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Nimrods, Flycatchers, a Dart, & a T4M-1


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Or, sand your model in a sink, using water. Then the slurry of "stuff" will be washed away.

Matt the sandpaper that I am using cannot be used wet, I am sorry to say. I like this kind because I can set in my comfortable padded chair while I am working on my models. At nearly 81 years old I am as lazy as I can get too. Carl T

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Thank you both Matt & Dave for your kind help. I really appreciate any input given by anyone that makes these vac-form models. Matt is very right about being able to sand these models under water.And now anyone that wants to can print out John Adams article.It is my hope that others with more experience in building these models well likewise feel free to have their say, & to add to the dialog.

My aim in doing this thread is to show that any average modeler can build a vac-form model easily with a little patience & practice. I am building them in this way, & with these tools simply because they work easily for me. I have right now over a dozen models cut out waiting to be sanded out. This includes the Douglas PD-1 flying boat. I also have another 3 dozen or more in boxes awaiting their turn under the knife.

In the July 2012 issue of Model Aircraft on page 76 is a full page write-up about the DVD reprint Of Richard Staszak's book Building & improving vacuum formed model aircraft.

Now to get back to my models. I have only a few more parts to sand & the first Flycatcher will be ready to assemble. I am going to sand down all 6 models before I start the assembly stage. I am also trying to make up my mind which models that I want to add interior detail in. Carl T

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Another method of marking your parts was shown to me by Bill Koster many years ago at a NOREASTCON. Instead of using the "Sharpie" pen method, Bill Sprayed the plastic sheet with Gray Primer. Then he cut out the parts and using, essentially, Carl's method above, you sand back until you can see the primer don't see any white on the edge of the part.

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I remember Mr.Koster showing me that method too. I did a couple of models using it & it worked very well. Bill is one excellent vac-form model builder as well as a designer & producer. He is always very approachable & free with advice & guidence. I was fortunate enough to be able to talk with him at many of the shows in northern New England when he lived down in Mass. He very often showed the modelers present how he made his models. They were always as good as any regular plastic model.

:thumbsup2: To our UK fellow modellers I hold Bill in the same reguard as I do John Adams. Both are the best that there is. We are very lucky that they both have been a part of this great hobby we enjoy. Carl T

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Today I finished sanding out the first 4 of the 6 models. I have 1 each of the Flycatcher & Nimrod left to sand down. I have found myself taking more off the wings & tailplanes, making the leading & trailing edges thinner with the last model compared to the first one. It has been interesting ,also, to fing out that although all 6 models are from the same producer, Esoteric, the thickness of the plastic used in the different models varies so much. One was so thin that I had to be very careful so that I did not over sand, more than was necessary; while another one seemed to never going to get done it was so thick. Barrring there being any problems coming up, I should have the remaining 2 models sanded out by tomorrow night. Carl T

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Since I plan on adding interior detail to most of these models, I have decided to do one of the Fairey Flycatchers with the cockpit parts as provided with the model with no extra detail added. just to show how that looks. Carl T :thumbsup2:

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I just finished sanding out the last of the 6 models. It has gone along much easier & faster than I had anticipated. I will now combine doing these models with finishing my SOYA models. Should all be a lot of fun when I have finished everything. I am looking forward to it.

About the sanding process. On each of the fuselages I put on 1 long strip of clear 2 sided Scotch tape, which allowed me to use as many of my fingers as was necessary to put even pressure all along the fuselage part. On the wings, & tailplanes I used 1 piece on both the leading & trailing edges. I did this so that I could apply pressure on either side as I felt it was needed. For some reason I cannot explain the leading edge always came out thinner first. The only model that took a long time to sand out was the Blackburn Dart. On each part I changed the tape 2 to 4 times. Carl T :thumbsup2:

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Martin, the Dart is one of the models that I am going to do some extra work on. The wing is a single piece, not with an underside piece. I also have a set of plans by Harry Woodman that have interior detail which I have had enlarged to the model size. Very little of it will be seen but I would still like to add it.

The detail for the T4M-1 I am getting from a thead on ARC discussion forums where ollieholmes scratchbuilt built a 1/48th scale model of it & included interior detail. The thread has a picture of a stripped down fuselage & his work in progress.

The cockpit detail for the Flycatcher I am getting from reading the build/review of the Silver Wings model on thier site.

The cockpit detail for the Nimrod I am getting from the Mushroom publications book.

Out of all of this we will see what I can come up with. None of these fuselages are very big to begin with. We will see whar happens. Carl

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I was just given one of the Rareplanes 1/72nd scale Bell XFM-1 AIRACUDAs vac-forms thanks to my friend Bob G. I will be outlining & cutting out parts over the weekend. It reaslly looks like a very nice model. Carl T :thumbsup2:

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One of the nice things about being a modeler of my age is that when I was in my 20s & 30s model aircraft magazines often had scale aircraft plans by some of the best draughtsmen of the time. Model Airplane News in the US, & Aeromodeller in the UK, with Aviation News a little later were the main magazines that I followed. The draughtsmen were William Wylam, Joseph Nieto, Bjorn Karlstrom. Begen Hardesty, Ian Stair, Peter Westberg, Harry Woodman & many others. I bring this up now because I want to show where I have gotten the ideas for the detail I plan to add to 2 of my models. The first is for the fuselage detail in the Blackburn Dart. The full plan is by Harry Woodman, & I had it enlarged to the model size. I have included my 6 inch steel rule for size comparison.

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This next picture is for a Boeing MB3A model by Sierra Models in 1/72nd scale. The plan is by Joseph Nieto & is reduced down from 1/48th scale. It was printed in the January 1952 issue of Model Airplane News. You can see plainly the extensive detail that may be added. This is a model that I will be making a bit later. A model fuselage half is next to each plan. Carl T :thumbsup2:

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For anyone so inclined to look it up. I did a google search for the Blackburn T3 Velos, which was a 2 seat version of the Dart specifically designed for the Greek navy for coastal patrol work. I found a 7 minute 47 second video of the T3 Velos prototype, I think, flying, taking off, landing, & dropping a torpedo, plus shots of it on a beaching trolley.

The video is listed under; Live Leak.com-Unknown Torpedo Plane ( comments )

For me it is a very interesting video because the plane was huge for the single seat version, & to watch the floatplane version taking off & dropping torpedos, particularly the first one.

I also found in the same searc some pictures & a plan that shows both the early & developed version that is very tempting to make as a conversion of my Dart model. Carl T :evil_laugh:

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Carl, willing to share those MB3 plans/drawings?

Matt I would need your postal/mailing adress to send them to. There are actually 2 pages that go together.One page is white with black print, the other is the reverse. Also the originals are in 1/48th scale. I also have copies of the Paul Matt plans too. I will mail you copies anytime. Carl T :thumbsup2:

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This is a picture of the second page of plans for the MB-3A. You will note that between the 2 pages all 3 fin/rudder styles are shown, plus the 2 types of horizontal tailplanes. A detail drawing is along the top showing how the rigging goes through the middle struts. The white sheet shows the framework for both the upper & lower wings on either side of the fuselage. The plane had either a 2 or 4 bladed propeller

One thing that has interested me for years is that General Billy Mitchell flew one of these planes, which had his personal markings on it. I have seen a picture of the plane with him standing beside it. I would very much like to do my model in those markinhgs. Carl T :thumbsup2:

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I have started assembly work on the first Flycatcher model This first picture shows the cockpit cutout both before & after, since I have 2 to work with. As you can see the 2 halves line up very well. I have them taped together on the top & front.

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This picture shows all of the flying surfaces ready for assembling. I have taped together the parts on the leading edges except the fin & rudder. The tape acts as a hinge & keep the parts aligned. I have done this so that I can apply a very thin coat of slow drying super glue along the trailing edges. This keeps the trailing edges from distorting when using regular plastic cement. I then fold the parts over on to each other. After this is all dried I glue the rest of the assembly with regular glue.

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This picture shows one of the wings & horizontal tail glued together. Carl T :thumbsup2:

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I remembered that I have this model after reading a 4 year old build thead of the Contrail model, of a Fairey 3F version. This model id by Esoteric & is a Fairey # D. I am adding it to this thread because it is another British aircraft & is very colorful. Carl T :thumbsup2:

IMAG0002171.jpg

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Matt, I also live in the US, so no problem.

This is a picture of the set-up I now most often use to sand out my models. It is an aluminum 24 inch T shaped bar that I bought at my local hobby shop. It has 150 grit self adhesive sandpaper on it, that I also bought there in rolls. This set-up allows me to use both hands when I need or want to. When not in use I just stand the bar against the wall out of the way. It is the most comfortable, easiest, & fastest way that I have found to sand out these vacs. Particularly the 1/72nd scale ones.

One of the best things that I like about this set-up is that it gives a nice straight sanded surface if the pressure is even all along the part. I have so far sanded out 7 models with this set-up with no problems whatever, & for me, very satisfactory results. Carl T :thumbsup2:

IMAG000493.jpg

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For the benifit of anyone that does not know that this can be done. I went over to the local UPS store this morning to have some reverse images made of some of my detailed plans, & while there I had a copy made of the top picture on this page with the colors reversed. The copy is now black on white like the picture below. Carl T

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