Full Monty TSR-2

[General Melchet]

Hi chaps, following the madness that was SMW, I've decided that the time has come to grab the bull by the horns and finally build one of my 4 big TSR-2's!! particularly as I spent a fortune on after market bits for the kit and don't want to spend a lot of time sticking all my hard work on a dodo!!
We all know the horrendous cock up Airfix have made with this one regarding the forward fuselage and it's weird bulged look so I'm going to break out the hacksaw, sledgehammer, bandsaw and acetalene cutter and batter the thing into shape...this will also involve squaring the fuselage corners up as well as they are all too rounded...
With the help of info gleaned from Campbell, (of Odds and ordnance who are doing the whole front end with integrated intakes in resin late next year), I am going to set about altering the thing as I couldn't wait that long!!!hope your uveitis clears up soon Campbell )

First up is setting the model against a set of 1/48th plans ...where the extent of the problem becomes apparent!! the panel lines along the roof of the forward fuselage should be parallel not angled as on the kit.This is what gives it the bloated appearence when viewed from above, so it's a simple matter of cutting  out the long panel and reinforcing the sides with plastic strip.I found that the easiest way to do this was to cut the nose section off just ahead of the intakes and remove the roof section with an Olfa cutter.
This improves things no end but is really only the beginning of major surgery!!
The next problem is the underside floor section which now has to be narrowed the same way and flattened off as the kits profile is almost circular!!...Putting this section against the plans now shows the biggest problem!!.....the fuselage is too deep and needs drastic work to line it up parallel to the panel lines.
All this is very baffling because Airfix got it (almost) right with the 1/72nd version ironically started life as a 1/48th prototype!!), went off to China and came back looking 6 months pregnant...what on Earth happened, did they give the moulds to Trumpeters famous fantasy design team??
Even after all this is hacked into shape there lies one last major hurdle...all this surgery will leave an 8mm difference between the intake shroud and shock cone...put simply the intakes on the kit are too narrow and the cone too small....we'll cross that bridge when we come to it
Anyway this is going to be a long project as I have a lot of review stuff to carve through over XMAS, but I will regularly update as things progress....

Here's some pics of progress today,

Cheers all

General M...



The forward section is removed just behind the intakes...the black line along the bottom fuselage is where the fuselage must be cut to match the plans...a lot of work will be needed to marry everything up to the mid fuselage area!














You can see in these pics  how much more accurate the 72nd fuselage is in comparison..







This really shows the problem...whilst the 72nd version has some bulge the larger kits is way over sized...















Best way to deal with the problem is to remove the top panel , bring in the sides and square off the panel before refitting....








The bottom now bows out alarmingly and will also need cutting back...







Whilst far from perfect it will require a lot less work now to flatten the sides to a more accurate profile...







TO BE CONTINUED !!!

[Cobra]

Why do i get the feeling that Airfix RFUed that Great Aircraft?? Hope to see More Great Work Soon!!! btw, have you Chosen a Paint Scheme & Marking for her Yet???

[General Melchet]

Thanks chaps, cobra, it'll probably be in one of these two schemes, fitted out with IFR probe, Blue Waters, Martels and 1250 gal belly tank,























Though I still quite like this!!







Dunc, cheers, well as we said it looks so wrong if left that after spending that much on the resin stuff I could really only have a go at fixing it!!..at the end of the day it's only another scratchbuild....

and that's our favourite form of modelling............right!!



Cheers,

Andy

[GrahamS]

Herr General

Why does this look familiar?

Graham

(no reason for this - just like it!!)

[nev]

*pulls up a chair*

This is gunna be good!

[TsrJoe]

sooo looking forward to seeing this one progress, especially when compared with your excellent work on other models
just a teeny comment, the underwing Blue Water wasnt intended as a serious fitment, merly a postulation in the brochure (which does mention it as being unlikely) the TSR.2/Blue Water combination looked at in detail was a semi recessed one in the bomb bay
ill admit i have a soft spot for the NEAF. scheme as being one which the aircraft suits particularly well (the 'chocolate bomber' scheme was actually suggested to be applied to theatre Vulcan bombers altho turned down due to centralised servicing) id lose the 'white cap' tho as being superflous to the type

cheers, joe

PS. AS.30 (Airfix Canberra?) or TV. Martel inboard (Airfix Buccanneer?), 3 row Matra outboard on a twin carrier (Airfix Harrier?) would look sweet too esp with the bomb bay opened to show one of those amazing resin detailing sets (poss with something suitable within)

[General Melchet]

Thanks fellas,...Graham, yep I'm too lazy to write it all out again for various forums, ...  


Thanks a lot Joe, obviously your input is VERY much welcome..I agree regards the Blue Waters, just that I rather liked the idea of seeing these large weapons fitted to her...I will probably revise the load out as appropriate using your knowledge.

Regards for scheme...I must admit having a more than passing liking for the NEAF scheme!!....hmmmm  everyone and his dog seems to be modelling the grey/green or desert pink ones so it would certainly be a bit different.
I have some of the new Cammett Martels now and think I have some Matras knocking about somewhere, AS 30's a good idea too...food for thought!

As for the white 'cap'...that was never going to be part of the plan...LOL!! 

Cheers all,

Andy

[General Melchet]

This was the work done last night, things are progressing apace..



You get some idea of the incorrect taper from this.The panel lines should be virtually parallel!!













After a few minutes of fettling, all in place and braced underneath with square section plasti-rod and filler....you can see the bulge still present on the underside which will be dealt with next....

[General Melchet]

Next step, attack the underside. Same problem as the top...the sides need drawing in and the underside panelling flattening off..Firstly I cut the large lower wraparound panel in half as it will no longer fit once the sides are sanded back. These are then glued into place and sanded until even. About 6mm on each side just behind the nose gear bay must be removed to ensure that the panel fits snugly and gives the underside a more accentuated edge.
You now notice that the undercarriage bay sides need cutting back and squaring off so that the bay fits properly....all good fun innit!! :hobbyhorse:



We are now getting somewhere!!

The lower bulge has now gone and the whole thing is looking more like the real deal............
































The top panel will be sanded to shape once everything is in place...













The underside rear panel will be blended into the fuselage sides to give it the correct shape...













This shows the work needed on the undercarriage recess, just a case of squaring it all up.

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

*pulls up a chair*

Pulls up a second chair and unwraps sandwhich's & coffee  - OK, Andy we're with you !

Ian

[nev]

*offers Ian a dark chocolate hobnob*

BTW Andy, its entirely down to you that I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon inspecting 1/48 TSR2s on display to see if they had a tapered forward fuselage or not!

[van883]

Very impressive...unsurprisingly!

Has anyone got an explanation from airfix as to how they got the shape so wrong ?

Van

[General Melchet]

Thanks chaps, Ian ...hope it's a parker-knoll full recliner........coz this might take a while as I'm having to fit it in between several other builds, and that irritaing but necessary evil...work .............. still i shall dally not!!..

Neil,  .it is annoying isn't it...I'm the same, once you know you just can't help but notice it. Geoff (Thorvic) saw it immediately the moment we had the test shot on the table at SMW 08...hence holding back on building any!!

Van, thanks, no one seems to know what happened between the accurate 1/72nd plans going off to China and this odd looking thing coming back....I reckon they must have had the Trumpeter 'man with a white stick' have a go at it!!, it has all the hallmarks of one of theirs......by the way the tailplane actuator fairings are all wrong too...hence the purchase of the lovely Cammett ones and of course the tail fin with the correct inlet vent. (and while we're at it the Cammett intakes are a must as they have the correct relief door placement and intake circumference.
The Airfix kit is a great basis, but sadly you really need a lot of the add ons to make an accurate rendition of our favourite plane......

Thanks all,

Andy

[PR19_Kit]

It begs the question why none of the after-market people haven't done a correct forward fuselage for the 1/48 kit. The wrong taper was quite noticeable from the time when the kit was first announced.

And also why so many of the add-ons are ONLY available in 1/48, there are ooddles of 1/72 scale TSR2s out there still..........

[General Melchet]

That's very true kit, I'm guessing it's down to the price and widespread availability of the larger scale kit, though as you say a lot of 72nds have been sold, (I think Falcon's got most of them !!).
As for the fuselage, after chatting to several people at Telford about it there appears to be at least three people interested in doing one, the most advanced being 'Odds and Ordnance's' effort, only slowed down by illness unfortunately, but with a tentative target release date of mid/late summer 2010....but it certainly won't be cheap!! as it's going to include the intakes as well, all in one very large moulding,(so it will be virtually half the kit!!!).

Andy