Finished the V-1!

Tonight I finished the V-1 and am happy to have another project completed under my belt. I've tried several new techniques which have taught me valuable lessons for future projects. For the first time I experimented with spraying a clear coat and figured out how to mount a flying model on a stand. Overall it was a simple model which allowed me to improve many skills/techniques, the Tamiya V-1 took 7 hours and 11 minutes to build.

Mounting the V-1 (third attempt)

When I cam to remove the alligator clips placed on October 31st the movement was too much despite being very delicate with the model and it snapped the glue bond again! After doing some research I decided to drill into the V-1 and insert the plastic rod into it with some krazy glue. Unlike my previous attempts I decided to glue the rod straight instead of at an angle since the V-1 was designed to fly straight and level due to its gyroscopes.

Despite my hesitations of drilling a hole into a nice model, it worked very well and is sturdy. Looking on forums and web sites no one was really clear on how to mount an aircraft with an acrylic rod, drilling a hole appears to be the best method.

Mounting the V-1 (first and second attempt)

With the V-1 complete I proceeded on gluing the plastic rod to the model with krazy glue. I tilted it at an angle and once dry I glued the plastic rod to the picture frame. Everything was going well until I started to manipulate the frame once the glue had dried; the V-1 snapped from the rod and fortunately unlike its real counterpart did not explode on impact. Sustaining no damage from the fall I glued a second time. Since the plastic rod was firmly glued to the base and that I had the V-1 at an angle, it was very hard to keep it in the correct position. I had to resort to using alligator clips and large Popsicle sticks as shown in the photo.

England!

I decided to use a picture frame as the base for the V-1 and used Adobe Photoshop to turn a color photo of an English landscape into a sepia/grainy photo which may have looked like a real photo from the Second World War. I placed my order at Wal-Mart to get it printer (only 19 cents) and now all I need to do is find a nice picture frame.

Airbrushing a V-1 Belly

This evening I took took out my airbrush for the first time this year and airbrushed the belly of the V-1 Tamiya XF-23 Light Blue. The instructions indicated using Tamiya AS-5 but this is a pre-mix spray can which costs almost as much as the model and the XF-23 was a very close match.

V-1 Assembly

I decided to put together the V-1 scale model which consisted of only 7 parts (this must be the smallest scale model I every built) and quickly realized that the seams between the two halves of the body where not flush. I ended up spending about an hour sanding the seams smooth but the model looks very nice. I also decided to cut off the spinner at the tip of the V-1 for fear that I would break it while manipulating the model, hope it won't be too hard to align properly when reattaching it.

In the photo above the air intake looks crooked , this is normal as has been placed temporarily so that it can be airbrushed. Also the yellow rod at the end of the exhaust is a temporary aid for painting purposes.

Tamiya 1/48 V-1 (Fieseler Fi103) "Flying Bomb"

Today being Christmas I received from my lovely wife a 1/48 scale Tamiya V-1 (Fieseler Fi103) "Flying Bomb", a model that I have had my eye on for a little while now. Containing only 16 parts and 20 decals (this is probably the first time I have seen a model with more decals then parts) this should be a fairly quick model to complete.