Hawker Osprey

[825]

I know it's a bit of a challenge but I thought I'd give it a go. It's been in the stash for a few years and it's a beautiful little plane. So typical of pre-war FAA.  

 

 

There are 5 sprues of nice but softly moulded plastic, typical of a short run model. There is also a small film for the windshield. The sprues have a whole bundle of things not to be used. I think it's a kit for a number of two seater Hart versions. 

 

 

And a rather nice transfer sheet for an HMS Eagle based aircraft.  

 

[trickyrich]

welcome aboard and it's really nice to see something from the very beginning of carrier operation.

 

I have to admit you're a braver man than I to build a biplane, have only ever built one and that was enough for me!!!! So I'll be watching from the safety of the sideline for this one! 

 

Good luck with her, hopefully it'll be a trouble free build for you and I look forward to seeing it in the gallery.

[825]

Some paint on. I do like to get as much painted as possible on the sprue. The Aluminium dope is Tamiya Dull Aluminium brush painted. I'm not a great Tamiya acrylic paint fan as it dries too quickly but their metallics are an exception. The Cerrux grey is Xtracrylix Light Aircraft Grey. The instructions suggest the interior should Aluminium but I think the doped linen sections are likely to be brick red from the undercoat. 

 

 

The interior is quite detailed for a limited run but I wonder how much will be seen, even with an open cockpit. 

 

[MarkSH]

Nice subject, will be watching this with interest.

[Killingholme]

That's a very pretty aircraft! Look forward to seeing it come together- I haven't been brave enough to attempt an Amodel biplane!

 

Will

[825]

Started glueing the inside bits together. Quite Nicely detailed but lacking a little bit in location points.  I think the control column looks a bit long.  There's also a little bit of touching up to do. 

 

 

[825]

Here we are at the end of the day. 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

This looks like a Hawker Fury with two seats and carrier operating equipment. Time to go investigate? 

 

I see its related to the Hart. 

Edited April 22, 2018 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[825]

9 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

This looks like a Hawker Fury with two seats and carrier operating equipment. Time to go investigate? 

 

I see its related to the Hart. 

 

Its certainly a navalised version of the Hart family.  I think the Nimrod fighter was a naval variation on the Fury. 

[825]

Fuselage closed up. Took a bit of care, and needed to trim off the bottom of the ammunition box in the cockpit as it fouled the cockpit floor. Also needed to file down the floor insert at the rear to fit. Otherwise it went together not too badly. I'll leave it overnight to dry and then tidy up. I'll sort out a coat of Aluminium on the wings before I go off to the rugby in the next half hour or so. 

 

 

[trickyrich]

that's a major step out of the way closing up the fuselage, there looks to be a couple of small gaps to sort out but that should be fairly simple to do.

[825]

9 hours ago, trickyrich said:

that's a major step out of the way closing up the fuselage, there looks to be a couple of small gaps to sort out but that should be fairly simple to do.

 

Thanks, it took a little while to get it all together and aligned. There's a little bit of filling and sanding to do but not as much as I expected with it being a short run kit. There's also lots of bits to add, cockpit cover/surround, engine cover and the radiator so I suspect more filling and sanding to come. Also there's no locations for the lower wings and only a butt joint so I might think about sorting out something to make the joint more secure. 

[825]

Cleaned up the joints and got the engine cover and cockpit surround on. Both required a bit of sanding

 

 

The engine cover was at least 1mm too long so required careful trimming and despite sand and fit, sand and fit, repeat ad nauseam I still ended up with a gap! From the fuselage not the cover. 

 

 

Here is the fix. I'll leave it till tomorrow to dry before trimming and sanding down. 

 

[trickyrich]

if you have some thin plastic rod, that works a treat for pinning wings together. thin brass rod if there is any weight involved.

 

Plastic strip for filling is the only way to go.

[825]

Thanks Rich. 

 

Ive drilled into both wings, superglued a short piece of metal rod (from a dressmaking pin) and drilled a corresponding hole in the fuselage. I'm afraid my engineering skills are not quite good enough to insert a rod all the way through. The holes are slightly big to enable some manoeuvring to get a good fit. I'll use a combination of cyano and Tamiya ExtraThin. 

 

 

You can also also see the clean and tidied up fuselage parts as well. 

 

 

[825]

Lower wings and tailplane on. 

 

 

 

Mind you metalic finish is unforgiving. The upper rear deck has been filled and sanded but looks awful. The underside is worse!  I'll have let everything harden up and set to it again. I might change my filler to Delux Perfect Putty so I can wipe the excess off with a damp finger. The fabric effect is quite subtle and I don't want to lose it. 

[825]

10 hours ago, 825 said:

Lower wings and tailplane on. 

 

 

 

Mind you metalic finish is unforgiving. The upper rear deck has been filled and sanded but looks awful. The underside is worse!  I'll have let everything harden up and set to it again. I might change my filler to Delux Perfect Putty so I can wipe the excess off with a damp finger. The fabric effect is quite subtle and I don't want to lose it. 

 I've looked at these pictures and paradoxically the photos are much better than the reality. There's a serious seam along the top and the underside needs a bit of work. 

 

I'm not worried about the tailplane as there is a bit of space on the real thing.  Let's see how the fin/rudder goes on. 

Edited May 7, 2018 by 825

[trickyrich]

those pins will work perfectly. Because I am at the moment mostly building in resin you sort of have to pin things. It does take a wee bit of practice and planning but once you get the hang of the tricks involved it's quite simple. The ability to side bits on and off can be a real help in aligning stuff, plus it helps take the weight of solid resin bodies!

 

It's coming along nicely, the though of mounting those wings scares me!

[825]

A few weeks work of little snippets of filling gaps, sanding down and repainting, followed by filling gaps and repainting, followed by ... You get the gist. Finally got here, enough to keep me satisfied. Have also started to add some of the bits and pieces. Many of the parts are small and fragile but once fixed and allowed to dry Tamiya Extra Thin seems to leave a really strong bond. Hope to get to the ready for transfers stage over the weekend. 

 

[825]

Doesn't look like much done, but a fair amount of little fiddly bits added. They are quite small and the sprue gates relatively large. The plastic is rock hard so sanding them off is time consuming considering the size and delicate manner. Then there is the lack of location holes so a little bit of fiddling to get them in place, then some very careful touching up. Oh and after cutting out trimming and bending the film windscreen, I lost it to the carpet monster while glueing it on. Cue fabricating a new one from the excess film.  Progress is slow but after I repainting the exhausts, I think it's ready for transfers. Transfers first then upper wing and undercart. 

 

 

 

You can just about see my beautifully crafted new windscreen. Which will of course be hidden by the upper wing. 

[CliffB]

Well done for persevering with the windscreen .  Film looks much better in 1/72 than the clunky injection moulded screens that some manufacturers provide!

 

Cliff

[825]

On 6/1/2018 at 9:39 AM, CliffB said:

Well done for persevering with the windscreen .  Film looks much better in 1/72 than the clunky injection moulded screens that some manufacturers provide!

 

Cliff

 

Thanks Cliff. A model actually provide film for the windscreen which took forever to trim and bend as it was tiny. Hence the frustration when it got lost to the carpet monster. I do agree that for these little planes film or acetate sheet is probably a lot neater than injection moulded screens. Mind you I am a bit lazy and sometime prefer the quicker solution. 

[825]

Some transfers on. They are admirably thin and went on beautifully. I will leave overnight before finishing off. There's a coat of Micro Sol on them to help them bed down. 

 

 

Ive only just found out that for the rudder Amodel only provide the white centre stripe and the red and blue have to be painted on.  The suggested blue is Humbrol 15 - French Blue but it is different from the blue used in the roundels although it looks about right. I think I've got some Xtracrylix Roundel Blue somewhere. Mind you it might be US Insignia Blue. Something for tomorrow as I am not going to touch it until the transfers are dried and that will be overnight. 

[trickyrich]

gee you've made some good progress since I last popped in. She does look rather nice with the decals on. Can't wait to see the finished wee beastie.

 

I agree the replacement cockpit screen does look good, the plastic hem one would have been way too thick for sure.

[825]

More transfers on. Then the bit I always hate, putting on the upper wing. I've fixed the outer struts on and will leave overnight to set up. I'll see about fixing on the cabane struts once it's stable. The front ones appear to be a bit long. 

 

 

Doesnt look too straight but I'll work on that.