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1/48 Supermarine S6B


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Okay, I didn't think I would be joining this one, what with my Matchcaster in the works in the Matchbox GB, and a Matchbox He-115 I was thinking of making after that. But...

 

I came across this Testor's kit (factory new) on ebay, and with its sleek lines, good scale and awesome cheap price, I had to buy it. And now, I have to make it!:D

 

dg5v9CS.jpg

 

It will need some help though.

 

There's no cockpit.

 

There's a pilot, but he is a baaad pilot, and not worth taking off the sprue. So, it will need a seat, interior framing, an instrument panel and a control column. Also, the raised lines on the wings and the placements for the decals will have to go. After that, Ill also be opening the exhausts and removing some detail on the bulges that I'm not seeing on the actual planes.

 

Hopefully, this won't take too long, and it won't side-line my Lancaster. I'll see about getting some work started on it when I'm off on Friday.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Thom216
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Hi Thom,

 

Welcome to the GB! Great choice of a very elegant machine! I wish you luck, now that we're just one month away from the end of the GB :)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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Hi Thom,

 

looking forward to seeing your build. I have this kit as well, it's very 'Spartan' in its detailing with raised lines and a non existent interior. Still, it's a beautiful and historically important aircraft, and should be remodelled by Airfix.

 

John

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Have the same kit at the edge of my workbench so if you don't mind I'll watch your progress for tips and inspiration. Along with the lack of interior and rather enthusiastic raised surface detail there's a few shape inaccuracies but nothing horrific. Did consider drafting the pilot figure from an Airfix Spitfire kit to hide the lack of a cockpit but even their rendition of an undernourished 12 year-old boy was struggling to fit into the cramped confines of Testors S6b.

Edited by Col.
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Thanks for the good vibes! Gonna need em as I cocked up already!!!

 

First though, the good parts. The kit comes with engraved numbers in the tail and ridges to mark decal placements on the sides, I started by sanding down the ridges and loading the engravings with CA.

tGrJQfO.jpg

ubpY0d5.jpg

 

The tails were then sanded smooth and the seam for the rudder redone.

 

EULFZkY.jpg

 

You can still see the numbers, but that's because the CA is clear. It's nice and smooth to the rub!

 

Then the wings with their raised lines. Those had to go.

KK6fjvl.jpg

 

And after a little bit, I had the lines engraved.

 

5yjnThe.jpg

 

Now, onto the cocky part...

 

Here's the kits nacelle cover. 

 

IO1nnuF.jpg

 

 

I've been looking at the pics of the surviving birds, and upon looking at them, I interpreted them wrong. In the ones I saw, they those three louvers on the right looked like open holes rather than having louvered covers over them. So, I sanded them off...:rage:Then drilled nice round holes... :poop:

 

Here's how it looks now.

 

Xh3aC40.jpg

 

As you can see, I'm also in the process of opening up the exhausts. The two smaller holes at the end are for anchoring the wing rigging lines.

 

Of course, after this was done, I looked at the images again, and reinterpreted what I was seeing. Since the only cover half the holes, looking at pics from the back makes it look like there are three open holes, whereas ones from the front, looked like I was seeing the interior curve of the openings. But I wasn't... So, I'm brainstorming, and causing mental short circuits in order to make something to replace the louvers. 

 

On the plus side, and there is a plus side, the kit detail were actually facing the wrong direction anyway. The kit has them 'open' to the front, when they should be open to the back. That, and there should be three more on the top side of each housing, rather than just three per side. So, I'm beginning to experiment with some thin round stock, sanding and carving the ends to try and remake the louvers.

 

Wish me the luck!

 

 

 

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Good to see this started! Nice rescribing of the wings and rudder. Pity about the misinterpretation of pictures. I wish you luck for putting things back in good order and correcting the inaccuracies of the kit.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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5 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

I trust you are using the images from Prime Portal? There are no engraved panel lines on the wings, the skin is all lap joints spanwise, so the raised lines were a better representation.

Here's the pit for you.

25f7c4bd-15f7-488a-85ae-1b82475e2474.jpg

 

Thanks for that shot of the 'pit. Will come in real handy! I'll hunt up some more images of the wings, either way they may stay as they are now, though I may minimize the lines if they are not that prominent.

 

As for the louvers on the bulges, actually seen pretty well in that pic above, I believe I have found a solution, FIRE!

No, not setting the model on fire, :wait: but sprue ends. No pics at the moment, as I was testing this out. But, I had already drilled the holes on one, so I heated up the end of some sprue and pressed it through. It gave me a nice dome shape, plus a part perfectly fitted to the hole! Removing it, I then trimmed it in half and shaved away one side to open it up at least part way. So, I'll be doing that, as it came out looking pretty good, if I don't say so myself...:P I opened up the rest of the holes in preparation and will be buying a lighter tomorrow, as using matches was a pain!

 

Probably won't be able to do it until Mon or Tuesday. If you don't hear from me after that, then I burned my house down and the model is truly finished...

 

 

 

Edited by Thom216
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14 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

I trust you are using the images from Prime Portal? There are no engraved panel lines on the wings, the skin is all lap joints spanwise, so the raised lines were a better representation.

Here's the pit for you.

 

 

I was going to point this out too, but the kit panels are probably in the wrong places anyway. Also note that the rigging isnt round wires but flattened bars - in 1/72 I did this by supergluing two strands of fishing line side by side and filling in with paint.

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It seems that you have found a good solution to the louvre problem. I was going to suggest that you used rod but if you can mould something to fit exactly, that is by far a better method.

 

Will you buy a fire extinguisher when you buy the lighter?

 

P

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Get one of those little tea-light candels, or should I say several as they seem to come in big bags, great for heating and stretching plastic.

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7 hours ago, TallBlondJohn said:

 

I was going to point this out too, but the kit panels are probably in the wrong places anyway. Also note that the rigging isnt round wires but flattened bars - in 1/72 I did this by supergluing two strands of fishing line side by side and filling in with paint.

I used contrails strut and rod.

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Okay, for good or ill, the louvers on the nacelles are in. And the house has not been burned down! WOOHOO!!

 

They'll need to be cleaned up, and some of the plastic has warped a little, but I'm looking to fix that as it goes along.

 

eD5bILt.jpg

sHgmTda.jpg

1A4nBRL.jpg

 

It wasn't until the last few that I started to trim down the sprue before heating, otherwise...

 

dMmfRiK.jpg

 

And all in place. Again, they need to be cleaned up and I've already sanded them down a bit, as they are not supposed to be perfect domes.

 

Pwuf4b5.jpg

ph0D1J4.jpg

 

They look a little frightening at the moment, but I'm hoping some light coats of Mr Dissolved Putty will help with the transition. For the exhausts, I still need to open up the other side, and then clean those up whenever the mini-files shows up.

 

And I've started on the cockpit, putting a floor and back in, as well as ordering a resin seat and PE belts. The seat will have to be adjusted, as it is for a Spitfire, but i think the cushioned back looks good for my needs.

 

I also put Mr. Dissolved Putty into the panel lines on the wings. It was a mistake on my part, and now it's better than it was. If I need to make some attempt at 'panel lines,' then I'll see about using masking tape during the paint process to make some of those variations.

 

That's where she stands for now. Oh, and my MC 72 showed up! And the box was squashed... For some reason, it was mailed in a soft package rather than a box, but thankfully, the model is in good shape. Whew!

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I probably didn't have to set them on fire.:think: They were softening just by radiant heat, but I also didn't want them to harden too much before applying them to the holes, so they were set alight while I put down the lighter and then picked up the part. Still, it was a little too hot at times, as some of the plastic did start to warp a bit.:o Again, something to fix along the way.:D

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A little more work done, this time on the cockpit. Did the framing for the side walls with styrene strip. The horizontal member is made from strip that has cut-outs, which was just about perfect for sliding the verticals down behind it. The pencil marks are for where the foot pedals are going to be.

 

lYTV07v.jpg

2q35kf7.jpg

 

And when it comes time to putting the exhausts bulges on, I'm going to do them before the fuselage goes together. Make it easier for smoothing the join all around, then I just have to worry about the main seam when it goes together.

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I went back to the nacelles to clear out the exhausts, but I wasn't happy with how they were looking - so I cut them out. I hope I didn't ruin this, but I've replaced them with styrene strip. They'll be trimmed and cleaned up, but now the openings are square!!:D

 

5sD48ra.jpg

6kvY77u.jpg

zZvN2SG.jpg

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My hopes exactly!!:wink:

 

The seat came in the other day. As it is, it is a little wide and too tall, but that's alright.

0RYNtu4.jpg

 

The pencil line is where I've since cut the seat, as I'll just be using its back. I'll make a new seat and cushion from stryene, and thin the back enough to fit in.

 

Then it was back to the exhausts, only on the inside now. Thankfully, the only hollow styrene rod I have is the perfect size, though I did start opening the hole up further.

WdHsDj5.jpg

 

Slices were then cut off and glued side by side. I then used an exacto to thin the plastic even further where they meet.

 

7GoQMXb.jpg

 

These were then glued inside the nacelle, with some trimming (and over-trimming which then requires new 'manifolds' to be made. And after the odd one or two pinged off into the aether...)

 

Gosh it looks hideous in there!!:tmi:

 

mTwGtMi.jpg

 

But, I think the pay off is worth it!

 

5mWJNKh.jpg

 

More to do tomorrow!

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