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Bristol 188 - 1/72 Dragon Model Works - Finished


AdrianMF

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I've just got back from 2 weeks away for work. After a long break, you really need a simple kit to get you back in the swing of things. Maybe something like the Airfix FAA Wildcat that I've been thinking of building in a weekend for ages now... 

 

Er, no.

 

On the last day I had some free time, so I visited a couple of model shops in Denver. At one of them they had some second hand vac-forms going cheap. This one is pretty basic but for $2.99 who could resist?

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I have never heard of Dragon Model Works. The sheet has a good basic fuselage shapes, but everything else is a little indistinct, and the engines are rather "blobby" at the ends - it feels like it needed more heat or more vacuum! You can see some faint detailing on the parts, like what seem to be blow-in door outlines, but it all "needs work". There is a canopy, which hasn't yellowed, but I'm afraid storage hasn't been kind to it and I will need to make another.

 

After creating a lot of plastic dust and shavings, I decided that the wings were not going to work for me. Given that the wing had a 4% thickness to chord ratio, and that the chord is about 50mm on the model, two sheets of 40 thou should do nicely:

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The pencil hatching shows the surface. When scraping, filing and sanding the wing to a taper, you can see how far you have got by seeing which marks have been removed. In this shot I have tapered the outer wing.

 

The engine nacelles come together nicely with some work, and I've fitted the first one over the wing (just taped on for now). I'm considering my options for replacing the intake and exhaust, and for making the blow-in doors:

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So I'm now here. Must try and finish it before I get tempted by that Wildcat!

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Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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Looking good so far, I hope it goes better for you than my resin one did - wip here .

 

Let me know if you need any pics or info etc. I've still got the decal artwork I did for mine if it's of use.

 

Steve

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29 minutes ago, BritJet said:

I hope it goes better for you than my resin one did - wip here .

Crikey - that's a tall order! I was looking at your WIP this morning for a bit of inspiration and I thought it looked terrific. I've got the Barry Evans book on British Experimental Turbojets, and sets of Xtradecals post-war roundels and serials so I should be OK on that front thanks.

 

I did the Ursus/Airfix SR53 recently in a quite simplistic way, so I may go for an in-flight pose to keep it company, which would make things simpler..

 

Regards,

Adrian

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8 hours ago, CedB said:

A Bristol eh? I'm in! :popcorn:

Well it's a twin, so can we say "a pair of..."?

 

23 hours ago, Eric Mc said:

Basic modelling - best of luck.

Don't know any other way I'm afraid :) I haven't broken out the balsa wood and sanding sealer (so far).

 

Regards,

Adrian

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1 hour ago, LostCosmonauts said:

 

I love a good vacform build!

 

Well Martin I hope you can at least tolerate a mediocre one....

1 hour ago, LostCosmonauts said:

block of marble

I wonder if the block of marble came with a tag that said "builds up into heroic classical figure", with a drawing of a stick figure attached?

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

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A plane thats been on my to do list ever since seeing it in the flesh last year. Those enormous engines make it look like the fastest thing ever built! Reality was a bit different, but let's ignore that.

 

Thinking outside the box a bit, if the built starts to go wrong, there's always the desk model option. Looking at your work so far, I don't think the option will be needed though.

 

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The shiny thing above is an Airfix 1.48 scale javelin with all the detail filled in, followed by a good scrub with the last of my S 'n J polishing powder. A Bristol 188 would be a natural for this kind of treatment.

 

Good luck with the build.

 

Tony.

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1 hour ago, TonyW said:

The shiny thing above

The "shiny thing" looks great - best look for a Javelin if you ask me. Very Art Deco! 

 

40 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said:

simple

I couldn't help myself. The Martlet kit is now scowling at me from the end of the bench...

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Hello All,

 

A bit more scraping, sanding and trimming tonight and it is starting to look like an aeroplane!

IMG_7177.jpg

 

Next up I need to add some strengthening inside the fuselage and nacelles.

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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Heck Adrian, I wish they had a respect reaction, you'd be due it in spades for taking this on. :) I've long had a sort of soft spot for this job, lemon that it was, it looks fantastic. I first saw it on the cover of the Observers Book of Aircraft 1963 edition, the 1st one I was given. I'll be keen to see you work your magic on it, I bet the engine fronts don't stay blobby for long. :)

Steve.

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You are showing in spades that vacform building is not the dark art that many suppose it to be. More power to your tentacles!

 

Martian

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On 04/11/2017 at 12:47, Blitz23 said:

Looked like something from thunderbirds!

Unfortunately its performance didn't match its looks. Sad way for Bristol to finish its plane-making history. But it does look cool in spades!

On 04/11/2017 at 13:10, Blitz23 said:

Hope these come in handy

Thanks! I've just ransacked my online photo collection only to find out: (1) I didn't name the directory holding the photos I took with "Cosford" or anything useful like that; and (2) I didn't even take a photo of it when I was there!

 

Doh...

 

Regards,

Adrian

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  • 1 month later...

Well, having banged out a cheeky OOB Martlet, I suppose it's back to the grindstone. The biggest issue is the blobbiness of the engine inlets and exhausts. So I have some 10mm brass tube cut into short sections for the inlets and I wound some paper with superglue round a 12mm drill for the outer exhaust rings.

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I will either use the spare brass tube or make a longer paper tube for the inner jet pipe itself. I have also strengthened key areas of nacelles and fuselage with Milliput left over from a mirror restoration project to prepare for surgery on auxiliary inlet doors, a cockpit and wheel wells. It's a surprisingly heavy vac model now!

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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