Thorvics'Blog

[Captain Canada]

That is looking really good Geoff ! Love to watch your scratch building come together, inspiring !

As for the dilemma I'd shelve this and get on with the Gannett. It will be taking your attention away from this, so if you just get on with the Gannett that problem will go away and then get back on with this one.

[Mossie]

Good to see a full interior Geoff.   It's bashing up nicely.

[Thorvic]

Well hit and miss this weekend, got the Gannets delivered on Saturday rather than Friday, and they do look rather tasty. Certainly plausible to do an OOB build with them. However by the time they arrived I already had the HS681 out so the choice was easy to carry on with the 681.

Got started on cutting the wider upper part of the rear doors as these fold out rather than fold up into the fuselage, so it was a case of scribing the cut area and carefully razor cutting the section out of each fuselage side as these then have to be attached to the original door to make the new doors. Currently cleaning up the join on these new doors and starting to detail the interior as the original inner lining structure is too heavy duty for the new clam shell doors.

Whilst the door set I got back to the fuselage, the interior fuselage was sprayed sea grey along with the lower cockpit, painted the palletised loads to put at the back of the cargo bay (these are lead and act as additional ballast  ). And got started on building the cockpit. This week I'll try to paint up the cockpit and its components so the decals can be added and sealed ready to crack on with the fuselage assembly.
The new rudder also got another sanding to clean up the gap where the B-52 engine pylon was supposed to fit. Just need to give it a finer polish and then I can scribe it up before looking to find a suitable donor for the fin bullet that sits atop the fin where the tail plane attaches.

Think I have found an answer for the Engine Pylons but will need to try that out before being able to confirm if its viable or not.

[PR19_Kit]

The new rudder also got another sanding to clean up the gap where the B-52 engine pylon was supposed to fit.

The whole essence of Whiffgineering is encompassed in that sentence. 

[Thorvic]

The new rudder also got another sanding to clean up the gap where the B-52 engine pylon was supposed to fit.

The whole essence of Whiffgineering is encompassed in that sentence. 

Yeap strip of sprue shaped to match taper, filler then PSR 

[Thorvic]

Ran out of steam last night so didn't even get the HS681 out   , a shame really as I think I will need to get the cockpit painted, decaled and fitted out before I can get much further with assembly.

I have however hit a snag, I currently build using a board on my bed and pack the model away into its box after each session, however once the fuselage is joined it won't fit in the box and when its assembled it certainly wont. Therefore I'm going to have to clear down my work bench of the all the clutter so I can work on the 681 and also store it there. That means its time for a big clear up, all the stuff left on the bench as recent acquisitions (last 18 mths) or so will need to go into the loft as I won't be doing them for some time, paints and tools put back and shelf space also cleared for those builds I will be doing or will be acting as donor kits.

In other words a good weeks worth sorting out and tidying up required and I suspect I'm going to have to do another purge on the stash to keep numbers down to reasonable levels. So watch out for a sale coming here in the near future  .

Just have to keep telling myself its for the best, it should allow me to complete the HS-681 in comfort and start the next one with out too much trouble and gives me a chance to clear up a bit and get organised again.

[Captain Canada]

The ceiling. There are all sorts of hanging shelves these days, either pre-made or DIY. I'm looking at installing one in the garage this week !

[Howard of Effingham]

all's well so far Geoff.

looking forward to seeing this one finished. 

[Thorvic]

Well nothing done on the build this weekend, but I have cleared off my workspace over the weekend so all kits stacked up on it have now been relocated, crap cleared away and benches cleared down. Still got to consolidate some of my bit boxes and leftovers from previous builds and I really need to get to grips with organising my Decal bank as now in about 4 locations plus some of those completed build boxes  .

However it does mean I now have space for the build of the HS-681, so my primary objective has been met and I should be able to crack on with the build.

I did get a chance last night to look at the part started Airfix Hercules, the major bits are OK but some of the smaller bits have been pre painted. I think its complete and have been able to repair the broken prop blades. I'm thinking of building this out of the box as an original C-130K in the MEAF scheme, using the Airdecal markings as it will make a nice offset against the HS-681 when done.

Interesting news in some of the Sunday Tabloids yesterday, it appears the RAF have been leaking that they will be getting the Boeing P-8 Poseidon in the next couple of years o fill the MPA gap. Jumping the gun ahead of the 2015 SDSR but really a surprise, the only trouble is that if true that the Kit I have is no longer Project Cancelled, and may only have a year to class it as a What-if ! (Although that may depend on the markings and Squadron selected at the time of build as may differ. I have a feeling going off the article in the express that the P-8 is only part of the solution so I suspect we will be following the USN and matching the RAAF in going for a hybrid mix of Poseidon's and Triton UCAV's.

[Captain Canada]

Would love to see that big Herc come together. It would look great in those colours and markings !

[Thorvic]

Would love to see that big Herc come together. It would look great in those colours and markings !

Yeap they do look good, I think its having the Airfix kit with its original box art together with a set of the AirDecal markings that tempted me. Would be nice if Model Alliance had done their RAF Hercules set as we've never had a decent sheet or set of sheets covering the RAF Hercules in service through its lifetime.

[Thorvic]

Nothing done last night bar from verifying the repairs to the broken Hercules propellers had worked - they had, so will be looking to assemble this one during of after the HS-681 build (note to self must really start a build thread for this one !!).

I really should have spent last night sorting and filing my decal collection, I have the folders for them so no excuse for not getting organised if I'm not actually building so that's a job I can be getting on with during the week. I must also consolidate the bit box and half built kits so they take up less room before I mess them all up again scrounging for parts to detail the 681  .

I think in between finishing off the clean up I should probably refresh myself with the HS-681 build both where I'm up to with the various parts but also with the drawings and artwork to refresh my mental picture of how it should look just to double check my minds eye doesn't drift me off target.

[Captain Canada]

Always tough to do, stay on target that is. With the steady accumulation of spares parts, part decal sheets, part started kits, almost finished kits, broken bits in need or repair etcetera etcetera....it's a never ending header change for the avid modeler !

[Thorvic]

Finally got the 681 on the bench and have started to add ribs to the clamshell rear doors, in between that I taped up the part started Hercules I got to try and get a decent fit and work out some of the slight warping to the fuselage. Definitely tempted to do this straight out of the box so to speak to go alongside the Aldershot, although at the moment its just a case of sorting the parts outs so I could build it as and when.

Once I pack away the Hercules bits I will get the HS-681 bits laid out so I can sort out what needs doing. priority has to be detailing and painting the cockpit and then finishing off the cargo hold so I can get the cargo bay assembled and work out the exact position to cut the fuselage to fit the wing so this can be cut out before I join the fuselage halves.

Getting the Fuselage assembled will be a big goal, I can then back fill the former wing box and build up the forward  fuselage to blend to the wing so the wing effectively slots into place. I can work out the fit of the tail fin and the size and shape of the long wheel sponson's. It will also probably be the best time to clean up and re-scribe the fuselage whilst its still accessible.

I have to crack on as I have another major build to follow this along with a couple of P1121 and possible building the Hercules so rather glad I got my bench sorted out so I can crack on with the modelling as the bench is there with the kit upon to tempt me to get a bit more done 

[Thorvic]

Had a plank moment last night, as I had a rattle can in use so decided to spray and varnish the HS681 nose cone whilst the booth was on and the spray warmed up. Looked great once dried with a slight satin sheen until I remembered I hadn't created the windscreen for the air drop aimer, yes I had cut the hole out but not done the glass so I will need to handle part as I create and test fit the clear plastic so that lovely finish is likely to be affected  serves me right for rushing.

In the mean time I carried on with the ribbing the clamshell doors as the Hercules fuselage is still on the bench at the moment whilst I try and get it used to fitting together. The good news on that point is that it hasn't forced any of the tapes to come loose so I suspect it may well join together without fighting burst seams as long as a do it slowly and ensure the joins are true as I go along.

Only trouble is I was enjoying the Airfix Hercules so mush I actually bided on another on eBay, thankfully I was outbid and I came to my senses as whilst its a nice kit with fond memories I don't really have the space to get yet another stock kit - so a lucky escape.

Must remain practical after all my main targets for 2015  new releases are the Airfix Shackleton and Sea King, I'm bound to pick up the Revell Shackleton for comparison and we may be getting some new 1/72nd airliners such as the VC-10 and Britannia out by the end of the year too, as S&M are doing new resin kits whilst RAM models have picked up the old Airwaves Vacform tooling so there is a possibility of more large kits being added to the stash.