Back in the Saddle

Thanks Cliff! Talking of filler, I've build the engine pods for the VC10 and they will need some too.. Here are both models, with filler lavishly slavered over the many blemishes: Another sanding session beckons but each one is improving things noticeably.

It was worth the effort and looks stunning in that livery, but since reading your account of the build I've decided to sell the one that is in my stash! Life's too short and I have the Zvezda kit waiting to be built too - I'll concentrate on that one instead...😉

Time to get kit #3 underway...! I'm not planning own posting too much about it, as I've covered most of this already on my previous builds. An hour on the bench was enough to construct the wheel bays and cockpit due to be inserted into the fuselage, and also the engine cores ready for painting: I then buttoned the fuselage up: A friend of mine had emailed me with a copy of the 'Avignon' artwork, which was invaluable for extrapolating the areas that needed to be designed - the A380 fin is a different shape from the 737, which was the only aircraft to feature this design. With the original artwork, I can fill in the gaps, something I touched upon earlier in this thread: Time for some more Photoshopping!

I think we have a consensus!

That is an excellent model, very nicely finished.👍

I’m very easygoing about these sorts of things! I guess if the background and all the other aspects of a diorama takes up 75% of the build, that would be acceptable under ‘standard’ BM GB rules? What do others think? Happy to canvas opinions!

I think it looks very plausible! Great work on putting it together 👍

Excellent! Like others, I’m tempted to get mine out from the stash and make a start - need to finish the Vulcan first though…

Yep, it didn't go entirely to plan but was a useful learning curve... Hopefully better results next time! Back to the engine build and a look at the components for the engine cores: These soon went together and are pictured with the constructed fans and tailplane from my previous update: The fans go inside the front engine inlets (on the right of the picture), then all these sub-assemblies are glued into the cowlings. It looks like a great way to put the engine together, as different sections can be painted before construction, reducing the amount of masking required.👍 The wings were essentially built, but needed the flap track fairings and curvy wingtips to be added. Here are the relevant bits: Which were soon added to the main section: It is going together like a dream so far!

A quick look at the refurbishment project now and specifically the engines. These were detached from the model and this their current state: A good rub down is required then repainting - nothing more ambitious is planned, as that should rejuvenate them nicely.👍 I also did a bit more work on Photoshop to design the tailfin decals, which are now close to completion. The unused 'Heraldry' design by Timothy Noad is on the left; 'Grand Union' is on the right : These won't be needed for a while but I'm hopeful that progress will be swift once the painting begins, so best to get them ready! Talking of which, my next job will involve some paint, the new tailplanes and the engines...🙂

Or maybe on Monday, if the weekend is busy! 😁 The casting was suitably successful! 👍 The tailplanes are crisp and detailed, but both had a trapped air bubble on the trailing edge in the same place - I'm not sure why the air became trapped here but I'm hoping some filler will soon fix that! I think the resin may have 'subsided' during the curing process, as when I poured the resin the attachment tabs were present rather than being a hollow section. The engine fan blades are actually better than I expected (but I had low expectations!). Unfortunately they are still not very good... The original part was from the Revell kit which was not a good starting point - the quality of that piece was poor, with distorted and damaged blades. The casting itself was very delicate, but I think it looks reasonable in the circumstances. Here are all the pieces: Fortunately @Turbofan has come to the rescue again, with another offer of some Zvezda engine parts from his scrapbox - thanks Ian! I will use his blades on my 747-8 build instead of trying to mold replacement fans. The tailplanes need a coat of primer to show any blemishes, but I'm confident I have some usable parts. The whole process of making a silicon mold and casting a resin replacement was an interesting diversion and one I would happily do again - providing the shape is simple. Molding fan blades may have been a bit ambitious...!

I mentioned the mod to the fuselage to remove the refuelling station, so thought it was worth a quick look at the wings to see what is needed here. Not much - just a couple of slots to fill and a couple of components to discard: I've also attached the engine nacelles to the 1-11, which has thrown up a few problems. The rear air-stairs need rescribing, the engine pylons are missing quite a bit of material and the cargo door fit needs looking at (all issues marked with a cyan dot!): Time for some more filler and 240 grit!

My bad - it was the Revell kit I tried to make. The Tamiya version looks far better!

I had huge issues building this kit - I hope yours goes together better than mine!

Having sanded the exterior and followed this with a session with my polishing clothes, I was left with windows that were perfectly smooth but strangely opaque: Possibly caused by imperfections on the inside surface? I'll never know unless I open it up (which isn't an option!), so my revised plan for this model is to spray the fuselage and revert to window decals. The masking kit which I bought will hopefully be useful on another model, as I've only used the windscreen masks: Hopefully some primer will go on soon, providing the weather stays dry! I made a start on the tailplanes, which are made up from six pieces: And also started the engines, beginning with the fans: All beautifully molded and easily removed from the sprue - these should go together easily.👍

It's a lovely little kit, albeit 'of its time'. I quite like the simplicity of these older ones! Not a huge update, but a little progress was made. The VC10 kit is the tanker version, so needs modification to remove the refuelling station on the lower rear fuselage. A razor saw removed a large chunk of the plastic before filler was applied: A session with some 240 grit awaits!

I will follow this one with interest; it’s shaping up to be a very useful tutorial. Thanks Ian! 👍

Go for it! It’s not the most accurate model, but has a certain charm! @CliffB and @Corsairfoxfouruncle thank you for your verdict, with which I concur! There are many hours ahead of me here on both models, so updates will start to trickle in soon!

Thanks for your thoughts and I’ll await the final verdict! I’ll be building both concurrently anyway, but if the 1-11 is disallowed I’ll keep it out of the thread.👍

Time for an update! I added the silicon compounds together as instructed in a 50:50 ratio and stirred briskly for 5 minutes to mix them. Quite a few bubbles were evident, so I left the mixture to settle for a while before pouring around it the tailplanes: I also needed to cast some engine compressors for another project, so I did these at the same time. The silicon flowed very nicely around these complex shapes: After 24 hours the silicon was solid and the pieces could be removed. I was a little trepidatious, but the tailplanes came out easily and left (what I hope!) is a perfect imprint in the silicon: The compressor blades gave me a mixed result. One was too deeply mired into the silicon and came apart when I removed it. Fortunately the other one popped out easily, giving me a potential workable mold - I need to cast four fans in total for a 747 project I have on the bench: The resin was bought online and was used in my first attempt to mold the tailplanes: Again, the instructions were followed and mixed in a 10:3 ratio before adding to the silicon molds. It takes 48 hours to cure, so hopefully I will post an update on Friday!

Thank you! As both of these kits have been started, I'm going to need an adjudication from @Corsairfoxfouruncle and @CliffB before I go too much further...! The VC10 is the 1/144 Airfix RAF Tanker version, shown below, with some BOAC decals: The windows have been filled ready for the decals and the fuselage joined together, but that's pretty much it - hopefully suitable for inclusion? The BAC 1-11 is slightly more advanced, with wings, engine and tailplane also glued: Whilst this build looks relatively more advanced, I'm reasonably confident that I'm not 25% of the way there yet, as the finishing part takes me hours...! However if the adjudicators disagree, I will gracefully withdraw the 1-11 from the GB.👍 Awaiting the decision with trepidation...!

To make it more unusual, this time I received a notification about your reply at the top of this page! I'm not aware of any add-ins. I'm using Safari on either MacBook or iPad (both posts tonight were from the same device, so it's not being caused by switching machines). The setup is 'standard' Apple AFAIK; I certainly haven't tweaked with any of the settings! It's no biggie, it's just odd that sometimes I miss a reply to a post until I stumble across it weeks later...

Thanks Mike.👍 Regarding notifications, I get the required emails expected whenever I follow a topic. What I don't always get (including this time!), is the red circle on the 'notifications' icon at the top of this page. For some reason, that is a bit hit or miss - I usually get them, but not all the time...

That is excellent!👍

Thank you! That's a great choice of colour scheme! Funny you should say that! I'm 'just' looking at the decals at the moment and there are a few issues... Comparing the decals with the actual aircraft, the 'Speedmarque' needs some tweaking - it is too small and doesn't look right, with a darker shade of red added and no white highlight. I've made a few tweaks and here's a picture to show the problem and my solution: I've corrected the size and aspect ratio of the Speedmarque, fixed the colours and superimposed the door outline. I still need to add the 'exit' sign, which is currently missing. The 'British Airways' titles need looking at too, as they are also slightly incorrect in terms of size. It should be a simple adjustment though.👍 The painting has stalled but I'm hoping to get the white finished this week (I know, I've said that before!)😃.