Before going any further I needed to clean up. Disorganization creates a sort of mental chatter which I find very distraction. Cleaning also gives one the illusion of control. I garbage-picked a nice dining room table and moved it into my workspace, you can see the edge of it on the right. For me, there is never enough flat workspace. So, lets take a deep breath, hold and release...
This is stretched sprue which is being flattened with some smooth jaw pliers. Plastic is a wonderfully flexible material.
The strip is now being rolled using (let me do an internet search) with round nose pliers. I remember getting these in plier sets and never understood what they were for.
The strip is dunked in liquid solvent for a time, this turns it into a plastic noodle of sorts.
Because it is soft and sticky, it is now ready to be added to the front seat. The leather on the front seats extends further than how ICM made the kit part. It is easier to extend them, rather than fix the gap that would have been there.
A smaller round section of sprue is added. Once dry this can then be easily shaped.
On the left you can see the newly shaped addition.
Again, on the left is the extended lip on the seat in place. The right side still needs to be finished.
The soft white rubber tire have lots of flash on them. Sometimes you can trim it with a brand new blade, but not this time. Instead a fine sanding tip is used to carefully grind it off.
I brush some solvent onto the tires to dissolve any other imperfections. The tire has a huge sink mark on it, these will be turned down to the ground. My wife can finally now stop asking me "When will Tim's wheels be done"?
Another section of sprue is put into my Dremel and carefully shaped. Here I am flattening out a shallow blind hole with a flat topped Dremel bit.
This will become and instrument dial.
Here it is in place, I think it is a speedometer. In the center is a box that holds dry battery cells for ignition. The disc was cut off the front and the box textured like wood. The disc is replaced and the arm with the knobs is added. Little details like this are pretty easy and will really bring a model to life. The cable for the speedometer is an old guitar string.
The mounts for the side lanterns need to be moved up because it is now too close to the horn.
This means the two locator recesses will need to be filled. You know the drill, stretched sprue is fattened, shaped, dipped and mushed into place.
I discovered another new tool, this is a wax pencil used for beading. It is perfect for picking up tiny parts and isn't too sticky. And they are cheap.
Here you can see they have been pushed into place. Once dry, the area will be refinished.
That's it for this installment. I put what we have together just so we can get a little excited about where we are going. It is going to look like a fine automobile!
That's it for now. Happy modeling!
BTW, I just discovered Swedish post WW2 aircraft. My life will never be the same.
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