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Nil Time - A 501 sqn double build.


bull-nut

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Nil Time: Latin, Fear Nothing. Motto of No 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron, RAuxAF, RAF Filton, Bristol.

 

I'll be building two DH types from my local squadrons life in this GB, and they really couldn't be more different from each other.

 

Firstly, A-models 1/72 Vampire F1 as VF/272 RAB-N. in overall high speed silver.

 

Secondly Airfix's splendid little Tigermoth as R5252 in counter shaded TLS / yellow.

 

This is a placeholder post. I'll update it later when I have something  to show!

 

Update!

 

Box and sprue shots.

tmkgWAQl.jpg

CLmuX3Sl.jpg

 

I managed to make a start on the Vampire today, which was a surprise as I was supposed to be wandering round an Elizabethan house for the day.

The mouldings were fairly flash heavy, but it is, I think, a short run kit, so maybe the moulds are made from Aluminium rather than steel?

This is supposed to be the pilots seat.

6gFQoWal.jpg

 

So I managed to get the office together, fairly lacking in detail, but it will hardly be visible once closed up anyway, and I've thrown some paint on. Sorry, no pics of the seat etc, I think the web has eaten them.

LhdeP8Jl.jpg

 

And closed up the fuselage.

n25th7Sl.jpg

 

Gun pack and shell chutes in place, going to need some filler here I think!

WOwRMmhl.jpg

Edited by bull-nut
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More rapid progress than I thought would occur today, wings and booms together. I put a piece of sprue into the boom mounting points to improve purchase, it's just butt joins otherwise.

RNwrumll.jpg

 

Booms attached

x9EjZJhl.jpg

 

And with the whole kit and caboodle mated to the fuselage pod with the horizontal stab in place

J687i4zl.jpg

 

Need to try and get those Airbrakes? in place tonight.

 

Tomorrow: Filler and Undercarriage, I hope.

Edited by bull-nut
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Work has been slow recently, but I have been able to get the majority of the Vampire construction finished, which basically amounted to adding the airbrakes, gear legs and doors and filling those gaps in the fuselage and wings. Pics when my ISP decides to play ball.

 

CE9s1ZC.jpg

 

I tried sitting her down with the wheels dry fitted, and she tail sits quite dramatically. Amodel would have you scratch build a 10mm strut to support the tail pipe area of the fuselage, but I don't think they were used IRL. If anyone has a pic of a Vampire F1 with a supporting strut in place, I'd love to see it.

 

However in the meantime, I have made a Milliput plug for the nose. Next stage is to take a mould of it, recast it in white metal, and see if it's heavy enough too keep the nose down.

6GSKpaE.jpg

Edited by bull-nut
Pics added.
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Master glued to a sheet of plasticard and boxed in with Lego raided from the boys room.

 

20170321_165953.jpg

 

I figured I'd try something different from the normal RTV Silicone for this mould, as I only need 1 good copy, I picked up a tub of Composi-mold

20170321_171711.jpg

 

For those unfamiliar with the product, it is melted in a microwave and poured into the moulding box, then left to cool and harden to a consistency not unlike that of RTV Silicone, except that after you are done with the mould, it can be re-melted and re-used many times over.

 

So after an hour or so, it looked like this

 

iBY5Yqv.jpg

 

The straight "flaw" running from the tip of the plubg is a piece of cocktail stick I put in to provide a vent in an attempt to prevent bubbles.

And with the lego's removed.

 

ItcMOUb.jpg

 

Trimmed the meniscus build up at the edges with scissors so it sits flat on the table. First attempt at a cast tomorrow after the surveyor has been around. Wish me luck :worry:

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Well that didn't to according to plan, though it did confirm my nagging thoughts that the Composimold wouldn't be the best thing to use to cast metal in. :unamused: Off to get some silicone I go then.

 

On the up side, Mrs Bull-nut is happy with me getting it because it is food safe, so she can use it for custom chocolates etc.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Is it really almost 3 weeks since I updated this thread? Well real life has to get a look in sometimes I suppose:)

 

I have managed to finally get some silicone moulding compound and have poured a new mould for the nose weight:

 

AFSauao.jpg

 

So while that set up, I have turned my attention to the Moth. Built up the cockpit and cowling,

VZ7VluR.jpg

 

sprayed with Tamiya XF71, then other colours applied with a hairy stick, and some weathering and shading added with Citadel washes

UCtFWIR.jpg

 

Before picking out the interior structure again using Citadel Nurgling Green, a little black on the control linkages, and adding seat belts from Tamiya tape.

n2uBRmy.jpg

 

Fuselage closed up, and then off to work it was, took the clamps off this morning to give me this:

Gve4nxI.jpg

 

Cowling attached, and I even managed to drill out that little air intake in the Port side, anyone know what it's for?

MG2BlLr.jpg

 

Then it was on to the good bit. Lower main plane and tail surfaces attached

BSMiFOv.jpg

 

And while that set up, I build up the Upper main plane and struts. Managed to snap one of the cabane struts while removing it from the sprue, but it wouldn't be a bi-plane build if at least one strut snapped, would it?

bPNzQNs.jpg

 

This afternoon, hopefully, I can get the main gear legs on, and then I'll start checking the various seams. Fit looks fairly good at the moment, but that could all change once the first primer coat goes on.

 

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Army painter Demonic Yellow overall

 

QnrQ1JV.jpg

 

Masked, and uppers painted with my mixed RAF Dark Earth, lower main planes painted XF49 Khaki.

 

6B6oZ2V.jpg

 

I blew up the painting guide on the box rear to 150%, and cut out the earth sections for the horizontal surfaces, sticking them down with Maskol. more Maskol sealed any gaps, then I sprayed the green areas with XF81 and XF73.

 

iCXqMkU.jpg

 

Current state of play.

JQA1pnm.jpg

rtwAx7n.jpg.

 

On a related note, I took delivery of a Revell 1/72 Sea Vixen this week, so I may add that to the GB if I get these finished in time.

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Gloss coat down last night before bed. Stencils and upper Roundels down from the kit sheet this morning, going to leave the fuselage and lower roundels until I have printed the serial decals and know if they work. Then a sealing clear coat, weathering coat, and a final matt coat.

 

rfx4Om1.jpg

 

M5PVBpu.jpg

 

With the family away at the inlaws, I'm off to my folks for slow cooked beef. First trial printing of the decals when I get back. It's my first go at printing my own, so what would people suggest to seal them on the sheet? Enamel or Acrylic? Gloss, Satin or Matt?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Decal success! I used three light coats of Humbrol enamel gloss from a rattlecan to seal the decal, they are a little thick, but I'm happy with the results for a first attempt.

nHDPrHo.jpg

 

I applied the first underwing registration,

YAnN4tZ.jpg

 

And then couldn't find the rest of the sheet for the Moth. after close to a half hour of looking, I gave up and printed another set. This obviously slowed down the decaling a lot, but I finally got them down, along with the rest of the roundels, and the result is this.

 

rIAaGQH.jpg

 

vc8icVz.jpg

 

spray a sealing coat over them on Thursday, then I can start the weathering.

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Progress resumed on the Vampire today, I pre-heated the mould and dusted with baby powder, then poured the metal which I sourced from casting tags from various models. the result was this:

 

TVsu1wG.jpg  BwecOSo.jpg

 

Not perfect, but close enough for now. The important thing is, is keeps the nose wheel on the floor.

 

FxBYSss.jpg

 

Need to do some filling and sanding, but it'll do the job. time to glue it in position, and get some filler on there.

 

Back to the Moth, the fuselage decals started lifting for some reason, both printed and kit versions. Maybe there was some surface contamination I missed. I think I got them back down with a coat of Clear. Just waiting for it to dry properly and I can think about continuing.

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  • 3 weeks later...

No pics yet @DAG058, however some additional work has been carried out. The new Vampire nose piece overfilled slightly, so it needed reshaping a bit, and that resulted in some gaps around the join that needed filling. All done now though, another coat of primer to check the levels, and I can start on the painting. Tomorrow has been set aside for finishing these two once I get back from dropping the car off for it's pre-holiday service.

Edited by bull-nut
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  • 2 weeks later...

Once again real life gets in the way, not finished yet. The Vamp got a coat of rattle-can Humbrol silver, and the upper main plane has been attached to the Moth. I'll try and get some pics up tomorrow.

 

On the other hand I had a great break on the Normandy coast with the family. At one point climbing the dunes behind Omaha beach's Fox Green sector as The Last Post was carried across on the wind, no idea where the piece was being played, but I must confess to having take a moment just then.

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As promised, I have pics, here is the state of play with the Tigermoth ATM:

TSBvR9B.jpg

 

And the Vampire:

 

SXrO3Lw.jpg

 

I don't know what happened with the finish there, I only noticed it when I uploaded the pictures here, maybe I'll have a go with some polishing sticks and see if I can take them down somewhat, I'll have to be careful though, because:

 

I gave the Vamp a quick glosscoat and applied decals after lunch today, resulting in this:

 

EyCVDSm.jpg

 

Then remembered that I still have to paint tyres and so on. No matter, I can do that this evening when the kids are in bed.

 

The moth still needs a light random overspray of Buff to represent weathering, and then some details need painting and the rigging needs doing. Lets see how much I can get done over the next 24 hours shall we?

Edited by bull-nut
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This GB seems to be a never ending list of problems for me. I sprayed a mix of Tamiya buff, flat clear and thinner randomly over the moth to give a little paint fading, and to tone down the roundels somewhat, then managed to snap one of the interplane struts :( .

 

Some Tamiya Extrathin fixed that little issue, so I painted the windscreen frames with a fine hairy stick and some Citadel Mithril silver (there was no way I was going to try masking those tiny frames) and fixed them in place with Revell clearfix.

 

Cx3XJmZ.jpg

 

Then I went to get the EZline to put the rigging wires in place, opened the drawer it should be in, and it isn't there. I spent nearly an hour looking for it and then gave it up as a bad lot and ordered another reel, shame because it was nearly full, but I'm sure it'll turn up when I'm not looking for it :shrug:

That will take a few days to arrive, so I'll see if I can get the rigging done before heading up to Cosford this weekend.

 

I then turned my attention back to the Vampire. Painted the tyres off black, gave the gear legs and hubs a wash of Citadel Nuln Oil and sealed the decals with a coat of Clear, then fitted and painted the canopy using a hairy stick and Citadel acrylics.This is a Vac replacement from Pavla, since the kits clear sprue has done a runner.

 

7L7qeJt.jpg

 

It doesn't look the best, but by this point I'm getting sick of this build and just want it off the bench. Need to put together some formation lights. I'll use some spare clear sprue for that hopefully this week. I may yet order another Mk1 and redo this piece, but for now I'm not keen on binning it just yet, and will look on it as a learning experience. At least I still have the mould for the nose if I build another.

 

Edited by bull-nut
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EZLine arrived this week, so I managed to get the moth all rigged up. just need to fill the rigging holes and touch up the paint work and I can call the Tigermoth complete.

 

giGHTf5.jpg

 

On the other hand, look what turned up on the lounge bookcase this week.

 

hpP7mIZ.jpg.

 

Yep, that's the clear sprues from the Vampire. both canopies and 4 nav lights. I'll see if I can get them on and painted this week, I want to get these two done before fathers day, since I have a niggling feeling that I'll be getting something relevant at the weekend.

 

On the up side, a good day was had by all at the Cosford Airshow last weekend, Mrs bullnut was disappointed to miss R4118, but the BBMF brought along a Hurricane, so that was mitigated somewhat. We actually got to see the B52 this year, last year all we got was a low rumble as it flew over above the very low cloudbase. My oldest boy also got to chat with his RAF heroes without crowds of people  vying for their attention as well.

 

Y3hvBy7.jpg

 

Not the heroes most people think off, but that is what he wants to do career wise, so what can I do except encourage him?

 

Blue suit by Mrs Bull-nut, he's on his third now, having grown out of two red ones. I think we can safely say he'll hold onto this life goal.

Edited by bull-nut
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Added the early model kit canopy and formation lights to the Vampire, Canopy framing painted with hairy stick and the same Citadel acrylics as used for the vac form version. Formation lights were painted with the Citadel technical gem paints. Wing tips were tidied up with Citadel mithril silver,

 

feSLFUl.jpg

 

I also added some carbon staining around the gun ports with a little black weathering powder and a cotton bud.

 

nGwb99g.jpg

 

Next I filled the rigging holes in the wing surfaces and repainted with the original colours, hairy stick again, this time using Tamiya paint.

 

sGePHt0.jpg

 

Calling these done now, More pics in the GB Gallery

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