airscale Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 (edited) hello again folks Having finished my 1/18 Spitfire XIV, I am hooked on the scale as it allows me to go nuts on detailing and get a scale effect through skinning with metal, so after a bit of deliberation I have settled on my next victim... ...you don't see many of these, in fact none in large scale (yet) and I like UK prop aircraft so I settled on the Fairey Firefly - they don't come in natural metal finishes which I like as it shows off the metalwork, so the nearest I could find is this bird a TT5 VX376 seen on 29th Feb 1956 - Pilot: S/Lt Mike Thorne, Observer: Lt Jones, Duty: Townsville to Cairns & target towing for the 1st Frigate Squadron... ..it is near enough NMF for me, this one, sister ship VX388 is in Steve Long's care in Oz and shows the sort of anodised looking finish - it is probably paint, but either way I still think I can work with it, and if worst come to worst I will just paint it . I may well do VX388 as you can't have better references than a real, and more importantly unrestored example.. ..the first step in any project like this is good plans. I intend to scratchbuild it using traditional methods so a good outline & section plan is a must. I found some fantastic 3 views with sections by Jumpei Temma whom I trust as I used his work on my 1/24 F7F Tigercat... ..I had these scaled to 1/18 - here seen with my laptop - as you can see she is a big girl - 64cm span and about a third bigger than my Spit... I have two more sheets not shown that detail the undersurfaces & the fuselage & sections... ..the next step is getting repetitive strain injury by right click & saving every image on the internet I can find - some are real quality shots like this of VX388 - I can reproduce everything you see here, but cut some corners as will be seen.. ..once references have been started I can start to work up a Photo-Etch sheet for the model - I did thsi for my Spit and F7F and it means many, many parts that would be difficult or time consuming to make can be 'drawn' in at about 5 - 10 minutes an item - some are obviously more complicated, but simple things like hatches, brackets, instruments, radiators all sorts of stuff can be made. It just takes a bit of basic PC skills with a drawing program like CorelDraw (subscription @£22 a month, drop in & drop out whenever you need it) - I learned all I know with this and Rhino 3D modelling from Youtube videos - it really is straightforward.. making a PE fret has a couple of rules I may well do a quick tutorial on, but basically you just draw things in layers - things you want full thickness & things you want part etched - anywhere you can see through is just dissolved away. You also need to tag things to a frame so they don't just float away on theor own.. ..so here is a bulkhead where I have started to trace it's outline and add detail to.. anything in blue is half etched - that is to say it disolves away half the thickness of the sheet, anything in yellow is full thickness - the metal is left untouched.. you can see I set the shapes to be transparent so I can see what is going on in the original pic - it is just like tracing... ..while this kick-off post doesn't have any actual building yet, I have spent about a week so far drawing up structures & components that will be used later on.. ..for example the instrument panel - there are two as one is a backplate the detailed one fits onto, as they are copies of each other they always fit perfectly ..lots of assorted parts including throttle & prop controls, compass mount and loads of internal / external hatches & brackets.. ..the Observers station - bulkheads & surrounding structure.. ..the pilot's bulkhead is actually three layers of structure to get the best level of base detail before all the framework is added... ..another cheat for complicated or uniform parts when scratchbuilding or converting is 3D modelling - this is a wheel from my Spitfire done on Rhino -again a 3 month trial is available with the software which is enough to learn the basics, and get a few parts done - I will likely repurpose this for the Firefly as it has four cut-outs in the middle not 3 and has block tread not diamonds, but wheels & the prop spinner are pretty straightforward parts to design using a 'revolve' surface tool.. so that's it for day one - I think it's about a 2 year build and it is an aircraft I think will really have presence when completed. I am always looking for close up internal reference pics, or drawings so please, if you find anything drop it in here or PM me I look forward to your company on the way, and while it is not as beautiful as a low back Griffon Spitfire, I hope it is engaging enough to keep us entertained TTFN Peter Edited October 1, 2017 by airscale 46 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Peter’s building a Firefly. I like Peter’s modelling and I like Fireflys. What a treat this is going to be - thanks Peter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Ok im in on this sitting in the corner watching quietly 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Bloody hell. This man is unstoppable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Get in! Yes please. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Barely finished the Spitfire and into this! Will follow closely again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJJunis Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Peter, Thanks for taking on another epic challenge. Will be following of course and learning all the way. All the Best! Don 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Peter, Loved your Spitfire, so I will dip in and out on this one as and when, if that's ok. Regards Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngaero Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 That's a very nice choice of aircraft Peter. I'm sitting in a very comfy armchair with two years supply of popcorn on order. I can't wait to see what I'm going to learn on this journey and any tutorials along the way would be gratefully received and very much appreciated. Best of luck. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 This is going to be a really interesting build - the Spitfire got us entranced so a Firefly will be great - Steve Long would be a good source of references for RAN Firefly's - not forgetting that Paul Fisher is working on a 1/32 Firefly kit to go with the Sea Fury - things are looking up - if only Wolfpack would get their act together and finally produce the 1/48 resin Firefly wingfolds! CJP 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Rich Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Another adventure begins! Huzzah! I'm right there with you Peter! Thank you for continuing to share your artistry with us!! I especially appreciate your sharing on photo-etching. Many thanks! PR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airbus320 Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Oh Lordy, this is going to be good...! Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F4u Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Great choice Peter looking forward to your progress and your excellent building skills. Guy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortCummins Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 I arrived at the Spitfire build very late, I glad I'm here for the start of this one really looking forward to this rgds John(shortCummins) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Looking forward to seeing this unfold. I predict an absolute masterpiece. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 (edited) Really looking forward to this, having found it fairly early for once I might even get a seat near the front! John Edited October 2, 2017 by Biggles87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Ranger Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Holy Photo-etch, Batman! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickthebrief Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Peter, Like so many others, I was enthralled by your Spitfire build and cannot wait to see how this one progresses. I sense you're well on your way with a TT5 - but there was an all over silver Mk IV (apart from anti-glare panel) - TW692 which features in a couple of photos - one I think in the Warpaint book...? Again, I think the silver was probably painted rather than natural metal - and I would think the yellow/black undersides and target towing gear of the TT5 would be really eye catching.... But I wouldn't want you to get to the end and then think "I should have done THAT one!" Looking forward to the next instalment. Cheers, Nick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Note to self, 1/Search Amazon for bulk discount on popcorn. 2/Try to avoid bedsores while watching this by moving occasionally. 3/ Keep the mods busy so they don't notice 2 years worth of pages. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick32 Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 I too came across your Spitfire build very late and spent many enjoyable hours reading the thread from start to finish - Glad i'm here in time to follow this one, the word Epic springs to mind! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 21 hours ago, CJP said: ..Paul Fisher is working on a 1/32 Firefly kit... Oh my! Is he? His Fury is stunning. Peter, you have picked one of my very fave aircraft; I look forward to learning a ton of stuff which I can then shamelessly plagiarise in 1/48! Hoorah! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 21 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said: Oh my! Is he? His Fury is stunning. Peter, you have picked one of my very fave aircraft; I look forward to learning a ton of stuff which I can then shamelessly plagiarise in 1/48! Hoorah! I found Fisher Firefly news on this forum link - http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=60778 CJP 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Approved!!! Stunning start with those drawings for the interior!!! Let us dream!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairystick Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Oh goodness! Here we go again. "Somewhere, a little Tigercat waits..." (I really was expecting progress to resume on that little gem.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zigomar Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Oh my! You really put the truth to the saying" The sky is the limit" don't you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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