Fritag

I’m gonna have to try this. Lots of delicate sharp pointy corners on ailerons and wot not on the ‘awks wot have been rounded or plain knocked orf with handling. In’t past I’ve repaired em with drops of cyano sanded back as per your resin technique - but the cyano has not proved very durable. Time to try resin. I wonder if I need to invest in the same stuff as you and G, or whether the printing resin will do the same. I’ve already got a UV torch somewhere….

A view shared by the odd bod or two on BM I think you might find Ced Interesting and mucho appreciated Bill. Food for thought. Easy for you to say G After some experimenting I’ve binned the idea of using cyano. Thinned gator’s grip is my fixative of choice at the mo’. Possibly combined with a strategically placed drop of Klear at various points on the MDC. It’s worked in practice. Klear used in this way does create a slight visual distortion which I would probably reject if the canopy was gonna be closed - but posed open it’s not such an issue. The gator’s grip has the advantage of allowing a but of wiggle time go make sure the frame’s lined up - and it dries clear. The only question mark might be whether thinning it weakens the bond too much. Been a bu**er of a week trying to clear the decks of work to take a week’s leave. I wanted to get the vac-formed windscreens and canopies attached to their respective frames before we left for the Orkneys, but all I’ve managed is a few test efforts which it’s not worth posting photo’s of. Frustrating cos once the windscreens are fixed and blended into the fuselage it’s basically final assembly and paint time…. Anyways - nowt from me for a week or so - save the odd smart-ar*e comment on threads various as I chill and enjoy a morning coffee in a Stromness or Kirkwall cafe of choice….. Cheers Ced. Looking forward to the 11th.

I think the surface detailing generally is quite exquisite and I’m amazed and delighted at the fidelity with which it has printed. Amazed - just cos it’s amazing, and delighted cos I’m glad I stopped prevaricating and got one Just the little step of learning to 3D model to hendie standards now….. I agree with Johhny, Ian and Tony that the web to the induction pipe (credit to Ian for that bit of info) is an elegant and clever solution. And it got me thinking. Does the web necessarily have to extend all the way back to the induction pipe? Could it perhaps just extend as far as the limit of the cylinder cooling fins? If you still needed a support to get it to print properly from the rear maybe you could draw in just one or two 0.15 or 0.2mm rods to connect each web to the adjacent pipe - which would easily be trimmed away with minimal effort. The only potential benefit of course is preserving a tiny visible gap between the cylinder and induction pipe on the one visible cylinder so it may be disproportionate effort anyway. But funnily enough I’ve never had a problem suggesting more work for other people Just thinking. Probably misguidedly. Getting back in my box now

Seems quite speedy to me, but p’raps it’s relative. I’ll agree with chugging along nicely if it pleases? Either way the whole thread is proceeding along in an eminently delightful Procopian manner and so all’s well.

Exquisite. Even in the most potentially unflattering of close-up photographs. It’s great that your finishing skills match your construction skills, Tony.

Thanks G, Ian. I felt very reticent about attempting it actually - for just the reason you say Ian; trying to make subtle changes can end in disaster. The trouble here was that I could feel myself getting increasingly unhappy with the nose contours; to the point where it was stopping me feeling any real satisfaction with the builds. In the end I really had no choice...

Indeed. If there was ever any doubt the beach volley ball scene is the clincher…

Ok so, we're going walking and cycling in the Orkneys for a week (again) next Friday; so the weekend was somewhat taken up with getting the gear together and planning etc. But I did get a bit of time to continue trying to sort out the nose contours on the Hawks. And I think I'm more or less there - at least I've probably hit the limits of my ability to get it much better And leastways it's good enough to move onto other things now and hope to correct any deficiencies at the final priming stage. The Hycote 'chubby cheeks' feathered in pretty nicely using Tamiya # 2000 foam backed sanding sponge and various grits of micromesh cloths used over a foam cube. But - and not totally unexpectedly tbh - getting a better curve on the nose had the knock on effect of introducing a bit of an unwanted flat further forward - close to the nose light (on both Hawks). That was addressed by a few carefully placed drops of Mr Surfacer 1000 given plenty of time to harden and more sanding sponge/micromesh. Several thin coats of well thinned humbrol flat white used as a primer. Valley Hawk (the cockpits are slightly different - but the easiest way to tell em apart at the mo' is that on the Valley Hawk the insiodxes of the intakes are red and on the TWU hawk they're grey): Close enough to the template in plan view. More importantly the nose definitely curves rather than being flat sided when looked at from an angle. TWU Hawk Plan view is good. Curvy enough to be getting on with. My guess is that I'll find something visually a bit 'off' from some angle sometime before I'm finished - but any corrections should be minor. I'm rather relieved to have that done. I was really quite nervous about the whole re-profiling thing and had half a mind that I'd end up spoiling both Hawks. I don't think I'd have been able to do it if I hadn't been able to 3D print the 'slithers' as filling/sanding guides. That and taking it slow and careful like. As it is I'm happier with the look of both of em now. Next step is probably to fit the coamings and then the windscreens and in parallel finish the canopy sub assemblies.

It’s early here in the UK; and I’m only half a cup of coffee into wakefulness…But I’m not sure from the screen prints what was staring you in the face No doubt it’s bl**din obvious to anyone with half a brain….

Luvverly. Luvverly too. Well seeing as I don’t think I’d have a clue how to go about tracking down that issue and you did. I’m gonna double down on that. Isn’t that wot folks say over in your adopted homeland?

If he hadn’t said it I’d’ve said it. But seeing as he has said it I’ll just echo it. If you see what I mean G

Ah, but you’re a young man with 2 kids and an embryo to finance PC FWIW (absolutely nowt) the Fritag life in vehicles is as follows: Yamaha DT175. Age 17. 1980. First motorbike, first love . Crashed it regularly Ford Escort Mk 1. First car. Rotten with rust (obvs.). Saw me (just) through officer training and into basic flying training. Crashed it regularly. Ford Capri Mk II. Also rotten with rust. Saw me (again just) through advanced flying training on the Hawk. Growing up a bit so never crashed it. Volkswagen Golf Mk 1. Again rotten with rust. GTI wannabe - but not even close. Got me as far as my first Jag squadron. Now 1985. Peugeot 205 GTI 1.6, 1986. From new. (couldn’t afford it - but hey) Awesome car. Pride and joy - still my favourite. Rolled it into a ditch after 3 months and they more or less welded a new roof onto it. Alongside the GTI - Kawaskaki GPZ 600R and Suzuki TS 185. Well every self respecting fast jet pilot needed a couple of motorbikes It was the Top Gun era after all . Crashed both of them. Sold the 205GTI in 1989 for the deposit for our first house. Paid c.£5,000 for it - sold it c.3 years later for c.£5,000. Still miss that car. Ford Escort XR3. had no money as we’d bought a house. cheap and rubbish car. Leaked oil and died. Mini Metro. Awful car. the nadir of my cars. But newly wed mortgagors have no money. Hilman Imp. Bought it from a friend and fellow jag pilot at my wedding (no idea why I did that) for £200. Lasted 2 months and failed it’s MOT. Not even my mate, a sergeant engineer on the squadron who moonlighted in a local garage was prepared to pass it on its MOT. I go skiing every year with the friend who sold me the imp. He’s still promising me a refund and still not paying up…. My cunning plan for many years has been to make sure he buys me more post-skiing beer than I buy him. I may even owe him money by now Toyota Celica 4th generation coupe. 1990. On exchange with the USAF flying F16s at Macdill in Florida. First automatic car (couldn’t find a ‘stick shift’ even tho’ we wanted one!). Then a gap for a couple of years when I wasn't permitted to drive as I’d had an epileptic fit whilst asleep - attributed to probably hitting my head banging out of a Jag. c. 1992 - some awful 125cc motorbike so bad I can’t even remember the make - when I went back to University to study Law. BMW K100RS - great lump of a 1000cc motorcycle. It regularly fell over when I was trying to get it on its stand and I wasn't strong enough to lift it upright by myself. very embarrassing. Bl**dy fast tho’. Saw me through university and Bar school. Vauxhall Nova. 1996 my first car as a junior barrister. My barristers clerk told me to park it out of sight when I went for conferences with solicitors or they’d assume I was an unsuccesful and therefore rubbish barrister. When I sold it it I found out it was a ‘cut and shut’. Golf GTI MkIV c.1998. Nice car. The GTI was getting a bit porky by now.. Audi TT Mk1. 2003. Lovely car. BMW Z4 Coupe. 2006. Great looking car. Great to drive. Until it snows; and then just don’t bother leaving the house. Porsche 911 - 996 series. First 911. Well who doesn’t want a 911? Barristers clerks now telling me to park it out of sight when I went for conferences with solicitors or they’d assume I was charging too much! Porsche 911 - 991 series. Seriously good car. Still got it after about 8 years and it’s the one my wife now has. Porsche Macan. Sensible car. Grown up at last… Your right James explantion above…. Now that was a boring thread drift weren’t it. But it’s all Edwards’s fault…..

The gravel bikes are just brilliant. Good on the road and good on rough bridle paths. 11-34 tooth rear sprocket so excellent for climbs n'all. If I had to keep just one of the bikes it'd be that one....or maybe the Brompton - which is just a hoot. We've taken the Brompton's in the boot of the car to London and to the Shetland Islands and they're just great fun. We went walking on Fair Isle a few years ago - and met a Dutch couple cycling Bromptons! They had a sailing boat and were touring and they kept a couple of Bromptons under their bunks for use sight-seeing We've also met people touring around the North of Scotland on their Bromptons. But that's just plain daft...... Sort of but not quite Bill sister but not really a proper porker.. see wot I mean?

Are you sure you haven't been working on it near our village castle CC? Although this one is a newbie in comparison to yours, being 14th century.... but built on the site of an 11th century predecessor - where reputedly the rebel barons drew up Magna Carta!

BTW and FWIW here's my print set up tucked away in the corner of the garage. There's a sink out of shot to the right that is handy for filling a container with water to do the initial resin clean up. Incidently, that little orange tool on the shelf by the disposable plastic glove is the indispensable plastic bladed scraper that Alan @hendie recommended on some thread somewhere. Absolutely perfect for gently separating a print from the build plate. Not that the cars ever see the garage of course. Can't get the cars as well as 6 bikes (and the usual clutter) in the garage (yes 6 - there's 2 Brompton folding bikes behind the 2 road and 2 gravel bikes....) hey ho...