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" I wish I was a Spaceman, the fastest Guy alive"...................


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Hi Everybody!

 

Will be taking a short break from My Trumpeter 1/200 hood build because...............................

I had / suffered / experienced (:lol:) a major Birthday last week, and My Darling Wife Completely surprised Me with UNCL's latest kit , an 18" long Fireball XL5 Resin Kit! :surprised:

 

For those of You that hav'nt experienced said Major Birthdays , a little background info:-

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireball_XL5

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ifS2nP53Zs

 

OK , let's have a look:-

 

Kit arrives in a standard cardboard box with a coloured end-label:-

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A layout of the major parts (Note colour demarcation lines are scribed into parts - very useful!) :-

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Two clear canopies plus two of each alternate Astrodomes supplied plus resin framework for Astrodomes:-

 

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A bag of parts:-

 

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Alternative fins for Fireball Junior:-

 

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Very little clean-up required on parts! :)

 

A single printed colour instruction sheet with a CD containing the same sheet as a .pdf file :-

 

 

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A fret of photoetch parts for the cockpit framing and cover strips for canopy joints :-

 

 

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Clearly printed Decals, white ones do not show up well on photos :-

 

 

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Sorry, duplicated photo below, cannot delete!! :doh:

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I will be mounting the finished model on a scratch-built cradle and section of launch rail , I was going to mount it using magnets but owing to it's weight I may mount it permanentaly. ( Any flights around the workshop being done beforehand..............):pilot:

maxresdefaultfireball15

 

 

All in all, very impressed with Uncle Bill's new kit, have got His Angel Interceptor in the stash, and will look at getting His Thunderbird 1 & 3 kits as well!

 

Off the give the bits a bath now,will start cleaning up and assembly Tomorrow!  :frantic:

 

Keep Sticking!                    Cheers,  Pete

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Wow! Lucky you. I bet you didn't ask the price, I wouldn't.

It looks to have some great details.

I'm still bumbling on with the two smaller versions I have so I'll be watching your build too.

Pete

 

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Hi Pete and Chris,thanks for looking in!

I've been keeping an eye on Your builds Pete, I was looking at attempting a scratch-build a-la David Sissons,so have been hunting down everything XL5!!

 

Stay Tuned,update Tomorrow!

 

Keep Sticking!        Cheers,  Pete

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Hi There!

Thanks for looking in Carts and prowler0000!

Bit of progress Today (Bit too B****y hot in the workshop!!) , parts cleaned up and initial fits tried , fin needs a little bit of persuation but most parts drop on , I think that I will be able the paint the wing end 'fins' before assembly , will make for neat job.

Next up is to drill the joints for brass pins to strengthen them up.

Back to work Tomorrow (:whip:) , back on the bench Monday , more then!!

 

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Keep Sticking!

 

Cheers,  Pete

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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That is another of the models I would love to build at some point.

Looking forward to your progress with this one.

 

Good work so far.

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Hi Everybody!

Still B****y warm in the workshop (Note to self-turn off central heating............:huh:!)

 

Anyway , got a bit done:-

 

Found a slight problem with fuselage alignment:-

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 Definate droop at the front, found the problem and fixed with table sander:-

 

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Positions for underwing thrusters were scribed onto wing , but highlighted for easier alignment and thrusters epoxied on:-

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Where's that tidy bench gone?? :D

 

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Only major filling on the whole model so far was the top of the fuselage , and most of this area will be hidden by the tailfin:-

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Astrodome framework assembled from resin parts while secured to a PTFE block (Knew I'd use it for something one day!):-

 

 

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When set , cleaned up to fit in fuselage aperture:-

 

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Decided to fit longer rocket tube to increase thrust (Kidding! )This will be to hold main assembly whilst painting,main engine housing will cover this up later:-

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Using centre-finder to transfer centre-line to fuselage top to aid alignment of tailfin later:-

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Mainstack glued up vertically , Fireball Junior is still detachable , I hav'nt decided yet if I'm going to make it removable or not (Maybe magnets?) :-

 

 

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Back to work Tomorrow :angry: Stay tuned for next weeks exciting (:tired:) installment!!

 

Keep Sticking!            Cheers,   Pete

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Coming along very nicely and a lot bigger than the ones I'm building.

Underwing thrusters, that's what they are. Thanks.

Magnets? There is a steel washer in the front of the main fuselage and two small magnets in the back of Junior.

It took a bit of testing to get the correct distance between them. They could still be closer though.

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Hi Pete!

Underwing thruster 'thingies' is what I've christened 'Em, whether they are or not........😐

I'm leaving junior separate to work on and paint,but the model will be placed in the display cabinet when finished,so I don't know how often I will be playing with it!

 

Keep Sticking!     Cheers, Pete 

Edited by morty_3333
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Everyone!

Sorry about the lack of recent posts, My Solar Thermal Shielding can now cope with the temperatures in the workshop!!!    :jump_fire:

 

Okey-Dokey,  off We go...........

 

Junior needs some wings, locating set-up  is some small ridges on the root of the fins that fit into slots in the body, not very self-aligning, so I made a CAD (Cardboard Assisting Do-dah!) to help with lining them up:-

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Note:- There was a design error on this, I thought "why cut four slots when one will do?"....... Answer: To clear the fins already fitted dummy!!

 

Anyway, it lined the first one up OK, and the brass pins helped with the rest:-

 

Ta-Dah!!

 

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Joint between front and rear Fuselage required blending in, quick swipe with sanding sticks sorted this out:-

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Mounting parts for spraying on sawn-off knitting needles (Sounds Dangerous!)............Anyone for a Zoom Lolly?

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Fin and Wings Glued on with 5 Minute Epoxy and clamped up (No clothes-pegs on this one!!!!)

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...And Fireball Junior popped on with a bit of Blu-Tac for a glamour shot! :-

 

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That's all for now folks, more next week!!

 

Keep Sticking!!    Cheers,  Pete

Edited by morty_3333
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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm glad I found this thread as I recently rediscovered this kit in my stash. Looks like I bought it a while back and had never even unwrapped the parts from their packaging. Its a superbly cast bit of resin and I am looking forward to having a go at building this myself... one of these days... got too many "I MUST BUILT THAT" kits areound at the moment and I want to build them ALL!!!

 

Will be watching with interest and taking notes for when I build mine :D

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Hi Kallisti!

Thanks for looking in!

I too have many, many "I MUST BUILT THAT" kits knocking about, I decided I must crack on straight away with this one as My Wife surprised Me with the kit for My Birthday!!!

 

Just had a look at  Your linked builds, did the Javelin when it first came out, lovely kit, and the weathering on Your Excavator is sublime!

 

 

Keep Sticking,   Cheers,  Pete

 

PS How long have You had the kit in the stash, only came out in May this year, I've got kits in the stash I hav'nt even seen for at least 5 Years! 😲

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2 hours ago, morty_3333 said:

 

PS How long have You had the kit in the stash, only came out in May this year, I've got kits in the stash I hav'nt even seen for at least 5 Years! 😲

 

Oh really? I honestly don't remember buying it then, but earlier this year was a rather hectic time with moving house! I was surprised when I opened the box that everything was still in its wrapping so that might be why - it must have arrived during the house move and I just shoved it in the corner and forgot about it. The box was suprisingly heave so these are meaty lumps of resin! Will be watching with interest!

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Hi Kallisti!

 

I Know what You mean about moving,fortunately the last time We moved the stash was virtualy non-exsistant, was into R/C flying then,I did'nt keep a stash of them!!!!

 

Yes, It's going to be a heavy beast when it's done, that's why I've decided to mount it permanently on the launch cradle, I would have needed some serious magnets to hold its nose up!!😁

 

Keep Sticking!

 

Cheers,  Pete

 

 

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Hi Everybody!

 

Just a quick update, been messin' around priming, rubbing down, filling, priming............... and repeat.........

 

But I've started doing 'colouring in', lost me crayons so I'll have to use paint- :crying:

 

In between primer coats, been using knifing stopper for small blemishes:-

 

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Got the Yellow (Tamiya XF3) and Blue (Tamiya XF8) on, as these seem a pretty good match to My References, these wil be masked off before spraying the red/silver respectivly:-

 

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Other parts sprayed with Alclad black basecoat followed by alclad aluminium (cockpit bulkhead, Tamiya Nato Black (cockpit floor) and alclad dark aluminium (remainder).

I Like the way Bill as provided the filler panels for the fin and wingtip pods as a seperate drop-in piece,saves a lot of masking!! :-

 

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More soon!

 

Keep Sticking!  Cheers,  Pete

 

 

 

 

Edited by morty_3333
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Everybody!

Sorry for the lack of updates, been away on hols plus gone done with some ailment at the moment (Wife says Man-Flu but I say Ebola or Lassa fever! :sick:)

 

Fireball is moving on, I can't spray at the moment because of the fumes, so I'm drawing up the launch cradle and rail at the moment, so I can try to deplete Evergreens' global stock! :o:yikes:

 

I'll try to get some progress pics up by the end of the weekend.

 

Keep Sticking!                       Cheers,   Pete

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Everybody!

 

Yes,  I'm still alive, just been a bit slack recentley (workshop and posting!) but the dark evenings are here!!

 A little update:-

 

We have Colour!

Tamiya Yellow and Xtracrylics 'Red Arrows' Red, Yellow spayed first then masked to spray the red:-

 

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Cockpit painted and installed:-

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Cockpit framework from etch, fitted and canopy trimmed to shape then dipped in Future:-

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When the canopy is dry,it will be fitted and fairing strips from photo-etch will be fitted, then everything will be masked up for the black basecoat for the Alclad.

 

 

Until next time,     Keep Sticking!!

 

Cheers,  Pete

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