Guillows kit #307 Cherokee

[heywooood]

More progress...still sealing and sanding the fuselage. I have the stabilator and rudder complete
The wings are framed, just need to fillet and sand them to have all the components ready for finish before I
can begin assembly.

[heywooood]

The last kit I built - Sterling Great Lakes Hal Krier...No longer in production
I think, but a really good kit if you can find it.

[heywooood]

Painted the fuse with primer to see if more sanding and sealing
was required....
It looks ok to me but when the wings are ready for sanding I'll revisit it

[heywooood]

Progress

[backyardbalsapilot]

Looks good. How long did the sanding take? Also, what kind of paint are you using?

Backyardbalsapilot

[heywooood]

sanding takes up a lot of the construction time...building the fuse, wings and tail took around 25 hours...sanding probably 1/3rd of that.
the thing about sanding is that it is both part of the shaping process and part of the finishing process.
Starting with 80grit on a small block I finish shaping the large sections...contour and shape the wingtips, fair the fuselage body and cowling, and shape the tail area.
Then 120grit to smooth the surface areas with several coats of sanding sealer / filler between sessions..I fill all the seams where my balsa infill parts meet the ribs and stringers first of all with wood
putty - Elmers Carpenter wood filler (interior) their # E847DL
So the wood filler sanding with coats of Aero Gloss Balsa Filler Coat Primer # 70-4 between each sanding session - lets say this process is repeated 5 or 6 times with the final two sessions using 220grit and then a final sand with a
320 or 400grit - then primer paint all major components, fuse, wings, tail, wheel pants and prop spinner. Then more filling and sanding as needed...lets say 4 more sessions with 220grit and then the final two with the ultra fine.
Now a base coat of the gloss white so I can see what more needs to be done - matte paint here hides small flaws....and then after all is dry comes the aircraft assembly - wings, tail, can now be glued to the fuse.
Once I have all the parts together to this point I can check all the seams and gaps at the wing root and tail attachments to see if any gap filling Zap is needed. On this model I completed the wing root seals using strip styrene
.020x.080 to both cover the gap at the wing root to fuselage and to give it a scale detail.
Next step after final overall Gloss White will be the decal accent colors and panel lines...I buy solid color sheet decals in the colors I want for the aircraft and grey sheet that I cut in ultra thin stripes for the panel lines
After all the spraying is done (two final coats of clear gloss to seal the decals and smooth out the appearance overall - the acetate windows will be applied along with the fine details like flap actuators, antennae, pitot tube, landing gear scissor links etc...should take a couple more days.
** The paint I use is Testors aerosol spray enamel because I know it wont eat the vacuum formed cowl and wheel pants...It covers the wood very nicely too -

[heywooood]

FWIW - the Sterling Great Lakes pictured above is covered with Gloss White Monokote with the Kit decals for all the red accent markings
The red and white checkerboard on the underside of the wings and tail were on a 6" x 30" sheet - peel and stick - takes out all the hard work of masking and painting those pesky squares

[heywooood]

White overall coat is complete and the tape protecting the cabin
has been removed. I have laid on a reference stripe along
the fuselage on both sides to help with the alignment of the accent color
decals and panel lines.

[heywooood]

Main gear fairings and wheel pants installed...laying on the panel lines and
control surface lines now - next decaling and a top coat or two of gloss clear to seal
it all - and then the acetate will be sized for the windows and windscreen

[davidchoate]

I really like the quote attached to Your posts'. I just had a Woman I was dating get upset with Me because I was spending so much more time playing with My stupid Toy Planes.than Her. We are no longer dating. She had a 3 year old Son who Loved Planes. I got him a couple times the cheap solid sheet wing Planes Guillows had. If only she understood that toys do not require scales, and calculators, and countless hours of tedious assembly, and research that little Guy would have been one of us. I only hope I left an impression ,or lit the fire of curiosity about flying in Him that He gets into it later. I think Your display Plane is looking great. Kinda like a car before a paint job. What kind of Finish do You use? Acrylic I think. There was a Guy on here a lot before who was a real artist.David Duckett. I think You can see His stuff on Model Aerodrome Photo thing. But I learned a lot from Him. And I Have "rekitted" every micro RC conversion Myself. I keep saying I'm done with them, but just finished one. I have a lot of stuff around, and I was doing a Walnut scale Hawk just as a cheap practice model for learning how to assemble a biplane before I put My Stearman together. I was going to try it, but have learned that the micro stuff. No matter who makes it. Is not reliable, and shoet lived. During one of many motor and control testings the motor began to lose contact at the wire at the connector. When i say wire, I mean literally it's made from maybe 2 or three strands of wire. So I'm not flyin it, but She looks damn good hanging in the corner, and I did learn A lot for that $20.00 kit. I have the wings attached and aligned perfectly on My Stearman. And I think I found a way to install the rigging as functional, and close to scale.

[heywooood]

David, The quote in my signature line is from my wife...so I know what its like. Modeling can put a strain on a relationship.
I have been 'afflicted' with scale modeling for most of my life. I built my first model when I was six years old. It was a balsa SE5 Scout. I didn't really build it - I was attracted to the box art so it was purchased for me, I glued enough pieces together to make a rough airplane shape and played with it in the backyard till it was in more pieces than it started with.
I think with kids, they either have the interest in scaled objects, cars, boats, planes, trains, or they don't. To become interested in modeling they also need an ingrained aptitude for mechanical construction and processes as well as some
introversion, which allows them to dedicate the time needed to build and problem solve and hone all the various skill sets required.
Fifty years later I am still building them..ships, semi trucks, planes, doesn't matter - from the technical skills to the artistic
aspects of modeling - the color selection and design, weathering, researching the details and applying the small bits and pieces that add realism - all of these things are, for me anyway, profoundly interesting and appealing as part of the overall
I build scale models and I still enjoy the process and get the same amount of pleasure at the completion of a project as I did
when I started so long ago.

[heywooood]

I should also say that I am familiar with David Ducketts work...his methods inspired me to try them on this model and the Stirling Great Lakes. He is a very very talented scale modeler

[heywooood]

Decaling....some issues with the solid decal sheets. These must have been old because they really want to disintegrate during the application process. I will have a lot of touch up work to do.

[heywooood]

[heywooood]

Last overcoat of clear on top of the decals - once its dry the fun begins.
Getting the windscreen cut and fitted...along with the rest of the windows.
Should be fun