Wessex HAS3 XP150 - 406 HMS Antrim Flight 78/80

[moaning dolphin]

To quote that famouse televisual entrepreneur, she is looking "luvvly Jubbly" Some wonderful building going on inside, just make sure that cargo door is left wide open!

 

Bob

Edited December 20, 2016 by moaning dolphin

[perdu]

Plan A Bob  

Edited December 20, 2016 by perdu
daft poster...

[perdu]

I used that plasticene blob mould to knock out a resin Radome

 

Rubbed it down to suit the template I made from the 4+ book plans and after giving it a tidying fettle stuck it on the back of XP150

 

Then added a wee dribble of PPP to fill the fillets

 

I've undercut the steps that Matchbox give us and have the centre fillet to add

 

Matchbox give us steps in line above unlike the Walters from my least favourite continental manufacturers who also cannot even make the tail whizzer whizz in the proper direction

 

Undercutting the steps is a little bit of pizazz maybe but if you gotta do it you gotta do it

 

It makes the steps look better so I do

I am almost ready to add the nose and begin sculpting the mould for the parrotybeaky looking filter

 

And start adding the fuel lines and the In Flight Fuelling Receptacle in front of the cargo door soon

 

Minor update I know but I have had another problem to attend to, over there  >>>>>>>>

[hendie]

maybe a minor one but a good one nonetheless

[moaning dolphin]

I do like that resin, I really need to try it out myself sometime!

 

Bob

[heloman1]

Coming together nicely...

 

Colin

[TheBaron]

Hugely late to see this Bill, hence the blizzard of likes. Magnificent work you Wessexy thing! 

Tony

[perdu]

Blizzard Tony?

 

Ooh  I bally hope not, not just yet  

 

I need to get out for supplies

 

of high value/low cost Stupormarket LAGER BEER first

 

 

Er nice to have you around , I hope you enjoy it  as it gets even slower

 

5½ weeks to go

 

eek

[perdu]

Over the Festive Season (why on earth do people use that stupid label for a happy piece of religion, there's little happy religion around these days) I mean of course Christmas I have fiddled about with the HAS3 as well as my Wasp doing little bitse here and there

 

Here is one of the HEREs

 

A fresh pull on an old buck I kept from the days when I built the HC2, I always like to provide windows the lookers-in can see through and the miniature crew can see out of  I used this to provide me with a set of cockpit windows for the HAR2 too because when I held on to the fuselage for over thirty years I forgot to hang on to the windows

 

Hence it is sort of fitting not to have had a cockpit canopy when my mate handed me his HU5 to play with, this way all of my Wessexes will have the same basic windows which should help when posing them near to each other

 

I didnt get to keep the rotor head gear from the HU5 because my HAR2 got it, I was going to make the head gear by scratch for that one but I've deferred that decision to now

 

I have started hunting through my plasticard scrap to find some suitable thick to work on

 

I'm trying not to sacrifice that Italeri head gear for this build, but i'ts tempting 

 

but for now I am resolute, build it Bill I say

Cut one

Double up and drill the hinge holes

 

 

cut in close to begin the arm shaping process (I've done this before, not awfully successfully) 

 

Into the trusty bench vice and off with its scrap

 

 

Soon gets to this

 

Now I have to make the pair of slots in each of the upper arms of the crosspiece and prepare to make the oil tank to fill with unspecified reddish gunge

 

Whilst pondering that little project I have been making these

 

The canopy for the Wasp isn't what I mean, the skeletal devices on a cross beam are going to represent the collected collectives for XP150

The rectangles are the switch controls, the little gubbinses are the rear braces for the tube that carries the switching gear cables away from the collectives and out of sight at the back

 

The tube is now fitted but not shaped or photographed 

 

I've made the yaw pedals from a home brew decal made out of the image on an etch sheet turned into a transfer and stuck to plasticard and cut out

 

Pictures of that when I find it, yes it has gone walk about for now 

 

They always turn up in the end...

 

or after the end, fingers crossed please

[TheBaron]

19 minutes ago, perdu said:

 

I've made the yaw pedals from a home brew decal made out of the image on an etch sheet turned into a transfer and stuck to plasticard and cut out

If Bob Dylan were a modeller he would have written that runalong lyric! 

 

Pardon my ignorance Bill but judging by the tea-light in the photo above, was that some kind of heating process you used to mould the canopy/transparency material?

Tony

[perdu]

No need for pardon Tony, yes that tea light is the soleheat source for moulding by hand using sheet acetate (A whole A1 sized sheet of skinny acetate cost me just about a fiver at my local art supplies shop, cut to A4 then cut out smaller sections to use as is)

 

The sheet draped artfully over the buck is gripped gently at first then more tightly later and held above the tea light whilst moving it around over the heat source and about an inch anna-half above the source

 

The acetate begins to 'flatten out' all over and with a few goes for practice you can get the sheet right down over the VERY CLEAN buck

 

Any dust or grime will show, but that is how canopies are born

 

You need to make sure the moulding buck is bigger than the required window which is why I increase the size with Milliput and shape it so the pull extends further than the minimum shape you want, you can probably see in the picture that I allow a bit of extra to give me a gripping area and I usually pull down and keep it close in

 

I dont want mis-shapes, that's for Cadbury Biscuits not Wessexes

 

Trim when cool and say "Wotcher Uncle Bob"

 

Hold the buck up above the table, I pop holes in mine and prop them up in my portable bench vice to give me pull-down room

 

 

 

 

 

[hendie]

you have that crash molding down to a fine art Bill.   I haven't had much success with clear stuff but I think I am using the wrong material to start with

 

 

oh! and nice rotor head too!

[heloman1]

Good work on the new canopy Bill and yes about your small rant, he, he!

 

Colin

[Colin W]

Thanks for the pic of the rotor head too.

Nice to have a shot from above.

 

Colin W

[perdu]

Cheers guys

Hendie I used to just re-use clear packaging materiel of whatever thickness it comes in

Christmas is a great time for raw materials scavenging after all

I found the PET-G liked to bubble inside when I used it so I asked at my local arts shop (Vesey Arts Supplies if anyone local wants to know) if they could get acetate

 

"How thick do you want it? We've stocked it for years."

 

Mine is about .6mm but I'm sure most thin stuff would do

 

Ladies and gentlemen, whilst you're here may I take the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year

 

Please let it be less destructive than last year, I lost too many favourite people last year

[AdrianMF]

Fine work on the plunge moulding Bill - I would be reaching for my vac box for that one. What is your plan for the bulged sliding windows?

 

I sympathise on the interior detail front. I've just closed up my Privateer and can't see a damn' thing through the windows...

 

I've also had the PETG bubbling problem. I've been told that you need to gently heat the sheet first to drive out embedded moisture. But a trip to the local art supplier sounds easier!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[perdu]

Hi, thanks for your attention folks

 

Adrian I'm planning to use the kit's window's so the odd centralised bulge is covered

They're painted blue anyway, so not a problem

 

Seriously mate acetate beats PET-G any day for our purposes

[perdu]

I have become sidetracked by the clutch on my Midget bombing itself so time is getting short 

 

Does anyone (Colin... Colin... Col... James etc) know whether I have to include the weapons mount stubs on the HAS3 that the HC2s and HAR2s sport?

 

I suppose the torpedo/weapons carriers must locate off them surely, but the pictures I see are inconclusive for service airframes

 

Tonight I will be mostly making the overhead switchery and brake lever

 

If you ask me really nicely, maybe the overhead sunscreens too

[perdu]

Proving I have done something in the last few days

 

I fitted the collectives but you cant see them, they will get a light dry brushing

 

The new canopy is being fitted here so I can put the guibbinses up in the roof

 

 

I didnt like the oddly shaped things Matchbox would have you believe the crew sat on

 

So in time honoured fashion I'm making a pair of reasonable ones

 

Considering the Italeri ones get a scathing mention round here, did anyone ever look at the ones in this kit?

 

Oh wow 

 

Anyway here is the seat factory in action

 

[heloman1]

Looking good Bill.

 

Colin

[perdu]

I spent some time yesterday Wasping so today a little spare time found me shaping the definitive canopy moulding for the HAS3, I'm very pleased with it but put it away before I got the camera out so I'll photograph it next time

 

I ahve also been playing games with a Wasp casting I used to make the Wasp nose windows, its rear end looks ideal to produce the Parrot Beak nose filter/cover

I only cast the front end instead of the full Scout fuselage and got a sloping back which I filed and carved a little bit, just to see if...

 

This gave me

When I pulled a quick shape off it

 

I reckon I can rework this with a slight curve at the upper edge

 

 

Not far off at all

 

Now I am doing the weapon pylons next, down the back, just aft of the cabin door on both sides

 

No I know there is only one cabin door, silly I am but not that silly 

 

night all

[MickE]

Great work on the canopy and rotor head , I am always impressed with people who can mould canopies. it is all coming along nicely.

 

Mick

[perdu]

Shall we have some news from the furniture factory/

 

Here are the skeletal pilots and observer seats, glued and ready for trimming and upholstery

The backrest pack has to be trimmed and stressed and I am working out what to do in the seat pans

 

no, NOT like that

 

I will be finishing up with a sheepskin cushion of course and knocking out a couple of sets of harnesses

I know they are imperfect but they beat the hell out of Matchbox's things I reckon

 

I have also had a go at the Parrotty bit, the mould gave me a decent upper curve and I am now stacking up the bottom edge pieces to finish off

 

The Evergreen strip will be filed and sanded away almost to within a whisker of itself then a half round section will act as finisher

 

So far I haven't had to go shopping for extra bits, this could end up my cheapest build of 2017  

 

Soon get the edges trimmed up with PPP

 

Must spend time on the Midget tomorrow, got all the bits now I hope

 

[hendie]

1 hour ago, perdu said:

I know they are imperfect but they beat the hell out of Matchbox's things I reckon

 

imperfect my back end up a gum tree !     They're amazing, I'd go as far as to say they're even better than my attempts in 1/48 !    So there !!!

[moaning dolphin]

Wot he said  they are much better than his attempt . They are excellent reproductions and worthy of their own post in the gallery. Nice to see some good old whittling going on as well, I bet your having more fun with this kit than you would with an Italeri one!

 

Bob