The Wooksta: Not a Spitfire Blog

[The Wooksta!]

"That doesn't worry me. I just eat the labels as well."

Due to work related issues, I kind of lost my mojo a while back although I've been toying with a few Star Trek ships, largely inspired after seeing this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCho6AQ4cwc

I've been wanting one of this class for a while, largely to do the USS Odyssey from a fan series called... Star Trek: Odyssey.  It's all green screen and variable acting from the cast and some iffy CGI but it's enjoyable enough and in places better than actual product (Enterprise, Voyager, I'm looking at you!)  It's all on youtube if you care to look for it.  However, on rewatching some of it, I realised that unless I drastically reworked the nacelles, Odyssey wasn't possible.

That being the case, it'll be OOB, although the name on the decals - USS Allegiance - will have to go.  You see, I'm no fan of the US centric names that Star Fleet largely uses (although given that it's from a US TV franchise entirely understandable), and like the ships of the Terran Federation* in my Blake's 7 PGP, all of my Star Fleet ships are going to get Royal Navy or at least British ship names.

Sovereign - Ark Royal, Prince of Wales, Nelson,
Phallanx - Repulse, Albion
Akira - Illustrious, Vanguard
Nova - Endeavour, Beagle
Intrepid - Endurance
Miranda - Majestic, Britannic
Constitution - Dauntless, Warspite (and bearing in mind I'd like both a TOS and a refit, I could do both)
Ares - Swiftsure

Anyhoo, armed with the thoughts and having ordered a pair of 3d printed ships - the aforementioned Phallanx and the Ares from Shapeways, I dragged the few others out of the loft at me Mam's.  The Nova and Akira are both from Starcrafts, the former being a stunning piece of casting in one piece and just needing a tad cleaning up.  The latter is a bit more challenging and the fit is less than stellar, but it's impressive once together - I'd tacked it together to prime and see what needed sorting out.  It'll need a fair bit of filler in places.

Fast forward to now.  With the knowledge that I'm effectively under house arrest for at least 3 months (thanks, China!), I started cleaning up the Allegiance.  I've got it tacked together and it looks impressive.  The saucer section looks to be challenging, given that it's in 5 bits, but the rest went together rather easily.  It's a bit longer than the Akira but that's wider by contrast.  The video I linked to says it's an Excelsior/Ambassador hybrid, but to my eyes it looks more like a Nebula secondary hull with Galaxy nacelles and a Sovereign saucer - basically a scaled down Galaxy with Sovereign features.  Whatever, it's a lovely looking ship.

I did do some dry fitting on the AMT Sovereign, but it's quite crude by comparison to the Akira and the fit for a mainstream injection kit is terrible, especially the pylon to hull fit.  I'm not looking forward to this one.

Decals.  There's a guy on ebay who's local who does custom decals for the Eaglemoss die casts and with some gentle prodding and a wadge of cash may well do them in my required scale.  We shall see...

Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html


*There's one exception in my PGP - the Akira, commanded by Lin S'Kai.

[The Wooksta!]

"And what's the problem, Neil? The dummy run was a complete success!"

I've been looking at the video again of at least one episode of Odyssey and whilst the rest of the ship is a Phallanx, the nacelles are not, although that's because the Odyssey has a Slipstream as well as a warp drive.  Do I try to get another Phallanx?  Given the current restrictions on life, the universe and everything (thanks to some greedy chinese numpty wanting to eat bat soup), I don't think it'll be possible for some time.

I've also compared the size of the thing against both a Sovereign and a Nova.  The Sovereign isn't that much bigger, well, longer but the Nova is tiny and dwarfed.

As to a name...  I'm leaning towards Vanguard, largely because I'm too wedded to Illustrious for the Akira.  I did want to work in the date of the Tarranto raid as part of the registry but couldn't get it to work.


Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"Over here, over here...You took your time, you b*****d!"

Some years back, during The Great Home Bargains Airfix Treasure Hunt^TM, I'd bought a trio of the odd European fountains that were part of teh release selection.  One was going to be Federation troopers (see the Blake's 7 episode "Rumours of Death"), another was to go with some Daleks, and the third?

Well, that was going to be a ruin on Mars.  Being examined by Astronauts.  British ones.  Of the type seen in the Doctor Who story "The Ambassadors of Death".  I'd managed to get some Airfix astronauts off ebay and they look similar to those seen in said story and with a modicum of fudging and minor surgery, I could get away with it.  Except they vanished, and not during a burst of high frequency accelerated impulses either.

However, they were rediscovered a few hours back and looking at them again, they look pretty decent.

In the meantime, I managed to get a 72nd-ish BMC van that Reegan used to ferry about the aliens, so the possibility of a few dioramas from "Ambassadors" is possible.  Just wondering if I can get a Police Jaguar mk II saloon and some 1970s era UK Police "Woodentops"...



Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"Why won't this sodding video work!?"

The weather today was rather nice so I got out into the back garden to sit in the sun with several rum and cokes.  I also did some basic assembly and clean up of the AMT Sovereign class Enterprise E (still not sure what name it's going to get).

What a parcel of crap!  The fit is appalling, with gaps everywhere.  The pylon to hull fit abysmal - I had to trim the locator tabs repeatedly to get them to fit and with one there's very little of said tab left.  I haven't started the actual nacelles yet as it's a very frustrating build.  By contrast, the Phallanx was easy, although clean up there is going to take a fair bit of time.  Both look to be absolute filler hounds and it looks like I'm running out of that with little chance of getting any more in the near future.

I also turned back to a pair of Lancasters and did a bit of fillerwork on the wings but then it got a bit cold and I decided to pack it in for the day.  I'm finding I don't have much focus to do anything at the minute.


Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"Neil, Neil, Neil! Nails aren't in the recipe."

Again, another nice sunny day so back out into the back garden.  I did some more sanding and clean up on the Sovereign but I'm losing the will to live with that one.  Filled some more on a pair of Lancasters, mainly around the engine nacelles - both have had the engines replaced with Merlin 85s, one is going to be another C.6 but in the Transport scheme and the other is intended to be a PR.6 when I can get some casting done.

And then I went off piste.  There's something that I've been thinking about for a few years now and I knew I had the bits to do it - indeed, I found the base kit yesterday and it was already part started, of more anon.  What am I referring to?  A two seat Firebrand.

I'd picked up a pair of the old Rareplanes vacform kit at Telford a few years back for less than the price of a pint each.  Although I'd intended to use them as wing donors for other Blackburn projects, it's a pretty decent kit as is and one I've had through my hands once or twice and I've wanted to actually build the thing for a while now. This one came with the Aeroclub prop and wheels.  I'm not too fond of the latter, as I know that they're copies of the Frog Hornet wheels rather than the Tempest wheels they should be.  However, that's not an issue for now as I fully intend moulding a set of Tempest wheels from elsewhere for use in various projects.

Of the two kits, one had been part started at some stage prior to me getting it.  In addition, it must have been sitting in the sun, as one section of the sheet was a nice yellow colour and I found out when cutting it down that it was rather brittle.  The sheet got primed*, got the fuselage cut out and sanded down, then made a start with the already cut out wings. 

Cut a long story short, the basic parts are now sorted out and cleaned up.  I did think about using the vacform tailplanes but remembered that the Valom kit comes with two sets, so the spare from one will do for the T-bird.  The front of the engine cowling is a separate part and it's not bad but it's a bit crude, so I'll make a mould of the front of the Valom kit for use here and elsewhere as I know I've several other Firebrands somewhere, including a pair of the older CMR kit.

The canopy is going to be the one from the PM Sea Fury T.20.  I know it's horrible but the likelihood of getting an Aeroclub is slightly less than finding a nun turning tricks in a brothel, so I dug one out of a spares box and offered it up to the cleaned up fuselage.  Hmmn.  It'll work, but the back end is going to need some considerabe building up underneath.  Where's that P.38 car body filler?


Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html


*I've a cheat for vacforms - prime the vacform parts first BEFORE cutting them out, then instead of cutting around them some distance away, carefully cut into the parts at the join at a 45 degree angle then score away.  Sand down as normal and when the white plastic is gone, then the parts should fit.

Tried this a few times and it works for me.

[The Wooksta!]

"Ha! Tried to fool me. That's Toxteth again!"

One other thing I've been wanting to do is a British analogue to the MiG 21 that had the underside intake rather than the more usual nose one.  Except I needed a rationale for it.  So what if HSA decided to use a Hunter as a scaled down P.1103/1121 analogue?

The other problem is that none of the available Hunter kits would be right for it - you've got to get rid of the standard blended intake for a stark which means a lot of tedious cutting, filling and sanding, no matter the kit you start from, even the Revell one.  And then there's the wing shape itself - do I use a standard Hunter wing or a 1083 wing or a scaled 1121?

And then I remembered I *DID* have such a Hunter - Blackbeard Resin's abortive P.1067 kit, which never saw the light of day due to the fuselage being too long.  That would give me the basis of a fuselage, I can use the front end of a Revell kit (as I've several earmarked as T-birds with the PJ front end) and I know I've a spare exhaust section somewhere too.  There's a PM Ho 229 that may do for a revised 1083 wing sans intake, so I think we're looking at a goer here.

Two blog posts in a day?  Well, yes, but I also tend to use these as notes for myself and they can be quite useful in that regard.  This one has reminded me about that supersonic Huntsman that I have the bits for - Huntsman fuselage and P.1083 wings.  And when I was looking for Firebrand bits earlier I found a Project X P.1121 that had a cut out and sanded fuselage and everything else in resin just sitting there to make a start on...

Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"I'm right here. I thought the vacuum cleaner looked a bit on the tentative side so I souped it up a bit. "

The sunshine's continued so I'm still out in the back garden with several rums and doing some tinkering. 

Work continues at a snail's pace on the Sovereign, mainly just filling and sanding ad bleedin nausem, The fit is truly appalling and I'll be happy when I finally get it together, although then the stupid azteking takes over.

I've not done too much to the Firebrand, other than put a spine aft of the cockpit on both fuselage halves, this being the backbone to hold all the P38 I'll have to use to blend the back in.  I do not use Milliput.  Can't abide the stuff.

With all the poncing about with vacforms, I pulled out a part started Supermarine 545 and did some basic sanding on the fuselage but it's a bit floppy and will need considerable stiffening.  Somewhere I'm sure I've seen a drawing with sections for the fuselage and if I could remember where, I'd get them photocopied to use as bulkheads.  Actually, it was the Barrie Hygate book and it mentions that the second prototype was to have provision for four Firestreaks.  Which is nice.

T'other vacform was a Maintrack Supermarine 510, so the fuselage and wings are now cut out and sanded.  There's a rather nice vacform component that is what purports to be the cockpit but I have grave doubts that the white metal seat will fit, so it goes in the spares box and a copy of the rather nice resin cockpit tub from the AZ Attacker will do instead.  Just the tail feathers to sort out tomorrow.  Undecided as to scheme, although I'm sure I saw a reference to the Australians getting it.  So either an FAA scheme with type Ds or something similar but with 'Roos on the fuselage.

While I'm on the subject of Swift related stuff - and by rights these should really be in The Plan thread being Supermarine and designed by the same team responsible for the Spitfire after Mitchell's demise - I found a reference to a PR Swift in a book on British military serials and it wasn't the PR6 either, so I may well look at cobbling a Testors one together with the Airkit PR nose and give it a blast with PRU Blue.  There's one I located yesterday that'll fit the bill nicely.

But you're really wanting to know what the quote refers to?  My second post yesterday, a supersonic Huntsman.  That got dragged out and the fuselage has had several rounds of PSR, including a couple of blasts with Halfords Filler Primer.  I also used it to sort out one of the wings, which seem to have more holes than a crunchie - who cast them, Unicrap?  Actually, it was nowhere near as bad as that, but it did take a few goes to get all the holes filled.  I know I can the bulk of the airframe done, but there's two problems.  Firstly, the wheel wells in the wings don't match those on the fuselage, but I'm thinking about a wheels up desktop model.  The second is the tail surfaces.  I think they'd need greater sweep so I'd nick them from the Freightdog P.1103 - I'm still toying with a quick flying prototype with the standard Hunter F.4 and the 1083 wing just to prove the aerodynamics before they go to the full transonic version with the new engine.

Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"I'm afraid I couldn't find any needles, so we'll have to use 6-inch nails."

I've had further thoughts on my shortcut P1083 prototype, largely due to the fact that my stash of Revell Hunters is in another location and thanks to the Chinese, I can't get to it. IIRC, my stash of Freightdog P.1083 conversions is also in said location too.  However, I do have a spare set of the same 1083 wings that I'm fitting to the Huntsman and a boxful of Airfix Hunter spares.  I'm sure there's enough parts in there to cobble together an airframe or two.

Barrie Hygate's book on British experimental aircraft mentions that it's likely that the first 1083 would have just been an aerodynamic test aircraft, so there's a toenail of believability for what I'm doing.  At some stage I'd like to try and get some of the advanced Hunter bits together in one airframe - a 1083 deriviative with a radar nose and toting a pair of Firestreaks is quite an attractive proposal and I'm determined to do a two seater as well.

And finally, whilst I'm on the subject of Hawker stuff, I located a part assembled P.1081 - actually, it's just the fuselage, but I'll give it a blast with some primer and see how much clean up it'll need.  Having had the relevant bits for a good twenty years, I've yet to actually build one (although I did do one as a navalised P.1087) and I've been considering 607 Sqn as an end user - they would get P1081s or Venoms to replace their Spitefuls, before getting Hunter F6s in the mid 60s.  And I think I've enough Airfix Hunter bits to do a second airframe.  Pity I can't get another set or three of the 48th 607 sqn bars from the Alleycat Vampire.  I did try asking them, but didn't get an email back for 6 SODDING MONTHS!

Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"You got any witnesses?!"

Today's foray into the garden has provided some mixed results.  I've gone a bit further with a few things, started and abandoned some others before having some ideas.

The Swifts move along slowly, with only the F7/PR6 and PR2 getting any further.  Bit of cleanup and thats it.  One of the Hunters was abandoned - the fuselage was a bit crap and I found another half, which meant that I could use the one remaining half in the box to  get another fuselage together.  Sort of, the intakes went in and what passes for the cockpit - I'm not planning on doing any tarting up other than replacing the wing.  Both are going to be from the box and the 607 Sqn FGA9 may be an in flight job.  I've a possible reason in the back story for the lack of squadron bars, something about central servicing - as with the Vulcan - that meant most squadron markings taken off, but being northerners, 607 kept repainting their shields back on.  Works for me.  I'm tempted to do a pair - one with NMF undersides and type Ds, a later one in wraparound with 70s roundels, although I may leave that for the two seater, but again, I don't have any two seat Hunters to hand.  One thing - if anyone has the pylons from the Airfix Hunter spare, can you consider letting me have them?  I've used the bulk of mine on many unfinished other propjects.

I got a bit further with the Huntsman - incidentally, as it's a speedbird rather than the usual transport, what would be an apt name for it? - the filler on the tail fin is all sorted and I *think* I've eliminated most of the airbubbles in the fuselage.  The port wing got a coat of primer to sort out the airbubbles there whilst the starboard wing got a coat of filler to sort out the crunchy bar leading edge.  It's coming together slowly - I may have the wings on by the weekend, although I think they'll need  fair bit of filling to fair them in properly.  Sorting out the u/c bay cutouts is then the next job.

I started an F82.  This was a Novo example and frankly, it's an absolute parcel of wank.  I say started, it was part started in a bag and I'd picked it up for less than a pound at the Scots Nationals last year and even at that pittance, I still say I was robbed. No matter, I'd an an idea to do it as an RAAF one in Malaya in an overal NMF finish.  However, the fit is absolutely appalling - one wing half need ungluing and then some vigorous sanding so it matched properly, the cockpit interior is woeful, even for FROG's wooly standard and the props have vanished.  The canopies are *very* thick and decidedly unclear.  I got the wings tidied up, a bit, before throwing the whole lot back in the box in disgust.

I'd thought sideways, about the role that the F82 was to be used in and what it would have likely replaced - the Beaufighter.  Now I knew that I had a Mtchbox one on my disposal pile, they can be thrown together quickly, they don't look too bad and so I dragged it out and glued a few bits together, namely what little passes for a cockpit interior, the wheels and the wings.  And then I realised that it didn't cut the mustard either -the engine cowlings are a bit "meh" and the intakes are too weedy.  So again, back in the box and I dragged out an Airfix one, specifically the Malaya boxing.  This is really the best Beaufighter you're going to get in the scale, and apart from the lack of bombs, about as tooled up as you're likely to get.  So I got some of the cockpit in and then came in as it was getting cold.

Another reason for putting the Matchbox one was the realisation that I've got three that got assembled and half painted - the upper colours are on - and then left.  I'd forgotten what I'd intended doing with them.  I've a feeling one was to get a black underside for night operations and another had a two colour upper scheme as I've never seen a TF.X with the fin fillet in a scheme other than EDSG/Sky, so adding the Dark Slate Grey as a subtle twist.  The third...  I'd bounced a few foreign operators about - Turkey and portugal - but found that they *did* have TF.10s with the fin fillet so back to the drawing board. And then I had a brainwave.

404 (RCAF) did fly Beaufighters, specifically TF.Xs but were disbanded in May '45.  However, as my WWII goes on a bit longer, they can keep them and then take them home.  Or post war, their markings change slightly in the post VE Day excitement.  So it'll be an almost standard Beau, with everything right and nice Type C1 rounds on the wing uppers but the centre of the fuselage roundel gets replaced with a maple leaf.  The Canadian Navy Seafire 15s had similar whilst they were in the UK do there is a precedent for it.  And I may use the same unit for that Blenheim If that I've part started that was going to get under rockets as a weapons delivery trainer.  It got one of the upper colours on, but I'm not sure now if I should go with a second colour.

Last night I started getting together the bits I want to mould up and specifically dug out the Griffon cowling from the Firefly AS7 as I want to use it for an operational Griffon Beaufighter.  Whilst I was thinking about that and other possible Beaufighters, I also dug out the Alleycat twin tail beaufighter, as that's definitely getting moulded.  Yes, I know the conversion itself isn't that expensive, it's just Alleycat have a turnaround on orders that sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo slow that it makes your average glacier look as speedy as Usain Bolt, although they're *VERY* quick to take your cash.  With all that in mind, I don't feel at all guilty about dropping some of their bits into rubber for personal use.

A twin tail Beaufighter is something I've wanted to do for a while, and a developed version, with the radar nose, bigger fins and possibly four blade props, is definitely on the cards.  One in 8 Sqn markings in Malaya colours may have a few scratching their heads thinking it's a sawn off Brigand.  And thinking about it, I may have another use for that part started Matchbox one.

The resin turret section from the High Planes Beaufighter V is also going for a moulding bath, and one of those on a TF.X as an escort for the Banff wing would help keep the maurauding 109s and 190s off their case.  Although a Martin turret sporting a pair of .50 may be more fun.  I've a feeing that the Bristol 20mm turret from the Shattipuss may be just a tad too big.

So, lots of Beaufighters to think about, amongst all the other things.  Good job I've got the time to do that now.

Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"Doesn't it? Well maybe that's what's going wrong!"

The weather today was simply gorgeous, ideal for being in the sun and doing some tinkering.  Fueled by several rum and cokes - large ones!

Speedbird Huntsman.  The fuselage is all filled and ready for the wings and the one with the iffy leading edge has hopefully it's last coat of filler.  Some of the smaller airbubbles I gave a quick coat of some thick paint and then sanded it back when it had dried.  I'm hoping to get the wings on either tomorrow or Friday.

The Swift PR2 is nearly ready to prime - I took the filler off the upper wingroots and I'd used Perfect Plastic Putty here, largely because I knew a damp cotton bud would clean it up but also because I'm not doing any masking as it's going overall PRU Blue.  However, I may have to do some drastic surgery to the wing leading edge to straighten it, removing the extension that caused all the issues on the F2 and made the aircraft so dangerous to handle.  I'll have to think about this some more, although if Kit's reading this he may have some plausible engineering reason to leave the extension in place - additional fuel tanks?

I've had further thoughts about the Nene engined Swift prototype, the type 528/535.  I'd initially thought about grafting the back end of an Attacker onto a Swift, but that didn't pan out.  I then considered reworking an Attacker using a Swift wing but that's still not quite right either, because the flying surfaces are still too late.  So my new plan, such as it is, is to rework a Project X/Whirlybird 510 with a Swift nose, because that's what the Type 528 is - a 510/517 with an extended nose and a tricycle layout.  The wheel well position changes, but that's not too difficult.  I have the CMR Swift I got as part of the box of bits, so some surgery using that as a replacement nose could work.  Although I did keep the nose I cut off the Testors one and being plastic could be a better fit.  That's all for the future as I need the drawings from the Hygate book copied to relocate the wheel well bays.

The finished model, in camo and with wing guns, should look different enough from a standard Swift - both the early F1s and the later FR types - but still similar enough to give that double take I really like.  And if I was to give it the markings of a real Swift F1 from 56 Sqn, then that would really cause some head scratching. Yes, I know, I don't like using the 'sexy' squadrons as I consider them to be too cliched but in this case, I think it apt.  I've done the requisite research through the Richard Franks Valiant wings tome on the Swift - which showed the glaring error I'd made with the PR2 - and I think it'll look good.

So, back to Bristol.

I did some further work on the Airfix Beaufighter last night and then had a partial rethink as I remembered I had a part started Hasegawa Beau to hand.  Actually, two, one of which was in primer but I know what that's going in so let's put that slightly to one side. I did consider using the TF.X I'd started as the twin tail one and the Hasegawa as the RAAF but the wings were together and I don't think the Airfix post war rockets would fit the Hasegawa.  I did do some further clean up on it, if only to get it a bit further forward.  I did similar with the Matchbox kit too and I've looked at some of the leftover Airfix bits to try and tart it up.  Certainly the spare tailplanes as the Matchbox ones are short, a new tailwheel (the Malaya boxing has no less than four...)  Somewhere I have a mould for a Hercules cowling but the inserts for the engine itself were either too small or too big.  Oddly, the Haegawa insert fits perfectly, so that gets added to the bits to mould.

So, the Airfix Beau.  Wings are now all cleaned up and need some bits fitting.  I did assemble the engine cowlings and what a reet fecking pain in the arse they are!  It's the one bit that lets the kit down.  My advice is to ignore the instructions totally.  Assemble the cylinders, add the collector thing with the wire frame and also fit that little front piece.  Don't bother with the painting instructions - just paint the interior black when you've got the three(!) piece cowling in place.  That does not want to fit at all and will need some filling.  Apart from that, the rest of it is going nicely.

And then I remembered the Brigand fuselage that was sitting in another box.  You see, I've been wanting to do the Bristol Buccaneer for some time - I'd even made a tentative start some years back with a truly vile Frogspawn Beaufort wing and a Magna Brigand fuselage.  However, I found a vacform fuselage in the stash some time back and thought that I could cobble together a flying shell to prove the fuselage and then Bristol could put the revised cowlings on the second prototype.  So, that meant I could use the vacform fuselage with a spare set of Beaufighter wings and engines left over from the one that was going to be converted to a Merlin one with Alleycat's conversion.

So, the fuselage came out, was primed and cut out and sanded down.  I took a completed Airfix interior, complete with wing spars and used them to cut out the relevant holes in the wing roots and that's when the first snag reared it's heed.  I'd gone off the mark for the Brigand wing spar and the wing for that is a tad larger than that of the Beau, so I judged by eye where the wing spars should go and remeasured and cut out some new slots.  The wings are now in the right place, I've some plastic cart strips glued in to aid alignment and cut out the cockpit.

Then I did some further research with a few Tony Buttler books.  The navigator on the Buccaneer is behind and above the pilot in the side view in the relevant BSP tome, so I'm not sure quite sure how that'll work when or if I do a production version and then I hit another wall when I went to find the drawings I'd blown up to 72nd some time back as I need them to construct the single fin which Bristol wanted for it (and still considered initially for the Brigand, so there's something to do with the Magna one, which would definitely be an inflight one as I still get flashbacks to that sodding u/c set up...).  The wing dropped over it perfectly, as did the tailplane but the Brigand fuselage is way out - much bigger.  Either the drawing is wrong - sometimes 3 views are never quite true or I've scaled it wrong.  Or both. Or indeed neither, the production aircraft may have been enlarged a bit.  Anyhoo, I'm going with what I've got and who is to say I'm wrong - My Fecking Model after all.

In the end, it's going to use a fair bit of an Airfix Beau, as I discovered that one of the fuselage halves of the standard TF.X I have here has gone walkies, so it's now a parts donor.  The wing roots will need considerable filling, I have to scratch the fin although the kit tailplanes will be useful and the cannon ports definitely need filling (as they are the represent a late Malaya aircraft with the tubes exposed as they trapped gas and tended to explode...)  I think it'll look somewhat different and will definitely be a head scratcher.

While I was looking for the drawings - which were where I'd suspected they were all along but I went to the box with the Magna part start - I discovered a set of spare Brigand tailfins still on their resin sprue, so they'll get moulded too for my twin tail Beaufighters.

I'm enjoying the challenges, even if it looks like I'm flitting about like a mad thing.  I could never just do one thing straight, I *always* end up going off at a tangent somewhere along the line.

Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"Brilliant! Let's fill it in!"

The Speedbird Hunstman now has it's wings on.  There were huge gaps but use of superglue to ensure a good solid join should help and the ton of filler to fair them in is curing - I'll leave it overnight to make sure it's all solid before I start sanding it back tomorrow.  Whilst I had the filler out, the rear spine of the T-bird Firebrand got a good smearing after building it up with plastic card offcuts.  Again, that'll have to cure for a while before I start sanding.  I'd like to get the wing together soon too.

No further with the Beaufighters but whilst looking for something else I discover a box with a pair of Matchbox ones in.  How many more of them do I have?  There's a spare fuselage in it too, and I may have a bash at something I've been considering for a long time, although it will look like a sawn off Brigand.

I now have the relevant drawings copied with the fuselage sections of the Type 545, so I can get the bulkheads done tomorrow.  I also had the wing drawings copied for the type 528, but hit a snag - the 510 wings don't match the Hygate plans.  The fuselage is bang on, the wings are too long.  I can fix the trailing edge as that's kinked on the 528, but cutting the wing down isn't so bad.  At least I don't have to lengthen it...


Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"Wish I'd thought of that."

Well, I got the bulkheads all cut out and fitted into the Type 545 and it does stiffen it up a lot.  It was only then that I noticed the moulded bulkheads on a piece of the sheet that was hidden under a wing...  I also fitted the intake ducts but I've a feeling I have them upside down and in the wrong halves.  I did try fitting them t'other way but even then, they still needed a fair bit of sanding to fit.  The reheated exhaust is too small for the aperture, so I'm not quite sure how I'm going to salvage that.  Yet.

The cockpit.  Well, Maintrack give you this empty box section which has something that purports to be rudder pedals moulded into it and a tiny instrument panel that looks more like the blind flying panel insert from a Spitfire.  Well, frankly, I can do better than that with a few bits of plastic card and I started making a floor only to have a brainwave - I have a Pavla resin Hunter cockpit that might just well fit and that could save me some work.  It does fit, the instrument panel is vastly superior and I've yet to see ANY photos of the Type 545s cockpit interior so who can prove me wrong?  Especially when it's painted black and the lid's down.

I then moved onto the Firebrand and took down some of the filler, mainly to get a level top decking to dry fit the canopy so I know how much I'll need to add to the sides to get it all to fair in.  That done, it got another slathering and left to cure.  I then sorted out the wing root intakes before trying to line it up and glue it together.  However, *NOTHING * on that wing lines up at all, and it's not entirely down to my cackhandedness, or that of the individual who had it before me.    Again, put to one side.  It's a long term project, but I suspect once the fuselage sides are sorted and a semblance of an interior is in then it'll go together fairly rapidly.

The speedbird Hunstman (although I'm liking the name Steeplechaser more and more) has had all the filler sanded back and it's looking good, but another blast with Halfords revealed several flaws which got yet another round of PSR before I bit the bullet and sorted out the wheel bays.  More filler applied... I'm hoping that this is the last round and I can get the u/c on and start considering some kind of scheme.  Prototype in overall Sky?  Some kind of company demonstrator?  I'm really undecided.  It does look fast, even just sitting on the table.

And then I started flitting about with some long forgotten resin stuff that I dug out t'other day whilst I was looking for the Bristol Buccaneer drawings - a boxful of Gloster F5/34s (four Magna ones and I'm not sure how many or even when I acquired them), one with the fuselage largely done, a pair of Short Sturgeons (again, Magna) and something from the Dark Side - a Blohm und Voss Ha 137.

The Gloster didn't need much cleanup, so the wings went back on, and I sorted out the tail feathers, although Magna's alignment holes didn't line up. Typical Magna.  I'm not sure quite how it'll be finished, although I've quite a few ideas - East Africa or Malta instead of Gladiators, although it does look *very* like a Fiat G.50 or a Macchi 200, Finnish but I'm leaning more and more towards some type of training aircraft with an OTU with a colourful nose cowling.  Although I'm now wracked with thoughts of a pre war RAF one in silver dope.

I did some digging online and found mention, although no providence, of a Taurus engined naval version with an extra fuel tank behind the pilot.  I also found mention, a quote from a 1936 issue of Flight, of the type mounting a Perseus.  Now, I have a Taurus in the box with the rest of the Magna ones and I have a mould for the Perseus cowing, copied from the Dujin Skua, and intended for use tarting up ye olde Frog Skua.  Can you guess what might happen here, kids?

The Sturgeon.  Well, I'm converting the target tug back into the torpedo strike aircraft it was intended to be.  I'd done all the basic assembly on the fuselage and the wing cleanup, but nothing else for a good decade.  All the TT cutouts in the fuselage are blocked off with plastic card offcuts, gunged together with superglue and now slathered with filler.  Intended for use flying off Illustrious in a 3 colour scheme and possibly with British Pacific Fleet markings.  Or maybe Eagle with the high demarcation scheme.

So I turned to the Ha 137.  Now, I don't do Luftwaffe so this is going to end up as a post war Spanish one - they did fly the Hs 123 until the 50s, along with other ex-Luftwaffe types.  The kit is an ancient Czechmaster one that was out in the 80s and I've wanted one since I heard about it in 1988.  It's very basic - the wings are moulded integral with the fuselage, all you need to add are the trousered u/c, the seat, the prop and the tailplanes, plus a few smaller bits.  It's very simple but how they did them in the early days and in some ways, I miss that simplicity.  The fuselage needed a bit of cleanup, but thats all done and the u/c is in place.  I really like it, although I'd like to add some bomb racks underneath the wings  and I know I don't have any Luftwaffe ones, but I do know a man who does and he owes me a favour or two...

And then I turned to it's companion piece - a Supermarine 224 that's going Spanish Republican.  I have a complex backstory for this one, but it will basically end up as a gate guard at the RAF base at Gibraltar.  It's one of the more recent Heritage boxings after he got CMR to do the casting and it shows, with very little cleanup, and once I've got the seat painted and in, it'll go together very quickly.  It's really nice kit and CMR have finally done the kit justice.

So, another dance on the revolving carousel of death.


Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"That's a completely brilliant idea, Mike. I've been wanting to do this for a long time!"

The Supermarine 545 is getting closer to getting the fuselage all closed up - the cockpit is close to going in, now I've walled off part of the inside of the fuselage and put some locator tabs for the tub in place.  I may yet put another bulkhead in behind it just to box it all off so I can get a quantity of lead inside to ensure it isn't a tail sitter.  I did think about the nosegear bay and there's a floor in to affix the gear to.  The Maintrack piece is quite sturdy and beautifully cast but it doesn't quite resemble the leg of the prototype in the photos in the Hygate book, as there it looks like the nosegear from a Hunter.  With all this sorted, I can think about getting the wings together and cleaning up the resin (albeit from a Swift) tailplanes.  I've a feeling the fin could do with a bit more thinning down too, especially the trailing edge.  And then I have to sort out the exhaust...

The Speedbird Huntsman is *finally* on it's maingears.  I got the last lot of sanding done and basically decided that it was as good as it going to get and try to get her on her legs.  Haven't got the doors on yet, but I need to give her a final coat of primer first.  I did cut down the afterburner cans, although they're from a Tornado, they do actually fit rather well.

I plucked up some courage and did some more work on the RAAF F82 but didn't do much other than sand down the wings and some more clean up to get the fuselage halves together.  It's really horrible - I had a look at the canopies and neither fit, and that's before the short shot section comes into play.  At least one of the props was gone - it wasn't in the bag when I got it - and the other is missing a blade but even if it was whole it looks dreadful. TBH, I really just want to abandon it and do a Revellogram one instead, but again, they're in a location I physically can't go to thanks to the bungling of the Wuhan Chinese Communist Party. 

The Blohm und voss 137 and the Gloster F5/34 are now sanded and tidied up further.  The former now has it's tailplanes on and is a brief sanding away from a coat of primer, although I may have to scratch an exhaust - one of the kit examples has went walkies but it's a relatively simple shape to do so I'll sort that first thing.  I did have a scheme in mind and I actually have the decals, but on reflection, I'd rather keep them for the real thing and do something similar but without the blue stripe.  The Sturgeon has the relative sections that needed rebuilt pretty much done, although the dorsal bit may need some more sanding.  I also took the opportunity to fit the arrestor hook and the fin. 

It was then I remembered something else that I've had for a similar length of time and the last time I did any work on it was when the Sturgeon got her fuselage closed up.  The Magna Blackburn Firecrest.  The fuselage was assembled, bar the engine, and the fin was in place with the wings and tailplane trimmed and ready to fit.  Let's get it together.  The engine didn't quite line up properly, so I lined it up along the bottom and decided to sand down the top of the fuselage as it's a simpler area to clean up.  On with the wings and she's already had the first dose of PSR and I've just got to sort out the area around the tailplanes.  It's going to be a torpedo strike aircraft, certainly with the high demarcation and type Ds but without the Korean stripes.  I've just remembered the nice red/yellow exercise strips in one of the late Seafires and I'm wondering if they'll fit?  Anyway, it'll probably be flying from HMS Eagle and I'll steal a torpedo from an Airfix Beaufighter.

Last thing I did was to fit the wings on the fuselage of a Testors Swift.  I've still to get round to doing the moulding of the PR nose, despite the mould box sitting ready to go, although I'm rethinking a bit and this one may be an FB rather than a second PR.  Whilst I'm on the subject of PR stuff, I was looking for something on ebay and found a rather nice sheet for PR Metors that may give me something colouful for a Swift PR bird.  We shall see.

Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"Exactly, Neil. And you are a totally different size and weight than a packet of smash, so we should be all right."

The 545 inches even closer to being all boxed up.  I'm settling in for a night of painting cockpits and interiors here after I finish keying this in, and that's first in line.  I sorted out the exhaust issue by cleaning it up first then added a bulkhead near the back so that it had something to sit on and then just kept adding slivers of plastic card until it poked out enough to look right.  TBH, it was lot easier than I thought it was going to be.  I sorted out a bulkhead just aft of the resin cockpit tub so there's a decent area into which to dump a load of lead.  Really looking forward to getting it all closed up.

Got the u/c on the Gloster, the Ha 137 is all cleaned up but I didn't get the exhausts sorted, so thats the first job for tomorrow.  There's some blisters on the wing which I *think* cover the ammo drums for the wing root guns (I'll have to check Green's Luftwaffe book) and annoyingly one had an air bubble.  Now, I did fill it but it fell out, so I've bunged in a chunk of plastic card and smeared it with filler and superglue and it sounds like a horrendous mess, it is actually rather tidy and should be okay once tidied up.  The Firecrest had the bulk of the filler cleaned off and I tidied up some tiny intakes just under the windscreen and fitted the oil cooler.  Should be ready to go on it's u/c legs tomorrow and then a date with a can of primer for that and the Gloster, although if my last Firecrest is anything to go by, the primer should show up a lot of other flaws.  Some filling and sanding with a Swift too but I really must get round to doing the moulding.

And again, I've gone off piste.  I found a part started Martin Mauler that I decided I really wanted done and out of the way.  The cockpit is in and all square, not easy without any locator pins and the kit is ill fitting enough as   it is.  The wings were already assembled and cleaned up so I sorted out the plug in tail wheel bay which didn't want to go in, so multiple attacks with a scalpel and a file got it all sorted.

The Mauler set me thinking along similar lines and I pulled out the Valom Boeing XF8B.  That's something I've wanted to do since I learned about it - IIRC I blew some three views up to 72nd with a view to scratchbodging it so imagine how pleased I was to get the Valom kit when it came out.  And then realised it was an ill fitting parcel of dog turds.

To be fair, it's one of Valom's early efforts and it does look very nice in the box, but the wing is really horrible - it has a very thick trailing edge and is not a good fit anyway.  I did a lot of sanding on the trailing edge to try and thin it, and I succeeded - a bit - but after gluing it together I realised I needed several pairs of hands.  It really is a vile fit there.  And it got worse when I attempted a dry fit to the taped up fuselage.  Not about to happen.  More sanding commneced in various places, some of which will be strategically hidden when the fuselage joins with the wing, but I suspect that there'll be a lot of filler, sanding and swearing involved.

It's a BIG aircraft for a single seater and dwarves a Wyvern, whilst I'm still undecided as to the end user - FAA prototype or long range RAF escort fighter.  I really want an easy scheme for this one, and whilst I'm seriously thinking about overall HSS with Type Cs a High Altitude Day Fighter Scheme is beckoning.

Whilst I'm tinkering with navy stuff, the two seat Firebrand got a little further with the holes for the crew cut out.  I think I may have to build the interior and get her closed up to make getting the spine done easier, largely because I think the canopy will have to be in place and I've a feeling I've only got the one canopy for this thing and it's robbed from a PM Sea Fury T Bird.  And you can't get replacements these days due to the sad demise of Aeroclub.

Final comments are reserved for the Sturgeon.  I've got the PR.2 version as well, but that's for the future - Korean war carrier based photo recce perhaps.  Magna gave you the nose with pre-drilled gun ports, saying in the distructions that it was unclear if the prototype had carried armament so the ports were there "just in case".  Well, having read the relevant Tony Buttler tome, it appears from several superb photos that the PR version was unarmed so I can use that nose on the one in progress and the clean nose on the PR.  Slam dunk, I think.

I like the Sturgeon - it's another one of those late war designed types that were obsolete before they flew and exploring their potential is well worth doing.  Shame that the only kits of it are now long OOP.  I did the Contrail kit - as a real one - some twenty odd years back and enjoyed it a good deal, apart from the target tug stripes.

Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html

[The Wooksta!]

"Eenie, meenie, meinie, mo. Oh, by the way, there's a couple of strange girls in the bathroom."


One thing with the Swift has been nagging at me over the last few days - did no one ever consider a trainer version?  I mean, there was an Attacker trainer drawn up and a display model built and there were mentions of a trainer version of the Type 545 (and that's one I'd like to see the drawings for - would it have been based on the F1 as built or the unbuilt and revised F2? EDIT - three view of the two seat type 554(!) on Secret Projects Forum and based on the revised F2 - Now I'll have to shell out for the Whirlybird kit - grrr!) but I've not seen any mention of a Swift T-bird.

If not, there's another one to have a spin with and I may go with a canopy similar to the one planned for the Attacker T-bird, which looks something similar to that of the Czech Delphin (and I've a pair of Pavla ones tucked away for that purpose).  Of course, the instructor's cockpit would cut into the area usually occupied by the main fuel tank, so it would have to have the belly tank.  Would it be based on the F4 but with the taller fin of the FR5?  Which kit? Airfix?  Testors?

I never really wanted to get caught up in the Swift - just a few as an Epilogue as it were.  Now, I'm finding it hard to resist...

Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html