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


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4 minutes ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Have you ever seen any of your work?

I have. Close up and personal. I take photos that hide the worst. :selfie:

 

I think it’s more that I’m not really a competitive sort. I model to suit me, not to win prizes. Anyhoo, nice Battleage. Looking forward to more progress soon. :thumbsup:

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I'm the same Heather. I entered so I could get a benchmark as to how much my modelling improves over the next few years. I had no expectation of winning anything, but it gave me a target. 

Now I need to work on getting the special awards, such as "best biplane", "best WWI aircraft" etc. which have a much wider competition entry.

 

Ian

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Ian I have no memory of congratulatifying you on your gold medallage. It does not surprise me in the least that one of your delicate lacewings received such acclaim, but pleasing to see it being so. Well done. :clap2:

 

Now get back to work on the Battle; my future build plans won't copy themselves you know.

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21 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

Ian I have no memory of congratulatifying you on your gold medallage. It does not surprise me in the least that one of your delicate lacewings received such acclaim, but pleasing to see it being so. Well done. :clap2:

 

Now get back to work on the Battle; my future build plans won't copy themselves you know.

Many thanks Tony!

but, but....I haven't finished whitewashing these rocks yet, Sir!

 

Ian

ps I also did a little more on the Mercedes so it's not all "no action"!

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On 12/6/2019 at 8:57 AM, CedB said:

...the bay doors...

Am I the only one who cannot read this phrase without hearing “I’m sorry, Dave; I’m afraid I can’t do that!” in HAL’s smooth tones?

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Right, as ordered, more progress!

 

Nothing too special though so don't get too excited.

 

A quick coat of light grey to see exactly how bad my scribing is......

First, top arf.....

 

49217501697_c26cd92a00_z.jpg

 

Not too bad, but a little too zealous on this one methinks...

 

49216793998_c1cd64fd17_z.jpg

 

nothing that can't be sorted out though!

 

Then the bottom arf....

 

49216794233_0501761bc5_z.jpg

 

49217501487_b2bd57c746_z.jpg

 

49216793883_2fb105500a_z.jpg

 

To be honest that's nowhere near as bad as I was afraid it was! A few "overshoots" of scribing to clean up, and a little more filling needed around the wheel fairings, but otherwise ok. I'm certainly happy with that for a first attempt at scribing. It was something I was not looking forward to, and didn't enjoy doing!

 

Lastly, an array of little bits of plastic which will, in time, become bomb doors.

 

49216794188_2dfa9f12e5_z.jpg

 

Right, having done my duty for today, I'm off for a pint!

 

See you soon, and thanks for looking in!

 

Ian

 

 

Edited by limeypilot
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Ian,

Rescribing is always a pain. I look at the area and see if I can make my own template from brass sheet...especially if I have a couple of the same kit in the stash. Just a thought.

Quick templates like this. It's a wing tip on the Airfix B-17. 

 

Just a thought.

 

All the Best!

Don

 

e8ZReKd.jpg

 

 

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Hello Ian !

What did I do ?? I've been off for a few days, did I miss something...

Or is this a rocket fuel related collateral damage ?? 🕵️‍♂️

Sincerely.

CC

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5 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Hello Ian !

What did I do ?? I've been off for a few days, did I miss something...

Or is this a rocket fuel related collateral damage ?? 🕵️‍♂️

Sincerely.

CC

It was the latter CC! I think your beer led to memory loss in quite a few of us!

 

Ian

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello all, I hope everyone had a pleasant and fruitful Christmas!

 

I have been slowly plodding on  with this one over the last week or so, but nothing really worth any updates. The work has been going into the landing lights, in the form of repairs to the wing recesses. There were holes in the inner edges which needed to be filled, and I also noticed that I had been a little careless when cutting out the new positions, and one side was cut back too far underneath. Those areas were repaired with Milliput and PPP and have now been resprayed.

 

49232840326_b8545fd2f9_z.jpg

 

49277185878_9a6664f43a_z.jpg[

 

I also decided to crack on and make the new lenses which would be required for these lights. I made bucks out of balsa and plunge moulded them, but after trimming and trial fitting they weren't up to scratch. 

 

49277858972_89a52e1aea_z.jpg

 

I made 4 on the first afternoon, and upon closer examination it appeared I had not prepared the bucks correctly. You can see the problem on this shot.

 

49277658416_2968c4a97f_z.jpg

 

I had CA'd a cocktail stick to the back of the buck, and it appears that as I pushed them into the plastic they distorted and the soft balsa was pushed in further at the centre than on the edges, leaving a slightly domed edge to the lenses.

By this time I had spent an entire afternoon on them, so I left them alone and came back the next afternoon to remedy the problem. New bucks were made from basswood, and a piece of thick plastic sheet was attached to the back, then the cocktail stick was added. This should, I hoped, stop the buck deforming by equalising the pressure on them.

 

49277185223_204c04fe81_z.jpg

 

Much better, they'll do!

 

Then the PE lights were given a little attention. The reflectors were domed by pressing the end of a paintbrush onto them, then they got a drop of Molotov Chrome, and the bulb holders were sprayed black.

 

49277186078_0e7364dce4_z.jpg

 

The next step is to attach the lights, give the lenses a coat of Kleer and glue them on, then mask!

 

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

 

Ian

 

 

 

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I haven’t seen them landing light parts before, are they still available? If so they’re a must do purchase. Hopefully, this is just the inspiration we need for Airfix to announce a new Battle, you’re showing them how it should look :)

 

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4 minutes ago, woody37 said:

Hopefully, this is just the inspiration we need for Airfix to announce a new Battle

I got bored waiting. Two old kits are heading my way. That should prompt a new tool kit to appear sooner, rather than later. :frantic:
 

My plan is to build them more or less as they come. I know the idiosyncrasies and errors, but I will accept them and at least know I have something that looks roughly Battle-shaped on my Bomber Command shelf - until something better comes along.

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8 minutes ago, CedB said:

Have you thought about Sellotape Diamond for the landing light covers? Works well for me…

 

Can you still get it Ced, I wasn't able to find any last time I looked...

 

1 hour ago, woody37 said:

I haven’t seen them landing light parts before, are they still available?

 

Big H still list them, although out of stock at the mo..

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MUDM72002?result-token=Ejn3s

 

Keith

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1 hour ago, woody37 said:

I haven’t seen them landing light parts before, are they still available? 

They are, from here.

 

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

I got bored waiting. Two old kits are heading my way. That should prompt a new tool kit to appear sooner, rather than later. :frantic:
 

My plan is to build them more or less as they come. I know the idiosyncrasies and errors, but I will accept them and at least know I have something that looks roughly Battle-shaped on my Bomber Command shelf - until something better comes along.

The problem is, it isn't "roughly Battle shaped"! However, the wing and nose corrections are fairly straightforward.

 

38 minutes ago, CedB said:

Nice work Ian :) 

 

Have you thought about Sellotape Diamond for the landing light covers? Works well for me…

I'll look out for it, thanks Ced!

 

Ian

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3 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

The problem is, it isn't "roughly Battle shaped"! However, the wing and nose corrections are fairly straightforward.

Of course. This very build has shown just how wrong the Airfix kit is. When the boxes arrive I will spend a while reviewing what might be achievable to pass muster, but I am not keen on spending very long on making corrections. You can see how long it’s taking me to kitbash a Do17P! 
 

Like the lemon-soaked napkins Douglas Adams wrote about in the Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, it is statistically likely a newer and better kit will come along eventually. In the meantime, I will be mostly content with something almost but not quite entirely unlike a Fairey Battle. :wink:

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27 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

it is statistically likely a newer and better kit

 

A newer one already has - by MPM, although that's now getting on a bit and I don't know just how much better it is as I sold mine on a few years back....(I recall it did look quite nice in the box, but we know how deceiving looks can be!)

 

I seem to recall that the old (very!) Scale Models magazine had an article on improving the Airfix kit (although it got nowhere near as improved as Ian's!) and the main thing done was chopping off the nose and replacing it with one from an equally old Airfix Hurricane, which did make a noticeable difference. IIRC the article was reprinted in a book they did on Battle of Britain aircraft that I may still have somewhere, I'll have a look... (sorry for the vagueness, it's an age thing!)

 

Keith

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9 hours ago, keefr22 said:

Can you still get it Ced, I wasn't able to find any last time I looked...

Oooh you’re right Keith! I wonder if they’ve re-branded it as ‘Super Clear’?

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