hendie Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 lovely work Ian - that's very reminiscent of the Lysander back end 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 (edited) On 2/12/2020 at 9:25 PM, AdrianMF said: That gunner's position looks the business. Nice to see you back in action. The gap for the plugs sounds like a great lair for a homeless carpet lino monster... Regards, Adrian Thanks Adrian. The gap is not blocked off at the back off the desk, except for the end piece of the computer desk. So it's easily accessible and I can smack the tile monster when needed! On 2/13/2020 at 1:40 AM, Terry1954 said: Yes great to see this back on again. The cockpit is looking good. Terry Cheers Terry! On 2/13/2020 at 3:32 AM, hendie said: lovely work Ian - that's very reminiscent of the Lysander back end Thanks Alan, it is a little similar but also very different! The gun mount has been fun....see below. As alluded to above, I decided to attack the gun mount today. The rotating drum part was first glued in with Gator Grip, the I dug out the Miniworld gun and associated bits to see how they would fit. The first thing that struck me was that the mounting is not a straight run from top to bottom. Having sat and pondered that for a while I decided to solder a T-piece onto a length of .04mm (16 thou) brass rod then solder that to the mounting supplied with the Miniworld part. It would be a lot easier to explain with pics, but guess what? My phone was hungry! All went well until I tried to separate the new assembly from the original lower part of the mount. I clipped off the old mounting while holding the new lower mount and was greeting by the all-too-familiar "click...tick, tick, tick..." as it disappeared off somewhere. I had apparently soldered the lower part of the replacement mount to the old one as well as just attaching it at the T-piece, so when I snipped the old mount off, the solder sheared, and off it went! Amazingly I found it very quickly and decided to give the clipped part a quick file to smooth the end. Off it went again, this time into oblivion! I then spent at least 1/2 hour either searching for it, or just sitting thinking about what I was going to do next. Leave it and go for a beer was top of the list for a while. Then I looked at one of my file pics and realised that the bracket supplied by Miniworld wasn't right anyway, so I might as well start again. So I did. One piece of .04mm rod with a small bend at the end. Another piece soldered to the small bend. Ha! Caught the phone off guard this time! Then a cross piece added at the bottom as the swivel mount.. (that pic shows it later on with the chain guard added - a piece of 10 thou by 30 thou strip). That also ended up being done twice because the first time I soldered it as a butt joint on top of the cross piece. When I realised that it should be in front of the cross piece, I touched the iron to it to melt the one joint and everything fell apart, so I had to start again, again! Here's how it looks dry fitted It won't lean that far forward when finally fitted, there will be a small gap between it and the front of the rotating drum mount. Then I had to make up the mounting for the gun. I decided on a piece of brass bar and cut a notch into it with a razor saw. The edge was then filed down to make it as thin as I dared. After clipping it off the bar I filed down the other edge to give me this That was then CAd to the bottom of the gun. I used CA as I didn't think I'd be able to solder it on (I still don't!) Anyway, here's what I have now The top of the mounting in the previous pics will be CAd into the slot in that part to mount the gun. Hopefully it will be strong enough as there shouldn't be any pressure on it. That little lot represents about 4 hours of my life that I won't get back. Oh well, at least it's done! Onwards and upwards! Thanks for looking in! Ian Edited February 14, 2020 by limeypilot 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Some neat progress Ian, looks like 4 hours well spent to me! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 I might be a bit late with these (lovely work Ian): 10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Great stuff Ian, great micro-engineering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I just realised those are millimetres on that ruler... Gosh, Adrian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 9 hours ago, keefr22 said: Some neat progress Ian, looks like 4 hours well spent to me! Keith Thanks Keith 5 hours ago, CedB said: Great stuff Ian, great micro-engineering My eyes hurt.... 3 hours ago, AdrianMF said: I just realised those are millimetres on that ruler... Gosh, Adrian See above! Many thanks Tony for those pics. I have the bottom one but the top one is new to me and is a huge help with figuring out the shape of the front mounting plate. There seem to have been quite a few variants on the actual mounting piece for the K gun, I'm going for this type. My original effort actually had a horizontal mount piece soldered on, but for the second attempt I just bent the rod and left it at that. In this scale it really isn't very noticeable, and will be even less do once the gun is on! I may add a smear of putty to make it look rounded, we'll see.... @TheBaron does your reference show the two flaps that fill the gap 'twixt canopy and mounting drum? It appears they were left in place with the canopy open but gun mount closed which would indicate that either they operated as part of the mounting, or were released manually prior to rotating the mount. I think they hinge at the bottom and fold down under the rear part of the rotating bracket. Ian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 23 minutes ago, limeypilot said: does your reference show the two flaps that fill the gap PM sent Ian - no explicit visuals on that bit but forwarded on descriptive text as to installation and operation of area. Hope it is of some help in working out the procedure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 Perfect Tony, thanks! The comments on operating it clear it up. I now know to paint the visible part of those pieces in the exterior colour. Thanks again! Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 A little progress on the gun mounting. I removed the front former which was forcing the mounting brackets too far back, and shortened the chain cover, which should only be on the upper half. After a little bit of repair work to tidy all that up, the soldered mounting done yesterday fits much better. I started work today on the front part of the bracketry that holds the gun cylinder in place. More tomorrow! Ian 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Great progress - I love seeing these old kits come to life. I have a suspicion that similar work awaits me whenever I tackle my Special Hobby kit, which I suspect is not as good as the old Airfix, shape-wise. Cheers, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 19 hours ago, AdrianMF said: I just realised those are millimetres on that ruler... I had a similar moment of realisation! Great stuff Ian. Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 15 hours ago, limeypilot said: Nothing quite says “inter-war innocent times” like an aircraft with its own battle ensign. What the actual f...? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 16, 2020 Author Share Posted February 16, 2020 (edited) 18 hours ago, Navy Bird said: Great progress - I love seeing these old kits come to life. I have a suspicion that similar work awaits me whenever I tackle my Special Hobby kit, which I suspect is not as good as the old Airfix, shape-wise. Cheers, Bill Yikes! Not as good as this piece of junk? Surely it HAS to be better? Have you read from the beginning Bill? 18 hours ago, Terry1954 said: I had a similar moment of realisation! Great stuff Ian. Terry Cheers Terry! 18 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said: Nothing quite says “inter-war innocent times” like an aircraft with its own battle ensign. What the actual f...? I had similar thoughts when I first saw it. Typical British Empire! Today saw more squinting through the magnifying glass, but it was worth it. At close of play yesterday I had made up the backplate for the front bracket and started attaching 10 thou strip to it to add some detail. It was left overnight to ensure that it dried before the next step. That was tackled today and consisted of adding to the teeny tiny strips of 10 thou around the edges and as strengtheners inside the bracket. it was simplified slightly but I think what is there is enough to give it some interest without getting too crowded. I could have used 5 thou I suppose, but I have my limits! After that was done I added the flaps at the rear which fold down separately after the canopy has been opened (thanks Tony!) to enable the drum to be rotated. They are not at quite the correct angle and should slope down more towards the centre, but I think I made the drum slightly too small so that is not possible. It'll do! Here is a quick visual on all that. (This one just for @AdrianMF and @Terry1954) That all then went into the cardboard box spray booth and got a coat of interior green. In other news, I treated myself to some more toys yesterday. Namely draw to fit under the desk for my plastic card stash (it doesn't work for me having it up in the hutch), a set of "nuts and bolts" storage bins, and a variable temperature soldering iron. The one I have is far better than the first one I bought but I think it's time to upgrade if I'm going to get serious about brasswork! It's one of these. although not bought on ebay! Time for a beer! Thanks for looking in! Ian Edited February 16, 2020 by limeypilot 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 1 hour ago, limeypilot said: " ... !!! " (that was me being speechless btw) 1 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 5 hours ago, limeypilot said: Yikes! Not as good as this piece of junk? Surely it HAS to be better? Have you read from the beginning Bill? It was just a premonition based on prior experience with Special Hobby...I haven't yet compared it to any drawings. Cheers, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 8 hours ago, limeypilot said: Looks like some kind of votive shrine to the God of Small Things. Beautiful work Ian. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Seconded! Amazing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 On 2/17/2020 at 1:19 AM, TheBaron said: Looks like some kind of votive shrine to the God of Small Things. Beautiful work Ian. On 2/17/2020 at 2:45 AM, CedB said: Seconded! Amazing Thanks Tony, Ced! Praise indeed from one who has shown the way with regards to offerings to the God of small things! When we last spoke the shrine gun mount had been sent of to get painted. It is done, and looks better for it! The eagle eyed among you will notice I have now added a tiny piece of .010" rod as a "handle". Done with this area now apart from touch ups at a later date. I dry fitted the canopy and realised my lovely DF loop was too big and didn't fit, so I made another one with slightly smaller diameter brass rod and a 2.5mm punch to wrap it around, instead of a 3mm one. Soldered together and painted and it fits! Ian Huntley's book on the Battle contains some very useful drawings, including one of the camouflage scheme with notes. Said notes include the following gems: "Note: Entire canopy dark green including mast. Decking below canopy dark earth. Pilot's hood half dark green and half dark earth. Pilot's windscreen frame dark earth". Also "No hard lines to appear between colours. Colours to be merged into one another at edges. Although how wide the merged areas were, and whether they would be noticeable at this scale is another matter. I'll have a ponder on that one. However it does mean I can be sure about the colours of the canopy and decking. I have done the support frames and DF loop the same colour: dark earth, as I don't see any reason for them to have been painted differently. Consequently a couple of hours today was spent chopping the support frames to length, then fitting them and the DF loop before attaching the canopy! That has been glued on with Gator's Grip, taped and left alone. I'll see how it looks tomorrow then I can fill any gaps and add the rest of the interior structure. There are some fillets to add to the side framing in the gunner's cockpit, plus the fittings for the rear canopy hinges. Then I can start trying to think about how the heck I'm going to mask it! I'm happy with that, looks well enough aligned for me! Thanks for looking in! Ian 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Nice work on the gun mount and canopy fit Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 incredible work Ian. that support structure for the canopy is excellent, though it could easily have been one of these moments 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 I used to work with an engineer who had moments like that. Stay out of the hangar when you hear shouting in case you get hit by a flying spanner. They were launched with huge force when he got frustrated! Ian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 More lovely neat micro engineering Ian, and that's a cracking little DF loop! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbudde Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 For me it looks like a fine Fairey Battle so far, especially on that old Airfix one recreated. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 WOW!!! Lovely job on the canopy and really nice detailon that tailgun!!! This Battle is coming to life!!!! Welldone Ian!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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