Hey guys!
As promised a new finished sub assembly of this build - the exhaust pipe.
The interior of the exhaust pipe is made of three main pieces. I don't really like such arrangement as it will inevitably leave three seam lines down the tube, which are next to impossible to remove without loosing detail. And as you can see, the detail is exquisite. Unfortunately the many little holes are not afterburner nozzles as I've though initially, but actually green painted domed rivets or something similar. The nozzles themselves are actually even tinier but not represented by the model. The flame holder that you can see are actually made of 3 PE parts carefully bent to get the required 3D shape.
Dryfit of the three pieces showing the nastiest of the seams. I guess it won't be as noticable when glued and hidden in the dark shadows of the exhaust 😀
Remember my first experience with annealing Clearprop's brass? Well for this round ring around the inner exhaust nozzle, I just had to use annealing. Armed with slightly thicker piece than with seatbelts and knowing the potential danger, I cautiously approached the open flame with this part and then quickly quenched it in a glass of water. And it worked! No damage to the brass and it became silky smooth to bend in circular shape.
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With the whole assembly completed I was really satisfied with the result. The PE made flame holder, fit perfectly as did the inner nozzle with that PE ring. I've painted that green and played with oils to give it that scorched burned look - I've used White, Starship Filth, Buff and Payne's Grey oil paints for the effects.
