woody37 Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 With a week off, I've been making the most of time at home and started on the latest build. I've had the Aeroclub engines for a while now, but just got round to putting them to good use. Having been inspired by the excellent Merrick book - Halifax 'From Hell to Victory & Beyond', I thought I would do HR686 which was tragically lost after being hit by gun fire from the ship Amisia which ironically is the ship that rescued the survivors. You can find out more about the fateful mission HERE. I've started with the conversion bits to get the hard stuff out of the way. The Aeroclub engines are nicely shaped, but not shake & bake. The beautifully formed resin radiator intakes are a couple of mm narrower than the nacelles at the top rear, so some sanding and filling is necessary. As such, I've had to rescribe the panel lines, but they are a good fit to the wing. Given this aircraft will be white rather than black, imperfections will be more visible, so I'm spending plenty of time getting the nacelles smooth. I've added new radiator doors underneath out of plasticard due to the zealous sanding and used the Quickboost carb intakes on the sides of each nacelle. It's taken a day of fettling to get them to this point, but look at the photo's next to the kit parts and make your own mind up whether it's worth it, I'm happy about the replacements. I've had to scrape away the nacelle interior at the front to allow the undercarriage mounts to fit, but this was fairly straight forwards. Aeroclub provide modified front & rear bulkheads due to the new nacelles being narrower than the kit parts, but you can trim the kit bulkheads down as another option. The undercarriage assembly doesn't need any modifications, it will drop straight in. I've ordered some replacement Quickboost exhausts although the kit parts aren't too bad. Given the individual fitments of this aircraft, Freightdog provide the parts necessary - Tollerton nose (which is available too in the Mk.III kit) and the raised fairing. The mid upper turret on this aircraft is a BP Type A Mk.VIII left over from Defiant production and sat slightly higher than the later Type E resulting in more drag. It also had the shroud fitted, again supplied by Freightdog... 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony C Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Another Woody Extravaganza, plus I have similar ideas so I'm in... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Yes, I do want a Halifax, to go along with my half-built Lancs. I shall be following this build, Neil! I've always loved the look of aircraft in the white CC scheme. Regards, Jason 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Looking forward to this one Neil,......I`ve added some info to your request for help on the WW2 section if it is of use, Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Great choice of subject Woody. Coastal Command? Count me in! Good luck! Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Looks like I'm in too Neil Gotta love white-ish Hallibags. My dad ended his war in Coastal. ( Sunderlands though) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Interesting subject Neil - I'll tag along if I may. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Neil. Ooh I am excited to see another epic, Super build from you. Rock on Woody! HOUSTON 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Those engine alterations make a massive difference and the work is beautifully executed. Martian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Certainly will be following this, you know why. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 27, 2016 Author Share Posted December 27, 2016 Cheers guys This is where I got to yesterday, Boxing day was a pajama day had by all in Woody residence, great for cracking on with a build! Added some rivet lines and reinforcing strips to the wings. So much better than the kit engines. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony C Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 8 minutes ago, woody37 said: Cheers guys ...So much better than the kit engines. Couldn't agree more, so glad I managed to get my hands on two sets... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Now if we could just convince Colin to make some 4-blade props for this set and his own Freightdog conversion set, that would be great! Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 28, 2016 Author Share Posted December 28, 2016 Not much progress to show, but the little output hasn't meant that lots of input wasn't taking place. The ailerons are wrong on the Revell kit and that horrendous step on top just needed filling as well as the bottom enlarging although I haven't done it enough. I tried various techniques to get the finished surface how I wanted it without success (I need to empty the swear box now!!), in the end, I masked the aileron leaving the rib areas exposed and gave it a dose of thick primer before removing the masks and sanding it to leave a very subtle fabric effect. TBH, I'm sick of looking at the damn thing, but quite happy with the result. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Mmm. That's looking good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Now this is one I could be tempted to try myself, so I'm glad the easy way is to watch you doing it Neil! Cheers John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 lol, it's usually the other way round John! Ask Chris Fettled a couple of props up earlier to see how things look and with them on, it's looking very Halifax like. As a comparison with the kit nacelles which appear to be Lancifax parts! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 7 hours ago, woody37 said: lol, it's usually the other way round John! Ask Chris Nasty man. I was going to point out one little error to save you some trouble but for that you can go and bloody whistle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Ooh...I'm gonna need three bags for this one, because I'll be devouring every step with rabid anticipation! Cheers, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Those nacelles really look good Neil. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Those engine nacelles are a case of beauty and the Beast!!!,.........Good job Neil. Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Quite a difference between those two sets of parts Neil - your work is a huge improvement. Looking very sharp indeed. Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Good start Neil...pajama day eh, please do tell, we have the odd 'free and easy' day here too but it's usually only with very close friends if you get my drift. A triple engined Halibag now there's an idea. Must admit it'll be nice to see a non BC Halifax for a change.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 30, 2016 Author Share Posted December 30, 2016 1 hour ago, tonyot said: Those engine nacelles are a case of beauty and the Beast!!!,.........Good job Neil. Cheers Tony They are aren't they, its a shame because the kit goes together really well. 20 hours ago, stringbag said: Nasty man. I was going to point out one little error to save you some trouble but for that you can go and bloody whistle Ha ha, thought you'd bite mate. Give you a call tomorrow 25 minutes ago, general melchett said: Good start Neil...pajama day eh, please do tell, we have the odd 'free and easy' day here too but it's usually only with very close friends if you get my drift. A triple engined Halibag now there's an idea. Must admit it'll be nice to see a non BC Halifax for a change.... Andy, never knew you was that type of guy or am I getting the wrong drift ? It does feel wrong doing a Halifax in non BC colours, but I'd like to do more CC schemes, I've got a resin life boat in the stash that needs to get slung under a Lanc too so that is in the plan for 2017 and all being well, not too much scratch building which slows the output down. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honeybee Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Nice start Woody but please, a white Halibag. What are you thinking man? I quite like them actually so looking forward to watching the build. Richard and I had tought of swapping the ailerons over, did you give any thought to that? If nowt else it'd make the filling and sanding harder to see as it would be underneath, Regards Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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