HP42 Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 (edited) Thanks chaps! Bell209 and Wanthony, I decided to fill the windows with Micro Krystal Klear and it worked a treat. In fact some were dried so clear I did wonder if they were actually filled, a gentle prod with a cocktail stick proved they were. Filled windows... Light positions were painted silver and got eh Krystal Klear treatment to make a 'lens', the wing root lights had a photoetch ring to help outline them and the MKK can be seen curing. It should flatten a little on drying. The ones in the gear doors got a later dollop of MKK. Undercarriage fixed...she's up on her feet properly now. Door fixed into the open position with the section of decal added. ...mind the ste-eeeeeeeeeeaahhhhhhhp! Antennas added, there are three of the little blade ones in photoetch and they are a more refined than the kit. The decals (added after this shot) are a tad wider than the antennas so Micro sol was added to make them wrap around and comply. That's a 5p piece! Slippy little suckers they were. I also cleaned up the CA glue area with a drop of paint afterwards. Bumper wheel added. Angle of attack vanes installed from the photoetch sheet.....vury-vury-tiny.....don't inhale quickly when handling... Other probes and things added. Visor cleaned up with white decal strip (the way to go!). Pitot tube added, it would benefit from an aftermarket metal job but nobody makes one. I did consider one from a Tornado which is quite similar but the mounting 'cone' practically disappears up the hole in the nose, so the kit part stays. Tail aerials and rear light fitted. This is her 'hangar', she only just fits in, 5mm more and she'd be wedged Edited January 1, 2017 by HP42 Clarification... 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 That's looking very, very nice! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP42 Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 As far as the aircraft goes I'm calling her done now. I could muck about making tweaks here and there or by adding tiny details but the occasional errors and flaws would be bigger, so it's time to stop now. The project itself isn't finished, I intend to build the access steps and throw in a little scenery such as people and a baggage truck or some-such. It had occurred to me to have HM the Queen and Prince Philip exiting the cabin and waving to a crowd before departing to a waiting Rolls Royce in front of a brass band. I'm sure I could mackle up the stuff but I'm not sure she travelled on a Concorde in this livery. I've got a picture of them doing just this in the original scheme. Any presentation suggestions? I'm thinking basic air-stairs as per the set currently used to access G-BOAC at Manchester visitors centre. I'm also considering a set of people coming off the aircraft, again, any good suggestions? Ground vehicles? The final model will be living in my favourite café along with my other models. They're at 'Chocks Away' under the control tower at Tollerton Airport. I've no connection with the place other than I fly from there as well as eat at the café. It's a great place to keep the models as they get a lot of attention and it frees up space in my house. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanthony Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Excellent job! I think that photoetch has made all the difference! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 What a great start to the new year! She's looking gorgeous Phil and the extra work with those tiny, tiny PE parts really set her off. Lovely job and she looks great - I'm sure she'll enhance your (and others) visits to the cafe and I've added it to my 'places to visit' if I'm ever up that way. Very well done Sir! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP42 Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) 9 hours ago, CedB said: What a great start to the new year! She's looking gorgeous Phil and the extra work with those tiny, tiny PE parts really set her off. Lovely job and she looks great - I'm sure she'll enhance your (and others) visits to the cafe and I've added it to my 'places to visit' if I'm ever up that way. Very well done Sir! Thanks Ced, if you ever make it up here do tell me and I'll join you at the café for a cuppa and open up the model cabinet for you. Chocks Away is pretty much under the control tower and open to all-comers. You could combine it with a trip to Newark Air Museum which is about 20-25 minutes away and well worth a visit. Tollerton is not far out of your way if you came up from Bath via the A46 at Leicester. As for photoetch, well I've used a few sets now and it does make a big difference to a model, but it takes time! Much tongue sticking out of the corner of one's mouth and squinting to be done. Conclusions as to the Concorde kit and advice to other modellers: 1) It's got something of a poor reputation as a kit, partly due to issues of fit but also some accuracy issues. I think much of its reputation is down to its sheer size. The three sections don't fit together all that well but they can be sanded smooth, it's size that makes it a little daunting to many. Even if it was a modern moulding it would take some building. If I were doing it again I'd build it nose down, elevons down and bucket doors partly closed to show it as it really appears on the ground. I suspect nose down would eliminate the iffy fit of the visor screen. 2) Build the nose one way or other but don't even think about making it adjustable, it will break and just isn't accurate. Scratch a bulkhead under the visor to make it much more accurate visually. A spray of red/blue Tamiya transparent on the inside of the windows makes them appear more realistic. 3) Consider cutting the internal windscreen in half at the front to lessen the gap on the sides. It's easy to fill the centre join. 4) Mask around the screen and use decal strips to produce the fine bars in the visor. 5) Don't spend too long in the cockpit, you can't really see a darn thing in there unless you light it internally. Move the cockpit floor back a few mm, easy to do and it stops the control panel combing clashing with the fuselage halves as you close them 6) Consider adding sprue braces inside the fuselage. They might be able to push the sides out a fraction and lessen the gap in the wing rootes. 7) Accepted wisdom is that the nose wheel is too far back. I'm not so sure. I never moved mine as I thought it looked about right. It did make we wonder how this was arrived at and against what datum point was it compared against. Be careful of looking at the pre-production example in Duxford, it's close superficially, yet there are a zillion differences if you look for them, some of them quite major! 8) When gluing the engine nacelles onto the wings, add a strip of styrene to help reinforce the gap under the nacelle where it will be hidden. That gap runs in front of the engine and will annoy you, so glue it well, fill and sand. 9) You'll find an annoying gap between the top of the engine nacelle and the rear of the wing. Fill it with flexible styrene and smooth it all flush with PPP filler (buy PPP, very useful stuff) 10) The aftermarket wheels are nice and accurate but not easy to attach to the kit's undercarriage legs. If you use them, make your own axles. I don't think the kit parts are a million miles out quite frankly. 11) Decals, from what I can see the Revell decals are more accurate in so much as they have the dotted graduations whereas Aifix do not. Revell also attempt the red over the rudder actuator whereas Airfix fudged it, but you can see my little fix with decal material from the earlier scheme, pretty simples -but needs Micro Sol. 12) Leave off the aerials till the last part after decaling or you will knock them off for sure. 13) Check references for the fiddly vane bits around the nose, the oversize kit parts make it look like a warthog but it's easy to shape the parts better and do a little scratch building. 14) Building it wheels up, nose up and placing it on the stand is the fasted way to get a beautiful model. Glue the ball joint in the stand in place rather than rely on the friction of the small screw. Cover the stand in a plastic bag and use it when spraying the top surface, very useful indeed! 15) Airfix decal placement instructions are reasonable, my advice it to tick them off as you go. Many of the panel lines and decals do not line up and the placement is a little haphazard. If you're a stickler then go photograph a production model Concorde and take it from there. Airfix decals were very usable and well printed. 16) Apropos 15, there is variation between the BA Concordes. Each aircraft was quite an individual and be prepared to find tiny differences (each fuel tank was bespoke as the fitters found out when they came to add the new lining after the Air France disaster). Some vents by the nosewheel as seen in the photoetch are painted white, some are bare metal, different colour gear doors and so on... and on...and on.... 17) The Extratech photoetch. Yes it adds much visual interest to the model as well as a lot of time to the build. I can't find it again for love nor money so it may be out of production. It's a nice addition but not completely essential. You could scratch much of the detail and what it replaces in terns of kit parts isn't exactly 'bad'. Some parts such as the wheel hubs and the bucket door actuators are debatable in their usefulness in the kit. The panels under the nosegear wheels take a lot of feathering in and this takes as much away as it gives in terms of accuracy. Overall, the etch is nice but not essential. Aftermarket suggestions, Freightdog are you listening? These three items would transform the kit if they were ever made available and make it quite simple to build. 1) A drop-in nosewheel bay to make it more accurate, include the vents, take away the nosewheel positioning error if it really exists. One drop in bay could add so much and make the kit easier to build. Main gear bays would be nice I guess and add value to the exercise. 2) Resin nose section. Do it in two versions, open or closed, include a bulkhead under the visor and match the whole assembly up with the fuselage to alleviate 50% of the kit issues. 3) Resin engine rears. Just make them fit properly, or make them in two adjustable halves that are correct top and bottom with a bit of sanding leeway in the middle. More detailed resin versions of the bucket doors would be preferable to photoetch and easy to fit. ...oh go on, a 4th item, turned brass pitot tube! I think the above items would probably sell well as it's quite a mainstream kit and it would bring them out of the nation's stashes. Overall It's not that bad a kit. It's just a lot of work to get it looking good due to fit but above all size. It's not technically difficult, just lots to do, hence the 'beast' expression, so don't be put off. I really enjoyed this build in truth and I'm delighted with the finished product. Edited January 2, 2017 by HP42 Kant spel 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I'll certainly let you know if I'm up your way - thanks Phil. Great build, great result and great summary. Hopefully we'll see some more! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP42 Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 12 minutes ago, CedB said: I'll certainly let you know if I'm up your way - thanks Phil. Great build, great result and great summary. Hopefully we'll see some more! Thanks, Ced. I've still got the steps to construct as well as position some set dressing. If I build simple air-stairs then I could suggest the aircraft is in one of the quieter airports such as the Bahamas. I could then chuck in some fairly modern vehicles and people to act as passengers. I'm looking for a scene basically! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepie Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 That's a stunning build, my New Years resolution is definitely to finish mine! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham316 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 HP, WOW. Both your final finish and Cedb have produced some beautiful concordes i feel the pressure is on now to pull something wonderful out of the bag on my build i too am thinking of scratch building the interior and having the door open then scratch building some stairs but have it as .if it is waiting for the bankers, accountants and celebrities to board. 😂😂 i think when these are all done we should all meet up and show our display of concordes in one room like that famous photo of the concordes awaiting purchases like below. Once again well done on the amazing work 😊😊 i take my hat of to you 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Fantastic build, many of us too chicken to build our one of these in the stash are now rightly having second thoughts. Love the picture Graham, very patriotic I must say cheers Pat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP42 Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 Well, the model is finished but the work continues on the diorama. I've been scratting around for references on the net and made do with some rather vague pictures. Yesterday I finally stumbled across my reference shots from G-BOAA in East Fortune, doh! Here's a shot of one of the 'airstairs'. I think there are a few versions of this kicking around so I mocked up a generic model it with much artistic licence and a bit of freestyle -fiction based on fact if you will. Real thing... Messing about with a card model. Initial sections cut Assembled and primed Needs a bit of tidying up, painting and a few more details to busy it up. The wheels are a bit big but it looks reasonable next to the Concorde. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Great steps Phil, really great 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP42 Posted April 15, 2019 Author Share Posted April 15, 2019 Just resurrecting this thread now my Photobucket images have reappeared. Moved to Village Photos for new pics though. Concorde was going to go in a café on an airfield but the display area was moved and no long suitable. Here's the basic diorama components just tacked into place temporarily. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP42 Posted April 15, 2019 Author Share Posted April 15, 2019 Another couple of piccys... 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xffw45343tg Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Great diorama; shame about the café. That's quite a hop up to the 1st step btw!! 😜 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philp Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Just caught up on this. Very nice job on Concorde and love the dio idea. Wouldn't mind doing one of these at some point but would have to find a good deal and really have too many to build now but not too many civvies so... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP42 Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Kirk said: Great diorama; shame about the café. That's quite a hop up to the 1st step btw!! 😜 Yep, that step is quite a leap but it's still a WIP. If it was to go on public display I'd add an extra one as well as detail the steps a little more as they're a tad basic. The people are only held onto the surface with Blu-tac at the moment. Needs a proper base with a concrete surface etc. If the café is no longer suitable I did wonder if Duxford might take it to place in the Concorde they have there, suitable display case notwithstanding. 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Very informative build thread. The final diorama really brings the model to life, very nice work all round. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Very nice Phil, she looks marvellous I hope you find a suitable home for her. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Ranger Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Excellent model of the most beautiful aircraft ever! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandre rezende Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Phil, Congratulations on the excellent work! I really enjoyed the assembly tips! Very educational! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Excellent work! Congratulations! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FortyEighter Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 I obviously missed this thread the first time around...………. What a fantastic model and thanks for a very informative commentary on the build and use of photoetch. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxwellphillips Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Great build thread. Very jealous of your patience and commitment, I'dve sacked it off years ago 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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