Finally I was able to spend a few minutes at the bench, not only to get ready for this segment but to also do a new tool eval for a major manufacturer…more on that later.
After some further sanding of both the cut out in the wing and of the aluminum panel I’m installing I’ve managed to get it in place. I use CA for speed purposes but one can use pieces of styrene to make little ledges for the panel to press against and a few drops of CA to hold it in place…I globbed it on and managed to stick myself to the project literally. Which meant I had to redo it and use some filler to feather the panel in place. Never enough time to do it right the first time, but always enough time to do it again.
There is even plenty of room left to do some interior scratch building of internal components. Though for this particular demo I will not be going that far, however I will show you were to resource the necessary parts to do so.
Now that the wing is “ready” having the aluminum panel installed, I’m going to paint both the inside (Interior Green?) and the upper wing (Olive Drab) so you can see the added realism that using metal provides.
Let’s review a bit though first, because it might be a few days before I can get the airbrush fired up to do this. First we are going to score the panel (since it is mounted…if it were separate I would punch the hole first) with our hobby knife. Score as many lines as you want tears (fingers) to appear. Once you have that done you can poke a hole using a pin…I’m using a T-Pin.
Pushing the pin through the center intersection of the scored lines should create the start of a blossom that you can start to grab with a fine tipped heavy duty tweezers or other suitable tool.
Then you can start to gently pull on the tips of the petals, tearing along the scored line. A little twisting and curling will also add realism. Remember your orientation to take in consideration airflow which the torn metal will have acting upon it.
Keep working the blossom until you are totally satisfied with your results…remember this is damage, not a perfect seam or panel line. It is replicating destruction.
Now compare the old school method used by MPC with that of what I am showing you here. The molded in damage has blunt “melted” looking edges. Whereas the aluminum looks more realistic…there is no substitute for metal…ask any body man who repairs cars.
Hope you’re following along, experimenting as we go. Practice makes perfection. Until next time…Happy Modeling!
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