An Airfix classic - The Fairey Battle receives some TLC plus 3d printed main gear, bomb racks, and bomb doors.

[Tomoshenko]

Looking wonderful. The few "snags" that you've highlighted will hardly give you any trouble. Look on the bright side, it's the perfect excuse for a bit of procrastination regarding the rescribing. Seriously though, superb work and great techniques and detailing all round. Reckon you've earned so many pints I'll have to drink a few for you.

[Brandy]

On 12/14/2018 at 7:58 PM, AdrianMF said:

Looks very nice in pale grey, especially considering all the surgery!

 

Regards,

Adrian

It does, doesn't it! A little extra work needed but nothing compared to what I was expecting....

 

On 12/14/2018 at 11:10 PM, Terry1954 said:

Just caught up on this, and things a looking really good Ian. The transformation from the original old kit to this is quite amazing! Always loved the Battle.

 

Terry

Thanks Terry!

 

On 12/15/2018 at 3:24 AM, TheBaron said:

Looking fantabulosa in that grey clothing!

You've earned more than a pint on those appearances Ian.

Reckon that's worth a second pint along with a Ploughman's lunch and a go on the fruit machine. 

Joyful to behold it looking so great after all that hard work.

I'll pass on the fruit machine and take another pint in lieu, if that's ok? Many thanks Tony!

 

On 12/15/2018 at 12:46 PM, CedB said:

Very nice Ian - smooth!

Lights turned out well too - good job  

Cheers Ced!

 

On 12/15/2018 at 2:05 PM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

She's looking great now, and will look even better after some scribing.  We have every confidence...

Thanks Crisp, no pressure then! I'm so glad I don't do flingy-wing things, I'd have no chance! 

 

The last few sessions at the bench have all been aimed at cleaning up the seams etc. You know the routine...fill, sand, fill, sand, repaint, fill, sand, etc

Here's the result:

 

 

 

 

I thought that was ok, but looking at these pics it seems there is still some work to be done on the tail and around the landing lights! During the "waiting for the paint to dry" times I decided to get another of the jobs done that I kept putting off. The resin wheels I bought were nicely detailed, but too wide, by quite a large amount!

 

 

The cure was to cut them in half vertically and sand down the joints until I had the correct thickness.

 

First part done....

 

 

getting there...

 

 

One done! The two halves are only rested against each other here, not yet glued

 

 

and both done.

 

 

I have a feeling my Christmas is going to be spent scribing.....

 

Happy Christmas everyone, and all the best for 2019!

 

Ian

Edited December 20, 2018 by limeypilot

[TheBaron]

Immaculate wheelies Ian.

And festive wishes to you in return! 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

 

[keefr22]

2 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Immaculate wheelies Ian.

And festive wishes to you in return! 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

 

 

Seconded!

 

Keith

[HAMP man]

As smooth a pair of velvet y fronts 

 

Ding dong

Box on

 

Strickers

[CedB]

Thirded! Smooooth... with skinny wheels!

Ced  

[Brandy]

Many thanks Tony, Keith, Strickers, and Ced!

 

One of the "joys" of being single is that I get to play with my toys on Christmas Day! Mind you, I had to do it this morning before I went out for my Christmas lunch and associated beer/wine/g&t (delete as per your preference, or simply have all three!). Needless to say I had to have a lie down when I got home as I could barely move. When I was young I could never understand why Grampa always took a nap after lunch. Some things one can only learn by getting older!

 

Anyway, now I'm semi-mobile once more, I can update you on my progress from the last couple of days.

 

I have repaired the last couple of blemishes spotted in the previous pics and resprayed those areas. While it was drying I turned my attention to another of the small jobs that needed doing, the exhausts. I had thought about using the set from the Airfix Hurricane, since I used aftermarket ones for that build. However, upon examining a little more closely they appear to be a little anaemic so I decided that surgery on the kit items was the way to go.

This is the monster that is supplied.

 

 

I know I took more pics of these but they seem to have disappeared so I'll have to make do with what's left.

 

Apart from being too big, the angles are wrong and they are slightly too long. The first step was to file down the tops to get the right angle, then shortened the outlets slightly and cut a small slot under the forward two. Here is the side view comparing the two.

 

 

The rear one was then drilled out. The front two are too thin to drill so they'll have to stay as they are. I could get a thin drill to them but the distance from the rear is too great and the drill would certainly snap. 

That left me with this.

 

 

so all that needed to be done then was to test fit and sand down the bases until I had the correct height, which looks like this.

 

 

Done!

 Thoughts then turned to the scribing. I had intended to copy @The Baron's method of using self-adhesive foil for the wing root fairings and small panel behind the gunner, but after adding the gunner's piece and respraying, it is so barely visible I decided it just wasn't worth the effort. I used bare-metal fol, and I think that it's too thin to be of use for this purpose. I don't have any thicker foil, so scribing it will be. It shows up in these pics simply because the light is directly on it at the right angle.

 

 

 

While I had the brush out, I blew some Misterkit Dark Earth on the panel under the canopy.

 

 

That was all yesterday, so this morning, with it dry, I started to work on guides for scribing the panels. I wasn't sure what to use. I had bought some plastic tape for those labeling tools as recommended by others but there is absolutely not stick to it at all. It won't even stick to paper, so it's no use whatsoever. (Yes, I did peel the backing off!). I decided to make some templates by cutting out the panels from a copy of the plans, sticking two pieces of masking tape on it, then cutting the tape to shape with a sharp scalpel blade. That seems to work, so far!

 

 That's when I realised that I maybe should have done that when I readjusted the wings....

 

 

That's definitely not right! So I cut the nose panel out, and looked at that.

 

 

You can see the adjustment I'm going to make here. By bringing the rear of the bottom edge of this panel up just a little I can make it "look right" and not have the steep drop to the front of the wing panel.

 

 

That looks much better, so on with the laminating.....

 

 

I just hope that these templates work ok to scribe against. I'll find out tomorrow!

 

Have a great evening, and thanks for looking in!

 

Ian

Edited December 25, 2018 by limeypilot

[hendie]

nice update Ian.  

 

I've never been a fan of that dymo tape  and only ever use it as a last resort, after all my other last resorts have been exhausted

 

 

[AdrianMF]

Good luck with the scribing! Hopefully the Airfix plastic will co-operate. A bit of creative panel lining never hurt anyone either.

 

I imagine Christmas where you are now is a bit different from the UK or US.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Martian]

I use Sotch Blue masking tape for re-scribing.

 

Martian 👽

[Courageous]

I hate it and I avoid it but one day it will be a must I'm sure.

 

Stuart

[Brandy]

On 12/25/2018 at 9:56 PM, hendie said:

nice update Ian.  

 

I've never been a fan of that dymo tape  and only ever use it as a last resort, after all my other last resorts have been exhausted

 

 

It won't even be that much of a last resort if it won't stick to anything!

 

22 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Good luck with the scribing! Hopefully the Airfix plastic will co-operate. A bit of creative panel lining never hurt anyone either.

 

I imagine Christmas where you are now is a bit different from the UK or US.

 

Regards,

Adrian

The Airfix plastic has proved to be most co-operative, it's the bits I've added that are causing the problems!

As to Christmas, it's not too bad. Plenty of Christmas lights/music in the bars and restaurants, and a lot less of the commercialism, so actually much nicer from my point of view!

 

20 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

I use Sotch Blue masking tape for re-scribing.

 

Martian 👽

I'm open to any options, may give that one a try!

 

17 minutes ago, Courageous said:

I hate it and I avoid it but one day it will be a must I'm sure.

 

Stuart

This may well be a one off after today's experience!

 

Well,

 the scribing so far has been a bit hit and miss. Some is very tidy, some is horrible. It doesn't help that I have to deal with original plastic, Evergreen plastic, and filler, all of which take the scribing differently. I'm not too displeased with the fuselage work. There are areas that are not perfect due to the filler or evergreen plugs but it's as good as I think I can get it. The wings are a different story, especially underneath. The scribing around the  bomb bays has gone clean through in places, leaving big holes. I've put some filler in and will see how that works. If it doesn't I may have to replace the whole underside section.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to work tomorrow, so I'll have to wait to see how this works out.

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Ian

[keefr22]

You could have tried using a superglue & bicarb mix to fill the holes in the underside Ian, it takes scribing much better than any model filler.

 

Strange about the Dymo tape, I think you must have had a bad roll, I've never had a problem with its stickiness, other than said stickiness doesn't last long if you want to reposition or re-use the tape. I usually stick it to Tamiya tape and cut it into thinner strips. It lasts longer and goes around curves better that way.

 

Keith

 

 

[Putty Animal]

Fantastic progress! 

I'm a little late to the party perhaps, but I can recommend Scotch "Magic tape" as a more manageable alternative to Dymo for scribing.  You can use it much the same way but it is much easier to cut and get around complex airframes.  Spreading it out and sticking down two or three laminated layers can give you a thicker edge too if required.

 

Its also very useful to give the airframe a very good coat of primer and rub it back slightly to ensure you are not scribing through dissimilar materials.  If you scribe lightly by dragging the scribing tool (a sharpened needle in a pin vise works for me) backwards across the surface, you get smooth lines without tearing.  Scribing at 90 degrees seems to cause a lot of chatter.

 

Below is a photo of a different Battle which I'm working on, albeit in a smaller scale.  The panel lines are done with scotch tape and a needle, over a coat of Tamiya primer that has had plenty of time to cure.  I find that it works quite well.

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by Putty Animal

[woody37]

It's coming along well, who'd of thought this was the kit you started with? Just the type of modelling to urge us all to dig an old kit out!

 

I've had similar problems on the scribing with the Stirling, I found mixing sprue with Tamiya extra thin a great cure for these areas where scribing is necessary. Other than that, perhaps P38 car filler. That said, if it's going to be painted black, it might not look that noticeable when painted.

[TheBaron]

On 12/25/2018 at 3:10 PM, limeypilot said:

I used bare-metal fol, and I think that it's too thin to be of use for this purpose.

I reckon that's the diagnosis Ian: the stuff I've been using is just a cheap roll of adhesive foil, from Lidl iirc. Its thickness is its virtue in this instance.

 

Its not surprising (to those of us with the luxury of simply watching from afar) that the scribing is going to be so challenging, given the huge improvements which you've made to the original shape.

 

You will of course prevail in this Battle!

 

 

 

[keefr22]

45 minutes ago, woody37 said:

Just the type of modelling to urge us all to dig an old kit out!

 

Speak for yourself Neil, some of us prefer an easier life these days....!!

 

Keith

[Brandy]

On 12/27/2018 at 1:41 PM, woody37 said:

It's coming along well, who'd of thought this was the kit you started with? Just the type of modelling to urge us all to dig an old kit out!

 

I've had similar problems on the scribing with the Stirling, I found mixing sprue with Tamiya extra thin a great cure for these areas where scribing is necessary. Other than that, perhaps P38 car filler. That said, if it's going to be painted black, it might not look that noticeable when painted.

I'm hoping that last comment will prove to be true!

 

On 12/27/2018 at 2:00 PM, TheBaron said:

I reckon that's the diagnosis Ian: the stuff I've been using is just a cheap roll of adhesive foil, from Lidl iirc. Its thickness is its virtue in this instance.

 

Its not surprising (to those of us with the luxury of simply watching from afar) that the scribing is going to be so challenging, given the huge improvements which you've made to the original shape.

 

You will of course prevail in this Battle!

Thanks Tony, I think a few steps back are in order first though....

 

Well folks, after much deliberating, and musing over the feasability of removing the undersides after it's all been put together.....today I have mostly been cutting bits out!

 

 

We know where this is going, don't we boys and girls?

 

The first task was to cut through the paper "mask" and go over it a few times with a number 11 blade to leave me with a nice guide for the edges of the removed panels. I then drilled around the the edges.

 

 

and removed the panel. I always did like "join the dots".....easily pleased as a kid, I was!

 

 

bugger, I forgot about those!

 

Well, no going back now!

 

 

anyone spotted the mistake yet? I hadn't at this point either.

 

The edges were tidied up with a scalpel and jewellers file, then I attacked the moulded in bomb mounts.

I knew my micro chisels would come in handy eventually, and a 3mm made short work of them.

 

 

That was when I noticed my cock-up and started swearing at myself. The machine gun and the access panel for it, are on the right wing, not the left!

So the panel was removed on the other side too. Not a major error, but annoying.

 

 

I'm thinking of making up the rib sections with brass, we'll see how that pans out! The underside of the upper wings will need a sheet of 10thou to hide the scratches made by removing the bomb lugs and I'll add the ribs on top of that. I may even go as far as to add the ribbing on the inside of the wing surface, which will mean also adding it to the wheel wells. Not sure yet, still pondering that one.

 

Anyway, that's it for today, time for a beer. 

 

Happy New Year everyone, and all the best for 2019!

Ian

 

 

[hendie]

nice gouging Ian.

 

9 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

Well, no going back now!

 

One of my favorite moments - I always have such a long build up before I commit myself, it's actually a relief to know there's  no going back and you have to go forward once you have begun

 

 

[Massimo]

You seem tyo have settled very well in your new home and your modelling skills 've been kept unvaried.

She's getting better and better!!!

Well done Ian!!!

 

[Brandy]

22 hours ago, hendie said:

nice gouging Ian.

 

 

One of my favorite moments - I always have such a long build up before I commit myself, it's actually a relief to know there's  no going back and you have to go forward once you have begun

More "building up" was done today....

 

20 hours ago, Massimo said:

You seem tyo have settled very well in your new home and your modelling skills 've been kept unvaried.

She's getting better and better!!!

Well done Ian!!!

 

Thanks Massimo!

 

As mentioned above, I spent a couple of hours mulling further the problem of the bomb bays. Namely how to get the framework in the right place (along the spars, nit at the edges of the cutouts) and how do I thin the remaining panels to be realistic. The answer, it may not surprise you, was to remove more plastic.

 

You can see here the thickness of the plastic which needed thinning, and the locating peg which hinders the task. 

 

 

More drilling and joining of dots followed, and the panels were removed back to the flap at the rear, and the leading edge panel line at the front. That left me with an open box to fill. Much easier! The panels I removed will be replaced with 10thou sheet so no need to thin.

 

After adding a 10thou false floor to the underside of the upper wing I made a start on boxing in the area at the outer and rear edges. The outer edge has been fitted under the wing part so it's flush, and the rear part will provide an attachment point for the panels. 

 

 

 

These were blanked off on the actual aircraft so it's accurate. The forward edge and between the bays will be framework, again leaving it slightly short to provide attachment point for the panels to be refitted. Needless to say I decided not to faff about adding the ribbing on the inside of the wing skin.

 

That's all for now, thanks for looking in!

 

Ian

[Hamden]

 

Happy New Year to you.

Nice work on those bomb bays it's really coming together nicely now.

 

     Roger

[Courageous]

I'm exhausted just watching that bomb bay rework.

Looking better.

 

Stuart

[CedB]

Happy New Year Ian!

Nice work - those bays are going to look marvellous  

[Massimo]

Excellent work on those bays, Ian!!!

Well done !!!

Happy New Year!!!