1/72 Jet Provosts - Finished

[Procopius]

I believe CMK make a set of Hawk 100 control surfaces for the Airfix. In fact, I more than believe, I know: http://www.cmkkits.com/en/detail-sets-accessories/bae-hawk-100-series-control-surfaces-1-72-for-airfix-kit/

Rarely has faith been so quickly confirmed.

[Engineer66]

If you are looking for an Airfix Hawk in 1/72 have a look here, Airfix have it for 4.99 I'm not sure which tooling it is though.

http://www.airfix.com/shop/last-chance-to-buy-collection.html?utm_campaign=Airfix_Email_-_LCTB_208207&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=CM_hornby-airfix

They have regular 'last chance to buy' offers, presumably to run down unsold stock?

Cheers

Alan

[Procopius]

The A02005A Red Arrows boxing is the revised tooling.

[Cheshiretaurus]

The A02005A Red Arrows boxing is the revised tooling.

Have that kit on the bench at the moment, Doesn't contain any stores or pylons though just the smoke pod.

[Fritag]

I used to see the odd Jaguar fly near to my school in Rothwell heading towards Church Fenton / Leeds Bradford airport. I assume that they must have been on some sort of recce exercise?

Yep, probably singleton recce jags from 41 I would guess. Too much controlled airspace and built up areas around Rothwell to want to take a formation through - no sensible options if the weather got bad. Don't remember myself taking a southern route around the Leeds Bradford CTR in a Jag. All that controlled airspace just above and to the side of you.....

none of the Hawks in 1/72 have the flaps as separate items, so they all require a bit of surgery. The Flightpath set is pretty good but I still think it's not quite "delicate" enough in certain areas such as the flaps. I tried replicating them myself on my build .....& it nearly sent me mad...... after about 30 hours, I had one flap almost the way I wanted it but I didn't have the time/ stomach/ eyesight to finish the other & the build stalled.

I've been meaning to pick it up recently (has it really been 2 years!)

Nice work Doug Carry on with so I can copy........

I believe CMK make a set of Hawk 100 control surfaces for the Airfix. In fact, I more than believe, I know:

Hmm. Looks like it could be useful. Is the Hawk 100 the same as the T1 in this respect?

Have that kit on the bench at the moment, Doesn't contain any stores or pylons though just the smoke pod.

I've just bought a couple of the Airfix A02005A Hawks at half price from Hannants. I'm Gonna get an Italeri one as well so I compare the two and decide which one(s) to use in my Hawk build.

Right Oh. Back to the JPS.

I managed just a few bits and bobs last night.

Various PE aerials and also the nose wheel u/c doors primed and painted. Almost at that stage now!!!:

Then plunge moulded 4 x anti-collision lights by heating some clear sprue and pushing it into a suitably sized hole in my punch and die set. Another technique borrowed from a BM thread. Seems that I pinch most of my ideas from Cheshiretaurus - so it may have been one of his . Here's one of em. They'll have to be painted with Tamiya Clear Red before fixing..

And I've been musing on how to recreate the MFC on the JP5. You don't see it on the civilianised ones (or some of the early RAF ones for that matter) but XW360 had it fitted and it is a very noticeable feature of the canopy:

I'm going to use fine wire and so the main issue is bending it to shape. I decided sometime ago that the best way to do it would be some sort of jig to ensure uniformity in the shape and because in 1/72 it's just too small to do accurately bending it bit by bit with tweezers; and last night I experimented making one thus:

Here's a test piece - using some copper wire pressed into the jig with the back of a scalpel blade. This would be one side of one of the two sections of MDC. I'd have to bend a triangle back on itself at one end and then press the other side into the jig. I'm sure you get the idea. Should work?

I'm away now for a couple of days now delivering christmas pressies to family down south - hope to get back to the JPs on Sunday.

Steve

Edited December 5, 2014 by Fritag

[perdu]

nice jiggery Steve

enjoy your trip to the darker climes

[Fritag]

As I'm nearly at the end of this JP build. And as I'm sat bored in Leeds Station waiting for a London train - I thought I'd introduce a tad of thread drift and post a few photos from Church Fenton, back in the day!, that I don't think I've posted before:

Selfie in a JP5. See - they did have MDC:

Survival training (only one of us needed to shave in those days.....). They said you could make a waterproof tent from parachute silk. Oh yea........

Them that made it to the next stage (IIRC 2 went to Group 2 training (transports), 2 went Group 3 training (helicopters) and the rest of us Group 1 training (fast jets):

Given some pressies at the end - inky swot - (had to give em back after the photo).... Spotty 19 year old. Don't miss the spots. Do miss the hairline and the waistline.......

Edited December 5, 2014 by Fritag

[keefr22]

I like that idea for the anti collison lights - I'm stealing that too!! (much easier than my usual way of building up & then polishing layers of cyano!!)

The MDC looks very neat too Steve, but I can't help wondering if even the finest copper wire is going to look overscale? I hope not & look forward to you proving me wrong as I need to do the same for a couple of Tucanos one day...

Have fun playing Santa!

K

Edit : missed the thread drift when I posted - great stuff! Shame you had to give that shiny silver Meteor trophy back - that looks lovely! Still wondering how thin that MDC will be in 1/72 though....!!

[Fritag]

The MDC looks very neat too Steve, but I can't help wondering if even the finest copper wire is going to look overscale? I hope not & look forward to you proving me wrong as I need to do the same for a couple of Tucanos one day...

I've got some 0.1mm Nickel Rod from Albion Alloys to do it for real. It may look over scale - but it should look finer than (say) the moulded in MDC on the Airfix Hawk.

I guess I'll have to make a judgment call if and when I manage to produce the final version.

I'll be minded to use it as long as it doesn't look grossly over scale.

[keefr22]

How easy will that nickel be to bend? I'm guessing should be easy enough at that thickness. I have some 0.2mm lead wire that I tried to make an MDC from, it's dead easy to bend, but that's also it's problem - it just bends all out of shape when you try & apply it to the canopy, I found it impossible to fix! So I hope that nickel works, it should be an ideal solution!

Just had a black Valley Hawk go over rather quickly - lovely little thing against the cracking blue sky we have this morning! First fast mover I've seen in about 6 months - makes a change from those interminable helicoptery thingies we now get!

K

[Zone19]

Steve,

An idea for your MDC...

Draw an MDC shape on a piece of paper, pin it, then put pins at each each curve, on the inside of each curve. Once you have reached a certain curve, add a pin to the open side of the wire to keep it in position, then carry on with each one...Once finished you can then make the slight arc in it so it can fit inside the canopy...Think of the pen line as the wire you're using...

Zone

Edited December 5, 2014 by Zone19

[perdu]

I bought some 0.1mm copper detailing wire from Pinnacle Products at Telford for similar poipoises, nickel might have been better

I should have looked at Albion's stand TBH I think they were on the end of our club's table area

Looks like 0.1 will do the trick 'eyewise' to me

Steve, the photos? Taken by Station Police after they apprehended you popping to the local pawn shop were they?

Fair do's couldn't the school give you a hand displaying them for the 'togger?

making you hold all of them seems a bit like picking on the spotty kid.

I know Keith liked the Meteor one, me? Has to be the JP, much the prettier aeroplane.

[Cheshiretaurus]

One day I'll try making a home brew photo etch MDC but I don't think I'll be able to get it as fine a 0.1mm though. Plan with the pins n wire sounds good.

[feifeitim]

Love the grad pictures Steve! You can find some of mine on the Church Fenton website. Seems I grasped those trophies briefly too, a year or so after you!!!!

Run out of superlatives for your skills, so not going to bother this time!!!!

[Tomoshenko]

More innovations and shared techniques from the fine folk on here. Like the light moulding idea. As for the MDC, cripes I have some 0.2mm wire and can barely see it! But 0.1mm!!! I've wondered how I would take to such a task myself - or not. The jig looks like the way forward, though the pins n wire also looks good. That said mate, I wouldn't be surprised if you make one out of human hair set in shape using decanted hairspray!

[Fritag]

Love the grad pictures Steve! You can find some of mine on the Church Fenton website. Seems I grasped those trophies briefly too, a year or so after you!!!!

I always knew they gave them out to just anyone............

BTW is that your photo on the website of the Bucc smoking along at low level? Nice one.

Steve,

An idea for your MDC...

........

Zone

I did think about that - but the pins I tried it with were actually too thick to form the double zig zags small enough for 1/72 scale

I may have another go when I get back home.

[Navy Bird]

Can you scribe clear plastic, or do the edges of the scribed line chip or fracture? I've never tried it, so I have to ask. If you could, you could scribe lines on the inside of the canopy that represent the MDC and then fill with a wash of whatever colour you need. I've seen that done on kits where the MDC is engraved on the inside of the canopy. Just a thought...don't try it on my part and ruin anything!

Cheers,

Bill

[Fritag]

Now I know that this build has been going on for too long. I found these way back at page 30 or so!!!!

I tried templates and pins - and couldn't get them to work - which is why I'm now trying the Jig.

Also - it was way back then that Cheshiretaurus pointed me towards the Albion Alloys 0.1mm Nickel.

My how time flys

So I've been playing about with the pesky MDC.

I went to the local craft shop and got some 34 gauge (0.16mm) copper wire -the thinnest they had.

The plan was to draw a template - rather as suggested by Bill - and stick some pins in it to bend the wire around. That became an immediate non-starter when I realised that pins are just too big for the task at 1/72....And for that matter trying to draw the shape was hard enough - I gave up on the litte zig zags as - apart from anything else - there is no way I can actually replicate the very sharp nature of the zig zag bends accurately in wire at this scale - aiming for a good enough impression rather than total accuracy.

Plan 2 involved a plasticard template with the main dimensions scribed on and using very pointed tweezers to bend the wire.

I might be able to produce a better template with a really fine nib tecnical drawing pen. Hmm.....

The dimensions are a bit tricky too. I have photos of the MDC from the side so I can judge the length of it and the proportions inot which it is divided by the zig zags; but I haven't seen any decent top views or a diagram of the MDC to judge the width of it. So there's an element of guess work involved at the mo'.

So - proof of concept (that sounds grand....):

Becomes first prototype (by dint of not getting chucked in the bin ):

Gets a quick spray of tamiya primer to see how it looks in grey:

And a rough test fit in a spare canopy. Really need a good top view photo of the real thing to judge where - laterally - the MDC sits:

Looks promising. The question will be whether or not it ends up looking too crude so that it's better left off. Hopeful tho'.

One thing for sure - it would be better in even finer wire - I don't want it to be too in your face as it were. I looked on Little cars as reccomended by Keef and they have some 0.1mm wire. Might try getting some of that.

Steve

Albion alloys do a 0.1mm wire I used it for the aerials on my Cherokee.

Its Nickel silver rod comes in a tube of 10 x 300mm lengths and cost about £5 part no is NSR01

Albion alloys catalogue

Mark

So the above photo from way back in April shows roughly how it would look using 0.16mm copper wire - and 0.1mm Nickel (if it works) will be somewhat finer.

Steve

Edited December 6, 2014 by Fritag

[keefr22]

April? Good grief, where's it all gone...??!! (& I've only managed to finish one model in the intervening 7 months - & that was started in January!!)

I think, if it bends cleanly, the nickel should look brill.!

[geedubelyer]

I've got some 0.1mm Nickel Rod from Albion Alloys to do it for real.

Hi Steve, that should look nice and fine. Is there any mileage in annealing the rod before use to soften it?

Cheers.

[HAMP man]

In my addled brain is a recollection of an article in SAM of a French chap who did a number on the Airfix Tucano, he made the MDC using copper wire stripped from electrical flex. The kinks were made using two pieces of small plastic 'u' shaped channel reduced to the correct size and stuck to the jaws of some needle nosed pliers slightly offset so that they meshed when closed. I seem to remember being very impressed by his skill with a very basic kit, but after following this and the Chippie builds he now would be classed as only just above average.

[Fritag]

I just had time this evening to have a go with the 0.1 mm Nickel and my MDC jig. It's not as user friendly as the copper wire even after annealing it as suggested by Geedubelyer.

But a bit of perseverence proved it was possible - If fiddly and frankly rather delicate. Compared here with the 0.16mm copper effort and a pin - which shows why I couldn't get the pins to work as a jig

If I can manufacture the full MDC loop then I think it'll look good. It's still an if rather than a when tho' I reckon.....

Steve

[perdu]

I reckon that will work Steve, shame there's not much malleable built in to nickel

I bought my 0.1 copper wire because of difficulty getting thin enough wire for Scouty's bits'n'bobs but I wish it had been silver coloured 'cos when I use copper I'm going to have to make it thicker with colour

Bruce, who runs Pinnacle says he's been trying to source silver coloured wire in mega-thin sizes. Copper is all he could get but it looks good enough.

Might be a case of follow this thread, Bruce is a member of my branch of IPMS and if he gets what we need I'll let everybody know

I wonder if home 'silver plating' is on the cards? Copper would be soft enough then to do what you need

[jan_cz]

Steve,

This has been a wonderful build. This is what I have used for break lines and wires in small scales: http://jacobs-online.biz/nichrome_wire.htm

They are fairly malleable and come in quite an wide assortment of thickness with a fairly good price

Best of luck on the MDC!

Jan

[Martian]

I think you will be able to manufacture the MDC alright but I worry about how you will attach it to the canopy without it looking like it has been glued on.

Martin