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Wessex HC2 Crab Cabs Pt II (Fly Wessex - why on earth did I?)


hendie

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2 hours ago, Harley John said:

your perseverance with the magical sciences is awe inspiring

 

I'm not sure that perseverance is the right word - maybe sheer bloody mindedness is more accurate.  It's like most things - a little bit of practice goes a long way, and each time I've done this I have either learned something new, or realized what I've done wrong.

 

But onward we march to answer the BIG question... after all this faffing about does anything even fit ?   Now anyone with any sense would have printed a paper copy way back at the beginning of this episode and offered it up for a dry fit, but then again, it's me we're dealing with here.

 

Anyways... I present to you - a photographery etchered piece of brass sitting inside a (to be) folded tail.  Note that this is one of my earlier poorer attempts but proves the concept since the overall size hasn't changed.

 

PC290003.jpg

 

A little bit of fettling around the edges and those two tail halves will close up nicely.  Quite happy I am.   :yahoo:

It must be my week of the year - PE parts produced without complete failure. Tattie scones made earlier this week, and last night I made some really nice soda scones and some Jock's loaf.  Dinner was mince n' tatties with enough left over to make a nice mince pie for the weekend.  Now, if only my puff pastry turns out as well as my PE !

 

Back on track... below is my last attempt at this portion.  I adjusted the artwork this morning, increasing the diameter of all the rivets and made some other minor adjustments. 

I used all the same exposure settings as before but I diluted the developer this time around to give me more control.

 

PC290004.jpg

 

One thing to note is that even although I increased the rivet diameters,  I don't seem to be getting "clean" brass showing through the holes, so I am not holding out much hope for the riveting. I ended up dunking the fret into the developer on multiple occasions, even resorting to loading my brush with developer and working on small areas and still couldn't clear out the rivet areas.  Note also that the fold line in the center bracket isn't fully clean either - but I got a good one off the last fret.

 

Since the artwork appears very sharp, I think that I need to dial back a few seconds on the exposure under the UV lamp.  However, that's an exercise for another day.

That fret is now having a nice bath in the etchant so I'll visit it again later and report my findings. That should be my last posting on the alchemy front as I'm sure you're all getting rather bored with it by now.

 

With any luck, I'll be able to get back to modelling some time soon.

 

 

 

 

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IT WILL FIT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

magnifique already already

 

nota bene.

 

the above was input before I managed to get to see the preceding post

 

Hendie we (OK I) are not even remotely fed up with the process going through the mixer or us getting the feedback

 

talking about feedback

 

Tattie scones, mince pies that are not those fruity dollops Tesco sell

 

You just made me monumentally hungry

 

 

 

Press on dear hero  :drink:

Edited by perdu
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As threatened in a previous post, here is the final, final posting in Alchemy 101.

 

Overall, not a bad result. I'm starting to see some  improvement but also some inconsistencies between attempts.  For example, the riveting around the perimeter was a lot more successful on my last attempt, yet for this go round, I had increased the diameter which should have made it easier to clean out the film resist. Also, the fold line in the bracket (center shot)  is only partially etched - I thought this was going to happen as mentioned in the earlier post.

 

PC300001.jpg

 

However, the rivets on the fuel filler plates is much improved and those rivets are the same diameter as on the two large plates.  The only difference is that they were negative rivets on the tail plates, and positive rivets on the fuel filler plates. But that doesn't really hold as an argument as you can also clearly see some successfully etched negative rivets on the fuel filler plates.

Before I started yesterday I also cleaned the print heads and ran an alignment test on the print heads and everything appears to be as good as it can be.  The printer is about 6 or 7 years old now, so I wonder if a newer printer may achieve better results?

 

I clearly still have lots to learn about this process.  On the plus side,  I know I can produce some basic shapes and features without too much difficulty.

 

By far the longest elements of the process are the artwork preparation, and the etching process itself.  I reckon I spent about 2 hours overall on the artwork, that includes rejigging and modifying etc. The etching process I estimate takes anywhere between one and a half to two and a half hours depending upon how much metal you are eating away (also the strength of the solution). The actual "work" part of the process, that is: cleaning brass, applying film resist, developing etc.  takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes at a nice easy work pace.

 

On the plus side:  Make any shape/part you want.  You don't need to rely on aftermarket goodies to pimp your beast of choice.  You can have the parts in your hands within a few hours instead of waiting days/weeks for delivery from some distant land.

 

And on the Plus Plusser side:   It's really not that difficult !!!  It really isn't.  If you can follow a recipe  follow directions   follow instructions build a model kit (sorry - forgot who I was dealing with here), then you can make your own etch. 

 

The biggest problem I faced was having SWMBO force me to do the dishes before I started so I had a clear work space in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

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Another urban myth shattered.

I was under the illusion that every home in North America was built around a dishwasher.

(Great for cleaning engine parts BTW)

 

(Should I mention that I just polished off half a very rustic pork pie with cranberries & (proper) mustard?)

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1 hour ago, hendie said:

Make any shape/part you want. 

'Aye..right!' as they say up here.

Can we have 200 copies scaled down to 1/72 please and probably one or two for those 48th fellas too :D

 

I'm glad that this all worked out for you. It really had to be done in that scale didn't it ?

Is there a WIP for your tattie scones et al?

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2 hours ago, hendie said:

(not for here on BM though)

At a stroke ruling out the filling in of a gap in the 72 and 48 market :(

 

Setting the banter aside for a moment,perhaps even until next year,this build is going from strength to strength.

Thought I'd finish with a wee pic of Walter all tucked up :

xv725.jpg?d=261217161923

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1 hour ago, Scimitar said:

At a stroke ruling out the filling in of a gap in the 72 and 48 market :(

 

You were gong to use my tattie scones as a filler?  

 

heathen!

 

 

:P

 

 

4 hours ago, Scimitar said:

I'm glad that this all worked out for you. It really had to be done in that scale didn't it ?

 

Thanks.  I'm actually very surprised that Fly didn't consider PE for those parts from the outset.  Their molded parts are pretty awful.

I'm sure there's a few more PE bits to come as this build progresses

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That is a lovely picture of 725 Richard, for a while XR525 was parked all bent up in Cosford before they bunged her up on a big framework I gave serious thought to modelling her like that and took a lot of pics to help me out , just in case

 

Didn't happen

 

Then, but...

 

Anyway the upper transmission deck door thingy looks awfully as if it has been swiped off a Naval Junglie doesn't it

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50 minutes ago, perdu said:

 

Anyway the upper transmission deck door thingy looks awfully as if it has been swiped off a Naval Junglie doesn't it

Perhaps just painted to a convenient panel line.

There were certainly variations in the last scheme,some of them with very straight lines around the intake filter.

This one has a lot more dark green on the nose. Note also the heavy duty rotor starting device has yet to be connected (see also @71chally's Gannet pic)

35762906680_bb1a7e13cd_b.jpg

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Looks like they swapped panels often too

The variations in the green are amazing, I have data that suggests that the upper sections of the rotors are dark green, these look grey

And where the IR sensor thingy is missing off XV725's nose the basic dark green is different again

 

I do love a good Wessex

 

(caveat, I do hate a yellow topped RAFBG one)

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9 hours ago, perdu said:

The variations in the green are amazing, I have data that suggests that the upper sections of the rotors are dark green, these look grey

Remember that that photo was taken when Walter had been retired so I'd be wary of using it for other than details.

I was going to add a picture of the black painted HC2 as the last bit of banter for the year  but couldn't find it. 

I did find this though.It looks like a civvy version of the snow nose the military tried out

VH-SJD_Wessex_lifting_A20-688_Wirraway.j

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1 hour ago, Scimitar said:

Did you ever see the light grey scheme?

 

Great work Hendie, I think your metal work is amazing. It would be great if it was available for us mortals, lol.

 

Ive seen your SACRU on Shapeways, very nice indeed. The I agree with you about the guy with the 1/8 scale parts, tad expensive for basic forms.

 

Happy New Year to all us Wessex followers.

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