Timmas Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 I visited Scale Model world at Telford this weekend for the first time ever, and was fortunate enough to catch John Adams give a demonstration on how to cut and sand vac formed aircraft models. The thought of making a complete v/f kit is still a somewhat nerve wracking prospect for me, and I doubt if I will ever be able to produce anything approaching the standard of @woody37for example with his stunning 1/48 Stirling (which I also saw at Telford), but John took a lot of the trepidation out of the process and made it seem far less daunting. So, if you're reading this John, a huge thank you...it was informative, reassuring and fascinating. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Having seen you work on the Victor, I don't think it's beyond your skills, and I hope you do one, so I can see how to do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 That’s kind of you to say, thanks. But let’s wait until I get some primer on it...then the truth may very well be revealed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 John is a modelling god! I’ve yet to cut parts out in anger, Mike did the Stirling ones! I need to go and have a look at this Victor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 1 hour ago, woody37 said: John is a modelling god! I need to go and have a look at this Victor Indeed. He also has a great sense of humour describing, as he did, the two principle vac form methods. There's the Russian technique where the material is pulled down the outside from the top of a former. That's the Sukova method. The other is Japanese and is drawn from inside a former. This is known as the Sucunda method. There's nothing of significance to see on the Victor. Seriously. PC is being too generous with his praise imo. For some insane reason and in a moment of extreme hubris, I thought I'd have a bash at doing a conversion using resin parts...something I've not done before. And it shows! 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Ah, the B.1, I’ve been following that, Edward is most correct in his description 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 10 hours ago, woody37 said: I’ve yet to cut parts out in anger, Mike did the Stirling ones! My apologies are due to @Mike . I've been following some of his builds and am knocked out by those too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britman Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Any news on John's Wapiti Timmas? Keith. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, Britman said: Any news on John's Wapiti Timmas? Keith. After the v/f demo, he was talking about it, explaining how the perceived 'correct' drawings aren't necessarily as true as convention dictates but unfortunately I'd had a message on my phone and had to make a call, so I didn't hear the end of the talk. I don't know if any other BMers were there as well? If so, perhaps they can help out with info. I assume you know about his Tiger Moth though? Tim Edited November 13, 2018 by Timmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 John, is a great guy and his knowledge of certain aircraft is second to none, he came to Edgar Brooks wake at our club as they knew each other very well, his vac forms are brilliant as well 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 15 minutes ago, kev67 said: John, is a great guy and his knowledge of certain aircraft is second to none, he came to Edgar Brooks wake at our club as they knew each other very well, his vac forms are brilliant as well Yes, I've not met him before, but he clearly is extremely skilled as well as knowledgeable. He released a couple of fuselage halves within a matter of minutes and had several sets of drawings with him which were fascinating to see and hear about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 2 hours ago, Britman said: Any news on John's Wapiti Timmas? Keith. John is doing drawings of all the Wapiti/Wallace family, Dora Wings are to produce kit(s) from them. From what I understood, the drawings are mostly completed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 1 hour ago, Dave Swindell said: John is doing drawings of all the Wapiti/Wallace family, Dora Wings are to produce kit(s) from them. From what I understood, the drawings are mostly completed. That's interesting. He did say Dora were doing the Tiger Moth but I didn't know about the W's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr T Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 The Wapiti and Wallace were announced a while ago and if John is doing the drawings they should be good. Had a good chat with him and his wife at SMW as I have known him from when he first started and talked more about families rather than models. Really good to see him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britman Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Thanks for the info chaps and no I don't know about the Tiger Moth. Keith. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripod Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 12 hours ago, Timmas said: I don't know if any other BMers were there as well? I walked back in to the hall just as he was starting, having had no idea that he was giving a demonstration. Definitely my luckiest find of the show! I won't get close to matching him for speed when preparing vacforms, but I'll certainly switch to the John Adams method - it'll save me a great deal of sanding. Peter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 10 hours ago, Tripod said: I walked back in to the hall just as he was starting, having had no idea that he was giving a demonstration. Definitely my luckiest find of the show! That's pretty much what happened with me...by pure chance I was walking past the table as he was setting up. It was my luckiest find of the show too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Here's a couple of links for the cabinet/card scraper he was using:- For sale on Amazon (if you weren't there the one he had was a 6x3 rectangular one) Wikipedia article on how to use and sharpen it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 1 hour ago, Dave Swindell said: Here's a couple of links for the cabinet/card scraper he was using:- For sale on Amazon (if you weren't there the one he had was a 6x3 rectangular one) Wikipedia article on how to use and sharpen it Dave, it's a shame I didn't know who you were, otherwise I'd have introduced myself. I was standing directly in front of John wearing a black jacket and carrying a brown leather shoulder bag. Were you the guy who had the vac formed Hunter canopy he gave away? If it wasn't you, perhaps it was @Tripod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Ditto @Timmas, I was to your right, dark green top, beard & glasses. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 29 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said: Ditto @Timmas, I was to your right, dark green top, beard & glasses. Ah, yes. I remember. He thought you were waiting for him to make a mistake lol. I've never knowingly met any other BMers, so...hi, how do you do (handshake). I'm Tim. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 On 13/11/2018 at 07:19, Timmas said: My apologies are due to @Mike . I've been following some of his builds and am knocked out by those too Don't be silly! 99% of the work on the Stirling is now Woody's. When it left me it was a bare shell of a model with only a few of the more obvious gremlins dealt with. I barely recognise it anymore! In all seriousness though, if you follow John's technique, which I reposted a few years back as the original had somehow been lost (I'm a data hoarder), you won't go far wrong at all. If you start with a Dynavector or later Falcon kit, you'll be effectively building a short-run kit once you've got the plastic cut out and sanded. It's kind of a shame that the breadth of injection moulded kits is killing off the vacform side of the hobby, but there are still uses for it, even in the upcoming age of 3D printing. I wish I had the time to build a vacform model these days 😍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 3 minutes ago, Mike said: Don't be silly! 99% of the work on the Stirling is now Woody's. When it left me it was a bare shell of a model with only a few of the more obvious gremlins dealt with. I barely recognise it anymore! Ok. I won't argue! From where I'm sitting, you're both bl**dy good modellers so I'll leave it at that! 😲 6 minutes ago, Mike said: In all seriousness though, if you follow John's technique, which I reposted a few years back as the original had somehow been lost (I'm a data hoarder), you won't go far wrong at all. If you start with a Dynavector or later Falcon kit, you'll be effectively building a short-run kit once you've got the plastic cut out and sanded. It's kind of a shame that the breadth of injection moulded kits is killing off the vacform side of the hobby, but there are still uses for it, even in the upcoming age of 3D printing. I wish I had the time to build a vacform model these days 😍 I know zero about vac formed kits although I've seen v/f canopies and the like used here on BM to great effect. If I can find one that scratches my itch (Cold War, preferrably RAF) and feel daft confident enough to try, maybe I'll give one a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 22 minutes ago, Timmas said: Ah, yes. I remember. He thought you were waiting for him to make a mistake lol. I've never knowingly met any other BMers, so...hi, how do you do (handshake). I'm Tim. 🙂 HI Tim, yes, that was me, I've known John for a long time, hence the banter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 14 minutes ago, Timmas said: Ok. I won't argue! From where I'm sitting, you're both bl**dy good modellers so I'll leave it at that! 😲 Very nice of you to say so - cheque's in the mail It's always nice to see John at Telford, especially when he's wearing his cravat! Shame I missed it (the show, not his cravat) this year, but as I was having a bit of a flare up of symptoms, I thought it best not to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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