British Airways Concorde, Revell 1:72

[neilg]

Probably posting this the wrong-way round; the completed model is already on the Ready for Inspection forum.

 

Here are the photos of the build.

 

There were no major modifications to this kit, it was build pretty much out-of-the-box, except I filled the cabin windows and used the window decals from Draw Decals.

 

Starting with the forward section, I trimmed the pins that form the visor mechanism.  They were too long, and caused the plastic struts to bend (which they don't want to do easily because they're clear plastic):

 

 

Cutting the pins reduces the stress on them, and makes the pins less likely to snap.  When they're too long, they're more likely to snap (and I've read that a lot of people have snapped the pins, and given up on the moving parts).  I also used a twist-drill to enlarge all of the holes in the struts, visor, and nose cone.  I wanted to make the fit as loose as I could to reduce friction.  I used the same twist-drill to make holes in the tail section for the fuel vents.  They are moulded as small recesses, but I wanted to make these into holes.

 

I have a video of the movement of the nose and visor, but I don't know how to upload videos here, or if it's not permitted.

 

When the parts were dry, I painted the mechanism a dark colour, so they would be less visible through the visor.  I read other builds that had a scratch-built panel  under the visor (which is realistic), but this would not permit the use of the mechanism:

 

 

I bought the visor mask set from Hannants, which is a perfect fit.

 

I assembled the forward section as a whole, then built the cabin and tail sections as two halves.  This helps match the different diameters.  I then attached the two halves of the fuselage to the completed forward section.  This was a technique I've read about before, and worked well for me.

 

The dark part of the engine looks too long, so I painted white up to the vents on the underside.  This is only about quarter of an inch more, but looks better in my opinion:

 

 

To give the perception of depth inside the engines, I applied Halfords grey primer on the inside and outside.  This makes the plastic opaque, and prevents light leaking into the engines through the white plastic.  I applied Halfords appliance gloss white to the exterior, and only sprayed the front of the inlets white, holding the can about 10 inches away.  This graduates the white/grey shading inside the engine inlets, blending into the dark grey as you look further inside, and gives the perception of depth on the finished model.  I didn't want the engine fans to be visible from a distance:

 

 

The major seams were the joints between the forward, center, and tail sections, and the wing roots.  They filled pretty easily, but required three or four applications to make it fully smooth:

 

 

 

I used Halfords gloss appliance white all over, using about three cans in total.  I sprayed outside (I was lucky with the weather during the week that I was off work), but when I went to check on it as it was drying, I found a few aphids stuck to the wet paint.  I tried to scoop them out, but left behind some pit marks, wings, legs, green gunk, which made it necessary to sand and reapply a few times.

 

 

After painting, I applied a layer of Humbrol Clear all over with a brush, and then applied the decals with Humbrol DecalFix.  The decals were printed immaculately, in crisp and vibrant colours, and were very thin.

 

As with the Revell 1:144 Concorde, the decals for the vertical stabilizer come in a few sections.  On each side is an oval decal that covers the rudder actuator fairing.  

 

To get the decals around the rudder actuator, I used very hot water to soak the decal, and with the help of the DecalFix, it slipped into place and conformed nicely to the complex contours.  You can see below the C in the registration in the following picture, a remnant of an aphid part under the paint:

 

 

Then to get a nice sheen, I applied a few more coats of Humbrol Clear, and then Tamiya polishing compounds to buff into a high gloss, but in the process, I managed to snap off a few of the vent masts (which are very thin).  I fitted these before I primed the model, because I wanted the joints to be seamless, covered in primer and white.  I was hesitant to apply these before I finished the model, knowing how fragile they are, but I thought I would be ok... wrong!

 

For pictures of the finished build, have a look at my entry on the Ready for Inspection forum.

[CedB]

Nice job Neil - this is not an easy kit and you've done a great job  

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Thanks for posting this WIP Neil,   This is the first build I have seen where someone has got the nose mechanism working.

 

I am also impressed that you finished this one in a week! Most the WIPs I have seen have gone on for months.

 

I have the Heller boxing to build and am encouraged that it can go together fairly quickly. Mine will be built wheels up and this thread will be stored away for your build tips

[Martian]

A beautiful effort!

 

Martian

[neilg]

On 05/06/2017 at 00:46, TrojanThunder said:

Thanks for posting this WIP Neil,   This is the first build I have seen where someone has got the nose mechanism working.

 

I am also impressed that you finished this one in a week! Most the WIPs I have seen have gone on for months.

 

I have the Heller boxing to build and am encouraged that it can go together fairly quickly. Mine will be built wheels up and this thread will be stored away for your build tips

 

The nose mechanism works, but I think the design of the linkages is poor.  I can't lower the nose and visor by pushing down on the nose cone.  If I push down on the nose cone, the visor starts to move forward away from the flight deck windows, but it does not lower.  I can feel the strain on the linkages, but I don't want to force it.  Once the pieces are snapped, that's it - there's no way of fixing it.

 

I think the angle of the front link that connects the visor cradle to the bottom of the nose cone is at too steep an angle to enable the initial movement.  If it were farther forward (so at a shallower angle), it would be easier for it to pull the visor.

So to lower the nose, I push down on the visor.  The visor then slides down and forward, and pushes the nose cone nicely down with it.

 

And to raise it again, I pull up on the nose cone, and the visor nicely slides up and back into the fully up position.

 

Maybe that's how it was designed?  The movement is nice and smooth, so there's nothing that is catching on the parts or preventing their movement.  That's what makes me think it's to do with that one front link.

 

I've got a video of how it works, but the link to the video on Photobucket doesn't seem to work on here.

 

When I start the Heller kit, I will do a more detailed WIP thread, and see if I get the same results with the nose mechanism on that one (or if I break it this time).

 

I've got no more time off work, so the next build will not be a week!

 

I'm also low on Halford's appliance gloss white, so I need to wait for my next trip home to stock up.

 

 

[gingerbob]

None of your links to images is working for me.

[neilg]

3 minutes ago, gingerbob said:

None of your links to images is working for me.

 

I'm sorry, I don't know how to fix that - I can still see them on the original post I submitted.

[gingerbob]

And now I can too!  I thought it might be "one of those things".