Ansaldo A.1 "Balilla" 1/32 Aviattic OOB

[uncletony]

Exhaust pipes installed, and this closes out this chapter of the build...

[Edo]

Bo, your ingenuity is just great! that jig you made is so simple yet I had never thought of it nor I would be able enough to build one!
but what really impresses me this time is the shade of the exhaust: just wondeerful! so far better than my rust tone: what did you use?
thank you for the info and thank you for thaking the time of showing us all the procedures you use for this fantastic build!
ciao
edo

[Manni]

Wow, Bo!
The engine looks great. I love the colour of the exhaust pipes. May I ask, how you have achieved this look?
Bye,Manni

[Juan]

Wow, Bo!
The engine looks great. I love the colour of the exhaust pipes. May I ask, how you have achieved this look?
Bye,Manni

As stated previously, the exhausts are beautifully finished.  Looking forward to the next chapter of this exciting/informative build.

[RAGIII]

Bo, you make these things seem so simple. Why didn't I think of something like this years ago? Simple answer, I am not Bo!
RAGIII
PS: Like the others I find the painting of those exhaust pipes very impressive!
RAGIII

[GAJouette]

 Bo,
Your work/artistry is nothing short of amazing my old friend. Looking forward to the next installment.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[xmald]

You`re a true artist Bo, this is going to be the most super detailed Balilla model built OOB 
Keep up the good work - it`s such a pleasure to follow your threads!

[Alexis]

 




Terri

[Gisbod]

There's always a simple solution - it just takes genius to find it 

Guy

[Ian from Doncaster]

What amazes me is folks like Bo, Des, and many others turn round such craftsmanship in so little time.

The exhaust drilling jig, for example, is such a simple idea yet it would probably take me longer just to think about how to do that, than it took Bo to build it, drill, paint and attach the exhausts!!

[uncletony]

Thanks guys! 

While it's fun to get all the credit, I must point out that the drilling jig is the specified method in the instructions as the way to accomplish this. In fact I was quite dubious that it would work satisfactorily but decided to try it before casting about for a substitute -- that was meant to be the point of the post (I actually ordered the correct diameter brass tubing to replace the stubs). Ron made the example jig from a brass billet; my small contribution is showing how it can be made from simpler stuff most modelers might have on hand.

[lone modeller]

What can I add Bo? This is by far the most impressive tutorial that I have read - and there are some truly impressive tutorials on this site. It just gets better with each post.

Stephen.

[Ronkootje]

Thanks guys! 

While it's fun to get all the credit, I must point out that the drilling jig is the specified method in the instructions as the way to accomplish this. In fact I was quite dubious that it would work satisfactorily but decided to try it before casting about for a substitute -- that was meant to be the point of the post (I actually ordered the correct diameter brass tubing to replace the stubs). Ron made the example jig from a brass billet; my small contribution is showing how it can be made from simpler stuff most modelers might have on hand.

True its a real simple methode and yours is the same priceble but easy to make I made it on my lathe and know that not every one has that so thanks for showing this methode.

Want to point out also that you cut the pipes of at the angel and then drilling it, works fine whit the drills you use got the same ones they are real sharp but many modelers have the normal HSS drills so it might be wise to keep it cut it 90 degrees and then drill it to prevent the drill from slipping and then sand the angel on when the drilling is complete

Ron

[uncletony]

Want to point out also that you cut the pipes of at the angel and then drilling it, works fine whit the drills you use got the same ones they are real sharp but many modelers have the normal HSS drills so it might be wise to keep it cut it 90 degrees and then drill it to prevent the drill from slipping and then sand the angel on when the drilling is complete

This is a good point -- I am using very sharp carbide bits (Drill Bits Unlimited); I tried it both ways and I found cutting first was much easier -- it was hard to make out the exact angle to cut the pipe when boring first. However, as Ron says, if you are using HSS bits it might be easier to cut the angle after boring them out.

[uncletony]

On to the fuselage

The next chapter is all about prepping the fuselage and fitting the fuel tank.

Here are the parts needed -- the fuselage in two parts and the contents of the baggie that contains the card with fuel tank images. (You can set aside the upper part of the fuselage for now -- it won't be needed for quite a while)



The fuselage needs some trimming and prep. The trimming required at the tail end should be obvious, but the nose end is a little more involved. When you cut off the casting block from the nose, you are left with something like this:



This actually somewhat closely resembles what you see when the radiator is removed from the real thing, and I think maybe at one time that was as far as Ron was going to go -- but it turns out they have provided a much more realistic PE part... :



(bent to shape)



... which requires a bit of fiddling to fit:


Basically, you need to trim the nose back a bit further, so that it is ~9.1mm from the second former. And you need to thin it a little bit to get the PE part to fit. As you can see, I went a little too far and had to build the nose back up with some strips of styrene. At any rate it's mostly a game of fit'n'try until it all goes together nicely...




The trenches visible in the photos have since been filled in with SupaFilla and smoothed over...