Heller 1/48 Etendard IV M

[Brandons_Iron]

Looking good, Stik. I find it funny that we get all worked up about getting that cockpit detail just so and fret and worry it's not good enough. Then we close it up and almost never look at it again; we only pay attention to the exterior once it's done. I do the same thing. Great work on that seat, it looks far better.

[Stikpusher]

Thanks Brandon. Your right about the cockpit. Unless the kit is going to a contest, nobody is really going to look in there once it’s all finished. But I am thinking that this one is a learning experience for the Etendard IVP and Super Etendard in my stash yet to be built… if I build them soon enough to remember what I’m learning here…

[Stuart]

That's coming together well Carlos - the build is very reminiscent of the Heller Mirage 2000 I was building before my son got hold of it.

[Stikpusher]

Thanks Stuart. I sidelined this one for a couple of days to knuckle down on the P-40 and Mig to get those finished before the New Year. I know what you mean about this one resembling the Mirage 2000 kit. I think that they were molded at the time when Airfix and Heller were working together and would issue different versions of the same basic aircraft type: Heller does a 1/48 Jaguar A while Airfix does a 1/48 Jaguar GR.1. Same basic kits with a parts tree for the different sub variants.

[Stuart]

That would certainly explain some of the fit issues I'm having with my Jaguar.

[TheMongoose]

Stuart, the one thing that I really like in resin for aircraft are seats with harnesses. With some good paint those really look best I think. Since I am pretty sure that the Etendard and early Mirage III use the same seat type, I will be hunting for those seats or harnesses for the Etendard IV P and Super Etendard in my stash.

And now back to our Etendard IV M build. This week I did get painting in the cockpit done, and the IP decal applied. It’s a beautiful decal and really just could use some raised bezels to look outstanding. But no time for that here.



Then a test fit of everything into the cockpit





So far so good… but then disaster strikes during the fuselage assembly…. While I was adjusting the fit of the seat in the cockpit, the front of the fuselage broke off!!!



After seam clean up, I reattached the front to the main fuselage… I don’t know what I would do without a good supply of various size rubber bands



And lastly once the fuselage had dried, I added the intake splitter plates and the nose (with lead shot in there just in case…)



More to come next week…

DAMN!! I exclaimed when i read that last part about the nose breaking off. I had noted your comment about brittle plastic to start with, and it made me think of a couple kits, one ship in fact that I have right now, that feel like Brittle plastic. But wow I can’t believe it broke in half

[Brandons_Iron]

What a bizarre thing to happen. I'm not sure I've ever seen a kit just snap like that at a point where there was no obvious seems. Good save though.

[Stikpusher]

Well, I’ve never had a kit snap like that in such a spot either. But I was manipulating the nose area a bit to get the alignments correct, so that was a contributing factor. I’ve got the canopy and windscreen all masked and installed now. Next up, primer coat.

[Mopar Madness]

Gotta admire your perseverance Stik, despite the darn thing breaking apart!

[tempestjohnny]

Man I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at your bench when that happened.