Rhino Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Welcome back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 Thanks Rhino, I rather missed the project while I was away and did indeed toy with the idea of taking it with me but the accompanying raft of books and tools would have taken far too much room up in the already full car. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 It just keeps getting better and better. I am still awestruck at how neat and tidy your work is. I just tried scribing some panel lines and even though I was trying to be real careful.... it's going to take an hour of filling and sanding to make anything decent of it. Working with pieces as small as you are, I'd have glue in my hair, in my ears, and all over the worktop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Wow! Don't know how I missed this one. There is some fantastic scratch building. I shudder to think what your plastic strip bill looks like... I am now officially hooked! Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 Thanks Guys, I try not to think about the cost of the plastic strip and card that is going into this project, all I know is that the final bill will not make for pretty reading! Working with the small parts is not too great a problem as I have two pairs of glasses that my optician made up for me, both corrected for my vision. One is 8 x magnification and the other 13. Once you get used to working with these glasses, things become a whole lot easier and, of course, if you can make your work look neat at these magnifications, it is going to look even better when viewed by the naked eye. I found myself pleasantly surprised how inexpensive the glasses turned out to be. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Looking great there Martin, do you know allot of Naked people then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 Looking great there Martin, do you know allot of Naked people then Fair point! Post edited to read correctly. Although if I can't sleep at night I have been known to model in the buff; have to be careful with the old scalpel though! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 I hate DIY with a passion, so anything that involves a week of it must be mega important! Well, I came back from holiday to find that the small box room in the house that had been promised for my man cave had been vacated and, following the relocation of a telephone socket, was ready for me to move in. This what I have been up to over the last week, getting covered in muck, drilling, sawing and fitting all my modelling gear into a small 6 x 6 room. All this, of course, explains the absence of updates. The room is now operational, although doubtless a few tweaks will be needed here and there over the coming weeks, and was christened with it's first modelling session today. For this session I continued to work on the radar unit for the Tracker. This involved building a frame for some equipment that serves the main radar unit and the equipment itself. Don't ask me what it is or what it is for, my references do not go that far, I just built the thing as best I could. More test fitting was carried out as this sub-assembly went along which is just as well as things are getting a bit tight in that particular area of the fuselage. Next up, another equipment frame for the SH-34 and hopefully normal service, or at least what passes for normal around here, is now resumed Thanks for looking Martin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallyinoz Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 that is some serious work there! I "dips me lid" to you, it's beyond me... 6 x 6 cave... bit like a foxhole really but it is nice to have your own space all the best wal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 Thanks Wal, the cave may be small but at least I can shut myself away without being disturbed or disturbing the rest of the household. I have also had a good nine months to plan it out and am able to have either a spray booth or a photo booth permanently set up in there as well. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 Over the last couple of days I have been struggling with the small equipment rack that is situated immediately forward of the cabin door on the starboard side. I had not anticipated that this would be such a fiddly part to make and could have done with an extra hand at the time. I also decided that I should fit the engine bearers at the front of the engine compartment and it was a good job I did as I discovered that I had been wrong to box in the front of the opening in the engine bay floor as It fouled the fit of the bearers. A couple of minutes with the scalpel sorted that out. Next up will be to complete the structure for the engine bay. Thanks for looking Martin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 I had thought that it would be a relatively quick process. Wrong! Upon separating the fuselage halves the two engine bearers that I thought I had glued into place decided to part company with the model and one of them flew off to who knows where? After a good hour on my hands and knees I decided that the part was not going to come to light any time soon and I might be better off scratch building a new pair of parts using the remaining kit one. A while later and we ended up with the following: Thanks for looking Martin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 6, 2014 Author Share Posted July 6, 2014 This morning I decided to have a look at the instrument panel. This comes as a clear part in the kit and I eventually decided to replace it with a blank plastic card panel to get better adhesion for the Eduard photo etched parts that I will be using on the assembly. At this stage a minor crisis arose when I noticed that some of the cabin windows on the same sprue as the IP were cracked or broken. Odd this as until this morning, the sprue had not left it's box. Work was suspended until a quick e-mail had been sent to MRC, the kit manufacturers asking for the requisite replacement parts. This done a new panel was cut from plastic card using the Eduard etched parts as a guide. At this stage I noticed that my correction to the cockpit front sill meant that the kit coaming no longer fitted properly. I did consider extending the kit part but upon noticing that it was undernourished where it forms a shade of the instruments, decided to replace the kit part altogether. Anyway, an hour's work resulted in this: At this stage I did a quick check to see that the new coaming would not impede the fit of the cockpit canopy itself. Fortunately, all appears to be well in this respect. Next up I fitted the rear fuselage plug that will hold the tail assembly in place and, having glued the tail halves together, di a heck of the fit in this area. There will be a tiny amount of filling required on the very top of the fuselage but otherwise all is well here as well. I have decided not to fold the tail as I feel it would detract from the character of the aircraft. I am still undecided as whether to fold the rotors or not. I would prefer not to for the same reasons as the tail but display space may come into play here. Thanks for looking Martin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Your detail work is impeccable Martin fair breaks me old heart how good it is, but it's lovely to follow and watch it unfold nice one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianthemodeller Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Coming on nicely. Wish my scratch building was as neat as yours... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Fantastic buids Martin.....That's some truly masterful detailing in both models! It's a fascinating project for me too, 'Dutch' and 'Aircraft Carrier' are two words I would never have expected to find in the same sentence.....A bit like 'F-35' and 'Operational'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thanks Guys, I am glad you are enjoying the builds, it makes things easier when the going gets tough. Brian, you only get to see the finished parts that have gone right, with many parts there are two or three attempts that end up in the bin. It is ironic though that, whilst I am obsessive, going on completely anal, about my modelling being neat, my bench usually bears more than a passing resemblance to a landfill site that has been shaken up and turned upside down! Given the small size of the new man cave though, I am clearly going to have to make strenuous efforts to change this state of affairs or production will suffer. Sgt Squarehead, unlike Lockheed Martin, the Dutch did manage to make their carrier work and even considerably upgraded it. Sadly politicians got meddling in things and a fire was used as a rather lame excuse to decommission the carrier. Strangely although the word was that it was uneconomical to repair the ship, the Argentine Navy bought her, had her repaired and operated her for well over twenty years. Martin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Didn't we have some Sea-Harriers with similar 'issues' at one time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Didn't we have some Sea-Harriers with similar 'issues' at one time? Don't get me started or I will have the Mods on my case! Martin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Hello ! Very nice scratch build work, congratulations !! Best reagrds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 That's some seriously impressive detailing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid de Koning Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Amazing work! Keep it up Sid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thanks for the comments Guys, they all help the old morale up. Especially at the moment as for some reason I have been feeling a bit low since completing the man cave. I suspect I just overreached myself a bit. Gill said take it a bit at a time but, no, I had to go at it like a bull at a gate and now I seem to be suffering the consequences. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Good to see you are back of your hols Martin and cracking on with your two builds. More plastic is needed... Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thanks Colin, I am afraid it will probably be the photo etch on the tail next but next up on the Tracker is the interior gubbins for the MAD boom , plenty of white plastic there! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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