The Wooksta: Not a Spitfire Blog

[The Wooksta!]

"You didn't know I was going to do that, did you?"

Didn't update yesterday because...  Look, do I need a reason?

We've passed a milestone in that the 545 is now closed up, and it took brute force, tape, strategic use of superglue and copius amounts of Plastic Weld.  The joins aren't particularly good, especially underneath and to tidy it up is going to mean sanding off all that nice detail.  The top is largely done, it's just underneath now to tidy up and then I can look at getting the wings into place.  They're cleaned and ready to go, I just need to sort out the spar that's included in the kit.

Following on from the last post, I'm starting to think seriously about getting another 545 and moulding it before using at least one of the castings to have a spin at the F2, if not the Type 554 T-Bird.  According to the blurb in the relevant post on Secret Projects, the type was the closest to meeting the requirements for OR.318 / NA.45 Advanced Jet Training Aircraft Joint Requirement, (1953), until the 545 got cancelled so it was withdrawn and  they went with the 2 seat Hunter, despite the lack of speed compared to 554.  Now, if Hawker had flown the 1083 wing, even without reheat and possibly with the big bore Avon that the F6 used, the improved aerodynamics surely would have given a better speed, so that's my revised thinking with regard to the 1083 and I can now do a later version with the FGA9 tail parachute housing and in a late overall black training scheme.  That hides the iffyness with the resin wings, although I may need some extra pylons from somewhere to add underwing tanks, probably the big ferry tanks as the Hunter was notoriously short on tankage, especially in the earlier marks.  So, back out with the box of Hunter bits...

There's mention of an English Electric P.11, a two set derivative of the P1B, as part of OR.318, so what does this look like?  A Lightning T4 with the small fin of the P1B early prototypes and no belly tank? Tandem or side by side?  One for the future - I'm not sure where my Lightning T-Birds are, although chopping up a Whirlybird one could be expensive...

Firecrest has had the last of the filler sorted out and some panel lines restored and I'm looking to clean up the u/c tomorrow as I'd like to get her on her legs to be primed.  The Mauler is all together and the primer is all sanded away,  The plastic is frankly horrid and the fit even worse, so I'm looking forward to getting it done, although looking at the prop and the amount of clean up each individual blade needs, let alone the spinner I know that'll be a job and a half.  The thought of using a Shackleton contraprop (and I've checked - it will fit) is becoming more and more appealing by the minute.

I was gifted a complete Whitley a few weeks back.  It's a FROG one, built and painted, so it's undergoing some cleanup before a respray.  It's going in the Transport scheme (Extra Dark Sea Grey/Dark Slate Grey over Azure Blue) as an ASW aircraft over the Red sea/Persian Gulf, replacine the Wellesley's that were still in that role into 1943.  I did start a Frog one for this some time back, but it didn't get as far as the wings going on - the engines needed replacing as the FROG ones re just too wooly and whilst I got some resin replacements, they never did get moulded.  However, I read a mention of a proposal to fit it with Bristol Pegasus engines at one point and I've got the Tiger engine conversion, so I'm toying with moulding them (I need a set or two for other things) and using them as mounts for said Pegasus engines and I do have some Aeroclub resin ones somewhere, intended for a Hampden which is more likely to get a pair of Hercules instead.

Anyway, the Whitley has had some sanding and a lot of filler applied to tidy up the myriad flaws and sanding that lot off is going to be interesting.

The Sturgeon is together and it's looking impressive.  The first lot of filler is applied to the wing roots so that's my first task tomorrow.  Looks like a day of sanding, what with that, the Whitley and a Meteor I found lurking in a box.  Not sure how it'll be finished or even what I intended it for - I know there's another one somewhere assembled with an FR nose to do as a Sea Meteor and I may try digging it out.

Also due for a lot of sanding is a second Supermarine 224 and this one is definitely going Spanish Republican, because the dark green will hide all the
fuselage flaws.  It's not the one I intended doing - I pulled out a box that I knew had a pair in, only to find it actually contained FOUR!  For the life of me, I cannot remember getting that many - two, yes but not four!  And that doesn't include the pair I bought for a fiver each at Perth last year, because they were located elsewhere. 

Whilst I was looking at the second of the two Scots purchases, I decided to do one "straight" - well, it'll have the proper markings and scheme but be really polished and clean and flown by the Shuttleworth collection...  I've been thinking for sometime that the model itself doesn't have to be the whif, it's really the backstory.  Which means I can build an Airfix Defiant straight from the box and call it a whiff.  I'll leave you thinking about that one...

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!]

"The last present you gave me was a box of matches."


I did find the other Meteor - it was in with another pair that were painted, one even had decals and was varnished and then abandoned.  I think the u/c is in the same box so may try to get it finished if I can work up enthusiasm for it - I'm happier in a build phase than anything else.  T'other one painted was an FR in a Dark Earth/Dark Green/PRU Blue scheme and IIRC I think it was going to be a far east one but I detest the white theatre band so it went on hold and never got any further.  I'm now thinking about Italy instead as the scheme is similar to some Spitfires I think I was working on.

As for the one I was looking for.  Well, something odd had happened with the resin insert I used for the cockpit and it reacted with the kit plastic and melted it, leaving some odd indentations right where the gun hatched are.  No matter, they're easy filled and it's going in a dark Navy scheme anyway.  I've a feeling that the other Meteor I found yesterday, which sparked today's tangent, was intended to be another Sea Meteor, albeit in an Atlantic scheme (standard Temperate Sea Scheme with type C roundels).

All three Meatboxes are now resplendent with lashings of filler, and that's after a jolly good sanding.  I've a feeling I may need to cast a belly tank at some point as I don't think I've one in the stash.  I'll have a look through the Meteor box anyhoo.

Everything else mentioned yesterday is continuing apace - the Firecrest is now on it's u/c so out with the primer tomorrow once I've added a few small parts, whilst the Sturgeon has had the filler sorted out and it looks really smart.  I've got the legs cleaned up and they look pretty decent.  Wish I could say the same about the tailwheel, which looks like it's a product of Vickers tank factory and the maingear doors had to be carved out of lumps of pewter.  I'm not looking forward to cleaning up the props.

The 545 has had another bout of cleanup and yet more filler applied, although I know I'm nearing the end of the work on the fuselage before I move to the wings.  I'm thinking more and more of a 70s scheme for this one, with one of the second line units - possibly one of the ones in the later boxings of the Airfix Hunter or possibly the Revell one.  Something with Light Aircraft Grey underneath instead of Silver which would highlight the flaws.  Hunter ferry tanks on an inner pylon and maybe 'winders or Matra pods on the outers?  I'm not enamoured of Firestreaks with this one, although a similarly camouflaged Swift F7 (or better, an F4 with the FR5 canopy retrofitted) with a similar load and similar unit markings - possibly and ironically 79 (shadow) Squadron - could have a few heads turning. 

I'm liking that one more and more.  Maybe the twin Matra pod - or the three row ones from the Phantom proposed for TSR2 and practice bomb carriers for a jolly outing over the Otterburn ranges?  And the back story could have them operating from RAF Acklington alongside 607 Sqn's Hunter FGA9s

The P.1081 that I mentioned in an earlier missive has been dragged out and given a coat of primer to highlight the many flaws and they've been made good, up to a point, because quite a few of them are down to the cack handedness that was Maintrack's mastering.  Pete Lockhart had good intentions but his range was decidedly hit and miss at times and quite a lot of it falls short of modern tastes, let alone state of the art.  Here, I have to try and fix the trailing edge of the wing root that's too thick because the tail section with the jetpipe (and that's another tale, just had on a bit, it's coming) has to hide the deep roots that were the exhausts on the 1052 and looking at the original aircraft that isn't the case.  More judicious sanding is in order, and even then, I don't think it's possible to fix it

More worrying is the shape of the exhaust itself.  The whole back end is quite simply an inaccurate parcel of dog turds - it's a wide oval instead of a tapering cylinder and the top line is straight instead of the downward curve of the original.  Is it fixable?  I really don't know but I don't want to give up on it because I don't have a P1081 in the collection and it's one I've wanted to do for years.  This one, due to a lack of gunports in the master, was going to be a PR bird, which meant an easy scheme.

Heritage did a P.1081 some years back but it's one I didn't get - IIRC I had a look at one and didn't think it was much of an improvement over the Maintrack one. 

So what's today's tangent?  Well, I was thinking about Firebrands and I'd located the box which had about three in it - 2 Magna TF5s (first and second) and a CMR - plus another Firecrest.  Now I wanted to do a BPF Firebrand in the two tone scheme and I knew one of the Magna ones was his first release  - I did one about 20 years ago (actually, 2001) and I still bear the mental scars - and I was gifted a box of Magna kits a good decade or so back and the Firebrand was one.  Well, I've done it once, so I know it can be built, can I do a better job with a further 20 years experience?

The resin Magna used to start with is vile, almost as bad as the excreble garbage that Unicraft uses but thankfully without the airbubbles.  At least, not so many anyway.  It's hard, brittle and like china.  No matter, this time it cleaned up quite quickly and I'm aiming to get the fuselage together over the next day or so.  Not sure if the kit warrants any detail in the cockpit - which as it's black is unlikely to be seen - barring a seat. 

Beside that parcel of cack I started cleaning up his later release and it's, well a curates egg.  The resin is better, some of the detail is definitely better and it's much easier to clean up, so this one could well be another BPF aircraft but with the high demarcation.  Or possibly an Australian one - I've got a listing of the cancelled batches of TF5s, so serials shouldn't be too much of a problem.



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!]

"This calls for a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence. "


First thing today was to sort out the wings on the 545.  Unsurprisingly, the spar had gone walkies, so I knocked up a new one.  The wings themselves needed a bit more thinning before I was happy enough to commit glue, although I had to take some of the plastic out at the wing root so they'd fit over the spar.  The root of the wing is much larger than the corresponding root on the fuselage and the gap is HUUUUGE.  Once the wings were all set, they got some cleanup, I sorted out the mismatch on the ailerons as the top os shorter than the bottom.  The port wing got attached and left to cure overnight.  The resin tailplanes are cleaned up, so once the wings are on and all the filling there is done, I'll attach them.  I hoping to have this all done by monday so I can get some primer on to see what will need fixing.

Sanding on various other things went on, with repeat sessions.  The Firecrest got a coat of primer, only to show up a nasty seam line on the fuselage where the glue had missed - I could se daylight through it...  That's all sorted and given another quick coat of primer to blend it all in.  I need to sort our the arrestor gear and possibly attach the doors, but as I'm doing the late scheme with the high demarcation, I may leave them, off until the top is done and masked.

The wings for the 1083 Hunter F.9 are now sorted and a quicker job than those used on the Speedbird Huntsman (I'm now considering Harrier as a name), a quick sanding followed by a blast of filler primer, another dose of sanding and then more filler primer.  The few tiny bubbles left were given a coat of thick paint and then sanded back.  Seems to have worked.  I did get some lead in the fuselage so it'll not be a tail sitter.  My intention a week or so back to do an Airfix kit as a 607 Sqn machine has fallen by the wayside - well, use of the Airfix kit anyway as I'm probably going to order a Revell one as it's much nicer.

The 1081.  I've tidied up the trailing edge of the wing roots but short of using a dremel (and I've yet to acquire one), I don't think I can fix them.  The curve at the back I've hinted at but to be honest, the whole thing is really wrong from the start and probably needed remastering.  Somewhere on a CD in the loft at me Mam's is a recipe for 1081 using a blend of Frog/Novo Sea Hawk and Hunter F1.  Again, I gave it a coat of filler and left it in disgust.  Not quite a 1081 or even a Sea Hawk, but I've just remembered something I was cobbling together some years back - a 1035, which is basically a Hawker Fury with a mid mounted Nene, bifurcated exhausts and a Fury wing, and I found the bits in a box last week when digging out other things.  Could be worth resurrecting as it was the endless PSR on the roots that led me to abandon it.  That and it was an Airfix fuselage and I couldn't be bothered with sorting out the cockpit interior.

The Whitley has had another sanding so I'll mask the canopy and give it a blast with some primer to see what I've missed - there's a lot of white paint over white plastic - brilliant sunshine and white do odd things to the eyes.

Went back to the Beaufighters and sorted out the engines for the Buccaneer and sorted out another set of wings as there was a spare set in the box donated by a mate who'd bought the Alleycat Merlin Beau conversion (and it took two months to arrive whilst the money had left the account within 2 days).  The reason behind this was that both had had various holes drilled and the one for the Buccaneer would have been clean - I'm doing a flying test shell for the fuselage., not a production version with the revised and longer cowlings and nacelles (that's for the future, either with the Magna Brigand or another Hallamvac, Sangar or even Airmodel one if I can get a cheap one.

Today's tangent?  CMR Wyvern TF.1 and that's entirely Kitnut's fault as he mentioned that the one he was using for the mid engined Wyvern was somewhat warped, so I checked mine to see if it was a moulding flaw or more worryingly in the master itself.  Mine was fine but I started test fitting and things got out of hand, although given the struggling I've been doing with resin kits that seem to be fighting me every step of the way, it'd be good to do one that just falls together for a change. 

The cockpit is all assembled bar the seat and the tailwheel well is in place.  It looks a fabulous bit of casting and I'm looking forward to building it, the scheme is definitely the high demarcation one and it'll probably on Eagle, although I'd planned that for the Firecrest, hadn't I?

The Sturgeon is nowhere further forward and it's a pity I can't get to the secondary stash, thanks to the CCP,  as I'd like to dig out the box of Spearfishes - there's a box with a pair of Magna ones and another box with a Contrail one that I'd intended to fit a RR Eagle but on reflection would more like to do it in flight as an AEW one with same radome that went on the Gannets.

As as usual, the carousel of death spins slowly with no real purpose.  If only I had some kind of Plan...

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!]

"One of the great things about summer is tea on the lawn. Unless you're an ant, in which case, it's a real bottomer."

Like yesterday, first order of business was the 545 and filling the yawning chasms thet were the wing roots.  Before I did that, I needed something solid for the trailing edge fairing to key into, so in with a small bit of scrap card that would be filed to shape later.  Got the filler on and put it to one side to cure.  It's the dog end of a tube, so it doesn't take that long to cure, especially in brilliant sunshine and heat.  Sanded it all back and notice a few areas that'll need fixing later.  Then it's time to get the second wing on.  The stub spar isn't much use here, so I built up the depth a bit and got the wing on.  Again, another yawning chasm to fill and the same tactics used earlier were employed here.  The areas that needed fixing got a second coat and it's being left overnight to solidify.

Today's tangent was met early, as I went looking for some wings for the 1081.  Only one set in the resin bits box and they weren't too clever, so I go to the box with the proper Maintrack ones and locate a set there, and a partially assembled 1081 sans fin - what the hell was I doing there?  Looking through the various books, I've come to the conclusion I was doing a P.1062, which appears to be an earlier 1081 but with a delta T tail.  I did some reworking of the wing roots and left it at that.  I might have a mould for a similar tailplane somewhere and possibly the fin, but I'd need to do some archaeology so that's for another time.  Probably when the weather clouds over.

Anyhoo, the wings got cleaned up and onto the 1081.  Lots of filler around the wing roots to blend it all in - that Maintrack kit really wasn't the best and we could do with a new one - wonder if we could persuade AZ to do one?  More sanding and I think I've got the trailing root at a stage where I'm not exactly happy but I can grudging live with it. 

Markings wise, I'm leaning away from a PR one to something a bit more dark and camouflaged, even if it means using Aluminium as an undersurface colour.  I've long thought of using 607 Sqn as a user for P.1081s (and looking at the shape of it, I'm quite taken with the name Sparrow) and the lack of 72nd sqn bars isn't such a problem - I apply the sqn shield either side of the nose and use the bars on the relevant Modeldecal Vampire sheet either side of that rather than the roundel, as with those in a larger size, plus the roundel and the serial, it'd be a tad crowded on the rear fuselage.

Ongoing PSR was applied to the Meteors, two getting reprimed and the Firecrest got a coat of Perfect Plastic Putty around the back of the engine cowling where I couldn't sand properly - the position means masking shouldn't lift any paint.

The FGA9 based 1083 is now together, sort of.  The cockpit got painted and the bang seat - kit example, as TBH, the cockpit is black and you can see sod all through the Airfix canopy - had some tape seatbelts applied.  The last time I did anything different to an Airfix Hunter (I converted one to a GA11 with plastic card, filler and Aeroclub bits back in 1991), I went to town in the cockpit and ended not  being able to see it, so I've rarely done any real upgrade work since.  Glued the fuselage and left it to cure.  Did all the sanding later and then glued on the wings.  Like the 545, I've left off the tail feathers  until all the major sanding is done, but it looks different enough anyway.

Reading the relevant section in Wood's "Project Cancelled", after the type was cancelled by the MoS, Camm wanted to continue as a company venture, but the MD decided against it, despite full order books and cash falling out of his ears.  Say Camm gets his way and a prototype does fly - even without the reheat, it should have been a better performer with the new wing and Wood was of the opinion that some deriviative would have been flying into the 1970s.  Well, that's given me sanction, I feel, to do one in a 1970s scheme and I'm sure I can find something ideal in one of the Hunter books or perhaps in the decals.  Something camouflaged and second line, possibly at Valley or Brawdy, preferably something nondescript without any big spladges of colour.

Last thing of the day was to advance the Beaufighters, so the engines got cleaned up and so did the wings for the Buccaneer.  They got their little bits on and with a modicum of sanding, should be about ready to go on.  I just need to get the fuselage done, which means I need an unstarted Beaufighter kit - and I can't get at those...

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!]

"Well, why can't we have a real pair of binocoliers for a change?"

After such a hectic week, I've done very little today, barring the endless rounds of PSR on the 1083/F.9 and the 545.  They're not that far off so I can get the tailplanes on tomorrow and then a coat of primer.

Kitbasher said I was being quite prolific, but to be perfectly honest, much of what's being worked on it part started stuff from years back, before the Plan and the Spitfires took over - the Sturgeon was started at the back end of 2000 for a start.  Not much is really being done from scratch.

Today's tangent?  Well, I haven't done much about it than think, but I'm looking at doing a bit more work on the Tudor that got started and left two years back.  I've a Revell Shackleton as a donor for the wings and I'm thinking about keeping the Griffons.  The backstory will have Chadwick survive the crash - here he's strapped in whereas OTL he got thrown through the windscreen and broke his neck.  He'll identify one of the problems with the aircraft as a lack of power and propose Griffon or Centaurus engines (one did fly with Bristol Hercules), and for the RAF Griffons would give commonality with Shackletons and thus more spares.  I'm still wedded to the Met Flight one, but an ELINT version would have plenty of space for black boxes, although I'm unsure quite what scheme it would be wearing.

Whilst I'm on the Avro kick, sort of, I have been toying with doing some clean up on the Magna Ashton fuselage with a view to making a start on the Avro Trader cargo carrier, which naturally gets taken over by the RAF to troop carrying for Suez.  Trader was basically a nosegear Tudor sans pressurisation and with Griffon engines, intended to fly cargo rather than people.  I've only seen one drawing and it's a fan made profile, so I don't know how accurate it is.  I do have the requisite Revell new tool Shackleton to do it - after the horror show that was the Frog kit used as a basis for the Shackleton AEW3, I have no intention to do another Frog one and all those that I possess are slated for disposal.

So what would happen with the remaining bits of the Ashton?  Well, if - and it's a big IF - I get round to doing a mould for the Tudor fuselage and thus cast a few for other things, then I may try and cobble together the one off Tudor 8.  But that's all for the future.




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!]

"Well, of course you hate it, Neil, it's not finished yet!"

I got everything done today that I intended - nothing extra, no tangents.

545 and 1083 now have their tail feathers after some more sanding.  I've yet to prime 545 as I think I need to do some work to the coaming in front of the instrument panel and the area around the u/c bay needs tidying, but 1083 is largely primed and looks pretty good so far.  I'm not doing anything else with it until I get replacement stores pylons, although it's only going to get fuel tanks underneath rather than any lethality.

The 1081 had the wing roots looked at again, filled and primed twice and I think I'm about there, so the tailplanes should go on tomorrow.  I had planned to do it as a PR aircraft as there's no guns but I'm now wedded to a 607 Sqn machine in camo but still without guns - the backstory will explain that it's a museum aircraft that had been painted for years as an in service fighter but when restoration work commences, they realise it's actually one of a few surviving PR aircraft and looking back through the records discover it was issued to the squadron as part of the programme to keep a reserve of PR/FR pilots.  Well, that's the bare bones of it.

The second 1081, that I think was intended to be the 1062.  I gave that a quick coat of primer and discovered I'd been a bit too vigorous with the sanding and I'll have to take remedial action.  I really want to find that fin mould - ironically, I found the a cast tailplane for the 1068 (Sea Hawk but with all through jet pip and unswept T tail) - but I'm not sure if the delta tailplane mould I did for my abortive 1067 will fit, is still viable or indeed where the blasted thing is.

As for the possibility of a P1035 - all the bits are in the box and I think I know how to fix the exhausts as I think they should look more like the exhausts of the P.1040.  If I do make a start on it, do I do it as an operational machine - it's in a similar time frame as the Attacker so could have flown in an extended war scenario - and if so would it be RAF or Navy?  Answers on a postcard to: Blackmail, Behind the water pipes, Euston Station.

So from the sublime to the ridiculous.  Ed Tudor Pole via the South pole.  Or rather Revell Shackleton and that turns out to be a right Endurance and no mistake.  I opened the box of the Revell Shack to start stripping out the bits I need and find within several seconds that one of the u/c legs is shattered beyond medical dispute.  As I started to clean up the bits I needed, I realised why I hadn't gone any further with the Revell kit I do have - I just don't like it.  No, I'll rephrase that - I detest it.

The breakdown, the fit, the parts themselves.  I mean, yes, it does have a nicely detailed surface but this example had more flash than your average kitchen cleaner and several bits had more warp power than the Enterprise.  Having looked at the part built AEW, I'm swiftly coming to the conclusion I should cut my losses on it and use the wings for something more deserving, like a Griffon Lincoln B.IV.

Aside from the Revell bits, the Contrail parts look even more crude and primitive than I thought that they were.  The roots are going to need both considerable internal strengthening - either with Milliput (which I detest) or P38 (and the heat whilst it's curing could destroy the plastic) - and externally, they're going to need building up, although the trailing edge should be easiest, with some scrap card and superglue as a basis.

Why do the wings first, I hear you all cry?  Well, I need to know where the spars will go and even if the spar section from the Shatipuss will fit in the Tudor fuselage.  Well, yes, it will, although the actual spars will be shorter due to the more portly fuselage of the Tudor compared to the less rotund Shack.  I could make replacements from card, but why do that when I have parts that'll do the job anyway.

The fuselage itself is going to need a fair bit of work to clean up - the mating surfaces are still a bit rough and I need to sort out the slots for the tailplanes.  I did clean and tape up the Contrail parts for the tail surfaces but then decided to mould the Magna Ashton tail surfaces instead as they'd be easier and I'd have a useful mould for when I have a spin at scratching a Tudor II.  I did do some internal parts - a bulkhead and a floor for the cockpit when I did the work some years back (again, in the garden in brilliant sunshine and fuelled by several large rum and cokes) and I may use some of the Shack's cockpit internals as they look close enough.  I need to dig out my file on the Tudor and I know where it is, it's just getting at it.

I'm also back tracking somewhat on the timeframe and scheme for the aircraft.  I had thought about a Met Flight one, but given the crudity a dark scheme would be more appropriate, so I did think Coastal Command (and they did fly Hastings, so it's not that much of a stretch) and then MOTU (multi-engined training unit), as I know I have the decals for it on one or more Shatipuss sheets.  Another reason is the exhausts are the later ones with the pipes and unlike the Airfix kit I can't get a set of replacement resin replacements that just drop in.

Once I'd cleaned up and glue some of the Shack's bits together - well, as far as I could be bothered, that is (I could have went further but hey, I wanted a drink or two after that) - I slung them in a box for another day.

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 545 is now resplendent in it's first overall coat of primer and naturally this has shown up various flaws, but not as many as I'd suspected.  The area around the wheel well/airbrake is going to be problematical.  Still, hopefully I'll have her on her u/c by the end of the week.  I've done some remedial filling on the 1062 and 1081, with the latter now with her tailplanes.  I've yet to dig out the moulds for the 1062's tail feathers but I *think* I know which one it is and more importantly where it is.

With yesterday's work on the Shattipuss for the Tudor, I decided to look at the Trader, so out with the Ashton and I did some basic clean up.  What a dog of a kit this is, as no doubt I'm sure Martin can attest to.  The engine pods are moulded integral with the wing (stupid from a moulding point of view) but the intakes and exhausts are separate (sensible, but...) However, being Magna, they don't fit.  Now, given that I was planning to swap out the wings for those of a Shackleton, why even look at the engines?  Well, I had planned on using them with a resin cast fuselage (that's if I ever figure out a reasonable way of cloning and casting a contrail fuselage) to cobble together the jet Tudor, so looking at them now could pay off later.  And then Magna's cackhandedness reared it's vile, ugly heed.  Again.

Firstly, neither the exhausts or intakes match the centre section of the pods, nor are they even identical to each other.  Even cleaned up, there are huge mismatches.  With the exhausts, they're too wide but being where they are, it's fixable and easy at that, simply by the removal of a lot of rather soft resin.  The intakes are the opposite, and will need considerable building up to match.  And secondly, more importantly, the wings themselves are too wide in chord, and neither the Revell or Frog Shackleton wings match the roots, being a good 5mm and possibly more narrower, which means that I can't use either wing to do the Trader.  So a whiffed Ashton is on the cards, probably a training machine, and I'm at a loss which scheme to do it in.

Today's tangent?  Magna Hornet NF10.  Years back, I did a BPF Sea Hornet F20 from the Magna kit, but the kit was a cheat as the wings were from the F3 (without the wing fold line or the blisters for the actuators) and he just gave the markings for a Sea Hornet.  So for mine, I cross kitted it with the wings from his Sea Hornet NF21, leaving a set of standard wings and a naval fuselage.  What to do?  RAF two seat hornet nightfighter to supplement the Mosquito until jet powered night fighters get into service.  Now I'd already done a wartime one from the Skybirds kit (now subject for a rebuild), so I wanted a post war version and I couldn't decide on a scheme - either MSG over Night (as per some Mossies) or something similar to the Hornet intruder scheme but with Type D roundels.  The whole thing was dealth a crushing blow when it got dropped and the wings came off.  Into a box and left.

Well, I found that box a few days back and it gets resurrected.  The wings are back on and the filler is on.  I'm now wedded to the second scheme and it'll probably go to Malaya with 45 Sqn, replacing their Beaufighters.  As for the MSG over Night scheme, the Skybirds one I got at Bolton for a pittance would seem to be ideal, although I've a feeling I've another Magna one somewhere - there's definitely an F.1 although due to serious warping of the fuselage I was going to use the wings as a basis for a twin boom version.

On digging I did find another Magna Hornet, but it's an F3 rather than the hoped for NF21.  No matter, I'll just use that cheap Skybirds one instead.  I did locate the box with the F1, which is fortunate as it also has the u/c for the night fighter and the Skybirds white metal for that rebuild. There was also quite a few Frog Hornets too.

So an interesting but frustrating day in many ways.





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!]

"God! That was quick!"

The CMR and Magna Swifts ordered on ebay have both arrived and couldn't be more different.  Think Tamiya compared with early MPM or late Pegasus kits and you get the picture. 

I was actually quite surprised by the Swift, because I have parts of a CMR Swift but I've an odd feeling that it's a much older one than I think it is, possibly late 80s or early 90s because the breakdown has some similarities with the Pegasus kit (and yes, Dave, I still want it!), and it definitely isn't the same resin as the one I've just got.  It's much finer and with much more detail.  For some reason, there was also a two seat Vampire or Venom canopy in with it.  Well, I'm not complaining.

The other thing I did manage to get done was prime the early PR Swift.  A few more flaws than I suspected but easy enough to fix.

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!]

"What's happened to all your clothes, Neil?"

Just had an interesting and frustrating time trying to find some moulds.  Went through everything to find a specific one only to find it in the last placed check where it shouldn't be.  Typical.

I've located all the moulds for the Sea Hawk based Hawker projects, plus a few other moulds I've been wanting to find, including a Hercules cowling that could come in rather handy to tart up several Matchbox Beaufighters.

Off to do some casting, so more as and when.

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 I don't know. But when the council come to demolish the house tomorrow, Michael, they're going to find it already demolished from within!"

To be honest, I wish I've never found some of those moulds.  Most of them are a good decade if not older, quite well used and the chances of getting decent castings out of them slim.  At least one set of tail surfaces broke whilst trying to get them out, another mould is warped, meaning the castings are now squashed - although it was pretty much knacked anyway.  Another has a piece about ready to come off, so the next casting out if it will break it. 

I did get some decent bits out though.  A Hunstman fuselage with tailfin separate (TsrJoe gave me a mould that wasn't up to his specs some years back for my own use, and no, I'm not running any off), although I don't think I'll get many more out, which means I may do another supersonic one.  Some 1052/1081 wings - I think I've enough bits for three now, which means I can do the PR one I'd planned.  And then seeing the Huntsman tailfin gave me an idea for a navalised 1081 with a Hunter tail for better control on landing - 1081's tail surfaces are woefully small for a carrier aircraft.  I did initially to with the idea of a German one but then sense took hold and I decided on RNVR and I have the markings in mind for a unit that was going to get Sea Hawks until Sandys dumped his proverbial turd in the proverbial punchbowl.

Also on one mould was what appears to be an FD2 afterburner can, that uniquely British eyelid deign, and I'm just wondering if it'll fit a Hunter.  I remember seeing a T-tail one done many years back by Alan Ritson and combining the two would look rather different.  The early Hunter designs did have a T-tail and the mock-up F.1 certainly had one, so it got dropped quite late in the design process. 

The Revell Hunter I ordered from ebay has filtered through - Revell have *finally* seen sense and decided to go for boxes with lids rather than the end opening ones they kept using - and whilst it looks good and I'm itching to start it, it would appear to be covered in flash.  This is going to be a 70s one with the later tactical roundels and the light grey undersides, with the large ferry tanks and practice bomb carriers under the wings.  A 60s one may also be on the cards, both being 607 Sqn aircraft.  I'd be tempted with a trainer too, but the Xtrakit one is apparently "an ill fitting parcel of dog turds" according to people elsewhere on t'interweb.

I've done some basic sanding on a few other things but I've a feeling that the Hawker project stuff is going to keep me occupied for a while.

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!]

"Well, you might as well try the other one!"

Having looked again at some of yesterday's castings, quite a few are beyond use, specifically the 1081 bits - the mould for the rear fuselage is a two piece mould held together with elastic bands, but these have been in place for some time and have consequently warped the mould and anything cast in it is warped too.  Very frustrating.  The one half decent casting was attached to a rather poor front end from some years back - the surface texture is shot to hell and had a fair few air bubbles.  Still, it looks better than most Unicraft castings - the resin is a million times better too.  My plan here is to redo all of the 1081 moulds, although I'll take the opportunity to try and fix some of the major flaws.  I'd like to try and get a proper cockpit in it too, rather than the gaping maw of the Maintrack one.

The tail tail P.1081.  Now, I'd originally considered German Navy before seeing sense and thinking RNVR, but I'm now thinking RAF instead, as a possible F3 version - the MoS decided to standardise on the bigger tail and the RAF saw benefits in it too.  It does look very different, more purposeful and from some angles looks like a sawn off Scimitar.

More PSR on various things but nothing is advanced much further, although the Lancaster PR6 now has the nose sorted out but I think the rear fuselage/tail cone needs another skim of filler to blend it in better.  Once that's sorted, it'll go together fairly quickly - the scheme is intended as Med Sea Grey over PRU Blue, somewhat different for Lancasters.  Some lateral thinking has possibly sorted out the prop issue with all my Merlin 85 aircraft.

I did have a look at that Magna Hornet F1 and decided to see if it was finishable.  Not entirely sure about the installed cockpit module which has a decided list to starboard, but with a disruptive scheme and 2TAF markings, I think I can distract the eye.  Magna's Hornets are frankly poor, being largely warmed over Frog ones - you can see where the work has been attempted to try and fix the flaws, but frankly, they really don't go far enough although they're a decent attempt.

One other good thing about looking at that Hornet made me think about the spinners - the fit the cloned DB Merlin 85s I use, so that's something else to mould up.

I've made a start on the 607 Hunter FGA9, with the wings largely done and the cockpit interior assembled, although I've a resin Pavla seat rather than the kit example.  Then I remembered I had a PJ resin Hunter F6 that I'd picked up for a pittance a few years back (£6 isn't to be sniffed at, given that the kit had originally cost someone nigh on 30 notes when originally bought).  It's a stunning piece of casting and just as good as the Revell kit, better in some areas and I'm looking forward to getting it done.  The cockpit interior is largely assembled and just needs a coat of paint.

I'm toying with a run of Hunters for 607 Sqn, which they get in the mid 60s after P.1081 Kestrels - the aforementioned F6 and FGA9, plus a T7.  I'm even tempted with an F4, although the relevant bits for conversion are with the rest of my Hunters - on the other side of the city in my secondary stash. I'm now thinking about a scheme for that Jet Provost I've tidied up too - naturally, 607 sqn.

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 it go off, Mike?"

Apart from endless rounds of PSR on various things, I don't seem to be getting much further.  545 is now all tidied up and primed, so I just need to drill a few holes to dry fit the pitot tubes and get the u/c on, but I still need some pylons for it and I have a cunning plan for that.  Both 1081s are still locked in endless rounds of PSR but I think I'm getting near the end now, so on with their u/c. 

On the new builds, the CMR Wyvern TF1 is largely together, and other than having to tidy up some air bubbles it's gone together quite quickly.  I'm not happy with the flaps, which they give you in the down position and you have to do some minor surgery to fit them closed.  I like my aircraft all closed up.  That's getting a torpedo rather than the bomb racks.  Quite pleased with it so far.

Unlike Magna's Hornet F1.  This really is an ill fitting parcel of dog turds and the resin needed some repeated dips in boiling water to straighten out the wings before being left in the fridge for a bit.  TBH, it looks like a Hornet when it's done, but one that been on a diet, whereas the Skybirds kit - that's coming out to play soon, and at least two airframes (one of which being a rebuild, the other bought a few months back) - is a bit more solid and like the real thing.  I'm also considering just building the Magna F3 that's there, although possibly as an FR5.

Tangents?  Either a Frog Hornet straight from the box as light relief, or more ill fitting parcels of dog turds - the Matchbox Meteor and that's entirely Dave's fault for putting ideas into me head.  I've a box of bits and I want them used.  I think I can get round the flaws on the fuselage and one is going to be a very subtle whiff indeed, the other being a sideways development of Dave's Firestreak F8.

The final tangent is something I've posited before - RAF Venoms in overal Aluminium Dope rather than the camo that they did wear.  Again, it's not something I've seen anyone yet do.

I've had further thoughts on my 607 Hunters ad the planned duo will probably turn out to be a quartet, and I'm toying with adding a pair of 'winders onto the FGA9 - the Dutch F6s could carry a pair inboard of the inner tanks, so the facility is there (and the backstory could be written as 607 getting repossessed Dutch aircraft upgraded to FGA9s and the aircraft getting 'winders when the cold war starts heating up in the early 80s).  The first Revell one is ready to get the wings on, but I neglected to open the hole on the spine for the (TACAN or is it LORAN?) blade aerial.  I like the Revell Hunter but it's got a few nasty fit issues around the wingtips and the nose/cannon port interface is giving me gyp too.  The cockpit tub didn't want to go in either.  I'll have to watch that on the F4 - the F6 being the PJ kit and the T7 being a Revell kit with a PJ resin nose.  Speaking of Hunter T-birds, does anyone know who got the Odds N Ordnance moulds?

Last word on Hunters for today.  I had a look at the Skybirds single seater I've got in the stash - now they are RARE!  Well, the white metal is stunning, the surface detail could have been better but it turns out to be an F4.  Pity I've no plans to build it or the Skybirds 2 seater that's there too.

And my final comment for the evening is a fictional backdating of an iconic Navy aircraft along the lines of the Supermarine 224.  I just needed to find the trousered u/c that I'd dug out to try something else which wouldn't work.  I found the part built model in a box a few weeks back and looking at it, I doubt it'd need much work to do.  Lots of sanding, but that shouldn't take too long - pause for sarcastic response - and then on with the u/c and tailplanes before a final coat of filler and sanding, then a spray with Halfords aluminium.  It does look very different from it's original form and that's all I'll give away.


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!]

"OH! You mean the one with the enormous tits!"

Been a while since I updated - I did have an update last wednesday, but the system deleted it before I could post and I wasn't about to rewrite a wall of text.

Anyhoo, what's happened in the meantime?  Well, it's a long story...

A minor accident wrote off the Hunter FGA9 - the cockpit tub is a snug fit and it fell into the fuselage and couldn't be coaxed back into position without using bleach, hedgetrimmers and extreme violence, so it got chucked back into the box for now.  It can be salvaged - by amputating the nose and turning it into a T7A (my designation for RAF two seaters with the big bore engine of the F6/FGA9 as opposed to the normal ones with the weedy F4 engine).

The same accident nearly wrote off the Wyvern, but in that case the wing had just popped out of it's location and broke along very clean lines and thus eminently fixable.  Still waiting for a day with some good weather so I can give it a coat of primer.

After that, I got a bit disheartened but then got stuck into a few more Hunters.  However, I'm now basing my quartet of 607 Sqn aircraft (and it may yet grow further) firmly on the Revell kit, albeit with the necessary conversion bits. I had intended the F6 - and indeed had the thing started, the fuselage is together - to be based on the superb PJ resin kit but I've come to the conclusion that the kit is somewhat underscale as it seems a bit on the snug side compared to the Revell kit and upon comparing them, the fuselages are short - they agree up to the rear fuselage joint aft of the wing roots but then lose something twice before you get to the nose.  Worse, the wings seemed a lot smaller than the Revell ones.  Now, I could probably live with it until I looked again at the wing and saw that the flaps were intended to be down and they were all sorts of tiny bits of etched brass.  Close them up?  Yeah, easier said than done when said flap is larger than the hole it goes into.  Back in the box with you and out with a Revell kit.

One got thrown together as an F6 and another as an F4 using the sadly defunct Aeroclub resin conversion, the tailpipe is a beautiful piece of casting and an excellent fit.  Would that the wings were.  I *loathe* the fit of the Revell wing, which seems to have been designed to get as much out of the mould as possible, but I doubt we'll see the F4 (or the Swedish equivalent) from them.  The instructions don't help either, because if you follow them, the wingtip piece is too thick and you have to sand the hell out of it to smooth out the wing tip and lose a lot of the detail.  My fix, such as it is, is to fix the wingtip to the lower wing first then once it's set add the upper wing, glut the root and the leading edge and push the top to match the tip and glue into position from there.  Seems to work so far.  The fit of the leading edge pieces is a bit of a pain too and some shrinkage in the mould necessitates use of filler.

The original release of the FGA9 had an extra sprue specifically for the Swiss aircraft flying well into the 90s, with Mavericks, some odd missiles with 5 fins, extra lumps and bumps for the nose and tail, and the extended Sabrinas with what look like chaff dispensers - these were seen on Swedish aircraft so I suspect that Revell may well yet release a Swedish boxing with the F4 leading edge and tailpipe. Anyhoo, I rather like the look of said Sabrinas and putting them on a late aircraft, with wraparound camo and possibly 'winders on the outer pylons would be rather interesting. 

Incidentally, what are the lumps on the nose and tail of the Swiss aircraft for?  Could these be also applicable to UK aircraft?

Work continues at a slow pace on the not quite yet Hunter, the P.1081 Kestrel.  There was an interesting moment when the sheer awfulness of the casting of one forward fuselage section nearly caused it to get chucked in the bin - there was a section under the primer that was rubbery, where the resin hadn't quite cured and after what I suspect is 15 years I was quite shocked that it hadn't done so.  There was only one thing to do, cut it out, fill with plastic card and superglue and backfill with filler.  Well, it's worked but I'm now considering a very dark scheme for it and possibly a change of service from RAF to FAA and the 60s scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey over white and possibly the markings from a Hunter GA11.

Tangents?  Some clean up and minor assembly on an Aeroclub Venom F1, which if finished will get a nice shiny Silver dope finish and markings for one of the non 607 Sqn RAuxAF units, but I've yet to choose one from the many decal sheets I've now got to hand.  I also made a start on a very subtle whiffed Meteor NF14, discovering in the process that I don't have enough non-modified ones in the box, although I could probably throw together another T-bird.  Didn't get much further than assembling the wings and putting in the cockpit floor and a few transverse bulkheads - the Matchbox fuselage has been slated since it was released for a sloppy fit of the fuselage, especially the top decking and despite use of filler and a great deal of sanding, it's nigh on impossible to get rid of the join line.  This is due, IMO, to the lack of transverse bulkheads and fact that the fuselage will flex when you're sanding it down.  With the bulkheads in place, this shouldn't happen. I hope.

And then I returned to the on-off situation with the Buccaneer, as one or two Beaufighters had filtered through and thus I could strip one of it's internals for use here.  They fitted, but it was with a bit of trial and error and a lot of sanding.  I made some efforts to making the fin, with several false starts involving a cut down gash Ashton fin and then spare Spitfire wings before I had a "Sod it and go back to the beginning!" moment. 

Out with the box of Frog/spawnBlenheims, grab a fuselage off the sprues and sandwich a cut out of the Buccaneer fin in between.  Build up the leading edge with some plastic card, superglue and then smear with copious amounts of filler before leaving overnight.  Came back the following day, sanded the hell out of it.  Several coats of Halfords filler primer, more sanding, filler and yet more primer left me with something close enough, so I carefully sawed it off the Blenheim's fuselage, fitted some plastic card strip as a moulding lug and thus it got it ready to be moulded.  I may only need one, but if I bugger up the one I had, then I have to start again so moulding it means I still have a master and can work on a clone, and if I bugger that up, well, I just cast another.  It also gives me the posibility of deing the single fin Brigand that Bristol were considering.

Made up a mould box and also made a few others for useful bits - the twin Beaufighter conversion (well, the fins and tailplane anyway), several other bits and bobs and some Swift F1 wings (I'll come to them shortly).  Mixed and poured the rubber and left them overnight to cure.  One or two haven't quite worked and I'll have to redo them again, but the Buccaneer fin wasn't one.  Cast one of the following morning and went back to work

The moulding lug is quite useful, in that it allows me to alter the fin to the correct angle.  I did some more cutting and chopping to the Brigand rear fuselage to get it to fit, with a slot cut for the moulding lug at the front.  The fin's not quite right as it curves inwards as opposed to outwards, but a strip of plastic card and some filler should sort that out sharpish.

Once I've got the internals painted and the fuselage closed up, it should be a fairly quick job to get the rest of it together, although there's a lot more filling and sanding before we can say it's ready to get primed, but I'm confident that it's going to look good.

The other Beaufighter that had filtered through?  Well, that's going to be a twin fin version, but a late one, with all the Malaya trimmings of the TF.10, Brigand tailfins and four blade props.  The mould for the tailplanes went a bit awry, as some of the rubber wasn't quite mixed and is very slow to cure.  I did get the masters out and I'll redo the mould, but I want to crack on and did a limited casting of the stuff in that mould and the tailplanes have an odd lump that should be easy enough to sand out and as I'm considering 45 Sqn as an end user, it'll give me at least three schemes to consider, and naturally, I'll go for the darkest.

But what happened to the remains of the Blenheim?  Oh, that's easy - it'll get twin fins too.  I found a set of BF 110 tailplanes in a box of parts that might eventually become Bristol's answer to the Grumman Skyrocket and they look to be ideal.  Fins will be copies of the Beaufighter ones, so it'll look all Bristol and then things took another turn. 

I decided to give it a four gun turret, knowing I had a spare one from the Revell Halifax that was going to be a transport version. This wasn't going in the normal position, but just behind the cockpit between the wing spar placement - there's a well there so it'd fit there, although entry to the cockpit will have to be with a hinged canopy rather than a sliding one.  The hole for the original turret was filled with plastic card and scrap sprue and then backfilled with filler.  It took quite a while to carve out the new hole for the turret, but it'll fit now and it looks quite different so far.  I'm planning on using Bristol Perseus engines rather than the Mercuries of the Blenheim, but naturally, I can only find one in the bits box and the mould has yet to be found, despite me looking through every box that contains my moulds.  I found one that *might* have been it but as it contained a Mosquito bull nose as well, I knew it wasn't  but I cast one up and found it was whatever engine the early BOAC Liberators used (IIRC Tony o'Toole asked me to cast him a load for him for use on other things).  I got thinking about some going on Wellingtons.

Bristol did design a twin engined twin tail turret fighter to spec F11/37 (Unicrap do a "kit" of it) which has some family resemblance but that's about it.  Here, they just go with an adaptation of the Blenheim to save time, but with a bit more power and some additional forward firepower in the shape of the gun pack that the fighter Blenheims got OTL.  A for a name, I'm not quite sure yet - Beauregarde? - and I'll need to do some more thinking.  It doesn't butterfly away the Beaufighter as it's realised that the type is a stopgap.  Mine is just the prototype with the Perseus engines as the Taurus of the production version isn't quite ready yet.  Overall NMF finish as befits a Bristol prototype of the time.

Moving swiftly on, as this is going on just a bit, we turn at last to the Swift.  The moulding session got the rubber poured on the FR nose that's been sitting there since early April.  The same session that gave me the Buccaneer fin gave me the nose and the F7 got it's nose cut off and replaced with the clone and it's not a nad fit.  some sanding and a tad filler, but nowt to worry about.  Quick coat of primer and we get the few flaws filled and all it needs before she's off to the paintshop is a belly tank. 

The production PR6 was to have had the same wing as the FR5, accroding to the blurb in the Valiant Wings Richard Franks book on the Swift, said fact apparently being discovered by Phil Spencer.  This however gets the F7 wing and slab tailplanes for commonality and perhaps Rolls had got the reheat to work above 20,000 feet.  So it's an PR6A or perhaps a PR8.

I said in the stash thread that I'd bitten the bullet and acquired the Magna Swifts F1 and F2 on the grounds that they weren't that bad and cheaper than the Airfix kit and the relevant Alleycat conversions combined.  Plus I'd get them quicker, as opposed to Alleycat's geological delivery scales.  I decided to mould the F1 wing for use in scratchbodging the Type 528, but the mould's a bit iffy and the resultant casts are useable but...  No, I don't think so.  New mould required.

Final thoughts of the day are still with the Swift and remembering I've still got an unused fuselage I'm thinking about a delta wing.  IIRC there's a wreck of a MIrage III that I was given some time back and that may well fit.  Perhaps Vickers decided to have a play with the delta wing early on and used a Swift fuselage to play with?

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!]

"Well, don't worry, Rick! It wouldn't have worked anyway!"

I got pretty much everything done today that I wanted to, albeit with one tangent.  Look, I can't avoid them.  It's what I do.

Started with the twin fin Beaufighter, and cleaned up the ropey casting to a point where I was okay with it, if not necessarily happy.  So I taped up the fuselage and did teh surgery that was indicated on teh distructions to get it to fit.  Hmmn. Looks okay but looking closer at the casting, it's not quite good enough to go on the Airfix kit, so what about the Matchbox one instead? Did the requisite surgery and it looks okay, a definite goer.  This is going to be a wartime one, rather than the Malaya scheme that the Airfix one will get, but whether it'll get the two colours over Sky or just Extra Dark Sea Grey is another question for later.

The Brigand fins were offered up to the tailplanes and they'll fit, of a sort so I may just shorten the tailplane itself but the overall effect is of a sawn off Buckingham.

With that out of the way, I did a bit more tidying up on the Blenheim turret fighter - I need a name for that one, something alliterative - and the fins will fit the locator pins on the Bf 110 tailplane I'm using after some minor surgery. So well that they could have been intended for use there.  It looks quite natural.  I did some more PSR and it's about as good as it get for now, so I just need to get some work done in the cockpit.  I did assemble the gunpack.

After that, I turned my attention to making some new moulds, repeating the work I'd done some days back.  This time, I added several engines to the mix - that US engine intended for a Wellington and the mould started to break up when I got the second one out yesterday, a Bristol Aquilla cowling from the Magna Vickers Venom kit (the Bristol 143 was a parallel version of the 142 "Britain First" and was intended to use Aquilas), and a pair of Bristol Perseus cowlings.  You see, I'd found a second one in the Skua bits box  and though I could get ahead with the turret fighter but then sense took hold and I decided to mould the pair just in case the other mould never turns up but even if it does, I suspect it's on it's last legs anyway. 

Other than that, I just did the mould boxes for the Swift F1 wings and all the Beaufighter intended bits - tailfins, tailplanes, a Firefly 7 annular Griffon and the resin turret section from the High Planes Beaufighter V. I'm planning a twin finned escort for the Banff wing, probably with the Matchbox kit as it's ideal for bashing about but I could be persuaded to do it with an Airfix one as I know I've a fuselage spare to play with so it won't matter too much if I cock it up.  Although rather than the resin I'd use another spare Boulton Paul turret that's be spare in the Revell Halifax III that's going to be a donor for the early HP.64 Hastings design - basically a Hastings with a standard Halifax wing and engines and the twin tail unit.

I might get the rubber mixed poured tonight but TBH, there's no real hurry and I may well do it in the morning and demould on sunday.

I had a look at the Hunter FGA9 I threw together a day or so back and cleaned up the fuselage and after adding a quantity of Lead to the nose, got that all closed up and filler on.  Did some more tidying up on various Hunter wings and then moved onto the slow rebuild of the Skybirds Hornet NF10.

This being the RAF equivalent of the NF21 and a rebuild of something from 20 years back that's been sitting stripped and forgotten in a box.  All the bits are there, bar the rudder pedals but you can't see them anyway in the coal mine that is the cockpit.  Repainted and fitted the seat, added some tape belts to both seats and closed it up.  It's going to need a fair bit of filler to tidy it up but it should look okay when it's done.  I know exactly what scheme it's going in and what markings it's going to get - standard RAF nightfighter colours of Dark Green over Med Sea Grey and it's going with 23 Squadron, although I may do it post VE day with unit markings but still with kill markings.

And today's tangent?  Well, it's not so much of a tangent because it fits in with the twin engined fighters that I'm working on - it's the rather anonymous twin engined Gloster fighter that should have been in service in 1940 but didn't quite make the party.  Magna did a pretty decent kit of both the Taurus and Peregrine engined versions and this is the Taurus version.  End scheme and squadron user?  Not quite sure yet, but likely Dark Earth and Dark Green over sky Blue for a Battle of Britain aircraft and probably one of the Blenheim fighter units.  I did the same kit as an all black NFII version years back, so something a bit more colourful is in order.

Final thoughts today are turning to possibly an in service twin tail turret fighter Blenheim, although possibly for training gunners and definitely with the more powerful Taurus engines as I've found some Aeroclub ones.  Or possibly a coastal command one with rockets.  Either way, it'd look a bit more interesting than an all silver prototype.


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!]

"Oh, God. I think I'm going to be violently and copiously sick."

Managed to get the moulds poured yesterday but the rubber...  I had three tins, two of which were marked Tiranti, the other was from East Coast Fibreglass, which is just across the river in South Shields.  It'd settled and bearing in the first two had to be a decade old at least and the latter about 7, it's not surprising.  I used the last of the Tiranti stuff for three, the largest being the Swift wings, with the East Coast stuff for the Beaufighter bits and engines.  24 hours on, none of them are fully cured but bearing in mind I'm in no hurry for castings from them - apart from maybe the Perseus engines - I'll just leave them curing further.  It does go off, eventually.

I looked at getting some more moulds done, the first being tailplanes for Hawker 1052/1081 and I added the tail surfaces from the Swift too, as these, plus the wings from the mould curing, will form the basis for a Type 528. The Swift wings have what I believe are called streamwise wingtips, whereas 528's wingtips are a tad more square, but it's lot easier to work with the resin wings than vacforms.  I alo got a mould sorted for some Hercules engine fronts.

I got the fuselage together for a stalled Swift FB2, this being the one that'd had the back end sawn off in an abortive attempt to do the Type 528.  It had stalled whilst I got some of the Airkit parts moulded and cast.  Now that the moulds were done last week, I had no excuse to hold back, and these bits are now on.  It's got the second coad of filler on the fuselage and the wings.  The second early PR Swift now has it's nose in place and a coat of filler applied.

I've done some more work on the Lancaster PR.6 and that now has it's u/c in place, which was a job and a half.  The Lancastrian C.6 also has the bomb bay doors in place but I couldn't face doing anothe set of u/c so left the pair of them for another day.

Today's tangent comes in two halves, and both are bad.  You see, I'd pulled out Magna's Bristol 148 to start cleaning it up and quite frankly it is an absolute parcel of crap.  The casting is terrible and the mastering just as bad.  I've slated Unicraft with just cause and this was almost on a par with Igor's least worst (I flatly refuse to use a positive to describe unicraft's lamentable efforts).  The engines is clearly a badly reworked Frog Blenheim one, the wings still have wood grain in them, the fin is over thick.  I managed to get it cleaned up to a point but gave up before I lost the will to live.  Any prodution aircraft were to get the Bristol Taurus rather than the Mercury, so that can thankfully go in the bin as I have an Aeroclub Taurus.

Supposedly, Magna did two versions of the 148 and I was sure I had one elsewhere in the stash.  Off I go to find it and pull out the box.  It felt too heavy - how many are in it?  Opens it to find a Magna Bristol Buckingham.  Oh dear.

I knew it was lurking somewhere and given that I'm doing Bristol twins amongst many other things, I may as well start cleaning it up.  I don't necessarily have to build it.  Even if I do, what scheme does it get?  It doesn't look that bad - the wheels are definitely going in the bin and the engines have vanished, although I've a feeling they may have been moulded as one looked poor.  Time for another look in the moulds boxes.  The wings and tailfins were removed from the lumps that are the pouring lugs and I sanded down the base of the cockpit module.

I'm going to do it with the gear up, because the last time I fought the u/c on this thing (Brigand and Buckmaster) I jacked in the hobby for well over three months.  I do not want to go through it again, although the third time should be lucky, right?

Scheme could well be the proposed PR version, although I'm considering the proposed version with two torpedoes that led eventually to the Brigand.  I must be mad.


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