Brandy Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 (edited) I don't think I need to post a pic of the box and contents of this one, I'm sure most of us are familiar with this oldie! I haven't yet decided on a scheme but since the kit decals are not too accurate colour-wise I'll replace them with after market ones, and if I can find enough reference pics, I'm considering Roland Garros' machine. I chose this from my stash because I wanted something relatively quick and simple after the hassles with the Short (which WILL be finished, I just need a "change of scenery"). Since I got off work early today I decided to dig it out and start checking it against the DF plans.... Not bad! The span is almost exactly right, and although the chord is about 2.5mm too deep it's not a major problem to correct. So far so good, until.... errr....Houston, we have a problem!! The fuselage is a whopping 11.5mm too long! It is also the wrong shape at the tail (round instead of rectangular section), and about 1.5mm too deep (top to bottom) at the cockpit! So, start with the easy part - the wings! The trailing edge was relieved of 2.5mm of lovely thin plastic and re-thinned to an acceptable edge, and the tip trailing edges were re-shaped. Shown here with the offending excess after removal! Much better! Now the tricky bit - how to go about correcting the awful fuselage. I decided to chop the 11.5mm out of the cockpit area. This would also remove the area which was too deep and bring the fuselage to the correct depth. I measured 45mm from the tail and marked the first cut, then a further 11.5mm and marked that. Masking tape was wound round the cut line and further marked with a pencil. Marked up ready to cut: After cutting the fuselage just a little inside the tape, I simply sanded the ends to remove all the pencil marks - I now knew I had the edges exactly where they were marked and had the correct length! The problem of the plan shape was solved by adding spacers between the fuselage halves - 2mm at the rear tapering to 1mm at the top front and .75mm at the bottom front The front end spacers were added separately as I didn't realise at the time that the front would need widening too! After closing the rear part of the fuselage I added the front pieces that were removed earlier: Much better! That's all I've done today as I want to let the fuselage harden properly before any further work. There are still other problems to deal with: The cockpit decking has been reduced in height to match the new shape of the fuselage but it will need shortening by 2mm and narrowing a little so that will be done later. The wings also sit about 1mm too low so I will remove them from their fuselage moulding, lengthen them slightly to allow for the curvature of the fuselage and keep the span correct, then pin them and add them as one piece before I add the cockpit combing. The spinner also needs attention as it is too pointed and not wide enough.... So much for quick and simple! Fortunately I love this kind of modelling so today has been a very therapeutic rest from the trials of putting together the Short's wings! Thanks for looking in! Ian Edited October 18, 2017 by limeypilot 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 There was an old Scale Models (I think) article on doing this. I chickened out and got a few of the Temeks/Eastern Express Type Is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 it could be worse... it could be an italeri Wessex ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 Touche, M. Hendie! It could indeed, but it's a lot littler! Then again it has a lot fewer parts too! How much detail is there to add to something that had a prop with bullet deflectors....and no electrickery? Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristol boy Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Interesting. Nearly as bad as the M1C I'm working one, it's gone a bit quiet because I decided to correct the wings. Look forward to seeing more progress on your project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 (edited) I had another early finish today so got a bit more done on this. After all the hacking about, the fuselage looked a bit of a mess so I decided I'd try something I've seen, but never attempted - I would skin it with .005" plastic card embossed with the longerons! Here's what I started with: I needed a template so I started to apply masking tape....the first piece lined up along the centre line under the fuselage and wrapped around smoothly until it wouldn't lay flat without wrinkling. It was then cut and another piece added, and so on until I had the fuselage completely wrapped with a nice straight join line along the centre line underneath. This wrap was carefully removed, giving me my template: That was then stuck on a piece of .005" card and cut out. I marked the top centre line end points and marked my first longeron on the back of the card with a small ball-point pen. The rest of the longerons were measured of this first one and drawn on. Here's what I ended up with: and more importantly, the front side: ] This one was the first attempt of 3. The problem I was having was that I hadn't got the template square along the underside centreline and therefore couldn't get it aligned properly. After the second attempt, and finally realising where the problem was, I made another template as described above and the resulting card skin was successfully attached to the fuselage. I used Plastic Weld and started along the fuselage spine, working slowly around each side to the bottom. Here's what I ended up with: It's not perfect but I'm very happy with it and it will stay as it is. I'll let that dry properly overnight before final trimming and tidying up. I have also removed the wings from the forward fuselage and added a piece of plastic rod to each to extend the wingspan. That will be sanded to shape when dry. All in all another fruitful afternoon! Ian Edited October 18, 2017 by limeypilot 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 A nice bit of work there! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 It's not perfect Looks pretty damn fine to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Nicely done. DMC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) A little more progress on this. I've added some rudimentary details in the cockpit: longerons, an Eduard PE seat and belts, with a cushion from plastic card, a fuel tank (I painted it, and the inside of the metal fairings around the cockpit, black as I have no idea what colour it should be, but MoS seem to have had a liking for black paint....), rudder pedals and joystick. I also added PE stitching on the left fuselage side, and the carb air intakes (from .016" brass tube). Still need to add a cross brace at the front of the cockpit and a couple of basic instruments. I removed the rear of the cockpit coaming so I didn't have a large "step" in the rear of the cockpit behind the pilot's seat. Headrest will be replaced...the front end of this part has also been shortened by about 2mm The cockpit coaming was then fitted (the gaps have since been filled). I'm off tomorrow (Thanksgiving here in the US) so should get quite a bit done.... Thanks for looking in! Ian Edited October 18, 2017 by limeypilot 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Stunning work Ian. You describe it so simply but it's clear a great deal of innovation and effort is going into this one and will yield wonderful results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 (edited) Thanks Col, it certainly is proving to be a fun build! Today was another productive day, although a little backwards step in one area.... I blanked off the front end then realised that the fuel tank was too small, so had to remove it and add a piece to the bottom of the fuel tank (it helps hide the void in the front!). I then decided to do some work on the front end....prop sourced from the spares box and reshaped: spinner ditto, (a spare from a MAC Bristol Scout kit). I'll post pics of that when it's finished but so far I've narrowed it slightly and added milliput to the front. I'll mount it on my drill when it's dry and sand it to shape. I also removed the back plate from the cowling, sanded the outer rear edge to get a better profile, and VERY carefully widened it out a little to fit better. When it comes time to fit it I'll put a small piece of brass rod inside the cowling to hold the proper shape until it's dry. It will still need a little filling around the fuselage sides but should look a lot more accurate. Finally, I threw a little paint on the kit engine.... [ Thanks for looking in.... Ian Edited October 18, 2017 by limeypilot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 (edited) I had a small Monty Python moment with the spinner.......I superglued a piece of brass rod to the back to hold it in the drill...as soon as I touched the sanding stick to it, it fell off and went rolling across the floor. So I tried with thicker plastic rod instead, and that broke, fell off, then went rolling across the floor. So I built a 3rd one, this time with much thicker ally rod superglued in place....it stayed on! Luckily non of them burnt down and fell into the swamp (aka carpet monster's mouth...) So the prop and spinner are now one, gaps around the join will be filled with Mr Dissolved Putty and cleaned up. After it's all cleaned up I'll add the deflector plates and tie-rods to the back of the prop. I then decided to make up new tail feathers from .020" plastic sheet. Here they are next to the somewhat sorry looking kit efforts... Next up is fitting the cowling and sorting out the wing mountings.... Thanks for looking in! Ian Edited October 18, 2017 by limeypilot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 (edited) The cowling has now been fitted. I used a piece of ally rod to hold it open to the required width while it set, and used a little Mr Dissolved Putty to blend it in and correct the profile. However, I messed up on the underside of the forward fuselage and have had to add a couple of pieces of plastic card and sand them down to correct the profile there. All now looks ok with the nose....but I'm not happy with the rear turtledeck. Despite all my measuring, it is about 1mm too high and really obvious when looking at it side on, so it will have to be corrected. This is due to the fact that when I reshaped it originally I wasn't planning on the reskin, so the thickness of the skin threw it off. I think I'll remove the cockpit side pieces and make a cut all the way to the tail to lower the turtle deck. That will mean another reskin afterwards but it needs to be done. I have also added the pushrods to the engine using 0.2mm nickel silver rod. They will be pretty much hidden behind the spinner, but needed to be added anyway. So the next job is a huge step backwards: to cut the top of the fuselage off and refit it all again. If I'd taken a little extra time in the first place I could have saved myself a lot of work, but .......oh well! Ian Edited October 18, 2017 by limeypilot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Sorry to hear you're having to reshape the fuselage and redo the skinning but the work will prove worthwhile in the end result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 (edited) Thanks Col. I actually got away with sanding it down- there was enough plastic there. However, the reskin is proving troublesome. I've had to remove the nose section as trying to get all the edges lined up was impossible. Ian Edited October 18, 2017 by limeypilot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Bad luck about the re-skinning, the engine looks good though Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) OK, folks, here's how she looks now. I managed to sand the rear deck down instead of cutting it open. It did go through in a couple of places just to the right behind the cockpit but a couple of small fillets solved that problem. I ended up doing about 6 skins in total until I got one I was happy with. Since it was the first time I had tried this, the problems ranged from simply not planning it properly (longerons marked in the wrong places), to mistakes in attaching such thin sheet without it softening up too much and leaving marks on the surface....just a matter of practice there! I've added a little Mr Dissolved Putty around the forward nose to blend it in properly - the nose was a little too square at the sides - and now it's ready for some primer to see how much more work is needed. I'm very pleased with the way it's turned out, and it was definitely worth the extra work getting it right. I've got some Misterkit paints on order, including French CDL, but since it's Christmas who knows how long they'll take to arrive from the UK.... Thanks for looking in! Ian Edited October 18, 2017 by limeypilot 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Just found this thread Ian, some really fine work you're doing here! I have this kit in the stash, and for some reason it keeps calling to me. I'm afraid though that when it does get dug out and started it's not going to have anywhere near the skill lavished on it that yours is getting! Looking forward to more, Keith PS, could I ask where in the UK you've ordered the Misterkit paints from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 They were ordered from ModelSkills. A part of Albion Alloys by the look if it. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Thanks, I'll check them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) A small adjustment was needed on one side of the cockpit to even up the sides, plus a little more filling, and sanding to smooth it all out. The pins for mounting the wings have been added, and I have sanded and shaped the wing roots to mate correctly to the fuselage and correct the wingspan. The wings are now at the correct height (about 1mm higher than per the kit). Here are a couple of pics of a rough mock-up to test the fit: Ian Edited October 18, 2017 by limeypilot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Nice work Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Moon Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Wow! Incredible amount of detail in such a small package! Amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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