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


hendie

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thanks for all the comments folks.  Just a quick blast for this evening I'm afraid.

I got back from my trip a hour or two early so took the opportunity to hide down stairs before SWMBO got home.

 

A few more pipes 'n' bits 'n' bobs 'n' nubbins added.  I also removed and redid the last two pipes at the rear of the cabin as no rigger in their right mind would have made such a hash of the pipes as it was.  It's all looking a bit better now, though not completely finished.

 

P9290001.jpg

 

The ducting was added using some milliput for the vertical section as it lies against the outer skin then curves over the stringer just above the window line. Again, still more to be added there, but I need the milliput to harden before continuing there.

 

P9290002.jpg

 

and without clamps... (I hope I have left enough room to get the floor in place)

 

P9290004.jpg

 

Then the starboard side got their share of ribs and stringers, so I can make a start on adding the pipework tomorrow, if I can slink away for a while

 

P9290005.jpg

 

So, nothing earth shattering but small progress

 

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22 hours ago, Nigel Heath said:

Even small progress is most welcome.

 

and so shall it be again.

 

I got some more piping done, tidied up a few odds and ends and added the fish plates.  At this stage I had to add the windows and I managed to mess up both... urghh.

There are no location features for the windows and they merely push into the provided openings.  They were a bit tight and ended up being recessed from the outer skin - not good.  A little bit of filing was called for, and of course, the file slipped.  Nothing major but it will call for a little bit of micro-meshing later.  Then, on the second window, I managed to gte a little bit of glue on the outer surface due only to my cack-handedness.  Again, nothing major and can be fixed relatively easily, but annoying nonetheless.

 

P9300001.jpg

 

A coat of primer was thrown on.  I'll need to sort out some interior color (suggestions welcome) as I only have two greys - mid, and light, and they both look almost white to me, so I guess I'll be perusing ebay this evening.  It definitely needs some color to break up the monotony.

 

P9300002.jpg

 

The top end of the ducting is still to be added but I want the interior color on before I do that part.

The starboard side was started, and there's a lot less pipery going on with this side.  I think a few more pipes and this side can also get a coat of primer. (and a window)

It looks terrible in this photo so some cleanup is required

 

P9300004.jpg

 

Once that done, and I have some interior grey in place, I can begin adding the electrical cables and assorted boxes and controls.  Then I'll need to start thinking about the seats and how I'm going to approach them.  I'm not too impressed with the kit seat frames so I can see some soldering action in the near future.

 

 

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19 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

I take it the seat brackets are on the upper tubes?

 

The kit parts are very basic, and nothing like the 1:1.   It looks like I'll be making the seat brackets and all that goes with it

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On 29/09/2017 at 10:38 PM, hendie said:

 

So, nothing earth shattering but small progress

Only needs a tectonic plate to shift an inch or so for....

well you can see what that clumsy piece of metaphorical praise was headed hendie.

 

Despite those  attempts to play down the level of skill involved, your high standards are well known by now - with that structure visually unified by a snort of primer, it fairly hums with vibrancy!

 

Was going to ask if there was soldering imminent but you've cleared that point up in advance.:D

 

Bravo!

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On 29/09/2017 at 10:38 PM, hendie said:

A few more pipes 'n' bits 'n' bobs 'n' nubbins added.

 

I do like a good bit of technical jargon....!! :)

 

Very nice pipes 'n' bits 'n' bobs 'n' nubbins they are too, cracking job!

 

Keith

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Superb work as usual there.

I was looking for an interior picture to confirm dark grey in colour and came up with this. Strange thing is despite being down the back more than a few times,I cannot remember those red cables!

Strange thing the brain isn't it?

495360492bad081661d19dbee3eb67e6.jpg

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3 hours ago, Scimitar said:

Strange thing is despite being down the back more than a few times,I cannot remember those red cables!

 

Are you sure that isn't a later Mod, or some strange fit?    It's been over 30 years since I was messing about on these so everything I remember is rather monochromatic.  Like you , I don't remember bright red cabling anywhere, but it would certainly add some color to an otherwise drab interior.  I can hardly even remember the lush green soundproofing.

 

 

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On 30/09/2017 at 9:55 PM, hendie said:

  It definitely needs some color to break up the monotony.

 

There are lots of nice well defined corners, edges, nooks and crannies that cast deep shadows for real (as per Richard's photo) and look like they would benefit from a generous dark oil wash tho'?

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The red piping is inside XR525 I recall seeing it inside her when I was researching her,I do have a few vague pictures but I'm not sure where

 

I might have even sent them to Hendie when he was Wessexing a while back

 

I'm in N Yorks at the mo' and don't have access to the hard drive on the home computer

 

 

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In between bouts of traveling I have managed to spend some time down in the basement.  Not as much as I would have liked - most of this weekend was spent installing a video security system due to having some unwanted visitors a week or two ago.  I'm not even going to try and get around the forum filter.  Talking of unwanted visitors,  we have also inherited a rather large groundhog in the past couple of weeks, who has managed to burrow under one of our bay windows.  After calling a few companies and getting ridiculous quotes for trapping him (about $500!), I amazoned a trap and set that up last week.  So far, he has managed to eat a full cantaloupe over the course of  3 or 4 visits into the trap.  I am now convinced that I have a 36" groundhog as he apparently cannot get caught in a 32" trap.  I'm about to go an invest in a 42" trap in the hope that he's a bit shorter than that.

 

Anyhoos, on to more important stuff.  Wessi. 

The starboard side got the same treatment as the port side though there's a lot less going on in that side.  I also added a few more greeblies on the port side after I came across some good reference material.

 

PA010003.jpg

 

This time I came prepared and masked both sides of the window before I attempted to  glue it in place.  With no real location features, getting it just in the right place so that it wasn't protruding too far, wasn't recessed, and was relatively square to the airframe was a bit challenging but I think I got there in the end.  Time will tell.

 

PA010002.jpg

 

A quick squirt of primer later...

 

PA080015.jpg

 

That brought me back to the internal gubbinses. To be honest, I am not particularly impressed with the kit offerings in this regard.  Take a look at this bulkhead panel and compare it to @Scimitar's photo above.  Spot the resemblance ?  Well, I can't.  

The kit offering is rather vague in parts, fantasy in other parts, and generally does not give me the warm and fuzzies.  It's not even square, or symmetrical, and missing half the parts.

 

PA040005.jpg

 

You can see I have already started with an idea of modifying the panel.  I am going to have to make some major alterations to this to make it usable methinks.

I began by cutting out replacement panels.  Then I scraped some styrene rod to remove half the diameter, and give me a flat edge. This 'half-round' rod was then cut to length, and after cursing the gods for a while, I managed to micro-mesh the ends into a nice curve, or approximation thereof.  The panel was then marked out and the 'ribs' glued into place.

 

PA080007.jpg

 

One panel finished, only 4 more to go.

 

PA080008.jpg

 

And sitting in place, it looks a lot more convincing than the kit part.

 

PA080009.jpg

 

Three panels down, one panel to go.  I also attempted the lightening holes in the strengthener attached to the bulkhead - this is about my 4th attempt here - and I still threw this one away.

 

PA080010.jpg

 

Fly do include a nice little fire extinguisher for the bulkhead -  which was nice of them.  Unfortunately, it's a little too long, and equally unfortunately, it's the wrong type.  At least I now have two nice little extinguishers for the spares bin.

 

Originally, I was going to manufacture a new bulkhead, but I thought I could at least try and salvage what I could from this one - so, out with the dremel clone and some minutes later, I had the recess for the fire extinguisher roughed out.  And while the dremel clone was out I started turning a new fire extinguisher from scrap rod.

 

PA080011.jpg

 

Fast forward to some time later this afternoon and the bulkhead is looking much better. 

I ended up using 'C' channel to make the strengthening strip.  I also sanded off all the original Fly detail, leaving just the blank panel as my starting point.

I still have 5 ribs to add to the fire extinguisher mounting panel, but I want to phnargle the recess a bit first to make it look a bit neater.  I'll add the ribs after that is complete.

 

PA080013.jpg

 

I need to look a bit closer when I have more time but it looks as though the entire internals at the front end are not quite like the 1:1.  There should be a gap between the cockpit bulkhead and the bulkhead shown here when looking forward from inside the cabin.  Not so with Fly's version - so it looks like we will be cutting bits here and there to try and make it look a bit more authentic when the time comes.

 

Lastly, the obligatory dry fit to see what kind of effect the bulkhead modifications have introduced. (yes, I gave it a squirt of primer since the airbrush was in action today)

 

PA080017.jpg

 

There's still a bit of trimming to be done to get it to fit correctly, but I am much happier with this than the out of the box solution.

 

and now I'm off to get ready for yet another week of traveling.  So no more updates until at least next weekend.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, hendie said:

a gap between the cockpit bulkhead and the bulkhead shown here when looking forward from inside the cabin.

This photos is an H-34 but same basic  layout as Wessex.

I got slagged rotten for bumping the stick the first time I climbed up from the cabin into the left hand seat!

20090730_145212_Flug_Deutsches_Museum_Fl

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Budge up at the back chaps so I can get in, sorry I'm late Skipper. Not sure why I keep getting hooked on these super-detailed Heli builds - well apart from watching people with immense talent at work. Please Sir shall there be rivets?

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13 hours ago, Harley John said:

Please Sir shall there be rivets?

Dome headed inside, mushroom headed on the exterior. 

Generally 1/8 diameter shank with larger in places.

Huck bolts? on the radius arm castings.

After that, the 40 year old memories get a bit fuzzy...

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9 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Dome headed inside, mushroom headed on the exterior. 

Generally 1/8 diameter shank with larger in places.

Huck bolts? on the radius arm castings.

After that, the 40 year old memories get a bit fuzzy...

Just googled the three types. Interesting what you learn here. 

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