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Building the Big Cat - Sinking claws in to the SEPECAT Jaguar


AjD

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Just stumbled across this photo of an EMI pod loaded in theatre.

001_web_zpsfwvzh1ki.jpg

Hopefully I'll find time to work the flaps a bit more tonight as progress will probably slow a bit this week. Thanks for the interest everyone.

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Would anyone happen to know where I can get hold of some thin etched metal sheets? They don't need to be huge, just need some with no PE detail - just the metal.

In fact I'm after some really large sheets of plasticard too - much bigger than your standard A4/A3 - nearer A1+ sort of size. It's pretty specialist but would anyone know a supplier?

Thanks all.

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crobinsonh and fsssh,

That's two seriously useful posts - thank you so much. I've just started making moves to purchase said items so I'm very grateful for the pointers. Appreciate you taking the time.

Andy

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've just noticed the nudge mate! It's nice to know you're interested! I'm recovering from an op at the moment so have begun to dabble a bit in the time off today. Even modelling's harder when you're less mobile!

Still, I'll try and post something a bit later as the flap housings are complete now and I've made a more major adjustment to these silly Airfix wing tips to accommodate the outboard flaps. Just trying to find the right seating position for the leading edge slats this morning and once a few cuts have been made closing the wing up in advance of re-scribing the lower surface. The first one's being held together by clamps at the moment.

Anyway, enough waffle without pictures. Thanks for the interest and I'll try and post a little bit more soon.

Andy

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OK, ok! So there have been quite a few times that I've not managed to get to the cutting mat in recent weeks but lots of little bits of progress when I could. I didn't want to post every 5 minutes as quite a lot of it has been detailed work that would have looked fairly uninteresting posted piecemeal. In fact, I can't guarantee you'll be any more interested now but hey ho...you pay your money, you take your choice!

So the flaps had been attached to the runners last time I posted but the real ones clearly aren't just glued on; they have brackets at their inboard end which curve around the flap edge and contain a pin which runs along those channels. So the brackets were made (too long initially, then later trimmed) and holes drilled out for the pin, which was to be brass rod.

IMG_0002_web_zpspn54fmci.jpg

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One half of the bracket was glued to the rod and trimmed. Then a hole with similar diameter to the rod was drilled through the runner at the correct position.

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Once the assembly was inserted through the hole and attached, the other side was glued on and the rod again trimmed on that side, before excess material was cut away.

Flaps%20-%20Brackets%202_web_zpsyxtyle2z

Having repeated that several times (urgh!) that pretty much finished the flaps themselves off, with the actuators to be added later once final assembly is complete.

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Next came one of the bigger challenges of this build...working out what to do with these flippin' wing tips. As previously mentioned, Airfix cast the underside outer quarter of the wing as a single piece with the entire upper surface and give you the final three quarters of the lower surface to attach afterwards. Not the world's biggest drama if you're just throwing the kit together - however...


In this case I'm installing the dropped flaps and had elected to build the housings in to which they retract to improve the realism. That's easy enough to do inboard but this wing tip design stops you getting in between those surfaces to fiddle around inside. The join occurs about one third of the way along the length of the outer flap. My first thought was that I could perhaps live with it but if I was to build the rails for the outer ones too they would stand well proud of the surface and look ridiculous. So here's the problem, as seen dry fitted...


Wings%2040_web_zpspcz8p9et.jpg


The difference between the gap I'd created and the solid portion of wing is pretty obvious isn't it? Add to that, by increasing the depth of the wing inboard (as it should be) I'm in a position where the taper from root to tip now looks weird because it's pulled down too early to meet the outboard section; creating a sort of kink in the underside. So no options - I decided on more drastic surgery at this point.


My idea was to remove more material to allow me to build the outer flap housing as I would like to, then re-skin the outer wing to blend with the inner. I tested the theory with a piece of thin plasticard cut to a rough shape:


Wings%2042_web_zpsbqugh4rc.jpg


It's laying on top of the kit tip wing there, meaning that it's higher than the inboard section but it satisfied me of the concept as all suddenly lined up from behind:


Wings%2041_web_zpskbqgtu8i.jpg


What became clear though is that I would have to lift the inboard section by a fraction of a millimetre to achieve a good join, but the end result would, I felt, be a lot better.


Wings%2043_web_zpsjf03dqzw.jpg


So the way forward was a bit clearer. I had built most of the internal structure for the inboard flaps by this point and you can see the little slots in to which the runners attached to the resin parts will slide. That allows me to keep them off the model until after painting.


Andy

Edited by AjD
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So, first job was to open up the area I wanted to work in more than I had done previously.

Wings%2044_web_zpstj5rz2uh.jpg

Then insert thin strips of Evergreen which were sanded down towards the tip, checking that not only did they form the back wall of the bay but remained in contact with the lower wing surface along their length as it tapers towards the tip.

Wings%2045_web_zpsvrfkpdlf.jpg

The next shim inserted here was the little one pointing forwards.

Wings%2048_web_zpsfvyxvaav.jpg

Clearly that wasn't going to be visible but it had three important purposes:

1) to force the wing out a little earlier along the surface between the leading and trailing edge, thus better mimicking the slight curvature of the underside.
2) to increase the surface area on to which the lower surface is glued.
3) to ensure that when the kit part is blended with the new plasticard tip that there is no sag in the kit part when pressure was applied during sanding. I also wanted it to have support when scribing begins. The solid tip wouldn't budge but without support that kit part would be capable of sinking slightly, possibly causing a crack and certainly causing the scriber to snag, possibly ruining the panel line.
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Anyway, next step was to throw in some detail. Some of this was sanded down a bit as it's not this prominent in reality.
Wings%2053_web_zpsz7jxdxce.jpg
A dose of primer so it's in there for when I spray this area later in the build and then I opened up the gaps from which the actuator rods will protrude later in the build. Important to do this before sticking the wing together as these gaps don't go all the way through - existing underneath only.
Wings%2054_web_zps9fzngqol.jpg
Then I stuck the wing together and prepared the new tip skin.
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That was intentionally made too big as I would cut it to size when attached.
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I used liquid poly to glue this area down to achieve a good chemical bond but left it a long time before doing the sanding as that effectively melts the plastic together so you can end up with one hell of a mess if you go too soon. Lots of work required to blend this as best I could.
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And the primer then revealed the end result. I'm quite happy. One more wing to go for the other jet and then on to scribing...oh joy...
Wings%2060_web_zpss83xffif.jpg
Andy
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So next was the start of the scratch building for the port cannon bay.

port_zpssdgtat5p.jpg

Andy

While I have uploaded all my Jag pics to the walkaround section for anyone to use, attributing the photos would be appreciated; either to myself, or The BM Walkaround section.

Julien

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I think Im just going to glue the wing things onto the middle bit for mine. ;)

Nice going.

Unfortunately I think I need one of those rescribing tools too. Yuck.

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Now that is what you call an update! Stunning work that I will surely copy when I finally build the Airfix Jaguar.

My gast is well and truly flabbered at the work you're putting into this build.

Truly incredible.

Thanks guys. I'm a bit nervous about the painting stage having not picked up the airbrush in 3 years but plenty to do before then and it keeps me out of trouble.

Had a little test fit yesterday. There's going to be a fair amount of fettling to get all this to line up.

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Resting the Paragon nose on there too makes it look more like a Jaguar...

Wings%2066_web_zpstuldttof.jpg

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Very nice work again.

Looks like the fuselage and wings are a reasonable fit too, restoring my faith a little in the Airfix Jag after the fun with mine.

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REAL modelling at its very best………outstanding attention to detail and truly admirable work on a pretty reasonable but certainly not state-of-the-art donor kit. I fully support the argument that aftermarket parts have their place in the hobby but there is still plenty of room for those that prefer homegrown improvements and this build article is a true testament to that.

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Thanks Mark. Once again, far too kind. There will be quite a few after market parts to come but at the moment I'm enjoying some of the old school. Of course you know me...I may never finish this :deadhorse:

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