Marklo Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 (edited) Quote Hmmm finished by Christmas then? Yes just not sure which one This year isn't entirely beyond the bounds of credibility ( well maybe new years day) , but a spontaneous ALDI Airfix group build has broken out on our IMPS forum and I think I may devote my modelling time to this for a while (although that's exactly what I said about the DH4a) and I'm starting to do miscellaneous bits and pieces on my Pfalz DR1 as well (1/48 scratch build will be my next work in progress) , hmmm. Edited December 19, 2018 by Marklo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 (edited) Current state of play, almost a full aeroplane. Started working on an interior. I've used my new RBscriber to score the duckboards (I think that's the correct name) and they look really well. Basically I'm going to make a rectangular frame from 1mm strip and add a seat, stick and control panel. Very little of this will be visible once the top goes on, but I'll know it's there . (in case anyone is wondering, the reason for the black bits is that I'm reusing random bits of plastic card from the scrap bin) Edited December 21, 2018 by Marklo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 (edited) The DH4a And my Airfix Tomahawk have been getting most of the attention over Christmas, but I have managed a bit on the Gamecock. (TBH next major task is the struts and fitting the upper wing and I need to sidle up to that one then get a decent run at it) First task, the trailing edge wing roots just weren't right, CA'd some .5mm card with the right profile in place then filled and shaped them correctly. Also dressed some of the blemishes/gaps visible in the photo. Painted the wheels, cheated and used a paint marker for the silver lines. Filled, marked and drilled the upper wing. Painted and fitted the interior framing, just needs a seat, some pedals, a stick and an instrument panel. Shame you won't see very much of it once the fuselage is zipped up, but at least I'll know it's there. Gave it a rough coat of silver( has since been recoated, filled/sanded and looks much better IRL) , more to see what work was needed to remove any blemishes and fill any gaps left. The biggest issue is the fit of the upper deck to the fuselage, I'll fix this once I finish the interior, still not sure if I'll fill the piece I'm currently using, use the second upper deck I molded or go for a new mold with the vacuum box (assuming I actually finish this someday soon) Still lots of progress, didn't make new years but should be done before the spring. Edited January 2, 2019 by Marklo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) After much fiddling the kit seat is almost serviceable, just need to cover up that ugly ejector pin mark (cut a bit out of the center and reshaped both sides, frankly it would have been much easier to scratch a new seat, but it's done now ) The seat is a bit of educated guess work as I cannot find any photos of the Gamecock interior. I do have a side view drawing and the seat looks more like a later metal bucket seat than a WWI basket so that's what I'm modelling. The next photo illustrates why it probably doesn't matter a lot. I might just add that this is a view of the interior with the deck in place and it is making me wonder why I'm going to this much trouble, still I'll know it's there. Some paint work done, once the interior is complete I'll fill the gap between the upper decking and the fuselage. The black on the nose needs to be properly masked and of course the rudder is missing it's blue stripe. Oh and the wheels are now glued in place. Next big thing is to finish the interior and clean up any remaining blemishes/pits before painting and decaling the main assembly. then it's struts and fitting the upper wing and it's almost done. I reckon at this rate it'll be a late February finish..... Edited January 7, 2019 by Marklo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted January 10, 2019 Author Share Posted January 10, 2019 (edited) Small update, shaped and fitted the underwing fuel tanks. Working on the struts so may be able to fit the upper wing next week.... Edited January 10, 2019 by Marklo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 Couldn't find a shred of information on the Gamecock control panel but I did find a single photo of the Grebe which looks modern, so I decided to rework the Bulldog panel, which as it happens fits my fuselage perfectly. Here it its painted with some thin card discs added and decals from my WWI instrument sheet. Looks reasonably well. Dry fitted the upper wing, realised the position of the lower wing holes was wrong and spent a while re positioning them. Looks good now. Finally did a bit more of the paintwork, (uopoer deck and rudder as well as fill and repaint the incorrect wing holes) . Unfortunately I'm now stuck as I decided to order a set of aftermarket seat belts (Gladiator ones) from the interweb and I really need to fit these and finish the interior before I can progress, I guess I'll just go work on the DH4a (which I didn't touch all weekend) or the Pfaltz while I'm waiting. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted January 18, 2019 Author Share Posted January 18, 2019 (edited) Took some better photos with my new portable lightbox showing the current state of play with the build. I'm stuck waiting on my aftermarket seatbelts before I can proceed. Then I can button up the fuselage make good any gaps and get the upper wing permanently on. In the interim going to try to focus on the getting the DH4a done. Edited January 18, 2019 by Marklo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 Seatbelts finally arrived , for a gladiator, but as I know the grebe had the same type of bucket seat I'm making an educated guess that the gamecock had a similar seat and hence similar belts, rather than the oldstyle lap belts fitted to say the Sopwith Pup. Will now be able to get back to the Gamecock ( Nothwithstanding completing the DH4a) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 Seatbelts painted and attached. Here's the current state of the interior. Once the top deck goes on (soon I hope) it will be barely visible, sigh. Still pleased with the overall look. Ironically the instrument panel which is almost entirely invisible looks pretty good too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 Added a tailskid and buttoned up the foredeck. And lots of green stuff to make good the huge resultant gap. Once this is d down I can start on the Paintwork proper. So we're at the punchlist stage for this build:- 1. Sand/fill/ sand any blemishes in the assembly. 2. Paint the whole thing properly (what's on it at the moment is effectively undercoat (except for the tail plane) and will probably get polished away) 3. Decals on the main assembly. 4. Rig the tail and control wires 5. Fit the struts/Lower wing 6. Rig the rest of it. 7. Decals on the rest of it. 8. Lights, bomb rack, misc bits and pieces Done..... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Nice work. Makes me want to get back to that Avro 504 of mine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 (edited) Getting there. Just a little more sanding and filling and we're ready to finish the paintwork on the main assembly. Edited February 7, 2019 by Marklo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 (edited) Lots of work done, Sanding (mostly) completed, fuselage re scribed(thank you RBscriber). Paintwork almost done (just the obligatory touchup, and the demarcation line of the red/black on the rear deck) . Decals started with the rudder. Next more decals, some more paintwork and onwards. Starting to look pretty well. Edited February 8, 2019 by Marklo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Nice build. At what point did the RAF go from blue stripe at the front of the fin flash to red stripe at the front? Pictures of Gauntlets and Furys suggest the Gamecock was the last fighter to wear this style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 (edited) Quote At what point did the RAF go from blue stripe at the front of the fin flash to red stripe at the front? No idea, I'm just following the source material, (see my first post in the thread) I hadn't even noticed the order change. Some quick googling shows the Fury (where it has a tail flash) the other way but the Flycatcher and Bulldog the same as the Gamecock. So I'd say probably phased in in the very early thirties at a guess. Edited February 8, 2019 by Marklo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 The fin flash order change is described here on BM. For those who don't want to click: " OK, here are the dates. 15 May 1915 adoption of rudder stripes, like the French but different hues 15 August 1930 reversal of colours - to be effected from 19 September 1930 1 August 1934 Rudder stripes discontinued 7 Dec 1939 Fighters in France to have rudder stripes (actually only AASF - GB comment) 20 September 1940 Fin flash standardised at 27in x 24 in Dates from Harleyford's Aircraft Markings of the World 1912-1967. Sometimes the old references are the best, but it does lack a date for the introduction of the fin flash. I believe fuller information on the 1940 introduction of the fin flash can be found in the Ducimus Camouflage and Markings series. if you really want to know I'll dig it out, but can I move my camouflage references nearer to the loft ladder first? " Regards, Adrian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 (edited) Disaster struck at the weekend, or more correctly my pet Cat. work was slow on the Gamecock. As you can see total wreckage and for some reason I cant find the lower port wing, so I'm going to have to make a new one. However I did get the Tail markings progressed, control horn fitted and the start of the cables. Just needs the Squadron emblem and the rest of hte cables added to the tail. And a tiny bit of touching up on the silver and blue. Edited February 11, 2019 by Marklo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matti64 Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 1 hour ago, Marklo said: Yes, he looks like a killer (of models) We have a cheeky Black and white with a similar talent for destruction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 Quote Yes, he looks like a killer (of models) We have a cheeky Black and white with a similar talent for destruction. What amazes me is that he's 20 and the Pup was on quite a high shelf. But I can't stay annoyed at him, he has to follow his paws. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 Next up is trying to use some home printed decals for the squadron badge on the vertical tail fin. I've printed off a few test badges and the first set were a disaster as the film is very thin and curled up and died on me. Theis batch have been varnished and went on ok (an RTFM moment ) but are still quite transparent, here I am testing them on a piece of scrap card and the red is showing through, so I will either need to double up the decal film or paint a white background on the fin. Will probably go for the former as masking the fin would probably be a pain. On a related note I tried reworking hte Bulldog numbers for the lower wing J-8404's and just didn't work so I've ordered some decals off the interweb for the letters and the roundels, which means that progress might be a little erratic till they arrive, still plenty of other things I can build while I wait. ho hum.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 Inching towards the finish line. White field added to the tail. I also realized that my gauntlet is way oversize so needs to be scaled and printed again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 (edited) Roundels arrived in the post this morning. Makes the thing look so much better the next task is to rig the tail and do the zig zag lines on the side of the fuselage before fitting the upper wing. Edited February 22, 2019 by Marklo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted March 22, 2019 Author Share Posted March 22, 2019 Back on track. Got my clear decal film from ebay and I've printed off the underwing numbers and the side chevrons. Applied the numbers and very pleased with the outcome. Sides next then it's on to the upper wing and the rigging. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 Got the squadron markings done at the weekend and the main struts as well as the rigging eyelets on the lower wing. Very pleased with how it worked out. Upper wing and rigging and we're there The markings are printed on clear laser printable decal film, which turned out to be much easier to use than the white sheets I had, it was much more expensive but I've gotten the decals for four projects out of one sheet so overall not too bad. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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