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airscale last won the day on June 2 2021
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Hey Toby - well my version is Humbrol 25 @75 - 80%, Revell 52 @ 15 - 20% and Gloss white @ 5 - 10% - was never good at quick maffs or paying attention - it was a full tin of 25 with amounts of 52 and white added ..and no, it's not a Mosquito - if I had a cabinet that big I would build one
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thank you all, very kind So, the painting stage is looming.... I needed to get some new etch primer as it only has a 12 month shelf life and frustratingly it is still not here yet.. I have worked out the colour (I think) - some of the original paint is still on S1595 in the Science Museum (it was repainted ages ago in the wrong blue, likely roundel blue) so I did some samples and arrived at what i think is a reasonable match given the limitations of eyeballs, digital sampling and light I took all my similar blues and did a tester, photographed in natural and artificial light and ended up mixing a shade from what I had - this is the analysis.. It is what it is, there are no colour pics so sue me if I am wrong... ..while waiting I busied myself and there is absolutely no construction remaining.. Pitot tube done - complex little thing.. ..cockpit canopy done, another complex little thing - i hate doing transparencies as they are just a huuuuuge opportunity to fu#k up.. also all the beaching gear was made of plastic and wood, and the wire wheels finished.. ..again with no colour photos, I painted them what I thought / interpreted - basically battleship grey as it's likely marine paint.. ..added the petrol cans and trolley.. ..and thats it - the next time I post, it will be all painted.. wish me luck ..in other news, I have decided on my next subject - something I have wanted to do for ages but thought it wouldn't fit in my display cabinet - I measured again and I think I can just squeeze it in - any ideas? 😎 TTFN Peter
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thank you all, you are so very kind Hi Thom, I don't think this one will be an e-book, I did one for the Spitfire XIV and the Hawker Fury, but unlikely this one will You are right, I do want to, along with a Boeing 307, a Lancastrian and an HP Hastings... So, lots has gone on the last few weeks... ..the propeller was made as a 3D print which I found very hard to do as it's a complex shape which has oblong roots and quite a twist.. - the spinner cap is machined from solid aluminium so it can be polished like the original.. ..I started the wings by filling the plastic frame with foam & filler - this was then refined many times and note they are complete with the ailerons in place so they can be cut out later... ..after a lot of finishing, the ailerons were removed... ..and so to the skinning... I drew out the plans that copied the layout of all the fastners that cover the entire surface.. by the time I finished I selected all objects in the drawing and for the four wing surfaces there were 8,962 rivets... that is bordering on the ridiculous and likely as many as I have done on entire airframes before.. ,,nothing to do but get started, so here is a typical panel - the small dots are one rivet depression, the big dots two, which was even more demoralising.. ..also seen is a template to score out a hatch with a pin in a pin vise.. ..after 3 days and a very sore set of muscles they were done... ..no time to rest though, and the ailerons were completed.. ..the wings were added using JB weld and given a day to set, then I could start the fillets - I have not done the front ones as they need to also cover the forward strut mount.. ..with the wings on, I could add the belly oil cooler assembly - as with the fuselage sides this was a 3D printed buck over which the metal sheet was fomed.. ..in two parts, it stretches all along the lower fuselage.. ..with so much skinning going on, I fancied a change and so started on the beaching trolley - well at least the wire wheels of the trolley.. I 3D printed a hub, a rim and a jig.. ..and then bent a lot of piano wire spokes and started to populate them ..and the finished wheels, along with some Pratts petrol cans I have seen in pictures with the airframe.. ..and so before the painting starts next week, some final shots in all her nakedness... ..time to start thinking about the finish... until next time TTFN Peter
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Howdy all Hey Nick - yup, in this episode in fact I finished the floats and detailed the struts, all done with litho - this includes some very long, this one piece multi hundred rivet strips that run the length of each chine.. the struts were detailed as well.. ..next up the tailfeathers... the stabiliser seems to have overlapping panels, with the elevators a joggled but flush panel edge... ..the card formers I made had tiny brass 'L' sections added to the trailing edge and were filled with P38 - then the skinning started with the outer edges as the panels overlap in this direction.. ..tape and dymo tape guides used to make one piece wrap around panels.. ..the elevators were also done and interstingly have a sheet extension at the trailing edge so this was copied by leaving the brass sheet core exposed.. ..the rudder was a sheet brass core with plastic ribs, then covered with scored thin plastic sheet to represent linen - I can't see any evidence of rib tape, but there is a characteristic rib feature i need to add (perhaps this is tape?) ..after covering, I added the Flash Gordon style counter weights.. ..and while not fitted yet, the tail is virtually complete.. ..might do the prop next as it is starting to come together.. TTFN Peter
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Thank you Gents, very kind Will do - next time Hi Pete - I use a jewelers awl and do each one, one by one...I have a few templates to help with spacing.. The saga continues with skinning the floats - these are covered in symetric rivet patterns and rather than do panel by panel, I did pairs of panels for each float. I would say over the course of a few days I did ~5k rivets.. ..here are two pairs with about 1200.. ..again these were only lightly burnished to retain the oil canning seen on the real one - also any panel overlaps on the real one were copied.. ..once complete, I started the struts - I used a 3D extrusion to sheath the brass rods I set at the beginning, and then used ali foil on the floats and fuselage so I can fill to them and it will all unstick cleanly with a matching mating face.. ..it can all be seen in a jig I had to make so I can get everything aligned properly & the yellow sponges apply enough upward pressure to hold them in place without distorting the position.. ..the forward upper strut mounts have these odd tails, maybe to deflect water.. ..these were made by embedding stiff wire into the strut and filling around it.. some of the mounting stubs are a bit short for my liking, but they can't intrude into the cockpit or they are as long as they can be before they cross each other hopefully when mounted with JB weld they will be ok.. ..skinning these is going to be problematic as it won't be easy for one thing, and they would need to be a perfect fit when assembled so I haven't quite figured out how I will do it all yet.. TTFN Peter
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Thank you gents, you are all very kind With the fuselage coming along, it was time to start another major sub assembly in the floats... the former structure was filled with hard foam to give it a basic profile.. ..this was then skim filled with P38 and templates used to get the chines the right shape... ..I would say there were over 30 filling/sand/prime excercises before they were in their final forms.. ..then the undersides were skinned... ..there were a few structural features of interest, one is the lapped panels where on the real aeroplane the panels are joggled into an overlap, and the other are these sort of serrated panels which I assume have something to do with disrupting water suction on the step of the float - these were cut one serration at a time so quite tiresome ..on to the top surfaces now and these are covered in spaced fittings & rivets so are going to be a challenge... TTFN Peter
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1/32 Vickers Vildebeest 3D Printing/scratchbuilding
airscale replied to Jamesmodels's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
truly epic So many things to love about this build - unbridled ambition, consumate skill and I just get a huge thrill seeing customers enjoying my stuff bravo Peter -
Happy Friday my friends Hi Malc - they are just attatched on the edge - I have lost one already but there has been some heavy handling lately Thanks for dropping in - I did copy N248 as S1595 in the Science Museum has nothing there - just a big hole which can't be right, so I took a gamble and copied the other airframe.. I am a long way from colours, but will look for period paintings / adverts etc and go with whatever I can see at the time The fuselage is skinned like a Spitfire, from back to front with some overlaps - the fist step was analysing pictures to work out the skinning order - I started at the rear with a tape template, using dymo tape to define borders where needed. I always mark out rivet lines on the tape template so they are right on the model as what can look a straight line rarely is... these are those panels after rivetting and making the holes for the circular hatches..the next step is to peel the tape off, wash them with a stiff brush and solvent to get all the tape discs left by the rivetting off, and then finally turn them over and burnish hard with a rod to remove the 'quilting' effect... ..with that panel down and the others that form the bottom layer, I need to fill the upper edges as with another panel to go on top if I don't a visible ridge will appear when I lay it down... ..then the next panel that wraps across the spine - you can see some rivets done with the panel in place have deformed as the foam/filler skin has given out under pressure.. nothing can be done about that.. ..the edges are also filled again.. ..with that done, the skins on the tail are marked out....this is an intersting design feature as the tail is actually the oil cooler so the surface air cools it rather than a cooler sticking into the airflow and causing drag.. ..it has a very distinct 'quilted' appearance which is exactly what you get if you don't burnish a rivetted panel, so this will be fun to make.. ..same principle applies - tape templates & dymo tape..just this time i only lightly burnish the panels before adding them.. ..with the fuselage skinned another distinctive feature needs doing - there are radiators running the full length of the fuselage each side (again to reduce drag by hanging them off the wing or under the chin).. ..like this.. ..I pondered how to do it and eventually tried 3D printing a male mould I could work from - I figured I could burnish the shape in one piece if I was careful.. ..it had to be in two parts to be printed though.. ..these were then superglued to a bit of perspex.. and the work started.. ..millions more damned rivets... ..and then scored & carefully broken away.. ..I was worried that I would need to fill the 'tubes' but it seemed rigid enough so I bit the bullet, took a deep breath and got ready to stick it in place.. ..quite a bit of work that, so here is a walkaround.. ..gonna be a shame to paint it TTFN Peter
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Hi folks I have no idea Stuart, but the airframe in the Science Museum is unrestored so I assumed it was original? I kept thinking I will stop in a minute and take a picture of what I am doing, but then I would think, I will just finish this bit... well before I knew it the engine cowling was done.. it is a complicated structure, but shouts early aviation.. can start the fuselage proper now.. TTFN Peter
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Happy New Year folks cockpit is pretty much done.. all the best for 2024 TTFN Peter
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thanks chaps Hi Malc - so to answer your questions - the ali is of 2 kinds, one is the soft stuff you see above which is a bit like thick lead foil and is used in labs for something as a scientist in the US sent it to me years ago, it is quite bendy and good for proper compound curves. The other is heat treated lithoplate that printers use, but I buy mine new before it is used for printing which is stiff and a bit like thick coke can metal. It is stuck to the model using evo stick contact adhesive, diluted with evo stick glue cleaner, applied to both surfaces, allowed to go off and then stuck down, which is a one shot process, if you get it positioned wrong there is no going back which is why use tape hinges where possible. I would say 90% are formed off the model using it as the buck and then stuck, but sometimes you have to stick it first then form it I have done a tutorial on LSP a while back FYI Hi Stuart, the struts are just structural for now, they will be clad in aerofoil shapes later, probably by using Ali tube and flattening it at an angle.. Happy Xmas all Peter
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Seasons Greetings 🤶 I figured before I finish the cockpit, I better start skinning some of the nose as there would be some hammering involved to get the metal to conform to the very curvy rocker cover blisters.. ..it all starts like this - a bit of ali sheet taped along one edge and worked & beaten to follow the shape.... it creases and buckles and really doesn't like it, but I will have my way in the end.. ..by now it's pretty much there, always working the creases away with thousands of taps of a tiny ball pein hammer.. ..then the surface is abraded to get it smooth (sorry for the crap pictures..).. ..and finally cut to shape allowing the bottom edges to flare under the panels that will sit on top of them.... ..and with those panels added and the exhaust ports.. lots more panels to go, and I need to complete the cockpit before I can do the rear of the blisters and add the cooling vents.. Happy Christmas everyone Peter
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Mirage IIIO 1/32, Scratchbuild
airscale replied to Bandsaw Steve's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Fabulous! welcome to the fold Steve - you have made an astonishing start and bravo for giving skinning in metal a shot - you will never look back it is complex and hard sometimes, but mega rewarding in the end - if I can help in any way with materials or advice just ping me here keep it up Peter- 468 replies
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thank you ladies, you are all too kind 🙂 so, this is one of the few pics I have of the cockpit... ..tons of info there - all I have to do now is make it.. ..started with control yoke, forward bulkhead & rudder pedals, all from plastic or brasss.. ...then it was a few more bobbins including the seat and time for paint.. I have tried to start a bit of weathering as I suspect open cockpit, seawater and an oliy monster 18 inches away would mean it would get a bit grubby.. ..also starting to get the fuel tank seen in the photo ready for fitting, though lots more pipes to go.. ..and thats it - I want to get it closed up so I can start skinning the fuselage - the instrument panel is next as soon as the decals arrive later this week have a wonderful Xmas everyone 🤶 TTFN Peter
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thanks chaps time to make the fuselage sides, so made a plug using the same bulkhead drawings and vacformed form sheet.. ,,these were then tack CA'd into place so the sanding & filling could start.. you can see additional strip plugs added as I screwed up the measure / cutting.. ..and once refined, the structural elements of the fuselage are complete.. ..a jig was fixed to the sides while they were in place to keep everything where it should be (if they flex, the detail breaks free inside later - tell me how I know), and then they were cut & prised off and interior detail started.. ..in the next screw up, I should have made the sides run right to the last bulkhead, but I had cut them at the headrest bulkhead - the fuselage is hollow in real life so actually there is no bulkhead at all, but I ran it to one behind the seat in the hope it won't be seen.. ..so the sides were refitted and the last section cut out.. ..this meant the sides needed sorting out to integrate the additional walls, so out with the filler again.. ..the missing detail was added.. ..and cleaned up & primed you would never know on the inside.. ..however, on the outside it is Frankenstein's monster.. ...the structural beams were made from litho, but will have to be fitted to the fuselage rails, rather than the walls as there is no way to add the sides over the brass beams once they are in place.. onwards & upwards TTFN Peter
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