Mark's Supermarine Stranraer/s

[MarkSH]

Thanks @Vulcanicity again that's really useful information I'll checkout the Swordfish kit again for the flares.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Jonny]

Thanks,  Mar k (@Vulcanicity) ...

 Very helpful.  I think I’ll leave it off my model - when I get round to it!

 

Jonny

[Dansk]

On 12/11/2018 at 6:01 PM, MarkSH said:

 

 

 

I ran my riveting wheel over the lines and then scraped the spaces out with round scalpel (not uniformly), sanded back and manually re-instated the rivets, a bit time consuming but I like the look. Once one side is complete I can match the lines to the other.

 

 

 

That’s amazing it really looks like stressed metal

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Any further progress Mark?

[MarkSH]

Hello all,

 

Sincere apologies for not keeping track of the GB, after finishing off the B-17 STGB I was a little mojo'd out, however I have set about catching up with all the builds and there is some very impressive work going on. I have also re-started my efforts with the Revell Stranraer:

 

I have added some limited detailing to the interior of the fuselage, but I feel that I do not have sufficient time to do much more, besides it would pale in comparison to the great work that @Vulcanicity has put into his Stranraer build. Maybe I'll try and complete a more exhaustive detailing exercise with my Matchbox Stranraer......but not for this GB.

 

I have busied up the cockpit a little bit more though as with the substantial 'glasshouse' glazing quite a lot will be visible.

 

In a moment of madness I decided to try a new approach (for me) of doing the rigging attachments so started drilling holes and gluing 'turnbuckles' fashioned from .2mm copper wire, I looked at the wing construction and where sanding etc would be required and felt that I could work around the 'turnbuckles' I may regret this!

 

Each group of 'turnbuckles' has been superglued to the underside of the upper part of the lower wing assembly (the two parts aren't mated yet) the opposite will be done for the upper wings.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

 

 

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Nice to see you back at this one Mark, you did a fabulous job on your B-17!

 

Interested to see how the turnbuckles work out!

[CliffB]

This is turning into something rather special Mark 

[Vulcanicity]

Aha, more progress! Well done that man - especially for spotting that the double bracing wires are only on the forward sides of the wing bays, and only the wires going outboard from  bottom wing to top wing! Your scratchbuilding looks ace too - more than enough if you're not planning to open the door (and probably more than enough if you are!  -I went a bit mad).

 

Cheers,

P

 

PS. You might (and I stress might) want to scribe some panel lines on the plain area on the uppersurface of the bottom wings - as far as I can tell this was metal-plated rather than fabric-covered as extra reinforcement over the bomb carriage points, and covered with some kind of mid-greyish non-slip coating (not Black as the Revell decals would have it). The Cox plans don't show this area, much to my earlier frustration, but the 04/2001 Aeroplane cutaway does:

 

 

You can also see the area quite clearly in this shot of prototype K9373 which I snaffled from the National Archives:

[Pin]

On 2/7/2019 at 7:25 PM, MarkSH said:

In a moment of madness I decided to try a new approach (for me) of doing the rigging attachments so started drilling holes and gluing 'turnbuckles' fashioned from .2mm copper wire,

Generally it works pretty well, however I find the process quite labour intensive. There are a couple of "ready to cook" solutions:

 

For larger scales (or really big planes like Zeppelin Staaken) I would definitely recommend Gaspatch turnbuckles

 

but of course, this is a matter of personal preference.

Great work so far!

 

[MarkSH]

Hello all,

 

Thanks again @Vulcanicity for the heads up about the detail on the lower wing upper, I had wondered about the large black decals which I agree will look odd just plonked on the wing. So I probably will have a bash at a more physical definition of the area, I had already decided to tone down the decals with a filter of some kind, probably oil paint but maybe just a hand applied block of paint within the panel lines may suggest the anti-slip surface. Thanks also for another fine portrait of the Stranraer, I particularly like the idea of what I presume is a turntable on the left, that would make a great display base idea.

 

Thanks also to @Pin for the turnbuckle suggestions, I'll bear them in mind for future projects, the Gaspatch jobbies look the business, at this point however I have already set my stall out with one wing nearly complete, besides I've got a little routine going and its an ideal task to de-compress after a day in the office!

 

Paperclip and pin vice winding tool and the Turnbuckle Therapy production line, 25 done whilst having a cup of tea just after getting home.

 

I have painted up the interior and am waiting for the glazing to dry after a dip in Klear:

 

 

I have also painted, dry brushed and installed the engines in the cowlings, I'll attach them at the end.

 

 

The upper wing centre section has been assembled and drilled for the rigging wires, the idea is to use one length of thread for each pair of holes, passed through with a needle... the Mrs did wonder why I was raiding her sewing box but when I  explained that I needed to sew up my Stranraer, she just rolled her eyes and said 'as you do!' 

 

 

The floats have been assembled and sanded ready for some riveting and texturing, the rigging holes need drilling as well.:

 

 

More later,

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Dazey]

On 12/12/2018 at 3:01 AM, MarkSH said:

I ran my riveting wheel over the lines and then scraped the spaces out with round scalpel (not uniformly), sanded back and manually re-instated the rivets, a bit time consuming but I like the look. Once one side is complete I can match the lines to the other.

 

Hello Mark,

 

Great work on the riveting and textured appearance à la stressed metal.

 

Do you mind me asking what riveting tool you use? I damaged my SBS one on only the third model on which it was used, and am using an etched RB-mini one that is not as good.

 

Regards,

David

P.S. I can't offer any advice on bomb load or colours (things I am also struggling with on my GB entry – I don't know whether my example was painted on the undersides or not!).

[MarkSH]

13 hours ago, Dazey said:

 

Hello Mark,

 

Great work on the riveting and textured appearance à la stressed metal.

 

Do you mind me asking what riveting tool you use? I damaged my SBS one on only the third model on which it was used, and am using an etched RB-mini one that is not as good.

 

Regards,

David

P.S. I can't offer any advice on bomb load or colours (things I am also struggling with on my GB entry – I don't know whether my example was painted on the undersides or not!).

Hi Dazey,

 

I am using the cheapo Trumpeter tool, it works well enough and has interchangeable wheels for different scales, however I modified mine so that I could see the wheel path a little more clearly:

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[MarkSH]

Hello all,

 

Apologies for the lack of updates, I am making painfully slow progress and am still hopeful of completing the GB I am however very glad I decided to only do one of the Stranraer's.

 

The main assemblies are together, the fuselage is masked and ready for a first primer coat to check for any remedial filling, the wing floats are riveted and have had a light texturing pass as per the fuselage plus they have been drilled ready for rigging. The tail unit will be fitted and faired in shortly and the engine units are ready to have the collector rings masked as well. All of my turnbuckle efforts are superglued in place.

 

The top wing assembly is glued and currently setting in position with a slight dihedral.

 

The main assembly and the top wing will be sprayed separately and mated later on.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Glad you are still going Mark, starting to look like a Stranraer now

[Learstang]

Excellent work on the Stranraer! I have two of these kits in my stash.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[Vulcanicity]

You think you're making painfully slow progress? I started mine in July 2017!

Seriously though, some great work and I'm looking forward to the result!

[Peter Lloyd]

Great modelling, the fuselage 'texturing' and rivets look excellent.  I hope you turnbuckle idea works, it looks promising.  My first rigged model a few years ago went quite well but may last four attempts have ended on the shelf of failure after many fruitless hours with tiny drills and Ez-Line type products (I swear that stuff is impossible- it is too soft to thread through anything).

[MarkSH]

Afternoon all,

 

The first primer coat has been applied to the major assemblies. All in all its not too bad, a little bit of remedial filling and sanding required here and there but it looks better now its all in one overall colour.

 

I have a question with regard to the underside colour, as I have both the Matchbox and Revell kits which both depict A/C of 228 sqn. in standard top surface camouflage colours (Slate grey/Sea grey) . Matchbox would have you do the undersides in Aluminium and Revell suggest Sky. Any thoughts on what is 'correct' preferable? I myself would prefer the Sky option.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Col.]

Looking good Mark. As to the underside colours; perhaps sky for the wings but aluminium for the hull and floats?

[MarkSH]

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Looking good Mark. As to the underside colours; perhaps sky for the wings but aluminium for the hull and floats?

Thanks Col, that actually makes good sense and will look more attractive.

[dogsbody]

These are from this Mushroom book.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[MarkSH]

Thanks, @dogsbody K7295 BN_L is the Matchbox subject aircraft so perhaps that's the way to go.....oh dear conflicting information!

[dogsbody]

I'm not saying the book is right or wrong. I just thought I'd put it out there. I'm sure there are others who know more than me.

 

 

Chris

[MarkSH]

Evening all,

 

Not much to report, but the Vallejo Metal Colour aluminium (+ a few drops of white on the fabric covered surfaces) have been applied to the undersides, I'll let it cure and can then mask off, There's still a lot to do including the rigging in just a week and a bit, gonna be close!:

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[MarkSH]

Hi all,

 

Genuine progress with all current builds has been hampered by work projects this week, I have a TOIL day today but it is also my Daughter's birthday so I fear I am really struggling to make the deadline with this GB especially with all the rigging to be done and I don't want to do a half assed' job on it, but we'll see.

 

Some progress has been made however:

 

Masking over the Dark sea grey using the Matchbox colour plans blown up to scale and tacked in place with masking fluid.

 

The Slate greyish applied, I did have a couple of paint lifts on removing the masking but took my life in my hands rubbed them back and freehanded with the airbrush all without any major issues or recourse to expletives. The disruptive pattern is taken from the Matchbox instructions and is a little different from Revell's. I'm happy enough with it although I've never been a great fan of the DSG and Slate grey scheme anyway but with some weathering it should come to life.

 

The decals have been applied. Yes, I know I have used the black anti-slip panel decals but I am going to tone them down with an oil filter before fitting the upper wing assembly. I am usually quite impressed with Revell decals but in this instance not so. The print is slightly out of register as can be seen on the large wing roundels, which will require touching up and generally they have not completely settled with Micro Sol with some silvering evident. The decals do pick up the stressed skin effect quite well however so at least that's a small win.

 

I'll keep plugging away at it.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.