I've always wanted to do a model of a TF but I missed the boat with the Kiwi Conversion...soo I thought I'd give a go at making my own conversion. Here's the journey...started with a fubar'd project and went from there. I ended up buying a Dental Vacuum machine for the canopies...I've got a few conversions on the list 🙂 The project got rolling with some bass wood and super glue, and a bunch of sand paper. Once everything fit I primed bass wood with Tamiya primer and wet sanded everything smooth for casting. The canopy profile was made from some reference photos I had taken of Toulouse Nuts while she was still being rebuilt. I used Magic Sculpt to dial in the shape. This stuff is amazing. 90% of the shape was done by shaping the putty with water and rubber clay tools. The initial mold making process had some teething issues with air bubbles, but it didn't take much to work out mold angles and filler spouts. The molds and resin were made with the "resin starter kit" from Hobby Lobby and made by Alumilite. Now that I know how all this stuff works I'm going to order some "high performance" silicon rubber and resin from Brink in the Yard.

9 attached images. Click to enlarge.

The last hurdle was the canopy. After watching several YouTube tutorials and spending a few hours on Google reading up on methods it was time to go for it. I pulled in the initial canopy directly from the wood/Magic Sculpt...talk about showing every flaw! Back to the drawing board. I had polished the magic sculpt until shined but the wood showed every grain. I taped off the MS and built up the wood with Tamiya primer and wet sanded it smooth. Once that was done I made a silicon mold of the plug and cast it in resin. It took 3 tries in the Vac machine to get a bubble free canopy but it sure works great! The rest of the build went smooth...Mike Grant decals, Ultracast flaps, elevators, and prop rounded everything out. This won't be the last TF, Toulouse, Crazy Horse and probably Lady Jo at some point. Thanks for having a look!

Jim

6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Wow Jim, nicely done indeed. I expect to see her at Cleveland in November?

Thanks! As soon as I get the TF parts stocked up I'm going to start a Dago Red/Strega conversion. I'm still debating on a full fuselage or just the turtledeck. I'm not sure how Tamiya feels about copying their parts. The biggest hurdle was by-far the canopy and the Vac machine makes it painfully easy once the plug is made. I really like the Alumilite system but all the videos I've seen from Brick in the Yard lead me to think the silicon they produce is stronger in the long run for multiple castings. The TF is relatively simple and not many undercuts to worry about, anything more complicated will require a stronger molding silicon. I got 10 cockpits and 7 instrument panels from the first molds I made before they started to degrade...theoretically I should be able to get 20-25, if not more. It's fun for sure!