Hi there, I am more of an armored modeler. Occasionally i'll tackel a plane project. My question(s) is this> When gluing the two fuselages together, how does one hide the seam and make it look like one whole piece. Are you using putty or just sanding until the seams disappear?

Also, how does one sand the fuselage while still keeping it round. Wouldn't this flatten the areas where sanding? Please advise me, because I stink at this. Thanks for any help.

Sean
Take a look at my website, I've posted Pt I of an article about doing seams so that they cannot be seen. Say that three time fast. Each kit is different, that is to say how accurate are they in regards to the exact profile of the fuselages center section some are molded more () when the should be O. Either way it is important to use a method of bonding that requires the least amount of sanding and filling. That is why I like to use a solvent to weld my parts together.
Gerald

http://www.hawkeyeshobbies.com/feature.htm

so basically you weld the two parts together and sand carefully trying to keep the the two halves round. Use no putty?? Only if there are gaps??? Is this correct? thanks for your response

Hi Sean

If you want help with modeling planes, maybe you should consider asking in the Aeroscale forum Of course some people might be able to help you around here, but probably better ressources on the dedicated forum!

Regards,

Phil

Sometimes you'll have to use a smidgen of putty or CA, but if you test fit and true the parts up you be able to eliminate a majority of the filling. You can also use pieces of sprue and styrene along with the solvent to melt it into a flaw to have a solid plastic repair versus one with putties or other fillers. Just like repairing a crack in metals, just weld in a patch or filler. Anytime you have to use a foreign substance to make a correction it means more work.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w73/HawkeyeV/Noseseamrepair.jpg

Hey Plasticman

The most important thing in removing seams in your airframe is parts prep. First lay a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and sand both halves of the fuselage GENTLY you do not want to remove too much plastic as this will cause fit problems later on. A word of warning sometimes the kit will have things like antennas, tail wheels and such extending to the other side of the part. If this is the case you will have to use a sanding block on that halve. Tests fit the parts often and continue sanding till the gap is as small as possible. After the two halves are cemented together prime the model and fill any gaps as needed. I use CA as it is the fastest and easiest but if you use putty run two strips of masking tape on each side of the gap to reduce the amount of putty you use.

If you are interested in building better aircraft models pick up a copy of Roscoe Creed’s “How to Build Plastic Aircraft Models” ISBN #0-89024-065-5 he can explain this technique way better than I can and in my opinion this is a must have for any aircraft modeler.