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Sanger 1/48 Stirling Mk.I BF372 - Ron Middleton VC - Finished at last!


woody37

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Ron Middleton VC "His devotion to duty in the face of overwhelming odds is unsurpassed in the annals of the Royal Air Force"

 

The next build on the work bench is my most challenging yet...gulp. Kind of excited, kind of daunted, the only way to eat an elephant is bite at a time!

 

I've bought this off Mike with the view to finishing it for Telford. Mike started it and did some great work way back when, the original thread is HERE

 

What are the plans?

Open the bomb bay up

Re-profile the rear end as it should match the profile of the FN20 turret, currently it's too square.

 

What am I dreading the most?

Fitting all those windows. I might insert strips of acetate down the sides rather than trying to cut each one out individually.

 

What parts do I already have?

FN20 from the Tamiya Lanc

Main wheels from the Lanc - I'll build these up with plasticard and miliput to get the right diameter

Mid upper turret from the Paragon Manchester

Resin engines

 

What do I need?

A miracle!!!

Some replacement props

Early (short) style carb intakes or copies if anyone has one I can borrow from a Beaufighter

Someone who is good at forming clear parts

Reference material possibly, need to see what I've got already from 12Jaguar who has been of great support on previous builds

Some ideas on scratch building the monstrous undercarriage if possible rather than using the white metal parts

Someone to release an injection moulded kit no later than April so I can chicken out and take the easy route  :lol:

 

Expectations

Hmmm. I want it to look like a Stirling. Given limited skills, time at the bench and patience, there will be compromises, learnings and errors. If I can get the finished result to look like it came from an injection moulded kit, then I'll be happy.

 

Next steps...

Not sure!! Probably to cut the fuselage up and start to build the bomb bay floor. The fuselage needs more stiffness, so it makes sense to continue where Mike left off building the main internal structure to which the detail can then be built on. I'll leave cutting the top of the rear fuselage off until I can secure the forward section. I'm thinking of making internal formers of the correct shape then re-skinning around them to get the correct profile using the Tamiya FN20 turret as a guide. 

 

Photo's so far...

 

39443644905_4fe48b8404_b_d.jpg

 

39443644555_f8c6ee960d_b_d.jpg

 

39443644075_1620d98eed_b_d.jpg

 

Any help and prayers along the way most appreciated :)

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It's gone to a great home, I can't wait to see it finished. Mike would of done an equally good job as you for sure, but given your interest in Bomber Command it makes sense. (I'd want you to finish it if it was mine and I had lost interest/time/space etc)

 

Roll on SMW '18. 

 

 

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hi Neil

 

You certainly don't waste any time :idea:

 

I heartily suggest that you take a trip down to our workshop to see how we're progressing. It will also give us an opportunity to chat over some of the pitfalls with doing her in a larger scale. I've literally just sent some photos to another modeller who is doing an Italeri one so have a lot f info to hand

 

John

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Wow that was quick, this should be great, from photos the Stirling looks most impressive, looking forward to seeing this progress and hopefully some big manufacturer will take the hint and bring a kit out !

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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56 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Im onboard :popcorn: I’ll just take a seat over at the bar.

I wish I was joining you at the bar, there's a certain comfort from watching others tackle these types of builds :lol:

43 minutes ago, 12jaguar said:

hi Neil

 

You certainly don't waste any time :idea:

 

I heartily suggest that you take a trip down to our workshop to see how we're progressing. It will also give us an opportunity to chat over some of the pitfalls with doing her in a larger scale. I've literally just sent some photos to another modeller who is doing an Italeri one so have a lot f info to hand

 

John

Hi John,

 

That sounds like a plan, its been a while since we got over. We could talk about the pitfalls all day long on this one :lol:

 

Fortunately I will be doing a Classic airframes 1/48 Blenheim along side to keep my sanity :frantic:

 

Cheers

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“ there's a certain comfort from watching others tackle these types of builds :lol:

 

 

Id love to tackle this as a build but there are a few reasons as to why I cannot. I don't have the abilities nor the desire to build a Vacuform kit, Im pretty sure I will never attempt one.  Second I dont have the Finances to tackle a kit of this scope. Third I sadly would not have the space to either store/display something of this size. Yes in a way I guess its a type of comfort to watch others do what i cannot do. All for the varied reasons i have listed. So i choose to watch, and maybe learn from you. 

 

Dennis

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

“ there's a certain comfort from watching others tackle these types of builds :lol:

 

 

Id love to tackle this as a build but there are a few reasons as to why I cannot. I don't have the abilities nor the desire to build a Vacuform kit, Im pretty sure I will never attempt one.  Second I dont have the Finances to tackle a kit of this scope. Third I sadly would not have the space to either store/display something of this size. Yes in a way I guess its a type of comfort to watch others do what i cannot do. All for the varied reasons i have listed. So i choose to watch, and maybe learn from you. 

 

Dennis

Hi Dennis,

ive only ever built...or attempted one vac form before and it went in the bin part way through, so I will be learning too. It’s certainly going to stretch me, ive been busy this evening figuring out a plan of attack. 

 

Cheers

neil

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Blimey, it's almost half-done Neil! just wack the wings and tail on and your good to go! Great to see this underway, should be a lot of fun. I've got one or two books knocking about if you need them, only thing is you'll have to come over again and pick them up, which in turn will mean a trip to NAM and visit to a local watering hole, etc, etc...

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if it helps Woody, Air Modeller recently published a five part series on a bloke scratch building one. In it he describes how he went about building undercart, turrets etc.  Will be watching this with interest as your Lincoln and Manchester are excellent builds

 

Bruce

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14 hours ago, general melchett said:

Blimey, it's almost half-done Neil! just wack the wings and tail on and your good to go! Great to see this underway, should be a lot of fun. I've got one or two books knocking about if you need them, only thing is you'll have to come over again and pick them up, which in turn will mean a trip to NAM and visit to a local watering hole, etc, etc...

Sounds like a plan matey! Iv3 got some good reference material but will need some more, particularly undercarriage and flap track. I need to get hold of some drawings, ideally 48 scale so will try o scale some up on the printer at work.

14 hours ago, pacificmustang said:

if it helps Woody, Air Modeller recently published a five part series on a bloke scratch building one. In it he describes how he went about building undercart, turrets etc.  Will be watching this with interest as your Lincoln and Manchester are excellent builds

 

Bruce

Good point, I have a few of them, I think Stringbags going to help me out of the gaps. That was an epic build that I won’t be comparing myself too 😅

1 hour ago, Graham said:

Do you have the original clear parts as I got John Wilkes ( the now owner of the ID kits) to copy a new set for my old ID B-17 when I had it.

 

Graham

Hi Graham, the original parts are in the kit, yes, but the cockpit is too narrow so mike made a new former and a damn good job of it too. 

 

Cheers

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21 hours ago, bristol boy said:

You have my attention and respect, this is going to be awesome and challenging.

On a lesser challenge I've just acquired a 1/48 Beaufort vac that will be commencing soon! 

Looking forwards to watching that one, you know how to handle the vac forms :)

 

I'm waiting for some plasticard to arrive so I can start to build the bomb bay structure Big thanks to Chris @stringbag for helping me out with the Air Modeller build, I'm part inspired, part depressed now as I realise how much of a compromise my build will be!

 

I've started by correcting the rear end. I was going to cut the top part away, but decided to build it up using plasticard on the inside...

 

Note the profile of the fuselage, it closely follows the turret profile:

39480940625_121fb2d29d_o_d.jpg

 

This is how the kit comes...

39667271494_fcb30772a7_b_d.jpg

 

I traced round the turret to create the right profile and made an insert that I could use as a guide to get the right shape:

 

39667271224_ab67c7c9ce_b_d.jpg

 

Here you can see the profile piece added to the left hand side half. The right hand side has been sanded to shape

39667271024_0da3963712_b_d.jpg

 

Plasticard was glued into the corner with Tamiya extra thin to build up the profile so that when sanded, there was something to sand through. Tamiya cement mixed with melted sprue was used to blend in the gaps near the turret opening and left to dry overnight

39667271374_c5be277e5b_b_d.jpg

 

This is how it looks with one side done so far...still plenty of cleaning up to be done but going in the right direction

 

39667270964_38fc8372f8_b_d.jpg

 

39667270784_27cb9004fb_b_d.jpg

 

 

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Hello Woody,

I'll follow on for sure, if you need my prayers, I'll be at the bar with my cousin and Limey pilot

Sipping some beverage as a way to give you some support.

I did had a Master for a 1/48 Stirling at hand years ago, but it was a more or less not too good copy of the Sanger one.

So Pierre and me let it down and the owner of the kit will his master back too quickly for us havin' any corrections done...:(

A missed opportunity for him and for us, but he was a very old man, I can understand it !

Soooo ! You have my vote, my prayers and my support, and my beer but at Telford 2019 wich seem a good reasonable delay !!

Sincerely.

CC

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