Alex Gordon Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) G'day Chums, I'm going to have a go at this one. She's going to be a Falklands job,wheels up on a stand with my two Shars that I built a few years ago. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the cockpit,there's no need to but there's a fair bit to be sorted out externally. I started by glueing the rear bulkhead to the cockpit tub,putting the drop tanks together and the rocket pod casings too. Then the mounting bulkhead for the intake was fitted to the back of the intake itself so that I could offer it up to mark out where the missing fairing inside is supposed to go.The bomb halves are from an Airfix B(I)8 Canberra and will make the cylindrical body that runs up to the centre of the compressor face. The wings needed a little fettling,the fence slots in the lower halves were widened slightly to ease the fit and the trailing edges were thinned down to a sharper edge. Anyway,this is where we are tonight.More soon chums,thanks for looking in. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 A brave man tackling this kit, be interesting to see what you can do with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Glad to see the 48th scale kit getting a bit of attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 (edited) Hello again Chums, Phil,I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.There's lots of it to go at though. Col,I've been wanting to build this one for years.I wound up with three in the stash,two of which are older boxings acquired for the princely sum of £8 and this looks like a perfectly suitable time to build one. A bit done today.I started by making the centrebody in the intake.The nose of the bomb was cut off and reamed out to fit over the centre boss on the compressor.  A couple of side pieces were then cut from thickish plastic card and roughed out to fit into the intake. A temporary put together gave me a promising fit. So I painted behind the fan matt black and the fan itself silver and fitted them in place.I then fixed all my newly made goodies in position using short lengths of square rod to butt them against. While this was setting I thought I'd sort out some joints.The rocket pods have a bit of lumpy moulding near the edges of the halves,but it's all proud of the surface so a little light sanding sorted it all out. While I was at it I thinned the back end edge and removed by scraping the joint within. Having done that and sanded off the joints on the fuel tanks I turned my attention to the exhaust heat shields.These look nothing like the ones in photos so they had to go. I cut them off completely,leaving as few gouges in the surrounding plastic as I could and,after a spot of sanding and fettling,placed them into the backs of the resultant holes to make the backing for the next bit.I then cut a couple of rectangles and some narrow strips from thin plastic card and made them into the new shields. I then set about blanking off the fairings forward of the exhausts,using plastic card once again. Milliput time. The wing leading edges,fences and vortex generators all needed something doing with them.One wing so far has had the fences removed,the leading edge sanded to shape,the vortex generators thinned apart from the one that was replaced because this heavy handed specimen managed to chop it off,and the fences replaced and shaped. Not the best photography I know but a light tidy up will clean it all off and hopefully look half decent. More soon chums. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Good work so far.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 That's some ingenuity on display! Following this one for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Very nice work so far, you're looking like you're going to tame this beast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomjw Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 This is serious work on display. Enjoying following this. Cheers, Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xffw45343tg Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Nice nozzle fairing blanking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 (edited) G'day Chums, Thanks for the encouragement chums,some bits of this are taking a bit of thinking about but it is fairly straightforward up to now. Having been delayed by work for the last few days I've managed to do a bit more today,mostly whittling and fettling before we even think about construction.Both wings are now about ready having done any errant milliputing and made the fuel dump vents and wingtip lights. The filling and shaping behind the rear nozzles has come up more or less as intended too. The front fan was masked off for paint,having cut the masking tape before assembly using the fan as a template. The nozzles needed a little attention.A light scrape out behind the vanes was all that was needed for my purposes,this did take the best part of an hour to do all four though.A bit more of a tidy up to get rid of the dust will sort these out nicely. The outriggers needed a square up too,and a little bit of creative scraping to try to represent the yoke for the wheel. Once the outriggers were sorted I put the blanks into the fuselage to mount the nozzles on and made the box for the APU exhaust.You can also see the hole to take the tongue for the wing has been opened up so that the wing lines up properly from the outside.And I've drilled out the Frogeyes too. The cockpit area had a spray of Humbrol 5 Admiralty Grey fairly early on in proceedings and this was now ready to dry fit to see what fettling was needed there.The instrument panel is holding the fuselage apart and will need to be sorted out.I'm quite pleased with how the APU exhaust looks so far. Driver,Airframe will need some work.Fitting the facemask and dropping the visor will be on the agenda. And while offering up was taking my attention I thought I'd drop the seat in and see what it all was going to look like.I think the pilot figure looks a little too small to me and replacing him could be the way to go.I sense a dig through the Big Box Of Little Bods is in the offing. More soon chums,thanks for looking in. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) Hello again Chums, A little more done over the last few days.The underwing pylons were going to need a thorough clean up. The gun pods will need a lot of attention. The pylons were painted Dark Green.Then,as I was looking at some photos for something else I noticed that the front edges of the inner pair needed reshaping.Best to find out now rather than later though. The intake interiors were painted their respective colours.This will make life a lot easier when it comes to the main paint job. The instrument panel is the one thing that stops the fuselage from being closed up properly.A spot of light fettling was in order. The piccie below is a composite image of ,left to right,the original shape of the panel,the reshaped panel and the reshaped panel on top of an as supplied one intended to show how much material has been removed and from where.Sorry the last image isn't as sharp as it could be. The edges of the panel were chamfered to aid the fit as well,reshaped panel left and as supplied right. The fuselage would now close up properly so,having finished all the internal work that I want to do,was duly taped up and liquid poly run into all the joints.I very seldom use a clamp as tape usually does the job with no fuss.To make both edges of the rear cockpit bulkhead touch the insides of the fuselage however required a strategically placed clamp to hold them together. More soon chums,thanks for looking in. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 (edited) G'day Chums, A bit more progress over the last few days.The undercarriage doors and airbrake needed some cleaning up. The wings were fitted.The time taken earlier on in the build fettling for a good fit paid dividends in the way of an easy fit.The only thing to do now is a spot of gap filling. The undercarriage doors were fitted.This took a little doing,mostly taking a sliver off the long edges to make them sit as they should.The airbrake was also fitted. The airbrake was left sitting slightly proud so that I have something to fit the necessary 5mm extension to. More soon chums,thanks for looking in. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xffw45343tg Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Some tremendous work going on here. Makes you wish Airfix would scale up the 1:72 though. I'd say in the Airfix vs Alex match it's 15/40 to Alex for the first break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) Hello again Chums, Kirk,it would be good if Airfix would do that but after correcting the fin snag.Thanks for the vote of confidence. Done a little more today.The tailcone tip was glued on yesterday.It's a bit on the big side and so had to be sanded down. Out came the milliput.Again.I'd mixed a bit too much so to use it up I decided to make the airbrake extension instead of using plastic card.It came up quite well I thought. The upper wing joints were filled too.Once this is set a spot of sanding off will be needed to set everything right. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel now.What's the betting that it's some sod with a torch bringing me more to do? More soon chums,thanks for looking. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 nice going on alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Indeed! Keep it up - been really enjoying this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Winning the battle with this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 This is the first time that I have looked at this build, and what a lot of work you have done to make and silk purse of of a pigs ear. Keep it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 (edited) G'day Chums, Thank you for the kind comments,I am enjoying the encouragement. A little bit more done today.The rocket pods needed a bit of sanding down at the back edge of the front section.Once cleaned up the two parts were glued together and trued up by the simple expedient of rolling the whole lump back and forth on a flat surface a few times.A spot of milliput will be needed to finish it all off but not in any serious quantity. A few days ago I took delivery of,among other things,an Airwaves photo etch set for the harrier.My thanks to Matthew Bacon for that boxful. I decided to make the tailplane inner end plates from thin plastic card using the brass items as a template.This meant that I can save the brass ones for the GR1 build that I have in mind if I have the time. This was a matter of cutting round the brass bit and then making a slot to take the locating tab on the tailplane itself.The slot was made by drilling a 1mm hole at each end of where the tab was going and then joining the dots. The kit supplied canopy sprue. The two main canopy parts were masked inside and out in readiness for the matt black paint that will go on the inside of the framing. More soon chums,thanks for looking in. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 (edited) Hello again Chums, At Last! Spare Time! Work has been a bit busy lately,I'm not complaining but It doesn't leave a lot of time for plastic bashing.A bit more done today.The kit supplied driver seemed a tad weedy to me so I took one from an Airfix Hawk which was a bit bulkier. Before I set about sorting out the pilot I fitted the HUD.The kit item isn't spectacular but it will do for my purposes.Besides,there are only a few days left of this GB and I would like to finish on time. Anyway,a milliput facemask and visor cover and a copper wire oxygen tube later I hairy sticked a bit of paint at the soon to be Jerry Pook.This doesn't look too good just yet,the paint is still wet and there is a bit of plastic dust that needs to be cleaned off. And here he is in the office with a couple of strips of masking tape suitably painted attaching him to the seat.A bit of filling will be needed around the bottom edge of the canopy front portion. On the real thing there is either an antenna or a dump vent forward of the starboard front exhaust nozzle.I cut a slot to take my scratchbuilt offering. Not the best photo I will admit but I will post a better one along the line. Canopy on and intakes bunged up with bog roll,we're nearly ready for a coat of paint.The nose probe has been fitted but there is a gap underneath it that needs filling.The outrigger legs will be fitted too. First coat of paint on,Humbrol 164 Dark Sea Grey.The nose probe is a little on the small side and will be replaced. Finally for today the rocket pods have had their first coat of silver paint. All things being equal,more soon chums.Thanks for looking in. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Superb work so far! Dermot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 (edited) G'day Chums, Thanks for the kind words Dermot. A little more done today.Masking on ready for the green coat.This was suprisingly tricky.The shape of the airframe doesn't help but the diagram is all over the place with very few colour boundaries on the fuselage lining up from the plan views to the side views.Got there eventually though,nearly 4 hours later. Green paint on.Humbrol 163 Satin RAF Dark Green was my colour of choice. The rocket pods needed a little more attention.A spot of masking and then some ground up pencil lead on the front and rear ends to denote the different sections of the pods was in order.A coat of matt varnish will seal all this in and stop my great big fingerprints getting all over them. The exhaust nozzles and heat shields had a coat of Metalcote Polished Steel.Again,a coat of matt varnish will give the required finish and prevent fingerprints. More tomorrow chums,30 hours to go and I'm waiting for paint to dry . Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 (edited) Hello again Chums, 10 hours to go and I'm going for it. Masking off. Decals on. Just got the touching in and the twiddly stuff to do then matt varnish and final assembly.More soon chums,thanks for looking in. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 (edited) G'day Chums, A bit more to show.I Band transponder fairing scratched from milliput with a plastic card antenna. Replacement pitot probe. Anyway,after a less than leisurely flurry of touching in paint,matt varnishing,final assembly and all the weathering that I'm going to do I'm calling this one done.The oil staining hasn't dried yet but will matt down in a few hours time. And one of the whole gang. This will eventually become part of a diorama that will include HMS Fearless and HMS Antrim. Thanks to Phil for the hosting and to Mish for her hard work.Thanks also to all for looking in and for the encouraging comments. Right,I've a Spitfire and a Mustang to go at,see you in the next GB.Cheers Chums. Edited March 10, 2021 by Alex Gordon Replace Photobucket URLs. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Moff Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Great built! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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