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Well, the molding process went quite well and I now have a mold for each, the F45, and the FP45. I used a two part one-to-one RTV from Micro Mark. Using it is a piece of cake, just mix equal amounts and pour it in. To make my new shells I'm using a product called "MODEL-CAST" from Vagabond Corporation out of California. They were kind enough to send me a free sample to try out. I will be purchasing more, definately. It's easy to mix, 1-1 and pours almost like water.
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Below you can see one of the first molds I made of my F45. It turned out quite well but I can't seem to avoid the tiny air bubbles that occur near the top(bottom of the shell) of the mold. They're small enough that I can fill them with Squadron filler and that bigger one on the lower right has been filled with epoxy, although it's hard to tell in the photo. ![]() |
Here is the view of the right side of the shell. I'm pretty happy with the results. You can now see the detail of the new panel and door placement. The end platforms are from the original Lima chassis. I cut them off with a hacksaw and trimmed to fit. MT doesn't make a pilot conversion for this model so I'll be filling in the open ends with styrene. ![]() |
I still need to cut away the recessed part of the bottom of the body, the part just above the fuel tank. You can see what I mean in the GN picture above. I'd also like to come up with a way to make the panel lines and rivets less exaggerated.. perhaps sanding down the entire side and scribing my own lines? Maybe on my next shell... I'm a little unhappy that I missed the rear-most vertical panel/rivet line but I'm no rivet counter and am willing to let it slide. :) |
Now, on to adding details, painting and decals, and fitting it to the Kato SD45 chassis. I haven't decided actually if this will be a GN Big Sky Blue, or a BN.... |
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