What's on the workbench!

[TheChronicOne]

"Capillary" something something;

It's Capillary Action. Can be a useful function, but can also sometimes be a bit of a pain when you don't want or need it. 

Thanks!   And..... TRUTH.  I've used it and got carried away or whatever and used a bit much and it ran like lightning and I wound up with finger prints of glue on things...

.....

As Kerick said,  gotta be careful holding it and where the clamps are.... and how much is on the little brush! I still struggle with it but I'm getting through the learning pains and it's becoming more of a "go-to" and my "normal" glue is being used less and less. Situational, though, I'll never abandon my traditional model glue.

[McColm]

Sunday 1st March 2020

I have so many ideas for the Group Build,  no doubt I'll have my own Fleet Air Arm soon 
I have another idea for the Mach2 Martin SeaMaster,  I have the fuselage; wings and vertical tail fin all glued in place. I did have the metal landing gear from the Sanger An-12 Cub but the metal is too thin and won't stay in place every time I move it. However I have a broken HP Victor K2 that I can use as the form of a kitbash. I can recycle the wings for the Revell Blohm and Voss BV-222.
So it looks like the Bristol Sea Freighter is a go , having won one on eBay. March is looking a bit hectic at the beginning but should sort itself out towards the end of the month so I can get on with my builds.

[McColm]

Monday 2nd March 2020

Collected three parcels from the Royal Mail Depot in Plumstead Southeast London. In one of the parcels has the 1/72 Heller Lockheed L-749 Constellation with resin RVHP Lockheed  P0-1W (VW-2) Short Warning Star with decals 1949-1955. These parts fit on the Heller DC-6B Securite Civile and the water bomber compartment almost fits under the Constellation .
There's painting instructions for the EC-121 with USAF and USNAVY decals,  I've always wanted to build a maritime version of the Connie,  so these two will be my next builds.

[McColm]

Tuesday 3rd March 2020

I finally made up my mind to build AEW version of the Sikorsky MH-53E using the 1/72 Italeri kit with the ramp from an old Airfix CH-53G box of spare parts and the Revell Sea King HAS. 6/AEW.
I can't see a lot of the cargo space hence having the back ramp closed,  I made a hole in the right side of the fuselage to accommodate the swivelling arm and glued a back panel,  so the arm looks recessed. There's a couple of gaps to fill in after the fuselage halves have dried out,  the cockpit went together reasonably well.
PSR work continues on with the Westland Hera,  I'm thinking ASW, now that the engines have been relocated under the wingtips , but it will still work as an AEW platform.
The Lockheed KEC-121M  Hammerhead has had a few metal parts from the AeroClub Avro Shackleton AEW.2 conversion set,  I'm thinking a third set of main landing gear to prevent a tail sitter.  I'm just deciding on the paint scheme.

[McColm]

Tuesday 17th March 2020

Well kitbashing the Mach2 Martin SeaMaster with the Matchbox Handley Page Victor K2 does work,  even the wings are the same thickness and yes they have been extended with the floats glued on. The underwing fuel tanks are also glued in place,  so too is the flight refuelling probe on the nose.
I did try the Victor T-tail once before on another build but it didn't look right to me but now that the Victor middle section has been slotted into place the portions look correct.
I'll be scratch building a new tail cone as I had removed it so that the resin EB-66 Destroyer could fit in it's place but I have used that for another build.
However the curvature of both kits is not the same,  close but no cigar! PSR should solve the problem and it's the same process on the new wing joints. A few aftermarket etched sets or a raid in the spares boxes should provide suitable air brakes, I'll scribe some windows along the rear fuselage and add a few parts from the Airfix BAe Nimrod MR.1/MR.2P kit.

[McColm]

April 1st 2020

I've gone back to working nights for the next two weeks in the fire control room based at the Southbank Centre construction site behind Waterloo Underground Station. The company that I work for hasn't issued it's staff with face masks or disposable gloves and we haven't even received permission to travel to work letters either unlike the other two sites I have been covering.
I even brought a 3kg bag of pasta to work to share but there were no takers,  as I have another bag at home which is being used by my roommates.
On the build side I have dry tested the engines from the Rotodyne kit on the Airfix Bristol Superfreighter and they seem to fit but will need a bit of persuading for a better finish.
As for the Rotodyne this now has the twin stacks from the MH-47E on the upper fuselage and will have the sponsors from the Sea Knight. I haven't ruled out the wing  stubs as they could have pylons fitted to carry anti-ship missiles or fuel tanks.
I'm determined to do as much PSR work on my other builds, if I can't get to sleep straight away.

[TheChronicOne]

Hell, be careful! Don't want to catch that mess! They should be trying to at least do SOMETHING to help matters. Just tie some underwear around your face, I suppose.

[McColm]

Saturday 11th April 2020

I've been working on the security gatehouse at Ferndale Foods,  Hailey Road Trading Estate,  Erith on the 5am to 5pm day shift. It's sheer chaos in the mornings. Fortunately for me I have another full week next week and I then go down to a four day week. After that it's "when required ".

The 1/72 ex-Airfix Bristol Superfreighter is now a Gunship. Parts have come from the AC-130H Spectre II kit which fit rather well, the engines are from the Airfix Rotodyne set along with the main landing gear. I'm thinking of putting a couple of heavy gun barrels in the nose.

[McColm]

Thursday 16th April 2020

I was searching on eBay for the 1/72 conversion set for the Carvair and found one. I don't have any details about which kit this is only that it is $65 .
I also saw the Dassault Atlantique ATL2 conversion set whilst surfing the net, this too looks great but it is still pricey at €45.
Meanwhile closer to home Freightdog has two bomb bay conversions for a 1/72 Buccaneer.
I have Monday and Thursday off next week to go and collect my parcels from the Royal Mail depot in Plumstead which should be interesting as there's a pile of goodies waiting for me.
As for the builds nothing has been touched for the last two weeks although dry fitting of the RVHP early version Warning Star has been tested on the Heller Douglas DC-6B.

[McColm]

Friday 17th April 2020
My 1/72 Mach2 Bristol Britannia Royal Air Force Transport Command,  arrived today,  so naturally I googled and found some information about the CL-44 Yukon.
If only I knew where my copy of "The  Air Ministry and AEW " was then a straight out of the box with the  Grumman E-2 Hawkeye rotodome fitted would do,  but now that I have discovered that the Canadians had the idea to fit the Rolls-Royce Tyne engines a maritime version using parts from the Revell Dassault Breguet Br1150 Atlantic 1 ATL1 or a four engined Atlantic using the Britannia wings and the Britannia with wings from the Airfix BAe Nimrod MR.1.
I think some dry testing on Monday with some masking tape should reveal the basic shapes that I am looking for.

Found it, it's The Air Staff and AEW. It was under my 00 gauge  Hall Class locomotive which I was thinking of painting it red and adding the Hogwarts Express name plates, the decals are not available so something similar will have to be sourced.
Meanwhile there was a study back in 1964 to use the Bristol Britannia and install a Marconi S-band radar with a 24ft x 7ft elliptical antenna rotating at 6rpm within a dorsally-mounted  mushroom-type radome. Bristol's called it the Britannia Early Warning Airborne Radar Equipment or BEWARE.
This study was re-examined in the early 1970s with the new improved AN/APS. 120 radar which would have been borrowed from the E-2 Hawkeye.
The cockpit seems to fit okay, no major problems so far.

[McColm]

Monday 20th April 2020

The Mach2 Bristol Britannia has some problems; if you add the cockpit interior the two fuselage halves won't join without any gaps when you glue them together.
The vertical tail fin needs squaring up for a good fit and the undercarriage legs are a pain which is why I will be fitting the Rolls-Royce Tyne engines from the Revell Breguet Br1150 Atlantic 1 .
Hopefully the wheels will fit on the Argosy.
A trip to the Royal Mail depot in Plumstead should result in a large bag of goodies. Especially when the London buses are free from today. Although I will still take my oyster card just as a precaution.

[ericr]

Suprisingly the  Matchbox Hunter T7 cockpit fits on the front of the Heller Mirage IVP,  I just need to find the suitable landing gear.

This mix sounds particularly interesting...

they do fit indeed

[McColm]

Suprisingly the  Matchbox Hunter T7 cockpit fits on the front of the Heller Mirage IVP,  I just need to find the suitable landing gear.

This mix sounds particularly interesting...

they do fit indeed

Thanks 

[McColm]

Thursday 23rd April  2020

The 1/72 Mach2 Bristol Britannia is now in the bin. Please don't buy it unless you have patience of a saint.

[ericr]

Suprisingly the  Matchbox Hunter T7 cockpit fits on the front of the Heller Mirage IVP,  I just need to find the suitable landing gear.

This mix sounds particularly interesting...

they do fit indeed

results there :

https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=37003.msg879693#msg879693