Hi folks,
I have been building my workbench (or desk) for the past several weeks and had to give it a rest and build for a day. I have other builds currently under way but they would require sanding and paint. Since I had to relocate my tools to the dining room, I decided it would be best to tackle those things once the desk is complete. Of course, we all know that I was really dieing to just start another kit, but the reasons above are true as well.

I have wanted to build the V-22 for a while and managed to get the Italeri V-22 Osprey 1:48 at the LHS. I dont remember the price but I really wanted to do it for its crazy look with the props rotated upward. It just looks like something that, if done right, will add that spunk to a collection. Albeit, it is grey, but I have always built modern so grey is just fine. I will adopt some pigmenting, etc. to try and make it pop though.



The mold lines are OK. A little light for my taste but the the detail is there. Of course, where I find areas lacking, I will take out the blade or dentist pick. Oh, forgot to mention, this build will be OOB with scratchbuilding all along the way. I cant sit here and say what I plan, as I am making things as I go. Kinda free spirited, with the exception of the wearing a pink and purple tie dye shirt and long hair. Its kinda, "well that looks plain, I bet I can.......that looks better." or, "let me do this.........oh crap, shoudnt of done that. Where my putty?!?!"

So, here we, I, us, nosotros, go....

The instructions ask for just glueing the beejesus out of the thing and painting. I for one, have a weekness for cockpits. Even if you might see a millimeter of a cable or scuff or whatever. So, I decided to add some simple wiring to the back which will be visible through this little bitty hole......and that's only if you look real close and might need the aid of a flashlight.


See the hole? hahahahaha


I took a drill bit, dont know what size and will not be able to pick it out again if asked (sorry). The holes were made haphazardly, and the wiring run according to my "what if" V-22 wiring guide.


Once again, you wont be able to see much.....just the side view of the wiring extruding from the panel. And, remember, only IF visible through my concerning hole.


I had to cut out the horrific looking pedal nubs. This was filled and some modification will be done after a day or so.

Needing to wait for the drying, I moved onto the seats. I could've left these alone but, then again, the seat belts were staring at me, smurking. Soooooo, ..... and away with them....



And then I added some texture in the form of tissue paper via white glue application. I have used this method on an A-10 (the one needing heavy sanding) and it works great. You dont get that simple looking seat. It should dry hard so the bumps will go away. If not, some fine slicing with the Xacto and some crazy glue will smooth things out. I wanted to start on a few more things but its kinda late and I have to get up early for work.

All questions and comments are welcomed. I do have a plea for reference pics. It seems the internet, via google search, aircraft resource, and prime portal, are very scarce on pictures. I had to scrap together pieces here and there for the cockpit. Not even a clear shot of the pilot seats.

And the other major question is, what to do with the interior. Should I leave the loading ramp open? or closed? if opened, the seats are molded closed and it will be a nasty chore getting to scratch every one out. Just wondering what your thoughts are. And, if you know of any aftermarket kits as well.

Cheers,
Mike

Looking forward to seeing this one progress. Keep it coming!

Good work on the kit... Can't wait till you're finished with it.

I would love to get a full review of this kit. I would like to make it myself

keep us posted

Thanks guys. I have made some progress on the build but my camera had run out of batteries. Due to the fact that my wife hides everything, I havent been able to charge it until today. I will post some pics of the updated cockpit. Unfortunately, not much progress was made. The baby seems to be playing games with me. She waits until I sit down and begin doing anything to start crying.

Drabslab, I will do my best to get coverage of every aspect of the build to help you decide. Honestly, for starters, Italeri's cockpits (in my opinion) are really lacking. They are cleanly molded, but lacking.

More to come.....Cheers,
Mike

Ok......got the camera working again and took some pictures of some work I had completed throughout the week and tonight.

For starters, I looked high and low for anything that would help create something resembling the foot pedals. Due to the size, it was a chore but I managed to use screen mesh (the patio screen mesh material) to add the detail I wanted. I ended up cutting the material in such a manner that the following resulted:


The material was cut following the squares, where one square was turned vertically and glued from behind the larger one. The lack of color really killed it for me, but I am confident that it will look pretty good once painted and weathered.

Next, I moved onto the rest of the small detail in the cockpit....I installed some wiring to resemble the hydraulic cables behind the pedals:


And, using a picture for reference, I paper mashaed the foot pedal area leading to the joystick (holes were covered but I will drill out at time of glueing):


The seats were quite different from the photos I've managed to obtain, so I needed to add some depth to the head rest.
I started with a micro saw and ended up using all different types of tools to get the edge just right:


Heres the bit added to the back of the pilot/co-pilot seats along with additional "stuff" from the kit itself:


I want to add some more detail to the seats but I needed a break from the small stuff and decided to glue the main wing span:


In between the wings, I added some plastic "filler" for my future ambitious challenge of repositioning the flaps some:


The kit, so far, is coming together nicely. No misfitting pieces.....yet. I am not holding my breath though cause I dry fitted the main wing on the fuesalage and it seemed rather off.

On another note, I have been searching online retailers to no avail. Nobody has any aftermarkets for this thing. Eduard's has a masking set but thats not really what I am after. The interior looks like it will be closed off as I am not too fond of the mold for the seating.

I find myself sounding down about this kit but Im actually enjoying it. Well, anyways........questions or comments are welcomed.

Cheers,
Mike

Wow,
Now that I looked over the post, I am not very happy with the pedals......Guess I will start taking shots a little further away next time

No, they actually look pretty good and the paint will resolve the contrasting issue.

So, I did this whole breakdown of an update and had it ready to submit when I hit the REPLY button instead of YES. BIG mistake.
An update:

Messy bench


Cut out vertical flaps to reposition

The flap was refilled using a taping technique resulting in a perfect fit once dried. Only the small tip required additional putty (no biggie)


Some extra wiring for the pilot seats


I plan on scratchbuilding the interior cabin; the kit has no aftermarket upgrades. The kit provided cabin detail was horrible. Some needed modification:





I plan on filling the lower portion but the landing gear bays need to be installed to close it up. Ive been adding brake and hydraulic lines to the landing gear bays. At this point, I want some more detail.



An update of the cockpit. I plan on painting in some of the instrument panels, however, the larger ones only require some future. Joystick has not been installed for fear of loss or breakage.


Ok folks. I am sorry for the drieness but Im a little irate right now with the whole loss of post from before. I hope you enjoy the pics and comments or questions are welcomed. The major hurdle for me right now is the use of my airbrush. I have a newborn now and dont want to turn on the compressor for her sake.

Cheers

HI folks,

Happy Thanksgiving. I, for one, am thankful for finally getting a break from the madness at work. Bench time has been hard to come by, yet again, as the wifey wanted to go shopping......

I was able to make some progress. Fortunately, I am now able to use the compressor at any time. I had previously built an enclosure for it to reduce the sound but I wasnt too sure if, even then, it would still wake the baby. Wife claimed she couldnt here it and the baby never woke.....so onward!!!

Ok, first....the big task. I managed to sand down some of the "cheap" putty used to fill in the upper portion of the inner cabins. After sanding, I slathered on some green putty and let dry. At this point, I havent sanded it. I want to wait at least 2 days to make sure its dry enough. I read somewhere that its fast drying but I dont want to stir the pot and get any cracks along the way. Dont want to work twice...

Here is a picture, even for my own reference, to get an idea of how its coming.

Managed to paint in the surrounding landing gear area and nose area as needed. (note: the nose instruments have not been drybrushed yet.)

The front gear bay got no additional wiring or lines added. I just dont have any reference pictures. Cant see how you can even take a picture unless you are on your back and 120 pounds. Painted the gear bays, added some line coloration and labels......futured.......and began to weather the area.



I am going to be completely honest. I have not painted a gear bay in 10 years maybe. Never scratchbuilt in them either. So its my first......be gentle.

The pilot seats......the seats got a coat of french chestnut....its a purplish color. In a cockpit photo somewhere, the seat tubs were purple with a lot of grime on em......dont ask, but it looked contrasting enough to replicate (or attempt to replicate).

I have no idea why its gloss but ill flatten it up when i finish painting it. Its enamel so, drying time is slow.

Finally, last but not least, started working on the nacelles. The instructions call for black, but I know that just cant be true. Here is a first coat of gun metal. The majority of this will not be seen. The inner exhaust will hopefully resemble a redish metal when completed.


Ok folks, cheers. I know my work leaves you speechless, but your comments are welcomed.

Hi again,

My updates are rather slow....I apologize. Lets just say I am absolutely consumed by other things and have very little time these days to work on the model. As of the last update, I had installed the rear gear bays and sealed off the area. My intention for this model is to "accurately" represent the interior cabin of the aircraft. My modeling skills are limited, however, so I end up redoing or refilling quite a few things. Its a learning process with every kit right?

As you can see in this older picture, the kit would leave a huge gap on the sides where.......it looked really off compared to the reference pictures I had found


So I cut some styrene to shape and glued it on to bring the walls to the lower rim of the fuselage...I used up all the testors white putty from the tube to fill in the remaining areas....unfortunately, the camera was not around (confiscated by SWMBO) and this part was left out of the update...

After the white putty had dried solid, about a day or two, I thinly applied Squadron Green Putty (I love this stuff) to the areas requiring additional filler. I sanded the halves; this process was absolutely messy and required some serious elbow grease but the result was a nice smooth surface (at least I had hoped):


One thing you might notice is that I sanded off the original detail from the kit.....It was actually pretty good, but I would have a hard time replicating the same dimension styrene during the interior scratch work. The fuselage halves were taped off and sprayed a coat of primer to check out what areas needed some touching up......


So I refilled and resanded until most of the surface was as smooth as my 3 month old's bottom....I was put on diaper duty at the time so I had great reference material for this part.....Let's just say, the model never came close.....



Finally, the halves appeared to be about 98% there, so I brought out the Mr. Surfacer 1000, and glopped it on the filler edges that just did not want to come out. One quick question, does anyone know what the difference between Mr. Surfacer 500 and 1000 are?
OK, so at this point the halves are ready for their final coat of primer and I will begin the scratchwork on the interior.....wish me luck......

ps The cockpit is on hold as the kit needs to be somewhat put together for the cockpit to be installed. Oh, and I resprayed the landing gear bay areas......after looking at my post, I realized they looked like a soiled diaper with stuff coming out the back

Cheers

Sorry everyone. Its been a while since I update but I promise I will post something in the next day or two. Ive made some progress, rather slow, on the interior cabin area.

Mike

Hi everyone,

I know I promised 1 or 2 days but my pc ended up crashing. To make a long story short, it took me forever to find the software for the camera.

Allright, so on to the progress....

I put the engine nacelles together; no biggie here (no fit problems)



I wanted to find a way to really detail them but I came across a picture posing the craft in a squadron on the tarmac with the covers still on. I think I'm going to try and depict this aircraft (using the kit decals, so it wont be 100% there). Here's the picture.....love the contrast of the covers. I do plan on placing a hard mounted gun on the rear deck as I've seen some pics to confirm that the actually are used.



I decided to try my hand at changing the position of the flaps like shown. Dont know if I've said this before on here, but this is my very first real attempt at scratchbuilding and detailing so please be gentle. I used the time warp device to cut away the flaps (aka dremel!!!). SAnded down the edges to come back in line with the original mold lines from the kit.

Honestly, I think she came out pretty darn good and straight. If the kit goes to hell, then ill just keep the main wingspan to look at what couldve been.


Allright, I fiddled around with how to due the interior and finally decided on using some small I-bar i found at the LHS that seemed about right......laid the vertical supports first, shaping them using a candle (yup, i went through a ton before getting them to fit). Next, I cut some brass 1/4 inch flat strip to length and used them as a guide in gluing all the T-bar strips to the interior for the horizontal support.....the process was tedious, but I think it was well worth the pain.

I mustve superglued my fingers about a billion times but whos really counting anyway???? I finally attached a the roof-cut from styrene (dont remember the size right now) and attached. This interior needs to be assembled in such a fashion that will allow the left half match up with the right half and not need any major touches to the rear section. To me, the detail is so small, and my hands to big for any real attempt at doing anything while the halves are met. So planning ahead, I will run the I-bar from the vertical, following the roof line, marking my locations and doing the left half.....but thats for next time...



I plan on priming the cabin walls that I've added the detail to, paint, and begin some wiring to make myself feel like some progress has actually been made. I also scribed in the door line using a template from the exterior.....and scribed the window area as well.

The midsection of the rear, we will call it the floor, needed some detailing so I added a guide for the door, scored some wall detail, and added a locker....unfortunately, i primed the floor a black color to give myself some depth while building and helping me out as i add more detail. Also added in the rails from the bottom of the infantry seats (its not 100% put its something, the seats will cover most of it all up).




BAck to the flaps, cause i almost forgot, I needed to add some filling to round out the wings from the cut (the were hollow from the original kit). Theoretically, the end result should be a perfectly (almost) round edge.


Finally, I have to install about 22 seats. This is a choir but I look forward to the task. Honestly Ive already fiddled around with some sheet styrene but wanted to ask you all if anyone has any ideas of how to recreate these......they each require 18 holes each which comes out to 396 total holes. While making my holes, and pacing myself, i broke a bit
and noticed the styrene bending.
Heres a picture of a seat:



Oh, and just for kicks, heres the pic of the gun mounted......looks awesome doesnt it?????


Cheers!!!

ps. I dont take any ownership of the pictures photographed by others. I found them on primeportal and google. Just in case.

Been waiting for this one to come back
You have more nerve than me, I wouldn't even think to cut into one of my kits yet but yours in coming really nice indeed. Keep em coming Michael

this looks suspiciously like the Testrs kit which I'm building. Yours is looking alot nicer though.

Any progress on your build....It's relly looking good....Here's a sight that might have some photos that you can use.

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=183850

Texas

Just for reference, the mount used is the same as on the CH/MH-53 ramp, and is known as the Ramp Mounted Weapons System (RMWS). I've been looking or a more specific nomenclature than that, but I'm not sure one exists. The gun mount itself should be identical to that on the A/A49E-14 used by the USAF on their HH-60Gs, but the assembly is different (floor pedestal instead of the window mount attached to the H-60s landing gear strut). I'm also pretty sure the mount is the factory one sold by FN, displayed on their website, and the weapon is a GAU-21/A (FN M3M).