BAe Nimrod Advice

[Tiger331]

Hi Folks,

I've been doing some fettling with my Airfix BAe Nimrod project over the last day or so. I have a host of aftermarket for it, including the Alley Cat engine intake, fairings, tailplane fillet etc, which I will definitely use to improve the airframe. I also have one of the D-mold forward fuselage 'correction' sets. The problem is, having looked at it more closely, its going to take some persuasion to get the two replacement fuselage parts to line up - they are, of course, resin and quite badly warped as a result of their necessarily thin construction. To make matters worse, when I compared them with the kit parts, there does no appear to be much difference in outline etc, which begs the question…are they really worth using ?. I know the cockpit window layout of the Airfix kit is inaccurate and this is one area where you can see big differences between the original canopy and that included in the D-mold correction set but I'm still not convinced that I should go to all the effort required. How have those of you who have attempted this 'conversion' fared ?….

Experiences or comments welcomed.

Mark

[Jabba]

Alley Cat also did a windscreen set if this helps.

[Edge]

Hi Mark

I recall reading some blog posts (sorry can't remember where) in resonse to the vendor announcing the D Mold improvement. The posters were asking what, apart from the screen, had been improved, to which I don't recall them getting a reply.

I'd have a look at a few wips and rfi posts that have incorporated the Alley Cat windscreen & make a decision based on that.

Edge

[peterburns]

I used the D mold parts and the Alley Cat ones when I built the Nimrod. There was also a weapons bay resin part as well...not sure if it was Alley Cat or not. Anyway the parts were difficult to make work together; part of that was the design of the wing, which is very flimsy, and part was the nature of all that resin. I like the final result, but it was a major pain in the butt. After getting it done I remember telling a friend that I would never build another. Not trying to talk you out of it, just know it is a lot of work, but can be done.

I have not flat coated the paint yet so the windows are not unmasked, which makes it difficult to see how the new window looks. I will try and get a few pictures and post them so you can see the results.

[speedbird]

I wouldn't bother with the engine intake upgrades. In my humble opinion the intakes are way too round when seen head on for any nimrod other than the mk4. I know it's possible to apply a little bit of heat to the resin and squash then to a less rounded shape but one has to ask the question is it really worth the effort? The bomb bay and windscreen are excellent however and well worth getting hold of.

Edited April 10, 2016 by speedbird

[peterburns]

[peterburns]

[Ascoteer]

That's a very strange bombay load for a Nimrod!

[Tony C]

I wouldn't bother with the engine intake upgrades. In my humble opinion the intakes are way too round when seen head on for any nimrod other than the mk4. I know it's possible to apply a little bit of heat to the resin and squash then to a less rounded shape but one has to ask the question is it really worth the effort? The bomb bay and windscreen are excellent however and well worth getting hold of.

I seem to remember that Ali at A2Zee acknowledged this fault and that subsequent stocks were squared off!

Didn't he also offer to correct those intakes already purchased prior to the mistake being discovered?

[speedbird]

I seem to remember that Ali at A2Zee acknowledged this fault and that subsequent stocks were squared off!

Didn't he also offer to correct those intakes already purchased prior to the mistake being discovered?

It would seem not or at least not in my case. I ordered two sets at just befor Christmas ( early Christmas present to myself) and I was gutted when they arrived. As I said they are way too round for early nimrods but absolutely spot on for the mk4.. I did get in touch with AC but the only advice I got was to apply a little bit of heat and try to squash them into shape..needles to say I want that impressed.

[perdu]

Hmm, it looks like I will be Milliputting mine when I get going on it then

[Tony C]

It would seem not or at least not in my case. I ordered two sets at just befor Christmas ( early Christmas present to myself) and I was gutted when they arrived. As I said they are way too round for early nimrods but absolutely spot on for the mk4.. I did get in touch with AC but the only advice I got was to apply a little bit of heat and try to squash them into shape..needles to say I want that impressed.

Possibly the tooling wasn't changed then (A2Zee no longer owns the range, which is now sold through Alley Cat) and maybe Ali made the mod prior to each order before despatch.

Not trying to defend the error, just stating how I seem to remember how things turned out!

[speedbird]

That may well be but it doesn't help anyone who buys one of the dud .....nuff said anyway as its straying off topic

[Tony C]

Sorry for mentioning it...

[speedbird]

Sorry mate.. I didn't mean to be rude and your input is very much appreciated.

[Tony C]

I should apologise, bad day at the office and I read your reply the wrong way!

This is a discussion forum after all so back to Nimrods

Edited April 14, 2016 by Tony C

[speedbird]

As I said earlier, the weapons bay is lovely. The windscreen makes a lot of difference to the kit and even comes with its own paint mask. Both items are well worth the money and anyone thinking of building a nimrod should really think of theses two items as essential.

[Tiger331]

Thanks for all of the input, folks……It has certainly given me food for thought and I may well re-analyse how I take this project forward. I was particularly interested in the feedback on the Alley Cat intake set and the view that it, too, may not be worth the effort. The irony of this is that I had already started to build a Nimrod fairly soon after it was released and had spent a considerable amount of time on the kit intakes, to the point where they looked pretty good…no seams, gaps etc. Lured by the hype over the Alley Cat replacement intakes, I sold the part made kit on and began to put together everything for the new project, including the D-mold forward fuselage. I too was quite concerned with the integrity of the original plastic parts (Airfix wings) once I started cutting to accommodate the resin intakes so given that their absolute accuracy is now questionable, I may not bother and will just use the kit parts. That said, I will still use the resin replacement thrust reversers and possibly the engine top plate from the resin set, together with the other parts, such as the Alley Cat windscreen, weapons bay and fin fillet etc.

Once again, thanks for all the advice

Mark