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Beech C45 Expeditor


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Had to make a start on this.

It's been languishing on the shelf for, oooh.... about a week or so.

IMG_20180225_224756

 

It's a Revell rebox of the ICM mould, and it's the perfect move -on build for me after a couple of months doing the Red Arrows Hawks in 1/32 and 1/72.

Don't want anything RED for a while. I want Nmf all the way, and I'm back in my comfort zone with a roll of sticy-back Ali builder's tape.

Woo-hoo!

The first thing to set about was the removal of the 5 aerials moulded onto the starboard fuselage half,

IMG_20180302_151310

They'd never survive the foil process. Careful excision now by cutting into the edge of the fuselage leaves a matching half-hole opposite the one in the port side, and enough length on the aerial to be glued back in when the time comes. 

I'm calling that "Plan A".😃

IMG_20180302_152228

 

See? Each one carefully labeled and put away in the transparency bag for later. Infallible...

 

It's an unusual sort of building sequence on this airframe. All the inside seating etc. including the cockpit seats, are built on top of the wing mouldings.

So it's fairly plain sailing to get the fuselage halves joined up.

But I want to get the foil on the sides and cut the window apertures before I add the glazing.

But I need to join up the fuselage and sort the seams before I foil the top and bottom.

So I'm just sorting out a sequence of action here .

Later...

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that's good to know.

It all looks fairly good so far.

There's many struts and frames to go into making the engine/undercarriage structures, so let's hope so....

I should have stated the obvious - the pear shaped antenna on the roof is on both sides, and mounts a location pin for added difficulty! I glued the two parts together, and into the bag for safe keeping.

 

IMG_20180302_152228

Cockpit side screen pieces need to go on.

IMG_20180302_171358

 

Edited by rob Lyttle
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So, foil on the side,

IMG_20180302_215133

 

That little porthole back from the foil is in a section that needs to go right over to the top of the door opposite in one piece.

But it can be fitted later through the bottom of the fuselage.

 

Trim the window apertures and fix the transparency inside, 

IMG_20180302_220345

That's all one piece of foil, and it trimmed up nicely around the cockpit side glazing 

Bit of fiddling around with the many bits and bobs on the main sprue frame.

IMG_20180302_171512

Many little bits....

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Chopping the aerials off like that - you learn something new everyday, thanks.  Mind if I tag along.  I’ve got one of these in the stash having watched ‘Southern Comfort’ being thrown around the sky like a fighter at Caernarfon Airport a few years back.

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Thought I'd better paste up this link to the BM walk around section C45, always good to have some reference material.

 

You know we're quite at liberty to copy these walk around pictures from into our threads- I checked with @Julien.

A shared resource, and mighty handy too.

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30 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

Thought I'd better paste up this link to the BM walk around section C45, always good to have some reference material.

 

You know we're quite at liberty to copy these walk around pictures from into our threads- I checked with @Julien.

A shared resource, and mighty handy too.

Yes quite right.

 

Julien

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I'm going to tackle the compound curves around the nose with the foil, and I thought I should document the process.... fingers crossed.

So, section at a time, doing bottom and sides, leaving the top.

The tape of foil needs to be wider than appearance suggests, as it swings backwards as it rounds the corner.

IMG_20180305_202242

 

Trimmed up, and the first section is on.

IMG_20180305_202752

 

Next section takes it up to the nose cone. Smaller area, and the compound -ness is more.

I made this shape to release the tension in the foil while leaving enough area to cover the sides out to the panel lines.

IMG_20180305_203218

 

"Can you see what it is yet?"

IMG_20180305_204330

 

Just the nose dome to go.

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I've done a few dome shapes - fronts of external tanks etc, but this is the biggest in one piece that I've tried.

If it's too much, I'll do it in two pieces but, nothing ventured nothing gained, eh?😂

A piece just big enough stuck on the tip, and just start easing it back gradually all round.

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Steady and gradually without any of the spare Ali accumulating into a big wrinkle.

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I ended up with a couple of imperfections, but light enough to be eased out with a bit of gentle abrasion.

I tried a bit of metal polish around the area to see if it was OK,

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Woo-hoo,

that's the kind of reflection I'm after.

IMG_20180305_211235

 

I'll think about the top of the nose, probably foil it- once the front screen is on. I can always paint an anti-glare area on top.

 

Hi johnny @The Spadgent.

More than welcome of course!

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b24.jpg

Look at that for a bunch of rivets!

The whole thing is covered in 'em.

 

Interesting cockpit door modification - don't know if that's a One -off mod or a different production type.

I'll give that a miss.

Some nice detail coming to light around the nacelles and wings 

b06.jpg

I'm just putting the little cockpit roof-windows in, now that the roof area is foiled.

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I tackled another dome-shaped section at the rear of the engine nacelles under the wing.

IMG_20180308_001147

 

IMG_20180308_230612

 

So this kind of situation needs to be sorted on its own, and then worked around with the foil on the wing surface. It's no use trying to get the wing foil to distort up over the bulge.

There's a few bulge type shapes to address in around the engines!

 

What I'm struggling to find is a good image of the ends of the elevator and how the tailplane joins the vertical fins.

I would like to have a go at releasing the elevator and giving it a bit of deflection, but there's something going on with the shape of the moulded parts that doesn't look true.

 

I tried out my little spiky pattern wheel tool on the foil to see if I could create some rivets.

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It's faint, but that's a good thing, right?  Don't want her looking like Brunell built her.

 

OK, I think I have it...

IMG_20180367_114406

 

Any thing else related to this corner I'd be interested to see!

Edited by rob Lyttle
extra
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Many thanks to @dogsbody for this, the Beech 18 at the Alberta Aviation Museum.

40003151194_17f71e4a4a_b.jpg

I zoomed in and got this,

40003151194_17f71e4a4a_b

 

Neat solution,  Walter!

 

This, and some 3-view drawings, plus a lucid explanation from @72modeler, will give me some insight into what to do with this, 

IMG_20180309_213354

 

Had a go at the tubular structures that go inside the nacelles, just because I wanted the challenge!

 

I got what I wanted....!😂

IMG_20180309_212942

 

But I'll tell you about that next time.

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Yeah, those frame structures were..... emotional!

IMG_20180309_211126

 

Not helped at all by a glaring mistake in the instructions just when you're up against it.

IMG_20180309_211017

 

How can you have 25 and 26 two times in the same picture?!

Anyway.... figured it out and glued 'em on,

IMG_20180309_212942

 

The little flat plate with the slot takes the main u/c leg!

Fortunately, the ends do glue in place inside the nacelles when the time comes.

Note to self....

The legs themselves will go on later.

Also 

IMG_20180309_235948

 

Bit more foil!😃

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So, I got the bottom of the wings done, and some of the engine cowlings.

IMG_20180310_000025

 

Just about visible on the near side is the recess for the exhaust.

Having foiled straight over it while covering the nacelle, I was able to gently tease and stretch the foil down into the recess with a cotton bud without splitting the Ali. 

Anything sharp or hard would easily puncture the foil, so that was a mini success!

 

Having gathered the information required on the tailplane, I set about the plastic.

IMG_20180310_180523

 

Still got to work out what to do on the rudders, but at least I know what I'm aiming to replicate.

I'm thinking seriously about releasing the rudders and trying to make them a little more like this -

b14

 

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Hi Rob

I have always been fascinated by the foil process and would love to be able to do a Bare metal aircraft but have never been brave enough.  You are making this look easy and it looks amazing.  

Thanks for posting the process pics as it may help inspire the likes of me to have a go.

Keep up the good work. 

All the best 

Chris 

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Glad you enjoy it @bigbadbadge.

The only way to find out is to have a go.

My advice is to dig something hopeless out of the Stash- so get some practice in before you set about a build that is a good 'un.

My basic stuff is sticky back builder's tape, a Stanley knife and a very clapped out emeryboard with just about no abrasive power left.

Throw anything you like at it.  Paint, Klear,  dirty washes, another layer of Ali tape or Kitchen foil.  @The Spadgent

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Well here's the basic toolkit.

IMG_20180312_000912

 

But I want to give you a close up of the  buffing stick....

IMG_20180312_000933

 

When I say clapped out, that's what you need 

And carve a nice chisel point on the pencil so it can find and follow a Panel line.

 

I can link to a couple of other builds, if you want a read.

Edited by rob Lyttle
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This is really cool, I have a roll of this tape expressly for this task, I thought it 'might' work, but now I see it obviously does, and handsomely as well, so it was my assumption that the foil is thin enough to let some detail through, and it so appears it does, thanks for the tutorial Rob, I am following along from Canada.....are you going to use Mike Belchers decals?? RCAF?

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