FoxMalcolm Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Had this laying around for a number of years now, been wanting to make it for a while too but it is really intimidating. I haven't done many vacforms and never one this chunky, but I am now willing to do or die. So the kit is a Historic Wings 1:72 vacform H S Nimrod MR1/MR2 (P) The Plastic on this quite thick and the detail in places is smudged . . . so a bit of work will be required to correct these areas. Fortunately some of the really bad areas I don't need to worry about as the kit comes with some handy white metal replacements. The only other problem is the canopy it is blurry and the surface area is filled with small pock marks. Don't know yet what I will do about that, maybe there is an aftermarket canopy I could purchase, failing that I could cast my own . . will see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Good luck with this one. I believe it is an upgrade of the old Formaplane kit. This is good news for you as I built that kit without much hassle when it came out in the late 1970s. I was sixteen at the time and had to cope with the horrible old formula Humbrol filler as well. You know, the stuff that set as hard as armour plate but still remember the kit fondly. If you take your time preparing the parts and add plenty of bulkheads, ribs and spars, you should not have too much in the way of dramas. If the canopy is unserviceable, contact Historic Wings/Aircraft in Miniature, I am sure thy will send you a re placement if you explain the problem. Anyway, I love a good vacform and will be following your progress with interest. Martin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sten Ekedahl Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 (edited) I've got the original Formaplane Nimrod kit burried somewhere deep down in my stash. That kit is made from thin flimsy plastic, compared the the heavy duty plastic used by Historic Wings. Cut out the main parts, sanded them, and taped them together. Then put them back in the box - and they've stayed there ever since. Really don't know why I didn't continue. Edited February 28, 2015 by Sten Ekedahl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxMalcolm Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 If the canopy is unserviceable, contact Historic Wings/Aircraft in Miniature, I am sure thy will send you a re placement if you explain the problem. They still exist? Oh cool they are [i just googled them], ha, whadda you know. Can't seem to find the nimrod amongst their current lines but that's ok, I want to see how I go for now [isn't the whole purpose of a vac kit, to challenge your self and find creative solutions to any obstacles?] Anyway it has been 2 hours and I finally freed the starboard fuselage from the sheet, yikes that was fun and really messy, glad my partner is away today, gives me time to clean up in here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjzet01 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Lol... I remember this Vac Form aircraft, I brought it for you at the Sandown Model Expo. It will be good to see it built, I am now following and I will posting a build myself soon. Battleship bismark. I know I don't have a good record with models but a good record with miniatures. Lets see if I can turn it around (or get some good skills) in time for our 'build off!!' Waiting for the next update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Car filler is going to be your friend over the coming months, looking forwards to seeing you beat it in to submission Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Now I am interested in this build. I have the same kit and have cut the main parts out but left it like that after the Airfix kit was released. I still want to build it so I will be watching you progress with interest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxMalcolm Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 * * UPDATE * * Ok so I freed the second half of the fuselage yesterday, and did a dry fit, it was almost perfect [i wish some commercial kits fit that well]. the only problem was a slight warp around the cockpit, which necessitated me moving the cockpit bulkhead forward half a cm to compensate and act as a brace . . works like a charm. Next up I decided to work on the cockpit. Still tossing up whether I am going to put much detail into there as the Nimrod has very small but most importantly high cockpit windows . . doesn't allow you to see much inside. Anyway, still thinking on that so I will let you know what I decide later. But the work I have done on the cockpit is very rudimentary . . more structural than anything else. The kit comes with a floor with raised sections to indicate where the seats and console goes. It also comes with 2 almost unrecognisable and thick triangular lumps which I assume is the seats and a smudged console I decided that rather than try and drill out the consoles dials I would just sand smooth the whole thing and maybe glue a printed console onto it later . . which is what I did I also decided to not drill out the doorway, given that the bulkhead now has the added pressure from the warped fuselage pressing against it. Due to my moving the bulkhead forward earlier there ended up not being room for the console when I dry fitted it later so I had to modify the console a bit to accommodate the change [i am good with it, seeing how it probably won't be seen]. But I won't be using the kit seats, I figure I could make both seats from scraps in less time then it would take to drill/cut out and prepare the kits seats [i will upload pics of them when I make them]. Finally today I started work on the front undercarriage bay [which is surprisingly absent from the kit, despite coming with options for wheels], so I cut out the bay doors and then spent an hour figuring out where the doors were suppose to go . . . apparently they retract inside, bit of a shock when I realised that. Mind you I have only ever seen a Nimrod once and that was when I was a kid during a Bicentennial Airshow in '88, the Nimrods were involved in some Naval war games against Australian forces I believe. Anyway, so after figuring out that small epiphany, I started work on the bay itself. It is cut from scrap styrene sheets and augmented with wire, haven't added the doors yet, I want to assemble and fit the landing strut first. Will let you know how that works out. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjzet01 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Q Time. Awesome update... But, what is that cable/rod etc... inside the landing bay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxMalcolm Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Not entirely sure, I was basing my design off of these images I would say it is a safety bar to prevent the wheels from retracting to far into the bay. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robvulcan Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Great start. I am going to watch this one. Unusual build I will be curious to see how it fairs against the Airfix version. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Great start. I am going to watch this one. Unusual build I will be curious to see how it fairs against the Airfix version. Rob Rob, I can tell you is is VERY crude compared to the Airfix kit... but I suppose any kit can be made to look a million dollars in the right hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 A good solid start! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigsty Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I suppose any kit can be made to look a million dollars in the right hands Like mine for instance, all green and crumpled ... If you still need the windscreen area, I can probably spare the one from mine, as I have the Alley Cat correction. Yours would thus be technically inaccurate - but by the look of that kit, still an improvement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxMalcolm Posted March 5, 2015 Author Share Posted March 5, 2015 No update just yet, I have been stuck researching a slightly perplexing irregularity . . . To make things easier to see I have coloured in the windows and drawn on the what lines are visible of the door frames My problem stems from the fact that my windows are all of different sizes and shapes, so in order to address this I went hunting for some blueprints. I had decided to do an MR2 like the ones I saw as an 8 year old, so I downloaded the MR2 blueprints, and so I could have a practical example to compare against, I sourced some pics online . . . unfortunately they didn't match up. Curious, I went to other sites and downloaded their blueprints [including a few Hi-Res, that show the differences between the different refits], but they were all different. Some showed circular windows, others showed oval, some had a mixture of the two. Utterly confused now, I started watching some old BBC news reports on youtube, and I saw in one film several nimrods go past the camera, each with different window configs. From what I have seen most follow the same standard for number of windows, the irregularity comes down to size and shape of the windows. The majority seem to follow the pattern of circular bubble window followed by a number of oval windows followed by a small circular window in the door. Given that one of the better Hi-Res blueprints I downloaded also contains this I think I will go with that. Ultimately I don't think it matters that much, I doubt there was any pressing performance related need to change the shape of the windows during refits but it is rather perplexing from a hobbyists [about to recreate them] point of view. My final words on this matter . . . huh!? , , , Ugh . . Grrr & grumble Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garryrussell Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Just need to find pics of your chosen subject and fir it out like that. Equipment changed often and after a while there are differences in fleet members making it very important to freeze subject and time. Published plans are often wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 You certainly are a gluten for punishment, but good luck, the plastic on AIM is always to thick in my honest opinion, Airways vacs, Aeroclub and Rareplane had just the right thickness for the size of the kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 A plane of that size and vacuform??? Good luck!!! Hope you have good reference photos to help you! Will be watching this with great interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ascoteer Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 (edited) The forwardmost windows on both sides are the port and starboard beam lookouts. These are circular 'dome' windows that provide the capability to look ahead and aft of the aircraft, and in fact can be opened in flight for the purpose of ship photography.. The next aft window on the starboard is also a circular dome and is the Tactical Navigator's/Air Electronics Officer's window. The window in the rear port door (the crew entry door) is a flat circular type. All the other windows are oval in shape and have pull down plastic blinds. IIRC the blinds were red on the MR1 and grey on the MR2. With regard to windows the MR2 differs from the MR1 in that the latter had an extra window on the port side just in line with the wing leading edge. If you look carefully at pictures of the MR2 you can see where this has been faired over. You should also note that there is a door (emergency exit) just aft of the flight deck on the starboard side. Hopefully these might help: Edited March 6, 2015 by Ascoteer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxMalcolm Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 Thanks for that Ascoteer, I happened to come to the same conclusion and I have adopted that as my standard. But seeing how you posted some pics of them, can I bring peoples attention to what appears to be a port dorsal intake under the tail and forward of the stabiliser. Again this is something that does not seem to be on most plans and not every version has one, neither does the model for that matter. Now I am not concerned, whether or not I include one, but I am curious as to what it is for. I am guessing it is for cooling rather than ventilation as the engines traditionally handle that function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ascoteer Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 The intake to which you refer is for the SCP (Supplementary Cooling Pack). Nimrod MR1 had 2x cooling packs (air conditioning packs) - one in each wing driven off the inboard engines. When MR2 came along the increase in computational power of the main CTS (Central Tactical System) as well as the AQS901 sonorbuoy processing system meant that the extant cooling packs could not cope in high ambient temperatures. Thus a supplementary pack was fitted in the tail. The SCP was fitted to all MR2s as well as the AEW3 but not to the R1s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robvulcan Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 The Nimrod is such a beautiful aircraft One of my faves and it still hurts its gone. Great to see this being made Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxMalcolm Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 * * UPDATE * * Ok so I finished cutting out the windows and I re-scribed the doors Stuffed up the main hatch Did a lot better on the aux. I have some clear plastic acetate I can use for the windows as the kit only has 3 bubble domes. I also started work yesterday on the Port Wing, now unlike the main fuselage the wing didn't line up as nice. It took a lot of sanding in order to for the seams to lay flat and even then . . they didn't quite line up, but that's ok. After I reshaped the leading and trailing edges those pesky mismatching lines disappeared . . . so I re-scribed them. I then noticed that the wing dihedral was wrong, the wing of the model was flat with a slight taper. So I cut the wing and reset it to the correct angle, using small scraps of styrene as spacers. I think it worked rather well. After I was done with that I checked the blueprints again to make sure it was the right angle and god damn it I noticed that the wing of the model was too long . . . rrraaaggguuuhhh!! It was at this point I thought to hell with it . . . it's not like this is a super realistic & accurate build, lets go with the spirit of the design instead of the accuracy of the design. This is my line in the sand . . . . . . I am sure I will revisit this decision later anyway. Anyway, after my little spat of well deserved temper-tampering, epic gestures and nicely selected cuses, I pick my monitor up from its discarded position in the corner and check to make sure it still works . . . . it does. back to the build . . . The final bit I worked on, was to start work cutting out the sunken detail and re-creating it in styrene, I think it went well. Just need to fill in the gaps a bit [this kits plastic is so thick, very tricky stuff to work with] Well, that's all for now, I have some more detail to cut out and replace on this wing before I start on the starboard wing. Cheers 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxMalcolm Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 Quick update Did work on the engine vent, cut it out and remade it out of scrap styrene. I think it is a vast improvement [see previous pic above] 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) I like the vent and added detail and it's coming on well but I'm wondering why the window openings are pointed instead of oval Do you get window transparencies with that shape built in them so you can fair them in nicely? I haven't built much vacformed stuff, so haven't come across that Edited March 7, 2015 by perdu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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