Bristol Brigand B Mk 1 Valom 1/72 (Pic heavy)

[CedB]

Sorry guys, no progress today... Work beckoned.

And this evening 'Modern Family', 'Criminal Minds' and 'Person of Interest' all in a row...

I have wine and am acting like a potato* - just vegging out in the sofa.

Perhaps I will have the strength to take on the PE tomorrow - oh those tiny straps.

* Other vegetables are available.

[stever219]

Sorry, just looked up barbette here and it says it's a gun mounting? I don't always trust Wikipedia...

Was that part S12 you referred to? I think this is some kind of aerial? You can see it in the photo above just behind the antenna mount.

Sorry again folks; I cannot tripe fore toffffeee. My S12 should have read S13. S12 is indeed the d/f loop fairing. Interesting about the bulges near the gun breeches, not an easy area to see in many Brigand photos that I've seen.

[CedB]

Well the PE fairies failed to arrive overnight so after a brief interruption for some work (cuh!) I decided to attempt the next set of PE. I'm not entirely convinced by this stuff but the point of building the Valom now is to test my skills and seek advice from my BM friends so here goes.

Harnesses and seat belts. I assume the process is:

1. carefully cut out the PE part(s) with a new 10A blade

2. put a drop of CA on the target area

3. pick up the part with small tweezers. No, smaller ones. The other end, stupid.

4. position the part on the CA spot and press down to activate the CA

5. try to prise the cocktail stick off the part which has stuck to that, not the plastic

6. drop the part on the table, go back to step 3

7. Drop the part on the carpet. Look with torch whilst trying to hold Molly dog out of the way, hoping she hasn't already sniffed it up

8. Repeat steps 2-5 ad nauseam

9. Finally get the damn thing in place. Repeat for other parts.

Is that right? It's what I did anyway.

I must say I'm not enjoying this PE stage very much - can you tell? Next time I think I'll try "Rato" Marczak's technique. At least then I can get the size to look right.

Here are the "results" so far:

Obviously I need to bend the parts when the CA is dry. How long do you leave it for?

Do you like the 'finish' on the seats? They're supposed to be steel, so this is AK Real Metal applied with a micro brush. I like the 'weathered' finish obtained by not applying too much and buffing. Comments?

The belts for the small seats are too big or vice versa. I think the B1 had two seats and the Ts a bench but I'm not (rivet) counting. I've stuck the belts on the back to try to compensate. I'll paint these 'belt' coloured before bending:

I may paint and bend these later today and post but, if not, there'll be a gap in the build. It's our wedding anniversary on Thursday so setting off tomorrow for some much needed R&R in a nice hotel in Devon. So there.

[MikeW]

1. carefully cut out the PE part(s) with a new 10A blade

2. put a drop of CA on the target area

3. pick up the part with small tweezers. No, smaller ones. The other end, stupid.

4. position the part on the CA spot and press down to activate the CA

5. try to prise the cocktail stick off the part which has stuck to that, not the plastic

6. drop the part on the table, go back to step 3

7. Drop the part on the carpet. Look with torch whilst trying to hold Molly dog out of the way, hoping she hasn't already sniffed it up

8. Repeat steps 2-5 ad nauseam

9. Finally get the damn thing in place. Repeat for other parts.

This should be framed and hung above most work benches.

Missing part, torch, and dog - was just there yesterday

[Shalako]

Quite a challenge you've got there Ced!

Keep up the good work!!!

Cheers

[Procopius]

I have a head lamp, to eliminate having to hold the torch. Great, until I go to kiss Mrs. P. You really have to crank up the illumination to freeze her in place.

[Winenut]

Really looking forward to a build of an aircraft I know nothing at all about!

I see it personally as an opportunity to learn so thank you.

Fascinating.

Chocks away!!

[CedB]

Well I painted the straps and, of course, one fell off (repeat steps 2-7). Here's the pilot's seat, closeup and personal:

The detail's nice, I suppose, but not that accurate and they're too big and shiny. I'll do some weathering when the cockpit's together. It's going to be on the ceiling remember (excuses already, not a good sign).

More modelling probably after my break but I'll be prowling BM whilst away, of course.

[GREG DESTEC]

Ced. Having spent a frustrating half hour tring to stick down eduard seat belts on my 1/72 Defiant I know where you are coming from with this bit. I got pre painted belts, which saved a bit of time and effort. All looks good to me - good effort

[Dave Swindell]

Ced, I prefer to form the straps into their draped shapes, using the seat as a former, before attaching them. If nothing else, you get a much larger surface area to glue. They can also then be painted separate and attached with gator glue. Doesn't stop them flying off in all directions when attempting to work them with tweezers though.....

[Bordfunker]

If you are using unpainted PE and need to bend it, try annealing it over a candle first, as it makes it a lot less springy!

Obviously don't try that with Eduard's prepainted belts.

Karl

[Cookenbacher]

They look like harnesses to me Ced!

I really like the metal effect on the seats. Is the AK True Metal the wax one that comes in the tube?

[CedB]

They look like harnesses to me Ced!

I really like the metal effect on the seats. Is the AK True Metal the wax one that comes in the tube?

Thanks Cookey!

Yes it's the waxy one. I love the stuff. I've used the Aluminium for a Mustang before then used it on the fuselage of my Lightning. It goes on easily, covers really well (you only need a small amount) and can then be buffed to varying degrees to give panel variances. Try it!

Have a great trip with PC. Envious!

[modelglue]

Yes, you are definitely entering the forbidden zone with your new found skills. Photo etch. Who knew. Last week you polished the snot out of a FROG canopy to eyeglass clarity, now you're wrapping miniscule shards of metal into organic looking straps.

I think we have a ringer!

[CedB]

Back from three days R&R eating and drinking far too much. As I was dressing on Friday morning I showed Mrs B that my six pack beer barrel had hardened impressively with all the food. She was not impressed. I don't care because I know that many women find my ample stature, balding head and greying beard a sign of great wisdom and wealth*

I posted my purchases from the trip here. A mix of sensible kits that will allow me to relax between WIP on the weird ones.

Feeling worn out and old today so no progress (maybe Devon bug). The sight of that thin PE is still delaying me getting on with the cockpit. And there doesn't seem to be anyone around posting at the moment (apart from Stew - hey mate - making the odd comment) so I'll probably get away with it!

* ​unfortunately only in the indigenous tribes of Central Africa.

[06/24]

We're all still here, silence means avid viewing!

[modelglue]

Yah! I'm just shutting up for once waiting for the man to speaketh!

[SimonL]

Hey Ced where you go in Devon? I went to uni in Plymouth in the early 90's and once I left there to come to Australia my parents moved there (must be something in that...). My wife and I got married just before I started writing my thesis up and because we were poor the honeymoon consisted of a long weekend staying at the Royal Glen in Sidmouth. Our first anniversary was a wet weekend in Warrnambool.

Edited March 29, 2015 by SimonL

[CedB]

Hey Simon! Where in Devon? Middle of Nowhere, posh hotel, near Tavistock. Now I'm old and tired I like my pampering and tend to swop a week in the sun for two days 'somewhere everyone knows your name' even though you've never been there before. I used to travel a lot on business and what I don't need when I'm trying to R&R is having to complain to someone in a hotel who, frankly, can't be bothered. So there.

I've been looking at that PE for long enough - time to sort it out. I nearly bought some of this in Tavistock Panier Market:

Reminds me of the days I spent as "a yung 'un" waiting for my placement. I had a number of temporary jobs and, as an 18 year old, really enjoyed the 'banter' from my older 'colleagues'. I did not fall for the "Go to the stores and get a can of elbow grease" or "Ced can you go to the store for a long weight (wait)" but when asked to go for a "3/4 Whitworth left handed spanner" I gave the chap a long stare and he didn't flinch so off I went. I was duly handed a spanner and, being a suspicious sort in this environment, checked it twice and, sure enough, it was 3/4 Whit and so I set back off to my mate. He took one look and said "Nah, they've given you a right handed one" so back I went to challenge the storeman. He took the spanner from me, examined it and said "You're quite right Ced", turned it over and gave it back to me. Doh! Oh, and the time I got back to my desk to find a note saying "Please call Mr Lyons on 01234 567890". The nice lady asked which Mr Lyons I wanted to speak to. "How many do you have?" "Well, we have C Lyons and African lions, this is Bristol Zoo" Double doh!

Where was I? Oh, right, Brigand. Well this is wrong isn't it?

The seat's too far from the column and no way would a pilot (let alone a Hobbit) be able to reach the lovely detailed PE levers I'm about to apply. OK, rip it off and stick it back in the right place. And the two belts that fell off, of course. (Grrrrr)

You can see from the supplied cockpit picture what we're trying to replicate:

Weird? Three knobs / levers on the left, the handbrake and one on the right. When I was flying twins (POSER, you're a time lapsed PPL, rein it in) there were two red ones, two white ones and two blue ones for throttle, mixture and prop pitch (maybe not in that order). How do you fly this twin with just three and what's the thing on the right (I do know the handbrake's for flaps - brakes don't work in the air unless you just want to stop the wheels going round in the wings).

Anyway, I donned my 3x headset magnifier, got out my blade and carefully cut off the PE. Ping. Have a spare one, it's OK. Apply CA (scary), press down to activate, wait to grip, do it again... I hate this stuff but the end result will be worth it! Here's the results of my efforts, waiting for the CA to dry before straightening everything up.:

Pathetic. What a waste of time and, more importantly energy, 'cos I'm short of that at the moment. I'll take some better shots of the finished thing but really...

[CedB]

Side track (surely not?).

Whilst searching for an answer to 'How do you fly a twin with only three knobs*' found this site. Is there a free source of these somewhere? Cheapskate.

Edit: then found this on eBay. Not sure I want a copy but cheap(ish). It has a photo:

showing 3 big ones and two little ones. Much better for the 'how to fly' question, much worse for the PE.

* two more than usual, DE score 1?

[modelglue]

Looks like you'd need to be a Wyndham character to fly that thing!

[ejboyd5]

I seem to remember reading that the early issues of this kit had the RDF "football" in solid plastic like the rest of the model and that this was replaced with a clear part later on in production. Please correct me if my memory is in error.

[CedB]

Looks like you'd need to be a Wyndham character to fly that thing!

I love Wyndham. Must read Chocky and Trouble with Lichen again...

I seem to remember reading that the early issues of this kit had the RDF "football" in solid plastic like the rest of the model and that this was replaced with a clear part later on in production. Please correct me if my memory is in error.

You're right EJ (?). You can just about see the replacement clear part in this post, last photo. Of course in the reference pic that's currently my desktop (also posted above) it has visible wires inside, actually looking like just a black lump. I may try to replicate this by drilling the part and dribbling in some paint. That's after I've "made a rod for my own back".

[modelglue]

I love Wyndham. Must read Chocky and Trouble with Lichen again...

Besides a healthy appreciation for kilts, The Chrysalids was one of the few valuable experiences I took away from high school. This thread has my fingers itching for that Buckingham languishing on my shelf.

[Duncan B]

I worked with a guy who's father had been in Bomber Command during the War and later flew Brigands in Malaya. He was dishonourably discharged from the RAF after having refused to fly the Brigand again after seeing a lot of his friends killed by the things (engines falling off as they dived etc). The final straw for him was watching a good friend crash during a test flight which was supposed to prove to all the discontented aircrew that the Brigand was perfectly safe!

Duncan B