Can I bring this one to play as well?

[BritJet]

As I usually have three or four (or more!) builds on the go at the same time I'd like to do this one as well as the Sperrin. Gerald Elliott (Sanger) kit in 1/72 with my own decals for a Boscombe Down based aircraft.

The canopy is yellowed (not quite as yellow as the paper!) and has a lump in it so I may have to mould a new one, apart from that it looks like a fairly straightforward vacform build.

Steve

[trickyrich]

Now you are just hogging space!! Welcome aboard with build #2.

So you are going for something a wee bit smaller......and in a different material, very nice. Are those white metal bits in the bottom of the photo? (just had closer look at photo, they are white metal).

I will check with you later in the build if it was a straight forward build!

Well again, good luck with the build and hope you have fun.

[CliffB]

Very nice!

Cliff

[BritJet]

Now you are just hogging space!! Welcome aboard with build #2.

So you are going for something a wee bit smaller......and in a different material, very nice. Are those white metal bits in the bottom of the photo? (just had closer look at photo, they are white metal).

I will check with you later in the build if it was a straight forward build!

Well again, good luck with the build and hope you have fun.

I won't be taking up too much space with this one. I promise The Sperrin will though.......

Yes, I thought a vacform would be good alongside a resin kit and this one was close to the Sperrin in the stash so it came out with it. They certainly are white metal parts - prop, instrument panel (looks huge), tailwheel, left and right halves for the spats and a couple of intakes for the cowling. They look ok but need cleaning up a bit, certainly better than nothing.

A couple of minutes work with a sharp blade and all the parts have been scored around. No need to cut all the way through or to get right up to the edge as the excess will be rubbed down later. Always score more lines to connect across the plastic sheet as this avoids stressing and splitting the parts you want. Score plenty of tangential lines around curves like the wingtips so the plastic can be removed in sections - trying to do it in one go is likely to split the part. It's not the end of the world if something does split as it will glue back, but it is annoying.

Carefully snap the waste away from the part - use two hands, so best not to try and take a photo at the same time;

The long-nosed pliers were used to remove the small piece of waste in the middle of the tailplane - not a 'normal' modelling tool I know but very useful for parts like this. After a few minutes you'll have the parts all freed from the sheet;

And the bits you don't need;

Some of the scrap plastic can be used to make tabs to strengthen parts or bulkheads, floors etc. so the bigger pieces are worth hanging onto for a while.

Next, the messy bit!

Very nice!

Cliff

Thanks. I used to work for Aircraft In Miniature so probably produced your S-61L! Later kits had a vacform cockpit transparency because of the fit problem using the Airfix part. Have you got it any further yet?

Steve

[trickyrich]

Nice progress already!

I have built a few VacForm models (including a RarePlane's YB-17!) and have used all sorts of tools in the "cutout" phase! It's still not a favorite material of mine, much prefer resin.

The white metal bits look pretty basic, but considering the size they should look fine.

[CliffB]

Thanks. I used to work for Aircraft In Miniature so probably produced your S-61L! Later kits had a vacform cockpit transparency because of the fit problem using the Airfix part. Have you got it any further yet?

Steve

Hi Steve, that's really interesting to know.

With the end of the Sea King STGB I've put the S-61 to one side temporarily. I wanted to get a build into Achtung Panzer and didn't want to miss that deadline too!

I'm really enjoying the S-61 though. It will never be a definitive model (at least not in my hands), but I it will have an above average dose of 'me' in the finished result. Great fun (occassionally!).

Cheers

Cliff

[BritJet]

Took a break from my Sperrin build this afternoon and spent some time on this one.

Now that the parts have been cut out they can be wet-sanded in the usual vacform style to trap the dust, also stops the wet and dry clogging. Makes a messy sludge but at least the wet and dry paper can be washed - you can't wash your lungs out very easily For anybody who hasn't done this before, it's easy enough;

Although you may need something to help hold onto the part due to the water and friction from the wet and dry - this is just some masking tape rolled around to make a handhold;

The masking tape doesn't last long due to the water and movement but does help.

Rub the parts around on the wet and dry in a circular pattern using plenty of water. After about six circuits reverse direction and then check if enough has been removed. Also check it is being removed evenly as you can end up with a wonky part - reversing direction helps avoid that. I'm using 100 grade wet and dry here as there was a fair bit to remove but try different grades.

At some point you should see a thin wisp of plastic on the edge of the part - STOP rubbing it down. Check again that it is even all round and if not carefully remove some more where required. Like this;

When you get two halves rubbed down check them against each other and hopefully they touch where they should and are the right thickness all round. This is the two fin halves;

My Prentice has upturned wingtips which I knew would be awkward so the upper wings were rubbed down as above and the lower wings and the tips were done with a sanding stick. Looks like a huge gap here but it will pull together when glued, if not some filler will sort it.

Total time to rub down two fuselage halves, four wing halves, two tailplane halves and two fin halves about 30 mins - including taking the photos. So it doesn't take forever and isn't difficult, only different......

My apologies to those of you who know all of this already but there are many people who shy away from vacforms simply because they don't know how to work with them. I hope this quick tutorial and the Group Build as a whole encourages more people to try the 'black arts' rather than just sticking to some of the more mainstream kits. Quite often there is no other way to get a certain subject so I would urge anyone to just have a go.

Steve

[trickyrich]

....and you're making nice progress here as well.

Don't worry about starting the obvious when it comes to the prep work on VacForm models, there is bound to be some novices watching you progress who will find it very helpful. You are documenting the process very nicely as well, so good job well done!

[kwaterous]

....and you're making nice progress here as well.

Don't worry about starting the obvious when it comes to the prep work on VacForm models, there is bound to be some novices watching you progress who will find it very helpful. You are documenting the process very nicely as well, so good job well done!

I'm one of said novices, and it was certainly helpful, thanks for posting.

Nice work too!

K

Edited May 5, 2015 by kwaterous

[BritJet]

Thanks for that, I didn't want to waste anybody's time with it being too basic. The rest should just be fairly standard construction so if I skim over anything that needs a bit more explanation just give me a nudge!

Last bit done yesterday was to add some plastic sheet to the inside of the wings to strengthen them and also so I can drill in from the root to insert brass rod spars. I've made the black plastic go out far enough so the white metal undercarriage legs/spats can be securely fitted - drilled and pinned into the black plastic. Once these were dry I glued the top halves on, taped them together and left it all overnight.

Tonight I removed the tape and there were just a couple of bits needing filler so that was ok.

Next step was to add reinforcing bulkheads and strips to the fuselage halves. Vacform kits don't have the strength of an injection moulded kit so this step is vital. It will obviously vary from kit to kit but the techniques I'm using here can be easily adapted to suit.

I've drilled into the thick plastic in the wings to take 1.6mm brass rod. I find this gives enough strength to a model but can be easily bent to allow for dihedral or sweepback. The fuselage wing roots have been filled with Rocket Powder and superglue to help strengthen the joint as the plastic is quite thin here - always a problem area on vacforms due to the hot plastic having to stretch as it's sucked into the mould.

I'll use a piece of thin plastic sheet to cover the floor and sidewalls to tidy everything up once the fuselage is joined together.

Steve

[trickyrich]

I can easily see you've done this before, even I have now managed to pick you some great ideas from you!!

Great work!!

[CliffB]

Steve,

Do you find that the brass rods bond OK into the plastic? Which glue do you use?

I've had real problems in the past glueing brass into resin with CA, so now score a small notch in the rod to give the glue something to grip onto.

Cheers

Cliff

[Tomjw]

This is really useful. Keep up the great work, and the step by step guide as I am book marking this.

Cheers,

Tom.

[BritJet]

Steve,

Do you find that the brass rods bond OK into the plastic? Which glue do you use?

I've had real problems in the past glueing brass into resin with CA, so now score a small notch in the rod to give the glue something to grip onto.

Cheers

Cliff

Normally it's ok but I tend to drill the holes the same size as the rod so there's not much wiggle room. If there is a big gap then I use 5-minute epoxy. The rod doesn't do everything, the plastic either side of it through the fuselage and the reinforced inner wing roots strengthen the lower seam and the rod just stops the wings twisting too much, which would crack a joint.

This is really useful. Keep up the great work, and the step by step guide as I am book marking this.

Cheers,

Tom.

Glad it's useful, it's making me take more care as well due to it all being on display!

Steve

[BritJet]

Bit more done and things are starting to come together. Fuselage halves glued together, seams filled, brass rods inserted and superglued. I added more Rocket Powder and superglue in the gaps to really hold the rods in place. The brass rods then bent upwards to get a start towards the dihedral angle - far too much here!

I measured the distance to the underside of the wing just before they turn upwards from the drawing(s) and made up a very basic jig. The brass rods are then adjusted until it is somewhere near. Need to get the fin on next to give a good vertical reference point so the dihedral angle can be set properly.

There's very little contact area between the fin, tailplane and fuselage on the Prentice so I've drilled all three and glued in some 1mm brass rod to hold everything in place.

The wings fit quite well at the root but the fuselage root fairing is too short at the rear and needs to sweep upwards from the wing. Should be able to cure this with a piece of plastic sheet and some filler

Also I'm starting to think about the cockpit parts and have drawn a seat in Corel Draw which I've printed out, cut out, folded up and taped together - that's the little white object to the right of the fuselage. When I'm happy with the size and shape of this It will be cut out of 10 thou plastic sheet.

This is the artwork for the seats - the 'wings' are folded in and the rectangular part folded up to meet them. The front edge is rolled up to meet the top edge of the wings. I'll cut these from the plastic sheet with my Silhouette Cameo as I need three seats the same.

Here's 'Pete the pilot' sitting in my paper seat so I can get an idea of sizes

Fin and tailplane test fitted and there's quite a gap under the tailplane to be filled. Next step is to get these attached at the right angle.

As I mentioned the canopy has yellowed and has a bump in it. It's also not very clear and 3mm too wide. I was planning on vacforming a new one but hadn't counted on making it narrower as well. Oh well, it's good to have a challenge now and again.........

Steve

[trickyrich]

nice work, it looks like it's a bit of a challenging build but you seem to have it all under control.

That canopy does look a bit sad.

I've seen these Silhouette Cameos mentioned before, they look really interesting.

[BritJet]

Only managed to do a bit on this since the last update due to work interrupting good modelling time.

nice work, it looks like it's a bit of a challenging build but you seem to have it all under control.

That canopy does look a bit sad.

I've seen these Silhouette Cameos mentioned before, they look really interesting.

It's more of a challenge than I expected but vacforms often are. The canopy is the worst part of the kit but I have a cunning plan, to quote from Blackadder.

I was looking at the Cameos for quite a while before buying one and it's like a lot of tools in that you can live without it but certain things are so much easier with it. I've had it for about two months now and mainly used it for cutting masks for painting and this is the first time using it to cut plastic card.

Talking of which, I tweaked the artwork a little bit and cut the seats out of plastic. The blade depth wasn't quite right which is why the edges are a bit ragged but they're usable. The tape is 6mm wide, to give an idea of the scale.

After the glue dried they looked like this;

A bit of work to do but certainly easier than trying to make three the same and very quick to do.

I glued some 2mm plastic into the rear of the wing root to support the filler and then filled the joint. The wing root fairing curves up to the fuselage so there needs to be some careful sanding here to get it right, but that's a job for tomorrow!

Just a look at where I'm up to with this.

Steve

[trickyrich]

I like the seats.

It looks like you had to use a fair amount of filler but it looks to be coming on nicely.

[BritJet]

It looks like a lot of filler but this kit isn't very big, so it looks worse than it really is. The filler was soon sanded back and the wing root fairings got somewhere near the correct size and shape.

I drilled into the white metal legs and wings and inserted some more brass rod. I really need to get shares in this stuff........

A quick check to see how the model sits, I had to move one of the legs forward a bit.

Given everything a squirt of primer to show the defects. Luckily not too many. I've also cut out the wingtip navigation lights, glued in some clear sprue and filed/sanded to shape and the wingtip handholds.

Looks ok underneath as well, just a couple of bits to smooth out.

I've added the rudder pedals, instrument panel, compass and throttle. together with some sidewall details.

Next step will be to get the seats in and other cockpit details. I'll have to tackle replacing the canopy then.....

Steve

[trickyrich]

Gee it looks so much different with the undercoat on.

A nice smooth job you've done.

[CliffB]

Much though I am admiring your Sperrin Steve, this is the one that I really like!

Looking great so far.

Cliff

[BritJet]

Given it a coat of silver and there are a couple of bits to tidy up so when it's dried out enough I'll get them done. I think I'm going to reduce the depth of the panel lines as well, the silver really highlights them.

Test fitted the seats and the crash pylon, but I'll have to adjust this when I've got a usable canopy.

Scratchbuilt cockpit details, bit more to add yet.

The poor canopy was a problem right from the start so I've made a new master that I'll modify and then vacform a new canopy from. The kit canopy was sprayed on the inside with mould release agent and then car body filler mixed up and carefully worked into the cavity. Any bubbles can be seen through the clear plastic and removed. About 10 minutes later I popped the cured filler out. The plan is to cut this up to reduce the width, but the front is about right and it also needs to taper towards the rear rather than being as parallel sided as it is. Sounds like a fun time ahead........

When I've got the master the right size I'll spray it with release agent and make a female mould around it. The clear plastic will be sucked into this to make the canopy. The advantage of doing it this way is the canopy stays the right size, not increasing by the thickness of the plastic. The frame lines will also be sharper although I am going to make them less pronounced. I hope that makes sense, but if not stay tuned as there'll be photos to show the process.

Steve

[trickyrich]

It's looking very nice in silver!

That is a clever idea for making the new canopy, will be very interested to see how it turns out, a neat trick to remember.

That section in front of the tail is very unusual!

[Martin @ RAM Models]

Can't believe I have just noticed this build. I have a bit of a soft spot for the Prentice. Looking good.

[Mitch K]

I hope that makes sense, but if not stay tuned as there'll be photos to show the process.

Steve

I shall be watching with interest - really useful stuff!