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


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I think you guys are right - it's symmetrical. This means I'll have to make a new one. There is not enough plastic in the Airfix part to make the modification. I'll end up with an antenna that is too skinny.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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9 minutes ago, 71chally said:

It's a difficult business, but I certainly make them symetrical on my builds.

 

That's a cracking shot John, looks like the plywood is in primer?

It is a nice splash of colour James, 

 

 

John

Edited by canberra kid
photo in wrong post
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17 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

I think you guys are right - it's symmetrical. This means I'll have to make a new one. There is not enough plastic in the Airfix part to make the modification. I'll end up with an antenna that is too skinny.

 

Cheers,

Bill

UHF_zpsxkkq1oig.jpg

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Thanks!

 

That works out to 4.4 mm tall in 1:72 - the Airfix antenna is about 7 mm. Length along the base works out to 3.2 mm, Airfix is pretty close to that. Perhaps there is enough material in the Airfix part...

 

Better get me a drawing of the forward U/VHF antenna as well. I'm guessing it may need similar adjustments.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Antenna surgery, explained - graft a piece of 0.010" thick styrene onto the edge of the Airfix antenna. You can see from this photo that the original Airfix part (in grey) bears little resemblance to the shape of the actual antenna as shown in John's drawing. Sorry for the slight out-of-focus, I must not have had my single malt for the evening yet.

 

IMG_1175

 

There is more styrene than we need, but we'll be sanding it down. Next, glob a hunk or two of Perfect Plastic Putty over the styrene addition so you can fair it into the antenna proper, trying to hold some kind of an airfoil cross-sectional shape in the process. Sand this all down whilst holding the part in your fingers, permanently removing a few fingerprints in the process. Lastly, hack off the top of the antenna so that it is the proper height. It still needs some more clean-up and mild shaping but it will be much better than what we started with. The final dimensions are quite close to John's drawing, albeit divided by 72. 

 

For giggles, I painted the front of the engine faces using a couple different shades of Alclad. By this point, I had had some single malt for the evening and I couldn't read the labels. So I just picked one dark one and one light one. This was fun to mask, by the way.

 

IMG_1176

 

I think I've figured out a way to mask these off once assembled into the cowlings and attached to the nacelles. Maybe.

 

So, those six arms that emanate from the housing in the center - what are they called? How come in the photos only the bottom three appear to be silver, and the others black? Just because they're in shadow? Nah, they look to be a different colour.

 

Kemble 2004 018

 

Both of the engines on XH134 look this way.

 

You know that "eye for detail" you guys keep accusing me of having? It's a curse.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

You know that "eye for detail" you guys keep accusing me of having? It's a curse.

Yes it is ... :frantic: :winkgrin: 

 

I think this is probably the most detailed build of yours I've seen so far - maybe because of the size of the real aircraft. It's going to be great when completed! :Tasty: 

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
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Bill, going by this image it appears that all the 'arms' were painted a medium/dark grey tone. Notice at the bottom the central metal 'tubular pipe' and two metal coloured stays are ahead of the arms themselves in a two tiered arrangement...

 

 

Engine facing details

Edited by general melchett
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Airfix haven't replicated the intake that precisely.

Basically there are six spokes (bearing support and hot air deicing ducts) at the engine face ahead of the variable inlet vanes (dullish silver), they are generally gloss black.

Ahead of those spokes are three arms related to the starter system, they are generally natural metal/silver finish.

 

Probably not a biggy in 72nd!

33063336126_bc425ec952_c.jpgCanberra PR.9 XH135 by James Thomas, on Flickr

Edited by 71chally
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Thanks for the close-up photos of the engine face, @general melchett @71chally. Now I understand why the difference in colours - I hadn't noticed that two-tiered effect before. 

 

So, since it's not a biggie in 1:72, I'll just paint the top three black and fake it.   :) 

 

Cheers,

Bill

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I'm learning to use the word 'generally' more often!

 

It looks like towards the end of it's RAF time that XH134 had grey painted spokes on the stb'd, and black painted on the port engine.

http://www.airteamimages.com/english-electric-canberra_XH134_united-kingdom---royal-air-force_80086_large.html

 

I can see how you can get too much detail information and get bogged down in it now!

 

 

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That's a great photo, innit? I stumbled across that when I first started researching this project. My guess is they're both black, but one is in a deeper shadow. The photo I posted above is a crop of a much larger photo of XH134 just prior to the retirement scheme being applied, and it looks like the starboard side is black. That side may look lighter in the AirTeam image because of highlights.

 

 

First up, the tail is being painted Medium Sea Grey. Then we'll do the Hemp, and lastly the Light Aircraft Grey. This sequence makes the masking easier, which is good because I'm lazy.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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On 2 February 2017 at 7:08 PM, Navy Bird said:

For my next project I've chosen the English Electric Canberra PR.9, specifically XH134 in her retirement scheme. It's a lovely scheme designed by Ashley Keates of RAF Marham.

 

Awe shucks :D 

Only just found this thread and looks awesome, going to enjoy following this and seeing her finished. 

Ashley

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2 hours ago, zipper said:

Awe shucks :D 

Only just found this thread and looks awesome, going to enjoy following this and seeing her finished. 

Ashley

 

Welcome aboard! I'm honoured to have you along for the ride. I'll try to do justice to your masterpiece!   :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Just finishing up the LAG on the underside - and I noticed that the lip fungus around the front half of the Zeiss RMK aperture has gone "zing!" Has anyone seen it, or do I have to make another?   :) 

 

Might even have a photo tonight of the initial paint job - man, the masking was a pain, but I'm glad I painted in the order I did or it would have been much worse. The panel lines on the fuselage will need some kind of highlighting in order to match those on the wing. Several ways to do that. 

 

Cheers,

Bill

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OK, I promised some pictures. I'm not entirely happy with it yet but I think it's a good start. I'm not a big fan of what are essentially monochromatic paint jobs, and that's what this is. There is a lot of Hemp up top, and a lot of LAG underneath. XH134 in her retirement scheme was a reasonably clean aircraft but I wanted to have some modulation in the colours just to break it up. The effect is somewhat more subtle in real life.

 

IMG_1187

 

IMG_1188

 

IMG_1190

 

IMG_1189

 

Due to the varying depth of the panel lines, and this not only includes those moulded by Airfix but also the ones I tried to fix, it looks like I will have to do some kind of wash to make them more consistent. How about a nice black tar? Ha, just kidding. On top it will need to be a shade of brown that is only slightly darker than the hemp, and a corresponding slighter darker grey on the bottom. I'll worry about this a little later. 

 

Next, I need to paint the wheel wells and flap areas, and make another lip fungus. TTFN.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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14 minutes ago, CedB said:

Looking gorgeous Bill, an exemplar of variation and subtle panel lines. Gorgeous :) 

Agreed 100% :clap:

 

As for the panel lines wash, I'd use some Extra Dark Carbon Black .... :rofl:  Just kidding :whistle: 

 

Ciao

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What a delight this is Bill, one of those "I do not want to see it finish" pleasures we get in here

 

And rather wonderful for Ashley to be aboard too, two great artists together in a build

 

:thumbsup:

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