Caerbannog Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Hi all. I like to go berserk this year and start a new GB every month or so in the attemp to finish more than a handful of kits with so-so success till now. Out of my three options (Sageburner; Raspberry Ripple and Alcock and Browne) I choose "Alcock and Browne" - mainly because the super simple one colour livery (the rest is decals) and the prominent Union Jack on the tail. Base kit is the Hasegawa F-4 in the Revell boxing with decals from CAM, Eduard interior, Quickboost seats, Two Mikes 150 Aero 1 tank (will be used as baggage pod), Red Roo Skyhawk 150 gal tanks and Alley Cat seamless intakes: Maybe I will add Aires exhaust nozzles which I have in my stash for another subject and maybe an Aires cockpit - but I fear this will involve too much work (time...) so I guess I will leave it with the Eduard set. Any comments/warnings/info/etc. welcome :-) Rene 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawty82 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 The Aires exhausts if this is a copy of the Hasegawa kit are far too small. They can be fitted with some work and look nice but they don't fit straight from the box 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Looking forward to this build. Have a 1/72 Alcock & Brown but saving that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 I got the Aires exhausts for a Whif RAF Mirage IV conversion. Funnily they will be great for this task as they fit the Mirage fuselage perfectly. Which I found odd as the Spey Mirage would have had a wider fuselage to accomodate the engines... I will use the kit exhausts then - I painted them already so this will help to shorten the build time a tad more ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawty82 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Good plan, and strange how they'd fit into a Mirage. Shame to use the kit parts, I remember the Aires exhausts were very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 The Aires exhausts are apparently sized for a J79-engined fuselage; the kit nozzles aren't unusable and are at least correctly sized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 OK - I started some shy work on the exhausts. Yes: Exhausts! Not the cockpit. Call me Punk. As mentioned by stever219 above the size of the Aires parts will create some issues at the fuselage/exhaust joint. So in order to keep it simple I go ahead with the kit parts. The exhausts are sprayed with old Testors Metalizer paint and then treated with Tamiya weathering set: Next step will be to cut the fuselage parts to prepare them for the AlleyCat seamless intakes. At this stunning speed the kit will be finished soon... René 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mozzy19 Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 They look really nice! Sean 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Nice work on the exhaust painting. Duncan B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted May 11, 2015 Author Share Posted May 11, 2015 Started work on the front end of the exhausts: The AlleyCat intakes look great IMHO - I can only recommend them so far. Rene 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Great work Rene, up to your usual high standard with each step explained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 Seems I bit more than I can chew again with all those GBs I signed up to. Progress on this is a bit slow at the moment so this post is more a proof that I am still working on this. I primed the cockpit parts (used Humbrol 127 IIRC as this matches the colour of the Eduard set better than the correct colour. Strangely it looks much browner on the pic below)and attached almost all Etch parts except some levers. The Eduard instructions are sometimes a bit vague to me and after some more research I will have to reposition one part: The sides of the cockpit are in the same stage. So some more detail painting and weathering before I can close the fuselage around the cockpit. Rene 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Air-to-Air Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 It's shaping up nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Did you wind up with a very small step between the new intakes and the kit parts? Mine aren't glued on yet so a bit more fitting's not out of the question. You've done better with the brassware in the cockpit than I have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 Did you wind up with a very small step between the new intakes and the kit parts? Mine aren't glued on yet so a bit more fitting's not out of the question. You've done better with the brassware in the cockpit than I have. The LHS has a very (very very) smal step but I am sure this will be gone after a bit of sanding/dryfitting/sanding. The RHS fits perfectly. Meanwhile both intakes received white paint on the insides and the fans are painted too. So next post will be with some more pics. Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Lots of excellent detail work Rene, and as always plenty of explanation as to what you have done. Great stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Thanks for the confirmation: my right intake fits better than the left, but there really isn't a lot in it. I just deepened the cut out in the kit fuselage slightly on the left and the problem seems to be sorted. Proof will be when the lower wing skin goes (won't!) go on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Thanks. Ahh "nice" alias nimrod54. I should dig out my Father Ted series from my harddrive once more :-) I finished enough work on the cockpit to close up the fuselage last night - but no pics yet. Below are some pictures of the AlleyCat intakes installed in the fuselage. I just thinned the edges of the palstic parts a litte and the resin pieces snugged in. I have never seen better fitting resin parts. Rene 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 So, copilot panel fixed, cockpit weathered a bit and fuselage closed : The lower wing part is now also glued to the fuselage after some sanding on the mateing surfaces. There is a gap between the lower wing and the fuselage/intakes which needs filler. Not only the resin pieces but also the kit parts do not fit well here. The upper wing parts are only dry fitted yet and the left side shows some more fitting problems: The forward u/c bay was painted white and I treid a Valejo wash but it did not work as I hoped. Will have to improve this and still need to pick out some details in different colours. At last it feels like progress... Rene 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Not much progress due to the usual filling-sanding which always slows me down even further: Rene 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Wow there were some huge gaps there, which you have filled very well indeed. I like that work and attention that you gave to the cockpit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Huge gaps? Take a look at my other build: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234980955-148-de-havilland-dh-88-comet-heritage-aviation/ (Edit: I just found that I did not post the pics of the DH88 fuselage to wing joint...) I found that Magic Putty works very nicely as excess putty can be easily removed with a cotton swap as long as the putty is still wet. So there is not so much sanding involved - and less details to be sanded away. Thanks. Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 Sorry - I went on holiday with my family last week already and will return after this GB closed :-( Another possible entry for the KURA GB... Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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