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Airfix Concorde 1:72 -taming the beast!


HP42

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On 23/11/2016 at 8:18 PM, HP42 said:

I bought some sanding sponges at Telford last year. They came in a bag with a few nail file style sanding sticks. These sponges are brilliant. Can anyone identify them and where to get them again? They clean up well in water and are good to go again very quickly.

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Theses sponges are from Models For Sale http://www.modelsforsale.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=664679-MFS-na-FREE02-FREE-GIFT-ORDERS-OVER-£50---Super-Set-of-Sanding-Files-and-Sponges-9-pieces

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Thanks James, now I know where I got them from. Just one thing as I'm sure you've seen, they're a free gift if you spend over £50  -boo-hiss! Just wanted to buy them on their own, I think they were a fiver at Telford. I wonder if they'll sell them as a pack again? Just finished sanding the Concorde's nose joint and all the other odds and ends and sure enough they've done the job beautifully.

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A little progress...

 

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Photoetch detail added but it produces distinct steps, so PPP filler added and sanded when set.

 

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Undercarriage now finished and ready to apply once the model is painted.

 

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Oh yeah....broke the whole nose off. Stuck it back on and filled the join. Looking here like the Kergan from Highlander after receiving that not-quite-fatal sword blow from Ramerez.

 

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Nose gear bay after blending and primer to find any problems. Still a few spots for a little remedial sanding.

 

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After filling, sanding, priming. Not bad though I say so myself though it's not quite so good on the other side but still acceptable.

 

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Engines have been painted internally and glued on.

 

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She's a beast. Magazine and 10p piece for scale.

 

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There's the step! I think I'll try thin styrene sheet and blend with PPP.

 

That's it for now! :bristow:

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Great progress Phil. It looks like you've cracked sorted the joins and those wheels look really good.

Is now a good time to mention Danny's advice on filling the panels to match the decals? I'm not sure what decals you have but worth a quick check...

Nice, very nice job :) 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been very busy with work so not much over the last week or so. ...but here's an update!

 

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The new sanding sticks arrived, hurrah! :thumbsup:

 

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Managed to blend in the engines with the wings, used PPP and the new sanding sticks.

 

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Started looking at the photoetch for the engines, still a work in progress, not finished and indeed it wont be until I spray the white areas. The photoetch is far too delicate to complete at this stage, the bucket doors are held on by pure luck.

 

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Antenna returned to the top of the fuselage between windows 4 and 5. I drilled it with a very fine drill bit and used flower tying wire (very useful stuff!) to pin it into the fuselage.

 

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Added a few photoetch bits in anticipation of the big white sprayfest that's coming soon. Angle of attack vane thingys added along with the base of aerials, the antennas themselves being far too delicate to put on at the moment. Also filled in a few trenches, they're still visible but on only just and much more to scale.

 

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Vents added to the engine bays in photoetch

 

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Engine bays masked off as I don't want to build up paint in this area. Whole model sprayed with primer. Then it's 'find the faults', correct, sand, touch up the primer, repeat...... till ad nauseum.

 

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And now the white parts!

 

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On ‎12‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 0:06 AM, CedB said:

Great progress Phil. It looks like you've cracked sorted the joins and those wheels look really good.

Is now a good time to mention Danny's advice on filling the panels to match the decals? I'm not sure what decals you have but worth a quick check...

Nice, very nice job :) 

 

Thanks Ced, as you can see I've toned down the panel lines and it's much more to scale now. Hopefully the decals will be more conformal, though one trusts in the Microscale solutions!

 

I've also left off a selection of antennas, probes and static ports until after decaling so they can be applied through the decal. It's a learning curve...  but easier after looking at your build.

 

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Meanwhile, here's a single bucket door. By the time it's finished one door will be 4 parts, uber-fiddly...   Bottle top for scale.

 

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...and here's a Hasegawa F-15C I'm building in between paint drying etc just as a quick build.

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Nice job Phil, very nice job indeed! Can't see the joins (and believe me, I now where they were!) :)

Those PE buckets look good don't they.

Nice to see her white on, even if only the primer. Good job that man!

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Christmas update! Spent a bit of time on the Concorde. Taken the masking off the visor, got away with it but did need to reapply one part of the framing as it tore off with the pain being so thick. I did try whizzing round with a new scalpel blade to get a clean release but if anything it made it worse, the paint broke cleanly if the tape was removed at a sharp angle.

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Engine bays painted, I used that Valejo Jet exhaust to start with, only good if you use very thin layers or else it beads up. I wanted to try a little Windsor and Newton flow improver to see if that helps break down the surface tension but could I find it? (-nah!)

 

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Bucket doors look good and much better than the kit parts but they're a sod to make properly, they don't line up all that well and I think the instructions are bass akwards. You're supposed to stick on actuating rods but I gave up as they're too fiddly for words and I think this is one area where the accuracy leaves a little to the imagination. I used flower tie wire to make my own but good look spotting them. 

 

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Using the stand to hold it and let the paint cure. I'd still chasing little spots of overspray, the odd paint run, etc.... you do one thing then have to repair another, it never gets 'finished'!

 

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Certainly a big old beast. Just a final bit of tidying then it's decal time....:S

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2016-12-26%2022.48.34.jpg

 

Forgot to mention, after messing with the Valejo I broke out the Alclad. It went on straight over it and I tried a few shaded to get a patchwork effect, it sort of worked. :rolleyes:

 

Spot the 'spot' that needs a touch up! By the windows...doh!

 

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Thanks Space Ranger, that had occurred to me too and I think it's probably the best way to go as the frames are quite thin and can tear easily. With decals there's no fluffy edge.

 

Thanks RMCS, it's been an interesting build and I'm happy with it so far. Not overly difficult, just lots of work.......sanding, more sanding......:blink:

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Thanks Ced, it looks pleasing to the eye, such a fabulous shape and the white brightens up the room!

 

I think the buckets do look good but if you're a perfectionist (nah, not me!) you can find faults aplenty. Naff all lines up and they are a total pig to make consistent and stick on. I'm not sure what Extratech were thinking when they designed this bit, though the etch is pretty good overall and really improves the model.

 

I'm tempted to display the model as G-BOAC, the one now in Manchester. I should in theory drop the flaps and partly close the bucket doors but I really can't be bothered and the doors would be held on by pure art if I emulated them in that position. I also think it looks better fully open. Dropping the flaps is doable, even at this late stage, but I can't find a reference shot of the top of the flaps. I suspect the flap/wing interface is a cylindrical equivalent of a ball and socket joint. if I dropped the flaps I'd end up with two sharp square edges at an angle from each other with a nasty gap and quite honestly life's too short, it's one stuffed mushroom too many!

 

Tidy up the last spots of paintwork, then decals...then undercarriage, then the last few aerials, then decals on the aerials.....then touch up the last bits I scuffed up, then repair the aerials broken off doing that, then repair the undercarriage....you can see how this kit is a bit of a snowball. ;)

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Spent a bit of time on it over the last few days, so a wee update.

 

I was wondering how Airfix had addressed the problem Ced subsequently encountered when applying decals to the starboard side of the rudder.

 

Exhibit 'A' yer-honour... (start of page 23, click on the title below should take you there ...but I've had a glass of Christmas port, hic!...might take you to Goole in Yorkshire....)

 

On the stbd side the top red section of the BA 'swoosh' should encompass the upper rudder actuator housing. Airfix decided it ...err...didn't, problem solved. I soon realised Revell had attempted to crack the problem Airfix avoided when they pretended it didn't exist (who knew? ...therefore Airfix made a good design decision by compromising). Revell made one decal fit over the other to cover the actuator housing and then smooth out the compound shape. Of course I'm a nerd and decided it was a solvable problem. I did consider painting the housing but realised I had plenty of red colour matched decal if I chopped up the decals from the original BA scheme -simples!

 

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I made an intitial paper template and mackled it around the housing to get the basic shape. Much cutting, trimming and Micro Solling of the final decal later and I had a reasonable solution.

 

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Looks a tad rough here but now it's been attacked with microsol and dried,  I'm looking at the finished product and it's as flat and tight as a drum. I also had to extend the bottom red decal a little further forward to make the angle at the front line up. It's not perfect, but I doubt you'd notice if I hadn't mentioned it.....prob'ly.... :rolleyes: ...and that tiny gap is now gone after a small adjustment.

 

On balance, I think the Revell decals are probably an improvement visually as they are at least graduated like the real thing whereas old Airfix are solid colour. I must say the Airfix decals went on a treat and were very well printed. I found I could read detail with a jewellers eyepiece that I couldn't read with the naked eye.

 

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Half way through the decals on the underside, there's about a million of them, maybe a million and 3. Spot the schoolboy error, not changing it though, unless anyone has unused spares they don't need? The error is down to the Airfix instructions, part of which is upside down. Found a few errors in the instructions as it happens...

 

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Getting there. Using the stand as a temporary mount to let decal solution dry and a place to put the model between construction sessions.

 

Topside decals now, then undercarriage. Should I Micro Crystal Klear the windows or just leave them as holes?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, CedB said:

Good work Phil and nearly there eh?

No one's going to notice the decal oops... the nose is too distracting!

Ced, not far now on the grand scheme of things, yet still much to do....oddly...

 

Did you find that despite the kit being a quite a big brute you've become used to the size, and the more you look at it the more the shape of the aircraft becomes a beautiful work of art?

 

I'm nearly there and intend to finish this in the coming days. The intention is to display this kit to the public in the café at Tollerton airfield.

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13 hours ago, HP42 said:

Topside decals now, then undercarriage. Should I Micro Crystal Klear the windows or just leave them as holes?

I reckon you should fill them - they'll be noticeable in that scale, I reckon. You've done too good a job so far to have that let it down!

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6 hours ago, Bell209 said:

I reckon you should fill them - they'll be noticeable in that scale, I reckon. You've done too good a job so far to have that let it down!

Agreed, I think the extra 10 minutes of work will be worth it. She's coming together great already!

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