TheBaron Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Vibrant Bill - hums with colour! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waylandsmithy Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 It looks great! One minor detail though: in service, the real thing had six landing gear and a separate thorax. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Wow, that will definitely not disappear among the masses in the cabinet! Looking spectacular, I'm looking forward to the next update. Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted June 13, 2018 Author Share Posted June 13, 2018 13 hours ago, waylandsmithy said: It looks great! One minor detail though: in service, the real thing had six landing gear and a separate thorax. True, but this one is only half a bee. Apologies to Monty Python. Not. Cheers, Bill 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 Finally, the great reveal - the Kabuki tape that's been covering up the clear bits for the last decade has come off! As it turns out, and as @Martian Hale promised, there was no difficulty in removing the tape. I was concerned since there are quite a few layers of paint on the old gal, plus both gloss and matt clear varnishes. What really had me worried, though, was the possibility that the canopy might pop off again. As you may recall it had a tendency to do that in a prior stage of this build. But the tape came off with little force, and the edges look pretty clean. Although there was quite a mess with the paint flaking off of the tape as it was being peeled away! It requires some effort, but you can still see most of the work I did inside the cabin. It appears the "rattle" is due to the front jump seat coming off, but I can't seem to see it inside. I can hear it, and I can see that it's no longer where I remember leaving it, but other than that it's invisible. One of the engines required a good bit of paint and resin removed in order to slide into the cowlings. No doubt due to the exacting assembly tolerances achieved here in Navy Birdland - or perhaps too generous a coat or three of paint slopped onto the mating parts. I have time for a bit more work before my next holiday - on Saturday we leave for a week at the beach house in Delaware. I know, I just got back from London but really, what's to keep a man in Rochester NY? Did I tell you guys about my next overseas trip? In April of 2019, my youngest daughter and I are going to Egypt for two weeks. You can read about the archaeological tour here if you're interested. This has been on our bucket lists forever, so I'm really glad that I'll be able to do this with my daughter. Cheers, Bill PS. Think the gun would have been fitted to a trainer? I hope so, as I have no clue what else to put there. Surely the trainees needed gunnery practice. 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 That looks fantastic, simply fantastic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 Beautiful Bill - that canopy framing is a work of art... lovely crinkly tiny bits and not a sign of excess paint. Great job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 Looks very nice! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 The glazing turned out just marvellous! Which is just as good, since it shows the great interior job you did previously 👏 Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 Great stuff, always admire your work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 Excellent work Bill you are a true magician as that looks magic to me . All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 It looks sublime to this alien! Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share Posted June 15, 2018 Well, now that I'm in the home stretch, I finally found what must be the only photo in existence of W2531 - my Annie. For completeness, here it is. At first glance I thought the rudder was a different colour, but upon closer inspection I believe it's just turned so it's lit by the sun. (Notice the tail wheel - the aircraft executed a turn prior to parking.) The stripes here are a bit different than the model, but trust me - I don't care at this point. The accompanying text says that the stripes on the wings are "speculative." Ugh. Cheers, Bill 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 You've made a superb job of her Bill, looking forward to seeing her finished (possibly almost as much as you are!) Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Lovely job with all that masking, very impressive...still does funny things with my eyes. Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 (edited) That really is spectacular. I've never been a fan of target tugs, but this really is gorgeous! I'm sure you'll love Egypt. I spent 5 weeks backpacking there in 1987 and had a great time. The tombs of the noblemen in Luxor are rarely visited, I believe we had to get a special permit, worth seeing if you can. One very worth while and rarely made trip is to Siwa Oasis. If you get a chance to divert out there, do it! Ian Edited June 15, 2018 by limeypilot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 This is looking very good indeed Bill. At least you know what's causing the rattle now. I'll never get to the bottom of the rattle inside my 1/144 737 as no clear plastic left to peer inside! Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 A little bit here, a little bit there. Eventually I might actually finish this thing. The engines went on, along with some very subtle pastel weathering (which unfortunately doesn't photograph well, but shows up nicely using human vision). Next I added the oil coolers (nice resin casting by Special Hobby), the engine cowlings, exhausts, temperature sensor, gun barrel, and the landing lights (after remembering to paint the area grey-green first). Not much left...props, aerial mast, loop antenna, under-nose pitot, landing light lens, aerial wire, tailplane wire braces, paint the navigation lights, etc. And, lastly, some very fiddly looking photoetch for the trim tab and rudder actuators. In addition Special Hobby provide photoetch for some very small items that I think are aileron hinges - three of them for each wing. The instructions are a bit confusing, as Special Hobby use part number PP20 for all six parts. Of course, there are only four PP20 parts on the photoetch fret. A closer looks reveals that there are four identical parts labelled PP13. I suspect that PP20 is used for one wing, and PP13 for the other with Special Hobby giving you a spare part for each wing in case of inadvertent ether zinging. It's unfortunate that the photoetch propeller hub faces are slightly larger than the hub itself, as you can easily see in the photo. The magnification of the photo makes it look much worse than it actually is, but you have to wonder. Is it really that difficult to make them the same size? Cheers, Bill 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Beautiful Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sten Ekedahl Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 You've just passed third base at full speed. Home plate is clearly in sight, so don't loose your step now. We'll all be cheering when you score! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Wow Bill looks stunning fella. You will need to wear shades to look at it in your display. Great work. All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Pastel weathering looks very effective on this bird, especially comparing your last pics with the ones in post #280 Looking forward to the completion Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 She's looking rather splendid Bill. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Progressing very nicely! Looks great! Looking forward to seeing it finished! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Very nice Bill - I'd be more than happy with that, but then my bar is much lower! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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