Jump to content

A Flight of Fanciful Fairey Fireflies: FR.1 & TT.4


Recommended Posts

On 9/26/2015 at 22:42, NAVY870 said:

Highlighted here

<snip>

See, a red pen can be used for good :)

 

Ah, I see - thank you!

 

Speaking of a red pen, who was that guy? I haven't seen any of his posts showing up on model forums in a long time. I can't remember his name though...probably for the better! EDIT - since I couldn't remember this guy's name, I had my brain start up a background UNIX search process. After a couple of days, the search finally found the name deep in the darkest corner of my memory, where things go to NOT be remembered. Unfortunately, now I've remembered and it's not a good thing! I have to forget it all over again.

 

Cheers,

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Again, great work on the Firefly, Bill! I'm afraid that when I do mine, it won't be up to your lofty standards. At any rate, I've been momentarily sidetracked (surprise) by a Hasegawa Mistel kit, which I bought so I could do an Fw-190A-8 and a Ju-88G-1 (the kit has all the parts I need except for the G-1's canopy, but Squadron came to the rescue there). At any rate, keep up the great work as it will serve as an inspiration for me when I get back to my Firefly!

Regards,

Jason

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great stuff Bill, some lovely stuff going on. I'm with Martin there...more white plastic please ! Makes me want to dig out my Special Hobby 'cuda' and have at it....

Go on then Melchie, you have just admitted you want to and I for one will be egging you on! :whip:

Martin

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Martin, I'm with you on that - I'd love to see the General have a go at the Special Hobby Barracuda! It will give me some tips for when I build the bloody thing! :)

 

In the meantime, I have another pesky question for Steve:

 

This photo shows the port wing hinge on a early mark of Firefly ( I think perhaps a Swedish TT.1):

 

ff08-800

 

The wing fold on these early planes was manual, not hydraulic, so the wing fold jack is not present. Instead, there is a metal panel over the area where the wing fold jack would go (I believe), and you can see the panel in this photo. It has five lightening holes, two large and three slightly smaller. It's the panel that has the rope tied to it in the photo.

 

Question: Is that panel, or something similar, on later Fireflies which have the hydraulic wing fold, or is this area open so that the wing fold jack is visible? Your photo showed the wing fold jack in all its glory, and I don't know whether you had to remove a panel to get that shot. Thanks!

 

Cheers,

Bill (I told you I was pesky!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for that, Steve. So, without any "modesty panel" covering up the wing fold jack, that means I will have to scratch some details to put in that spot! Whose idea was it to fold the wings on this model again? :)

 

I'm not too worried about making a wing fold jack, as it's a pretty basic shape. Here is my concern though - it seems to me that this is a hydraulic ram of some sort. There is a larger diameter than is attached to the fuselage, and a smaller diameter, movable shaft that protrudes out and connects to the wing. At this stage in the build, I don't have a good sense of how long the smaller diameter shaft needs to be (since I don't know where the wing will be just yet). So what I'd like to do is make the smaller shaft adjustable so it can set its length later on when the wing is attached.

 

(Granted, the length of the smaller diameter shaft is quite small, going by the photo in Steve's preceding post. But a small error down here will make a much bigger shift in the position of the wingtip.)

 

So here is the idea. I'll use two different diameter hypo needles, carefully chosen so that the smaller will slide inside the larger. And, of course, because they're the only two sizes I have. What's shown in the photo is way more than is necessary - the actual pieces will be very short.

 

100_6723

 

Just the larger diameter will be mounted for now. When I'm ready to mount the wings, then I can add the smaller shaft and adjust as necessary. I think I'll need to make a jig of sorts to hold the wing in the proper folded position, which I can use for measurements like this but also to hold it while the glue sets.

 

I blended the carburettor intake into the fuselage with my standard red putty. We'll see how good this is once there is some primer or paint on this beastie. I managed to lose the cooling louvers that are on the bottom of the nose, but these were very weakly engraved to begin with. Some of them would have disappeared under the first coat of paint. These will need to be recreated somehow, they're very obvious under the nose.

 

100_6724

 

I also heard the pleas for more white plastic. Well, I was able to add some more, but it wasn't much! Maybe there will be a need for more when I get to the wings. In the meantime, I used 0.5mm strips to add some structural members that kinda sorta follow the pattern in the photos. Then, I used some 0.3mm solder to make some small cables (wires?) followed by 2.6mm solder to form the most obvious detail here which is a large hose or conduit of some kind.

 

100_6725

 

100_6726

 

Next up I'll add the top of the wing roots, and take care of the filler that will be necessary around the radiator intakes. Speaking of which, I need to add the two vanes in each radiator that didn't survive the process up to this point. I think that needs to be done before the top of the wing roots goes on. Now let's see, what else am I forgetting? :):)

 

Cheers,

Bill

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, here is what the other end of the wing looks like (thanks to Lightningboy2000). I flipped the photo horizontally so it would look like the starboard wing:

 

ff04_flip

 

And here is my half-baked attempt at reproducing it (I really don't like these macro images of 1:72 scale model parts, things look so much better in real life):

 

100_6728

 

At least I found a way to use more white plastic! Here is a comparison with the other wing that I haven't done yet:

 

100_6727

 

I think it will be OK. There are some additional details yet to be added, but this will be a good foundation. You can almost tell from that last photo that I reworked the inboard section of the lower wing that is meant to be the Fairey-Youngman flap. It now has a sharper trailing edge, and a cross-sectional profile that, while not a bonafide airfoil, would be better at flying than a brick.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Oh yeah, I forgot all about that Airwaves PE set. I wonder if any of it would fit...

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

(I really don't like these macro images of 1:72 scale model parts, things look so much better in real life):

Well, the whole thing looks like 1/32, if you ask me! :frantic:

Seriously, great detailing job here; how did you make the triangular hole, if I may ask?

Ciao

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is going to look absolutely fabulous when it is finished Bill, great work so far and I`m keenly following your progress,

Cheers

Tony

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Bill. hope you are well. Just been catching up with you recent progress. As ever your attention to detail is phenomenal! Superior model building as usual. :thumbsup:

Kind regards,

Stix

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

PS. Oh yeah, I forgot all about that Airwaves PE set. I wonder if any of it would fit...

You know what Bill, it looks perfectly fine without the etch. You've done a good job with just white plastic and a bit of fettling and whittling.

Good work!

Bob

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/1/2015 at 01:56, giemme said:

Well, the whole thing looks like 1/32, if you ask me! :frantic:

Seriously, great detailing job here; how did you make the triangular hole, if I may ask?

 

Thanks - for the hole I used the Magic Triangle Shaped Hole Making Implement. :)

 

Well, if there were such a thing I would have used it. All I actually used was a small drill and a pair of scissors. If you look closely you may be able to see the large piece of styrene for that section of the wing has been cut into two pieces - the left hand edge of the triangle shaped hole is that cut. The radius on the right side of the triangle was made with a small drill, and I then used scissors (it's very thin styrene, maybe .010") to make the remaining two edges. Then I carefully reassembled the two pieces as I was attaching them to the wing.

 

All of the styrene pieces that are used to close off the gaps between the upper and lower wing were cut oversize, and trimmed to the actual shape of the wing once they were put on.

 

On 10/1/2015 at 03:21, Fritag said:

Absolutely stunning work Bill.

 

Thanks! I keep looking back at your builds and asking myself how I can improve. I'm still boggled by the work you did making the canopy detonation cord.

 

On 10/1/2015 at 03:39, tonyot said:

This is going to look absolutely fabulous when it is finished Bill, great work so far and I`m keenly following your progress,

Cheers

Tony

 

Thanks, Tony! I'm at the point where I'm just about ready to paint the FR.1 - hence my interest in your choice of paint for the Dark Slate Grey on your FAA Corsair. I think I have a Gunze mix that will work, I just need to spray some test pieces.

 

On 10/1/2015 at 04:35, PlaStix said:

Hi Bill. hope you are well. Just been catching up with you recent progress. As ever your attention to detail is phenomenal! Superior model building as usual. :thumbsup:

Kind regards,

Stix

 

Thanks, at least it keeps me out of the pubs at night. I drink right at my workbench - it makes these scratch building sessions so much easier. :)

 

On 10/1/2015 at 05:38, Engineer66 said:

Excellent work Bill, nice sharp details.

Keep it up

Al

 

Thanks, Al - I think it will all look much nicer under a few coats of paint and an appropriate wash to help bring out the details.

 

On 10/1/2015 at 07:05, moaning dolphin said:

You know what Bill, it looks perfectly fine without the etch. You've done a good job with just white plastic and a bit of fettling and whittling.

Good work!

Bob

 

That's good, because the etch doesn't even come close to fitting! It was designed for the Airfix kit, and the etch is so small that all I can imagine is that it was designed to go completely in-between the upper and lower wings. Either that, or the Airfix kit has seriously undersized wings.

 

Cheers,

Bill

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks - for the hole I used the Magic Triangle Shaped Hole Making Implement. :)

Well, if there were such a thing I would have used it. All I actually used was a small drill and a pair of scissors. If you look closely you may be able to see the large piece of styrene for that section of the wing has been cut into two pieces - the left hand edge of the triangle shaped hole is that cut. The radius on the right side of the triangle was made with a small drill, and I then used scissors (it's very thin styrene, maybe .010") to make the remaining two edges. Then I carefully reassembled the two pieces as I was attaching them to the wing.

All of the styrene pieces that are used to close off the gaps between the upper and lower wing were cut oversize, and trimmed to the actual shape of the wing once they were put on.

Now that you mentioned it, I can see that two-pieces styrene; smart idea! :thumbsup2:

Oh, and I'd like to have one of those Magic Triangle Shaped Hole thing too! :D

Thanks

Edited by giemme
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...