Martian

Just got back from taking the Zeppelin display to this one. Many thanks to the organisers. It was very well run and well worth the long round trip from Poole. Exhausted of Mars 👽

I was wondering who would be the first to spot that one! Go to the top of the class. Martian 👽

So, first up the pictures of the corrected tail of the Sea King, promised before my trip to Sutton-Hoo: As thigs turned out, having to relace the lost detail from the kit parts was a blessing in disguise as it allowed me to get a much better fit of the tail to the fuselage. I felt that I needed to glue the cyclic sticks in place to check how much room I would have to play with when I came to fit the instrument panel and control console as I want to detail and paint this part of the model separately. Plenty of wiggly room but I got fed up with breaking the sticks. In the end, I lopped the sticks off at their gators, drilled a hole in each of the same and scratch built a pair from brass rod. Should they give me any grief whatsoever, the collectives will be getting the same treatment. The blade supports and cargo frame were waiting for me when I got back from Suffolk and are currently being cleaned up before my assessment of them for you good Earthlings. I have to say that I was amazed at the speed in which they were delivered to Martian's Towers from the other side of the Planet. In other news, @Pete in Lincs took sometime out from some top level raspberry blowing to donate a tail section of a Sioux which has allowed me to experiment with an Idea for making this section of the helicopter look much more to scale, without resorting to soldering a completely new one from brass. I have learned a lot about soldering but I feel that making a new boom and keeping everything square is a bit beyond me at the moment. I also wanted a fix that anyone can have a bash at. Initial indications are that my cunning plan is workable and once I have got a completed tail boom I will get back to you with some pictures and a explanation as to how it works. Thanks for looking. Martian 👽

Not a million miles away from it. Martin 👽

Jammy Git! As for the Wasp, I have done it before and that was without the help of Hendie's bits, so I can do it again. I do admit that we do need an up to date Wasp/Scout kit though. Covered in Sutton Hoo Mud of Mars 👽

Thanks Colin, Pete-in-Lincs is sending me an unused Sioux tail boom which I shall use to test an idea I have had out on. Fret ye not about the Wasp and the Dragonfly. Both will be getting done in due course, along with an Australian Navy Scout and as Sycamore and Kiowa from the same service. I am at Sutton Hoo on the Time Team dig this week, so no modelling until Sunday. Martian 👽

Quite! Martian 👽

Thanks Colin, fortunately I will be doing a Spanish Navy cab, which I understand to have been US .production machines. In other news, I spent yesterday correcting my little faux pas with the tail boom and making some replacement cyclic sticks from brass, havig got fed up with mending them for the umpteenth time. Pictures courtesy of Lady Martian later. Martian 👽

Me? Build something OOB? I have already got the Eduard BigEd set for that kit anyway. @Terry1954 told me recently that he didn't think I was capable of building OOB anymore, and I have to say that he might just be right for once. I am however desperately trying to concoct a plan that will not only prove him wrong but have the evil creature eating humble pie for a month of Sundays! Seriously though, the modellers that I am most envious of are those who are quite happy to build their models OOB. Martian (Suffering from AMS since forever) 👽

Just a quick query; does anyone know of a 3D printed tail boom for the Italeri 1/48 Sioux? I know attack Squadron did one but they have discontinued production. Hopeful of Mars 👽

Good job we are away next week then. The council's health department has been warned and they in turn have got the Special Boat Service on red alert should the sock get as far as Poole and they in turn have asked the local nursery school to place the offending item in one of their paddling pools with a net over it and keep it their until such times as Nasa can fire the thing into space on the next craft to leave the solar system. There is also a great deal of concern that somewhere the sock has a twin that is still on the loose. Martian 👽 Yes I should have checked some pictures. I guess I know what I am going to be spending tomorrow's bench session doing. Bugger! .......is the right answer! Martian 👽

Thanks Petaurus, I have just ordered a set of frames, along with a cargo frame and will report back on them when they land at Martian's Towers. If nothing else, they can probably be used as a pattern for a better scratch built frame. Sadly, only a five bladed gust lock seems to be available for the tail rotor. No big deal there as I hadn't planned on fitting one anyway Thanks Colin, it looks like I will be doing the Uruguay option as well for my first build. It would be handy to see some sprue shots though as I am beginning to wonder if a spare set of Matchbox windows could be made to fit. As my Revell 1/48 build can attest, I am not an alien that can be easily dissuaded from a course of action once decided upon it. Some say that I am just determined, others tell the truth and describe me as b***y minded! Stubborn as a Telos Cyber Mule of Mars 👽

Sorry to have to digress from the learned debate about my flabber and General Melchett's pile cream and rogue sock but I thought I should share some advice to make life a bit easier for those who might be building one of the Airfix 1/48 Sea Kings. I have read that a bit of filling is needed on the underside of the join between the tail and fuselage when the tail is displayed in the unfolded position so I decided to have a look at this area. As things transpired, I was not overly happy with the join all round. Part of the problem is that there is a flange inside the rea of the fuselage which is intended to assist with the location of the tail section. Rather than do this, it creates too greater gap between the fuselage and tail. Dspaie's rotary grinder soon sorted this out: I also nibbled away at the kit hinges a little which helped close up the gap still further: The fit is actually much better than it appears in the above picture as I was trying to hold the two assemblies together while Lady Martian took the photograph and all the while trying to keep as much of myself as possible out of the picture. There is a bar on the starboard side of the helicopter that joins the two hinges and this is a bit of a weak point being , in my opinion overscale, almost certainly due to moulding limitations. Anyway, mine was bent as well and I decided to replace it with some sections of Albion Alloy's slide fit brass tubing which, to my eye at least looks much better: Believe it or not, doing that little lot took about five hours of my time yesterday. It is, I feel, well worth the effort as it does improve the overall look of the model. Thanks for looking. Martian 👽

I'll try some of @general melchett's pile cream. He mistakenly left a small barrel of the stuff here along with a rogue sock after his visit to Martian's Towers last month. Quite what's in the cream, I am afraid to guess as the small on the label states that the cream has been produced by Baldrick Pharmaceuticals. ☠️ On second thoughts, perhaps I might be better off going for a flabber transplant. Apprehensive of Mars 👽

Even with the insufficiently rounded nose, I enjoyed the kit and as for the details I didn't like, I just did what I have always done and got the plastic card out. For me, the hardest part was choosing which of the myriad markings on the Modeldecal sheet to apply to the model. I think I am just going to enjoy the kit for what it is and hope that we can make a Mk 5 out of the Airfix kit. I can't believe that they won't do one in due course in order to make maximum use of the toolings. Martian 👽