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Wessex HC2 Crab Cabs Pt II (Fly Wessex - why on earth did I?)


hendie

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1 hour ago, hendie said:

Aaannnnddd things just went mammaries up again. Soddit.   I knew yesterday was going too well and there'd be payback.

 

First blade went fairly well. Still a very slight bow but small enough that I can live with it.

Followed exactly same process on second blade and it ended up looking like a wiggly twisty bendy thing that was a bit drunk and had just fallen off a bus.

Peeved. Yes I was.

Third blade - not as bad as second but not as good as first

Fourth blade - okay'ish.

 

I went as far as modeling a new rotor blade up in 3D to have a go at printing a blade in two or three sections, then thought sodit. I've had it with this kit.

I've walked away for the day and I'll revisit tomorrow.

 

I have two options here methinks.  One option is to press ahead regardless of how wonky the blades are and just get the damned thing finished. 

Option two is to fake a diorama and just have the blades sitting on trestles beside the airframe. 

I could go either way on this and no real preference either way.

 

Back tomorrow with some wonky blade piccies

Could you make a mould using the first blade and cast 3 new ones in resin ? It seems a shame to have to have to leave the rotor blades off after all your work on this build.

Edited by gareth
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1 hour ago, TheBaron said:

That is indeed.

Grievous at this stage and not what you deserve.

Is the rotor profile too complex in three-dimensions to plane from a plastic blank using a Stanley blade held twist finger + thumb? I did something like that to make the long thin ailerons of the Dornier 18 a while back.

 

Undeserved but not unexpected

I considered something similar Tony but after going through a number of scenarios in my head I'm just going to blunder onwards to the end.  As they say back home... heid doon, erse up!

 

 

1 hour ago, CedB said:

Bad luck hendie, but please don’t give up...

 

Could you not print something with that new MARS?

 

I could..

 

but I'm not going to.

 

I'm moving ahead as is and I'll try and use misdirection to cover up the wobbly.  I may be able to get away with it, and if I don't - I don't care!

 

54 minutes ago, gareth said:

Could you make a mould using the first blade and cast 3 new ones in resin ? It seems a shame to have to have to leave the rotor blades off after all your work on this build.

 

Good idea Gareth but the blade is so long and thin, especially at the tapered rear edge, that I know I'd have issues trying to fill the mold without some kind of pressure behind the fill - just too much trouble at this stage.

 

 

 

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Sorry tohear you had a problem with a rotor blade.

Anyway when I saw the pictures of her on her wheels...she just doesn't  look like a kit!!! 

If it wasn't for the furniture in the back ground you'd think she's the real thing!!!

Now try to goon with the rest and deal with the blade later. I'm sure you'll find the proper solution!!!

OUTSTANDING!!!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

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How about buy another identical kit, grab the rotor blades from that one and try again. You already have two of the four you need so you only need two more successes.

An expensive option perhaps,  but at the rate you build it will provide years of entertainment! 🤪

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12 hours ago, hendie said:

First blade went fairly well. Still a very slight bow but small enough that I can live with it.

Followed exactly same process on second blade and it ended up looking like a wiggly twisty bendy thing that was a bit drunk and had just fallen off a bus.

Peeved. Yes I was.

I suspect ‘peeved’ is a euphemism for the true hendie state of mind......Looks like you approached the whole procedure in a typically hendie professional and methodical manner; success almost guaranteed I would have said - save it seems for the improbably inconsistent Fly plastic......So I think ‘peeved’ doesn’t quite do the things justice.....:whistle:

 

10 hours ago, hendie said:

 

11 hours ago, gareth said:

Could you make a mould using the first blade and cast 3 new ones in resin ? It seems a shame to have to have to leave the rotor blades off after all your work on this build.

 

Good idea Gareth but the blade is so long and thin, especially at the tapered rear edge, that I know I'd have issues trying to fill the mold without some kind of pressure behind the fill - just too much trouble at this stage.

 

I would have thought along the same lines as gareth; although I guess resin moulding is largely redundant when you’ve got a resin printer.  I’d also have a question in my mind as to whether resin was robust enough for blades of that length.  

 

I don’t think moulding would be a problem tbh.  The way to do it would be to have a long shallow mould with the fill reservoir/mould plug along the leading or trailing edge.  You’d easily fill that by gravity I would have thought.

 

Anyways; quite understandable if you don’t want to be bothered with the labour at present - given the kit’s ingratitude at the miracles you’ve worked!

 

There will be a typically innovative hendie solution.......

 

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Of all the things to happen! And at this late stage too. Now, I knew I had  this picture somewhere, (Took me an hour to find it! Sent to me years ago by an ex Odiham Storeman who was on Britmodeller, but I can't remember who it was, so I can't credit him for the shot. I present, the one blade Wessex. Odiham ASF Hangar late seventies.

GGfJFie.jpg

 

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Today was my last day of freedom before I go back into captivity on Monday so I tried to make the best of available time (with the caveat that I was working on a Fly kit of course.)

 

21 hours ago, Massimo said:

Sorry to hear you had a problem with a rotor blade.

Anyway when I saw the pictures of her on her wheels...she just doesn't  look like a kit!!! 

If it wasn't for the furniture in the back ground you'd think she's the real thing!!!

Now try to goon with the rest and deal with the blade later. I'm sure you'll find the proper solution!!!

OUTSTANDING!!!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

 

Thanks Massimo.  It seems this is the season for modeling issues - I'm not the only one who's been getting their butt kicked recently.   We're all men here though eh? Apart from the women that is

 

 

21 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

How about buy another identical kit, grab the rotor blades from that one and try again. You already have two of the four you need so you only need two more successes.

An expensive option perhaps,  but at the rate you build it will provide years of entertainment! 🤪

 

I've come to expect nothing less of your helpful and oft-times insightful suggestions Steve.  Haven't you got a Bi-winged Avro-Dodo to be getting on with?

 

 

13 hours ago, Fritag said:

I would have thought along the same lines as gareth; although I guess resin moulding is largely redundant when you’ve got a resin printer.  I’d also have a question in my mind as to whether resin was robust enough for blades of that length.  

 

I don’t think moulding would be a problem tbh.  The way to do it would be to have a long shallow mould with the fill reservoir/mould plug along the leading or trailing edge.  You’d easily fill that by gravity I would have thought

 

Ah, good point Steve - I never considered having a plug along the edge. That would certainly provide a much better chance to fill.

Still not going there though.

Yet!

 

 

49 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Of all the things to happen! And at this late stage too. Now, I knew I had  this picture somewhere, (Took me an hour to find it! Sent to me years ago by an ex Odiham Storeman who was on Britmodeller, but I can't remember who it was, so I can't credit him for the shot. I present, the one blade Wessex. Odiham ASF Hangar late seventies.

<snip>

 

 

Great one Pete.  something similar did float through my mind over the last 24 hours - even down to 3 blades in the fold brackets and one blade slipped and fallen to the floor - i.e. bent and mangled.

I haven't ruled that one out yet!

 

But I digress.  I promised pictures of bent, twisty things.

Blade one.  The uppermost blade is as they come in the kit - nice big sweeping curve.   The blade immediately below that is my number one blade. Still not perfectly straight but close enough to make things work.  I momentarily thought of dunking it a second time to see if I could improve on that, but didn't want to push my luck,

 

P1020001.jpg

 

 

Dammit dammit dammit... forum went and ghost posted on me again.  Hold on folks, I'll be back when I've added more piccies and a bunch of words

 

Today's update part deux.

 

Blade two:  Same process in as far as I didn't use stopwatches or thermocouples and we have a doozy.  The trailing edge is all over the place and the leading edge takes a few detours along it's length.

 

P1020003.jpg

 

Spot the wonky blade(s)!

 

P1020004.jpg

 

After my initial bout of peevery I kind of resigned myself and though oh what the hell - I can always put that blade in the most non visible location.  Or file the entire kit under B1N

 

P1020005.jpg

 

Anyhoos, not one to let a fly get the better of me it was time to move on.

Sadly, not being the sharpest chisel in the box I decided to move forward with something that was equally challenging, just in a different way.  Wipers.

Fly provide 2 x PE wipers - no spares.  However, like all etch that tries to represent anything other than a flat sheet, the PE wipers left me feeling unfulfilled.

A quick play with some brass rod and I felt more comfortable.  - I took a small diameter brass rod and squeezed it in the vice.  That flattened out one end - I then put the rod back in the vice again, but squeezed a small portion of the already flattened end.  That gave me the shape you see below which I think looks considerably ore like a wiper arm than Fly's offering.

 

P1030007.jpg

 

I then meandered around trying to solder that small section onto the "wiper" part of the PE - all to no avail.  Then it dawned on me (told you I wasn't the sharpest!) - If I just soldered a length of rod onto the wiper, I could then cut the rod to length and squeeze the appropriate lengths in the vice

Kit offering on left and stage 1 wiper construction on right

 

P1030008.jpg

 

And conveniently forgetting to take any more photo's until they were done, dusted, and painted...  I also added the wiper stops on the frame either side of the center glass

 

P1030010.jpg

 

Wipers finally in position.  What incredible effort for so little reward!  And yes Pete before you mention it I haven't added the windscreen washers (and don't think I'm going to bother - at least not today)

 

P1030020.jpg

 

Taking occasional breaks from that gargantuan effort I threw some paint on the blades. 

Surprisingly, the addition of paint somehow masks the spaghetti like nature of blade 2.  I'll check that observation again tomorrow as I may well have been hallucinating by this point.

 

P1030026.jpg

 

It's that stage of the build where all those little tasks I've been studiously avoiding start to pile up until there are no other tasks other than all those ones that take an inordinate amount of time and effort for surprisingly little visual impact.

Anyone remember this little beauty?

 

P1030011.jpg

 

If I wasn't as dumb as me I would have fitted the SACRU before I fitted the tail in the folded position. This task would have been a lot simpler if I had been able to turn Wessi upside down, but we all like a challenge eh?

Thankfully my jig came to the rescue as I could swing the fuselage over to give me more access to the underside

 

P1030013.jpg

 

I knew these things would come in handy one day!

 

P1030015.jpg

 

After the SACRU or more correctly, the attachment cables were secured it was time to tie her up. Here I'm using plain white thread which has been run between my grubby digits a few times to take the edge off the whiteness

 

P1030017.jpg

 

All done - a drop of CA just to stop the rope from unwinding

 

P1030018.jpg

 

and the view from below

 

P1030019.jpg

 

In between times the pitot got fitted, as did the emergency release handles for the cockpit sliding windows.

 

P1030021.jpg

 

Now it was time to hold my breath for prolonged periods until I got dizzy.  Yes, you guessed it - fitting the hydraulic lines to the winch.

Only a couple of photo's to cover what was probably 60% of my days time and effort. Not very photogenic - at least until it's all done.

The first two hydraulic lines were the easiest.  Note I said the easiest, not easy by any means!  I found some electrical wire of seemingly appropriate diameter and used resin valves for the hydraulic fittings - each valve being drilled to accept the core of the wire

 

P1030022.jpg

 

That third hydraulic line was a real pig to get into place, particularly trying not to dislodge the first two

 

P1030025.jpg

 

I even went as far as using some black thread for the electrical cable.  Must remember not to breathe on this for at least a month.

 

P1030027.jpg

 

 

Tomorrow ? p'raps some more blade sheannanigans

 

 

 

Edited by hendie
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1 hour ago, hendie said:

 

 

P1030027.jpg

 

Not sure how to tell you this gently.  But you’ve left the rotor brake off (I mean it’s in the off position, not that you’ve missed it out).  
 

The SACRU & winch hydraulics are superb.

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More marvellous work hendie - I do hope that, sometime soon, you can see past the 'problems' and see what I'm seeing; a lovely model with very realistic detailing :) 

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1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Not sure how to tell you this gently.  But you’ve left the rotor brake off (I mean it’s in the off position, not that you’ve missed it out).  

 

Had to release the brake so we could turn the rotors to the fold position - and some numpty forgot to apply it again!

 

Nice spot Crisp

 

I may try and put it right - what's the worst that could happen eh?

 

 

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19 hours ago, CedB said:

More marvellous work hendie - I do hope that, sometime soon, you can see past the 'problems' and see what I'm seeing; a lovely model with very realistic detailing :) 

 

Seconded!

 

Keith

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Never in a millennium of lifetimes would I ever get close to this standard. I’m in awe.

 

Enter this for any modelling competition and you would clean up.

 

Trevor the utterly impressed

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On 1/3/2020 at 5:45 PM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Not sure how to tell you this gently.  But you’ve left the rotor brake off (I mean it’s in the off position, not that you’ve missed it out).  
 

The SACRU & winch hydraulics are superb.

 

Still haven't got to the rotor brake - I keep finding distractions - or they keep finding me

 

On 1/3/2020 at 6:54 PM, CedB said:

More marvellous work hendie - I do hope that, sometime soon, you can see past the 'problems' and see what I'm seeing; a lovely model with very realistic detailing :) 

 

Thanks Ced.  I'll probably get past my current loathing for the insectual beast but I doubt it will ever top my favorites list.

 

On 1/4/2020 at 2:00 PM, keefr22 said:

 

Seconded!

 

Keith

 

Ta Keith

 

On 1/4/2020 at 2:31 PM, Navy Bird said:

Epic. No other word for it.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

I have a few choice ones, but modesty prohibits me...

 

On 1/4/2020 at 2:44 PM, Max Headroom said:

Never in a millennium of lifetimes would I ever get close to this standard. I’m in awe.

 

Enter this for any modelling competition and you would clean up.

 

Trevor the utterly impressed

 

Thanks Trevor.  I would possibly consider my 1/48 effort as a competition entry, but this?  Never!

 

 

So. Sunday evening draws to a close and I come to the end of my brief seasonal sabbatical and go back into captivity tomorrow.  I had hoped that I'd have managed to get this thing finished and put it behind me, but alas, twas not to be.  I keep finding missing greeblies and uncovering little jobs that take inordinate amounts of time and effort to complete.

 

Pete's handle got fitted.

 

P1040001.jpg

 

Blades got their first lick(s) of paint (or did I do that earlier?  can't remember).  The neoprene leading edge got painted

Still yellow caps to add, along with other doobries, greeblies, and assorted flora & fauna

 

P1040002.jpg

 

The home printed aerial got fitted

 

P1040003.jpg

 

The high voltage aerials got a lick of paint - here they are compared to the kit parts.  I deliberately made mine a bit beefier to give me something to work with.  The kit parts aren't bad but they do seem a bit anorexic to me.

 

P1040004.jpg

 

Then they were fitted slightly out of place but what the heck eh?   The forward one here has had some stainless steel wire glued in for the front loop.  I think I'm going to leave the connecting pieces off until I get the folded blades in place otherwise I'll probably wreak havoc with the threads.

 

P1040008.jpg

 

There's a towel rail aerial on the port side and Fly provide only two stubs to mount a piece of wire on.   - which would not look like the 1:1 - and also be very easy to knock off.

I've used the stubs, glued in some wire pins, stuck on some brass rod then used super-gloop as an overwrap on the brass rod.

Once that hardens up, I should be able to shape it to achieve a more realistic form... maybe.

 

P1040006.jpg

 

I thought I was finished with sticker sticking but no. Back to wet, slap, and coaxing again.

 

P1040009.jpg

 

As before, I'm using the Phoenix offerings - you can see how gaudy the kit supplied offerings are compared to the Phoenix yellows.  The only drawback is that I have to fix the white stripes in place before I can apply the yellow stripes, therefore, twice the effort and time - but much more visually pleasing - eventually

 

P1040010.jpg

 

later that day....

 

P1040011.jpg

 

then miraculously overnight they all turned yellow!

 

P1050001.jpg

 

While that was all put aside to dry/cure/settle in, something was gnawing at me concerning the blades.

 

Ah, yes.... off to the lathe and I made 4 of these little buggers.  Actually I made 7, but three of them managed to escape before I could harness them.  Ø2.5mm down to Ø2mm down to Ø1mm and 0.5mm flange, 1.25mm body and who cares for the length of the 1mm pin.   Oh, there's also a small hole drilled in the front face

 

P1050002.jpg

 

Wotsthemfor? I hear you all exclaim amidst the stony silence - well, BIM's is what they're for.  Each blade has a BIM fitted at the root of the blade spar as a blade integrity test. 

This aluminum piece is the housing.

 

P1050003.jpg

 

Then also on the lathe, I managed to turn (not without some difficulty) 4 piece of clear styrene, which were then drilled out

 

P1050004.jpg

 

and had white paint dolloped on the inside.

 

P1050005.jpg

 

Once I've got my eyesight back, those will get trimmed at about 2mm length and fitted to the aluminum mountings for form the complete BIM's.  Yet another one of those details which don't add a lot to the build but if your brain is expecting to see them and they're not there...

 

P1050007.jpg

 

 

and that's it for this episode of Fly Swatting . 

 

I'm nearly there.

 

I think???

 

Maybe, well, not too much longer now. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Very nice detailing! I just had a look at the underside of my FROG Wessie to check the piping and put it away sharpish!

 

BIM = Blade Integrity Monitor? Is it like a magnet in your oil sump? Do tell...

 

Regards,

Adrian

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20 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

BIM = Blade Integrity Monitor? Is it like a magnet in your oil sump? Do tell...

 

Adrian, if I remember correctly... 

The spar in the rotor blade was hollow and filled with nitrogen. 

When the spar was correctly pressurized it held an internal sleeve in the BIM in such a position that only white was visible in the viewing glass.  If the blade integrity was compromised and nitrogen leaked out, it relieved the pressure inside the BIM and part of it slid back revealing black and white stripes.

There was a small test button/lever each BIM and part of a check (Can't remember how often) was to depressurize the BIM so that you could see the black/white stripes, and know that the BIM was working.

 

You can see them quite clearly on this Wiki photo

 

1024px-Rotor_head_detail,_Westland_Wesse

 

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6 hours ago, hendie said:

 

Adrian, if I remember correctly... 

The spar in the rotor blade was hollow and filled with nitrogen. 

When the spar was correctly pressurized it held an internal sleeve in the BIM in such a position that only white was visible in the viewing glass.  If the blade integrity was compromised and nitrogen leaked out, it relieved the pressure inside the BIM and part of it slid back revealing black and white stripes.

There was a small test button/lever each BIM and part of a check (Can't remember how often) was to depressurize the BIM so that you could see the black/white stripes, and know that the BIM was working.

 

You can see them quite clearly on this Wiki photo

 

1024px-Rotor_head_detail,_Westland_Wesse

 

That’s exactly how the system worked with metal blades on the Sea King, so I’m sure you do remember correctly.  All went away with composite blades, of course - but I don't think the dear old Wessex ever had such new-fangled modern things.

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8 hours ago, hendie said:

 

The spar in the rotor blade was hollow and filled with nitrogen. 

 

Fascinating. I had no idea that was the case there was an inert filling. 

Beautifully turned parts for those BIMs delivered with all the deceptive ease that we've come to expect.

Not long now. :clap2:

 

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10 hours ago, hendie said:

Thanks Ced.  I'll probably get past my current loathing for the insectual beast but I doubt it will ever top my favorites list.

That’s Ok Alan; I’ll keep the flame alive ‘till your past the loathing.  It can lodge ‘till then on my fav. list.

 

10 hours ago, hendie said:

well, not too much longer now. 

I shall miss this thread.  It’s been a reliable provider of much enjoyment; not least from the hendie grumbling about perceived non-perfection (which I have come to believe is a purely subjective condition not readily apparent to the objective observer :)).

 

It’s also been jolly informative.  And if I had any retentive brain cells left I’d be hanging onto new (to me) concepts such as SACRUs and BIMs.   P’raps we ought to have a test in a year’s time......

 

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Incidentally, the BIM system only showed whether there was a problem with the main spar.  This was fine in almost all circumstances, since the way those ‘metal’ blades were constructed was a main spar with a series of honeycomb airfoil-shaped pockets attached to the rear of it; that’s why model blades are shown with what look like panel lines, since the pockets had visible edges.

 

In 1982 the CO of 846, Simon Thornewell, was bounced by an A4 and received a cannon shell through one of the blades of his Sea King HC4.  Since it didn’t hit the spar, the blade didn’t disintegrate and he was able to land perfectly safely.  I am 99% certain that the appropriate BIM remained white throughout.

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IIRC the BIMS were checked on every After Flight ServIcing, never found one faulty.

Hendie, the only word to describe this model is magnificent, the attention To detail is astounding.

 

When it is completed, I think you deserve several stiff drinks to celebrate

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