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Started this one for a Group Build on another Site so thought I'd post it here as well.  

 

Facilitated by the availability of the decals by 26

 

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which were reviewed here

 

 

 

Using the Airfix A300 kit

 

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This particular example was missing a few parts (such as the cockpit windscreen transparency so some extra work to do along the way.  

 

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To the Fuselage and as all of the information (and the decals) say minus two frames forward and minus three frames aft.  

 

So two choices here : the first how to make the cuts; and the second where to make them.  

 

For the first one I chose the "Tape around and scribe and use Dividers to ensure parallelism then razor saw" method while for the second one I chose to make the cuts without (or at the very least minimise) cuts between windows (even though they will be bogged up the criteria is for as much surface area / strength behind where the joins are) and not consider exactly where the inserts were on the real thing if it makes life difficult cutting now or filling and sanding later on or where the Airfix Bulkheads are and ignoring trying to preserve them.  

 

For the rear then taking out the three frames around the small door area (which is probably where the extension was on the real thing) taping around and scoring with the Tamiya branded Olfa P Cutter

 

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And on the Starboard side

 

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Seemed to go all right so lets try the front this time a few windows ahead of where the real thing was lengthened otherwise it will interfere with the Wing root :  

 

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Continuing around :  

 

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Next step is to bog up the Windows and deepen the scribing before resorting to the dreaded Razor Saw!  

 

Edited by Rob S
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The best part about putting something up on another Site once you have done something over a period of time on the original Site is it makes you look like a lightning quick Modeller when in reality you only progress at a Glacial pace!  

 

Bogging up the Windows as there was no Transparencies in this Kit and I chose the "Tape and Epoxy" method.  I didn't do the whole lot as wasn't too confident in the Epoxy I was using so if it turned out a disaster I wouldn't have to clean up everything.  Nearly was a disaster as the Epoxy was supposed to be long curing - that is not the five minute type - yet it went off in about three minutes!  Which might not sound too bad but was certainly unexpected and I did do something else that I won't reveal yet as I don't know if it was successful but will reveal it if it turns out to be successful (and not admit to it if it doesn't work of course!).  

 

Both Fuselage halves taped in the area of the cuts :  

 

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Once that was dry in the morning I did some more scribing until it wasn't possible any more and then reverted to (careful) sawing with the Razor Saw :  

 

Port Side :  

 

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Starboard Side :  

 

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I seem to remember someone (Laurent?  Referring to C/N 002 OO-TEF when He found it and tried to save it before it was unfortunately scrapped) saying years ago it's a bit like an A310 in length.  

 

Now don't expect this pace to continue as that is where I am up to at the moment.  

 

 

 

 

Edited by Rob S
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Thanks for the kind words.  

 

OK trimed up the cuts a bit by sanding and then tacked each side together with liquid cement to see if if they would hang together.  Some gaps and there was a circumferential wander but the parrallel cuts minimised it's effect so seemed to be OK : 

 

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Again comparing each side to show the reduction in length : 

 

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After these were taken I dry fitted the fuselage halves together and there was a bit of a whoop on one side but managed to pull it into line and so tacked the outside with old fashioned styrene cement.

 

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7 hours ago, Eric Mc said:

I saw that original aircraft in 1974. It visited Dublin on a sales tour in the hope that Aer Lingus might buy a few (they didn't - although they now have a large fleet of Airbus products).

Hi Eric

 

Did you ever get around to building the Airfix A300 I gave you?

 

John L

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I didn't mention that the Kit I am using as well as having missing parts has a bit of a bit of a problem as it's a bit warped.  Also what didn't help matters was I made a mistake on the forward Port join which I have only just picked up where the forward Fuselage was slightly rotated on the Fuselage.  This was the source of the "whoop" that I mentioned before and I think might have been caused by me setting down that Fuselage half on it's side which has the "pins" (as opposed to the other half that has the "locating holes" and has no issues lying flat) when some of the "pins" have broken off so it didn't "sit" right on the mat and initially set with that slight rotation/sag.  I only noticed this when admiring the strength of the joints after the overnight setting of the liquid and normal cement had done it's work and the joins were welded strongly together.  (Bloody strong in fact!)  So I've just taken a risk and "dewelded" that join by flooding it with thin liquid cement thereby "breaking" it and now just reglued it trying to ensure that this time I've "set" it in the right position and also that it doesn't rotate or sag and that the Fuselage goes back together OK again - which is a battle in itself owing to the warp in the Fuselage halves as well as the "lipping" of the Fuselage halves (which I don't think I mentioned when first looking at this boxing).  

 

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OK just some background work that I did that I didn't show in case it didn't work out but now it seems the patient has survived the major surgery I'll describe it now.  

 

I "cheated" a little by doing some pre surgery work by epoxying in a tube the length of the constant section fuselage to more than cover where the cuts were when epoxying the windows against the tape on the outside :  

 

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Closer examination shows that I epoxyed the halves of a bigger tube that the tube fitted into to "clamp" the tube in place over the windows as an extra precaution of the tube moving.  

 

So the idea being that when it came to cutting out the sections of the fuselage ideally the tube would still line up inside each fuselage half.   Then to make sure of that lining up and also to give it some rigidity a carbon fibre rod (no expense spared with this Operation!) of a suitable snug fitting diameter was inserted through each epoxyed tube :  

 

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During this process the fit of the fuselage halves was continually checked to ensure that they still fitted well (well fitted even better than out of the box owing to the warping!).  

 

P.S.  Further internal "Fish Plating" / "Tabing" still to take place to ensure even further strength and rigidity.  

 

Edited by Rob S
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Next time (if whatever the fuselage is that allows room for it) I'll probably use two or three per side although that will increase the cost as that Carbon Fibre Rod isn't cheap (but it's such a neat fit inside the styrene Tube and it's stiffness is beyond reproach).  

 

This method should be OK for direct shortening but will need to be more accurate in it's placement of the tube if used for lengthening across two or more kits particularly if the long-short-long and short-long-short method is used to make a long-long-long stretch.  

 

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Small update on this as haven't been feeling 100 percent lately.  

 

Thought I'd add a bit of filler on the joins just to see how bad they were : 

 

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Not too bad so hit it with a bit of Primer and then bogged up the windows that had been epoxied to see how many air bubbles there were : 

 

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Let it dry overnight and then wet n dried it the next day or two : 

 

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A few bubbles so next time must use a pin to pierce (had to edit that as it wouldn't let me say "pin p-r-i-c-k" as it converted it to " pin gentleman's parts") the tape to bleed the epoxy through making sure of course there is something underneath it so it doesn't become a permanent fixture on the bench.  

 

Probably glue all the Doors and Hatches next and line up for correcting the front wheel well which appears to be a bit too far back to be accurate enough.  Then no doubt more rounds of filling, sanding, priming, etc as is our want in Airliner Modelling.  

 

Edited by Rob S
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LESSONS IN OBSERVATION NUMBER 42  

Just noticed that the "Carbon Fibre Rod" I used is actually Carbon Fibre Tube!  

Must have a look at the rest of the Carbon Fibre Rod and Tube where I bought it next time I am there and see if they have any Carbon Fibre Rod small enough to go through this size Tube!

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This is looking quite impressive Rob. Apologies for the late response to this thread however I’ve been too family focused of late which has reduced my BM forum viewing time. 

 

You don’t realise how much work is involved in reducing an airliners fuselage until you tackle something like this. I failed trying to convert a Heller DC-6 into a DC-4 many years ago and this thread is bringing up some bad memories of my poor modelling skills. 

 

I wish you all the luck getting this one over the line mate - I’m sure it’ll be a lovely and rare build. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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Another small update.  

 

Decided to follow the first stage of the Instructions by glueing in the Doors and Hatches which is a characteristic of Airfix kits of this era.  Then I decided to tape and epoxy the remaining front and rear windows seeing I hadn't done them when doing the windows between and either side of the cuts and this nearly resulted in disaster.  Getting to the end of the Chinese made supposedly long curing epoxy the $#!% of a thing decided to go off almost straight away so as you can see it gelled and "twirled" when I tried to apply it towards the end.  

 

Managed to sort of retrieve the situation and then when it was dry tried to cover it up with the next twin dispenser of Epoxy.  Valuable tactical information for any US Fleet wanting to pick a fight in the South China Sea - just send a fake Fleet through there so that the Chinese prematurely fire their Missiles at it and then when they have exhausted their ammunition send in the "real" Fleet!  

 

So to the photo or it didn't really happen : 

 

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Those studying for their Observation Badges may note that I have cut out a bit of the Fuselage Main Wheel Wells as I thought this area was a bit shallow if left as is.  Building of a new Wheel Well Floor (or what is visible of it) is another chore added to the list.  

 

So then it was bog it all up on the outside, let it set well - which in the summer time here doesn't take long - and then sand to see the faults in filling.  

Again a photo or it's just my imagination or a bad dream : 

 

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Next step is to prime it again to clearly see the defects which I have just done with a new can of Primer Surfacer and lo and behold the additional pressure  of a new can caught me by surprise so the thing is well and truly thickly coated in Primer now,  Recovery Mission next ...

 

Edited by Rob S
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44 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Recovery Mission next ...

Something I tend to say on a daily occurrence these days Rob!! This ‘Bus’ is looking good no matter how much pain it’s seemingly causing you. I can only painfully  imagine what heat your copping, I’m struggling to breath in this 38 degree and high humidity Brisbane day - the air cons getting a good work out that’s for sure! 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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So after absolutely flooding the thing with Primer from the new spray can I sat in front of the TV leaning over a bowl of water sanding the Primer back with a sheet of 1200 Wet and Dry.  

 

After I got rid of a bit of it and was able to see some filler discontinuities I used a sheet of 600 (I think) to get to this stage : 

 

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Saw where the errors still were so onto another round of filling : 

 

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Then after it dried over night another round of sanding : 

 

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Determined after taking this photo that I could still "feel" some discontinuities in the filler so spent some time after this with the sheet of 1200 to try and smooth them out.  Pretty sure from now on I'm going to rely on "feel" rather than sight unless it's under a bright light and magnifying glass to determine how bad the surface is.  

No photo of this as got distracted having to start cleaning out the Freezer in the Garage that decided to trip out and not tell me (YUK!)and in the mean time I Primed it again : 

 

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Not too bad now so going to leave it there for the minute and determine what needs to be done to the Airfix kit in terms of corrections noting if they do apply to this particular variant being the prototype and whether certain things were or weren't done to this that the other B1 and to a lesser extent B2 and B4 had done to them.  

 

If anyone knows of a good A300 build thread somewhere by all means let me know so I can have a look and attempt some shameless copying.  

 

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Hello Chris

 

I probably would if this was a "normal" build but seeing the Fuselage has already been "cut and shut" I might do a similar thing to what I did to a part built Airfix 737-200 where I had a go a fixing it myself instead of dropping in a Daco Cockpit as I would have if it had been a build from an unbuilt kit.  

 

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The thing is to find some good Plans.  Ian (Turbofan) has sent me a photo comparison of the kit with Plans so that has given me something to go on.  

 

Edited by Rob S
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