Listening to the Solstice

[Martian]

5 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Aidan Turner?

 

The original Breeches Boy......

 Brilliant!

No, I was referring to the pseudo-intellectual so called "modern art" drivel we have to put up with each year. So I was envisaging you more as a Tracy "can't make her bed of toffee" Emin type. 

 

Nice work on the Anson though.

 

Martian 👽

[TheBaron]

3 hours ago, bbudde said:

That looks really great and the part. Btw Staatlich Fachingen should be available in the Uk and is a very good one. Like it as I don't like too much carbonic acid in my water.  Cheers

Oooh!

I wonder if it's available in Ireland also? It sounds like the kind of refreshing drink I'm after these days Benedikt: acidic mineral waters are a bit

on my gut these days.

I must consult a leading retailer!

3 hours ago, CedB said:

Did it make 'the TARDIS noise'?

🤯So this happened to you as well?

How long do they take to come back Ced?

Perhaps mine will return my Moorlock bride to me; I miss that turqoise embrace...

Wait, wrong picture. That was the BM massive from Telford last year greeting the new Airfix Wellington with a ritual haka.

2 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Kenny too, perfect!

All done in the best possible taste, of course Ian!!

2 hours ago, giemme said:

(or Baron Master ...   😃 )

Sounds worrying like a make of vacuum cleaner Giorgio.

One that has a flexible nozzle that gets into all those hard-to-reach places.

2 hours ago, Tomoshenko said:

Noooooooo….

What have you done...get it back...get it back......

Bugger.

I've never had a build actually disappear into the 4th dimension before Tomo. I wonder is there anything over in the 'Hints & Tips' section of the forum about what to do...?

 

Wait - what's this just in?

1 hour ago, Spookytooth said:

Never mind it disappeared, it will re-appear again shortly.

1 hour ago, Terry1954 said:

I can't help but think you are simply warming up to the moment when you decide to create some working valve gear on a 4mm scale Stroudley locomotive..................😁

You have permission to say 'I told you so!' in about eight month's time Terry.

 

[TheBaron]

1 hour ago, Martian Hale said:

So I was envisaging you more as a Tracy "can't make her bed of toffee" Emin type. 

Fair enough I s'pose. 😄

 

 

'Pseudo-intellectual' indeed.

How frightfully arriviste....

[Martian]

Mrs Martian says that I create a Tracy Emin piece of "art" every time I get up. 

 

Martian 👽

[TheBaron]

Morning viewers!

This would have been 'Breakfast with Baron' but has instead turned into the Lunchtime News due to me deleting a whole slew of photos from the camera SD card.

More haste, less speed @ et bleeding cetera.

 

As a result I can fully reccomend the free data recovery program 'Recuva'. Unlike many others touting to be as such in the search listings, this one actually IS.

 

A crappy last couple of days at work due to petty politics but that's my problem and not one to bore you with, so I got into the bench this morning for some Avrotherapy.

It's like Aromatherapy, only smells a bit more of hot solder....

 

Having been pondering how to safely drill holes out in the firewall for the various cable, rod and pipe runs that pierce it in places, the most inelegant but effective method was to shove a bit of lolly stick under it as a support that could be drilled into with the Dremel in pillar-mode:

In the background you can see the engineering drawings for the Mk.1 for these tasks, basically a set for oil, fuel, and throttle mixture controls respectively. I think I've worked out all of them ok in terms of reconciling them with what is shown in photographs of these regions in the manual (I avoid restoration photos for such things as details can be altered or modernized sometimes of out of necessity in non-contemporary ways  - not a criticism of restorers btw, to whom I take a humble knee for their work.)

 

Looks like a road-sign in NRAville now peppered with 0.5mm holes:

Threading all the various runs and lengths through that will happen after the engine is installed.

 

The carburettor/mixture controls will also go on afterwards, so I began on this too in order that they could be ready to paint/weather at the same time as the engine and so remain visually consistent:

Here I've just been lathing down the central part of the carburettor on slow in the Dremel using a Stanley knife as a chisel. The shape itself is oddly reminiscent of the control thrusters on an Apollo-era command module. The piece itself is about 4mm long and made from some old Boxcar sprue.

 

To create the side fittings in at least semi-plausible way, rummaging around in the Box o' Bits produced an MG15 magazine suitably modified on one side, and some alterations to a Barracuda bomb-rack produced the 'whatever-it-is' that sits on the port side of the carburettor:

It won't fool Mssrs. Claudel and Hobson but tucked away with all the other details in that cramped area, should do duty. The other bits you see to the right of that subassembly are the heads for the magnetos - again parts of MG15 mags satisfyingly-chopped to produce the irregular shape of these items. They'll have some small holes drilled later.to accomodate the wiring harness that comes out of them.

 

Last job this morning was to add the 'outriggers' to the engine bearer framework. There is one of these starting from behind the firewall at the bottom on either side, slightly angled-outward and running back to join the front wing spar for extra strength:

These were done with 0.3mm tubing and after the usual struggle to find a safe way to hold them in place during soldering, went on easy enough. Scanning the drawings for this area just now I note that I still have to add a small vent to the top of the oil tank but otherwiswe all these various engine and framework parts should be ready for a snort of primer tomorrow. That should be interesting to see.

 

A wash in warm soapy water later then to remove the carapace of flux that's built up around the metal over the last few weeks.

 

One last thing I forgot to mention is that for soldering tasks like the outriggers, I'e been switching back to flux paste as liquid flux I found too ready to run down lengths of tubing and hence cause problems drawing solder away from the needed site. Plus the paste acts as a useful 'glue' to stop the flakes of solder dropping-off before you get a chance to dab them with the iron. In terms of temperature at this scale, I'm using the Aoyue 496 sodering iron that @hendie reccomended me about a year ago (and which I've nowt but good things to say about) on a setting of 4.5 (whatever that might be in degrees C I've no idea). With the 140 degree solder I use from Eileen's Emporium, just a dab of a second or two gives a sizzle and flash without pushing too much heat into the structure and melting any neighbouring joints.

 

Right. I have to go and do the weekly shop so it's off to the Vale of Lidl to vanquish the raging dragon of consumer society. 

A bit more for you tomorrow with luck.

Take care of yourselves until then.

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hendie]

for a dirt cheap piece of kit, it does give good service doesn't it?   I still use mine on a pretty regular basis

 

Wonderful stuff Tony.   this is one of those jobs where the more you add, the more you want to add to increase the realism (or at least that's what happens to me)

 

[CedB]

Seconded!  

[Tomoshenko]

Thirded

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Fourthed

[bbudde]

As above. Very tiny, fragile and well detailed compared to your left hand and your wedding ring. Well done and please more of it. Cheers

[giemme]

Tony, I think you should post an RFI of this soldering beauty alone.   

 

Ciao

[bigbadbadge]

Bloomin amazing stuff Tony. Looks fantastic. I do love the variable soldering iron. I got one off eBay and use it for soldering white metal .

 

What you're creating there is brilliant and is as said previously, worthy of display in its own right.

This is going to be an amazing Anson

Keep up the good work.

All the best

Chris

[bbudde]

On 11/29/2018 at 9:02 PM, TheBaron said:

on my gut these days.

I must consult a leading retailer!

Hello Tony. What did you do there? Mine sweeping or U-boat chasing? I hope I do understand that right . Ok, for the Staatlich Fachingen,  I don't know, if you have to order one fom Germany to get one either in the Uk or Ireland. Maybe, because of that heavy glass bottle. Cheers

[Terry1954]

It just keeps getting better Tony. This is model engineering small scale excellence.

 

Terry

[Andwil]

10 hours ago, TheBaron said:

sodering iron

Ooooer!

 

Awe inspiring work on this engine mount etc.  

 

AW

[TheBaron]

On 12/1/2018 at 2:10 PM, hendie said:

for a dirt cheap piece of kit, it does give good service doesn't it? 

Really does hendie.

I do occasionally look at more expensive models, but then realize that the Aoyue gives all I need at present. I've even learned to keep the tip properly tinned!

On 12/1/2018 at 2:10 PM, hendie said:

the more you add, the more you want to add to increase the realism (or at least that's what happens to me)

You said it exactly: the biggest error I repeatedly fall into is lsong sight of that mental images as to what is appropriate to add in relation to two interdependent factors:

1. the scale of the build and what level of detail from the original would realistically remain visible scaled-down to that level.
2. the nature of the materials being worked with.

Nothing leaps out more detracting than some detail that has the right shape(s) yet seems either too bulky or over-prominent for the scale. Complicated of course by the fact that that particular threshold is a subjective one and will frequently differ in tolerance amongst us.

 

Subjective effects - don'cha luv 'em!

 

On 12/1/2018 at 3:49 PM, CedB said:

Seconded!  

 

On 12/1/2018 at 4:12 PM, Tomoshenko said:

Thirded

 

22 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Fourthed

Ced, Tomo, Crisp: much obliged to you strong and silent types for that.

22 hours ago, bbudde said:

As above. Very tiny, fragile and well detailed compared to your left hand and your wedding ring. Well done and please more of it.

Colour rather than structure for you today Benedikt! (See below)

21 hours ago, giemme said:

I think you should post an RFI of this soldering beauty alone.

You're very kind - as always - Giorgio, yet I wouldn't know whether to post it under 'aircraft' or 'spaceflight' in its current incarnation! 😄

20 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

I do love the variable soldering iron. I got one off eBay and use it for soldering white metal .

I think once you get a variable job you realize how you can adapt it to a range of materials and scales and wouldn't go back would you Chris? It doesn't seem so long ago that I foreswore anything but using a mini-blowtorch until I realized that was just down to my level of ignorance about what an iron was truly capable of.

17 hours ago, bbudde said:

Maybe, because of that heavy glass bottle.

I suspect some posh delicatessen in Dublin will be selling them for 5 times what you pay for them in Germany Brenedikt: I'm up there in the on Tuesday and might have a look if I get time.

Thanks for putting me onto that.

17 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

It just keeps getting better Tony. This is model engineering small scale excellence.

Somewhere up there Great Grandfather 'Driver' Edwards is hopefully smiling down from his Stroudley cab...

Thanks Terry.

16 hours ago, Andwil said:

Ooooer!

 

Awe inspiring work on this engine mount etc.  

Cheers AW.

I spell perfectly well when writing with a fountain pen but noticed recently how many of my posts on here are full of typos.

Must be the excitement! 😁

 

I'll start today with a last look at this lot in the buff - so to speak - before some primer goes on:

Looking at that photo I realized that I forgot to add the oil tank in. Oh well, I can do that in the next phase. There's no more assembly work on these parts that I can usefully carry out until they are painted to it was time to get cracking. Everything had a nice wash in hot soapy water last night in anticipation so it was straight out with Alclad primer/microfiller this afternoon:

I decided to include the modified wings and empennage as well to check for shape and surface flaws at this stage. In relation to the latter I'm quite please that the filling and sanding appears to have removed all trace of the original moulded wing ribbing:

The only surface detail there now are for the fuel tanks and leading edge, both of which will be modified later once I've finished using them as visual references. The tailplanes not unexpectedly have a few trought to be filled still along the edges where plastic inserts had been added to correct the elevator length and width:

As to the rest, well it looks rather fetching in black:

Rudder and lengthened elevators look acceptably smooth at this stage, and after some final carving with a scalpel this morning , the carburretor looks more like it would caburett (or whatever those things do...):

A little bit of snading on the exhaust ring just to smooth out where the pipes enter them, but otherwised a decent-enough representation I think:

Engines and engine-bearer/firewall assembly also pass a visual check at this stage:

These were the parts that I particularly became obsessive over as their prominence in the final display means that they simply have to be visually 'right' for the scale. If they look naff or ill-formed it won't matter how good the rest of the aircraft is.

 

Mega-busy week coming at work and with a all-dayer in Dublin in the middle of it, will be a while before I can get to work on making that look all metal in a different way.

 

Best of wishes to all of you until we talk then.

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

No Baldrick. I shall be called.... The Black Anson!

 

Excellent pre-shading that chap. (Or whatever you're doing).

[bigbadbadge]

Oooooo some paint, this is excellent. Great work Tony. 

2 hours ago, TheBaron said:

I think once you get a variable job you realize how you can adapt it to a range of materials and scales and wouldn't go back would you Chris

I use it mainly for the white metal to stop my model being a molten puddle !!! I use an Antex 25 watt iron for the etched parts such as chassis and electrical connections. But I will try the variable for that too one day. I have an SR USA Dock tank loco I am part way through at the moment and the white metal body looks complicated so am a bit nervous of tackling it. I will get there though.

 

Keep up your good work

All the best

Chris

[giemme]

Black beauty!  It's all looking propre, Tony - if you know what I mean.

 

Ciao

[hendie]

3 hours ago, TheBaron said:

I spell perfectly well when writing with a fountain pen but noticed recently how many of my posts on here are full of typos.

 

since the advent of computers:

i)   my spelling has gone downhill drastically

ii)  my handwriting skills have almost disappeared entirely.  I can just about scratch a sentence on a good day then it all goes awry

 

since moving to the USA:

i)   my lexicon has shrunk like a small shrunken thing bared to the wind on a Scottish winters morn

 

 

y'know... I completely forgot there were wings 'n' things attached to this build.  Glad you reminded me

[The Spadgent]

This is stunning stuff Tony. Bravo sir.

my monical nearly fell out when I saw everything in primer. Truly wonderful.

 

johnny

[CedB]

Lovely Tony - I mean, look at that tiny little carb… amazing.

 

5 hours ago, TheBaron said:

A little bit of snading on the exhaust ring

Not another new tool! I demand to know where you get your snaders from!  

 

Typos? Tell me about it, even with my spell checker.

[bbudde]

Yep,  that looks very awesome in the first colour.  Measured that lines of my left hand to yours and it is roundabout 1,4cm length at all, which is very tiny for all that incoming stuff there. Maybe you should try a goldsmith work, if you are not to bored about that. Cheers

[perdu]

3 hours ago, CedB said:

Lovely Tony - I mean, look at that tiny little carb… amazing.

 

Not another new tool! I demand to know where you get your snaders from!  

 

Typos? Tell me about it, even with my spell checker.

 

 

Don't tell him Pike, er I mean Tony

 

He'll be insufferable if he has those too

[AdrianMF]

As well as the superb engine bay, props for getting the wings so smooth. For me, the phantom fabric guy is a lot more annoying than the phantom riveter - this and the Demon being particularly egregious examples. Must have been fashionable at the time...

 

Looks good in black! They didn’t have an Anson night fighter did they?

 

Regards,

Adrian