A pair of Airfix Hawks in 1/72. Finished.

[Brandy]

Stupendous stuff Steve.

I'm with @Terry1954 and want to know how you managed to snip off all the supports from the mdc without breaking anything!

 

Ian

[stevehnz]

All this detail, so foreign too me but fun to look in on from time to time to remind myself that awestruck though I am at Mr Fritags machinations, they are a bit bloody impressive, I don't want or need a bar of it.  

Where did you say you got that there printer thingy from?  

Steve.

[Fritag]

14 hours ago, Brandy said:

I'm with @Terry1954 and want to know how you managed to snip off all the supports from the mdc without breaking anything!

 

What makes you think I didn’t break anything? 

 

Actually the resin was surprisingly robust.  I hit on the technique of, before snipping off the supports, first giving the mdc a quick semi-cure of c.15 seconds of UV which seemed to give the resin just a tad more firmness without making it brittle.

 

Obviously I also allowed for breakages by printing spares! It takes only the same amount of time to print 8 frames/mdcs as it does to print 1 - so silly not to  That said I probably only broke a couple in snipping off the supports; and then it was when I was getting a bit blasé about it 

 

As an aside the convenience of using the mercury wash and cure 2 in 1 has played a big part in maintaining my enthusiasm.  To me it’s worth the invetment because I have only limited space (and patience ) and mucking about with tubs of IPA is something I can do without.

 

I’ve also been using the elegoo water washable resin which means a quick wash with water gets most of the liquid resin off and then 5 minutes in the IPA tank of the mercury cleaner gets rid of the residue.  And cos most of the resin is taken off by the water, the IPA in the mercury tank stays clean for ages and hardly ever needs filtering and changing.

 

Anyroad up.

 

I’ve now got 3 fully painted internal frame/mdc combinations ready to glue into vac form canopies.  2 needed and a prudent spare 

 

 

I’ll experiment on a spare unpainted frame/reject canopy how best to glue them together.  I’m thinking thin cyano and capillary action (I’ve not had any fogging issues in the past) or possibly thinned gator’s grip.  it doesn’t matter if the glue is visible between the frame and the canopy as there’s the external framing to paint afterwards.

 

I’ve also painted, dry brushed and clear coated the various printed coamings.

 

TWU Hawk rear coaming (with weapons sight)

 

 

Valley Hawk rear coaming (no weapons sight)

 

 

TWU front coaming (with weapons sight)

 

 

No piccie of the Valley Hawk front coaming.  How many pictures of bits of black painted resin is it reasonable to subject you to?  3 is probably 2 too many already!

 

I’m not going to fix the coamings in place until I’ve got the nose contours sorted.

 

Which brings me to this.

 

You may remember that I printed a template that showed how the nose profile wasn’t rounded enough?

 

 

Well I’ve started some fairly diffident sanding of the Hycote filler primer I applied a few days ago.

 

And the interim check results are in:

 

Promising.

 

But I have little if any confidence in myself when it comes to these sort of ‘craft’ skills and I’ll believe the re-modelling of the profile is a success when it’s done and primed and not before….

 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Fritag

[CedB]

19 minutes ago, Fritag said:

But I have little if any confidence in myself when it comes to these sort of ‘craft’ skills

Eh? What?

Fear not - if past posts are anything to go by your confidence is not matched by your results… Courage mon brave!

(Please add your own funny graves and things)

[perdu]

Trust me Steve, I trust you to get that ordinary piece of modelling right.

 

Just as we have seen you do for any other piece of modelling you've looked into with us.

 

The MDC experiment has become SOP now, its what has to be done when modelling aircraft with MDC in them.

 

Has to!

 

 

It's a delight.

 

Off to spend an hour trying to make Fusion 360 listen to me, I have a task, no seven tasks for it.

[giemme]

You're getting good at this modelling thing, Steve - sooner or later you'll be very good....

 

  You really are the master of understatement - each and every update you post is testament to your skills and abilities, and my reaction is:

 

Ciao

[81-er]

Concurring with everything said above! Exceptional work, Steve, 3d printed and “traditional” skills alike.

 

James

[Fritag]

BTW and FWIW here's my print set up tucked away in the corner of the garage.

 

 

There's a sink out of shot to the right that is handy for filling a container with water to do the initial resin clean up.

 

Incidently, that little orange tool on the shelf by the disposable plastic glove is the indispensable plastic bladed scraper that Alan  @hendie recommended on some thread somewhere.  Absolutely perfect for gently separating a print from the build plate.

 

Not that the cars ever see the garage of course.  Can't get the cars as well as 6 bikes (and the usual clutter) in the garage  (yes 6  - there's 2 Brompton folding bikes behind the 2 road and 2 gravel bikes....)

 

 

hey ho...

[Terry1954]

Those three canopies really do look the dogs b......! Very impressive stuff.

 

The 6 bike option is interesting. We have two (hybrids) but the problem with the hybrid compromise is they are just that. We have a fair bit of off road down here in Purbeck and we wish we'd have gone for those.

 

Terry

[perdu]

How many bicyclettes?

 

Gosh and here's me thinking of ditching ours now, due too aged skeleton problems and miladdo has more bikes than our local cycle shop...

 

Nice bike carrier.

 

For back'o the Porker?

 

Nah surely not.

 

Colour me jealous.

 

It's a terrible look.

 

 

 

[Fritag]

1 hour ago, Terry1954 said:

We have two (hybrids) but the problem with the hybrid compromise is they are just that. We have a fair bit of off road down here in Purbeck and we wish we'd have gone for those.

 

The gravel bikes are just brilliant.  Good on the road and good on rough bridle paths.  11-34 tooth rear sprocket so excellent for climbs n'all.

 

If I had to keep just one of the bikes it'd be that one....or maybe the Brompton - which is just a hoot.  We've taken the Brompton's in the boot of the car to London and to the Shetland Islands and they're just great fun.

 

We went walking on Fair Isle a few years ago - and met a Dutch couple cycling Bromptons!  They had a sailing boat and were touring and they kept a couple of Bromptons under their bunks for use sight-seeing 

 

We've also met people touring around the North of Scotland on their Bromptons.  But that's just plain daft......

 

38 minutes ago, perdu said:

For back'o the Porker?

 

Sort of but not quite Bill  sister but not really a proper porker..

 

 

 

see wot I mean?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Fritag

[perdu]

Enlightened, now colour me enlightened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice bird too, BTW.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Runs away to hide from the Wrath Of Fiona, the lost Star Trek movie.

 

Getouttatheway, move, ow!

[81-er]

I'm guessing from the plates that the Macan is yours, and the 911 is Mrs F's? Not that either is a bad choice.

 

What's this about a plastic scraper then? Somewhat hopeful of getting enough of a bonus to justify a 3D printer at the end of the month...

 

James

[Procopius]

Are we showing off cars? Because I have a 2011 Subaru Forester that recently had to have $210 worth of detailing because the mice in the garage got wind of the fact that four years of accumulated Happy Meal French fries were in the back seat. Jealous yet?

[Terry1954]

Well @Procopius I might as well join in here and say that I recently bought a Porsche ...................

 

 

1/24 of course, and you may well see it the subject of a WIP in the near future.

 

😁

 

Terry

[Fritag]

23 hours ago, Procopius said:

Are we showing off cars? Because I have a 2011 Subaru Forester that recently had to have $210 worth of detailing because the mice in the garage got wind of the fact that four years of accumulated Happy Meal French fries were in the back seat. Jealous yet?

 

Ah, but you’re a young man with 2 kids and an embryo to finance PC 

 

FWIW (absolutely nowt) the Fritag life in vehicles is as follows:

 

Yamaha DT175.  Age 17. 1980. First motorbike, first love . Crashed it regularly  

Ford Escort Mk 1.  First car.   Rotten with rust (obvs.). Saw me (just) through officer training and into basic flying training.  Crashed it regularly.

Ford Capri Mk II.  Also rotten with rust.  Saw me (again just) through advanced flying training on the Hawk.  Growing up a bit so never crashed it.

Volkswagen Golf Mk 1.  Again rotten with rust.  GTI wannabe - but not even close.  Got me as far as my first Jag squadron.  Now 1985.

Peugeot 205 GTI 1.6, 1986.   From new. (couldn’t afford  it - but hey) Awesome car.  Pride and joy - still my favourite. Rolled it into a ditch after 3 months and they more or less welded a new roof onto it.

Alongside the GTI - Kawaskaki GPZ 600R and Suzuki TS 185.  Well every self respecting fast jet pilot needed a couple of motorbikes  It was the Top Gun era after all .  Crashed both of them.

         Sold the 205GTI in 1989 for the deposit for our first house.  Paid c.£5,000 for it - sold it c.3 years later for c.£5,000.  Still miss that car. 

Ford Escort XR3.  had no money as we’d bought a house.  cheap and rubbish car.  Leaked oil and died.

Mini Metro.  Awful car.  the nadir of my cars.  But newly wed mortgagors have no money.

Hilman Imp.  Bought it from a friend and fellow jag pilot at my wedding (no idea why I did that) for £200.  Lasted 2 months and failed it’s MOT.  Not even my mate, a sergeant engineer on the squadron who moonlighted in a local garage was prepared to pass it on its MOT.  I go skiing every year with the friend who sold me the imp.  He’s still promising me a refund and still not paying up…. My cunning plan for many years has been to make sure he buys me more post-skiing beer than I buy him.  I may even owe him money by now 

Toyota Celica 4th generation coupe.  1990.  On exchange with the USAF flying F16s at Macdill in Florida.  First automatic car (couldn’t find a ‘stick shift’ even tho’ we wanted one!).

 

Then a gap for a couple of years when I wasn't permitted  to drive as I’d had an epileptic fit whilst asleep - attributed to probably hitting my head banging out of a Jag.

 

c. 1992 - some awful 125cc motorbike so bad I can’t even remember the make - when I went back to University to study Law.

BMW K100RS - great lump of a 1000cc motorcycle.  It regularly fell over when I was trying to get it on its stand and I wasn't strong enough to lift it upright by myself.  very embarrassing.  Bl**dy fast tho’.  Saw me through university and Bar school.

Vauxhall Nova.  1996 my first car as a junior barrister.  My barristers clerk told me to park it out of sight when I went for conferences with solicitors or they’d assume I was an unsuccesful and therefore rubbish barrister.  When I sold it it I found out it was a ‘cut and shut’.

Golf GTI MkIV  c.1998. Nice car.  The GTI was getting a bit porky by now..

Audi TT Mk1.  2003.  Lovely car.

BMW Z4 Coupe.  2006.  Great looking car.  Great to drive.  Until it snows; and then just don’t bother leaving the house.

Porsche 911 - 996 series. First 911.  Well who doesn’t want a 911? Barristers clerks now telling me to park it out of sight when I went for conferences with solicitors or they’d assume I was charging too much!

Porsche 911 - 991 series.  Seriously good car.  Still got it after about 8 years and it’s the one my wife now has.

Porsche Macan.  Sensible car.  Grown up at last…

 

On 5/5/2022 at 2:43 PM, 81-er said:

I'm guessing from the plates that the Macan is yours, and the 911 is Mrs F's? Not that either is a bad choice.

 

Your right James   explantion above….

 

Now that was a boring thread drift weren’t it.  But it’s all Edwards’s fault…..

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Fritag

[perdu]

it suits...

[mark.au]

15 hours ago, Fritag said:

Not that the cars ever see the garage of course.  Can't get the cars as well as 6 bikes (and the usual clutter) in the garage  (yes 6  - there's 2 Brompton folding bikes behind the 2 road and 2 gravel bikes....)

As we all know, the correct number of bikes to own is n+1

[81-er]

That's quite a list of vehicles, Steve. I know what you mean about new cars always having a place in your heart, my only brand new motor was a 2003 Honda Civic Type R that I sorely miss. And rusty Fords. First car was a Mk2 Fiesta with so mush rust I lost the wheel brace through the boot floor 

 

James

[Procopius]

17 hours ago, Fritag said:

Now that was a boring thread drift weren’t it.  But it’s all Edwards’s fault…..

 

I estimate (conservatively) that about 85% of the boring digressions on this entire forum can be laid directly at my doorstep.

 

My car ownership history:

 

1991 Chevy Cavalier Station wagon, c.2003-2005: I got a flat tire while driving it and thought it would be a good idea to drive eight miles home before changing it. It wasn't, and boy did it make a lot of sparks.

 

1996 Chevy Lumina, 2009-2011: Known as "The Passion Wagon", because the heat was broken, and so occupants had to huddle close for warmth in the brutal Illinois winters. I grew to hate it because it had  something excitingly wrong with it that caused the engine to redline as I drove up a hill every time I went to see the future Mrs P. Her love language was and remains inconvenience, and so during our courtship she steadfastly refused to drive out to see me, ever; I was so entranced at throught of kissing a lady (possibly even clasping a hand) that I braved the risk of explosion for three years for her.

 

1997 Lexus ES300, 2011-2014: My mother-in-law got this car when her mother-in-law died, and she sold it to me. It had several cool features: a slow leak of exhaust into the passenger compartment that caused one to feel pleasantly drowsy on longer drives; a slow leak in one tire and one tire only, caused I believe by some sort of rim issue endemic to that model of car; and a five CD-changer located in the trunk, where nobody could get to it. Because of the shape of our driveway, after we bought our first home I was permanently parked in by Mrs P's Forester (q.v.), and it slowly died in situ.

 

2011 Subaru Forester, 2011-now: Mrs P got this car after we were engaged in 2010, but before we were married, and I only got the second set of keys for it in 2020. Mrs P was worried I would lose them, and since she'd already lost the emergency key, she couldn't risk me being exactly as feckless as she was. It's  experienced many exciting adventures, including the original engine literally exploding because it turns out you need to put oil in these things. Fortunately, since for some reason the change oil light didn't work properly on this model, Subaru replaced the engine for free.

[Terry1954]

On 5/5/2022 at 10:48 AM, Fritag said:

If I had to keep just one of the bikes it'd be that one....or maybe the Brompton - which is just a hoot.  We've taken the Brompton's in the boot of the car to London and to the Shetland Islands and they're just great fun.

 

The Brompton sounds like the ones we should have got! We do have a nice rack that fits on the back of the Volvo to carry the hybrids we have, but I like the sound of the compactness of those folding bikes. Easy on a train too.

 

My automobile autobiography (did you like that?) is far too long to list in detail (around 15 vehicles as I recall) but notables were the first, a mini 850 that I proudly put on some non standard differentials to make it "go faster", a late 80's splash on a Mitsubishi Starion Turbo (loved that car) and, upon getting married to my second (and current) wife Karen, I "inherited" her BMW 520i which she had kept from new (1994), and we only sold her a couple of years ago. A wonderful car for someone who had let both a brand new Disco and a County 110 go as part of the previous divorce settlement! I had wanted to use the chassis and engine as the basis for a kit Cobra, but K persuaded me to stick with model kits!

 

And your LED replacement light fitting saga rings very true. I had to replace every one of those (over 30) in a 3 bedroom flat we had in WInchester a while back. I seem to recall the inevitable ceiling damages around a number of the fittings, was resolved using the cardboard centres from some paper kitchen towels (bog rolls too small), with a large card flange at the top, which when dissected to fold back on itself (hinged with masking tape) could be pushed through the holes sideways and dropped neatly into place. Surrounding damage could then be made good with good old polyfilla. I had grand ideas of patenting the design, perhaps from aluminium, but Karen advised against mumbling something about sticking to the day job.... 🥴

 

Terry

 

 

[Fritag]

Ok so, we're going walking and cycling in the Orkneys for a week (again) next Friday; so the weekend was somewhat taken up with getting the gear together and planning etc.  But I did get a bit of time to continue trying to sort out the nose contours on the Hawks.  And I think I'm more or less there - at least I've probably hit the limits of my ability to get it much better 

 

And leastways it's good enough to move onto other things now and hope to correct any deficiencies at the final priming stage.

 

The Hycote 'chubby cheeks' feathered in pretty nicely using Tamiya # 2000 foam backed sanding sponge and various grits of micromesh cloths used over a foam cube.

 

 

But - and not totally unexpectedly tbh - getting a better curve on the nose had the knock on effect of introducing a bit of an unwanted flat further forward - close to the nose light (on both Hawks).

 

 

That was addressed by a few carefully placed drops of Mr Surfacer 1000 given plenty of time to harden and more sanding sponge/micromesh.

 

 

Several thin coats of well thinned humbrol flat white used as a primer.

 

Valley Hawk

 

(the cockpits are slightly different - but the easiest way to tell em apart at the mo' is that on the Valley Hawk the insiodxes of the intakes are red and on the TWU hawk they're grey):

 

Close enough to the template in plan view.

 

 

More importantly the nose definitely curves rather than being flat sided when looked at from an angle.

 

 

TWU Hawk

 

Plan view is good.

 

 

Curvy enough to be getting on with.

 

 

My guess is that I'll find something visually a bit 'off' from some angle sometime before I'm finished - but any corrections should be minor.

 

I'm rather relieved to have that done.  I was really quite nervous about the whole re-profiling thing and had half a mind that I'd end up spoiling both Hawks.

 

I don't think I'd have been able to do it if I hadn't been able to 3D print the 'slithers' as filling/sanding guides.  That and taking it slow and careful like.

 

As it is I'm happier with the look of both of em now.

 

Next step is probably to fit the coamings and then the windscreens and in parallel finish the canopy sub assemblies.

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Fritag
Typo

[giemme]

Job of finesse with those noses, I'm positively impressed!  

 

Ciao 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

On 5/5/2022 at 10:01 PM, Fritag said:

It was the Top Gun era after all

 

I'm confused.  Top Gun was about Naval pilots...

 

[I too had a 205GTi at around the same time.  Motorised roller skate, and ridiculously good fun.  We did a series of acceleration tests on the main runway at CU during Summer leave when I was down there on detachment with a Lynx; car on right of runway (so the Lynx pilot could see it) standing start; Lynx in hover to the left of it; countdown over radio.  The Lynx thrashed all cars after about 50 yards (there's always a bit of inertia however hard you stand the cab on its nose and pull the lever up around your ears), but the 205 fared best of all the cars up to that point - small and light, I guess.

 

Important performance trials to optimise use of tax-payers' money, obviously, and in no way a bunch of big kids messing about with powerful machines provided by Her Britannic Majesty.]

 

6 bikes for 2 people is taking the proverbial.  Still, it must help during the stash arguments with Mrs F.  Besides, life is a game where the one with the most toys at the end wins.

 

Not going to comment further on the Hawks; all been said, and they're stunning.

 

Another holiday...?

 

Crisp

 

 

[Procopius]

32 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

 

I'm confused.  Top Gun was about Naval pilots...

 

"Drop a sonobuoy, Goose!"