Iain Ogilvie

Well, wing and struts attached so she was complete enough to display at the Avon Model Show in Thornbury yesterday. Still needs rigging and strut stays fitting - but hopefully gave an idea of the quality of this kit out of the box!! Final surface finish is a thin coat of Gunze Aqueous Satin Clear that was burnished slightly after drying for a few days - and gives a nice representation of the sheen, rather than full gloss, of the originals. Iain

And an overview of where we are now - ready for a coat of satin varnish - and some more detail work. It's a pity the camera doesn't really pick up on the DayGlo effect - looks great with the rest of the scheme: And gratuitous 'dry' assembly: This kit has been an absolute delight to build so far - great fun, something different, and hugely rewarding! I believe Tim *may* soon have some cadet figures to go with this kit... Iain

More progress! 0.5mm brass wire cut and bent for the wing mounts - this material is supplied in the kit. Here loosely fitted in place and not glued: Tailplane bonded in place - and support struts cut to length from the 0.5mm brass rod, painted red and fitted: Nose and under-fuselage cable connections painted and fitted, along with the main wheel and skid. Skid suitably weathered to depict a worn wooded surface under the paint: All out! Iain

Thanks for the background details - I hadn't known that reason for the DayGlo strips - makes perfect sense! Now - starter for 10... I presume that if a young, slim, 16 year old cadet were on their first solo - the ballast weight on the tailplane wouldn't be needed? Iain

Feeling a little guilty as I've been putting off something that I was worried could go horribly wrong... The airframe I'm modelling has DayGlo/Scotchcal sections on the outer wings - complicated by the fact that they follow the radius of the roundels at the inner ends. Main issue was that I'd already applied the decals for the roundels - so didn't want to damage those when removing masking. Solution I came up with was thin paper masks the same diameter as the roundels, cut with a compass cutter, and held in place with a thin strip of Tamiya tape across the middle - parallel to the leading edge. Next I cut circular masks in 'Oramask' masking film, again with the Compass Cutter, and with a radius around 1.5mm larger. These were then applied over the top - using the holes in the centres of both paper and Oramask circles to align. After that, the rest of the areas could be masked up safely using Tamiya tape. These areas were given a very light coat of MRP Luminous Orange (MRP-194) along the edges of the tape, at low pressure, followed by a coat of MRP White to provide a solid background, followed by a final coat of MRP Luminous Orange. Results are shown in the photos - and I'm happy with the results - after a little nail-biting! Letting these areas harden off - then the main airframe parts will get a light coat of satin varnish. Iain

Here's the basis of a smaller airframe - albeit still 1:32: This was another 'test print' on the journey, whilst I was fine tuning my printer settings for the HIPS filament - apologies for the Kermit green - but when the filament is on special offer you can't be too choosy - and it all gets primered anyway! The control surfaces were removed from the .stl files so they could be printed separately on the 4k resin printer - again, playing to the strengths of each printer type and medium. Iain

Absolutely - but there are still projects in 1:144 and 1:72 where a well set up FDM printer using HIPS filament would be a good solution IMHO. Iain

Undoubtedly yes, but... The FDM printed HIPS is the best for structural items - tough, strong, light and easily bonded. Plus I have a print area of 250 x 250 x 300 mm. Once primed/sanded the surfaces scribe well for any detail, with the caveat they have a grain from the print layers. Most of the fuselage skin panels on the P-8A are overlapped - so will be a case of marking out panels, masking and spraying along the edge with a filler primer. The resin printer has the print area of a mobile phone - 134 x 75 x 130 mm - and the resins can be brittle, although more ductile ones have become available - and will continue to develop. But the resolution can be quite extraordinary. Items such as undercarriage legs will be printed hollow to allow stainless steel, or brass, reinforcement. I wouldn't contemplate printing the structural/airframe components on something this size on a resin printer - the FDM/HIPS combination scores on every level for this - but it's pretty useless for anything that requires detail. If you ask on printer groups 'what is the best printer for scale modelling' - 99% of the time the answer will come back 'resin printer' - either LCD or SLA - but that really misses some really worthwhile advantages of the FDM type printers IMHO. Iain

I wondered how long it would take for someone to mention the poor Connie! Actually, one of the catalysts to getting the first printer was a plan to draw up the nacelles, cowlings, flaps, undercarriage etc for the Connie - no further progress on that just yet - but she's not forgotten: Iain

Main sections of fuselage have 6mm diameter acrylic rod to align - before bonding: Have incorporated cut-outs for weapons bay and undercarriage bays: Will be working on her as and when, inbetween other projects and as I learn the fine art of 3D modelling in more depth... Blue skies, Iain

Thanks for the interest everyone - I wasn't sure whether it was worth posting! A few people have asked if I could do some additional prints - and the answer has to be no at present. Several reasons: I don't own the source files these prints are based upon I simply don't have the time, or capacity, at present - and I'd only end up letting people down The airframe, to date, has taken approximately 4 weeks of almost constant running on the printer! Using HIPS as a print material works brilliantly - easy to bond, easy to sand and it takes paint really well. The surfaces do have fine layer lines - but a quick sand and coat of Halfords Primer sorts that. Wings are made up from multiple print sections - 8 each side - with a 2mm styrene central 'spar' (backed up with 2 x 2mm stainless steel rods running root to tip. This is what I'm mainly using to bond: Wing and tail prints : Cowling loosely placed: Iain

I have a little prior 2D CAD experience - and lots of vector art program experience - but I'm still very low on the 3D learning curve - something this project is inteded to fix as I'll have a lot of detail things to draw up. The source file for the Poseidon is available to buy and download here for printing at 1:100 . I've taken these files and enlarged/cut up/tweaked in a program called Meshmixer - which has been reasonably straightforward to get my head around. As the 3D model was designed to be printed a lot smaller a lot of the detail has been removed and will be re-done - and the trailing edges are thick - so I'm using some traditional model bashing techniques too... A good FDM printer should be able to print HIPS - you need higher nozzle and bed temperatures, and you need an enclosure to keep ambient temps reasonably high whilst printing. I'm running around 232 deg C nozzle and 92 deg C bed - and I'm using a PEI bed which gives great adhesion and helps prevent print distortion. Iain

Storage... Well, it's like this. It started as a 'wonder what I can test print' moment - which resulted in 'I wonder if I can print a CFM-56 engine pod' - using the PLA filament that came with the printer. These have now been reprinted using HIPS filament instead. And the exhaust is a separate part - hence 'wonkyness' in photo: As that worked, and I'd acquired some rolls of HIPS filament (High Impact Polystyrene), along with a printer enclosure so that I could print at higher temps, with no draught issues - we escalated to 'I'll just see if I can print a nose' - in this case a 1:32 737-800 nose... From there I just carried on to see if I could - and, well, it appears I can - subject to a lot more work, obviously. Tail sections - next to a Tempest II in the same scale: Until we ended up with this: Parts are strong, and very light. They glue easily with Revell Contacta - floor and bulkhead in 2mm styrene sheet: And these were first test prints on my 4K resin printer - cockpit panels. They need tweaking for more depth - but are based on Boeing drawings - it's amazing what the Flight Sim boys draw up to print at 1:1! I call it my 'Apprentice Piece' - and it hasn't really mattered if it got finished because it was serving it's purpose as a learning exercise. Now the basic aiframe is there it's not actually as mad as it looks - and the wings are separate whilst I work on it. If I do carry on - which is the plan at present - it will fit in my wife's car as a complete airframe. And *if* finished it can live in the garage - or go to a museum/squadron - we'll see... So, yes, a lot of madness about my method, but it's been a hugely rewarding learning experience so far - and gives me ideas for lots of other things I'd like to try - if I ever get the time. Iain

Actually - not small is all relative... 😉 Scimitar would look very impressive in 1:32 IMHO - but I wish everyone well with the smaller kit - I hope it sells well! Iain

Talk of Scimitars in another thread - and the possibilities of 3D printing larger versions - has flagged that I haven't shared progress on my 3D Print apprentice piece of the last 18 months - a Boeing P-8A Poseidon in 1:32... I've been trying to learn Rhino 3D design software and, as part of this, purchased a Creality Ender 5 Pro FDM printer - and a Sonic Mini 4K resin printer. To cut a long story short, I was looking for something to test print - found a good looking 3D model online for sale/download - found out how to scale and modify the .stl files and, well, I now have a Poseidon airframe in glorious 1:32 o'vision. Airframe parts printed using HIPS (the same material as plastic kits) - detail parts for engines/cockpit/undercarriage etc.. will be printed on the high-resolution resin printer... Fuselage and wings are printed as separate sections, bonded with Revell Contacta cement - which works perfectly and is hugely strong. Top front of fuselage - and cockpit section - are still separate to allow for an interior to be printed/assembled/painted. That's a 61cm/24" steel rule next to it - and tiles are 30cm square... A lot more work to be done - but have proved to myself that anything is possible - if not entirely practical! *If* she eventually comes together, I'll put her in RAF colours. A huge THANK YOU to Tim Perry, of this parish, for his advice, help and encouragement. 😎 Happy to post more info/images on how I got to this stage, if there's interest... Iain

I'd be happy to take anything! 🙂 I'd already been looking long-term at drawing the Scimitar up in Rhino (which I'm trying to learn at present) - and then printing in 1:32 using HIPS on my FDM printer, with detail parts on the resin printer. But there's no way I'd get the base drawing to the same levels of accuracy as this! One of my flying friends used to fly the Scimitar - he has very favourable memories of it as a flying machine... Iain

I'd absolutely *love* to be able to do one of these in 1:32!! 🙂 Iain

With apologies for lack of updates - my attention has been elsewhere - but now back on this delightful kit! Cockpit sills on this scheme are black - so these areas have been carefully masked and sprayed. The wing strut between the front and rear cockpits has had two 0.6mm holes drilled through, prepped and sprayed matt black. Here dry fitted in situ: I love the way the vac transparencies have been done - as combining front and rear sections means you can take a two-stage approach, and make everything a little simpler! You get two sets in the kit, so you have backups should things go awry. One of the two sets has been cut out - by gently running a fresh scalpel blade alone the 'creases' in the moulding. Keeping the front and rear together at this stage makes it a lot easier to sand the lower edges true - as you have more to hold - and the parts are stiffer together. In other news, I hear that Tim has some young Air Cadet figures to go with the project! Hopefully some more progress this evening... Iain

In latest news Tim has been experimenting with 3D printed wing struts - and initial results are very encouraging. Being relatively long and thin, these are pushing the envelope with current resins - but with a little shortening of the CAD master it looks like they may work perfectly - *providing* the wing is very firmly attached to the fuselage first. Photos below are a test fit on the airframe I'm building: Next job is to sort the dayglo strips for the outer wing leading edges... Have fun! Iain

Fully understood Adrian - and a pity IMHO. It's certainly not cheap, but I don't think it could have been done in such a complete, high quality, low volume, run at any lower price, or Tim would be running at a loss I'm afraid. Some photos with all the decals/stencils done. The decals are excellent - beautifully thin and opaque, with no hint of silvering - anywhere... The decals for the under-wing serials where cut and trimmed between the 'X' and the 'E' on each, to remove a section of clear film where the strut mounts are located on the wing underside - makes things soooo much easier! No setting solutions were harmed in the application of decals - so a firm 10/10! So - item the next - and I couldn't resist removing the wing/cockpit struts from their supports and trial fitting to the fuselage: And then, well, I just had to see what she looked like with the wing balanced in place: This model makes me smile! 🙂 Oh - and these are just a smidge over-exposed - I could have tweaked, but too late now. The grey is just a fraction darker on the model! Final finish won't be this shiny - will cover that later. Meanwhile - I have a plan - possibly a cunning one - to improve on the look of the kit supplied metal wing struts. These are supplied as aluminium tube for strength and are probably the only compromise in the whole kit. and one that prevented the cost escalating. I have some 1mm diameter stainless steel rod on order. If strong enough when cut to length, then I'll have a go at forming an airfoil shape around them with 5 thou styrene sheet - but news on that when I have it... "All Out!" Iain

And with first stickers on - always a positive step on any model! More later... Iain

Latest progress on the Flying Start Models T.31 Glider - ready for the decals now! A little neatening up required around cockpit edges - but nothing major... Off to do the decals now - will post an update when done. Loving this project! Iain

Great to see another one coming together Andy - Tim's done a brilliant job, hasn't he! Iain

Didn't get as much done over the weekend as I'd planned - got a little sidetracked with a real aeroplane needing its 'Annual'. First 'colour' is on the airframe - gloss white fuselage uppers, light aircraft grey wing central area (looks darker than it actually is in the photos) and red. All Tamiya gloss, thinned with neat Isopropyl Alcohol to speed up drying: I've used the lighting - and upped the contrast a lot - to illustrate the lovely fabric effect - yes, there is a very slight layering effect from the print process, but this is a lot less noticeable in normal lighting - and if you do notice anything, it looks like a fine fabric effect: Once decals are on, everything will be given a fine coat of satin varnish - buffed lightly when dry with some cotton scrap fabric to impart a slight sheen. Very pleased with how this is coming together now... Next job - to mask up for the areas of red on fuselage and wings. Iain

Hi John, There was only one under fuselage attachment point at any given time - but two possible positions it would appear! Iain