RN Hawker Sea Hawk from 810 Sqdn on HMS Albion, December 1956

[FIGHTS ON]

oh bl**dy hell, I was just about to post the updates to my build, feeling really proud of the detial I'd squeezed in, then saw your build & attention to detail...........perhaps I can adjust the focus to blur mine out

 

I am loving this build of yours, please, please keep up the work AND taking the time to post as it does inspire despite my comment above !

[Basilisk]

On 4/2/2018 at 11:03 PM, trickyrich said:

Really lovely work Peter!!!

 

Hopefully some of those watching this build will pick up some of your tricks, as they are really nice.

 

Am enjoying watching this build progress. 

Thanks Rich. I am looking forward following your Vigilante  build as well

 

On 4/3/2018 at 12:31 AM, Valkyrie said:

B the attention to detail and research is incredible. Hats off to you sir

Thanks Valkyrie, but it can be a bit of a 'handicap'.

 

On 4/3/2018 at 6:51 AM, zebra said:

Fantastic work Peter. This is going to be a superb model.

Thanks Zebra. I hope it will be a nice model - and finished within the time-frame of this GB.

 

1 hour ago, FIGHTS ON said:

oh bl**dy hell, I was just about to post the updates to my build, feeling really proud of the detial I'd squeezed in, then saw your build & attention to detail...........perhaps I can adjust the focus to blur mine out

 

I am loving this build of yours, please, please keep up the work AND taking the time to post as it does inspire despite my comment above !

Glad you like it. Just keep doing what you enjoy - no need to adjust the focus.

 

I did get a bit further - or better, one step back and two steps forward. When attaching the gun sight as shown below, I am not sure what I was thinking.

the sun blends on the side of the gun sight are lined up correctly. But the gun sight is now to much forward and sloping down Also Aires got the proportion wrong as the gun sight is overhanging the IP way to much.

 

So out it came.

Now the gun sight is at the correct location, but the sun blends need to be replaced as the shape is wrong and they are now too far forward.

 

Gone.

I can now use some spacers to get the IP at the correct spacing and reconstruct the rest with some additional detail.

 

And I did construct the sliding rails for the canopy. Fortunately I found a picture showing how it looks.

 

And on the model.

 

To me little things like that do make a difference.

Still have to do the other side.

 

Also tinkered around the pit a little. Aires got the placement of the rudder pedals totally wrong, so I changed it a little (moved them further back).

 

 

Cheers, Peter

 

[Col.]

Beautiful work so far Peter. I'm particularly impressed with those vents in front of the windscreen as I've always thought of them as a prominent feature of the Sea Hawk that's been fudged in every kit of the aircraft  

[trickyrich]

the canopy rails look great.

 

You know you should do a resin correction kit for the cockpit and vent area, it wouldn't be to hard to do at all.

[Basilisk]

On 4/5/2018 at 12:49 AM, Col. said:

Beautiful work so far Peter. I'm particularly impressed with those vents in front of the windscreen as I've always thought of them as a prominent feature of the Sea Hawk that's been fudged in every kit of the aircraft  

Thanks Col. Yes little things like the air vents can enhance a model nicely.

 

On 4/5/2018 at 8:19 AM, trickyrich said:

the canopy rails look great.

 

You know you should do a resin correction kit for the cockpit and vent area, it wouldn't be to hard to do at all.

Thanks Rich. Never made a mould for resin casting, so it would be a new experience. But I may have a go at in on this build as I need a second pair of underwing hard points. Do you have any pointers what to use and where to get the materials?

 

But I can't see a resin set correcting the curved canopy opening. I would think it is as easy to straighten it than to fit a resin part. Same to some degree for the vents opening which isn't hard to implement. And there is already a PE set (as part of a cockpit set) for it.

 

Unfortunately progress will be back to my normal snail speed.

Cheers, Peter

[Troy Smith]

1 hour ago, Basilisk said:

Do you have any pointers what to use and where to get the materials?

Hi Peter

Not seen much from you recently,  (though I  was admiring your Hurricane build again  and got me to finally order some  beading  tools)

 

in the UK you can buy Resin Casting  Starter Kits,  which have all you need.

I got one a  few years  back, it's easy enough to do for a chap of  your  skill set... 

 

A quick search of "resin casting set australia"  gets a load of hits

eg

http://aldaxstore.com.au/p/8549375/alumilite-super-casting-kit.html

 

though you may find something cheaper.  This does have a video embed,  though you may not need the " Alumilite Synthetic Modelling Clay "

 

The only problem I found  was air bubbles, more of a problem in thinner or smaller parts.   I cloned up  some resin bits for personal use,   it's worth the bother if you need multiple copies,   though as the base rubber moulds are not cheap for bigger parts one offs are not always worth it.

The actual resin is pretty cheap per casting,  and sets fast so a few failures are not a big problem.

 

HTH

T

PS

On 01/04/2018 at 11:33, Basilisk said:

"home-brew" of super glue with talcum powder to fill all the gaps.

 

A suggestion I read  on here was to use acrylic nail powder,  I duly ordered some from ebay,   I just got the cheapest  from  China,   'Ezflow'  but looking at the ingredients,  it has Benzyl  Peroxide and N-Trichloromentlylio,   which  act as 'kickers'  with CA glue,  so it hardens  really fast.   Very handy  for fast gapfilling and getting on with job.   I have  added CA to a gap, and spinlked on some  Ezflow,  and it just sets, workable in a few mins.

 

The CA/talc  mix is more forgiving,   and probably better for fine surface work.

 

Edited April 6, 2018 by Troy Smith
added PS

[trickyrich]

1 hour ago, Basilisk said:

Thanks Col. Yes little things like the air vents can enhance a model nicely.

 

Thanks Rich. Never made a mould for resin casting, so it would be a new experience. But I may have a go at in on this build as I need a second pair of underwing hard points. Do you have any pointers what to use and where to get the materials?

 

But I can't see a resin set correcting the curved canopy opening. I would think it is as easy to straighten it than to fit a resin part. Same to some degree for the vents opening which isn't hard to implement. And there is already a PE set (as part of a cockpit set) for it.

 

Unfortunately progress will be back to my normal snail speed.

Cheers, Peter

It's actually really easy, even I can do it!   I've done a few now and it's much easier than it looks or sounds. The silicon for the moulds is easy to get here in Oz, the same with the resin. I'm not sure where you can get it in Melbourne but a good artists supply place will have what you need, the rest is juts trial and error, but really simple (as long as you can mix ratios). PM me and I can send up pics of the stuff I use.

[Basilisk]

Thanks for dropping in Troy. Yes I didn't do much scale model building as I got into RC flying last year. Got my silver wings just before Christmas and I can now fly models up to 7kg. Great fun flying models, but kind of missed making scale models, so here I am with the Sea Hawk.

 

Thanks for your pointers and suggestions on resin casting. As the parts are small, I maybe try my luck first using Blue Stuff with epoxy putty as shown here.

Looks ideal for small parts.

 

36 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

A suggestion I read  on here was to use acrylic nail powder,  I duly ordered some from ebay,   I just got the cheapest  from  China,   'Ezflow'  but looking at the ingredients,  it has Benzyl  Peroxide and N-Trichloromentlylio,   which  act as 'kickers'  with CA glue,  so it hardens  really fast.   Very handy  for fast gapfilling and getting on with job.   I have  added CA to a gap, and spinlked on some  Ezflow,  and it just sets, workable in a few mins.

 

The CA/talc  mix is more forgiving,   and probably better for fine surface work.

 

Interesting suggestion using acrylic nail powder with CA. I certainly can see some use for it and will check it out. But I do love using CA with Talcum Powder and if used with medium CA it is workable for a while which has its benefits - and me being a slow builder are normally not in a hurry

 

4 minutes ago, trickyrich said:

It's actually really easy, even I can do it!   I've done a few now and it's much easier than it looks or sounds. The silicon for the moulds is easy to get here in Oz, the same with the resin. I'm not sure where you can get it in Melbourne but a good artists supply place will have what you need, the rest is juts trial and error, but really simple (as long as you can mix ratios). PM me and I can send up pics of the stuff I use.

Sounds good Rich. I actually sent you a PM a while ago regarding this. You maybe haven't noticed it.

 

Cheers, Peter

 

 

[trickyrich]

Hmm maybe not, I'm really bad at that! Oh I bought some of that blue stuff in Malaysia as well, am dying to try it.

[trickyrich]

Hmm can't find your PM?

 

I'll take some photos of the stuff tomorrow, plus I'll give you the address of the place I use, they're just down the road from me in Newtown, they have all the good stuff and post interstate.

[CJP]

The Group Build is an area of Britmodeller I had not seen until I found a link to your Sea hawk build - you are doing a very neat build and have nice clear photos of what you have done - excellent - I did corrections to  my Trumpeter Sea Hawk similar to yours except for using the Pavla cockpit and main wheel well bay - I'm really impressed how even & neat your cockpit intake air vents are - I thought on my model the tip of the nose was a bit too blunt so added plastic card, reshaped it a bit sharper and redrilled the nose intake - another feature as shown in your accompanying photos is how the nose wheel door sits right at the tip of the nose when the gear is down - I also had to adjust the lengths of each nose wheel door - I'm really looking forward to see your build progress

CJP

[Basilisk]

On 4/6/2018 at 11:56 PM, trickyrich said:

Hmm can't find your PM?

 

I'll take some photos of the stuff tomorrow, plus I'll give you the address of the place I use, they're just down the road from me in Newtown, they have all the good stuff and post interstate.

That would be much appreciated Rich.

 

3 hours ago, CJP said:

The Group Build is an area of Britmodeller I had not seen until I found a link to your Sea hawk build - you are doing a very neat build and have nice clear photos of what you have done - excellent - I did corrections to  my Trumpeter Sea Hawk similar to yours except for using the Pavla cockpit and main wheel well bay - I'm really impressed how even & neat your cockpit intake air vents are - I thought on my model the tip of the nose was a bit too blunt so added plastic card, reshaped it a bit sharper and redrilled the nose intake - another feature as shown in your accompanying photos is how the nose wheel door sits right at the tip of the nose when the gear is down - I also had to adjust the lengths of each nose wheel door - I'm really looking forward to see your build progress

CJP

Glad you made it here. The Group Build area is indeed a great place to hang out in with some great builds.

 

Just found your build of the Sea Hawk and you did a great job with it, correcting the kit's shortcomings - looks great and I will be thrilled if mine turns out like yours.

 

I normally prefer Aires upgrades as the casting is exquisite. Unfortunately the research done by Aires is a bit lacking and not necessarily correct. So is the gun sight on the Sea Hawk upgrade a bit too large. But at least it will look crowded up front.

 

Talking about gun sight, I made some progress in that area.

 

I replaced the sun blends with and added all the PE around the gun sight.

Looks impressive, but unfortunately it doesn't look right and I think it needs some major rework on the gun sight - back to the drawing board.

 

Then this gadget got some use.

 

To do this.

The IP needed some depth and this is a good way to make some knobs.

 

Also worked a bit on the air intakes.

Removed the guides and used ca with talcum powder to smooth it all in.

 

I then decided to make some duct covers on the upper wing.

The air guides are next.

 

Too many loos ends on this build currently and still some challenges ahead.

Cheers, Peter

 

[CJP]

Thanks Peter but I think your Sea Hawk will take some beating the way it is coming together - like the way you sorted out the canopy and rails - what is and who makes your gadget - I'm guessing it is some kind of punch tool? - I also remember being disappointed with the kit undercarriage which I found a bit spindly and cobbled up the main gear from K&S aluminium tube and bits of kit U/C - the main gear doors were also a pain to fit and get the angles right from the front and side - funny that Scale Aircraft Conversions have never done a Sea Hawk undercarriage in white metal but have done the Spiteful/Seafang and Attacker - I'll be enjoying watching your build

Chris

CJP

[Colin W]

Great to see you doing so well with this kit. 

I built the Falcon vacform many years ago and used some large diameter tube cut into slices and then 1/3 to make the intake guide vanes. It 

Worked well. 

HTH

Colin 

[CJP]

Hi Peter - I'm intrigued by the use of super glue and talcum powder as a filler - looking at your build photos it looks like you apply the super glue direct to the model and then sprinkle the talcum powder on? - just don't want to stuff a model before I find out - do you use ordinary super glue or a slow setting one?

CJP

[Basilisk]

On 4/8/2018 at 11:23 PM, CJP said:

what is and who makes your gadget - I'm guessing it is some kind of punch tool? - I also remember being disappointed with the kit undercarriage which I found a bit spindly and cobbled up the main gear from K&S aluminium tube and bits of kit U/C - the main gear doors were also a pain to fit and get the angles right from the front and side - funny that Scale Aircraft Conversions have never done a Sea Hawk undercarriage in white metal but have done the Spiteful/Seafang and Attacker - I'll be enjoying watching your build

Chris

CJP

Thanks for the pointers Chris. Yes my gadget is a punch tool. It is the Waldron Punch and Die set. There are many others available, but this was the cheapest at the time and it does the job. Really handy for scratch building and definitely a good investment.

 

Didn't pay too much attention to the kits undercarriage yet, but id does look a bit simplified May have to do some scratch building as you did. I haven't used any Scale Aircraft Conversions U/Cs, but as far as I can see, they are in most cases just straight copies of the kits part.

 

Aires provides some replacement doors with some nice internal detail, but I am sure they will be a challenge to fit as well.

 

On 4/9/2018 at 9:37 PM, Colin W said:

Great to see you doing so well with this kit. 

I built the Falcon vacform many years ago and used some large diameter tube cut into slices and then 1/3 to make the intake guide vanes. It 

Worked well. 

HTH

Colin 

Thanks Colin. Building the Falcon vacform would have been a REAL challenge. Interesting approach using large diameter tube for the intake guide vanes. Unfortunately I don't have any tubes that size, but fortunately there are many ways to skin a cat

 

2 hours ago, CJP said:

Hi Peter - I'm intrigued by the use of super glue and talcum powder as a filler - looking at your build photos it looks like you apply the super glue direct to the model and then sprinkle the talcum powder on? - just don't want to stuff a model before I find out - do you use ordinary super glue or a slow setting one?

CJP

Some do apply the super glue direct to the model and then sprinkle the talcum powder on, but I mix the stuff first and use it like a filler. Here are some pictures from my 1/72 P-40 build.

 

There is this nick at the wing to fuselage transition which needs to be corrected and the CA/Talcum mix is perfect for this. I add several drops of Medium CA onto some waste material and then mix some Talcum powder into the CA. It is usable for about 10-15 minutes before it starts to set. Using thin CA speeds this up. I normally wait till the next day to sand it back, but it can be done within an your (depending how thick you apply the mix)

 

Using less Talcum keeps the mix thin, but harder when dry. Adding more Talcum creates a thicker paste and is softer when dry and therefore easier to sand.

Which other filler can do that and stay put.

 

As mention before, it is a great way to eliminate gaps. It is adaptable, doesn't shrink, has a very smooth surface after sanding and can be scribed over easily without flaking off. The only downside is that you have to mix it and the fumes the CA emits.

 

Otherwise not much progress on the Sea Hawk build. I removed the Aires gun sight part and trying to scale it down a bit. Should have more to show next week.

 

Cheers, Peter

[CJP]

30 minutes ago, Basilisk said:

Thanks for the pointers Chris. Yes my gadget is a punch tool. It is the Waldron Punch and Die set. There are many others available, but this was the cheapest at the time and it does the job. Really handy for scratch building and definitely a good investment.

 

Didn't pay too much attention to the kits undercarriage yet, but id does look a bit simplified May have to do some scratch building as you did. I haven't used any Scale Aircraft Conversions U/Cs, but as far as I can see, they are in most cases just straight copies of the kits part.

 

Aires provides some replacement doors with some nice internal detail, but I am sure they will be a challenge to fit as well.

 

Thanks Colin. Building the Falcon vacform would have been a REAL challenge. Interesting approach using large diameter tube for the intake guide vanes. Unfortunately I don't have any tubes that size, but fortunately there are many ways to skin a cat

 

Some do apply the super glue direct to the model and then sprinkle the talcum powder on, but I mix the stuff first and use it like a filler. Here are some pictures from my 1/72 P-40 build.

 

There is this nick at the wing to fuselage transition which needs to be corrected and the CA/Talcum mix is perfect for this. I add several drops of Medium CA onto some waste material and then mix some Talcum powder into the CA. It is usable for about 10-15 minutes before it starts to set. Using thin CA speeds this up. I normally wait till the next day to sand it back, but it can be done within an your (depending how thick you apply the mix)

 

Using less Talcum keeps the mix thin, but harder when dry. Adding more Talcum creates a thicker paste and is softer when dry and therefore easier to sand.

Which other filler can do that and stay put.

 

As mention before, it is a great way to eliminate gaps. It is adaptable, doesn't shrink, has a very smooth surface after sanding and can be scribed over easily without flaking off. The only downside is that you have to mix it and the fumes the CA emits.

 

Otherwise not much progress on the Sea Hawk build. I removed the Aires gun sight part and trying to scale it down a bit. Should have more to show next week.

 

Cheers, Peter

Thanks Peter - I agree on the SAC undercarriage in white metal - I also found that white metal undercarriage (various manufacturers) tends to sag mainly at the axel and the wheel ends up with a distinct camber over the years.

That is great information on how to use the CA/Talcum mix - I will give it a go on a future model - I always had to file and insert plastic strips in those edge situations where putty can flake off so this will be a useful alternative

Might have to get myself a punch tool too.

thanks Chris

[Biggles87]

Hi Peter, I should have realised you were building one of these somewhere when I saw the questions on the MB2. Like you (were) I'm not intending to join any GBs this year in favour of finishing some long term projects, so I havn't been looking at them.

You're doing a great job so far as usual, and I'll be watching closely in the hope of picking up some tips.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Basilisk]

On 4/11/2018 at 10:38 PM, Biggles87 said:

Hi Peter, I should have realised you were building one of these somewhere when I saw the questions on the MB2. Like you (were) I'm not intending to join any GBs this year in favour of finishing some long term projects, so I havn't been looking at them.

You're doing a great job so far as usual, and I'll be watching closely in the hope of picking up some tips.

 

Cheers

 

John

Yes John, the MB2 question was indeed for this build. Shouldn't have started another kit, but I thought this will be a straight forward build as all the reviews and past builds had been favorable - I guess it al depends how closely you look at things

 

Nearly two weeks passed since my last progress and I do still work on the kit, but unfortunately things move slower than I like. As mentioned in my last post (#37), I wasn't happy the way the gun sight looked as it was too large and the whole bits above the IP just didn't look right.

 

So out it came - again.

I made a diagonal cut with a saw to reduce the length and height of the gun sight. Cutting diagonally also didn't destroyed any details.

 

And back in again.

The sun blends are now much less on an angle and looks much closer to the original.

 

In comparison to how it was previously.

 

And here the real deal.

Also note the instrument in the red circle. Trumpeter and Aires have it as part of the IP, but it is attached on the side in front of the IP.

 

Another mod to do.

Unfortunately the Aires Martin Baker Mk.2D ejection seat has the footrests missing. so I added them.

 

Looks better now with the seat in place.

 

I assume Aires modeled the seat on this picture.

But this didn't look right to me as it would be a rather uncomfortable ride. So I asked the question in the Cold War forum how the seat should look like. And thanks to several replies, it became clear that the Aires seat is unequipped, that is without parachute and should look like this.

More stuff to add. Will use Milliput to make the "padding", but will paint the seat first.

 

I have to say that the Aires cockpit for the Sea Hawk isn't there best effort

 

But most of my time I spent reworking the air intakes. And this is what I came up with.

 

 

And this is how it looks on a real aircraft

Of note is that the dividers are only within the first half of the opening!

 

And they are recessed a lot from the opening.

 

A lot of complex curves in there. Unfortunately something is a bit off with the Trumpeter air intake opening as the proportion just didn't looked right if I placed the dividers within the first half. I therefore had to do a compromise.

 

 

And here some close-up pictures

 

This was more involved than I originally thought, but it does enhance the look nicely.

 

After correcting the air intakes, I have to do something about the jet exhaust.

Looks like more thinning of plastic in in order

 

Left before and right after.

 

Should be able to get some paint on things after I finished thinning down the jet exhaust

 

Cheers, Peter

[CJP]

I've been hanging out for an update on your Sea Hawk - nice neat work on those intake guide vanes - excellent photos too.

CJP

Edited April 21, 2018 by CJP
text

[zebra]

Great stuff Peter. Some fantastic modelling going on here. Looking forward to the next update!

[trickyrich]

great mod work Peter!!!

 

Those intakes look awesome and I can well imagine they won't the easiest to get right and even too. That's also some nice clever work with the gun sight, plus the extras in the cockpit.

 

Arrr I keep forgetting to send you the details of the moulding and casting mediums I use!!  I'll do it today...or now.

 

Barnes   they have a great stock of everything you need and I've found them to be very helpful. 

 

They have a store in Melbourne and the casting medium is;

 

Pinkysil - Fast Setting Silicone    about $40 for 500gm

 

and the resin;

 

Fast Setting Rigid Polyurethane Resin  about $30 for 450gm

 

Both are really easy to work with and with a bit of practice and care you can cast very fine details

[Basilisk]

13 hours ago, CJP said:

I've been hanging out for an update on your Sea Hawk - nice neat work on those intake guide vanes - excellent photos too.

CJP

Thanks Chris. Was hoping to have progressed a bit more by now, but it always takes longer than anticipated - at least when I do it

 

12 hours ago, zebra said:

Great stuff Peter. Some fantastic modelling going on here. Looking forward to the next update!

Thanks Zebra. Hope to have some worthwhile progress by next weekend.

 

10 hours ago, trickyrich said:

great mod work Peter!!!

 

Those intakes look awesome and I can well imagine they won't the easiest to get right and even too. That's also some nice clever work with the gun sight, plus the extras in the cockpit.

 

Arrr I keep forgetting to send you the details of the moulding and casting mediums I use!!  I'll do it today...or now.

 

Barnes   they have a great stock of everything you need and I've found them to be very helpful. 

 

They have a store in Melbourne and the casting medium is;

 

Pinkysil - Fast Setting Silicone    about $40 for 500gm

 

and the resin;

 

Fast Setting Rigid Polyurethane Resin  about $30 for 450gm

 

Both are really easy to work with and with a bit of practice and care you can cast very fine details

Thanks Rich. Yes the intakes had been a bit of a pain in the but with all these curves everywhere. Here I could see making a resin part a worthwhile addition - maybe in case I build another Sky Hawk...

 

Talking about resin, many thanks for letting me know what you use. Checked out Barnes' location in Victoria and I am walking past their shop at Richmond for the last 13 years on my way to work So at least it won't be a problem to get the stuff.

 

Cheers, Peter

[trickyrich]

now you know what's in the shop! I went past the place in Newtown many times before I went inside, only to discover how much wonderful stuff they have.

[Basilisk]

Yes I am still working on her! Did a few small things here and there and the internals are now finally ready for a coat of primer.

 

And I got some nice goodies last week for this build.

I was looking for a decent RP-3 replacement as the one in the kit are mediocre to say the least. And as I will build the model with wings folded, they are a focal point so deserve to be an accurate representation. These come with PE and decals I still have to improve/scratch build the rails and have a go at resin casting.

 

Cheers, Peter

Edited May 1, 2018 by Basilisk