Fokker T.V. (Early)

Flyer · October 11, 2020, 02:14:36 PM

Quote from: Scotaidh on September 28, 2020, 01:09:46 AM

I would love it if kit manufacturers took note of this and included solid spinners in their kits.

I was surprised to find exactly that in a 1/144 P-51 kit (Minicraft I think)

Scotaidh · October 12, 2020, 02:07:42 AM

Quote from: Flyer on October 11, 2020, 02:14:36 PM
Quote from: Scotaidh on September 28, 2020, 01:09:46 AM

I would love it if kit manufacturers took note of this and included solid spinners in their kits.

I was surprised to find exactly that in a 1/144 P-51 kit (Minicraft I think)

Ah. Good to know.

NARSES2 · October 18, 2020, 06:45:55 AM

As mentioned in my Blog I got my mojo back and managed to make some progress on the Fokker

It's slow progress, but at least it's progress. There's a lot of interior to build, paint and fit and whilst it's all going together well (touch wood) at the moment it is time consuming. This is partly due to the fact that it's a limited run kit and parts take some care to get off the sprue and then a little more cleaning up then the latest Airfix new tool for instance. Valom have made some attempt to provide guides and mounting points when it comes to fitting the internals and in the main they work, although it is best to extend some of them and give the glue plenty of time to cure for a strong bond.

I've now got to the point where I can start painting the interior and this will take some time as well. For one moment I did wonder if painting a lot of it was actually worth it as the vast majority will not be visible once the fuselage is brought together, but I only wavered for a minute or two and I will paint it to the best of my ability. Once this is done I'll take photos and post them on here so at least you will be able to see the trouble Valom have gone to.

Once the interior is complete and tucked inside I think the rest of the build will go much more quickly as dry fitting major parts has been successful and again Valom have provided some fitment aids/guides. Still the proof of the pudding as they say ?

NARSES2 · October 25, 2020, 08:06:40 AM

I'm still working on the interior, but I am getting there and will probably be able to get a matt coat on it and start to join the fuselage Tuesday or Wednesday.

In the meantime I've been getting a lot of sub-assemblies done, so many in fact that there are very few parts left on the sprues. We'll see how well they all go together latter this week I suppose.

As mentioned elsewhere fit has been reasonable so far, albeit there's a fair bit of cleaning up of parts to do which adds considerably to the build time. The only "serious" fit issue I've had is with fitting the engine into the cowling. The engines are resin whilst the cowling is plastic and boy did it take some serious scraping of the interior to get it to fit. It seemed to take an age, but I did spread it over three sessions. Oddly when I came to do the second one it fitted perfectly, which makes me think it was something I did ?

Still onwards and upwards

Captain Canada · October 25, 2020, 06:07:56 PM

Never heard of it ! I like the details on the fuselage. Sign of the times.

NARSES2 · October 28, 2020, 07:37:19 AM

Right here's a couple of shots of the interior before it disappears from view for ever.

PR19_Kit · October 28, 2020, 10:27:13 AM

Blimey, that looks a BIG aeroplane!

Mossie · October 28, 2020, 12:38:36 PM

I keep seeing the name of this thread an think it's a channel about early European aviation...

Big beast Chris, she'll look impressive when done.

NARSES2 · October 29, 2020, 07:17:20 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on October 28, 2020, 10:27:13 AM
Blimey, that looks a BIG aeroplane!

I suppose it's Wellington size, but with a "chunkier" fuselage. Reminds me of the Ju.86 for some reason, but without the nose turret. Not sure why, but it is from the same time period.

NARSES2 · October 31, 2020, 07:10:04 AM

I've fitted the interior into the starboard fuselage half and it fits very nicely

When it came to joining the two fuselage halves I had to approach it in a slightly different way than I would normally. The fuselage cross section means that if you try and simply join the two halves you'll end up with a considerable gap between the two halves on the underside. However if you apply glue to the underside and let the join set solid you can then glue the top side join with no problem at all. The result being no gap on either join. You can't do it the other way around as the underside of the fuselage is far more "solid" whilst the topside is quite "flexible".

I also continue to work on the last of the sub-assemblies and am fast approaching the task I am dreading. The cowling cooling flaps are etched. I'll tackle these next week sometime

NARSES2 · November 01, 2020, 06:12:15 AM

Most of the sub-assemblies are now complete and there are very few parts left on the sprues.

It was interesting when it came to fitting the nacelles to the wings that whilst the instructions imply the parts are not handed when it comes to it the nacelles certainly prefers one wing to the other. The join will need a little PPP but overall it's pretty good.

I've test fit the wings to the fuselage and the fit looks quite good. It isn't quite a butt joint so the wing has some support, but I think it will be a case of fitting one wing and ensuring that the joint on that has cured before moving on to t'other.

The one thing I've learnt with this build is patience, it's not a build you can rush at all. Give it time and it builds quite nicely

NARSES2 · November 04, 2020, 06:20:09 AM

Work continues slowly but surely. I've done a little p.s.r. on the fuselage joints, but in all honest it didn't take much. Also started p.s.r. on the wing nacelle joints. Needs a little more, but not that much more.

jcf · November 04, 2020, 11:23:19 AM

Looking good.

Fokker had an all-metal airliner project from the late '30s that had a similar wing.

Martin H · November 04, 2020, 02:31:04 PM

Quote from: joncarrfarrelly on November 04, 2020, 11:23:19 AM
Looking good.

Fokker had an all-metal airliner project from the late '30s that had a similar wing.

Cool. You can see where Fokker got the layout of the F-27 from..........................

Watching Chris's progress on this with interest. I have three of the Valom kits in the stash.........................

NARSES2 · November 10, 2020, 06:39:48 AM

Got a little more done on this today.

The engine/cowling/nacelle area is the one which has needed the most fettling in order to get things to fit so far. Nothing more than some serious scraping and sanding, but it is a little time consuming. The engine has a slightly odd mount which is intended to "slide" into the nacelle. Well it doesn't without a lot of thinning of the nacelle walls, hence the scrapping. If I was to build another I would dispense with the mount and fix the engine directly into the cowling which I think would make life easier.

Another thing to watch out for is the fact that the instructions would have you fit the exhaust, air intakes and etched cowling gills to the cowling before fitting the complete assembly to the nacelle. Well don't, especially the gills. Fit the cowling to the nacelle and it will help you line everything else up. Try and follow the instructions and it will end in tears, you may be able to do it that way, but I didn't bother trying as I just knew there's no way I could.