Martian Posted July 19, 2017 Author Share Posted July 19, 2017 As intimated in my earlier post, some actual modelling got done yesterday. Not a lot as it was hardly modelling weather here in Poole, really hot and muggy. However, while still waiting on the CD-ROM, I decided to turn my attention to other jobs what need doing on the build. The pan of the pilot's seat is way too deep even allowing for the use of a parachute as a cushion. He would basically disappear into the seat and not be able to see out of the aircraft. As one who had occasion to wear these seat type parachutes in the ATC. it was a simple matter to cut away part of the pan and close the hole up with some plastic card. This will be cut and sanded to shape later today. Next up I fitted the underside panel containing the recesses for the arrestor hook to the port side of the fuselage. This was not the greatest fit I have come across and some CA was used to fill the gaps. Study of photos of Roc floatplanes seem to indicate that the recesses for the arrestor gear were plated over in some fashion and plastic rod was glued into the recesses on the kit part. This was roughly carved to shape and some Mr Dissolved Gloop plastered over the area. Once again this will all be tidied up later on today when the gloop is properly set. I also glued the two engine cowling halves together in preparation for making a start on the engine in the near future. Thanks for looking Martian 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 8 hours ago, Martian Hale said: If anyone can open a can of wriggly things it will be Kev. Even I occasionally know when to keep my mouth shut............... Kev 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 19, 2017 Author Share Posted July 19, 2017 2 hours ago, longshanks said: Even I occasionally know when to keep my mouth shut............... Kev I'll tell Mrs Martian to put the blurglecruncheon away then, she will be disappointed! Martian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Hello Martian, Today, I'll be back on that Mythical sort of a bird... Will improve the interior today And still work on my next RFI... Seemingly, when the Roc is jacked up, the hook seem to be afixed on the wood structure. So, I will place it at the very end of the building. Let me know if the CD rom is actually useful. Thank again. Have a nice modelling day. CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 19, 2017 Author Share Posted July 19, 2017 24 minutes ago, corsaircorp said: Let me know if the CD rom is actually useful. I will indeed when Royal Fail actually get off their collective backsides and deliver the thing. Its frustrating as I want to push on with the interior as there is a very remote chance that I could get this done for Telford as well as the SH-34. Martian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 That Mr Dissolved Gloop stuff is a fairly recent discovery for me; I love it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 19, 2017 Author Share Posted July 19, 2017 3 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said: That Mr Dissolved Gloop stuff is a fairly recent discovery for me; I love it! Its one of those things that, once used, one wonders how one ever managed without it. Martian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share Posted July 20, 2017 In an attempt to at least start the day sensibly, here is the news. The apertures for the landing lights were blanked off with this plastic card which, when set was sanded to shape. The wings were given some judicious treatment from a hair dryer just to increase the dihedral slightly. This has had the effect of closing a gap between the wing root and the wing. The wings are pretty much ready for that final sanding, polishing and re-scribing that I have been so looking forward to! Next the plated over arrestor hook troughs were given a good sanding until they were flush. I have to hope that I haven't totally eliminated the joins here as I want a very faint line as to where the troughs were to show through the final paint finish. More work on the wings aside the next item on the agenda will to be finish reshaping the pilot's seat and if I am not entirely happy with it, scatch build a replacement. I still have to figure out how the set was likely mounted to the aircraft, in view of the fact that it was not attached to the pilot's bulkhead and could be raised and lowered. In an appeal for information, can I ask you guys to have a look round for pictures of Roc target tugs? The reason for this is that I need to decide whether the aircraft was likely to have had target towing stripes under the wings or not. I have looked at the pictures I have and where the underside is visible, most of them show Rocs as being so painted but not all. The problem that I have is that I feel I do not really have enough pictures for a representative sample. Given the lack of pictures of these floatplane Rocs, we are most likely going to have to base the final finish of the model on probability rather than hard information. Thanks for looking Martian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 58 minutes ago, Martian Hale said: In an appeal for information, can I ask you guys to have a look round for pictures of Roc target tugs? The reason for this is that I need to decide whether the aircraft was likely to have had target towing stripes under the wings or not. I have looked at the pictures I have and where the underside is visible, most of them show Rocs as being so painted but not all. Orange is the new Roc apparently: From Lt. Emmett's logbook, 773 Sqn, Bermuda: If you zoom in on the middle shot below I see no evidence for stripes Martian: Image credits: http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20140315/ISLAND/140319837 Here's a blow-up of the middle frame: HTH, Tony 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Nice progress Martian I couldn't find any useful images but I would think that the undersides would have the stripes eh? Probably? I did find this though: Another, er, interesting Blackburn design, the B-20. They didn't make it easy for themselves, did they? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Stripe it and devil take the detractors, if any dared If the regs called for striped Target Tugs surely this glaringly visible Beastie would be so marked Seriously Martian there can't be any problem with that can there? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share Posted July 20, 2017 Thanks Guys, particularly for the blow up Tony. No-one can prove whether my Roc had stripes or not and I have nor particular preference either way. However, I would like to go with the most likely scheme and as the Rocs were allocated to 773 Squadron from a wide variety of sources, I am looking to do a statistical survey of those Roc target tugs that had stripes and those that did not. Not just those on 773 squadron. I can leap one way or the other with a bit more confidence. Martian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share Posted July 21, 2017 A couple of sessions last night and this morning have seen quite a bit of progress towards getting the wings finished to the point where I can get the attachment points for the float struts marked and drilled out. I began by giving the entire wing a good sanding and the re-scribing those panel lines that had been lost during the conversion work. Next up I added a sliver of 10 x 100 'thou plastic card to each of the root ends of the wings and sanded these to shape. These close up and awkward gap at the wing roots when the fuselage is attached and we now have something approaching a decent fit of the wing to fuselage. While cleaning up the wings, I did a quick test to see how the landing light covers would fit. The answer was not even close! I had to remove the plastic card that was boxing in the light areas and extend them by over 2mm. They then had to be boxed in all over again. Not a happy Martian but then again I should have checked on this much earlier in the build. I have also filed away the locations of the navigation lights and let in pieces of clear plastic. These have been sanded to shape and polished to take out all the scratches. As a bit of relief from the drudgery that has become the wings, I scraped and sanded the mating surfaces of the tailplane to get a nice thin trailing edge and glued the parts together. These are still curing and will probably be cleaned up and polished later this evening. The fit of the tailplane seems to be quite good and with this and the wings in place, the model while not quite ready for the compulsory fist flight round the sitting room, is getting close to it! Thanks for looking Martian 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huvut76g7gbbui7 Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 On 20/07/2017 at 11:50 AM, CedB said: interesting Blackburn design, the B-20. Sorry for topic drift Martian..I am told it still sits on the bottom of the Clyde off the Island of Bute after a wee mishap when operating out of Helensburgh. I was tempted to have a go at Scuba stuff to try and see it,thus justifying my policy of building aircraft I have seen! All that hard work paying of now Martian,Roc starting to look like an aircraft now 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share Posted July 21, 2017 Thanks Scimitar, I kind of feel I can see a very distant light at the end of the tunnel. That B-20 does look tempting.......... Martian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 B-20, I know! Got to be near 'the definition of weird' eh? Nice progress Martian, she's really coming together now and looking rather smart 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 Stripes? Maybe they were waiting for the yellow paint to arrive? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share Posted July 21, 2017 2 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: Stripes? Maybe they were waiting for the yellow paint to arrive? It is curious that some/most Rocs had the stripes and others not. One would think that one would want to make a target tug as conspicuous as possible. 2 hours ago, CedB said: B-20, I know! Got to be near 'the definition of weird' eh? Nice progress Martian, she's really coming together now and looking rather smart Thanks Ced, I am kind of surprised that Contrail never had a go at the B-20, it was right up their street. Maybe there wasn't sufficient reference available on the type. Think will check that out. Martian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 Hello Dears, Knowing the Policy of these times, they surely paint stipes on the Sky underside. Do'nt think that everything has been painted over. I'm doing a Mustang US so OD and Neutral grey Leased to the Brits and they just added some Mid stone paint on the OD What another nice paint scheme !! So dare it Oooh Dear tentacled one, Black stripes on Sky underside, that will look great and more probable than yellow !! Nice job on your wings, I really enjoy it. Have a nice modelling day ! Sincerely. Corsaircorp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 22, 2017 Author Share Posted July 22, 2017 Thanks CC, the problem is that there were clearly some Roc target tugs with plain sky undersides, including at least one with 773 Squadron. Sadly, I do not have sufficient pictures to do a meaningful statistical study as to how likely the majority of Rocs at Bermuda were to have had the traditional target tug stripes. Martian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 4 hours ago, Martian Hale said: Sadly, I do not have sufficient pictures to do a meaningful statistical study as to how likely the majority of Rocs at Bermuda were to have had the traditional target tug stripes. Somehow the mythical origin of the Roc in proximity to the Bermuda Triangle gives your work here an air of glamour and mystery Martian. Have you regaled us yet with what the actual winch bit for target towing looks like? Tony 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 5 hours ago, Martian Hale said: Thanks CC, the problem is that there were clearly some Roc target tugs with plain sky undersides, including at least one with 773 Squadron. Sadly, I do not have sufficient pictures to do a meaningful statistical study as to how likely the majority of Rocs at Bermuda were to have had the traditional target tug stripes. Martian I'll check in my files for évidences ! I'm cleaning up the attic, may be find out some old magazines ! Sincerely. CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 22, 2017 Author Share Posted July 22, 2017 6 hours ago, TheBaron said: Somehow the mythical origin of the Roc in proximity to the Bermuda Triangle gives your work here an air of glamour and mystery Martian. Have you regaled us yet with what the actual winch bit for target towing looks like? Tony Can I state right here and now that this alien is taking no responsibility for mysterious disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle! The winch was a type B and looks like this one mounted on a Skua. 5 hours ago, corsaircorp said: I'll check in my files for évidences ! I'm cleaning up the attic, may be find out some old magazines ! Sincerely. CC Thanks CC, that would be most helpful. In other news, we come across this on the BBC News website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-40674058/us-republican-asks-nasa-if-civilisation-on-mars-existed Well, in this Martians opinion, they looked really hard didn't they? All these probes to the Red Planet when all they had to do was to log on to BM and ask the question! Earthlings, I'll never understand them! Martian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 Hello Dear Tentacled one. There was no accusation at all, and you're doing a Roc, not an Avenger ! So interstellar Journey is not a problem, for you... Why not a Journey in the past intented to bring back all the photos we need so oftenly. Or asking the ETI responsible for the disappearance of the Aircraft in the Bermuda triangle If they did'nt have a Roc floatplane target tug in their own private air museum from Earth ??? Just a suggestion indeed. Have a nice modelling day. Sincerely. CC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 I searched with Roc and Bermuda and find this.... Is there some Roc on Mars too ??? Amazing my Dear Watson !! Sincerely. CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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