Sepecat Cool Cat Jaguar trio Oh......

[perdu]

I read an item that castigated the Airfix GR1 Sepecat Jaguar quite firmly

However when I placed it up to the plans I trawled from the interweb it looks good enough to me so I rescued it from my boxes of unbuilts

(it isn't a stash, I don't hoard them at all)

(I lied, this model has been in my spare room since about 1980, fifty pence buy at my old club shop "All there but no transfers...)

As I didnt know much about the jet I asked in Modern if anyone could tell me what sits behind the seat and Edgar kindly put up two lovely pictures of the back wall

This was enough to get me going, thanks a lot

More pictures have now been trawled from the web so off I went

Now at the time I had a couple of low key projects bubbling away but Jag was beginning that old familiar itch, the I'm most important. Do me now sir!

So two other models will have to wait til I run out of Adour powered steam

At the Sutton Coldfield I saw Robvulc and Melchie stagger back to the table with arms full of 1/144 scale Viscounts, "only £2 each" they said, "over there on the corner.."

So I had to get the one, "Just the one"

Quite nice but with a dodgy nose contour, nothing a decent "six inch half round" couldnt sort out

So...

And of course some of you might have seen me discussing my next scratch build with the General a few weeks ago

I have a mind to scratch a 54mm Hansom Cab to complement the other two wagons I scratch built many long years ago

So here's the Viscount, the Hansom drawings and early cut out plastic for the wheels

And the Airfix Jag with its cavities excised and added some gubbinses, nosewheel bay and the like

I don't expect to do a WIP on the other two but whilst I have Steve's attention and many other ex Jag crewmen about it would be daft not to ask, wouldn't it

I am not sure where I could bung a Hansom anyway, they'm a tad slow for the car and lorry forums after all

I need to get looking round for a 54mm 'standing still' neddy too, all things will come eventually

Viscount can wait too I need to work up some BEA marks for it which makes the Jaguar a natural next best thing

So I started by using up a kit from the old kits home, got interested in the jet and now have plans to make two single seaters, early GR1 and later GR3 variants, hence I just bought a Hasegawa one too

Then I saw a buy-it-now 9.99 on a Matchbox T2 on the bay with a 'make an offer' on it

I did and its on its way so there's a chance I may get a bit Jagged by the spring

I bought a Pavla MB seat and Airwaves etchy stuff for the first one but I'm already fed up with them, the moulded on straps look horrid so the etchy ones will be used instead

Airfix's main undercarriage legs are 'not very good' and I have been modifying them too

I have to say this is the kind of modelmaking I prefer, 'shake'n'bake' isnt my ideal modelmaking at all. Here is a shot of the legs with new oleos added from Evergreen rods

The etch for the cockpit is in and my attempt at the throttles and what I understand is a laser controller handle sitting on my home made side console

Heres my sacrificial moulding rig, already proved that it doesnt like PETG so I will be moulding from my stock of new acetate

If I'm lucky there will be a new canopy and screen so that the driver's head would fit under the lid

Airfix's canopy might well be bomb proof judging by its thickness, no way will the MB type 9(b?) sit under it if it was to be closed

Anyway, enough drivel from me for nowI'm off to polish my new trophy

Scouty got me our club award for Scratchbuilt or detailed model of the year today

Out of the blue and I didnt even take it along to the Christmas 'do'

If you are looking in George, thanks for the shock mate. Definitely the last thing I was expecting this Christmas

I will post the last shot tonight, work hasn't entirely stopped on the Hansom Cab

Scratchbuilding wheels oh deepjoy...

First run of spoke fitting

Edited July 16, 2015 by perdu

[hendie]

There I was, perusing this thread without noticing who the authro was and I got most of the way down and *there* was a clothes peg...... that looks familiar thought I...... ah Perdu thinks I...... nice thread.

The Hansom looks interesting - be nice to see that in it's own thread

[geedubelyer]

Hi Bill,

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this. Judging by past experience, I think we're all in for a treat.

Cheers.

[HOUSTON]

PERDU/Bill,

NEAT start and I look forward to your excellent workmanship.

you can lie as much as you want and I will believe anything you tell ME...

Your previous builds are always a pleasure so this Cool CAT Jaguar is going to be as impressive as the other models..

WAY TO GO

[perdu]

Hi guys, I don't expect this to go far except... there will be three Jags in the stable when I finish

to begin with Airfix made their mouldings with just rudimentary wheel positions that can have the door moulding popped into them for an in-flight jet.

Even for a quick build that wouldn't do so the long winding road begins

A box was built to take the depth of a retracted leg and nosewheel and also to be a floor to the driver's lounge where he sits resplendent in his Martin Baker upholstery.

Further back Airfix make no attempt at a wheel bay apart from a cavity to hang the wonderfully carved legs, these needed turning into full bays even though I decided against opening all the doors to the elements

Further back their airbrakes pass as basic rudimentary flappery bits, there's holes in curvy bendy shapes but not really a ceegar winning design Airfix

Sorry

So I did some hacking about to get this...

And this showing extracting unwanted polystyrene to form the airbrake bays which have some kind of exhaust vent (APU lads?) in the port fuselage and what seems to be the fuel upload fitment in the starboard bay

For these I needed to make the bays deeper at the front as on the real deal

Here cutting away the spaces and you can see the front of the mainwheel bays cut away so the new bay can have the drag link mounted the right distance along it

Doh, lousy description but you will see what I means

Here's the fuel bay cut out and the back walls added, you can see clearly the cavity where the legs retract when the main doors open after take-off (Starboard side)

This is t'other side bay, the curvy front edge of these bays is wrong so I will fill the wrong bits with cutoffs from the airbrake mouldings

Airfix's notorious 'bad legs' here being fettled, nearly wrote improved but I know how bad my eyes are lately so fettled it is

The shock absorbers were carved off, new mounting points added and new shockers turned and carved to suit the mounting lugs

There will be more additions to each leg as we go on, retracting jacks to be added behind the shockers soon

b

Edited December 15, 2014 by perdu

[perdu]

Movin' on

I saw that the Airfix jetpipes were quite interesting, stopping just at the engine end of the afterburner cans

I suppose I could have put covers into 'em but that wasn't an answer, (couldn't find pictures of covered jetpipes anyway)

I looked around at my huge stack of junk (my missus, ask her!) and found a couple of cheapo ball points with airvents moulded in around the far end from the ballpoint end. They made a symmetrical plug with spaces in 'em that can cover for the better versions I'd find later when my Hasegawa one came along.

I hacked two of them apart to use as jet pipes and the aforementioned backplates

First the kit parts had to be drilled out

And added to a length of other pen tube, inside the outer tube

It doesn't look too bad to me now both tubes are the same length from back to plugend

Popped inside the cut away rear section they look OK ish I reckon

I have the Pavla seat for the Jag but in fact it's wasted on me. I just cannot possibly make a decent fist of painting straps.

The whole blarry issue is a mess, fortunately I have the straps from the Airwaves etch set to use instead

After I shrink the headbox a tad as the AW one looks like a later seat, I think

Straps removed and reshaping underway

Painted just so I could see how it will be

This is an early attempt at getting the harness and canvas chute panels down

Have to admit, I don't like this one so it b'ain't a staying but something like this will be here

I wondered about using the kit seat, possible maybe but lots of extra work to get it up to scratch

The fuselage is closed up now, working on seam removal and I have the LRMTS nose to play with. Need to work up a couple of clear windows and the shiny gubbins inside the front.

gently will do it

Time to do modelling now

G'night all

Edited December 15, 2014 by perdu

[HOUSTON]

Nice, but could not see the seat well as its too bright ..must be MY iPad...

[perdu]

Not your iPhone Houston

My crappy picture, sorry

Been pottering away slowly (that's my fastest pace these days) at this

Edgar gave me some great rear wall pictures and Airfix didn't give me a great rear wall

So

Interpretations #1

I couldn't get everything that was there here so I put in most of it leaving space for the two canopy rams to go on too, later when there is a canopy to hold open.

Thisis how it looks after I chamfered the hole and angled the backplate, glued them together and added a modicum of XF-69, Nato Black to set the plate home

As you know I decided to eliminate the moulded on seatbelt detail because I just couldn't get a decent look to the straps

Which gave me a bit of a job to do... bare resin seat destrapped and parachute pack exposed

After discussion here I find I need the early headbox and no headbox strap configuration, show you in a minute but for now the bare seat

This weird looking shot shows the drogue strap (I think) coming from behind the head rest cushions prior to fitting to the chute in the headbox, (flyaway Peter)

[

Not much of this stays the course but I decided 3D was better than a dot of paint (Now I think I could have done the dot of p...)

Oh well, heres the lower end of the strap coming down to go behind the back chute panel, later

It all makes sense later honest guv, down here it stops at the chute pack

Here is what it should look like, I hope this is OK but it's a shot of my compooter screen not an image grab

The first set of etchystraps from the Airwaves kit needed fitting this way, they eventually come over the rear panel on to the front strap assembly

Just realised I'm wasting bandwidth here so I'll pop on a bit further. Green webbing type panel on and the metal harness assembly frame bar added at the top over the drogue strap

front strap assembly added to the other one and side straps added too

'

And here with the leg restraining straps, green top canvas cover (just moved the cover sideways a bit for symmetry, no pic) and the banging handle made from yellow and black thread twisted together and glued

That was a brilliant tip I picked up here in BM last week, wish I could remember whose idea it was. Serious credit due there. Sorry

Now I have to apologise for taking so much time over the seat, never be as good as Steve's but it is as good as I can do

As you see other things have been happening too

And I have been keeping the postie busy too, last week I had my £8 Hasegawa GR1 and this week he bought me this.

not quite as immaculate as Hasegawa's but I'm sure I can get a job done with her, 'specially as she only cost me £8 too

Hope I haven't bored you rigid, you can't see it but I have put a few bits of shiny silver wire on the bangseat just to look a bit better as do the little red bits of transfer on the head box

And apologies to those to whom the terminology of MB9 seats is second nature, folks the names I called stuff is just guesswork mostly.

Please don't shoot any real users for my mistakes

I have established the time-line for this GR1, she was at Finningley for the 1977 Queen's Jubilee and came from Bruggen to join the party, hence needing the early type headbox

b

Edited December 18, 2014 by perdu

[milktrip]

coming along nicely Bill, fiddly but great work on the seat. That is a really good idea for the bang handle; I'll second that credit to whoever you picked the idea up from and a thanks to you for sharing it too.

[Fritag]

Fine looking seat Bill. Excellent strappery really catches the eye and transforms it. I must have read that same thread about using twisted thread for the handles cos I also remember thinking it was brilliant - but also can't remember who.....

Hmmm. XX962 over Coltishall wearing the colours of 6 squadron.....Sidewinders....1,000lber LGB under the fuselage......

That particular aircraft on that particular day was being driven by a particularly handsome particularly skilled master of his craft.........

Edited December 19, 2014 by Fritag

[perdu]

he he

Thought you'd recognise that one young fellow

The seat is just about what I was looking to do but I had one of those 'wake up knowing what else to do' moments this morning so I will be adding the strap wrappings that hold the upper straps together later on

Funny what you miss when ploughing on innit

I ordered a pair of MB 4s and a Pavla interior to use on the T2 and GR3 respectively, haven't spent so much on a modelling prroject for centuries

Certainly not THIS century, for sure

Matchbox T2 will be getting a lot of attention, whereas the Hasegawa wont need much ISH

Mind you

today I will prolly be making a carriage wheel, then starting the other I dont want to get stale on that either

b

Edited December 19, 2014 by perdu

[Fritag]

he he

Thought you'd recognise that one young fellow

It did occur to me given your other thread. But people know where they stand when one is predictable........ It is a much underrated attribute

Edited December 19, 2014 by Fritag

[perdu]

A quick question, when I pop/drop/squeeze/bruteforce the seat into its fairly tight space is there a specific place that the ground tech would leave the leg straps as they seem to have with the JPs that Steve is miracling up for our entertainment?

I will be doing most of the fuselage stuff before I get to that point, airbrake rams. New doors for same. Stuff like that...

And maybe tonight a pair of transparencies from acetate, PETg didn't like hand moulding at all.

[Fritag]

Same place. Round the stick.

Added by edit: felt compelled to double check

http://sepecat.info/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=78&pid=1866#top_display_media

Edited December 19, 2014 by Fritag

[perdu]

Thanks Steve, that's where they'll be then.

About 18" maybe?

No way will I be able to make the attachment devices though

.

I know my place.

[Selwyn]

Thanks Steve, that's where they'll be then.

About 18" maybe?

No way will I be able to make the attachment devices though

.

I know my place.

If you are talking about the Attachment devices they were just round silver plugs that plugged into the horns of the Seat. So a blob of silver paint on the end should do.

The leg restraints attached to the Cockpit floor under the seat with shear pins, and were then routed through snubber units on the seat horns. The pilot routed them through his leg straps and then plugged them into the seat. The idea was on ejection the straps pulled tight as the seat went up the rail pulling the pilots legs in tight to the seat and then sheared from the floor. The straps automatically released from the seat when the pilot seperated from it and fell away with the seat.

Selwyn

[perdu]

Thanks Selwyn, exactly the stuff I cant get from pictures alone

And just what I needed then

So this means I have to disconnect them from the horns of the seat pan and glue them under the front so they can hang over the stick pedestal then I assume?

Hmm mine aren't as deep a blue as the ones in Steve's addendum link, out with the felt tip in blue next

No Jag done today bar reducing the back edge of the wheel well with 0.060" polycard to give the true rear line* and fettling the moulds for the canopy and screen

*Airfix's main wheel wells are overscale and reduce the amount of space that should go into the airbrake hinge points

Tonight I have been mostly shaving spokes

Two down and thirty to go

Wagons roll...

[Col.]

Even the slightest progress is a move forward Perdu. Enjoying the elegant simplicity with which you are adding detail to this one although I suspect there's more effort and ingenuity involved than your prose suggests.

[Selwyn]

If you are talking about the Attachment devices they were just round silver plugs that plugged into the horns of the Seat. So a blob of silver paint on the end should do.

The leg restraints attached to the Cockpit floor under the seat with shear pins, and were then routed through snubber units on the seat horns. The pilot routed them through his leg straps and then plugged them into the seat. The idea was on ejection the straps pulled tight as the seat went up the rail pulling the pilots legs in tight to the seat and then sheared from the floor. The straps automatically released from the seat when the pilot seperated from it and fell away with the seat.

Selwyn

Try this link page 15 and 38, it will show you the routing. The whole document is a good read anyway!

Selwyn

http://www.martin-baker.com/_pdfs/history_development_mk1-mk10_ejection_seats.pdf

Edited December 20, 2014 by Selwyn

[perdu]

That is a great read Selwyn, cheers mate

As it is I may have to move the leg straps to the inner edge of the cutaway 'cos at the mo' I have it in the plug in end and the floor straps loose

easy one thank you

Had my final un-christmas shopping arrive today, Pavla interior which I am hoping to fit into the Hasegawa fuselage and a pair of seats to suit the T2

now for new airbrakes and stupidly little slots

Oh wow, how to go about them then?

Airfix gives us lovely slots in a mis-shapen brake door, wonder if I can...?

Laters

[Hamden]

THis is looking like another masterclass in the making Bill

Mind if I follow along?

Roger

[geedubelyer]

Nice work Bill.

That seat may have been fiddly to do but it looks superb. A big improvement.

Good to see the imagination at work too although you'll be cursing next time the missus asks you to write a list of something, now that you've used up all your biros.

Cheers.

[perdu]

Roger mate you arent following me, I am just toddling along having fun nitpicking

We can do the trip together though, welcome and you geedubbyer glad you like the seat

OK

Now then, refresh and reset time ish

I bought this kit back before the end of the world, IPMS Nats were at Stoneleigh and I gave up making models and I stepped out of the game, 85ish I think, maybe 86

Anyway, I flogged off many models from my stash on ebay which was a chastening experience I can tell you

This one didn't have any decals so it wasn't put up for sale

Now as I started I bought the Airwaves set to use with it but when I got the Hasegawa Jag I saw that the set's airbrakes were useless for the airbrakes on this Airfix one

Checked the kit against the two differing sets of drawings (Which actually agree with each other) and found that Airfix's shape is OK but some niggly bits didnt quite tally, mostly round the weirdly put together undercarriage area

The wheel wells are too long, the airbrakes are too short and the wrong shape

No doubt this happened because they modified their model of the prototype to make the GR1, I seem to recall using the plans from Scale Models to modify the original kit into a laser nosed beastie my self back in the day

To make the wells look better I added the little bit of 0.060" at the back to bring it in line with the plans, funnily enough the front of the well is bang on with the plan, misinterpretation back in the day no doubt, so the main wheel well is right now

Which leaves me with a misshapen airbrake for which my Airwaves set doesn't supply an answer, its brakes are shaped exactly to suit the Hasegawa model

Guess what?

Haswegawa have it wrong too,but by less than Airfix so it can have the Airwaves brakes (unless I decide to make the Hasebird right too!)

The upper edge of the brake should follow a curve and taper off a tad at the back, here is the modified wheel well and the beginnings of rectifying the Airfix brake

This picture has the exhaust duct that sits in the brake well, still awaiting info on whether its for an APU, but I think it is

On the other side hides this plug which I think is the fuel uptake point

The reshaping takes in the curved upper line and an extended bay length followed up by adding 'metal' where the bay has a cut out on the doors

This view is a good 'un of both sides completed

I had my Pavla bits which SHOULD be for the Italeri Jag, but as is usual for me I intend trying it out for the Hasegawa one

Well either it will or it won't, we'll find out soon enough

I am pretty sure the Hasebird is closer to right than this elderly Airfix offering but as this one ain't TOO bad I will stick with it

I am very happy with the new side consoles I built for this one and the instrument panel looks fine too, so no need to drop it for another

As it is airbrake time I also took a look at the Matchbox T2

Hmm

Interesting, basic shape not too bad but many areas of detail are underplayed

Over deep panel lines and some, as on the airbrakes need redoing

but as I am in airbrake mode I will probably open the misshapes up and make four new doors instead of two

The gun bay shapes are miles off

We shall see, this might just be the Jag I enjoy building most, I wonder which 'owner' to model

I could go ETPS as in the crude transfer choice in the box, but not decided yet

I rather like camo T2s, but not the SoOAF (or was it RSOAF)

If I do a sandy desert Jag she will be a Brit girl and not a Tbird

Edited December 20, 2014 by perdu

[hendie]

looks like things are about to get even more interesting !

nice work

[dr_gn]

Nice work Perdu. I had that kit, but never completed it - I think it was too much for me as a little kid. I did keep the box lid for a long time though; the Airfix box art was great, but IIRC the kit itself didn't match it for quality. Aaaaanyway no further comment on that...I don't want to get my first warning point for Christmas do I?

For the LRMTS window, what I've decided to do (or try) on the Tornado is to use some thin acetate scored and bent into a "v". This will be glued into the nose of the pod and then masked to the correct window shape. Then overspray with camo and remove the tape. Hopefully it should give the sharp angular look of the windows, and a seamless transition between the pod and glazing. Time will tell...

BTW I'm also using a 1.5mm diameter clear Little Lens for the...lens inside the pod.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.