
| Did you have to laminate the acrylic or was it a solid piece? VERY VERY NICE Carving!! |
| iseaalbert | 23-May-10 10:36 |
| It was a solid block that you can get from a plastic supplier. A thick one for the fuselage. First step is to cut it roughly to the width of the piece you are going to carve, ie: fuselage, then you make the piece square on all sides and then, begin transfering the contours. for the wings, stabilizer, etc. you only need to use acrylic sheet of different thicknesses. |
| frwyflyer | 23-May-10 13:17 |
| Thank you. I looked very hard to see a lamination glue joint, but there were none. REALLY REALLY OUTSTANDING WORK |
| iseaalbert | 23-May-10 13:36 |
| Thank you. |
| David Duckett | 23-May-10 13:49 |
| Do NOT let me near one of these! Gorgeous!! |
| frwyflyer | 23-May-10 16:42 |
| Are you familiar with "renshape"? And have you tried it? |
| iseaalbert | 23-May-10 17:55 |
| I just looked it up. Sounds like something I'd like to get my hands on. Acrylic has some very good qualities tough, the most important being that after the masking tape is removed, it look clear. In small scale that renders a great effect, even when the interior is void of detail. I have tried some resin block, which I use for larger models and I love it too. |
| frwyflyer | 24-May-10 05:38 |
| Yup, those clear windows really made the model "POP" and get attention. Do you work for a "shop" or freelance? |
| jgood | 24-May-10 08:18 |
| This is great. Is there any chance you'll be making more, so we can see the process? |
| iseaalbert | 24-May-10 08:38 |
| I manage some rental units in Argentina, where I live. Lately I've found some time to pick up a hobby I left years ago. |
| iseaalbert | 24-May-10 08:42 |
| Of course, next time I'll be sure to document it. |
| frwyflyer | 24-May-10 09:44 |
| I would very much indeed like to see how you work with acrylic and your construction techniques. I "played with" acrylic material years ago and found it very difficult to work. Any power tools seemed to burn and "smear" the surface. I wound up doing lots of hand sanding and time on a buffing wheel. Your work with acrylic material is beyond description. |
| iseaalbert | 24-May-10 10:27 |
| You are right. I forgot to mention, I do use a grinding stone a lot! It appears that it doesn't burn the plastic like the sander does. So the g.s. is used to get to about 1 mm of the final shape. from then on, I use a coarse file or coarse sand paper. When you get very close to the line, you only focus on getting one side right first, and then the other. I'm not sure if this is clear.
I start with the fuselage, taking great care to be pleased with the profile, particularly where the windshield meets the front nose. If that comes out fine, everything else begins to fall into place. You do need to look at a lot of photos, particularly straight from the top, or in any case, you need to interpret photos of different angles, but I have to stress, that I find that to be the key to a successful model, to capture the essence of the real thing.
Another tip: When no cross sections are available, you can guestimate a contour line from those panel lines that run vertically. This is very helpful in shaping the nose. The union with the radome, for instance, you can see if it's round throughout, or flatter at the top or sides.
One more thing, don't get too hang up on perfection or you'll spend a lot of time without building. I hope this helps. |
| pfinn | 24-May-10 15:45 |
| Beautiful model and equally concise technique description. Spoken by a true "Shaper/Surfacer". Thank you for sharing iseaalbert. Phil |
| frwyflyer | 24-May-10 16:50 |
| Yes, it does help considerably. Thank you again for sharing your "magic". |
