- This topic has 14 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Is there a general consensus on when the best time in a build one would cut a fuselage to replace a nose or lengthen it or…. I thought this would be an easy question to answer but my searching has not helped. I am about to do my first “cut ” fuselage and I don’t have a back-up kit if I screw it up. In my case, I am planning to replace the nose of an Airfix BAC 1-11 with a replacement nose I have from 26 Resin. Is it better to glue the Airfix fuselage together and then chop off the nose section or should I make the cuts on the two separate fuselage halves then glue the cut fuselage together followed by adding the new nose? I suspect that the best option might be to glue the fuselage together first but I can argue the other way also.
Thanks for any advice! Have fun modeling!
Mike
ATL
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
Do you have pictures of the parts you could post?
I would tend to vote for join, then cut, for the following reasons:
- Your cut will be a clean one across both halves.
- The nose will be in one piece that you could reattach with some spacers if you do decide you didn’t like the other one.
The one think I’d triple check first is that the diameters line up. That’s the drawback of the glue-then-shut approach, you might need to fair it in more if those are off.
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
Thanks LH707! Your comments do make sense to me and support my initial thoughts to join and then cut. I don’t have any photos of the parts but will look to take a few later when I am at my model bench.
Have fun modeling!
Mike
ATL
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
Thanks Gene! That’s another good recommendation to assemble first, then cut.
Have fun modeling!
Mike
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
Hi LH707
I took a few photos this afternoon that hopefully illustrates the kit parts and aftermarket nose for the Airfix BAC 1-11. I have started to fill and clean up the fuselage windows as I plan on using decals. I have not fully sanded them smooth in the photo. The second photo shows the new fuselage nose as compared to the kit nose. The replacement nose is a big improvement!
Have fun modeling!
Mike
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
Mike,
I too glue the fuselage together before chopping out the sections on all of my Revell KC-135A / 720 builds. I use a razor saw in a metal cut box with chock clamps to firmly hold the fuselage square. I also use guides to keep the saw aligned perpendicular to the fuselage. It makes for a slower cut, but it beats free handing it and dealing with misaligned cuts like my first attempts.
Ideally, I’d like to make a Dremel miniature table saw with sliding perpendicular guide and adjustable fence, just like a full scale table saw. I saw an article once, maybe in FSM, on how to build one, but I just can’t locate it right now. When I finally retire and build my workshop, I will make one. It will be real useful for ripping sheet styrene and making multiple cross cuts of square or round stock for scratchbuilding.
Kind regards,
Dutch
Kind regards,
DutchHmm. Just looked at ETSY and someone took my thought! Necessity truly is the mother of invention! Although this one is pretty basic with an adjustable fence, but no sliding guide.
Dremel Cutting Bench / Sanding Bench / Flex Shaft Workbench – Etsy
On the other hand, for a few more bucks, other options are available.
MicroLux® Miniature Table Saw (micromark.com)
0.9 Amp, 4 in. Hobby Table Saw with Blade (harborfreight.com)
Kind regards,
DutchThanks Dutch! Your detailed explanation is helpful. I believe I have seen some of your in-progress and built kits on different forums so your build techniques definitely work!
Have fun modeling!
Mike
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
Looking good, I think the surgery should work out if you have a nice square cut like Dutch says.
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
Looking good, I think the surgery should work out if you have a nice square cut like Dutch says.
Thanks!! I agree, getting the fuselage to look good will come down to getting a good, square cut. I’ll post the photos after I make the cut and have the nose section fitted. This build will be a bit slow for now as I am trying to finish off a few other models that are closer to being finished.
Have fun modeling!
Mike
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
Hi everyone!
I thought it time to give an update on the slow progress I have made in updating the Airfix BAC 1-11 from the prototype to the production version. The main reason why this is slow going on my bench is that I have several other models further along in construction so I have only been working on this when I want a break on those projects.
Catching up from where I left off, I decided that the model would need some nose weight, so I partially hollowed out the resin nose section and epoxied a fishing weight in the nose.
It was then time to take a deep breath and cut the fuselage after measuring where to cut a few times.
Next step was to epoxy the nose onto the fuselage and apply and sand an initial application of putty for the seams. Success!
Now it is on to working on the wings and engines.
Have fun modeling!
Mike
ATL
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
Hi everyone! Although I managed to keep getting distracted modeling project wise this past year, I finally finished my Airfix BAC 1-11 project that prompted me to start this thread. I used several of the old Liveries Unlimited decals sheets to make a Mohawk BAC 1-11. In addition to the resin nose mentioned above, I also used some parts of a 26Decals (?) PE set and resin engines from Welsh Models as I was missing one of the engine pod pieces in my Airfix BAC 1-11 kit that I bought many years ago from a vendor at a contest. For finishing a kit in early 2025 that was first molded in 1964, I’m happy with the results. The base shown in the photos was purchased ready made but I don’t recall from where.
Have fun modeling!
Mike
ATL
Edit your Profile to get a forum signature.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.