Jump to content

Listening to the Solstice


Recommended Posts

Wow Tony, again more progress! Looks great buttoned up and even has a wing on! Again sorry to hear you knocked your gun off... again.... probably a lesson in there somewhere, but I’m damned if I can find it 🤷🏻‍♂️.

 

Chernobyl, 😨🤯 a masterpiece from a cinematic point of view. But holy Moses it is intense and scary to think about! (Am I really odd in that I have always wanted to visit it, am I alone in this?) 

 

Rob

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/31/2019 at 7:05 PM, CedB said:

What the heck is it anyway and what's it for?

 

17 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Hendie can of course give you the full SP on their engineering uses

 

I would but I use them for pretty much everything Tony already stated.  The key thing is that they are square and parallel to within a few microns so are great for making sure your joins are square.  

They are also mass produced so can be had relatively cheaply.  Basically they often used as a set-up tool in machining operations.  This thread gives some insight into the myriad of uses.

 

 

 

17 hours ago, TheBaron said:

but epoxy mixed with flour.

 

I can just see Ced now....

 

QavyAyC.jpg

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Nearly forgot - @stevehnz, here she is with a wing test-fitted apperances' sake:

 

...... and here she is with both wings fitted, and 35 minutes at 375 degrees...

avro-anson-birthday-cake.jpg  (the internet huh?  wot did we ever do without it?)

 

nice work with the frosting there Tony

 

 

  • Haha 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 01/06/2019 at 19:22, TheBaron said:

(Looking forwards to Yeovilton btw!)

Me too!

 

On 01/06/2019 at 19:22, TheBaron said:

It's a sert of these Ced:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BL-123-Pair-of-1-x-2-x-3-Precision-Steel-1-2-3-Blocks-by-1-2-3-Blocks/333179587214?hash=item4d930d0a8e:g:2SAAAOSwjyBcyryD

Hendie can of course give you the full SP on their engineering uses but for me they have become indispensible for a whole range of tasks, from getting parts at right-angles to each other for soldering, or here, simply propping bits up whilst the glue dries and you want the weight of the piece pushing-down on the join

Thanks Tony! I've bookmarked the link in my tool wishlist and will no doubt leap to purchase the next time I need a weighty solution…

Thanks hendie for the link and the image - you know me so well :D 

 

Annie coming together really nicely. Marvellous stuff :) 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/1/2019 at 7:29 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

I was beginning to wonder where it would all end.

End?

End?

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here Pete. 

Steady on and all that. 😄

On 6/1/2019 at 7:34 PM, keefr22 said:

Scary isn't it?

Doesn't even begin to cover it Keith. :nodding:

Remember standing at a bus stop aghast reading about it having blown up in the Evening Standard on the way home from college. Same air of surrealism Wells talked about at the beginning of The War of the Worlds, people continuing about their daily business &etc....

On 6/1/2019 at 7:56 PM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

 

High speed, high AoB, descending turn at night, with no horizon... and half way round the turn suddenly the world lights up like a Christmas tree as half a dozen Lepus flares ignite.  As I said, a better recipe for disorientation is hard to imagine, and XN708 was not the only Vixen to be lost by flying into the sea during this evolution.  But military flying is a dangerous game, alas,

You do not jest.

I guess in that period the cognitive psychology of flying was still in its infancy as an area of systematic study and analysis.

Add into the mix the necessity to conduct such high-intensity operations versus the limitations of sensory response and the pressures to perform must place almost impossible demands on pilots in such situations.

As ye know far better than me Crisp.

On 6/1/2019 at 8:28 PM, Spookytooth said:

Plain Flour or self-raising Tony?

Strong bread flour for preference Simon. This is a British aircraft..... :laugh:

On 6/1/2019 at 8:39 PM, Stalker6Recon said:

Epoxy and flour makes a homemade filler?

The credit belongs solely to others Anthony. I learned to mix CA with flour from @Massimo by way of @giemme. I simply substituted epoxy in this instance to avoid any possibility of fogging the transparencies.

On 6/1/2019 at 10:35 PM, giemme said:

Indeed! :pilot:

Engine sounds were made earlier too Giorgio. (Though I must confess I've no idea what a Cheetah IX sounds like!):banghead:

On 6/1/2019 at 11:25 PM, rob85 said:

Chernobyl, 😨🤯 a masterpiece from a cinematic point of view. But holy Moses it is intense and scary to think about!

Agreed on both counts Rob.

It's as if the radiation from the reactor X-rayed just how utterly fecked the USSR had become by that stage.

Along with emphasizing the unbelievable heroism of ordinary men and women in the face of it all.

If you're interested, Alexei Yurchak's:

9780691121178_0.png?itok=7-oO6QhL

is a superb (and frightening) account of a society in which there was no longer any language left to question the system.

On 6/2/2019 at 12:22 AM, stevehnz said:

Woo Hoo. that's gonna be AWESOME

I  feel the weight of expectation in full now Steve! :laugh:

On 6/2/2019 at 5:56 AM, The Spadgent said:

More excellent fiddling and a sanding.

A process which shows no sign of ending at present Johnny! (see below)

On 6/1/2019 at 11:25 PM, rob85 said:

Am I really odd in that I have always wanted to visit it, am I alone in this?

 

On 6/2/2019 at 10:05 AM, keefr22 said:

No, I do as well !

https://chernobylexplorer.com/

I share this fascination lads, but the appeal to narcissism (of the 'selfies at Auschwitz' variety) of this website is downright nasty given the life of all kinds that was destroyed.

On 6/2/2019 at 1:51 PM, hendie said:

avro-anson-birthday-cake.jpg 

Innacurately-shaped wings.

Engines too far inboard.

Nose completely wrong.

 

 Looking at that photo I realize I've screwed up this build s-oooo badly. Looks like I'm going to have to vacform a larger windshield and make the wings shorter....

10 hours ago, CedB said:

I've bookmarked the link in my tool wishlist

giphy.gif

 

 

Supply/return runs for the oil tank have been added behind the firewall from scrap wire:

47994720472_16a67bc159_o.jpg

Middle one is the supply line that goes straight out through the firewall to the front of the engine, end one there is the return that bridges the firewall via the oil cooller that sticks out of the side of the nacelle:

47994720397_6bdd7c9cec_o.jpg

On the actual aircraft that end meets of that pipe joins the left side of the starboard cooler which straddles the firewall (marked here by the locator holes drilled out previosuly):

IMG_0956

You can see that little of the inside section of the oil cooler is visible with the nacelle in place so I'll decide later whether it's necessary to build any kind of an internal respresentation for the ends.

 

Most of the spare time (today being a Bank Holiday here) went on sorting out the visual appearance of the top of the fusalege. I'd posted previously the reprofiling of the top of the rear fuselage but of course it also required some kind of representative surface detailing for the stringers that meet at the apex of the tail. I didn't feel tha tthe kit moulding had a sufficient number of these anyway and aside from this, there are a lesser number that run along the roof of the cockpit which are noticable from a number of angles eg. in this beautiful image of N5331:

2019-06-03_06-50-09

Lots of luvverly detail visible areound the airframe there in that oblique sunlight.

 

Having run out of those fine hair-like strips of Slater's microd now, I decided to experiment with lengths of fine cotton and Rocket Hot in order to start laying-out the stringers:

IMG_0930

Simplest approach was to tack one end of each length into place, pull out taught and tack the opposing end into place, then run a drip or two  of the CA along the length with a cocktail stick and let capillary action do the rest.

IMG_0937

In this raw state of course, the raised cotton stands too proud of the fuslage so after brushing some of the Rocket Hot along the tops of them to make sure they are well soaked, they could then be sanded down flatter as I'm in the process of doing in the shot above.

 

Next step was to give it a good thick blast of primer:

IMG_0942

This is necessary not only to check the height of the cotton (still too prominent at this stage shown above) but also to give some 'fill' between the lengths to that the 'scalloped' profile of the actual aircraft skin can be replicated. Note also how handy it was to have a spare turret to act as a protector.... 😁

After some prolonged sanding and filing with a small half-round, plus a painted layer of Mr. Surfacer to even out any non-uniformities, there emerged a roof that captures (hopefully) the presence of the stringers, without them being too exagarrated:

IMG_0946

In ths respect it's better for them to be 'just' visible, as opposed too being unrealistically pronounced in terms of surface relief.

Same deal for the rear fuselage:

IMG_0950

Laborious and intensive work, but an improvement on the original in terms of visual veracity. Another of those archetypal jobs that if not done, you'd be forever kicking yourself for ignoring. Plain primer of course renders such detail in starker terms than the final camouflage and markings will give it, so I'm conscious some of it will recede even futher under a final overlay of colour.

 

That's it then for this evening. Another significant bit of progress on the main structure. After doing so many fiddly little bits for so long it is rather pleasant to be doing big, obvious parts of the aircraft again!

:bye:

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 18
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank heavens the technique turned out well, I had a flash back to when our friend @TonyTiger66 tried a similar method on the wings of his polish fighter. It didn’t go quite as well if I remember correctly. 😩

top drawer stuff and brave modelling kid. 

 

Johnny

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, TheBaron said:

unbelievable heroism of ordinary men and women in the face of it all.

If you're interested, Alexei Yurchak's: 

I remember when this happened and we started seeing video of the guys on the roof trying to fight the fires, they had to know that their task was going to kill them within a week, or less. That is the kind of heroes the world needs more of. The ones willing to die so that many others would live. I have not seen the show, but sounds like I am missing something special. Looks like utorrent is in my future.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Lots of luvverly detail visible around the airframe there in that oblique sunlight.

 

seeing all that structure showing through the fabric makes me think just how much it must have felt like sitting on a plank of wood, inside a tent, many thousands of feet up in the sky with a couple of engines mercilessly tugging you along, and praying that they stay attached until you get back to terra firma

 

Wait... foodstuffs for fillers?  needlecraft accoutrements for structures? human hair for electrical cables?   I sense a mad scientist at work

 

skillful mad scientist may be, but stark raving doolally nonetheless. Keep up the good work

 

 

  • Like 4
  • Haha 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Holy Cotton Reels Batman! Beautiful work Tony - stringers from, uh, scale string. Genius!

 

Er, what are those green and white things on the 123 block may I ask? Another tool?! You're not just teasing me, are you? :) 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Lots of luvverly detail visible areound the airframe there in that oblique sunlight

Somehow, I missed the photo updates you posted. Either I became distracted by Chernobyl, or my last round of meds before bed (morphine, oxytocin, tramadol and Xanax, this can make and elephant forget where they live). It is amazing in that arial photo, how well the starboard wing blends with the ground, the light wingtip and dark inboard areas perfectly matching the ground from this angle, I wonder how hard these were to spot from above.............its gorgeous!

 

Amazing work with regards to the stringers, not sure how they missed that in the molds, maybe they should contact you for an updated mold, not everyone has this level of skill (and by not everyone, I really mean NOBODY beyond you) to create the scalloped skin with such uniformity and accuracy, only the master has this ability.

 

Just out of curiosity, do you wear a cape for your day job?

 

Anthony

  • Haha 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Stalker6Recon said:

Just out of curiosity, do you wear a cape for your day job?

I often wonder that too... 🧙‍♂️

 

:rofl: :rofl:

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I confess to having been a bit worried about the 0.010" plastic rod but it still seems to be available from Slater's so it ought to be available from LMSs 

Phone number if anyone wants to order direct +44 (0) 1629734053

 

I have ordered from them by post too and intend doing so after I return from Le Mans later this month

 

See Slater's Plastikard website

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stringer effect looks tops Tony. As Bill says, you can still get slaters micro rod and strip, I've seen a few places as well as Bill's reference above, these seem to have it also: https://eileensemporium.com/index.php?option=com_hikashop&ctrl=category&task=listing&cid=4017&name=slaters-microrod&Itemid=189

 

But then, looking at what you have done ......................... who needs it!

 

Terry

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Stalker6Recon said:

I remember when this happened and we started seeing video of the guys on the roof trying to fight the fires, they had to know that their task was going to kill them within a week, or less. . .

 

If the programme is true to life I don't think they did - they were told it was just a fire in the roof. But they probably would have still done the job if they had known. There are plenty of later examples of people doing work that they knew would likely lead to a horrifying painful death - either in the short or long term....

 

19 hours ago, Stalker6Recon said:

Looks like utorrent is in my future

 

I well recommend it!

 

Keith

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

I well recommend it! 

Interesting, although I would not be surprised if they were not told about the dangers. I just remember the footage when it first came to light that they had an active meltdown. I don't remember exactly what the guys were doing, and for some reason, just pushing debris into the hole really is the image that comes to mind, but it was a long time ago, my memory is faulty at this stage.

 

It's kind of funny, back then a communist government apparently didn't tell the workers that they were doing suicide work, a reminder of the horrors of communism. Today is the 30th anniversary of the democratic demonstration in Tianamen Square, the chinese communist party has been cracking down on dissidents and even removed the words from the internet. All good reasons to thank our lucky stars that we live in free nations and another reason to thank a veteran for helping to provide that freedom that so many take for granted.

 

On this, the anniversary of D-day, I thank all my fellow veterans of all nations for their service and sacrifice. The saying goes, "all gave some, some gave all" is absolutely true.

 

Cheers!

 

Anthony

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/3/2019 at 7:33 PM, perdu said:

God help us if Slater's 0.010" becomes extinct

😄

80 years from now in a secret Jurassic Modeller's Park on the Isle of Wight, scientists of dubious morality revive the Slatersaurus. It escapes and lays waste to Southampton in a highly linear fashion.

Oh wait...postwar urban plannners did that last bit already.

On 6/3/2019 at 8:12 PM, giemme said:

Just that

Just :thanks: Giorgio!

On 6/3/2019 at 10:07 PM, rob85 said:

That’s some clever thinking right there Tony, and it appears to have worked a treat.

Bodywork on my Skoda needs some attention too Rob. Wonder what an Anson tribute finish might look like? :laugh:

On 6/3/2019 at 10:40 PM, The Spadgent said:

I had a flash back to when our friend @TonyTiger66 tried a similar method on the wings of his polish fighter. It didn’t go quite as well if I remember correctly. 😩

I'm frightened to go look now Johnny! 🙈

On 6/3/2019 at 10:50 PM, bbudde said:

Is that enough Tony?

Far too kind as always Benedikt. 🤘

On 6/4/2019 at 1:11 AM, hendie said:

 human hair for electrical cables?   I sense a mad scientist at work

Pur-lease. I prefer the term 'voodoo priest'.... 

 

On 6/4/2019 at 6:06 AM, CedB said:

 

Er, what are those green and white things on the 123 block may I ask? Another tool?!

You're hyperventilating now Ced. 'Tis just a common-or-garden pencil rubber! 😄

(useful though as a big dense soft thing for weight without causing damage)

On 6/4/2019 at 8:26 AM, AdrianMF said:

Mmm, pink D-Day stripes??

Invasion should always be an inclusive affair Adrian.

Kenny.jpg

 

On 6/4/2019 at 8:26 AM, AdrianMF said:

thick fishing line also works well with less hairiness.

On 6/4/2019 at 8:28 PM, Spookytooth said:

BTW, have you thought about using fishing line, it comes in many sizes.

Adrian & Simon: Yes I had thought about. Just as I thought about how I gave away the bulk of my shore fishing gear two months ago and stupidly neglected to salvage any of the spare line... :facepalm:

On 6/4/2019 at 8:30 AM, Stalker6Recon said:

Amazing work with regards to the stringers,

As Adrian and Simon have both noted, others materials for said task are available also! 😄

On 6/4/2019 at 8:30 AM, Stalker6Recon said:

Just out of curiosity, do you wear a cape for your day job?

On 6/4/2019 at 9:06 AM, giemme said:

I often wonder that too... 🧙‍♂️

As a male stripper I have to:

c5777069ce1d32f4923e702d78f3e045.jpg

On 6/4/2019 at 7:02 PM, Stalker6Recon said:

All good reasons to thank our lucky stars that we live in free nations

A good reason too to read Craig Mazin's script for Chernobyl and reflect on what is currently happening in our free countries Anthony:

Capture

I shan't discuss this strand any further due to the ban on political opinion in this forum.

 

https://nofilmschool.com/Download-the-Chernobyl-Script-PDF

 

 

On 6/4/2019 at 6:11 PM, Terry1954 said:

Eileen's Emporium. Where would we be without it?

All my soldering supplies come from Eileen.

Is she a real person, like Mom from Mom's Robots in Futurama? :hmmm:

On 6/6/2019 at 8:01 AM, bigbadbadge said:

Keep up the good work

Kind of you-  as always - Chris. :thumbsup2:

 

Week has been busy in a futile fashion up until today; meetings and paperwork of supreme pointlessness that leave the spirit thirsting for creative activity of any kind. Any of you who've ever been involved in work that requires you  to to liase with people from various different departments will recognize that half of any committee is invariably made up of individuals who have no discernible skills beyond sitting on a chair at meetings. I often fantasize about bringing lighter fuel and a box of matches to such gatherings but then that sort of thing generally gets you a reputation for being 'difficult' these days...

 

First up today then  - a commerical warning to fellow modellers.

Thought I'd discovered a great source of ultra-cheap Washi tape in China, right up until the moment these were delivered:

IMG_0959

Photos on Letter5bay misled one into thinking they were of a standard size.

One were well pizsed off to discover not:

IMG_0960

(Standard size the blue one on the right obvs.)

Small amount of tape on the reel  and the adhesive backing is aspirational rather than actual.

If it looks too good to b. true, it is.... :laugh:

 

One pleasant result of escaping meetings for a while by going to lunch with a dear friend on Wednesday was poking around in the local homeless charity shop and finding one of these for €20!

IMG_0957

Aside from a bijou tad-ette of glue needed along the front strip, it's perfect as a main workbench (including a lower shelf to finally keep the compressor out of harm's way).

It's already had a workout in getting final shaping done on the starboard nacelle so that the wings could be glued into place.

Call me a maverick but I glued one onto either side:

IMG_0965

As on previous occasions I used Araldite both in terms of adhesive strength and in simultaneously acting as an excellent carvable filler that sands down nice and smoothly:

IMG_0963

Before attaching the wings, it seemed prudent to make sure that the brass nacelle fitted properly and matched the port original, as well as checking out the radius arms for the undercarriage:

IMG_0962

It was so long ago since I seemed to have dealt with the undercarriage that I had to stop and think why I'd made one of the radius arms slightly longer than its companion:

IMG_0961

I don't know if you can make out from the above photo but the reason that one got made longer than the other is that I'd been clumsy hollowing out the rear of the starboard nacelle that it fits into and removed too much; on that one, once the radius arm is fixed in place, the missing rear of the nacelle can be rebuilt. The rounded rear apex to those nacelles will also need modification on top and bottom of the wings either side as the real thing looks a tad more sharply 'beaked' at that point.

 

Right then, that glue can cure overnight and we can carry out a damage assessment tomorrow to see if any further filling alonf the roots is required!

Do have a lovely evening all of you. Tonight's viewing chez Baron involves an episode of The Thick of It followed by 

718YHUl0zwL._SX522_.jpg

Fair warning: no fecking anecdotes about where you were when Armstrong stepped off the ladder. I cannot emphasize this point strongly enough.

 

Chin chin til next time.!🍸

:bye:

Tony

 

 

  • Like 11
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...