general melchett Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 (edited) Hi guys, after a fair bit of fannying around , waiting for white and red decal strips, and a , loads of pm's ,( thanks everyone, sorry for the wait) and bit of badgering from certain quarters ( thanks Keef !!), I finally got round to finishing this beast.I won't bore you with the build details again as they are to be found in another post , suffice to say that this kit is an absolute pig and needs MAJOR work to bring it up to a presentable standard.The quality of the moulds I received were so abysmal that I put it in the attic straight away and designated it a rainy day job !! However it is such an interesting aircraft and I doubt seriously that anyone else will produce it that I just had to attack it and build the thing in time for Telford , where it will hopefully be on Joe Cherries and Geoff Bakers Research and Development table. ( that's if Keef doesn't swipe it first!!). The model is solid resin and weighs a ton, so the undercarriage had to be completely rebuilt to take the weight.The wheels were complete rubbish and totally inaccurate so I dove into my spares box and came up with the perfect solution !! Four wheels from a spare Revell Arado E555 , the hub detail being almost perfect.The nose wheels are resin from again from the spares box. Also missing were the three trim tab on the port side of the rudder , easily made up from scrap card. As I explained earlier the kits biggest of many problems is that the fuselage section is far too boxy and needs to be completely re profiled to a more rounded cross section.This in turn leads to a major problem in that the vac form canopy is squared off and has to be heated ( gently), and given a coat of Kleer to get it to conform to the new fuselage shape ( thankfully they provide you with two of these !!)..Next problem was that there are NO window shapes on the vac so it's back to the reference pics ( of which I have a rather large collection now!!).The whole thing was painted in Xtracrylics RAF light grey and matt black ,all finished off with Mr hobby satin top coat , a superb product. I wanted it finished in the rather fetching Farnborough 1951 scheme so back to the pics for the umpteenth time. The decals are all custom made including the roundels and fin flashes as the kits ones were a funny colour. I usually like to weather aircraft to a degree but in this case the aircraft was only in this scheme for a matter of weeks before being returned to natural metal for the rest of it's development life ( though it was returned to this scheme for the 1953 Farnborough show , again only for a matter of weeks!!). Hope you like it , it was a total labour of love / pig to build !!!, but that's me...... Andy Edited May 13, 2010 by general melchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmk.6john Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 And finally worth it!!, a superbly executed build, the crisp cleanliness of the lines are superb, very well done Mr Melchet. JB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 General that is wonderful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexwh773 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Andy, Youve done it again Definatly a pig, but, as per normal, our Dear Bonkers General cranks out a cracking model. I like this alot Now then, what nasty bugger are you going to tame next Bex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Womby Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 It's beautiful. Well worth the wait for us to see and all your hard work. Take it as a complement when I say all that hard work doesn't show - the results look wonderful. Good choice for the colour scheme too - much nicer than bare metal. Are you going to do another one now converted to take two Gyrons in place of the lower Avons? David W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hooded Claw Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 I used to have a video "Classic Farnboroughs of the Fifties" which featured heavily the Gyron powered Sperrin testbed. A thing of brutish beauty. Go on we dare you. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 (edited) That was fast , blimey , thanks everyone, John and Mish , very kind , Bex, yes finally got there, just finishing a super detailed all white anti flash Victor B2R with all the trimmings, ( should be done in a couple of days ). The next 'normal' build might surprise you , it's a 4 engined Brit WW 2 prop job that floats and looks very pretty in NMF !!, However this is me and the next 'proper' job will be a BIG Soviet 4 jet bomber. David and 'H' thanks, but........ Are you going to do another one now converted to take two Gyrons in place of the lower Avons? .....are you insane.........!!!You don't mean this monster do you ??? Actually I already have another Sperrin on order for just such butchery... plus I might just put my Hawker P1121 next to it to show the fruit of the Gyron's labour ...LOL Thanks again all, Andy Edited November 6, 2008 by general melchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 That's a nice build of the brute. Glad I didn't go ahead with my order, I couldn't face that sort of masochism. Now, I always fancied an Ashton.....Does anyone have a vacform Tudor I can have a go at??????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzH Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Now that is just cool Really nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Thats lovely! Well worth all the effort. It will grace any V Bomber collection. Look forward to seeing it in the flesh at Telford. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 That is, like, WAY COOOL! my hat is well and truly off to you, sir!! a total labour of love / pig to build !!!, but that's me surely parents shouldn't tell their offspring things like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 That is absolutely brilliant-have you spoken to Magna about why they got the fuselage so wrong on such an expensive kit? Van Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dambuster Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Great Build - did you have access to Wings of Fame Vol 19 which had an article on the Sperrin? Minor point - shouldn't the serial be VX158? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris57 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 With reference to asking Magna,they will be at the nationals next week and it should be martin himself on the stand this year.chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexwh773 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Actually I already have another Sperrin on order for just such butchery... Thanks again all, Andy I rest my case Bex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenDragon Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Highly impressive General Melchet Sir! You've done an excellent job with that porker! Paul Harrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 (edited) Thanks again everyone , Walrus ...good point I will have a word with parents and ask their take on this !!!! Van I was saving that pleasure up for Telford... Dambuster old thing , well spotted , do you know that I missed that .!Thank goodness they are so small.They were supplied the wrong way round and as you can see I managed to sort the big underwing ones out , but seemed to have missed these , will sort out ASAP..... Cheers Paul, tis a bit of a beast eh !. . Hate to disappoint, Bex , Thanks again, Hang on a sec..#$#@%%%$%^^%$#, How's that !! Andy Edited November 6, 2008 by general melchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamienB Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Oooh nice. Captures the utilitarian ugliness of the real thing nicely. Can't believe you want to build another though!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerausfb Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Excellent stuff Andy I might even come to Telford and see it. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Oooh nice. Captures the utilitarian ugliness of the real thing nicely.Can't believe you want to build another though!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Man, what a lovely build after all the problems. I still think that is an absolutely fascinating engine placement scheme. Well done Andy! Lovely build and paint job mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overkiller Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Uglier than an ugly thing in the Ugly Pride Parade.... Very nice Andy, sheesh I'm going to spend the whole weekend at Telford gazing at this, and your P.42, and your B-72, and....... Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeke Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Great build of a pig-ugly aircraft...looks kind of Russian to me...very nice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 (edited) Thanks guys , don't think it's going to win any beauty contests any time soon !!, but I do think it has a charm all of it's own, ( buried deep I grant you !!). My father saw it fly at Farnborough , two things he noted about it were the fact that it flew very nose down, due to the incidence angle of the wings , similar to the old Whitley, and also how horrendously noisey it was,( though it was considerably worse with the Gyron powered second prototype which at the time was the most powerful aircraft in the world). He said it looked super ugly when sitting next to the highly polished type 660 Valiant , which truly was a thing of beauty. Having said that he talked to Brook-Smith the Shorts test pilot at the show and he reckoned it was a great aircraft to fly , being very manoeverable, stable and fast !! which is probably why it made such a great R and D aircraft. Thanks again, Andy Edited November 7, 2008 by general melchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smuts Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 What a fantastic job of a kit that looked a real pig to build, great work General. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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