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1:72 English Electric Canberra PR.9 "End of an Era" - Finished!


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Well, here are the strengthening plates, made to match the sketch provided by @canberra kid. The cut-out for the wing matches the profile of the Airfix wing, and therefore is different than the sketch.

 

IMG_1127

 

Here is the port plate just setting on the model, I think you can get a good idea of what it will look like. Note that the top edge is not parallel to the panel line, but instead slopes down towards the wing root. The rear of the plate, specifically the bottom of the angled surface, aligns with the horizontal panel line as shown in the sketch.

 

IMG_1128

 

The plates are made from 0.005" thick styrene, sometimes called "plastic paper." You'll also note that I filled some erroneous panel lines, and even added some. I did a test to see if this thin plastic would conform to a curved surface, and it worked just fine. So if this meets with the expert's approval, I'll go ahead and permanently attach them to the fuselage. If I need to, I will also scribe that panel line I circled in the above photo.

 

Thanks for everyone's help, especially @canberra kid and @71chally. Slowly the elegant lady is taking shape!   :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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12 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

Gardener's question time on Radio 4 might be able to throw some light on it.

The roundels have taken a bit of weathering too. Any plans for scuffing em up a bit? ( I can produce that kinda look without even trying. #stickyfingers #owferf..)

 

Since I'll be doing XH134 in her retirement scheme, there will be little weathering as it was a recent paint job. She looked pretty clean, some fluid leaks, etc. but nothing like the photo with the moss growing in the wing root.   :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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10 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

This is the panel line that seems visible, just wondering whether I should scribe it on the strengthening plates once they're on the fuselage.

Cheers,

Bill

If doing it in one piece, then yes I would scribe that line in.  What you've done looks pretty bang on to me.

 

I actually do the plate in two parts, the forward part up to the transport joint, and the aft part.

As one piece I struggled to get it to sit right around the cylindrical curve of the fuselage AND the compound curve in the aft fuselage - that was on the Matchbox kits though, and probably using a thicker gauge plasticard.

I saw mention of sanding the plate a bit somewhere earlier, personally on my next project I would be tempted to reducing the upper edge of the plate it as it looks almost flush or invisible in photographs.

 

The AP diagrams from John are extremely useful, I think a decent set of drawings to show panel line placement can be drawn from those.

 

 

 

Edited by 71chally
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Thanks, mates! Moving on a bit we arrive at the fuel tank in the front of the bomb bay. I would like to get more details on the mechanisms that secure the tank in place. If we look at this photo (thank again to @71chally for providing this) I've circled a couple of things.

 

straps

 

I'll poke around in the galleries at the Canberra SIG website and see what I can find. If anyone has any close-up photos of these areas I'd love to see them. Thanks! Oh, Sally says hi!

 

sally

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Sally is a mutt, but a pretty one. She's half Golden Retriever and half Samoyed. We rescued her a couple of years ago. She's a full sized dog, but when we got her she was only 35 lbs. Happy to say that she's now 5 lbs overweight according to the vet (she's 55 lbs.) If only I could get her to stop shedding...

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20 hours ago, 71chally said:

Not that panel line Bill, the horizontal (well angled a bit) one, it's hidden under the plate, but emerges aft of it under the tailplane, you can see it clearly on T.4s etc.

 

John, have look at an enlarged version of the pic of 333 rear fuse that you posted earlier, I'm sure I can see flushed rivet detail?

Well spotted James, it is indeed riveted, I was think back to the time I was looking over a PR,7 which was still in service at the time and must have been in better nick than good old WT333 :) 

 

21 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

For the B57, that's a relief for me. That would have really stuffed their airbrakes though, wouldn't it!

😞 Doh...!

Rob, I was thinking more of the B/RB.57A which is more representative of the B.2, I would imagine all the junk Martin put in the back end of the B would have beffed up the area somewhat pluss changing the resonance of the aft fuselage? 

John

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14 minutes ago, canberra kid said:

Well spotted James, it is indeed riveted, I was think back to the time I was looking over a PR,7 which was still in service at the time and must have been in better nick than good old WT333 :)

They are very cleanly finished machines Canberras, even in that close up of the rear fuse of XH134 I can't make out any rivets in it's normal construction.

It some how compounds the issue that Airfix picked a very smooth subject for one of it's most over done panel lines products ever!

 

Hadn't occurred to me before that it was only the larger engined (RA.7 and up) Canberras that got those plates.

Edited by 71chally
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19 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

Well, here are the strengthening plates, made to match the sketch provided by @canberra kid. The cut-out for the wing matches the profile of the Airfix wing, and therefore is different than the sketch.

permanently attach them to the fuselage. If I need to, I will also scribe that panel line I circled in the above photo.

 

Thanks for everyone's help, especially @canberra kid and @71chally. Slowly the elegant lady is taking shape!   :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

It's a pleasure Bill, always happy to spread the Canberra love 

John

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1 minute ago, 71chally said:

They are very cleanly finished machine Canberras, even in that close up of the rear fuse of XH134 I can't make out any rivets in it's normal construction.

It some how compounds the issue that Airfix picked a very smooth subject for one of it's most over done panel lines products ever!

 

Hadn't occurred to me before that it was only the larger engined (RA.7 and up) Canberras that got those plates.

I know James I really wish they would re-visit the Canberra but realistically I can't see that happening, not in 1/48 but they could do a B.2 in 1/72 with the new techniques, I would prefer them to stick to a B.2 or a 6 but not try to get the two out of one kit as there are too many differences. As for the plates, the only baby Avon powered Canberra to have the plates was the PR.3, this may have been a retro fit?

John      

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19 minutes ago, canberra kid said:

As for the plates, the only baby Avon powered Canberra to have the plates was the PR.3, this may have been a retro fit?

John      

 

AFAICR both WE139 and WF922 both have them: I wish I'd taken more and better pictures of WE168 before she was thoughtlessly smashed to pieces.  You think a preserved airframe is safe and suddenly it's gone forever.

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48 minutes ago, canberra kid said:

Looking good Bill! Do these help with the Tank? if not I will have a dig through the other AP's there may be more in them, book 1 is good but it's a bit of an over view. 

 

Yes, they help. It looks like I need to add those fasteners that are along the top of the tank (two per side) and then the strip that goes around the rear edge. Based on these shots of the underside, all of those things look like they stand a wee bit proud of the surface. Those shots also remind me that I have to add those two vents, plus I forgot those small intakes in the leading edge of the wing. I think I'll just fake those with decals. 

 

Tailplane roots and wingtips are on the list too. I'm liking how this is coming together - toning down the panel lines with primer will come after I get some of these details on.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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9 minutes ago, stever219 said:

AFAICR both WE139 and WF922 both have them: I wish I'd taken more and better pictures of WE168 before she was thoughtlessly smashed to pieces.  You think a preserved airframe is safe and suddenly it's gone forever.

 

I hate it when that happens. I opened my newsreader one day and saw a photo of the Australians burying their F-111s. I thought, are you kidding me? That's almost as bad as the Yanks shredding all of the F-14s out at the boneyard. There's a video of that on YouTube, I couldn't watch it.   :( 

 

Cheers,

Bill

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27 minutes ago, Martian Hale said:

That dog is so cute! I've gone all broody!

 

Martian wishing he had a litter of puppies

Can Martians have puppies?? You learn something new every day here!

 

Ian

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11 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

Can Martians have puppies?? You learn something new every day here!

 

Ian

I knew that was coming the moment I posted the comment! Mind you, if Mrs Martian could have litters of puppies or even better kittens, she would be permanently expecting and the council would have to fin a mansion of us to live in!

 

Martian

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11 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Just sittin here thinking... 

Wonder if John's got enough reference material so we can build a real one? He Seems to have most of it covered!

You know, group build, sorta. That'd be a thread and a half...

😐.

 

It would certainly top trump James May's Spitfire....!!:D

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I agree with Martian about the total cutiness of Sally Bill ! And wnen I read about the weight she's put on I thought 'she's a big mutt', same weight as Hollie, my boy's Newfoundland. Then I realised you said 55 pounds - Hollie is nearer 55 kg....!! His other mutt, Honey, a cross Retriever/standard poodle (aka a Golden Doodle in breeder's terms, or a doodlebug in mine!) is about Sally's size!

 

Keith

 

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4 hours ago, keefr22 said:

I agree with Martian about the total cutiness of Sally Bill ! And wnen I read about the weight she's put on I thought 'she's a big mutt', same weight as Hollie, my boy's Newfoundland. Then I realised you said 55 pounds - Hollie is nearer 55 kg....!! His other mutt, Honey, a cross Retriever/standard poodle (aka a Golden Doodle in breeder's terms, or a doodlebug in mine!) is about Sally's size!

 

Yikes, 55 kilos is a BIG doggie! Sally is about the same length and height as a Golden or Labrador Retriever, but she's very slim despite what the vet says. In the summer, she gets a big haircut and without all the long fur she looks like a different dog. But she is so gentle and mild-mannered, a really nice dog. Our other rescued canine, a cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Pit Bull, is...well, insane I think is the word. Totally psycho.

 

Back to the Canberra, the plastic used by Airfix for this one is quite difficult to scribe cleanly. It's very brittle, and not like the other soft plastic used by later releases. Weird.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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16 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Just sittin here thinking... 

Wonder if John's got enough reference material so we can build a real one? He Seems to have most of it covered!

You know, group build, sorta. That'd be a thread and a half...

😐.

I don't know about that Rob, but I know if there is a company out there that want's to do an accurate B.2 or B.6 it wouldn't do them any harm to get in touch, PLEASE!! 😊

John

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2 hours ago, canberra kid said:

I don't know about that Rob, but I know if there is a company out there that want's to do an accurate B.2 or B.6 it wouldn't do them any harm to get in touch, PLEASE!! 😊

 

How about the High Planes kits of the B.2 and B.6? I know they are quite rough around the edges, even more so than "normal" short run kits, but some of the builds I've seen look quite nice. Do they have accuracy issues? 

 

Cheers,

Bill

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2 hours ago, canberra kid said:

I don't know about that Rob, but I know if there is a company out there that want's to do an accurate B.2 or B.6 it wouldn't do them any harm to get in touch, PLEASE!! 😊

John

 

Yeah, but who'd want to go to the trouble of tooling a kit of an obscure subsonic British jet designed in the 1940s that was only used by a very few air forces from America (where?) to Zimbabwe, with only a very few colour and markings variations and airframe differences when there are so many gray F-16s to model?

 

Steve van der Leggingitt-Smartley

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34 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

 

How about the High Planes kits of the B.2 and B.6? I know they are quite rough around the edges, even more so than "normal" short run kits, but some of the builds I've seen look quite nice. Do they have accuracy issues? 

 

Cheers,

Bill

No Bill it is quite good, a bit of a compromise again with trying to get so many Mk's out of the same kit, which will catch a few people out, plus as you say it's not an easy build! I really think they should do one or t'other, a B.2 or B.6, it's not like there isn't enough of each Mk to keep people happy. 

15 minutes ago, stever219 said:

 

Yeah, but who'd want to go to the trouble of tooling a kit of an obscure subsonic British jet designed in the 1940s that was only used by a very few air forces from America (where?) to Zimbabwe, with only a very few colour and markings variations and airframe differences when there are so many gray F-16s to model?

 

Steve van der Leggingitt-Smartley

Beats me too Steve :)

 

John

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