Biggles87 Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Well, even the weather turned against yesterday, As I was putting the cables on the radio remote I noticed that it was getting dark and then there was a rumble of thunder, and it continued to rumble off and on for the next three hours! Having had one surge protector fried a few years ago we now turn off the computer when there are storms about, so I couldn't have posted an update even if I had been ready, which I wasn't because as I was tidying up I noticed that I had not put the adjusting straps for the shoulder harness. More storms forecast for later today, but they don't always pass over us so we'll see. Bang head emoticon John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I usually like storms (as long as I'm watching from somewhere safe) but not if they're stopping you posting! Hopefully 'normal service will be resumed as soon as possible' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Hi Ced, I like watching storms too as long as I'm not in the middle of them. Many years ago I drove through one on Salisbiry plain, God that was frightening, but I didn't dare stop, because there was no shelter anywhere, and on the basis that a moving target is harder to hit! As I said, most of the storms pass either side of us but Saturday morning and yesterday evening they came just about over the top of us in long lines. If you're interested there is a website www.lightningmaps.org on which you can track thunderstorms. Cheers. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Great website - thanks John - bookmarked! My 'best' storm was driving through the mountains near Biarritz... until we drove around a corner and there was a torrent of water and small rocks washing across the road. Mrs B, of course, had her eyes shut but the girls (who were early-teens at the time) remember it with excitement still 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 (edited) Okay I give up (no not really) but I am going to settle for a dry fit rather than rushing to get it all together before a self imposed deadline.I still keep thinking of little bits to do before I can join the fuselage halves and having taken this long with what I have done so far it would be silly to miss out something obvious. As I am depicting a metal seat, I decided to go for the through the hole and over the seat option with the harness. Although I followed the instructions and scrunched everything up first I found that the seat belts did not hang as naturally as I had hoped and still stuck out from the seat back so had to be tacked in place with some Gator Grip. Hopefully they will stay put as they will not be under as much tension as the etched variety. Having test fitted the cockpit into the fuselage I could not resist sitting it on top of the wings and was pleasantly surprised by the fit as I had anticipated that there would be quite a gap between the fuselage and the wings not having used the original Revell cockpit frames, which also acted as spacers. What appear to be gaps in the joint in the photograph are in fact steps between the fuselage and wings because everything is not quite in their it's final position. It's been dull and blowing a gale here today, so the pictures were taken in my man cave using flash which is why some of the colours are a bit off. As previously stated, I'm going to have a break from this for a few days, before I throw it at the wall! I'll take some more photos when the weather improves but apart from that I'm not going to do any more until next weekend. Thanks for looking and feel free to comment. cheers John Edited September 14, 2015 by Biggles87 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 (edited) Hi John. The cockpit detailing is looking very good. The harness was well worth your efforts. And I'm glad it looks like the wing joints should be a good fit. Hope you enjoy the next few days! Kind regards, Stix Edited September 14, 2015 by PlaStix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Wow - Harness looks brilliant John - as does the rest of the cockpit. Lovely work Keep it coming. Looking forward to seeing more in a few days 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Hi both, thanks for the comments. The harness took about 4 hours in total, I don't know how anyone can do them in 1/ 48 scale. I soon discovered that the easiest way to get the buckles onto the straps was to leave them on the fret and thread the straps through. i still managed to leave the metal tags off the shoulder strap adjusters and it was great fun ( not ) getting them on with everything else in place. I also found getting the cables onto the control column quite trying, and now they're hardly noticeable with the stick right back. I have now made a list of things to do before I close the fuselage up, I usually do that with a build that requires a lot of corrections or additions, but for some reason I didn't do it this time. More at the weekend, I hope John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Looking very good John - your perseverance has paid off! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 Thanks Ced, feeling a bit more enthusiastic about it again after a couple of days break. I 've made myself a list of things to do now, so that I don't forget anything ( it's my age you know ) and I'll resart at the weekend. Seen any Spitfires recently? Regards John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Hi both, thanks for the comments. The harness took about 4 hours in total, I don't know how anyone can do them in 1/ 48 scale. I soon discovered that the easiest way to get the buckles onto the straps was to leave them on the fret and thread the straps through. i still managed to leave the metal tags off the shoulder strap adjusters and it was great fun ( not ) getting them on with everything else in place. I also found getting the cables onto the control column quite trying, and now they're hardly noticeable with the stick right back. I have now made a list of things to do before I close the fuselage up, I usually do that with a build that requires a lot of corrections or additions, but for some reason I didn't do it this time. More at the weekend, I hope John The cockpit looks great. I specially like the text on the gear leaver and oxygen tank. These are great little touches. The harness looks great too. I found it is much easier to leave any of the PE parts on the fret when gluing the harness onto them. Just cut away the connection which will be under the fabric first an then cut the other connection after the gluing. There is a trick in gluing the buckles on. As you say, best to keep them on the fret, but cut through the middle part at one end. Now you can bend it open a little and slide the two fabric parts of the harness in from the side together. After, just bend the middle part back and secure all with a tiny drop of CA. This is much less fiddly (specially in 1/48 scale)! It isn't my idea, I read about it in a forum post and it works like a treat. You better get your fuselage together and don't worry about what you may have forgotten. No one will ever notice and when you admire the finished model, you most likely can't remember too. Cheers, Peter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 Hi Peter, great tip about the harness buckles. I realised after the first one that I should have left it on the fret, when I do another one I will certainly use your method of cutting the centre bar, as to 1/48 I think even that would defeat me, I have invested in some of the Eduard printed versions for my 1/48 Spitfires. I really do need to add the cables on the instrument panel and undercarriage control before I close it up, but having test fitted everything I can now decide what to leave off because it won't be seen. Cheers John PS the small cockpit markings are from the Barracuda cockpit detail set, and are also available in 1/48. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 (edited) This is all I managed over the weekend, see if you can spot the difference from last time. Explanation tomorrow [/ That's all there is for now, feel free to comment. John Edited September 20, 2015 by Biggles87 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 21, 2015 Author Share Posted September 21, 2015 Hello again, in case you hadn't noticed I have added the landing lamps control to the IP ( bottom right, first picture ) and my representation of a bungee cord tying the control column back and to the right. It's a little over-scale I think, but it's the best I could do, I tried something thinner but it defeated my sausage like fingers. I spent most of the weekend repairing and electrifying a fence in one of our fields because the cows in the adjoining one, last years calves so the equivalent of stroppy teenagers, decided to come and have a look at our grass, fortunately our field was empty. I promise I will not post anymore photos of the cockpit until everything is closed up, you must all be getting bored with seeing them by now, I know I am. Cheers John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Never bored of seeing new pictures John (and picking up tips along the way). The bungee is great and the first time I've seen it in a model cockpit. Nicely done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 21, 2015 Author Share Posted September 21, 2015 Hi Nigel, you're too kind. I think the best tip you could pick up from this build is to stick to parts that were designed for the kit you're building! I spent some time this afternoon tidying up and putting on a coat of matt varnish and I am going to close up the fuselage tomorrow come what may. We have another visitor next week, someone I'm always pleased to see, but nevertheless it will mean less modelling time, and I am aware that the deadline will be upon us soon. Bye for now John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Hi John. I never get bored of looking a Spitfire cockpits so keep the pictures coming! Progress is looking good to me. Hope you have a pleasant time with your visitor and the electric fences do their job! Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Hi Stix, thanks for that. Well, I've at least made a start, it's glued from behind the canopy to the tail. I will leave that overnight to set and tackle the nose tomorrow, both fuselage halves are slightly banana shaped so their is a gap of about 5mm at the nose, but that also means that I can glue it from the inside. Pictures tomorrow I hope. Cheers John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 (edited) Finally the fuselage is together! As anticipated the nose being splayed out meant that I could run liquid poly along the nose joints from the inside after giving the rear joints a good 12 hours to set. I will now leave everything until tomorrow when I plan to use scribe around the engine cowlings and use Basilik's method to improve the fasteners. The panels on the fuselage are depicted as raised lines, but I think that I will not have to rescribe too many because of my plan to depict the overlapped panels on the rear fuselage. We shall see! I did forget something in the cockpit area before I joined everything but I'm not going to tell you what it was, as although it's obvious to me, it may not be from the photos. I didn't forget the gunsight mount Nigel, the kit one is rubbish so I will use the Barracuda one from the upgrade set which comes already attached to the mount and I should be able to slip it in later.( that must be worth a point Ced fnaar fnaar ) I will now try to crack on and get as much as possible done before our visitor arrives. Thanks for looking and feel free to comment. cheers John Edit. Just spotted something else I missed, the bar between frames 11 and 12. I'll slip that in later as well. Edited September 23, 2015 by Biggles87 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Nicely done John. You weren't kidding when the said you had a 'banana' fuselage!! Can't tell now though Looking forward to some more before the visitors arrive 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Score 2! Looking good John! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Great effort John. I am curious to see how you will depict the overlapped panels on the rear fuselage. Cheers, Peter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 24, 2015 Author Share Posted September 24, 2015 Thanks guys, it's taken long enough but now it feels like I'm actually getting somewhere! I plan to depict the overlapping panels with Halfords grey acrylic primer buit up progressiveLy on selected panels, mainly on the spine as this is where it is most obvious. Peter, if you look at the build by Iain(32SIG) last August that's where I got the idea but he used car filler/ primer. I was also going to replace the cowling fasteners but having spent more than an hour yesterday searching in vain for my MDC riveter , I will leave them for the moment do them later through the paint if the tool turns up. Cheers John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 24, 2015 Author Share Posted September 24, 2015 Hi all, didn't get as much time as I had hoped this afternoon, so I just cleaned uf some seams and made this Anyone care to guess what it is? cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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