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1:72 Monogram Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat


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17 hours ago, caseyjones said:

I have to sort out the dogs before I can really get stuck into it.  I get a tad upset when animals are treated badly.

 

As someone who has rescued two dogs, I also get upset when I see that. What's the story with the dogs and how are you helping? 

 

Cheers,

Bill

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We adopted Billy from Animal Rights and Rescue Group (ARRG) in October 2016.  He was found wandering around a small town called Bonalbo. He then went to the Kyogle council pound.  He was saved by ARRG who placed him up for adoption, the ranger at Kyogle is quite fond of giving the 'green dream'.

 

The other 2 dogs were left at a friends place at Theresa Creek, in Kyogle Shire.  The female is fond of chasing cows, she is a good candidate for the green dream because she chases cows.

 

The plan is I will tell Richmond Valley Council that they were dumped at my mothers place.    She lives in the Richmond Valley Council area.  Nothing like telling porky pies to the council.  The dogs will then go to the pound at Casino where they have a good record of finding a home for animals.  I will also tell the pound people that I have notified ARRG about the dogs.  My family are thinking of adopting the female and hopefully she and Billy will get along, although this will double our workload.  I work nights and Billy likes to have a piddle at 0500 and go for a walk at 0600, joy tired eyes.  The male will go to Lismore to another carers home and be placed up for adoption.  They will also get the medical treatment that they need and decent meals.

 

So basically we will end up with 2 very large dogs that will get everything that they need plus some, and some more.  

 

I have afternoon tea at 1500 which is usually a glass of milk and some scotch finger biscuits -  1 for me and 1 for Billy, 1 for me and 1 for Billy, etc  If my wife gives him a scotch finger biscuit he spits it out,  I will then give him the same biscuit he will then eat it.  Work that out.

 

Stephen

Edited by StephenCJ
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Thanks for the compassion with the dogs, Stephen. Dogs are loving and so non-judgmental that they never deserve the awful treatment that some of them get. The only mean dogs I've seen are those made that way by their owners. I suppose there may be some who are just plain born nasty, but I've never met one.

 

The Tigercat is just about finished and I've begun adding the aerial wires. This may be the aspect of modelling that I like the least, it's such a pain. Remember when the antenna mast broke off earlier in the build? I was hoping that it would stay on, since it was moulded as part of the port fuselage. I figured that would be stronger than just gluing a mast on - well, now I have to glue a mast on. I started thinking about ways to pin the mast to give it a stronger join, but to be honest it's not very thick. The smallest rigid wire I have is just about the same diameter as the mast is thick. Drilling a hole in the bottom of the mast would then be out of the question, so I figured why not cut a slot in the bottom and glue the wire in the slot? It was pretty easy to cut the slot with a razor saw (although holding it in my hand was a bit...interesting). Here is a shot of the antenna mast with its new slot, and the rigid wire in place:

 

IMG_0921

 

I'll snip off the rest of that doohickey before adding the mast to the fuselage. Not sure what that thing is, but I think I pulled it out of an old Heathkit box of goodies. It must have been intended for an electronic device of some kind - radio or stereo maybe. Whatever - the wire, although it can be bent, remains very rigid. 

 

I used CA adhesive to glue the wire into the slot and fill any remaining gaps. Then I sanded the mast to remove any excess glue and make sure its shape was right. After that, I drilled a tiny hole in the top of the fuselage spine the same diameter as the wire, and glued the mast on. To my surprise it was nice and straight and didn't need any more adjustments while the glue was setting. Huh. More importantly, it was a strong join. A little Dark Sea Blue paint and she was ready for the aerial wire. For that, I used 0.005" diameter Nitinol wire.

 

I've added the propellers and canopy pieces and just need to glue on the whip aerials. Even after the props went on the balance is still too touchy, so the wheel chocks will be the last items added. I'm going to use white glue for that, instead of superglue. It will be easier to get them off later on should I change my other mind.

 

Ta for now,

Bill

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Crikey Bill that slot must be tiny! Good job though and fingers crossed...

I have a supply of very thin wire that I use, the 'gold' stuff that decorates Rioja wine bottles. Collecting it is fun too...

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I'm calling this one finished. The RFI post is here. It's time to build something else, as I've been working on this one on and off for almost four years. Oh, here is a teaser photo of the finished model:

 

IMG_0928

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Your Tigercat is wonderful.  The only thing I don't like about it is I didn't build it.

There is one other Tiger cat that is better than yours, Bill.  He came to us via the tip...   If you would like to see him I will post a pick of him here.

There is an update on the dogs here    

As always a bloody beautiful model Bill

 

Stephen

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Another Navy Bird masterpiece. I always spend ages looking at your completions Bill, picking up on the small details that make so much difference... the whip aerials, the tiny parts on the nose wheel, perfectly painted prop tips...

i aspire to getting close to your finish but, sadly, I fear I'll never be a modeller and will have to make do with kit bashing for a bit longer :) 

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Thanks mates!

 

8 hours ago, CedB said:

i aspire to getting close to your finish but, sadly, I fear I'll never be a modeller and will have to make do with kit bashing for a bit longer :) 

 

As my mum always said "Practice!"   :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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On 12/17/2016 at 18:20, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Great thread and a beautiful model Bill.  :thumbsup:

 

Aries products are off my list of potential future purchases based on what I've seen here.  :undecided:

 

Thanks Sarge. I wouldn't go so far as to blacklist all of Aires products. To be honest, this is the first one that I've had any real trouble with. And I've used plenty of Quickboost (also part of Aires) props before and never had that weird "not fitting in the jig" issue. Very strange. Maybe because this was an older product of theirs? I don't know. In general, I like their stuff.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. What should I build next? It needs to be a quickie, as I have the F-111 group build starting on April 1. Here's my stash, have a look.

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Quite a stash Bill - I filtered on 'full kits (231)' (crikey) so I've missed the amount of AM and I have no idea of your 'quick' but I'd love to see the Anson, TSR-2 (one of my favourites, ever), Grumman Skyrocket (because it's a bit weird), McDonnell Moonbat (ditto) or, of course, any of the Spitfires... 

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Incredible finish Bill, this one really shines! :goodjob: 

7 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

PS. What should I build next? It needs to be a quickie, as I have the F-111 group build starting on April 1. Here's my stash, have a look.

 

Build the Anson with the 500 sqn extra weaponry, markings are in the box too. ;)

 

Here's some information to wet your appetite

 

Quote

...some of the aircraft in 'B' flight had been fitted with an enormous cannon. This weapon had a very long barrel and a bore which I believe was of 20mm. The floor of the aircraft between the main spars in the cabin had been completely cut away and the cannon had been mounted at the point of balance on the rear spar with the barrel pointing downward and forward through the hole in the floor. ...

 

Quote

...it was the first aircraft and first squadron in the world to fly with a free mounted cannon. When the cannon was fired rearwards the recoil added an extra five knots to the Anson's speed!

 

By all accounts they also fitted extra .303 brownings that were mounted inside the cabin and poked out the side windows! Not bad for an auxiliary squadron.

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231 kits? Ha! That's only because I just sold a bunch on eBay.   :rolleyes:

 

Interesting and good choices, mates. As it so happens, both the Anson and the TSR.2 are high on my list.  

 

My plans for the TSR.2 involve a ton of aftermarket, so it's bound to be a longer project. Plus, I just painted that Buccaneer white! I hate painting white...

 

The Anson mods for 500 Squadron sound bizarre, I think I need to do some more research on that. I don't think that Special Hobby provided a 20mm cannon. It's pretty cool that an auxiliary squadron would do all those mods, though. There is a lot of nice resin in that kit - I think it's the first airplane model I've seen where the fuselage has a full roll cage inside! My plan was to do 500 Squadron anyway, due to the dual Bf 109 shoot-down. 

 

So, great projects all, but I think I'd like a quick, more (but not entirely) OOB build. How about a Meteor F.3? I think it's one of Cyber Hobby's efforts that they got mostly right, and I only have one PE set to go with it. Looks very nice in the box.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Congratulations on a lovely result. I'm just looking at one of my kits at the moment, with a view to converting to nightfighter, but I wouldn't be reaching the level of detail that you've displayed here. Truly beautiful.

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