Stephen Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted June 15, 2016 Author Share Posted June 15, 2016 Decaling finished this afternoon, the cockpit escape hatch outlines were a bit fiddly and I had to touch up a small gap on either side with a little Tamiya yellow. Trimmed away as much of the excess carrier film on the "Royal Navy" titles on the rear fuselage as possible before soaking the decals to help avoid any silvering but had no probs in the end. I am looking for a bit of assistance for the next stage. Does anyone know approximately what the diameter of the tubing on the vertical towel rail type antenna is on each side of the cockpit, and also on the grab handle type antenna each side of the rear fuselage? I reckon it can't be far off 25mm (1"). The pics below show the items I mean:- The kit does not include these parts, and yet photo's of both aircraft options offered by Airfix show them as fitted. I'm intending to fabricate these from brass wire. I've got some 0.2mm wire and some 0.5mm wire but one is too thin looking and the other too thick. I've ordered a couple of sizes in between so will see what looks good, but an approximate measurement would allow me to calculate a scale thickness. Any help would be gratefully received. Hopefully more updates to come this week as its days off again! Rgds, Eng 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 Wow, that looks sharp - very clean, impressive work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted June 16, 2016 Author Share Posted June 16, 2016 Wow, that looks sharp - very clean, impressive work. Thanks GMK, for what was going to be a straight build out of the box with only a few minor tweaks, it seems to have become a real labour of love and has grown somewhat. It's a great kit, and it's not like me to see something all the way through in one go but loving this one. Eng 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 I am not in a position to measure one (and my kind of Seaking never had this particular aerial). However, the ice accretion probe (to the left of the picture, underneath the quarter light window) is about ¾ inch across, from memory, if that helps as a comparison. I'd go for 0.2 myself; this is 1/72, after all! Hope that helps 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 This is looking really nice Eng. good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted June 16, 2016 Author Share Posted June 16, 2016 I'd go for 0.2 myself; this is 1/72, after all! Hope that helps Thanks WAFU, measured up and drilled off the mounting holes tonight and have made them 0.3mm just now. I have made the antenna (minus the middle section, as I'm waiting on a new soldering iron turning up!) in 0.2mm, 0.4mm and 0.5mm, the smaller size looks a little too light but may be fine with a coat of paint. 0.4mm looks not bad, but I will try some 0.375mm as well. Minor incident during the drilling of the holes, damn drill bit snapped and I ended up taking a chip out of the paintwork, doh!! Fuselage patch repair coming up. This is looking really nice Eng. good work. Cheers Abat, it's moved on from being an out of the box job somewhat Got another full coat of Klear on today, so planning to add antenna and IRCM gear tomorrow or Saturday. Started adding a bit of detail to the crew entry door too, will post some pics tomorrow. Thanks for all the kind comments and help, Eng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted June 18, 2016 Author Share Posted June 18, 2016 New soldering iron turned up yesterday and I had time for a quick first attempt at one of the nose antenna. Used 0.375mm wire in the end, and the Hold and Fold was perfect for nice crisp folds - Trial fit, it's actually a touch too short so I'm going to have another couple of attempts and see if I can get a nice easy fit - Eng 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 That looks spot on; nice one (& some neat soldering, too). Incidentally, unlike some Junglie builds I have seen, I reckon you have nailed the colour, too. Looking great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Now you're just showing off But seriously, that is looking good. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F4u Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) Now that doe's look good ! The paint and decals look spot on to. Good job. Guy Edited June 21, 2016 by F4u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 Slow progress still and one wee hiccup, which in all fairness I should have seen coming! Been fitting a lot of the smaller antenna and fixtures before a wash and matt varnish. The 3 aft antenna in the pic below, including the towel rail antenna, all fit absolutely beautifully into the recesses in the belly.....However the two items marked in the red box caused a bit of bother, these are the two that with hindsight (great isn't it!) I should have dealt with earlier. Part D16 has the blade antenna removed at step 48 in the instructions and the base used as a blanking plate for the recess on the forward left of the belly plate. Don't bother with this, just fill, sand and be done with it early in the build. The other recess in the forward fuselage is filled by a VHF type antenna (part C10), and the base of this is curved on the outer edge and so thick it sits too proud of the belly panel. I thinned this down until it sat flush but was still left with a slight gap on the outer edge due to the part being curved. To avoid tears and tantrums I have tried to fill this with paint for the sake of this build as the other options were going to give a lot of grief. It's on the underside and I can live with it this time. You've been warned! Fit both of these early in the build and fill/sand/profile before the stage I'm at. To be honest the VHF antenna is actually pretty robust. IRCM's and gas cylinders for the float packs fitted as well, just need some wiring and plumbing added to these. I masked the sensor part of the IRCM's just until the matt varnish is done. The gas bottles are just fiddly as hell due to there size. Patience was with me today, and I certainly needed it.... Two attempts to fabricate the right hand antenna on the side of the nose from brass wire, and 4 attempts for the left hand side! However I have to admit I love how these have turned out as they are a pretty distinctive feature on the HC.4. The missing sponson struts will be varnished separately and added afterwards, these simply clip into place with no trouble at all. I noticed in some pics online that there is a grab rail just below the winch above the front of the main door that is quite prominent so a bit of brass wire, a 0.3mm drill and my Hold and Fold soon fixed that. There is also an additional tie-rod from the front winch support bracket to the engine housing that I have also added. The winch requires some power/control cabling added too. Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions on this, it's almost there and completion hopefully not that far away, provided a warm, dry day isn't too far off to allow varnishing! I think this is the first "Work in Progress" thread that I will have actually completed without being distracted by some other nice plastic, although I have to admit I did pick this off the shelf of doom at the weekend and have progressed some decaling (it had only stalled because I hadn't painted the flap hinge fairings!!) Will post some more pics (hopefully of both!) on my next round of days off, back to 1:1 aeroplanes tomorrow. Rgds, Eng 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Still looking great. Stephen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 super B I do love this model 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F4u Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 Really nice. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted July 3, 2016 Author Share Posted July 3, 2016 Wishing the rain would go off so I can go out for rattle can spraying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teeradej Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 Cant wait to see them finished. See you Eng. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Nice build! That green does seem to come out a different colour in every picture. All this brass wire and soldering is inspiring me to try out something on my current build too. Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted July 6, 2016 Author Share Posted July 6, 2016 Nice build! That green does seem to come out a different colour in every picture. All this brass wire and soldering is inspiring me to try out something on my current build too. Regards, Adrian I must admit I really wasn't sure about taking on the wire work but the more I see it now I'm quite glad I took the chance. It did take me a few go's to get them right mind you. The hardest bit was actually plucking up the courage to drill the holes into the fuselage as I only decided to have a go at this after I'd painted it! Won't be doing that again. Eng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 Spent this afternoon putting the finishing touches to this build, bit annoyed with myself though as I think I've probably killed it a bit too matt, with hindsight it did look a bit better being slightly glossy. I've now un-masked it and don't fancy re-doing it so will accept what I've got. I still like it rather a lot Weather and lighting is poor here to say the least so will keep you all in suspense til tomorrow for the RFI pics. Eng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Nice. I'm following your lead on painting the black bits & not fitting the sponson supports until the end on my three. Looking forward to the RFI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faakeith Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Outstanding work again Mr G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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