Dambuster 'T Tommy' Airfix 1/72

[Fatboydim]

Looking good Ced

[Christer A]

That scriber looks like it means business!

Nice work so far!

[Biggles87]

Glad you like the scriber Ced, I should be putting mine to good use soon.

[sean]

Catching up on this Ced, (31 posts), nice to see she's ready for paint. Are you going to spray the whole lot black first?

Sean

[Gremlin56]

Excellent progress Ced, the Merlin looks really nice.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Gremlin56

[AdrianMF]

It's always great when a big project starts coming together! I think the masks will stop you going crazy with all that glazing to do. I like the look of those files too - presumably they don't leave a raised edge like my Trumpeter scriber does. I have bookmarked your link for when I next feel like web-based shopping...

Regards,

Adrian

[CedB]

Thanks Joe, Christer and Julian.

Thanks again John for recommending the Scribe-R - Adrian it doesn't leave (much) of a raised edge but it's also thinner and easier to control than the Tamiya (vicious) and Trumpeter ones I have.

Hi Sean - yep, the whole lot's going to get a coat of Humbrol 33 spray acrylic which I've used before. It seems to act like a good primer as well as being the final coat for the undersides.

Four nacelles completed and attached:

Side view of the pegs for Mike!

Note that one of the large nacelles required clamping but the other not. The rear of these is very wobbly (technical term) and clamping them while glueing before the fit has obviously caused a small mis-fit.

Future builders I would not glue the back of the rear join of these until you've fitted them to the wing (you'll need to glue the top join for easy sanding).

That said the fit, especially on the others, is great. Very satisfying.

[Spookytooth]

Thanks for the heads up on the nacelle problem Ced.

I will keep that in mind when I build my one.

Also the idea of painting the wings separate works for me.

Less awkward masking .

Coming along nicely mate.

Simon.

[bbudde]

Great work on the wings so far. You are right in fixing this. I was annoyed by this with the kit, when I saw it and read the Airfix instructions for the first time. E.g. for glueing, fixing the wings or the undercarriage or even painting and masking issues. Well done.

[CedB]

Thanks Simon and bbudde

Steps 56 & 57 for those building wheels up is cutting off the door supports and installing the doors. I've just spent about 30 minutes on the first pair and they're still not glued... the fit is SO good it's hard to get the parts fitted and these are still not stuck in:

OK, I'm going to say the fit is TOO good. So far I've cut off the small locating pegs too and also taped the doors together inside. You can see the small gap on the long join back and front which usually means the doors need to 'sit up'. From the side though they're too proud.

Patience exhausted this morning so I'm going to go back to them later. I may use some latex glue along the nacelle edge to hold one in place and then glue the other. There's a thought. Tea first though I think.

[Gremlin56]

Thanks Simon and bbudde

Steps 56 & 57 for those building wheels up is cutting off the door supports and installing the doors. I've just spent about 30 minutes on the first pair and they're still not glued... the fit is SO good it's hard to get the parts fitted and these are still not stuck in:

OK, I'm going to say the fit is TOO good. So far I've cut off the small locating pegs too and also taped the doors together inside. You can see the small gap on the long join back and front which usually means the doors need to 'sit up'. From the side though they're too proud.

Patience exhausted this morning so I'm going to go back to them later. I may use some latex glue along the nacelle edge to hold one in place and then glue the other. There's a thought. Tea first though I think.

Think this is all due to CAD design Ced? Some models refuse to fit nowadays if the paint layer is too thick

[CedB]

Thanks Julian.

Yes, I think CAD kits are great but need care. There's no paint on these parts (yet) so I just need to fill my 'patience tank' and persevere.

On balance I think I prefer a tight fit that needs sanding to a 'loose' one that needs filling.*

I'm certainly going to be very careful with Airfix CAD kits in the future... no paint on joins and lots of test fitting (see the scratched off paint on wing spars and tailplane above!)

* Score 1. Are we tired of this yet? Er, fnaar fnaar?

[Gremlin56]

Thanks Julian.

Yes, I think CAD kits are great but need care. There's no paint on these parts (yet) so I just need to fill my 'patience tank' and persevere.

On balance I think I prefer a tight fit that needs sanding to a 'loose' one that needs filling.*

I'm certainly going to be very careful with Airfix CAD kits in the future... no paint on joins and lots of test fitting (see the scratched off paint on wing spars and tailplane above!)

* Score 1. Are we tired of this yet? Er, fnaar fnaar?

Awarded myself 2 points yesterday for smuggling "mammalian protuberances" in

Fnaar, Fnaar

[CedB]

Thanks Julian, 2 points well deserved!

Airfix CAD... lots of talk about this and firstly I must say I think it's great, really great.

That said I think I/we have to rethink my/our building methods a bit to cater for it. We've already mentioned cleaning joints (no paint) and test fitting. I'm going to add joining halves because my favourite method of dry-joining the parts, applying Tamiya Extra Thin and squeezing until I get a slight 'ooze' and then sanding has caused me problems (see below). I think either I need to remove the squeeze or be very careful when sanding the join to really maintain the profile. Here's why...

Looking at the first shot you can see the tape holding the doors together and a tiny, tiny bit of locator pin left. In the second photo you can see the perfect join on top of the doors, but this will only be achieved if the doors are precisely located:

I remember others saying that they'd wiggled the parts a bit and suddenly they seem to 'click' so I tried this on the doors and it worked:

The first photo's focussed on the wrong nacelle (sorry) but you can still see how good the fit is, EXCEPT the doors are a bit proud where I've sanded the profile. Rats. To be honest I would usually be pleased with that fit, but I know (now) that it could be better with more careful sanding. For the second set of doors I've 'enabled' the wiggle more easily by also taping one door to the nacelle and then wiggling until the other fits. Sort of a gentle pinching motion and using my sticky stick to pull the door out if it slips in too much:

Pleased enough with those now. Lesson learnt. On to the flaps.

[sean]

Nicely worked out on those doors C, a tip well worth noting when the time comes

for my own build,

Sean

Keep keeping score, it's good to keep slipping the odd one in

[CedB]

Thanks Sean - score 1,fnaar fnaar!

We have wings!

With my new Airfix CAD technique I fit the part and if it's not an exact fit, I look to see why... the flaps fitted with just the flash removed, the panels above the nacelles ditto, except one nacelle had some flash on it. Nice.

Question. T Tommy was a stand-by aircraft and didn't have the spotlights fitted. There's a hole for the light - I guess I should fill it? The 'bomb bay cover' is a snug fit and I think its tapered edge goes on the sides of the bay. Something is making the fuselage bulge so it needed clamping:

and the profile on this is off too, joint sanding again?

The plan is to blast the major parts with H33 spray acrylic and while that's going off to airbrush other bits and assemble the turrets. I need to make sure there are no bits left off that should be on the main body - the idea is that the VMA NATO black on the smaller bits will highlight the modifications a bit. Hopefully just a bit.

[Spookytooth]

At least one way of holding it while works OK.

The engineering on the newer builds leaves very little tolerances , but it does mean a good fit once fettered in.

Cannot help on the light Ced, though some one will know.

Look forward to seeing more.

Simon.

[CedB]

Thanks Simon - don't worry, I've decided a hole would have been drilled to fit the light so I've filled it

[Gremlin56]

Thanks Simon - don't worry, I've decided a hole would have been drilled to fit the light so I've filled it

I really like the way Airfix have included the bomb bay innards though Ced, I remember building their old offering as child. That was really simple compared to the present day kits.

[CedB]

Hi Julian. Nice isn't it? Pity most of it is going to be covered... ho hum

In an effort to win another Procopius bravery award I've stuck lots of little parts on prior to painting... pitot, aileron and elevator actuators and, er, this part:

Bound to happen I suppose. Very, very careful use of the edge cutters caused the bend in the photo so I used a razor saw. Just remembered the RE Microsaws, too late

It's on though, and looks fine. I also assembled the whole point of this model (apart from Johnny):

Why two photos? It's a 'spot the difference' competition... the parts fit either way around, the left photo one way with a bad join, the right photo parts turned with a great join.

This is ready for spraying now with an all over H33 rattle can. Close up of the actuators:

This lot's ready for airbrushing with VMA NATO black:

Barring disasters the rest of the day will be exactly like watching paint dry.

More soon!

[Gremlin56]

Watching the paint dry while enjoying a drop of wine isn't too bad a way to spend some time

[moaning dolphin]

More excellent progress, keep it coming!

Bob

[CedB]

Thanks Julian - one last job and then I can relax with some wine (see below)

Thanks Bob - here's the next step, masking the turrets:

A night off. What to do? Ah, wine, right

[rob85]

Bloody hell ced, sorry I haven't stopped by in a bit! Looks like you just need to whack a bit of paint on and your done?

Very nice work ced, very nice indeed

Rob

[Spookytooth]

Wine, well why not dear chap, a deserved slurp or more.

Looks like you have got a bit of work at the booth next.

Simon.