The Romsey Modeller - Romsey Modellers

[15]. Detailing added to rear deck of cockpit. [16]. Modified kit seat
with plasticard panel
behind head. Headrest
and cushion added from
Milliput.
[17]. Kit pilot underwent an
enforced drastic weight loss and
sex‐change surgical operation
(you can’t do enough for a good
hobby!). I wish I trimmed out
around the neck some more
because “she” ended up more
like a Russian shot‐put athlete
than a young “Angel”!
Guillaume Monnier had also explained to me how to mould the new canopy by what he termed “smash
moulding”. Basically, you take a piece of transparent polystyrene food packaging and heat it using a candle.
Once it has gone soft, you “smash” it down over the mould. He said that you must keep moving the plastic
over the candle flame – if you stop it will melt through. He also said that I would need a few tries before
getting the hang of it and that if the plastic had not flowed enough then you can reheat it once again and have
another try.
I epoxied each of the two Super‐Sculpey moulds to lolly sticks and clamped these into place for the smash
moulding. It all went exactly as Guillaume had predicted, and I ended up with two or three usable canopies
from each mould. The plastic from the deeper canopy was a bit thin after moulding, but the shallower one was
okay. I also tried some clear plasticard, but this was impossible to mould: the clear food packaging was much
easier (and cheaper!)
One further advantage of doing your own mould is that it is easier to trim the part to fit. You pop the part back
onto the mould and trace along the joint edge using a CD marker pen. Then take the part off and trim it using a
fine pair of nail scissors and a scalpel. Any residue of CD pen ink can be removed with a paintbrush dipped into
meths.
Having selected the best results for my model (one from each mould), they were dipped into Klear and left
until the cockpit had been painted up.
The cockpit, seat, pilot and instrument coaming (fashioned from a resin block) were undercoated H66 dark
grey and then a lighter tone, H64, was applied as a highlight from above. The rear deck and inside edges of the
cockpit were sprayed H120 green, this being a reasonably close match to the photos found on the internet.
Some AK‐Interactive wash was applied to the green decking before the detailed items were picked out in their
correct colours.
White, H34, was sprayed onto the pilot from above, except for the legs that would be shaded by the
instrument coaming. The pilot’s hair visible through the flying helmet was painted with various tones of oil
paint [18].
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