moaning dolphin

Thanks for the positive encouragement, very much appreciated! Bob

It's been some time since I last posted on here, mainly because my work computer has blocked BM so I can't while away my lunch hours and spare time perusing Britain's finest and as my evenings are full of modelling and other activities I haven't had much time to chirp in. But anyhoo I have managed to complete the odd kit and here is my latest. Having spent most of my career surrounded by Seakings, its an aircraft I have a lot of affection for. I love all the different marks (apart from crab yellow! ) and styles but as a kit its not one that thrills me to build. When I started this Airfix MK3 version I did intend to have 3 kits on the go at the same time (Another Airfix and a Revell), but that soon dropped away very easily! These new kits go together very easily but I just start to find it tiresome a lot easier than other kits. Maybe because I know the aircraft inside out and feel the need to add a lot of needless fine detail that cant really be seen. Any how I got myself the Xtradecal set #2 for Seakings which set me on the path to build a Mk1, 2 and 5 to go with my Mk4 and Belgian Seaking. I managed to get hold of 3 kits, 2 Airfix MK3s and a Revell German kit. I banked on the Revell version being a MK1 as they included a 5 blade TR and the old radome. But the Airfix kit has an old radome and the MK4 had the 5 bladed rotor so I stuck with that one for the Mk1. I have also found old decals for a Canadian version so that may eventually bump out the Mk5 as that one is a dull grey. (I have a thing for Navy Helos with those great big numbers plastered on them!) I then set about turning the MK3 into a Mk1, not that much of a difficult job. Obviously you have the 5 bladed TR, old radome, the blade roots need to be squared off, the strake isn't fitted and the reinforcing around the tail cone/fuselage area needs to be removed, rear windows filled and various aerials removed. I also boxed in the sponson areas. The internals were quite basic but I did throw in a couple of extra bits in the cockpit including handles on the inside of the windscreen which cant be seen very well lol! I had a disaster fitting the canopy, trying to get it to fit well I ended up cracking it on a skylight, luckily it isn't a standout problem. All the cooling grills were cut out, thinned down and had fine mesh applied. This caused problems for the area at the front of the rotor head, but nothing a bit of superglue and patience couldn't sort (I was lacking a lot of the latter however!). The doppler antennae and rad alt were removed from the underside along with other aerials, it is missing another aerial type but I couldn't determine what that was so have left it off (I was a mechanical grubber so only ever broke aerials and not fixed them!) and the aerial on the spine is not correct as ive only just noticed. An old style doppler aerial was fitted and I also cut out the sonar well with the intention of adding detail in there.....but bottled it! I folded the blades to save space, but I don't like the angle airfix set them, so had to cut them either side of the cuff and reattach them, I also had to fit tip socks on the side blades to pull them in more and look more proper. Just for added interest I added a spreader board, these were used onboard to hold the blades if the head lost hydraulic pressure and I tied up the side rotors. So here she is XV653, Seaking Mk 1 of 706 NAS circa 1977. Painted in Model Master Acrylics and just out of the foam wash shop! Edit - Just looking through some old documents including my flying log and I carried out a Track and Vibro check test flight as a flying maintainer on this airframe back in 2001 when she was a Mk6 on 810 NAS, spooky eh! Thanks for looking! Bob

Not a proper Canadian but I'll say hello from wet, cold, crappy Halifax Nova Scotia! Bob

Hey Bill! Happy new year y'all. I haven't jumped in on this site for some time but do keep browsing and just looking in from afar and there is nothing like a good old FAA build to stir the cockles! Just catching up on your tribulations regarding the quilting. I had the same problems when doing my Cormorant build a couple of years ago. I ended up using some mesh and foil which gives a decent result. I left a tutorial in my build which I linked above. Or you could save the foil from tonight's chambers. Any hoo good to see your Navy builds! Cheers now Bob

Loving following this thread, I always seem to be a couple of days behind so haven't chirped in that much, just sat back and enjoyed the progress. Now with a tiddly Wessie as a bonus! Looking forward to seeing the "out of the box" effort, I always thought it looks nice when done but didn't realize so much was wrong with it until it was all pointed out, especially the intake, all I see now is a wide mouthed frog! But I look forward to this, it will be as entertaining as the others. Just as an aside, I had the Airwaves set for one of my versions and discovered it wasn't really worth the brass it was printed on, didn't fit very well at all. Keep cracking on! Bob

Nice work! I love these mini Seakings, great little kits! Bob

Very nice indeed, well done! Bob

Excellent work, she is a stunner! Bob

A great rendition of the mighty King, really enjoyed following along the WIP. She has turned out beautifully! Bob

Brilliant idea! Love to see a Bubbles CP140! Beautiful Seaking, Well Done! Bob

On a very basic level probably yes, the very basic airframe shape is the same. There are lots of differences to check out, the stabliser is different size, 5 blade tail rotor, no radome, no blister on port side of transmission fairing, different rescue hoist, no sand filter and I think there may be differences in the sponsons as well. Taking into account all the different aerials and lumps and bumps I think it should be a decent basis to start from! Bob

An exquisite rendition and it does more than capture the essence of the mighty king, I doff ones hat in respect! Bob

Thanks for the encouragement folks, we are nearly there in this project. I did a little bit more work over the weekend, first up was to finish off the prop, which has come out all shiny and new like! I have painted the hub blue but it turned out almost violet blue so may tone that down a bit, I have seen some pictures with a light blue hub. I also added a bit of brake wire to the landing gear before attaching that and also fitted the bubble windows for the Observers to observe out of (when they haven't got their curtains closed!). In the cockpit I readied the seat and hunted for a suitable harness from my spare etch stock. There wasn't much available and I opted for a harness from a Hurricane. I think this may be too old looking for this aircraft, I have fitted it but I'm not too sure, what do you guys think? Out of place? I also added a foil curtain behind the pilots head and opened it up to show the electronic boxes behind, quite pleased with this effect but doesn't show too well in the pictures, the canopy is just loosely fitted in the top photo. The last thing to add was the pylons for the drop tank. These are from the Esci kit as the Tamiya ones aren't the right shape, I will also use the Esci drop tanks. There is no positive engagement for the tanks to fit onto the pylons so they would be literally just hanging there. Having looked closer at the tanks there is a lot more to them than just simple tanks so back to the drawing board and I will modify them quite a bit. So here is an update on where we are sitting now..... Apart from the tanks, all that is left is a little bit of tweaking here and there and a bit of weathering although I shall try and have it in a clean fresh condition, so hopefully the next update will be a finito post and then I can put here out on the display shelf with Mojo quite restored! Thanks for looking in Bob

Sweeeet!

Good day all, Here is my latest finished effort, 1.72 Airfix newer tool Lancaster Dambuster. This originally started as a dual Lancaster build with a Revell version as well. As you can see only one has made it to the finish line so far, the other is a good few weeks behind! This kit was originally a birthday pressie a couple of years ago from my dear SWMBO, she asked what I would like and I said a model kit would be nice. In 20 odd years she has never bought me a kit, so I left it out there and this is what she got me. I'm not normally a Crabfat builder, preferring more of the Naval side of things but this one has a Canadian connection so qualifies under that genre. The build was quite laborious mainly down to my own incompetence of fitting numerous items the wrong way round! I used my favourite Model Master flat black and tried out Vallejo Air for the green and brown. I didn't like these at first as the first couple of coats were awful, but I persevered and in the end it looks ok. Also tried my first attempt at airbrush exhaust staining, a bit heavy but room for improvement. Finished with a Promodeller (Flory) wash and MM Matt varnish So here we have it a Lancaster BIII flown by Flt Lt Joeseph McCarthy DFC RCAF during Operation Chastise Cheers now Bob