Zenrat's Flying Circus

[zenrat]

Nothing electrical today.
I did however glue together the major pieces of the model car i've been working on.  It now just needs grille, front bumper and all the little fiddley bits like door handles, filler cap. washer bottle etc attaching.
I have a model car club meeting tomorrow night I want to take it to but I should have it all together by then.

I also started yet another build.
It happened as follows;
Thinking about ornithopters I got an Academy P39 with missing parts and a set of Matchbox Helldiver (biplane) wings in the box from the stash cupboard.  The biplane wings didn't look right and the pilot is exactly where the flapping mechanism wants to be so that box got put on the bench.
However, there had been a Matchbox Lysander on top of the P39 and looking at that I wondered what a low wing Lysander would look like but left the box closed and put it on the bench as I had been distracted by the thought of the chinese knockoff Matchbox Wessex in the cupboard and so I got that out thinking removing the entire cabin to make a Wessex skycrane.
Looking at the Wessex parts I decided it wouldn't work as a skycrane like I envisaged but that it would make a good gunship with spatted undercarriage, stub wings with rockets on and a door gunner.
So looking for rocket pods I then rummaged through a number of Soviet aircraft kits without any luck but did find that the very old Airfix Harrier GR1 (or maybe 3?  I can't remember) I pinched the nozzles off for the Il-28 had 4 pods plus a large number of bombs.
At this point, with Wessex spires all over the bench I decided I didn't want to build that yet as I had no stub wings (I briefly thought about using Harrier wings but rejected that idea) so I made a mental note that the Harrier outrigger wheels would be useful on the Anti-Ship Lancaster I had been thinking about and put the Harrier away and the Wessex bits back in the box and then that away too.
Turning back to the Lysander I got the bits out of the box (a very tasty combination of coffee and chocolate coloured plastic) and examined them to see how I would go lowering the wings.  I realised that the wings wanted to be attached where the undercarriage is on the real thing and wondered if I could used the P39 wings and thus have retractable undercarriage.
Discovering the P39 wings look like they'll fit I then realised that 1) Lysander wings are a good shape for an ornithopter and 2) Lysander undercarriage on a Wessex gives me both spats (with guns in) and stub wings.
And so I glued together the Lysander fuselage halves and attached the upper and lower P39 wing parts and Bob's you Auntie's live in lover - another build is started.
I need a name.  I think i'll use some of my stash of RAF decals so it'll remain a Westland.
Worrier, Whippet, Wildcat, Wowser, Weasel...

[zenrat]

Westland Wowhawk.

http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Lancre_Wowhawk

It might get a spare Hercules bunged on the front.

[NARSES2]

I read that 3 times in the end and I think I'm now up to speed 

[PR19_Kit]

A Westland Whiffie? 

[zenrat]

Hacked away the bottom of the Lysander fuselage today and glued on the P39 wings.  In doing so I realised that the main gear is set too far back for a tailsitter due to the Airacobra's tricycle layout.
I'll therefore be having fixed UC.  With spats obviously, but not as big as the original Lysander ones.
This'll be either a CAS bird or a dive bomber.

I read that 3 times in the end and I think I'm now up to speed 

You think you're confused?  Try being inside my head!

I glued one horizontal tail onto the Beau.  I've never been too keen on the look with the standard dihedral so i'll be attaching these almost horizontal.

Didn't touch the SM81 but it has filler on the undercarriage that needs sanding (sink marks and gaps).

Finished the car i've been working on yesterday which i'll photograph when I take the pics of the Seabeagle.  Annoyingly despite counting coats of undercoat and topcoat the bonnet has turned out a different shade of green to the body.  It's not much but its irritating.  Its only visible in sunlight so maybe i'll just make its only ever seen indoors...

[zenrat]

Beau and Wowhawk both have all flying surfaces attached and PSR has commenced.

SM81 is finally sitting on its wheels.  Well, the front two anyway.  Back one isn't glued on yet.  I am struggling with the exhausts which don't want to fit where the instructions tell me to put them.

Having finished the Chevy pickup i've started building the interior of my scratchbuilt Winnebago and will continue with my Lemmy tribute car.
Speaking of Lemmy, I need to purchase an He 111 so I can build this.

[Spey_Phantom]

awesome, still listen to it occasionally:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdsFuwavfVs

[zenrat]

Ain't a hope in Hell
Nothing's gonna bring us down
The way we fly five miles off the ground
Because

We shoot to kill
And you we always will
It's a bomber
It's a bomber

Scream a thousand miles
Hear the black death rising moan
Firestorm coming closer
Napalm to the bone
Because

You know we do it right
A mission every night
It's a bomber
It's a bomber
It's a bomber

No night fighter's gonna stop us breaking through
The sirens make you shiver
You bet my aim is true
Because

You know we aim to please
Bring you to your knees
It's a bomber
It's a bomber
It's a bomber

The artist took a bit of license with the chin turret but I have a spare Lanc dorsal turret which might work.  That's for the future though.
Progress on the SM81 today.  Modified the exhausts so the stacks will clear the nacelles/fuselage, primed the engines, props and cowlings and touched up some areas where paint snuck under the masking tape/sponge.
I also painted the glazing frames.  Now while some aspects of this kit may be frustrating and/or cack this job was a pleasure.  The frames are moulded with a raised line on each edge so to paint them its simply a matter of running a loaded paintbrush along between these lines and then scraping off any excess with a toothpick.
This has now reached that stage where all of a sudden you realise you are nearly done. 

[zenrat]

More on the Wowhawk today.  Round 2 PSR plus start work on the undercarriage using the Spats JayBee sent me.
I've also just typed the following.
"It is a little known fact that John Douglas Rennie, chief designer for Blackburn Aircraft, moonlighted at Westland Aircraft between 1935 and 1937.  He was employed specifically to oversee development of a successor to the Wapiti and the Wallace – a light day bomber for suppressing rebellious tribesmen in the colonies."

[zenrat]

PSR on the main structure of the Wowhawk is finished.  There'll be more on the U/C spats & legs though.

The SM81 now has the engines on.  Once again Supermodel have surprised me. The engines are mould in one piece with separate exhausts and cowlings.  I sprayed them with silver car paint and then gave them a black wash & I must say they look rather good.  Despite adjusting the angle of the exhaust dumps I still couldn't get them to clear the fuselage and nacelles.  I solved this by adding spacers to move the engines slightly more forward.
i would have had this finished by now except at the last minute I decided to add some detail to the inside of the doors as they will be posed open and so unlike all the detail I added inside the fuselage they will be seen.
Oh, and I changed my mind about crew and decided to paint up a pilot as well.

[Captain Canada]

  Looking forward to seeing this one ! Strange problems tho. And thanks for the Bomber art, can't recall if I've seen that before !

[zenrat]

Glued a Beaufighter engine onto the front of a Lysander today.  Instant ugly.

SM81 is pretty close now.  I could really do with some 1/72 crates, boxes and drums to pose with it.
I'm popping into the City Hobby Shops on Friday so i'll have a look for some then.

[Captain Canada]

I like it ! Looking forward to seeing that one 

[zenrat]

Laydeez an gennelmn, <drum roll> I present to you the Westland Wowhawk...



There will be a fixed, spatted undercarriage incorporating dive brakes.

[DogfighterZen]

Obvious comment: "Wow..."