The RNLI Air Wing

[PR19_Kit]

I've managed to scratch up a rotor mast and what passes for a rotor head on this very simple helicopter, and it's glued in place now, together with the TINY A bracket supporting it at the rear and the air feed pipe from the engine.

One added advantage of me doing it is that the rotor is now free to rotate, which it wouldn't have been if it had been built according to AMP's instructions.

And what's the first thing people do when being fascinated by a model helicopter? Yes, they twiddle the rotor to see if it goes round! If they did that with the FULH they'd swipe the model clean off the table if the rotor didn't go round! So now it does. 



It's a Swann Morton No 11 blade there in the front, just to remind you how STUPIDLY small this silly thing is. 

[Old Wombat]

You chose the build, compadre!

[jcf]

 

One of the hallmarks of the late Jim Schubert's builds was that he always
made bearings for the propellers of his models, plus he would take pains
to centre them as much as possible. The props would spin perfectly with
even the gentlest of puffs. He also did the same with the main and tail
rotors on a helicopter model, IIRC it was the Italeri Bell 47.

Jim was a retired engineer who had started his career in the Boeing Turbine
division back in the '50s and was an extremely precise person.

[PR19_Kit]

You chose the build, compadre!

Yeah, and one day I'll build an easy, simple kit.

But I'm not too sure that I have any like that. :-(

[PR19_Kit]

I should have read a few reviews before I got this Severn Lifeboat. The general consensus is that it's an absolute PIG to build properly, and now I'm inclined to agree with them. 

While the main hull and superstructure go together quite well, the internal stuff is a nightmare, not helped by Airfix's 'location system' for many of the parts. These are small D shaped lugs sticking out of the bottom of each bulkhead, wall, and fitting, which are meant to fit into D shaped holes in the decks etc. But the lugs are larger than the holes on almost every part!

How do you file down a D shaped lug? Answer, you don't, you cut the blasted thing off and just glue the part in place!

The instructions are hopeless, as it's such a complex structure it needs lots of views in many directions to show you where all the bits go. Do Airfix do that? No, they just show you one view and that's not aligned well enough to show you exactly where the bits fit.

I may or may not continue with the interior build, I've already cut off four vertical roof supports as they prevent you from installing the control desk, and I may chop off more bits like that too.

Many of the detail parts are just so fragile that they break while cutting them off the sprue, so some of them won't be fitted either.

Luckily this IS a Whiffed Lifeboat.......

[Gondor]

Thanks for the heads up about the lifeboat Kit. I bought one for my other half some time ago and also have one myself so we can do joint build.

Gondor

[jcf]

If the pin is too large, why not enlarge the hole with a half-round file, or the tip of a #11 scalpel?

[Old Wombat]

I wonder how old the moulds are for the lifeboat? I recall it being around for a lot of years.

[kitbasher]

It's a Swann Morton No 11 blade there in the front, just to remind you how STUPIDLY small this silly thing is. 

Nah, it's HUGE compared to some!

[Nick]

I wonder how old the moulds are for the lifeboat? I recall it being around for a lot of years.

It was released by Airfix in 2007. It was eagerly anticipated when announced but turned out to be a bit of a sod to build. Finished examples look wonderful. One build I saw had the boat perched on top of a huge wave in a storm.

The latest IPMS magazine has photos of a grey Severn class, the prototype that was sold to a Scottish survey firm.

[PR19_Kit]

.......but turned out to be a bit of a sod to build. Finished examples look wonderful.

A bit? 

Do the wonderful ones show the interior though? That's where most of the problems are.

That and the infamous 'Part 30'.................... 

[PR19_Kit]

I was under the miss-apprehension that this was meant to be an enjoyable hobby. It seems I was wrong. 

Neither of the two builds I'm trying for this GB, the FULH and its 'carrier' Lifeboat, could in any way be described as enjoyable, in fact they're both REAL pains! I can only work on the FULH for about an hour or so before my eyes go crossed and I lose my temper because the bits just don't fit where they're supposed to. Nor do they look like the instructions either.

The Lifeboat's similar, except I can at least see it.................

[PR19_Kit]

Right, that's it, I've had enough of this so the whole project's abandoned for the time being. 

The Lifeboat could be done, but it's useless without the FULH, and currently the FULH is impossible to build without effort that I'm not prepared to put into it at the moment.

The two canopy halves are meant to fit around the 'fuselage' centre section, but it's too wide to enable them to meet in the middle! No way am I cutting up strips of clear plastic to fill in the gap, so that's it until I can find another solution.

Chris, can you please move this out of the GB section and into 'Current and Finished Projects' please?

[scooter]

Got either a Shak or Sunderland (or other amphib/flying boat) in your stash, Kit?

[PR19_Kit]

I've got more Shaks than I can shake a stick at, and I think I've got an ancient Airfix Sunderland somewhere too, but they're all at home and I'm 120 miles away at  the moment.

I may buy something though.............