I decided to practice up a little, since it has been a few years that I attempted to build a VAC kit.

Here is an old kit by THE EAGLES TALON, INC.
LAVOCHKIN LA-7 it looks easy enough to do a little cutting and SANDING on to get myself in some sort of ability to accomplish the build for the VAC ATTACK campaign (MPM AVIA Av.135)

the resin is not bad, but I will have to make a prop blade after the carpet monster ate one that broke off in the bag







After using a pencil to outline the parts for the sanding process I cut them out


Made fuselage formers from surplus stock from the kit using a circle timplate, the first peices sanded were the fuselage and they were warped


the wing tops will not be too bad to sand but the bottom has a dihedral and will give me some trouble.



Bob

Nice one Bob!

It's always great to see a vacuform kit get it's day in the limelight! I've still got Eagle Talon's Ki-46 tucked away somewhere - that was THE model to get before Tamiya woke up and kitted one!

All the best

Rowan

Rowan, I have a soft spot for vac kits and manty grave markers for those that did not make it when I started building them for a change back in the 1980's. All of the warped tails that I could not be set right confounded me, hope I can over come that ailment this time.

Bob

good luck Bob!

I've got a couple of vac in the stash but no courage. I'll watch you this time...

Ah! Mark you can be no more chicken than I am, remember Nikes statement "JUST DO IT" I have plenty of graves as stated above. Also remember if you do not try it how will you get any skill at it and there is a plus side. The parts box will be used either way, in or out

Bob

I played a little more with my LA-7 since there was nothing on tv tonight.

original thickness of the top half of the horizontal stablizer.


my most favorite thing to do sanding down the thickness of the plastic


now that is better and my knuckles are not bruised at all


it sits flat almost


after sanding the other half a little liquid glue and a lot of clamps


you can see the edges that need cleaning and some final shaping to do before I call the stablizer finished.



test attachment of the fuselage with a little glue to see what needs alignment



plastic rod and thin sheet plastic was used for joiners where needed after alignment looked ok.


instrument panel former and two part epoxy puttey used as a filler/former and some plastic shims were glued into the small cracks.




two part epoxy putty use to give the rear fuselage some integraty


the area over the cockpit is left in place to aid in sanding and truing the fuselage shape before cutting out. The vertical fin was aligned down the seam of the fuselage, a first for me on the initial try


Any comments, suggestions, criticsims welcome.

Bob

The fuselage went together well and the verticle fin and rudder did indeed line up


after scraping the seems it did not take much putty another first



I left the area of the tail doors not glued (by accident) to facilitate in cutting them out.


this is the cowl after removing the center piece and attaching the engines cooling fan.


I was not satisfied with the sturdiness of the cooling fan so I filled the cowl with epoxy putting acting as a back to the fan.


here cyanoacrylate is used to fill in the casting bubble holes in the seat.


Later
Bob

Bob, looks good. Are you using a standard 2 part epoxy.for your 'filler'?

Mark, I am using APOXIE Sculpt and I like it, it is easy to use (50/50) with water clean up. Kind of like Miliput. I just attached the cowl onto the fuselage with no problems, I can not beleive how fast this kit is building, must be THE EAGLES TALON INC. quality. I remember some bad vac kits in the past.

Bob

It is a cold cloudy day here so I put my home work aside and did some more to my build.

more sanding starting with the left wing top.


notice the difference in thickness that had to be sanded off.



cut the extra mold off to reveal the wing root.



thel eft wing top ( the correct thickness )maybe and the right wing top (unsanded) .


bottom veiw of both wing tops one sanded.


the cowl attached, it went on without any problems.




it looks like the engine fan is a little off center, maybe the spinner and prop will compensate.


place a piece of plastic on the rear to act as a glue point for the cockpit floor.


the cockpit floor just sitting in place, I will need to attach some side rod to cover the gaps.


Later
Bob

Looking good Bob, I'm following along with great interest (never even contemplated a Vac kit for myself).

Cheers, D

Hello D, a vac kit makes me work whether I wanted to or not but the pleasure and enjoyment I get from actually building instead of shake and bake is great.

Bob

Bob,

Better be careful, you might end up with a nice looking model before too long.

Ahh! Mark we will throw caution to the wind and see what comes back


Bob

Hi Bob
Great stuff so far. Really enjoying your build so far.
All the best.
tim

Hello, Tim I am a fan of your work and glad that you are enjpoying the build.

.Bob

Back again

removed the molded canopy from the fuselage.



removed the molded tailwheel doors



made a tail wheel area that will cover the hole (I forgot to place a block inside the fuselage to accept the tail wheel) so this peice will do the trick and the tail wheel covers will hide my mistake





installed the resin instrument panel



drilled some barrel holes, but I do not know if the barrels protruded past the holes.



I need to do some research on the exhaust area to see if there were pipes protruding or just a rectangle opening.

Later
Bob

excellent stuff bob,nothing like a bit of practice!

i'm not going to practice and will make a right mess of mine :-) hehe


paul

Paul, what will be your build for this campaign?

Bob

Me too Mark. I have a few Czechmaster kits but not the courage at the moment.. I remember a Saab Safir and a Seafire of some sort IIRC...

Good luck with the build Bob. I will be keeping close tabs on it.

hi bob,

i'm starting with easy and small......

a 1/48 polikarpov I-16 type 24 made by BY-PLANES

paul

Hi! Paul, nice choice. I just picked up a couple of vacs on ebay for a great price.

C.A. Atkins 1/48 Macchi MC 200 for $2.75 USD
By-Planes 1/48 Polikarpov I-16 for .99 cents

the shipping was more than the two combined, but still less than one kit at any LHS or online distributor.

subtotal: $3.74 USD
shipping & handling: $9.00 USD
total: $12.74 USD

When they arrive I will check the I-16 kit to see if I will change my campaign build from the MPM Avia Av. 135.

Bob

the fact it was so cheap was one of the reasons i thought i would also try a vac kit,like you said the postage cost more,that and the photo etch cockpit!

also i have a couple of nice 1/48 blenheim vac kits that need to be done well so this group build will be practice for me.

keep up the good work.

paul

Paul, I might want to purchase one of those Blenhiems from you for the right price. If I can get through this next week of finals


Bob

i think there still available from the maker,i'll have to check.

paul