Buster213 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I thought I could build models...... lol very,very impressed with your efforts and attention to detail so far.... As you say only eight aircraft to build, walk in the park....now I am going to sit in a dark room and sob softly.... LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 I thought I could build models...... lol very,very impressed with your efforts and attention to detail so far.... As you say only eight aircraft to build, walk in the park....now I am going to sit in a dark room and sob softly.... LOL Buster, Thank you Sir, but my efforts pale in comparison to some of the artisans we see here. I only ask that you watch you step in that dark room as I'm probably curled up cowering on the floor! This project has gotten somewhat beyond the original intent as well as my current skill set! Eric aka The Yankymodeler. I also appreciate your posting as it has given me a kick in the bottom to provide a much overdue update. So without further ado..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 (edited) Greetings fellow modelers! While preparing this update for posting, I searched in vain for an excuse to set forth for my failure to provide a progress report in a timely manner. Sadly I was unable to find said excuse so I am forced to admit my own lack of modeling mojo, probably caused by my allowing the scope of this project to expand well beyond the original concept, is the primary culprit. Whew! With that admission out of the way, (Hello my name is Eric and I have a modeling problem.), I present the latest state of this epic project. With the reasonably successful fabrication and installation of the intakes, ducts and tailpipes into the Intruders and Prowlers, I was able to move forward with closing up the bottom of the fuselages. When I made up the masters for the intake ducts I anticipated there would not be much room between them for the nose gear well, and so made the inner wall of the duct as thin as practical. Test fitting the bottom fuselage section with the integral nose gear well, revealed as expected that the fit was just a little too tight; primarily at the point the ducts begin to expand to meet the first stage compressor. First step was to file the corners of the wheel well and take off as much material as I dared. Test fitting again showed improvement but still a bit tight. With not a small amount of trepidation, a motor tool was employed to ever so carefully remove from the inside face of the ducts only enough material as necessary for each individually tailored bottom section to slide into place. Intruder Prowler. Note the big resin cockpit! I am very happy to report that no breakthroughs occurred during this phase! The fit of the bottom sections, was not quite Tamigawa quality, and required a bit of filler to create the smooth contours of the Intruder and Prowler undersides. Some work with a file and filler have brought things relatively quickly into shape and will require just a bit of work with a sanding block to smooth out the file marks. Simply repeat 10 times! A comparison of an Intruder, Prowler, and EA-6A (note the absence of armor on for the engines. Of course all this work had the consequence of obliterating the flush ducts on the underside of the intakes. Although not the easiest of details to reproduce, a reasonable facsimile can be made with a few judicious cuts with a hobby knife. The side walls of a flush (or NACA) duct are a subtle "S" shape, this is very hard to do, at least in 1/48 scale when 20 ducts need to be reproduced! I opted for a simpler curved shape that with a slight flat or rounding of the back corners will represent the actual duct sufficiently well for this application. A template was made to assist in keeping the size consistent and the position marked. A sharp #11 blade is used to score the outline of the duct. Use multiple light passes and make the cuts deeper toward the back tapering to nothing at the front. Once the cuts are sufficiently deep ( I think Im about 1/32 inch), comes the tricky part. A cut is made cutting a slice that tapers from back to front, the blade will have to rock to follow the curve of the sidewall. The cut on the other side of the duct will be easier. After the basic duct is cut out, a bit of knife work will clean up the corners, I then polish the duct with an application of plastic solvent. Not perfect, but a reasonable facsimile! Throughout all this, the Growlers have been patiently waiting for the paint booth with only a bit of primer on their new wing fences with corrected access plates, and new forward fuselage access panels. The windshield fairing also are finally to an acceptable state. That's all for now folks! As always thanks for the interest and the support! Eric aka The Yankymodeler Edited December 14, 2014 by Yankymodeler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Good to see these still going. Looking forward to painting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 Good to see these still going. Looking forward to painting. Thanks snapper! I'm hoping to be able to get a base coat of finish color on the Growlers to day, next step then would be to get the flaps and ailerons installed. The Grummans need a bit more work with fine sand paper and a bit of scribing. Eric aka The Yankymodeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickpadwick1801 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 I have an italeri prowler myself waiting to be started. Will watch this with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 You're still on the this side of insanity then after this monstrous undertaking? Great to see some progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperService Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Hi Eric! Glad to see that you are still at large and not in a padded cell somewhere. I think we've all started something that's turned into a monster project but nothing in my experience like this. I have an Italeri Growler in the stash but think the KittyHawk F-35B may be easier.... I love the detail you are putting in and the commitment you are maintaining. An inspiration. When you've done these I think you should do a quick, relatively easy project or two. How about developing fusion reactors and warp drive? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Eric, I just caught up on this one. It meant missing out on beauty sleep, And boy do I need more of that! I've written to Santa asking for a Straightjacket and some rubber for your walls. Will that suit you? Epic stuff. Hope Santa brings more mojo too. Thanks Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Great to see the progress on this epic build. Chapeau sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 (edited) Thank you all for the support! I was worried that I may have crossed the line and gone a little overboard with this project. Y'all have let me know I have! I have a few interesting ideas for the next build that may be an interesting challenge........ Edited December 16, 2014 by Yankymodeler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buster213 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 We all have our favourite aircraft, Hurricane, Spitfire and for me the Sabre, EE LIghtning and years ago I build an Intruder ( after reading the novel Flight of the Intruder and seeing the film) I must admit the Intruder always stayed at the front of my display shelf for many years. So I just popped by for QUICK catchup and saw this thread. The guys have pretty much said it all "Crazy as a box of frogs" "nuts" etc etc. Eight at once and then time for some extra detailing and making your own mouldings. I spent 15 years as a paramedic and met some crazy people but you Sir are something else... . OK its a modelling forum so I guess we are all in good company lol. I do sincerely wish you all the best in this epic project. I for one continue to watch with extreme interest and already have the itch pick up another Intruder to build at some later date. But I will stick to just the one being old, decrepit and a wimp lol. and my deepest respect 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Overboard? That's what we want on Britmodeller!!!! I read the title Eric and my mind went slightly off tangent when I seen 'Intruder' and 'Growler', but your progress has brought be back to full attention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I missed your update mid December Eric, good to see progress and yes NACA dusts can be quite tricky, I scribe/cut with a new blade the right to the front and the full deapth, then cut the back away first, say at 30 degrees this gives you a bit more room to work the sides. I thought of grinding up a nail or similar to the shape, heating it and plunging into the plastic and then just clean up the excess. Might work if you've twenty to produce. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Thanks guys! I do appreciate (all the funny comments about the sanity of anyone who would allow a project to have gotten to be so momentous, and I heartily agree! So far no medication has been necessary outside of an occasional glass of wine! Buster213, When I started this project I have to admit the Intruder was not an airplane that held my interest but after researching I was surprised at what I learned about the performance and capability of the Intruder. An impressive airplane indeed! I was talking to a friend who about what I learned, when he told me he flew 3 tours during the Viet Nam war in the Intruder. Well after listening to many hours of first hand knowledge he casually mentioned that he flew with a guy in his squadron who wrote a pretty good book if I was interested. It was turned into a movie but the book was better if I liked to read, had I heard of "Flight of the Intruder"? Dick and Steven Coonts were roommates! So that connection along with that of my very good friend who started off this epic are some of the reasons I have been picky on certain aspects of this build. None of the available kits OOB truly capture the big Grummans so I have spent a lot of time and effort in trying to create models that capture the essence of the Intruder/Prowler. I've been doing a lot of the fine clean up work around the exhaust area last couple of days. Today after some more snow plowing after an unexpected snow fall here in the northern Shenandoah valley, I hope to get a final coat of primer on the Intruders and Prowlers. The Growlers (yes Woody37 I am aware of the connotations of the 'Growler' nickname but it worked so well with a 'Wizard of Oz' quotation!) are ready for final painting and I'll get that started as well. Hopefully I'll have some progress pics to post by tonight. Thanks again for all the interest and support. Eric aka The Yankymodeler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 aN EPIC BUILD, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE END RESULTS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 I missed your update mid December Eric, good to see progress and yes NACA dusts can be quite tricky, I scribe/cut with a new blade the right to the front and the full deapth, then cut the back away first, say at 30 degrees this gives you a bit more room to work the sides. I thought of grinding up a nail or similar to the shape, heating it and plunging into the plastic and then just clean up the excess. Might work if you've twenty to produce. Colin Thanks for the tip on carving out the ducts, Colin. I'll give that a try on the next NACA duct I need to add, there's sure to be more in the future. I'd also like to try the shaped,heated plunger idea, wish I'd knew about it earlier! Eric aka The Yankymodeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 The method I use when scratch building ducts is to cut the area out (square shape), put a plastic backing, fill with Miiliput, make a plastic template of the shape of the duct, glue a strip of plastic that runs the length of the duct, that makes it easier to hold and also makes it rigid so will not bend, push the template into the milliput, allow the milliput to dry then with a sharp knife cut back the excess milliput and sand Its easier to do than explain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 The method I use when scratch building ducts is to cut the area out (square shape), put a plastic backing, fill with Miiliput, make a plastic template of the shape of the duct, glue a strip of plastic that runs the length of the duct, that makes it easier to hold and also makes it rigid so will not bend, push the template into the milliput, allow the milliput to dry then with a sharp knife cut back the excess milliput and sand Its easier to do than explain That sounds like pretty good idea too, I'll have to give that a try sometime. Thank you kev! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 I was hoping to have an update posted by tonight, but the coat of primer I just sprayed revealed the fact that I have yet another session with sandpaper and block to bring the airframes to an acceptable state. Rather than rush into sanding before the paint is thoroughly dry and causing a setback, I've poured a glass of Drambuie and contemplated future modelling projects. I've been thinking of what could possibly be my next project. Unlike the current subject, or the CASA 2.111 and the Hispano 1112 builds for the Battle of Britain movie stars series, or the Rolls Royce MK XIV Spitfire G-ALGT build, this one could be a bit of a challenge. Some of you may know I have a strong interest in civilian aircraft, particularly those converted or developed from military hardware. I also have a love of the big flying boats. Sipping my second glass while browsing vintage aircraft on the web, I stumbled upon a picture of a civilian flying boat, in a tropical paradise setting post WWII, that was developed from a large four engine flying boat. Not a lot of information is easily available, but I think I've pieced together enough from picture and descriptions to make a reasonable attempt. The conversion can be done from an existing kit, though there will be quite some major modifications and scratch-building needed. Anyone care to take a guess? Eric aka The Yankymodeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Well it's probably not a Bv222. (which someone else is building on here) From a cast of thousands, I'll go with the obvious & say Sandringham. What do I win? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Short Sunderland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 You're on the right track with the Sunderland/Sandringham, though to be honest a Sandringham from a Sunderland is not too involved of a conversion. Think successor to the Sunderland and it's civil equivalent... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Only one I can think of is the Shetland. But I didn't think it was really developed. BTW, Ever noticed how the names of their flying boats kept going North? Felixstowe. Sunderland, Shetland. Would the next be the Short Murmansk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Good point Pete, perhaps if the trend was to pick names of a more tropical nature the age of the big flying boats would have lasted longer! After all doesn't boarding a Short Bermuda seem to hold promise of a paradise like destination? Actually chaps, I am thinking about a close cousin to the Sandringham, the civilian version of the Short Seaford. I'm thinking of the Short Solent, and the Mk 4 at that! I love the big boats and when I came across a pic of a MK 4 in the wonderful Teal markings I just had to look into building one. After all, it's only longer, wider, taller with different engines and completely new tail surfaces. Starting with one of the two venerable Airfix Sunderlands in my stash, how hard can it be? But today, its back to the Intruders, Prowlers, and Growlers! Eric aka The Yankymodeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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