The Wooksta: Not a Spitfire Blog

[The Wooksta!]

"Six? No, it would be six if you killed him, Michael. Let's call it two."

Decalling has begun and I'm a third the way through, plus half of another before frustration and boredom finally took hold and I gave up for the night before something went off a wall.  All the small spray jobs were done earlier, with the Swift PR6 having to have a further touch up when the masking lifted the paint.  I'm making my way through the hairy stick jobs as I go through.

Done so far are a couple of Swifts, one only needing the 74 Sqn markings - it got started and stalled some years back, and I had to finish it as it was.  The ETPS FD.II was fairly easy to do, although the fin flash isn't quite right.  Does look very different though.  Also done and dusted were the Rapier, the Archer and the Supermarine 545.  Happy with all three, although trying to get suitable serials is taking some thought.  Of the complete batch, again the one I'm happiest with is the 545.  Looks very different wearing second line 1970s markings, and it's a real departure for me.  The Rapier is another surprise, because whilst it's clearly of the Lightning family, the smaller fin, lack of a spine and just cannons, along with a dark colour scheme and a bubble hood, it looks different.  Mention of Lightnings, I also got halfway through the two seat P8, but decided I was too tired and emotional to face the walkway lines and left it for the night.

Truthfully, I was actually quite happy to start decalling and despite the frustration, I'm enjoying it.  Whether that will be the case with the last few - probably the smaller Saro trio - remains to be seen.

Comments for those still remotely and vaguely interested and can be arsed to reply go here:
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[The Wooksta!]

"Sounds like supper's ready."

Well, Telford has been and gone and I managed to get everything on the list finished, although the Lightnings never did get their pitot tubes, and it was right down to the wire.  Yet again.  More planning is involved for next year, which may well be V bombers and Buccaneers.

I was broadlty happy with everything, although the Rapier, the 545, the P6 and the 63 Sqn P8 are firm favourites.  I do not quite know just how I managed to get the finish on the latter. I was about halfway through a can of Aluminium and still priming, so decided to use another one of the metallic silvers I had, ending up with Ford Stardust Silver.  Now this is too grainy for a final coat but as a metallic primer? Yeah, it'll do, so one with that and something strange happened.  For whatever reason it just flattened everything out, hiding many of the print artifacts and giving an almost eggshell finish.  Few tiny bits of filling and sanding, another coat and it looked amazing.  On with the Aluminium proper and it looks even better.  It took the decals well and then a final matt coat and that went on perfectly too.  Right now, it's my favourite of all the P8s done so far, with the red fin 5 sqn example a close second.

So, where do we go from here?  Well, taking a look at finishing those axed from The Plan^TM V3.0 looks to be a good idea.  The FDIIs just need their u/c on and the doors too, ditto the Hunters, although one will need some new Firestreaks from Colin as I nicked them for the 63 Sqn Lightning.

Afterwards isn't quite so clear cut, but there's enough in abandoned projects to keep me busy for some time, let alone starting new things.  I've already mentioned the V bombers (already assembled), but something Hawker is also one the cards with the P1081s and other Sea Hawk related airframes.

At Telford, myself and Kitbasher were discussing Sea Hawk based trainers and he mentioned he was working on one.  I have an assembled one and have looked at grafting on a Venom canopy - with some filler it could look about right.  And then I looked sideways at a 1081 based trainer.  The Maintrack bits are poor at best but then I remembered a recipe I received some years back that involved a cut and shut between a Novo Sea Hawk and a Novo Hunter F1 that could work, so I dropped an Airfix Hunter fuselage over the Hygate 1081 plans and it's a good fit for the rear fuselage.  I may even be able to keep the intakes and if I go for the larger Hunter fin and tailplanes that I've already given to a pair of 1081s, then it may be somewhat more interesting.  I already have several resin 1081 wings plus I bought a Novo Sea Hawk for precisely this project.

I do want to finish at least one of the P1081s that are littering the place, plus there's that Venom that got a second coat of Aluminium that wouldn't take that much to finish.  There's a few other Vampire related things that got assembled last year, the PR one is the one I'm looking at finishing, largely because when I was spraying the PRU Blue a few weeks back I part sprayed the underside of the Lancaster PR6 to use up the paint still in the airbrush.  I know it's not fast jets, but it's something else to finish and it's going to be an easy enough scheme to do.  Plus I can do it at the same time as the Vampire and possibly a P1081 if I go for that odd Dark Green/MSG over PRU Blue scheme that some Vampires and Cranberries wore.

Mention of Hawker based things brings me swiftly to the Harrier.  No, not that one, I mean the supersonic Huntsman with the P.1083 wing as after over a year in the doldrums I *finally* have an idea of what I want to do with it.  I mean, it's a fast VIP transport, so overall white with a blue cheatline and flashy type D roundels and the markings of 26 Sqn - who flew Hunters before getting Belvederes and then Bassets in the transport role - would seem to be a winner.
Also being considered is a quick and dirty P1083 with the resin wings I used for the 20 Sqn example that went to Telford and was observed lurking at the back of the Tyneside display.  This time, it'll be gear up and in flight, all black and in the markings of 111 Sqn.  A bit too obvious perhaps - everyone seems to go for the Black Arrows - so a move sideways and 92 Sqn markings instead for a Blue Arrows machine instead?

The same guy I got the wings from provided me with several sets of Hunter drawings a week or so back, and these included a P1083 derivative with a radar nose and Firestreaks.  That was is just begging to be done from the Revell kit and various Freightdog components.  Plus I still want to do that T-bird with the 1083 wing at some point too.

Other projects worth considering?  Well, there's a few Swifts that could be finished, PR nosed early ones or the FB5 ground attack version.  At Telford, I discovered that there was indeed a two seat side by side trainer version drawn up - I had the drawing from t'interweb but was dubious about it's provenance. Doesn't look to be too difficult either and the old Pegasus kit may be the one to use.  I also discovered that the VG wing of a Sukhoi Fitter may well be useful if I want to have a bash at the VG Swift that Vickers did studies for.  I've seen some drawings but can't quite remember where.
The use of a Fitter wing is the result of casting about to find alternate fuselages to the Su 7 - of which there were none to be found at Telford, at least not in 72nd scale - these being ideal as a basis for the English Electric P.6 single engines Lightning development.  My plan to ignore the area rule and explain it away as a result of an engine change to the BS Olympus turns out to have a basis in reality.  One was apparently drawn up and it is a dead ringer for an Su 7 fuselage.
The Fitters I did pick up - three certainly - are no use, having that odd drooped nose, but the Hobbycraft ones look to be about right.

The other Lightning project I'm considering - actually there's a second but all in good time - is my interpretation of Kit's EE Flattening, a Lightning with side by side engines rather than vertically stacked.  I'd decided on an Su15 Flagon as a basis, having the right size fuselage to take a pair of Avons side by side, and managed to obtain a pair of PM ones at reasonable prices.  Taping up the various components proved to me, and Kit also, that it could well work and more importantly it looks right, even if mine could well end up looking more like a Tornado with Lightning wings and Mirage intakes.

The other project?  The very first P1B, with the NACA intakes and the solid nose.  I've already done it with the Rapier, so I know how to go about it and I have enough bits in the spares box, although I may use a Novo one rather than an Airfix one.

The final few projects are more salvage jobs, the first being that P.1121 that's been kicking about for ages.  A clean up, new decals certainly, along with the long lost bits or replacements, and it could be done relatively quickly.  I hope.  The other two being the original Gannet Scale Models Fairey Delta III and the twin engined RAE Mach 2 fighter that looks somewhat like a Bristol 188.  For the latter two, I can see a lot of filling and sanding...

So, plenty to think about and even more to do.  I have the imagination, I just don't have the energy.

Comments for those still remotely and vaguely interested and can be arsed to reply go here:
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[The Wooksta!]

"Who can tell?"

I've been looking through my Plans folder, where I keep the various badly folded A3 sheets of photocopied and exploded 3 view drawings , as I was trying to find the plans for the De Havilland DH116 "Super Venom" as I had a brainwave a week or so back and I think I've got a recipe for a scratchbodge that involves a Matchbox Hunter, a Merlin Vampire T11 front end, some Sea Vixen outer wing panels and a lot of filler.  However, the only set I found - in the wrong place, naturally - were the wrong size.  So that's on the backburner, again, where it's been for a good twenty years or so.  I know there's a decent set somewhere, I just need Time Team to do the archaeology to find it.

I did find some plans that were useful, namely the Hawker P.1071 and the BAC Type 583.  I know Thorvic did one or two of the latter some years back, but I want to give it a spin anyway.  The Tornado I looked at seems to drop over the plans provided a splice is removed from the fuselage, which will need lengthening too.  I have the front end, in the shape of an Su 15.

The Hawker project is a derivative of the original P.1067 Hunter design, nose intake but with a longer fuselage and more  swept wings.  TsrJoe had said that the unreleased Blackbeard P.1067 fuselage is wrong for 1067, being too long, but bang on for 1070.  Having dropped a gash one over the 1071 plans (the only difference between the 1070 and 1071 is the latter has additional rocket thrust), it would seem that he's right.  Hmmn.  Need to rework the fin, but there's a starting point.  What to use for the wings?  First thought was the standby for 1083 - a PM Ho 229  - but then I remembered the Su 7 which had a fairly highly swept wing and tried the wing over the plans.  It'll work, with a section cut out at the root, some trimming and reshaping at the tips, all the fences removed and new u/c inserts cut out.  The thickness of the wing looks to be spot on too.  That VEB Su 7 seems to have been better value than I thought.

Another project that's bit the dust is my thought of using an F100 Super Sabre as a basis for a Supermarine 545, or rather the production version with the revised nose reminiscent of the F86D.  The fuselage is about the right shape, certainly length is right, but the cross sections are out.  The forward section could be a basis for the front end of the proposed two seat side by side Swift trainer, as that would have been similar to the nose of the Type 554, according to Teach for the Sky, and I have the drawings somewhere on the hard drive.  Time to get them blown up, methinks.  Other than a trainer, it was proposed as a radar equipped fighter, but given the type's failure in the fighter role, a light strike aircraft would have been better.

Dug out some cast P.1081 wings, so the two unfinished ones - well, wingless - can be advanced a bit further.  I'd like at least one of these done, as I've the 607 Sqn markings waiting to go on it.  My alternate history has them flying Spitefuls rather than Spitfire F22s which are replaced with P1081s in '54, being replaced by Hunter F4s in 1959.  There's a great deal of things in this Alternate 607 Sqn, I just hope I've enough untouched Airfix F22s so I can steal the unit badges.  Oh, wait...

To be honest, I've a lot of projects in my head at the minute, and its a real conundrum as to which one I want to do first.  I may have to draw up some kind of Plan...

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[The Wooksta!]

"Poor old Special Patrol Group."

Spent an interesting half an hour with several sets of drawings blown to approximately 72nd.

First was the P1071 mentioned yesterday and the P.1067 "Demon", along with some of the bits for the abortive Blackbeard kit and a Novo Hunter F1.  for the 1067, I'd need to do some fairly drastic surgery to shorten the fuselage of the Hunter, but it's about right for the 1071.  I'd rather go for the 1070 to make life easier.

The other was a set of drawings for the English Electric P6.  I've tried every Su-7, Su-9 and Fitter fuselage I had to hand and the best fit is surprisingly the awful VEB kit.  Bang on for length, the plastic is thick and will withstand heavy sanding and the panel lines are all raised.  The KP kit seemed short but nicer to work with, the Su-9 was similar but at 18 notes, a tad too expensive for a donor kit.  The Fitter was way out.  Short, too wide and the area rule at the front makes it just look wrong.

So whilst I have the kits I need as donors, I'm also left with several Fitters that I really have no interest in.  I may well build one in Indian markings or with some tinpot African dictatorship.  Or perhaps one at Boscombe Down for RAF evaluation.  The Su-9 may well end up Indian.

Still don't know where the DH.116 plans are though.  And that's annoying.

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[The Wooksta!]

"Ah hah! Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha! Driving instructor my bottom! You're a vampire and there's no denying it!"

I've been going through the midden that is the flat, trying to tidy the place a bit and whilst putting some DVDs away in a cupboard found several sets of drawings.  Two are for a jet engined Wyvern  - with an Avon, no less! - and came from TsrJoe more years ago than I care to think about.  Still never did it but I'm sure I have a Novo wreck somewhere that may be pressed into service.  Means I can send Dave that bit he needs.

But what I did find - and I am still coming down from the excitement - is the missing DH.116 drawings!  Cue a scrabble to find the bits for the recipe and yes, it will work, being a noxious brew of a Merlin Vampire T11 front end, a Matchbox Hunter back end, Novo Sea Vixen outer wing panels (which just about fall over the plan once the tips are trimmed (or I may leave them for the production version ), some plastic card and P38.  Not sure how to approach the canopy - possibly a 48 Mosquito bomber one filled with P38 and sanded back could act as a plug. 

But I'm now confident of being able to build at least one and I know I have enough bits kicking about to do at least 3 more should it work.  Or a second to act as a master for a potential kit.

May have to invest in some P38 as I don't think I have any...

In other news, a mixture of Lightnings and P1B developments have had a coat of primer, these being the ones that were postponed some weeks back as The Plan^TM V3.0 was becoming unwieldy.  One should be fairly straightforward to do once primed (laughs sarcastically) as it's the Airfix F1A with a very subtle twist. Although as all the original Airfix decals I have are decidedly crap, I'll be using other ones instead, so the serial may be somewhat different.

Comments for those still remotely and vaguely interested and can be arsed to reply go here:
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[The Wooksta!]

"Oh! Ha ha ha! Well, I mean, if you like snow and being really cold, it's a nice day."

I'm somewhat puzzled, trying to remember which box the wreck of the Hawker P.1129 that was built for one Telford from a collection of resin bits cast by TsrJoe from a master made by Geoff. I'm sure I stripped it to redo but it got chucked in a box.  Trouble is that, with all the current thoughts around 50s/60s jet projects, it's one I'd like to resurrect.
I do have a dodgy cast, probably the last out of the mould before it gave up the ghost, that could be done, but it's a lot of work and might be better as a master. I think.
Anyway, I had a dig through one box where it could be. Predictably, I didn't find it, but did find the Lightning T5A in 23 sqn markings that I never did finish. Not much to do, so that gets resurrected.  The same box revealed a pack of Huntsmen, two standard to repair and an Avon engined one that I never finished. Also located were a number of Hunters. One may be redone as a 26 sqn example, but I'm thinking of several for that unit, being a mixture of single and two seat Hunters as well as a trio of Huntsmen.
The other thing I do want to find is a T-tail Hunter that stalled after the paint lifted.  IIRC the tail was removed for something else but it didn't get scrapped, so where did it go?

Answers to
Blackmail
Behind the water pipes
Waterloo Station

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[The Wooksta!]

"I thought so. Look, what are we really doing here? Really?"

The weather has put a hold on several plans, to whit the Lightnings and the P.1128 supersonic version which I've dubbed the Harrier.  They got a coat of primer and no further. The Harrier does look good in white though.

So I've been planning what I want to do re scratch bodges.  Again, the weather has put a block on it as I really don't want to go out.  I need to do some photocopying.

So what's in mind? P6, obviously. Thorvik sent me a pair of Leoman Su-9s as fuselage donors. Given that the intake on the Su-9 is larger than required, it'll have to be a late Olympus or possibly a reheated Spey engined version as I'm sure it would need a greater mass flow. So Su 7 for early models, Su 9 for late, along with the kinked F6 wing. May even keep the spill doors.
One other P6 possibility is the twin engined canard project, with what looks like a Canberra fuselage. A pair of Su-7s would do as the engines, Su-9 wings as the outer panels and a lot of plastic card and filler.

There's various Hawker projects, two being variations on the P.1067 with the nose intake. Again, I have the plans but need some extra ones.  The1067 being a reworked Novo Hunter with the wing roots backfilled and sanded smooth, with an inch taken out of the fuselage.  Part way through the surgery but it's looking promising. I can either do a flying one or take the effort to grout out the wheel well bays.

The other is a P.1071, this being similar, but with a more swept wing. A reworked Su-7 wing is ideal for this. I have a resin fuselage from an abortive effort at a P.1067 kit. Bit of work opening up the nose gear bay and grouting out the nose intake, a new fin and some delta wing tailplanes.

And this is just the start. Too many projects and I really don't know which way to go. 

But I'm enjoying it anyway.


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[The Wooksta!]

"Yeah. We've made some toast!"

Well, several months late and still needing a modicum of tweaking, my Fairey Delta III is just about done.  Still needs missiles (Red Tops) and pitot, plus the canopy gluing on (my PVA has vanished), but I have it done.  Not quite as intended - the first BSP volume cover art - but good enough.

Kind of lost focus and really lost interest in sticking bits together, although I'm still having ideas, which mainly revolve around giving various trainers and communications aircraft twin engines.  Dave did a fantastic job with the Proctor that it made me want to do my own, albeit RAF rather than civilian.  Also on the list are a Magister and probably a Chipmunk, although I'll be moving the cockpit forward. 
There's also all the bits there for the Miles Merlin F.MkI, being a Master re-engined with a Merlin power egg as an alternative to the Miles M.20.  Bearing in mind that the Master started life as a fighter prototype, the Miles Kestrel, I don't think it's that much of a stretch, although I do have a choice of the Frog/Novo or Pegasus Master kits as a basis.  Both will need considerable upgrades in the cockpit.

The other main idea that's kicking around inside my head is a strike fighter from English Electric/BAC, composed of various bits - Su-11 fuselage, P8 undercarriage module, Tornado tailplanes, TSR2 wing, Lightning F3 fin, Lightning T5 canopy and a Hunter T-bird nose and spine.  Think P.1121 but rearranged and built with BAC components.  It's essentially the BAC Warton answer to the P.1121.

There is another possibility there, using Lightning wings as an single engined version of the P8, using the design of the P6, but the strike fighter version I think is more interesting.  I did have a similar idea, but with a Mirage IV wing and a T-tail and utilising the front end of an F100 Super Sabre as Armstrong Whitworth's alternate submission for F155, based on the AW58 Delta research aircraft.  Along similar lines to the single engined Fairey Delta III proposal that was a scaled up FD2 but without the charm.  Possible, but the cross sections of the Su-7/9/11 and F100 are very different, so it'll involve a lot of P38 and sanding.  If I decide to do it.  I really have way too many things to do and even more to finish.  And life is just too bloody short.


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[The Wooksta!]

"Ah, who xcares?"

Still not got out of the funk but things are brightening up a bit. I've been gluing sone bits into a stalled P.1121.   I've a feeling I'd sanded too much off, but that's what filler is for. Undecided on scheme - either DSG/DG wraparound camo or overall Desert Storm Gulf Pink.  Because of that big intake, a sharkmouth is very tempting so the camo one would either be 16 sqn or 112 sqn.  A grey one could be with 5 sqn as their Lightnings, at least 3, had sharkmouth.

The stalled one from 2001 has had the decals whipped off, but still needs a clean and I've yet to find the rest of the bits.  I'm undecided to go for either 11, 111 or go really left field with 234 sqn, as a big red dragon on a black fin looks rather spiffing. 111 is too sexy, so probably not them. I did consider 63 sqn, but I'm wedded to the P8 for them.

The wing is cast for the BAC P.1121, so I may have a look at mugging up the bits at some point soon. Thankfully, the Lightning T bird canopy will fit the Hunter T7 nose.

Also want to dig out the Su-15s for the Flattening. Also need to drop them over my P.1125 plans.

Still reading and can be arsed to reply?  In the vain hope anyone is, the link is above for anyone who can be bothered.

[The Wooksta!]

"Burning! What's it look like?"

Having dug out the Su 15, it is a reasonable match, but needs work. I'm also of the opinion, having looked at the plans, that it used the forward fuselage, as well as the wings and tail surfaces, of the P.1121.  So it may be on the back burner for a while longer.

The Su 15 did get some saw action, as it'll be the basis for the BAC Flattening. The nose got cut down, although I'll probably replace it with a spare Tornado one. The chunks taken out of the nose may well serve as the intakes, the cones being chopped down Lightning over wing tanks, of which there are many in the spares box. The lower fuselage comes with the lower wings integral, so they go cut off too.  Not sure where the undercarriage will retract yet, but I'm thinking forward.
Also took the spine off a very dead Lightning fuselage that had been chopped for other things.

It's all taped up and looks convincing, more a product of the 60's than the fifties. The PM plastic is soft and easy to work with, although carving out the exhaust section to drop in a more British Javelin one was a pain.

During the taping up, I also mugged up the BAC 1121 and it's looking promising. So much so, I cut out and dropped in the P8 wheel bay section.. it looks very convincing. Really looking forward to doing it, although the underside may need building up a bit, and I may well have to use a bit more of a Matchbox Hunter than I'd planned.

Done nothing else with the P.1121, but should be looking at that one later.

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[The Wooksta!]

"Honestly, if anyone else asks me that question, I shall stick their head through the window."

I'll get it out of the way now.  Why a daily blog?  Simple.  The homework for my creative writing class is to keep a journal for a week.  I have this blog, I'm building three projects simultaneously, so combining the two was a no brainer.  Come this way, Neil.

The wing I'd cast a few weeks back for the BAC 1121 broke when I attempted to get it out of the mould.  Sounds actually worse than it was, it's near the trailing edge and can be fixed relatively easily.  Not that I'll use it for the BAC 1121 - I've earmarked it for the delta wing Lightning as the wing intended for that was just a shade too thick and also the reason why I threw the first model ever against a wall whilst building it out of sheer frustration.  I'm better now...honest, guv! - but I've cast another.  It got demolded earlier and looks almost perfect, just a bit of sawing and sanding and it's good to go.  I might leave the centre section in place for ease of assembly, I'll offer it up and see.  There may even be photos later.

I did end up using a bit more Hunter fuselage than I'd planned, but it was a chunk of one already butchered for something else, so nothing wasted, and found the rear spine section for a T-Bird to help blend it all in.

Did nothing much with the Flattening, although the exhaust section is going to need some more work, and I know I'll need to chop off the cockpit section to widen it a tad for a Lightning canopy to sit a bit better.  The fuselage at the moment is just a shade too slim for the chunkier Lightning canopy.  I'd also like to get a better cockpit into it.

And finally, the Hawker P.1121.  It had a few tabs putting in to aid alignment, but still needs a tad more work, especially in the cockpit and around the exhaust.  I used a chunk left from the chopped Hunter as a backing to prevent the white metal exhaust falling in.  The older one still awaits cleanup and I think I'm wedded to the 234 Sqn markings.  If only I can find them.

Whilst thinking about the FRADU Sea Vixen I did years back - 2005? - I thought perhaps Airwork buying some of the ex Saudi Lightnings and using them wouldn't be too bad an idea, or them buying a number of Bricks when they got retired too.  Something else to think about?


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[The Wooksta!]

"How about 'Jellybotty'? Where you have to eat eighteen curries!"

Looking more at a stalled resin TSR2, now that I have a cast wing for it.  Thinking overall wraparound camo with a black fin and 16 Sqn markings, SNEBS and CLBS carriers and tactical roundels.  607 Sqn zap is a must as it would be from an early 80s Acklington Air Day.

Short for now as out for Brunch.

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[The Wooksta!]

"You'd have to get up pretty early to catch you out, Micheal!"

Got the casting I needed done, although I can't find the mould for the TSR2 fin.  It must be in there somewhere, but I can either use an Airfix one (I've an Odds and Ordinance one somewhere to replace it) or go back to the original plan and use a Lightning one, even though it's perhaps a tad small.  I did run off some new radomes too, and one may be the right size for the BAC.1121.

I've been looking at the cast resin nose and I can see a few areas with a tad of sanding - actually no, a great deal of sanding - that it could be reshaped within limits.  I mean, the rear needs building up now I've got the lightning canopy to fit properly, and the front will need building up to match the windscreen.  If I chop off the front of it and fit a new radome, it shouldn't look much like a Hunter T-bird front end.

The fuselage of the Su-11 base kit has been chopped to get the wing in place and then glued together.  Off with the fin and a lot of plastic bracing inside to make good the lack of stiffness.  I did some filling and sanding (with a curry in between) and then planked the underneath to get it to match the depth of the new intake and the main gear bay.  The spine section that goes just aft of the cockpit has been trimmed to fit  and it sits over the wing nicely.  The tailplanes had the leading edge kink taken out, so those bits are now done.

There's still a great deal of filler to apply and then sand to get the underside to look right, but I'm not known as the Sandmaster for nothing.  There's going to be a lot of dust about tomorrow.



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[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."

Weather is really nice, I need to do some sanding on the BAC 1121, so off into the garden with a lot of files and sanding pads/sticks.  Oh, and several rum and cokes.

Must take that TSR2 wing out of the mould too.

I doubt it's worth it, given the lack of replies, but comments for those still remotely and vaguely interested, and can also be arsed to reply, go here:
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[The Wooksta!]

"I don't know why you bother ever."

The BAC 1121 went into the club last night to widespread apathy. One gobshite - who seems to know everything about everything - said it was wrong.  How can it be wrong when it's made up?.  A few were interested, but it was more of the usual "Lee's off on one again."

I've sanded off the last coat of filler, but it needs a lot more.  Sisyphus had it easy.  I gave it a good few coats of primer to tie everything together and show up anything I've missed, but there is a lot more filling in this beast yet.  I'm dreading the nose to fuselage join as that will be a lot of filler, so plenty of plastic card or sprue backfill could be helpful.

I've done something I've never done.  Intake ducting.  Well, a bit.  Largely as I was trying to get a splitter plate underneath the nose section and the thin plastic card bent nicely into the intake and married up with the lower section of the Hunter fuselage inside to take the nose.  Cue making another and then a smaller piece, plus a small wedge to go round the nose gear bay, which is all now boxed off too.  The lower section is all glued in, and needs some filler to smoothen it all out, but with everything dry fitted in place, it all looks very professional.

Would that the nose section did, as it's had bits added to fill holes, the nose removed for a new radome (Blue Parrot, I think) and some judicious sanding.  The latter is to ensure that the Lightning canopy doesn't look too small but I need to build it up in other places, so it looks a bit like a broken sofa at the minute.  Some bits may well need superglue and baking soda, but right now, it's plastic card over a solid resin lump.

Once the externals are sorted, I'll have a think about some internals.

The TSR2 wing and tailerons were removed from the moulds yesterday, but not without a fight.  That is a bit more long term, but I'm thinking a 90s grey scheme with a black fin and 16 Sqn markings for it.  Something simple.

No progress on the flattening, but I may keep that for the LHC build.  I'm still casting the bits I need for something else to go into that and In any case, although it's more my bag than most group builds, I may just go my own way.  Not that I dislike group builds, I just don't like being told when I can start or finish.  I work at my own pace, thanks.

Is anybody reading this?  Replies are nice to have, ye knaa!

I doubt it's worth it, given the lack of replies, but comments for those still remotely and vaguely interested, and can also be arsed to reply, go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118