abat Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 I’ve not built a kit or posted to the forum for quite a while now, having been pre-occupied by work, study and associated activities. I decided to make amends over Christmas holidays and made a start on the latest of my Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm collection. This time it’s a post-war Wirraway, most likely A20-168 (972) from HMAS Albatross as depicted in these Red Roo decals. There’s only a few photos I can find of RAN Wirraways online and markings and paint schemes are all different and ambiguous as to whether yellow training stripes on the rear fuselage and top wings were carried over from RAAF service, or over-painted with aluminium paint. I’m using the Special Hobby 1/72 First Blood over Rabaul kit. It’s been going together quite well, albeit with the usual checking and fettling in order to get the parts to fit nicely. I noted conflicting references about the cockpit interior colour and decided to go with a metal finish, rather than interior green. All pictures I see of Wirraways on the ground show the elevators slightly dropped so I cut these in order to give depict this in the build. Otherwise, it’s pretty much out of the box. The wing roots needed a fair bit of filling with plastic strip and putty and a moderate degree of fettling to sit properly around the wheel wells, and there was a bit of work tidying up the landing light recesses, but it’s looking very much like a Wirraway. One issue I’m yet to resolve is mounting the engine cowling as it appears to have nothing to physically connect it to the fuselage. Perhaps the trick is to mount it first to the engine and then mount the engine onto the fuselage. No pressure yet as that and the engine will go on after I’ve painted the fuselage and wings. 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Looking good with some good info for others building one of these. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 Thanks Steve. This site (http://dbdesignbureau.buckmasterfamily.id.au/tech_info_cac_wirraway.htm) has a wealth of information on the CAC Wirraway. The cockpit diagrams helped immensely with constructing the cage. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Great start! I am absolutely up for this build! Martian 👽 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 As usual, it pays to check references and photos before reaching for the knife and glue bottle. I discovered this afternoon that I’d fitted the wrong panel behind the engine cowl and so I cut and leveraged off the one I’d already glued and replaced it with the one below. I don’t believe that the guns were fitted but the two prominent bulges appear in photos forward of the cockpit. As for the cowling itself, I need the one with the additional starboard air intake. This is a finely moulded resin piece in the SH kit, but very difficult to remove as the pour block is moulded against the intake. Of course I damaged the inlet in the process of sawing it off! I’ve therefore resorted to fashioning one in the additional plastic cowl that’s provided for other versions. I’ll fit some vanes and see how it looks. As a last resort I could request a replacement from Special Hobby but that may take months to arrive. I also confirmed the correct air cleaner under the cowling is the one shown below. Off to make some dinner so that’s all for today. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Checked the mail and the stickers have arrived! They look very nice too. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Looking great, even with the little mishaps. Crack on dear sir. Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 This looks very interesting. The kit looks good, as does your handiwork Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 8, 2019 Author Share Posted January 8, 2019 22 hours ago, Courageous said: Looking great, even with the little mishaps. Crack on dear sir. Stuart Thank you Stuart. Only minor mishaps so far! 10 hours ago, RidgeRunner said: This looks very interesting. The kit looks good, as does your handiwork Martin Thanks Martin, there is very nice detail and it fits together pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 I’m happy with the new intake and have attached the air cleaner. The cowl will be attached to the main body by the air cleaner which is rather precarious but functional. There’s lots of fettling and filling needed to get the cowl to line up correctly. Once that’s done I’ll touch up the cockpit, attach and mask the canopy, Install and mask the landing lights and lenses, mask the engine and exhausts and give it all an undercoat. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 A bit more progress. The engine is mounted and the cowl is on, attached to the fuselage by the air cleaner. I’ve brush painted some silver around the more inaccessible bits that might not receive spray from the main paint coat. Obviously the exhausts will need re-painting once the main coat goes on. I fashioned some crude landing lights from plastic discs, Aluminium foil and a drop of micro Krystal clear for a lens and glued on the covers. These will need touching up and masking when set. Masking the canopy proved an interesting experience. I used a Montex mask (which I’ve used many times in other builds) and everything looked good until I re-positioned a panel and noticed the mask adhesive was not releasing cleanly from the canopy plastic. Sure enough after removing a few other panels the canopy was a mess of sticky adhesive. The photo below gives an idea of what I was left with. I’ve never experienced this with Montex before so I’m at a loss for what went wrong. I tested a few cleaning agents on a spare canopy (detergent, Windex, etc) but finally settled on a shot of WD-40. I rinsed and re-masked the canopy by cutting Tamiya tape to size. This will be tidied up a little when the canopy is set. The rear canopy is next, and the undercarriage legs etc, and then an undercoat. I’ll need to paint early in the day as it’s pretty hot over here at present. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 18, 2019 Author Share Posted January 18, 2019 Heading for 40C (104F) at home today so I touched up the undercoat and got the top coat on this morning before it got too hot. I used AS12 Tamiya Bare metal silver from the can. Nice and simple. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magua87 Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 Beautiful work. It's always so satisfying when you get that first layer of paint down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Russell Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 That is looking very nice! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 Looking good abat - using WD40 is a new one for me and filed away for future use CJP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 18, 2019 Author Share Posted January 18, 2019 3 hours ago, Magua87 said: Beautiful work. It's always so satisfying when you get that first layer of paint down. Thanks, yes it takes so long to get there but it’s worth it in the end! 1 hour ago, Ed Russell said: That is looking very nice! Thanks Ed. It’s scrubbed up quite well. 17 minutes ago, CJP said: Looking good abat - using WD40 is a new one for me and filed away for future use CJP Thanks CJP, i wonder if there’s nothing you can’t do with that stuff! it removed the goo without fogging the plastic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyTiger66 Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 I’ve just popped in in time! It was 40° here in Canberra too, on Friday. Far too hot for this old Brit 🥵 ! Cooler this evening. I didn’t know that the Wirraway had served with the Australian Fleet Air Arm. I really must visit the FAA museum on the SE NSW coast at some point; extend my knowledge. I have another boxing of this kit; I’m very interested to see how it went together. Thanks for the tips on the wing roots and how to secure the cowling. It all helps 👍 Its looking good; looking forward to the canopy framing reveal ! Best regards TonyT 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Love the 'Boring Old Silver' on the decal sheet! Really a lovely build you've got going on here. Will follow along with interest! Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 5 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said: I’ve just popped in in time! It was 40° here in Canberra too, on Friday. Far too hot for this old Brit 🥵 ! Cooler this evening. I didn’t know that the Wirraway had served with the Australian Fleet Air Arm. I really must visit the FAA museum on the SE NSW coast at some point; extend my knowledge. I have another boxing of this kit; I’m very interested to see how it went together. Thanks for the tips on the wing roots and how to secure the cowling. It all helps 👍 Its looking good; looking forward to the canopy framing reveal ! Best regards TonyT Thanks Tony, the kit does go together quite well, the cowling attachment being the main puzzle to solve. The buckmasterfamily web page diagrams really help, especially with the cockpit framing. I need to paint the canopy framing black before the reveal and also add a few yellow stripes underwing. The Nowra Museum is brilliant, although they may not have a Wirraway on display. Been a while since I last visited. Oh, and I’m in Canberra this weekend too visiting my son and it was certainly 40C on Saturday! What a small world. 4 hours ago, thorfinn said: Love the 'Boring Old Silver' on the decal sheet! Really a lovely build you've got going on here. Will follow along with interest! Cheers Thanks, There’s been a few hiccups but I’m getting there. The silver does look great doesn’t it, especially with some yellow stripes and contrasting black framing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 Masked and sprayed the underwing training stripes today. Tomorrow I may get to the black canopy framing and walkways. I’ve also been tinkering with a Fairey Firefly AS5 build that stalled last year. That’s now under-coated and almost ready for a coat of Sky. All good signs that my modelling mojo is returning! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 And the black! A few touch-ups needed. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 11 minutes ago, abat said: And the black! A few touch-ups needed. Looking good and glad to hear your Firefly is on the move again CJP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 Thanks CJP. I look forward to finishing both the Wirraway and the Firefly. And then there’s the Wessex! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 I’ve put on a gloss coat, Tamiya X-22 Clear and touched up the masking. I normally struggle with gloss coats but this time it worked pretty well. Two light mist coats followed by a wet coat with the airbrush pretty close to the surface. Probably just a confidence thing and my airbrushing confidence is (hopefully) getting better. The NAVY decals were really fragile with bits of black rubbing off very easily when trimming and positioning so I needed to do a few minor repairs. I also cut these into blocks of letters to avoid big expanses if clear decal over prominent features. Otherwise they were great. I’ll put the red dots on the roundels tomorrow once the base decals have settled in with the Microsol. Next will I’ll be painting the exhausts, weathering, gutting the undercarriage and a satin finish too coat. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaddad Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 On 1/7/2019 at 6:37 AM, abat said: Checked the mail and the stickers have arrived! They look very nice too. They're not 'stickers', they're decals or transfers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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