1/72 Airfix Rotodyne

[Nigel Heath]

I lose this particular battle with the carpet monster and so start fabrication of the undercarriage door. My first thought is to use brass sheet. The whip antenna is in the background, nearly ready for attachment. This is the second I made, the first pinged off into outer space when I cut it off with wire cutters:

Then I have a change of heart and look in my PE spares box and find this piece which already has an attachment tab:

For such an oversize tool my tinsnips can display surprising finesse, I have to trim off this sliver:

Here is the whip ariel attached, on the Wiki photo it looks black but I think it should be silver so that's what I painted it. I am now thinking of replacing it with some nickel silver rod which I will have to source from somewhere. Its 0.2 mm brass rod BTW:

Here I am installing the wire to the ariel masts using one of my favorite materials - EZ line:

When I try to trim it, one end debonds and after several frustrating attempts to stick it back come up with this solution:

I notice there is an air gap between the cargo door hinge and the fuselage so I apply more superglue and hold with tape:

I knock the steps off, this is easy to do as this thing is getting increasingly fragile:

Here is the door, its a bit rough but it should look the part. There is Green Stuff filler on there but you can't see it because of the reflection:

For convenience I prime with Tamiya grey rattle can primer, I don't think Alclad is that fussy:

That's as far as I have got so far, so while things are drying / setting I am going to do some shopping.

Bye for now,

Nigel

Edited July 30, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Nigel Heath]

I then spotted that the probe had been damaged:

As this is an example of how not to make a soldered joint I feel that it is bound to break when I try to move it back, but fortunately it does not:

I am now petrified that if it happens again it will almost certainly break so I fashion this probe protector:

I reglue the steps and add the undecarriage door:

I then start on the navigation lights, somehow I get clear red on my glove which transfers here:

Water won't shift it so I try IPA, I know this is risky as it can dissolve Klear and probably won't do the acrylic paint much good but I think if I can be quick I should get away with it:

The mark is removed but there is some slight damage to the varnish layer. I'm not too worried as I was planning to revarnish the pylon area anyway.

Here are the navigation lights:

I replace the brace on the cargo door. Don't they look nice:

Time for another play session with the rotors. The new nose job is not doing it any favours in the looks department:

Here is the damage to the varnish, I tidy it up with a bit of sanding:

There is one last piece of construction to do which is to make and fit supports to the steps and a brace to the upper door. I fabricate these from 0.4mm rod, 0.6mm tube and 0.31mm rod for the brace:

The first support I cut off before realising that it would be easier to paint if left on the rod so I make another one. These should be the same grey as the steps but my records state that they should be RLM66 but this is clearly not the case as they are much lighter. I select a light grey. The brace is blue, I also touch up the handrail at the same time:

When I try to fit these the first support falls inside the Rotodyne, sticks to the roof and is never seen again (it is completely hidden). The second falls inside twice but I manage to recover it. I was also trying to stick them to the inside of the steps but this results in a funny angle so they must be glued to the outside of the steps. I try this but trying to push one end againt the door frame while simultaneously pulling the other against the side of the steps proves impossible. I will have to have a rethink. Then the steps break off again:

Well I have to stop for today, clearly I'm not quite finished but I'm not concerned. Its not a race, just the opposite in fact.

Bye for now,

Nigel

Edited July 31, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Epic, simply epic.....What a battle!

[Martian]

You would think that the kit would have the good grace to throw in the towel at this stage! Cheer up Nigel you have all but defeated it.

Martin

[phildagreek]

Looks like you've got it cornered now! Keep going.

[madaboutmodels]

Brilliant Work, looks very hard, but well worth it.

Id like to do a 1/144 version.

[Nigel Heath]

Looks like you've got it cornered now!

I like that, I think I have and I'm now going to give it a good beating with a big stick.

[Fritag]

You would think that the kit would have the good grace to throw in the towel at this stage! Cheer up Nigel you have all but defeated it.

Martin

Yep. I think it knows that it's beaten - it's still struggling but it's definitely beaten...

Nigel - your the Novak Djokovic of BM. 2 sets to love down - most players sort of give in but not Djokovic - and then he pulls off a stunning 5 set victory. I reckon you're now serving for the match.

Steve

[Work In Progress]

Oo-er, all the pics in your posts above are saying they've been moved or deleted...

[Nigel Heath]

Yes I just spotted this myself, I have done some tidying up in Photo Bucket and it appears to have broken a lot of the links. I will try to repair tomorrow, what a pain.

I have 237 photos on this post alone let alone all the others I will have to fix.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Nigel Heath]

All the photos have now been restored, its only taken me four hours. All part of the fun.

[scorpiomikey]

Wow, the kit couldnt fight hard enough physically so it started fighting digitally.

Id suggest donating this to a museum when its done or your house might burn down lol

[Nigel Heath]

I never realised that a kit could engage in cyberwar but there you go.

I made a little progress last night.

The steps fell off yet again. I have a rethink and decide to dowel it. I should have done this from the outset but I can be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes:

I drill out and install 0.6mm brass rod dowels. I have to make three of these as one of the first batch was gobbled up by the carpet monster. You'd think I should be knee deep in tiny parts by now with all the suff I've fed into the carpet monster but strangely I'm not:

I have filed them to a piont to help in marking out the corresponding holes on the fuselage.

Well I said I only made a little progress so that's it I'm afraid. I am on holiday tomorrow so should see the finish line then.

I finish off the evening by making a chicken tikka masala from a recipe by Jamie Oliver with rice and a lemon dressed side salad. Its nice but proves to be too big a portion for me:

Please let me now it you don't like me posting my cookery pictures as I appreciate they are not pertinent to modelling.

Bye for now,

Nigel

Edited August 1, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Rodders154]

I like both. The modelling pictures and the cooking.

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks Rodders.

[Work In Progress]

I find Jamie's stuff always a reliable stand-by, providing you are wary with the amount of salt he uses.

(I did no plastic modelling last night but made some gooseberry jam out of the garden.)

Good work with the steps. if that dowel doesn't work, I suggest

[Nigel Heath]

I too like Jamie but some of his recipes are a bit (deliberately) slapdash - please define for me a handful, when I have scaled down to one portion size what does a quarter of a handful look like?

The dowels cannot fail to work, I've just got to get the holes in the right place.

[Martian]

Mmmmmmmm Curry!

Martin

[Nigel Heath]

Can you see my last three pictures? I moved them to their propper locastion in Photo Bucket but they still appear to work for me.

[Work In Progress]

No, they're broken. You're probably picking them up off your web browser cache.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Nope.....Dead links for me too.

[JOCKNEY]

Nigel you're a saint.

I have read through this epic adventure from the beginning tonight, I don't know how you've kept your sanity.

Well done mate I take my hat off to you

[Nigel Heath]

I know nothing about this "web browser cache" of which you speak. This computer stuff is like wichcraft to me.

Photos now restored. Time for the final push.

Edited August 1, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Nigel Heath]

Here are the steps glued in place, they are totally bullet proof now. I also have the upper door stay in place with added blu tack jigging:

You will no doubt have noticed that the aerial wire has snapped again.

While the door glue is setting I fixed the aerial wire. This is my preferred tool for trimming the ends of the EZ line:

In trying to fix this, I knock off the upper door but the stay holds fast:

I glue back the door but lose the stay this time:

Backtracking slightly, I forgot to mention that of course I retouched the paint, varnish and decals around the side windows. I had to use a brush as I could not think of any other feasible way of doing it. Its not as good as it could have been, or indeed should of been but I will just have to live with it:

Although you can't realy see it here, the brass stair dowels are just visible (and on the underside as well). I will hide them with a touch of Payne's grey later. I like the interesting way the two door halves sit at different angles:

Here I am trying to get you a better view of the intake grilles:

I glue on the stair stays, these now fall into place, no drama whatsoever. I have a feeling that like a spirited thoroughbred that's finally been broken in, she at last knows who's the boss:

There must only be a few dozen atoms of metal holding the top of the probe on, so I remove the protection and apply a dab of superglue as reinforcement:

I reattatch the door stay. This and the handrail will need a little more retouching:

At this point I notice that the new undecarriage door has gone walkabout:

Astonishingly, after a brief search I find the original:

I am quite pleased about this as I did a better job on this one, the other one can remain awol. It is rapidly reattached:

This is the last of the bonkers masking; to revarnish the rotor pylon. I have also applied a bit of matt varnish and redone some of the weathering:

This angle gives a better view of the IPA damaged varnish. I think the shiny area is Klear peeping through:

I have now revarnished and performed all the necessary touch ups. I have not finished yet as there are still the windscreen wipers to attach and these have not arrived from the US of A yet. I have decided not to replace the whip aerial despite ordering some nickel silver rod for the job. To the naked eye it looks fine as it is and why take any more risks? This means that this is as far as I can go for now so here are some general overview shots:

Bye for now,

Nigel

Edited August 2, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Is that light at the end of the tunnel I see.....Or is it a train?

Good luck with the final stages Nigel.....I think you've got it beat!