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Donaldson International Britannia **FINISHED**


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Hi Dave,

In an earlier post you mentioned preparing the primer with wire wool. Do you start with the coarse stuff and work up to fine or just the fine grade? Also do you use it dry or wet?

I think I might give it a go on a couple of wide bodies I've got primed at the moment.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian

 

 

 

Edited by Turbofan
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Hi Ian  

 

I always use Halfords grey plastic primer so I can't speak for how steel wool would work with anything else.  I normally use superfine (grade 0000) without water.  I find this stuff very good.

 

If the primer is rough enough to need something more robust I'll start with wet and dry sandpaper and finish with the steel wool. (I'll also wonder how I made such a hash of the primer!) It's a rather dusty process because the steel wool produces its own dust as well as what comes off the paint so I usually do it outside.  If you have to do it inside I'd recommend  wearing a mask.    

 

It probably goes without saying that it's a good idea to experiment on something that doesn't matter before committing yourself to the real thing!!

 

Dave

 

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The most recent pictures of your build show a flawless natural metal finish - I'm very jealous. That's kind of a similar colour scheme outline to my Constellation, so if you don't mind I may borrow your idea about masking and painting the white areas first, then applying the metal tones. My normal way is to paint the whole fuselage white and then mask off the lower colours. If mine comes out even half as nice as yours, I'll be pleased.

 

Jeff

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Thanks for the compliments Jeff!  Please feel free to borrow any idea you like, although I must make clear that I have developed my own rather idiosyncratic practices over the years and what works for me won't necessarily work for everybody.  

 

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It's always a good moment when a model stands on its own feet (so to speak):

 

SAM_2184.jpg

 

SAM_2185.jpg

 

I'm not entirely convinced of the accuracy of the windscreen decal but there isn't really any alternative unless I sacrifice a sheet from an F-RSIN kit. In hindsight I wish I had filled the prominent panel line below it but it's a bit late for that now.  Never mind, progress is definitely happening and the next step will be the livery decals.  I'm going to split the fin decal down the hinge line because bedding into such a deep line is beyond the ability of any decal.  I'll need to do some careful work with photocopies first - if I mess up it will mean buying a second sheet.

 

I've also been looking more closely at the Welsh Models metal props I was planning to use.  They were salvaged from a scrap model and I'm not sure that they're much better than the kit items so I've decided to assemble the kit props and see if I can get them to an acceptable standard.

 

I don't expect to have much modelling time in the next few days but hopefully I'll manage to start the serious decal work towards the end of the week.

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This is looking really nice Dave.  The paint work is lovely and sharp.

Good luck with the decals.  I thought the same about the deep hinge line and wondered how to get over it. Luckily, I hope to do the BOAC version and I have the amended decals sent out by Roden as well as the originals so a combination of both will solve the problem for me. 

 

Chris.

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I got a bit of quality time with G-AOVC today and here is the result so far.

 

SAM_2196.jpg

 

Unusually for laser decals Ray provides the windows separately rather than as part of the cheatline, presumably to cater for anyone who wants clear windows.  I opted to apply the windows individually instead of as a strip mainly because I was concerned that the decal film might “silver” against the dark green.  It was a bit laborious but not difficult.  Judging from the number of windows with drawn or partly drawn curtains G-AOVC must be sitting in some very bright sunshine!

 

As I mentioned before, I’m going to split the fin decal down the hinge line.  I’ve been amusing myself chopping up photocopies to establish the right cutting line, a practical application of the “measure twice, cut once” principle. If it things go wrong I’ll need to buy another sheet.

 

SAM_2193.jpg

 

Finally, slightly to my surprise, I’ve managed to get the props to the stage where they’re actually more respectable than the old Welsh Models metal ones I was thinking of using.  They still need some work and they’ll never be perfect but I’m hopeful of getting them as good as they can be.

 

SAM_2192.jpg

 

There are still plenty of ways to make a terminal mess of the model but I'm fairly happy with things so far.

 

Back soon.

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Really likeing the look of this, I've long liked the Britannia as an aircraft, maybe something to do with the Canadian Pacific Dinky one I had as a kid, wish I still had it, the proportions are about as good as it gets to my eye.

Steve.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Barring disasters this should be my penultimate progress report on G-AOVC.

 

The livery decals are now on.  I changed my mind about cutting the fin decals into sections and decided to risk applying them whole.  I par-cooked them with a hair dryer before very carefully cutting along the hinge lines with a brand new scalpel blade.  The result isn’t too bad although there is still a little touching up needed.  Judging from photographs the fin decals are actually slightly too big but there really isn’t anything can be done about that.  

 

SAM_2200.jpg

 

SAM_2202.jpg

 

As a break from decals I added the anti-collision beacons and wingtip lights (hardly visible in the photos) from Krystal Klear.  I’ve also finished the props, not perfect by any means but as good as I can get them.

 

SAM_2203.jpg

 

The remaining jobs are simple, at least on paper.  They mainly involve the attachment of small parts such as u/c doors, pitots, aerials and, of course, stringing the aerial wires, something I hate.  There’s still plenty of scope for making a mess but with fingers crossed I hope to finish within the next week.

 

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'AOVC looks fantastic. I echo the comments of Steve, some very nice schemes were produced then. I wonder will we look back to this current era and think the same thing?

The rudder hinge line is quite a deep groove, did you use any setting solutions or just rely on the heat from the dryer? 

The props have turned out great too. I like the darker blade root, something I'll go back and add to mine. 

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2 hours ago, pinky coffeeboat said:

'AOVC looks fantastic. I echo the comments of Steve, some very nice schemes were produced then. I wonder will we look back to this current era and think the same thing?

The rudder hinge line is quite a deep groove, did you use any setting solutions or just rely on the heat from the dryer? 

The props have turned out great too. I like the darker blade root, something I'll go back and add to mine. 

Thanks Jeff.  I used the hairdryer until the decal was set but not absolutely dry, if you see what I mean.  I used a new scalpel blade for each side and tried to ensure that I made the cut against the rear of the fin (or the front of the groove if you prefer) which is more or less square. The idea was to get the cut decal to bed down over the tapering leading edge of the rudder. It was also necessary to nick the decal around the hinges to get it nicely settled down. A little Daco strong setting solution did the business.

 

It actually worked OK with only a little touching up needed. If anyone is interested I used Revell Ferrari Red and some ancient Xtracolor America West Dark Turquoise.

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Great work. Particularly on the props, painting props is one of those things I find unbearably tedious, which is probably why I don't make many multi-engine prop aircraft (could have bought a Revell Shackleton today, and may yet take the plunge, but the thought of painting 24 prop blades...)

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Good job Skoda, looks ace ! Brit props remind of ...

The guys on Britannia Line Servicing Sqn Brize 70-74 used to hold the props on start ups, to stop them going backwards but they held them as long as possible and shoved them round in the right direction and a huge flame fired out the back. The plan was to get the flame as far as possible, the tail plane was the target ! Scared me to wotsit the first time I saw them do it! Scared the Pongo  Pax even more !

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I was having a think about this build & my comment above so headed for the googlesphere & did some looking up of the Brit independents that operated these. I reckon the Donaldson livery is probably the most colourful but when I went to 26decals.com, I just about swooned, Redcoat, Invicta, Transglobe, Eagle, Monarch etc etc, the hard bit is going to be making a decision. I think I can feel a Britannia coming on. :)

It must be near 50 years since I glued up the Frog 1/96 (?). With that & my Dinky one, I've long had a soft spot for the whispering giant.

Steve.

Edited by stevehnz
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1 hour ago, stevehnz said:

I was having a think about this build & my comment above so headed for the googlesphere & did some looking up of the Brit independents that operated these. I reckon the Donaldson livery is probably the most colourful but when I went to 26decals.com, I just about swooned, Redcoat, Invicta, Transglobe, Eagle, Monarch etc etc, the hard bit is going to be making a decision. I think I can feel a Britannia coming on. :)

It must be near 50 years since I glued up the Frog 1/96 (?). With that & my Dinky one, I've long had a soft spot for the whispering giant.

Steve.

 

Have a google at Air Spain (very good!) and Cubana then.......................El Al, Ghana A/W, East African, CSA ............BUA, African Safari even Laker, Lloyd

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On 13/10/2016 at 8:21 PM, stevehnz said:

I was having a think about this build & my comment above so headed for the googlesphere & did some looking up of the Brit independents that operated these. I reckon the Donaldson livery is probably the most colourful but when I went to 26decals.com, I just about swooned, Redcoat, Invicta, Transglobe, Eagle, Monarch etc etc, the hard bit is going to be making a decision. I think I can feel a Britannia coming on. :)

It must be near 50 years since I glued up the Frog 1/96 (?). With that & my Dinky one, I've long had a soft spot for the whispering giant.

Steve.

I'm delighted that my thread has inspired you!

If you're thinking of doing the yellow Monarch scheme you don't even need to buy aftermarket decals - Roden have issued their kit in that livery. Don't forget that F-RSIN also make a good Britannia kit, in fact in some ways it's better than the Roden version. It's available with decals for Caledonian, British Eagle and yellow Monarch (again!).  You can also get it with decals for Laker although you have to cut the fuselage down to make the -100.

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Just what I needed, more choices to add to the confusion. :(:D  I do rather favour the Invicta scheme just now but notice 26 don't list their decals for the Invicta option as being for Roden like some of the others, is there something different about it, 100 series? My mind is well capable of changing as I look into this, will check out the F-rsn kit too.

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The 100 series was the original version and the fuselage is ten feet shorter than the 300 kitted by Roden and F-RSIN. (The 200 is the same length as the 300). Invicta's three Britannias were all series 300 so you can use either kit out of the box.

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