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Airfix Concorde 1:72 -taming the beast!


HP42

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I'm lurking along enjoying this :) .

 

It's almost as if there is a quiet Concorde group build going on on BM at the moment :D !

 

Nothing wrong with that; perhaps the most beautiful aircraft ever to grace the skies.

 

The photoetch here is very impressive and the interior detailing a very nice touch.

:popcorn: 

Best regards

TonyT

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Just a tiddly little update. The interior now has a coat of grey and the visor is now on. I mixed up a little clear Tamiya red and blue to simulate the tint on the real thing and sprayed the inside. I think it will improve it but only seeing it finished will tell properly. The visor sits a little oddly, it's a fraction too high at the top but is fine everywhere else, so I've added a little plasticard on the roof and daubed filler over it. When flatted back I bet it's barely 0.5mm thick but it should keep the lines smooth.

 

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In other news.....the rest of the fuselage is looking good and gap free. Lots of little fillings here and there but not a huge job. That Valejo stuff goes on well but doesn't half make a load of dust when sanded off. The man cave looks like an explosion in a flour mill. ;)

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Sanding back and a coat of primer later. It's looking reasonable but the grey primer shows a multitude of adjustments to be made, especially at the sides of the visor. Clearfix is a swine if you end up catching a bit as you sand stuff, it goes all fluffy.  Coming on, slow but sure! ;)

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Found some really good references in this video and a few others, managed to construct the entrance 'lobby'. The video should be useful for the externals later on. The poor old girl in Seattle is looking a little tired, hate to see aircraft rot outside. :-(

 

 

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2016-11-17%2021.35.16.jpg

 

Starting to decorate the lobby!

 

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Innards now...err...inside..

 

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Decided to reinforce the joint between wing sections with a few strips of styrene card. The engines cover these. It makes the wing more rigid and less prone to the joint cracking.

 

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I keep attacking the joins! Ced, can I borrow that powered rasp?! :D

 

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Had a faff about with the engines. I found out from the video that the doors (seen on the right hand engine bay in my pic) are left open when the engines are off. I guess if you're doing the bird in flight you'd need to sand these off accordingly? Thankfully mine's on the ground in the same pose as the museum piece.

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Great job Phil, that lobby's looking good!

Tail join - envious! I hope I can get mine to look that smooth.

After discussions at Telford I think the sander may be, er, retired from modelling duties. We've all had a good laugh now and I've got my fin flattened (I hope) with minimal damage!

Good job on the engines too - they're a challenge eh? I think the 'doors' were open most of the time and only closed to slow the air in the intakes near / at supersonic speeds. That's my excuse anyway!

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18 hours ago, CedB said:

Great job Phil, that lobby's looking good!

Tail join - envious! I hope I can get mine to look that smooth.

After discussions at Telford I think the sander may be, er, retired from modelling duties. We've all had a good laugh now and I've got my fin flattened (I hope) with minimal damage!

Good job on the engines too - they're a challenge eh? I think the 'doors' were open most of the time and only closed to slow the air in the intakes near / at supersonic speeds. That's my excuse anyway!

 

Awe thanks Ced. :D The other side isn't quite so smooth but it's getting there. I'm sure if I close the door of the man-cave in a robust fashion a cloud of white sanding dust will once again be foisted into the air. Nose going on soon....gulp....

 

My plan is to get the nose and engines on, attach anything else that's not too fragile, sand it all into shape then begin the photo etch treatment of the engines. Paint it all up, decals to follow, then add the balance of the undercarriage with all the photoetch gubbins on that section. Finally, I intend to plonk it in a diorama with a set of scratch built air stairs and passengers. Well it's a plan I guess! I've decided to built it with a clear limit on the number of extras and mods. Namely; photo-etch, Airwaves wheels, and a few other little mods such as the lobby and visor bulkhead. I might drop the flaps in 'power down' mode but then again I might not bother. Beyond that I'm not going to do much more correction or I'll be there forever and it will grow like Topsy. The more I look at the kit the more little errors I can see. Panel lines are all over the place in terms of scale and some shapes are not what they could be. Having said that, it still looks like a Concorde, isn't too inaccurate, it's buildable with care a bit of skill and looks fab when finished as Telford will testify.

 

Ced, I was also at Telford the other Saturday so we probably walked past each other oblivious to who's who. I saw 3 Concordes there. I liked the one flying over the road, very clever indeed.

 

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On ‎10‎/‎31‎/‎2016 at 11:05 PM, TonyTiger66 said:

I'm lurking along enjoying this :) .

 

It's almost as if there is a quiet Concorde group build going on on BM at the moment :D !

 

Nothing wrong with that; perhaps the most beautiful aircraft ever to grace the skies.

 

The photoetch here is very impressive and the interior detailing a very nice touch.

:popcorn: 

Best regards

TonyT

 

Thanks Tony, it's a most beautiful aircraft and it's taking shape now in the man-cave. The photoetch is mostly undercarriage and engines, so it will all happen towards the end!

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More progress!

 

Nose on and sanded to within a mm of its life. There's a definite step but it's barely noticeable after much feathering in with Perfect Plastic Putty. Really good stuff this, must buy more!

 

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Had a go at the nose gear door. It's just held on with Blutac for now but the photoetch adds more interest. I'll back the lights with styrene, then paint the reflector with silver before adding a few drops of Micro Kristal Klear after the main paint job.

 

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Conduit things added and seams filled...

 

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Found some polystyrene packaging that makes a great temporary stand!

 

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Wider shot

 

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Flaps added, decided to keep them straight and not dropped, partly because they look nicer but also I really CBA!

 

 

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Here comes the photoetch!

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The wheel well doors come in two parts that need to be stuck together and the latches added (fiddly!). They are a direct replacement for the kit's plastic doors and are a huge improvement.

 

 

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1 minute ago, CedB said:

Smooth Phil, great job. I'm really envious of that - wanna swap? Just kidding... hopefully I can get mine close to that.

 

Thanks Ced. I'm really enjoying this build it must be said. The monster phototech session is coming up with the nosewheel and bucket doors, so prepare for swearing in between squinting and tongue sticking out the corner of mouth. :blink:

 

I bought another Concorde from Wonderland a while ago to give to my best mate as I was his best man a few weeks back. I joked about the speech not having anything wincing from his past contained within, and if I wanted to annoy him, I'd give him 50 hours of irritation. There was more to it than that but at the end of the speech he got to open the packet which had served as a whiteboard for a small quiz he had to complete. Concorde then came out of the packet to present him '50 hours of annoyance'. It was also apt as he had met his now wife at Duxford when I took him there to see said bird (Concorde, not his rather lovely wife that his). The gift got a big laugh as intended and he nearly fainted when he saw what I was making and what it turns into.  

 

Meanwhile, one undercarriage bay complete.....kerching!

 

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I bought some sanding sponges at Telford last year. They came in a bag with a few nail file style sanding sticks. These sponges are brilliant. Can anyone identify them and where to get them again? They clean up well in water and are good to go again very quickly.

2016-11-19%2011.31.32.jpg 

 

 

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Nice story, meeting your future wife at Duxford, every BMers dream (if I said 'partner'. Me, P.C.? Rarely, sorry)

Nice bay Phil - keep going!

As for the sanders, hard to tell but are they Micro-mesh (my favourite)? Paul has a selection here.

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22 hours ago, CedB said:

Nice story, meeting your future wife at Duxford, every BMers dream (if I said 'partner'. Me, P.C.? Rarely, sorry)

Nice bay Phil - keep going!

As for the sanders, hard to tell but are they Micro-mesh (my favourite)? Paul has a selection here.

 

My wife (gawdbless'er) takes an active disinterest in my hobbies, which is great because I get to indulge myself in them and she complains not a jot. The modelling stash is a bit on the large size and is known in our household as 'The problem'. As someone on here defined the term 'SABLE' to describe large stashes, the acronym standing for 'Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy' and that pretty much sums it up.

 

The bay is coming along, just about to start on the other side now. I've begun the undercarriage and now have the plastic parts assembled ready to move onto the photoetch but there's a painting strategy to be followed here.

 

The sanders are not Micro-mesh, I do have some of that in sheet form, also great for polishing out fogging on Volvo plastic headlights. :D That Modelling Tools website is a bit of a find, I could cheerfully place a big order there if I wasn't quite so skint after Telford :rolleyes: ...but give it time. I did wonder if the little lenses might be good for the lights at the front of the wing roots, though I think they're convex with a flat back and I'd need the coating reversed. I think I'll just countersink, apply foil then fill with Micro Kristal Klear.  

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'SABLE' - love it!

Good idea on the lights (yes, the modelling tools ones are convex) although I'll be following Sheepie's advice and just using the decals. Keen to get finished!

Modelling Tools is one of my 'go to' sites mainly because Paul is so helpful, especially on airbrush queries. He also stocks 'tried and tested' products so I trust him!

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Started on the undercarriage. The Extratech adds quite a lot of detail to the front UC leg (though I added a few brake lines from florists wire), and not much to the rear legs. The spray deflectors are the next job as are the wheels, though I think I'll add a bit more on the rear UC as the photoetch isn't as detailed here, the odd brake line or two basically.

 

Still a WIP

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Here's the kit's rubber tyres compared to the Airwaves resin. The resin tyres are thinner than the rubber ones and rubber isn't easy to remove flash from, so I think the resin is the better choice -though the kit offering isn't bad.

 

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The resin wheel hubs are good and a little better than the kit but the photoetch is very good in terms of detail. I think I'll put the photoetch over the resin hubs. The etch also has another ring to apply (not seen here), so the etch wins I feel.

 

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Resin wheels from the packet with an Airfix kit tyre. The kit parts are perfectly usable but pay a little (ok -possibly a lot) extra and you can really make some pleasing improvements.

 

2016-11-26%2018.25.08.jpg

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Fantastic work on this mate i have one of these on the christmas list but ill be dammed if i can find the photoetch set at an affordable price.

I think you and CedB could have a battle off with these both being excellent builds. I will be following your progress closely.

Once again outstanding work my friend

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Graham I think Phil will win any comparison... he's building a model, I'm just bashing the kit! :)

Nice work Phil. That u/c looks really good so far. 

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A modest update! Checked the references and decided that the photoetch on the UC legs needed a little readjustment. I've also added a load of extra brake lines etc. It was then primed and sprayed with Alclad aluminium...and all the detail appears to be lost in the amorphous mass of silver stuff! I'll tickle the detail with a brush but to be fair, there's little tonal variation in the real thing and naff all colour.

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I've also painted the tyres and hubs then assembled them with the photoetch 'hub caps'. Probably wasn't worth the effort in truth. The resin wheels don't fit the pegs on the kit legs so I've decided to install metal axles with a view to peg removal and drilling out the UC wheel attachments. It will make placing the flats easier on the ground.... I may live to regret it. :unsure: Tyres on the nose gear are not yet fixed but the hubs are, which is why they look wonky. Best fix them later when on the AC to get the flats right!

 

The photoetch gear doors have now got a coat of primer and final white on them, I'm happy with the finish, bodes well for the rest of the aircraft.

 

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Edited by HP42
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  • 2 weeks later...

Been busy, still working on it, not stalled! ;) Filling around the wheel wells to get the photoetch matched in perfectly. Now working on the engines. Broke the nose off last night so that's now re-stuck and filled. Piccys to follow.

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