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


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On 12/12/2019 at 1:14 AM, Navy Bird said:

Put the camera in Aperture Priority mode (most cameras, even smartphones, will have this), and stop down to f/16 or higher

 

Not iPhones apparently Bill.  The aperture is fixed seemingly.  P’raps there’s a clever app wot can do it🤔

 

5 hours ago, LongMan2 said:

Yeah the little Hawk looks cool....but dear me tell them little Airfix pilots to wipe their feet before they jump in the cockpit next time....lol!

:D - Hard working little aircraft the Hawk, Phil; troops of young boys climbing into em without wiping they're feet first....:winkgrin: 

 

 

3 hours ago, Johnson said:

forgive me if I don't read through all 133 pages

Consider yourself forgiven, Charlie;  I wouldn't wish 133 pages of this on you :fraidnot:

 

So.  Working on the TWU hawk cockpit today.

 

Cut back the support structure as with t'other one.....

 

IMG_0423_zpshwg3kcxm.jpeg

 

Glued in the IPs - these ones of course have weapons switches ;) and trimmed the coamings.

 

Coamings and seats dry-fitted:

 

IMG_0425_zpsyswlmj6h.jpeg

 

'twill do I reckon.

 

IMG_0426_zpsfhjmwcfm.jpeg

 

 

 

Next job is to finish fettling the coamings and stick em in!  Followed by the windscreens.

 

 

 

Edited by Fritag
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On 12/6/2019 at 11:24 PM, Paulaero said:

Try Bicarbonate of soda instead of flour is rock solid

Haven't there been horror stories about this mixture degenerating into a evil bubbling mass due to the sodium bicarbonate content soaking up water over a period of time?
Though I imagine this depends on the mix, and could be kept at bay by sealing it in with something waterproof.

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1 hour ago, Steve Coombs said:

Haven't there been horror stories about this mixture degenerating into a evil bubbling mass due to the sodium bicarbonate content soaking up water over a period of time?

Been using it for years, never experienced that (famous last words...!!)

 

Keith

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7 hours ago, Fritag said:

The aperture is fixed seemingly.  P’raps there’s a clever app wot can do it

I don't fink so - as you say Steve the aperture is fixed - 'cos iPhone doesn't have an aperture AFAIK :( 

That said I like ProCamera  - it has lots of settings you can play with to mess up the photos, but it does seem to do better than the standard app.

 

Oh, and the second i/p is just as nice as the first :) 

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15 hours ago, Fritag said:

twill do I reckon.

This is destined to  appear in the next revision of the OED as an examplar for 'suave understatement'...

 

Beautiful work Steve. 🍸

 

15 hours ago, Fritag said:

 The aperture is fixed seemingly.  P’raps there’s a clever app wot can do it🤔

There might be something in here about making your own aperture?

https://youtu.be/MQEEJ57Gsow

 

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15 hours ago, CedB said:

I don't fink so - as you say Steve the aperture is fixed - 'cos iPhone doesn't have an aperture AFAIK :(

 

Yeah, apparently the aperture is determined by the size of the sensor, and it works out to f/1.8 or something like that. I was confused because my Android phone has two aperture settings, not sure how they do that. Apps that fool around with the depth of field are taking multiple exposures with different focus points and merging them together, usually to make the depth of field smaller so you get a blurred background. Which is the opposite of what you want.

 

Might I suggest, gulp, using an actual camera? You can get some pretty inexpensive point and shoot digital cameras that have aperture priority.

 

7 hours ago, TheBaron said:

There might be something in here about making your own aperture?

https://youtu.be/MQEEJ57Gsow

 

Ha! That was pretty funny. Microwave my phone to charge it - and people fell for that?

 

Cheers,

Bill

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35 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Might I suggest, gulp, using an actual camera?

Yes! 👍

 

37 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Microwave my phone to charge it - and people fell for that?

But you can dry a wet cat in one, yes?

 

Terry

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On 12/14/2019 at 4:22 PM, Navy Bird said:

Might I suggest, gulp, using an actual camera? You can get some pretty inexpensive point and shoot digital cameras that have aperture priority.

 

I’ve an oldish Canon digital SLR somewhere in the house and we have at least 2 other digital cameras, which may or may not have aperture priority; and you know what, we haven’t used any of them for probably a couple of years. Too much fondness for iPhone convenience and not enough commitment to photography :blush:

 

On 12/13/2019 at 6:21 PM, Johnson said:

Do you think, with all that gorgeous cockpit detail, you'll be modelling this with the canopies open?

Yes.  Canopies open for both.  Spoils the pretty lines somewhat (and I’ve always thought the Hawk was a very pretty aircraft) but there you go....

 

On 12/13/2019 at 6:21 PM, giemme said:

Amazing cockpit, just like the other one.

 

Girorgio!  It’s not just like the other one It has weapons control panels and gun sights.  Why, it’s really rather nerdishly importantly different.......:D

 

Cos the cockpit tub and coaming are all home-brew there are no locating pins etc. and so to get the coaming in the right place I took measurements off photo’s.  I did this yonks ago:

 

IMG_0434_zpszmrblxca.jpeg

 

IMG_0435_zpsztroaedz.jpeg

 

And thankfully the prints have survived the hiatus in the build and Mrs F’s tidying up.....

 

I confess that when I dug them out, my immediate thought was to feel immensely old fashioned and analogue compared with Tony’s superb digital representations of the Sea Vixen.  I nearly went and scanned the prints into....into...into some piece of software that I don’t as yet know how to use :whistle:  and my second thought was - “s*d it’. - I’ll learn to do that tomorrow; or maybe the next day......but definitely in any event soon.........;) (did I mention that I’ve managed to go ‘paperless’ at work - I think that drained my ‘new software’ capacity for a while.....:blush:)

 

Transferred the measurements to the Hawks:

 

IMG_0433_zpslaxwltai.jpeg

 

There’s a girder like structure just in front of the rear coaming that I need to build now.  This photo’s from the BM walk around:

 

IMG_0673_zpsoarofo4y.jpeg

 

And with the relative coaming/seat positions fixed I can get on with that now.  It needs to go where the 1mm tape is in this photo.

 

IMG_0431_zps26ykgjs0.jpeg

 

I’ll probably make it from 0.3mm  plastic card, drilled, scored and bent into an ‘L’ shape; although brass is an option to consider as well.

 

 

 

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21 minutes ago, Fritag said:

I nearly went and scanned the prints into....into...into some piece of software that I don’t as yet know how to use :whistle:  and my second thought was - “s*d it’. - I’ll learn to do that tomorrow; or maybe the next day......but definitely in any event soon.........

A man after my own heart :) 

 

22 minutes ago, Fritag said:

I think that drained my ‘new software’ capacity for a while.....

I know how you feel Steve - it's not just the software but also the entirely new terminology that deters me from finding some space in my brain…

 

It's like the 3D printer thing isn't it. My first thought when you mentioned the girder, but then… 

How do you scan that and design a 3D version? No idea.

I bet it's one of those 'dark arts' that requires some aptitude (that I don't have) and some knowledge of things I can't grasp.

 

Plastic works for me. If it ain't broke… :D 

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Lovely mensuration Steve, not sure I would follow the bent polycard route

The top of the stiffening section(?) has fillets at each end to possibly enable stiffness, a common purpose for fillets.

I would drill holes in a flat piece to represent the, er, holes, fit it and then glue a top plate atop it...

 

 

 

 

 

In truth I would probably not have noticed it and blundered on

 

Ignore me...

 

 

😕

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1 hour ago, Fritag said:

I confess that when I dug them out, my immediate thought was to feel immensely old fashioned and analogue compared with Tony’s superb digital representations of the Sea Vixen.

Your "old fashioned" approach looks perfectly sound to me. The results, however they are achieved (in this game), are what counts IMHO.

 

Superb work there Steve, just keep sharpening your quill and make sure the ink pot remains fluid! 

 

Terry

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1 hour ago, Fritag said:

Girorgio!  It’s not just like the other one It has weapons control panels and gun sights.  Why, it’s really rather nerdishly importantly different.......:D

OK, nobody ever called me GIRORGIO!!! :rofl:  :rofl: :rofl:  And my comment was referred to the quality of your job, not the quantity! :D  :D 

 

Back to serious (as if... )  I'm with Bill as to how to reproduce the girder, seen your refusal for modern technologies (OK, not totally serious I know, :D ) , and I anyway fully admire your "analogical" approach (as opposed to digital) to the coamings placement: it really shows this is a labor of love for you :clap: :worthy: 

 

Ciao

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Stunning cockpit (though I think you’ve committed a “switch pigs” by leaving something important made... or is that just a FAA expression?). [My fave was a baby Sea King maintainer on 820 in c.1987 who played at pilots in the hangar but forgot to put them all back... so when he plugged in ground power to do some avionics checks.... the flot bags went off.  Ooooooops.  “I learned about the SMR’s boot from that!”]

 

Re iPhones, I recommend Camera+2 as an app which allows you to control your settings.  As people have said, there is no variable aperture as such since it’s all done in software, but you can control your depth of field and/or exposure, which amounts to the same thing in output terms.

 

Having said that, I am now berating myself because I took some deeply rubbish iPhone photos of Ark’s island last night... using the built-in App because I’d totally forgotten the other one.  D’oh!

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3 hours ago, CedB said:

How do you scan that and design a 3D version?

Its actually pretty straightforward. Most CAD software can import image files (jpeg etc) and then let you jiggle them around a bit to make them square. Then it is simply a case of tracing over the lines to give a 2D shape or using 3D solids (rectangular blocks, cylinders, cones etc) to sit on top of the picture. These can then be added or subtracted (think hole punch) to get a 3D representation of the bit you're after. Scale it to whatever you like: 1:72 is as easy as 1:12. You then save the file in "STL" format which is basically a representation of the solid in layers like wot the 3D printer thinks in. Upload it to Shapeways, send them a kidney or other small fortune and small bits of plastic arrive in the post shortly thereafter.

 

I believe the popular summary is "simples".

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50 minutes ago, hendie said:

It's relatively simple

You're not wrong Hendie. Equally, it should not be forgotten that mortals with just a PC and some secondary school geometry skills can print the kind of things that would be virtually impossible to scratch at the tiny weeny scales that you proper plastic-botherers manage.

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6 hours ago, CedB said:

I bet it's one of those 'dark arts' that requires some aptitude (that I don't have)...

1 hour ago, hendie said:

methinks folks are over thinking this.   It's relatively simple geometry. 

Measure the model. See what dimensions you need to make it. Shape as required. Cut, glue and assemble.  Job done

 

 

6 hours ago, CedB said:

…and some knowledge of things I can't grasp.

2 hours ago, Kirk said:

Its actually pretty straightforward. Most CAD software can import image files (jpeg etc) and then let you jiggle them around a bit to make them square. Then it is simply a case of tracing over the lines to give a 2D shape or using 3D solids (rectangular blocks, cylinders, cones etc) to sit on top of the picture. These can then be added or subtracted (think hole punch) to get a 3D representation of the bit you're after. Scale it to whatever you like: 1:72 is as easy as 1:12. You then save the file in "STL" format which is basically a representation of the solid in layers like wot the 3D printer thinks in. Upload it to Shapeways, send them a kidney or other small fortune and small bits of plastic arrive in the post shortly thereafter.

 

I believe the popular summary is "simples".

I rest my case M'lud :D 

 

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10 hours ago, Fritag said:

Yes.  Canopies open for both.  Spoils the pretty lines somewhat (and I’ve always thought the Hawk was a very pretty aircraft) but there you go....

Best do a third one in flight to show off its line to full advantage ;) Sure you can manage that no bother after getting plenty practice on these two :) 

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10 hours ago, Fritag said:

I confess that when I dug them out, my immediate thought was to feel immensely old fashioned and analogue compared with Tony’s superb digital representations of the Sea Vixen

Don't.

Say that Steve!

This:

10 hours ago, Fritag said:

I did this yonks ago:

 

IMG_0434_zpszmrblxca.jpeg

- is more character-full and individual than that digital stuff I knock up. Sure, those methods let me pull ideas around in virtual space - but it don't have this 'signature' feel of your working out here, which I love.

 

7 hours ago, Kirk said:

Most CAD software can import image files (jpeg etc) and then let you jiggle them around a bit

I must agree with Kirk however that you can't beat a good jiggle sometimes.

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