perdu

Hmm if there's a chance of a whoosh I'll let you know maybe make a movie Tonight I didn't do any more But tomorrow, maybe the upper straps will be anchored at the head box and the lowers might get a latch and fittings Or maybe not I cannot push my luck and Mrs P didn't make any negative noises (OK not many!) about the smells from the garage

You know what Hendie mate? I'd hate for you to carry on this journey without us I have tried to be detail faithful in my Wessex builds in little scale Watching you do the same in 'big boys' is sheer pleasure I'm in 'til you is all did done in sah

I can wait I reckon you know where I stand with the Wessex (for anyone who doesn't, I stand in awe of it. Favourite helicopter just doesn't tell any of the story) looks better by the day Hendie Christmas huh, yes mate that will be a fine enough present for me.

getting kinda nice now Rob (oh arr, just heard I might be at Cosford after all. See ya)

I've used Tamiya tape but these days I tend to use it to mask, leaving the thickness of the paint to replicate the framing That was why I used it as the thickness gauge for the filler to make the frame with the slight additional thickness of the paint layer too In the olden days I used Sellotape painted to frame canopies, I don't see any reason why Tamiya wouldn't do the trick Radii. I use my XO rotary stencil cutter for small rads, but I have used the tip of a Swann Morton number one blade gently following the curve As a retired toolmaker the idea of using some sharpened tubing makes very good sense to me, relieving the curve where you dont want the cutting edge Like all these things it has to be worth trying it I hope Spike can solve the puzzle for you but this kind of extra stuff will please you when you do it, get successful and have a better model b

I've got 5 and ten thou plasticard but I would probably use fifteen or twenty thou depending on the real sill size you want Did you see how I did it on the Jaguar's sill frames? I moulded the bubble and cut it to size then dipped it in Johnson's Klear to protect it from cyano fuming There is a certain amount of ripple-drying distortion across the bubble but I intend removing the coats of Klear with a pointy cocktail stick when it is to go on the model The Klear lets me stick the sill rail with cyano safely though When that set it has been easy to file and sand the rail to the correct section here's the side rails in place glued at the angle to make the sill shape And here's the rails sanded to shape, with the bit underneath that was clear of the moulding filled with a tad of milliput for strength then the outer frames were marked on two pieces of tamiya tape, cut out to suit and filler added to make the very shallow frame sections after rubbing it gently down to the thickness of the tape One done here, one being done Make and add the inner frame arches front and back, detail to taste I know YOUR taste for detail not really very difficult just slightly exacting, which you do as a matter of course When you have had enough I will pull these off the thread if you like They're just a simple guideline after all

Hmm does that mean you must degas the choccy first though Surely you would only get a bar of ordinary plain choccy if you degassed it Watch Tomo Mark, living in the most highly rated suburb anywhere in the country might have gone to his head (it used to go to mine too, so I used to go to the next suburb up out of Brum for my fun. Kings Heath High St and dancing at the Ritz)

If it's any use to you I use 0.5mm PETg from Hurlbatgames off ebay 5 sheets 0.5mm at £4.99, very good quality Steve as ever providing a masterclass again I was worried about the bottom frames on the Jag but it was silly easy to make the frames on the canopy in the end, you'd fly through it I'm sure

fun to watch Mark will it be fun to do?? way to go, we'll soon find out

That looks pretty good Steve Already teaching me stuff, no doubt Garth will too Mr Surfacer, looks the bizz

Some days BM drives me barmy I think I'd better lay off posting in the afternoon I just posted, then lost the lot as the site went hiccup Again, I will try again Crisp does fog at sea look like that? Wow I'm amazing arent I? not Wheezing ten ton, that sounds more like me I have been working the harnesses for two of the seats Head box straps, persoomably these actually work the parachute and attach to the body straps behind the back panel And these are the upper body attaching thingys (which I will be clipping to the headbox as per pictures I have seen) There is an exciting array of fashion colours available, I shall be mostly using browny green and greeny brown for mine So Paint for this I retired to the paint technology department and took up position on the MG workbench £12 airbrush, paints various and copious array of useful toothpicks with a tube for pippettery poipoises I wasn't convinced that Dark Sea Grey was going to look right on the Jag, it looked horrendously dark in the Humbrol pot I take it back, here the starboard side is DSG from the pot, unlightened Port side has a 10% of white added, it hardly shows though I know it is there This really looks quite like the grey scheme in my picture bank so I then got the Dark Camouflage Grey ready to spray, this looked even darker in the pot than DSG I made a massive mistake with the airbrush, rather than clean the twelve quid one I broke out the fifteen quid one to spray the DCG, the void behind the nozzle must have retained some old dry paint when I cleaned it out Then when I sprayed it decided not to keep hold of it any more Gercha have some of that, all over the sides So ignoring the bits of pebble dash 'cos this is only about the paint colours the starboard side is again, colour straight from the pot, really not so far from a fresh painted Jag again it seems On the starboard side I whitened the paint again The flash has lightened it even more but the colour isn't bad at all, after all What do you think? Because this is a colour test I sprayed a line of whitened DCG across the upper surface DSG Visible but not an actual huge contrast And now I am sure the colours will tie nicely together when I shade and aftershade the random panels of the aircraft in service So confident of the greys I tried the Humbrol 163 Dark Green as part of the upper surface camouflage suite starboard wing again I don't like the look of this so much but maybe waiting 'til the grey was hard would improve things a tad I will try again another day but today I also tried the new (ish) Tamiya Dark Green RAF XF-81 on the port wing with the spray head diffuser on it to be fair this was another unconvincing performance, wait again til later is my thought of the day The colour I 'think' I'm looking for has more brown (even red) in it Anyway, Mr Muscle awaits the 'mule' now, maybe some more work for Eeyore soon b

Fingers crossed It is constant heat all the way to the vacuum that matters, thus keeping the plastic floppy but unburnt (mind your fingers)

G the deciding factor with PETg or Acetate is time Which is why I do the 'heat over the box then drop right down' scenario Putting the PETg in the oven the onto the 'machine' is likely to engage the fail button more often than not I do like PETg but find acetate easier to use, but acetate is what I used for centuries before this became a hopbby adjunct rather than a personal intention Acetate was all over the place, missus's fripperies and chiristmas card boxes for instance getting PETg is new science for me so I'm learning again prediction you will soon get the method sorted We'll learn something (else) from you

When I use mine I have the box/unit/machine sat on the bonnet of my car MG Midgets are not compulsory with this game And have the acetate or plasticard in a frame made of two more pieces of MDF with a hole in them and Drawing pins pushed through to grip themselves and stop the drawn materiel pulling out I heat the plastic (with the vacuum running plugged into the side port) and hold the boards up above the setup Then I heat the whole caboodle with a propane blow lamp and when the materiel is right (you can tell by the sudden change across its sturface) I drop it to cover the vac bed I have window insulation foam tape around the edges to retain the vacuum and when it drops in place it happens in a second or so have fun you may use it more often than you expect

there you go I have learnt something from you already Vaseline release agent Very very good idea (if you make sure there are no ridges of cream/vaseline to cause rippled surfaces) I WILL try it for myself next time around My vac box is made from strips of thin MDF I used for notices at an MG event I was one of the organisers (Funny thing is that Debs, Ascoteer in here, will certainly have seen some of them when she was there) Then glued together with PVA and with the vacuum surface made of MDF with holes drilled all over Your one will be better, because the vacuum will be more constant all over I will just sit here with a tinny wtahcing a new master class you didnt even know about before

Love the vacuum chamber Mark, I wonder if my RTV would stay liquid whilstthat was going on time to ponder that now I reckon Thanks for the Coltishall film too. ane when it ended links rioght into lots moew Jag stuff fabuloso ta b

I did a few sea scapes for the craik in my time Not a natural scenario for me though That was a horrible little 1/700 Tamiya thingmy, Nagamo or some similar name (Hmm weren't they all similar?) I made it as she was sinking after the attentions of the USA, but I'm beggared if she was torped or bombed, I just can't remember Pollyfilla wet stuff Glossy brush painted varnish Gouache colours Steve, that 'stoofed' thingmy Sounds as horrible as it must have been Speaking on behalf of your large church of fans mate, I'm bloody glad you got out As are they too That Hawk mule you have there Steve I wish I'd drawn one of those instead of that abortional Airfix heap And seeing it there in the flesh has confirmed my guess that you will have started Hawking by now Nice one Hercules Boys? Hmm I woudn't want to be the publisher that got on the wrong side of our Debs The girl has form tha knows Crisp, as Sea King is on my love it list, I'd buythat one too 'specially if you can get some of your tales of derring done into it

I would love to have one of those as a coffee table conversation piece No, looking at the size of it maybe as a coffee table instead, it's big innit I have air bubbles inside my best seat mould, which was the first attempt funnily enough (I find my first of most new things is usually the best) But they are only on the seat and the back rest which gets new cushions anyway A minute or two with my Expo grinder sorts them out nicely One under the driver's left buttock and one at the top of the backrest under cushion I have been mixing inside my ink refill syringe and so far waste and mess has been minimal So far... Cleans up nicely time for strappings

Weren't you just a tad worried that the forwards motion of those flares might slow the venerable old gent down too much Debs? Anyway mad We must be mad, we modellers or I'm in huge trouble being mad alone I have decided I need a paint 'mule' to try out different paint options so I retrieved the Matchbox T2 horror from the discard pack and bunged it together ready for painting Quite normal - I thought Then I noticed what I'd done Set the anhedral to keep it even with Tamiya Tape? really, without even thinking about it? mad I say mad And now I have wasted perfect putty on it too Mad Still when it has been rubbed down it will be a bit like a real model and be a willing practise tool First off will be Humbrol 156 Dk Camo Grey with and without white dosage and it would be bad manners not to do the same with Humbrol 154 Dk Sea Grey too wouldn't it Might as well do it to a Jagalike shape for reference

Thanks guys I will be getting on with the Hansom soon Got my hands tied up at the mo' though

Pondering colours now I know it should be Dark Sea Grey and Dark Green on a 1977 GR1 and I know it SAYS Dark Camouflage Green and Dark Sea Grey for the GR3 but I feel I'm in the same boat Garth was in with his Tornado, both colours look too dark for a realistic grey Jaguar I wonder if the colours chalked in service and if it is likely that I will get a better looking 3 if I white the colours out quite a bit? I will be using Humbrol's acrylic colours as they (especially the 163 Dark Green) look very good colour match to a: my eye and b: to most camouflaged jaguar pictures I have Their Dark Sea Grey looks OK when well mixed too Worries huh I hope for paint on at least the GR1 and the T2 in the next few days

more fun with wires Like it In fact I like the Gnat more than the Hawk (Wonder why that is...)

I'l betcha Just been playing with my plasticene, well you see chaps I 'aven't got any Lego Dollops of plasticene blocked off with "The AN/ALE 40 unit" I made earlier pushed down into/onto it Four times, always need a few spares et viola some more appear ... as if by science Quickly trim, to taste If you dont push too far down you get little to remove In other minor news, there is a sill fairing behind the canopy which Airfix didnt make So I have glued on a pair of pieces of Evergreen strip Tomorrow when dry I will trim them back to the shape Sepecat made them I gotta admit I'm enjoying pushing this resin to see where its boundaries are Reminder Must remember the very prominent flat trims that prevent the canopy slipping sideways when closing...

Wax That would be another new ball game for me Watching avidly b

Sexy sexy aeroplane those lovely Sea Vixens This looks ever finer work I am learning stacks about resin handling and etchy ditto