Jump to content

Short SC.5/10 Belfast


Recommended Posts

That Blue interior shade is just about on  the nail except for dirt and essence of RAF Movements people's dirty hands, boots and general butchery !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

The roof has been reunited with its fuselage and needs some filling, filing and tidying up

spacer.png

 

After some filling and cleaning back, a coat of primer has been applied to identify where I have missed with the filler

spacer.png

 

It looks a bit of a mess still but I'm enjoying this hacking and slashing, then rebuilding, as I'm finding out how far I can go with re-working a vacform kit.

 

cheers


Mike

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recall when I had my 3 hour circuit bashing flight from Brize, us cadets were loaded on to the main cargo floor where they had a bunch of aft facing airline style seats in RAF fashion. The seats only occupying an area on one side of the hold by the undercarriage bays. Some cadets got 'billeted' upstairs behind the cockpit.

Meanwhile us down below got a bit bored and played 5 a side footy with a screwed up ball of paper... not helped by banking turns when practising final approaches etc. I was on one side peering out a window when a change of direction had me  rolling across the floor and landing on opposite wall narrowly missing the emergency lever of an escape hatch. Very few of us were staying strapped in to the seats. The flight was broken up for a comfort / tea break when we parked up on a hardstand somewhere on the base when the NAAFI van rolled up serving refreshments and then everyone got herded back on board via aft ramps and off again for another hour or so .  I'll try and scan my pics when I find them and post on BM .

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good story Paul Your mates were up on a removable Stub Deck which we fitted as and when required on the flight's Prep Chit from Load Planning. Are you sure you went back to Brize for that NAAFI van ? Unless they got one specially for the ATC Summer camp season, we didn't have them at Brize ,no need. Every Section/flight and Squadron had their own Tea bars supplied by the NAAFI. They had the Monopoly on all food sold on RAF Stations. The only get out was we could buy a bulk bread roll and Duffnut orders from bakeries as NAAFI didn't bake anything.

Like to see any photos you have from that day.

We also had to clean up any honk, quite a bit sometimes after the Space Cadets left the kite . Later in the 80s The rules changed (thank goodness) I had the pleasure of digging their Officer out of the mess to clean it up !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, bzn20 said:

Good story Paul Your mates were up on a removable Stub Deck which we fitted as and when required on the flight's Prep Chit from Load Planning. Are you sure you went back to Brize for that NAAFI van ? Unless they got one specially for the ATC Summer camp season, we didn't have them at Brize ,no need. Every Section/flight and Squadron had their own Tea bars supplied by the NAAFI. They had the Monopoly on all food sold on RAF Stations. The only get out was we could buy a bulk bread roll and Duffnut orders from bakeries as NAAFI didn't bake anything.

Like to see any photos you have from that day.

We also had to clean up any honk, quite a bit sometimes after the Space Cadets left the kite . Later in the 80s The rules changed (thank goodness) I had the pleasure of digging their Officer out of the mess to clean it up !

It was August 1971.  Pretty sure it was Brize we stopped at half way, lots of Brits and Bellys' in background and the VC 10 of course. Defnitely recall the Tea wagon as it left a cloud of smoke on departing the pan.  Talking of 'honking' it was the only time evear when I have flown that I felt queezy...( no honking from me!) probably the dodgy orange squash I had from the van. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Paul J said:

August 1971

Ah..I got there in FEB 72..

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Apologies for the long delay on this update, I've had a few problems with the engines in that I must have sanded them too thin. A couple of them have had shims inserted along their centre-line to make the the correct width again,  As can be seen in the view below, the wings have been attached and the joints filled.

spacer.png

 

The engines have also been fitted to the wings but there is a fair bit of work still to do in getting the shapes correct.  Methinks I am going to have to resort to some Milliput application here and there!

 

cheers

 

Mike

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still plodding on with this one, however other builds came dragging my interests away!   The light grey lower coat has been added along with the cheatline.

spacer.png

 

I am left with a problem though, as I decided to close up the glazings with the intention of making some decal windows.  The problem is that I cannot find any templates to use as a reference.  There are plenty of 'flat' profiles but nothing that shows the curvature of the windows around the nose section.

spacer.png

 

Whilst I am pondering the decals problem, I shall continue by making all the doors and hatches; followed by the wheel assemblies and wheelbay doors.

spacer.png

 

Thanks again for looking.

 

Mike

 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, bootneck said:

windows around the nose section.

Might be a bit tricky . Not much to use in the way of a datum . Can you do it  using the three view scale drg ? Should be able to get something from those.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HI Mike.

Hindsight being the wonderful thing that it is,  could you not have taken a template of the framing before filling the windows?

I'll have a look at my copy of the kit and see if I can do that for you later in the week if it helps.  Do a trial run with masking tape and then you should be able to work your magic  with "Inkscape"

 

Chris

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, bzn20 said:

Might be a bit tricky . Not much to use in the way of a datum . Can you do it  using the three view scale drg ? Should be able to get something from those.

The drawing on the WM instruction sheet isn't to scale; however, There should be enough detail to do as you suggest.  Then it will just be a case of tweeking each part until the window frames match the model.

 

cheers

 

Mike

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I've had a bash at drawing the cockpit frames and glazing from the instruction sheet, it isn't that easy; especially working to slightly oblique views. 

 

This is where I've got to this evening but I'm tired and my eyes are really sore now so I'm going to stop.

spacer.png

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Mike

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A print onto ordinary copy paper has been used for this dry-fit of the cockpit framing.  

 

As can be seen in this view, the side windows are angled upwards toward the rear and so I will need to change the angle, between the front frames and the rear, to fix this.

spacer.png

 

More tomorrow.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Mike

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is now time to add the undercarriage however, being a vacform kit, there was nothing on the inside for the oleo's to attach to.  To overcome this, I added 'wings' to the cargo deck which protruded out the sides of the fuselage.

spacer.png

 

Because there were no locator holes, pre-cut to a specific depth, for the wheel assemblies to sit correctly; I had to think of a method to ensure that the wheels all touched the ground evenly.  The solution was to add blocks of plastic strip, which had been cut to match the floor-to-underbelly height, and tack them to the model with paper glue.  I used Pritt because it sticks quite well and holds firm, but can easily be removed with a damp cotton bud afterwards.

spacer.png

 

Once that was done,  the model was inverted and I drilled locating holes for the wheel struts.  Next came the task of inserting the wheel assemblies and ensuring the bottoms of the wheels aligned with line of the plastic blocks.  I decided to use G-S Hypo Cement, which is a slow-drying clear glue, normally used for attaching fine P.E. railings to ship models.  The benefit of this was that, after glueing all the wheels into position, I could turn the model over to the upright position, back onto the blocks again; then let the wheels lower under their weight to settle on the ground while the glue dried.  I left that for about 24hours and then went over the attachment points with superglue, just to ensure strong attachments.  After everything had set, I then dampened the plastic blocks and removed them, followed by a wipe with a damp tissue to clean off any paper-glue residue. 

The model now sits correctly and evenly.

spacer.png

 

Further work to do this weekend:

1. construct and add the wheel bay doors, fuselage hatches and the rear loading ramps. 

2. continue working on the decal for the cockpit glazing.

spacer.png

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Mike

 

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, bootneck said:

looking

You should have seen Undercart functions, the Belfast's was a work of art, the way all that Bogie folded and then rotated and fitted into that Blister. The Britannia which the Belf was based on had less wheels but was nearly as weird.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah, that way to get the wheels level is very clever indeedy.

Yesterday I found an old photo in my collection; it shows 8 Belfasts being built in the workshed at Shorts, Belfast

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apologies for the lack of updates recently, I've been distracted somewhat with making decals for another GB.  

 

I have started work on the rear ramp and am just making up the components now.

short_sc5-10_belfast_32_rear_ramp_starte

 

I hope to be able to position this in the lowered configuration, perhaps with a load about to be embarked or disembarked.

 

Mike

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whilst cleaning up the Aeroclub props for this kit, I managed to snap off one of the blades!   Fortunately I have an alignment tool which should help when re-attaching the prop.

spacer.png

 

This alignment tool was produced by UMM-USA and I've been trying to buy one since January but they've been sold out for some time.

The prop has been positioned and I will use a mix of gel (G-S Hypo Cement) to hold the prop in place, followed by a coating of CA glue to strengthen the joint.

spacer.png

 

The area of the join is very narrow and so I'm not sure that this will take.  Time will tell.

 

More work to do on the rear loading hatch, plus the cockpit windows, and I hope to give a further update soon.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Mike

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are having the Ramp floor Lashing Points ( are they lashing points ,those dots ? ) you going to have the 4 seat rails too ?  Just asking and about to hide somewhere . Bringing back the memories with this build ,not all good but some really funny times too .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Behave! :dull:

 

To be honest, I hadn't noticed those rails. :doh:

spacer.png

 

There's still time to score in those lines, whilst I re-drill the remaing lashing points that have been filled with paint.

 

Mike

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've go a great photo of a ramp down . You'll be able to make an educated guess of the dimensions.The outer seat rail is about a foot from the outbd edge of the floor part of the ramp both sides. I can send it by email  to get a roughly accurate ( Makes no sense!) idea. Just need your email , promise I wont become a cloned  Bootneck Mk2 and buy mail order Bayonets and tins of compo Baby's heads with your pension !

Edited by bzn20
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...