1/48 Trumpeter Westland Whirlwind

[Sprueloose]

18 hours ago, HomerJ_757 said:

You, sir, have the patience of a saint!  Well done with what you have achieved so far!

Thanks Homer. Not sure about the saint bit though! Dogged ignorance more like. 

[Martian]

22 hours ago, HomerJ_757 said:

You, sir, have the patience of a saint!  

Or the sanity of a Martian!

 

The undercarriage is looking very convincing Tony.

 

Martian

 

 

[TheBaron]

31 minutes ago, Martian Hale said:

The undercarriage is looking very convincing Tony

Thanks, but it's all Terry's work, Martian.

Tony 

 

Handsome work Terry. Having caught up with the state of play I just wanted to say that your patient and rigorous approach is paying off in spades. This looks superb!

Tony

 

 

[Sprueloose]

Thanks Martian and Baron for hanging in there with me... 

I have been dealing with a cold and haven't spent much time on the model until today. I have been thinking about it a bit and something that I read in the maintenance and repair manual got me wondering about the fuel tank fillers. The Kookabura drawings that I have been using shows the fillers toward the rear of the tanks:

 

 

But the procedure for filling the tanks in the manual talks about filling the rear tank and then the forward tank. I knew that the fuel tanks were divided by the main spar but both the model and the drawings showed two filler openings at the aft end. I did some more research. The Whirlwind Fighter Project has a few drawings available and I noticed that they have the fillers fore and aft of the spar as well as the two access panels that the kit and the Kookaburra drawing shows:

 

 

It just made a lot more sense considering the maintenance manual info. So, I filled in the two that I had opened and scribbed and opened two more:

 

 

After a little sanding and some primer:

 

 

I also found this photograph of a refueling that makes it pretty obvious that the fillers are much closer to the leading edge of the wings:

 

 

Then I decided to remove the landing gear to do a bit more detail of the bays. I should have figured this out much much earlier but  the kit wants you to install the landing gear with the engine nacelles with means that you have to hassle with masking them etc. The solution is to cut an opening notch in the collet that holds the oleos so that they can be drawn out the bottom. Done! And then I added the fire extinguisher bottles. Note my over-engineered supports for the oleos... Sigh... at this point I am not going to bother correcting that structure especially as I added it because I had to sand the nacelle walls so thin that you could see light through them and I was worried about the walls collapsing.

 

Here is a page from the maintenance manual showing the position of the extinguishers:

 

 

Starboard:

 

 

Port:

 

 

Well that's enough for today. I got my gloss black paint so when I'm satisfied with the model I can start painting! I'm in no big rush as there is lots to tweak yet. And I love that! 

 

Thanks for watching.

Terry

 

 

[keefr22]

More lovely little details Terry - I really like the fuel filler caps!

 

Keith

[TheBaron]

Ditto on the filler caps Terry. That's the kind of telling detail that makes this kind of modelling so satisfying. 

Tony

[Sprueloose]

9 hours ago, keefr22 said:

More lovely little details Terry - I really like the fuel filler caps!

 

Keith

Thanks Keith, some of my best work! Ha! but it was a pleasure to punch out these little suckers and have them fit!

 

8 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Ditto on the filler caps Terry. That's the kind of telling detail that makes this kind of modelling so satisfying. 

Tony

It is pretty satisfying to add these little bits and bobs. Keeps me going! I may never get to paint! 

 

Today I worked on the underside of the forward section of the fuselage. The photos show that many aircraft appear without the bulbous protrusion that catches the ejected casings from the cannons. So even though I think that I read somewhere that they started using the collector again because of damage to the tail section caused by the casings spewing out into the airstream, I went ahead and whacked it off and dug out the two squarish holes for the chutes. Here is a picture of the real thing with the gun camera but not with the shell bucket:

 

 

You will also notice the identification light just to the right of the shell chutes as well as what I believe is the connection port for the external battery/acumulator? connection that the ground crew uses when starting the beast. So I have put in the light and will get the port done tomorrow. I cut out the holes for the chutes and boxed them in with styrene just to give it a bit of depth. Clean them up tomorrow too.

You can see that my de-tacked Tamiya tape has lifted some more of the primer. No worries. Can't say that I am completely comfortable exposing my ham fisted work at this magnification but I am getting used to it!

 

 

I noticed that the gun camera has a gasket around the base and I attempted to represent that with a bit of lead wire.

 

 

I think that I will get a higher magnification set of lenses for my Optivisor before I paint! That way I can spend another month filling and sanding all the blemishes! (that was sarcasm).

 

I'm done for the day. Cold hits me at the end of the day...

 

Terry not Tony.  

(just needling you Martian. my short term memory left long ago... no wait I can't remember when it left!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sprueloose]

A little more today:

 

 

Terry

[Sprueloose]

I have been re-scribing and adding bits of detail to the undersides of the wings.

 

 

Added some detail to the tail wheel bay.

 

 

Strapped in the fire extinguishers and painted them.

 

 

Moving along..

Thanks for checking in.

Terry

[Martian]

There can't be much of the original kit left by now!

 

Martian

[Sprueloose]

2 minutes ago, Martian Hale said:

There can't be much of the original kit left by now!

 

Martian

Oh it's still lurking there Martian! I'm just having fun gussying it up a bit. 

[Sprueloose]

I have noticed that the gun camera on the kit seems a little stunted. Here is the real thing:

 

 

I think that even taking the camera angle into account, the kit piece needed a bit more height.

So I have been slowly building up sprue goo on the kit part to bring it into shape:

 

 

I'll let it cure for a few days and then sand it down.

 

Onto the upper wings. Added a few bare metal panels after looking at the Whirlwind Project drawing:

 

 

Oops, looks like I need to redo the middle one as the drawing looks a bit larger.

I got a carbide scriber which I like a lot better than the needle or the "Mr Scriber" tool that I had been using. I'm using a thin feeler gauge with a bit of Tamiya tape for a guide. I was using that self-adhesive labeling tape, but it has been leaving some adhesive behind so I switched.

Enough for today. Hope your modeling is going well.

Terry 

[TheBaron]

Lovely attention to the details as ever Terry. You've achieved a remarkable transformation on this kit in terms of shape and structure!

 

I'm toying with obtaining one of those wooden stands that I see you're using there - do you find they make a big difference to what you're able to do with work in progress? I'm wondering whether the biplane version can also be used with monoplanes (cheapskate that I am).

Keep up the good work!

Tony

[Sprueloose]

Thanks for the kind words Tony. The greatest thing about the stand is that it protects the model. I don't handle the model as much and consequently don't knock things off of it as often. I hold the stand instead of the model!

 

I think that you could use the bi-plane version for doing monoplanes but the upright supports might be a little more annoyingly in your way. You could probably modify it to make it more versible!

 

Terry

[Sprueloose]

Tony, one modification that I plan to make to my stand is to epoxy some small washers on end into the screw slots that are used to adjust the height. I flip the plane frequently and using a screwdriver to tighten and untighten the screws gets to be a pain. 

[Sprueloose]

Worked on the upper wings today and sanded a bit on the new gun camera.

 

 

I've noticed that the bare metal foil has a texture to it after burnishing. I'm guessing it's the adhesive and that it was not put on smoothly.

 

 

Of course it could be my installation. But it seemed pretty straightforward, peel off the foil and stick it on the model. I will re-read the instructions but this seems unacceptable to me. I will experiment with regular kitchen foil and some adhesive like varnish and see what results I get.

 

The gun camera got some sanding and I added another drop of sprue goo. Will look at some more pictures of the real thing to make sure I get the height as close as possible.

 

All for now. 

Terry

[corsaircorp]

Hello Terry,

I follow the thread with attention

Very nice work, I really enjoy.

thank for sharing.

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

[Sprueloose]

41 minutes ago, corsaircorp said:

Hello Terry,

I follow the thread with attention

Very nice work, I really enjoy.

thank for sharing.

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

Thanks Corsaircorp for your kind attention. Hope that my daily updates are not too boring!

[TheBaron]

I find ordinary kitchen foil rubs down as smooth as you like Terry. If you hunt down @71challys current Lightning build you can see just how supremely smooth he got the nose ring with it.

Tony

[71chally]

Thanks Tony,  I get get good result with kitchen foil, it's great for modelling uses - maybe because in my mind it may have originated from an aircraft at one stage!

 

For foiling like that Terry, I apply a very thin layer of Humbrol 35 polyurethane varnish, let it dry for at least 15/20 mins.

Apply an over size piece of foil over the top, and I use the face of  a finger nail to gently rub it down smooth.  You can also use a cotton bud, but if there is any varnish exposed it will catch the cotton wool. 

I wait for a while (1 hr maybe) and then trim the panel with a scalpel.

Afterwards you can do what you want with it, leave it dull, or polish up a bit with a scalpel handle top etc

The surface has to be very clean and smooth as well, any hair or grit will show through the foil.

 

shiny side for high shine or chrome finish,

Airfix 1:72 Lightning F.2A by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

and dull side,

Airfix 1:72 Lightning F.2A by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

For can have a few uses, the thicker stuff you find on wine bottle tops is good for aircraft interior and soundproofing quilted finish, and the dented cockpit floors etc can be represented with the stuff.

 

Having said all that, I don't build to the superb standard of your Whirlwind here, really hard work paying of with a superior build!

[corsaircorp]

9 hours ago, Sprueloose said:

Thanks Corsaircorp for your kind attention. Hope that my daily updates are not too boring!

Hi Terry,

No, don't you worry, not boring at all but instructive..

Thank again

Corsaircorp

[Sprueloose]

17 hours ago, TheBaron said:

I find ordinary kitchen foil rubs down as smooth as you like Terry. If you hunt down @71challys current Lightning build you can see just how supremely smooth he got the nose ring with it.

Tony

Thanks Tony. I had seen 71chally's build and his great foil job. So today I thought that I would rip off the bare metal stuff and give it a go.

 

16 hours ago, 71chally said:

For foiling like that Terry, I apply a very thin layer of Humbrol 35 polyurethane varnish, let it dry for at least 15/20 mins.

Apply an over size piece of foil over the top, and I use the face of  a finger nail to gently rub it down smooth.  You can also use a cotton bud, but if there is any varnish exposed it will catch the cotton wool. 

I wait for a while (1 hr maybe) and then trim the panel with a scalpel.

Afterwards you can do what you want with it, leave it dull, or polish up a bit with a scalpel handle top etc

The surface has to be very clean and smooth as well, any hair or grit will show through the foil...

Having said all that, I don't build to the superb standard of your Whirlwind here, really hard work paying of with a superior build!

 

Superb standard?? Oh dear.. Thanks 71chally for the vote of confidence, I'm afraid that I will never live up to that! 

 

I had seen your build and the wonderful foil application, but my problem was that I had no Humbrol 35 polyurethane varnish. I have lots of polyurethane varnish in the paint cabinet, but it's for woodworking projects and I thought it might not work to well on plastic.

 

I figured that the varnish needed to be non-water/alcohol based to adhere to the aluminum foil. The only clear non-water/alcohol coating that I had was a bottle of Testers Dullcote. So I started with that. The problem with the Dullcote is that it's lacquer based and de-tacks really quickly. So it was hard to get the foil on at just the right time. Too late and the foil didn't stick., too early and it never seemed to dry. I did however learn that kitchen foil presents a much nicer surface than the batch of bare metal foil that I have!

 

So remembering another build where the modeler used sheet pewter and some sort of contact cement, I thought that I would try contact cement. But the stuff I have is quite thick, so I thinned it a little with lacquer thinner...(see where this is headed?  )

 

It seemed to work OK. I put the stuff on, letting flash off a bit and then lay on my bit of foil. I quickly discovered that foil is quite soft and easily marked. Especially if you get impatient and don't let the glue dry (probably overnight!; I bet varnish is faster!)

 

You can see that the contact cement is way too thick:

 

 

You can however remove the excess with a rubber cement eraser! But, the thinned down contact cement was extremely "hot" and quickly melted the styrene, so any attempt to reposition the foil meant scaring of the wing as well as marring the foil.. Which is where it stands now.. 5 patches done, 1 in recovery:

 

 

The contact cement really was too thick and attempting to work the foil before the cement had setup was not such a good idea, note the deep rivets!

 

So all in all, I think that I will order some Humbrol 35 just to see how it's supposed to work. I had also thought about using goldleaf sizing as it performs the same function albeit with gold leaf instead of aluminum foil.

 

Thanks for putting up with my long winded update. Onward to Victory!

 

Terry

 

 

[TheBaron]

Ah, the travails of trying stuff eh Terry?  I'm trying to recall what I used when embossing a couple of cabinet doors this way last week, I think it was a thin layer of CA screeded smooth with a piece of scrap plastic and then the foil whacked on quickly. A bit of a pucker factor in being a one chance operation and variable results. I reckon the H35 route sounds safer.

 

If I didn't have to have some raised surface relief on that last job, I generally use this Coralgraph aluminium tape for panel work:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Adhesives-Sealers/Aluminium-Tape-Foil-Insulation-Adhesive-Repair-Rolls/B01HF3EF0U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493540210&sr=8-1&keywords=Coralgraph+aluminium+tape

I find it goes on very smooth, especially when polished flat with a rounded toothpick, and would probably take rivetting detail as per your above shots.

HTH,

Tony

 

 

 

[71chally]

Hi Terry, It was over 25 years ago and on a B-36 build that I discovered this method, using Kitkat foil (which was perfect).  I tried all sorts of things, mostly I can't remember the results but the H35 was perfect, it once tacky it held the foil well and wouldn't let it come away when dry.  It also allows you to peel the foil back off within say an hour if you make a mistake.

 

I've always assumed that the large tins of polyurethane varnish for home DIY etc does the same thing as H35, but can't remember if I've tried it now.

I know shellac etc doesn't hold the foil when it's dry, and the other model varnishes won't either.

 

Before applying the foil I rub it (in one direction) smooth with the back of my finger nail, until it looks like sheet metal.

Once applied over the varnish I gently rub it smooth, a gain with my nail.

 

I have tried various tools for rubbing the foil down, but none seem to be as good as the old fashioned finger nail!

The great thing is that it goes around, and over raised features surprisingly well.

 

Also, on a largely painted model, I apply the foil last, so that I don't have to mask the foil, it's usually quite easy to cut to the panel shape that I'm covering.

 

 

Rob on here uses another technique, and that is using foil tape (edit, as in Tonys post above), as used in insulation, aviation repair, air conditioning ducting etc, he is currently doing a Voodoo build and he is getting really nice results.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2017 by 71chally

[Pete in Lincs]

On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 3:05 AM, Sprueloose said:

There can't be much of the original kit left by now!

So long as you still have the box it came in....