Italeri Stirling IV - LJ849 QS-E, 620 Sqn, D-Day.

[Courageous]

Mind blowing detail.

 

Stuart

[Simon]

Hello again

 

Back for another update. As I'd mentioned a few posts back, I've been toying with the idea of adding some lighting inside the rear fuselage. After taking a deep breath, and some sound advice from Jennifer at Small Scale Lights, off we go.

 

She advised I get one of these:  https://www.smallscalelights.co.uk/product/0603_nano_smd_chip_leds

 

and one of these:  https://www.smallscalelights.co.uk/product/3_volt_coin_cell_battery_holder_and_switch

 

I managed to fit the tiny warm white LED in a strip of plastic channel along the top of the fuselage:

 

 

The battery cell holder and switch seemed a more tricky prospect, but I think I've cracked it. Both needed to be accessible, so for the battery holder I cut (okay, hacked...) an aperture in the bomb bay, and glued the holder above it:

 

 

As with my previous Italeri Stirling, I'll be adding the centre part of the bomb bay in one piece, so it should easy enough to remove and replace the battery if needed. For the switch, handily there's an access hatch in the top of the fuselage, which again I can make removeable (I might put a figure on it as a handle...!):

 

 

I also added some lengths of tube to both the switch and battery holder, to hold them in place and prevent them disappearing into the fuselage under a bit of over-enthusiastic pressure...!

 

These bits are far enough forward to be invisible from the rear door, but could just about be seen through the cockpit, so I've made a solid bulkhead just behind the Flight Engineer's section, which will be painted black:

 

 

So, after all the surgery, here's what it looks like from outside:

 

 

I'm pretty happy with it - now the various bits in the rear fuselage are a bit more visible.

 

Meanwhile, I'm still struggling with the exhausts - the Italeri replacements aren't much better than the original ones in the box:

 

 

Plan C (or is it D?) for replacements is in full swing...more soon!

 

Cheers

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Simon]

Hello again

 

Another month (nearly) gone by, and some progress to report, at last! And once again, it's about the exhausts...and a moan about intakes too.

 

So, for the exhausts issue, I opted for Plan D. I've done some casting before, doing some revised engine intakes for my Revell Lancaster a few years back. I found it a bit hit-and-miss, but got there eventually. Anyway, I bit the bullet, splashed out on some casting silicon and resin, and had a go.

 

My plan was to make a new front section of the exhausts, and graft on the rear from the Quickboost 72-101 Hasegawa Beaufighter exhausts set. So I made a master for casting, shown on the right:

 

 

I made a mould from silicon and tried some casts and the tube sections (the white bits on the RH master) proved tricky to cast, so I made another master from a copy and removed the tubes (the new master on the left).

 

That worked much better, and I could add the tubes on afterwards. Here's a sample with the QB exhausts added to compare with the Italeri exhausts:

 

 

It was still a bit hit-and-miss (I don't have a vaccum chamber for casting), so I made a few(!):

 

 

Here are my four best ones, with one of Italeri's at the top:

 

 

And here are two of them on the cowlings, painted up and weathered. I added thins strip of plastic card as part of the cowling cover:

 

 

 

 

The bottom one has the tube out the back for the cabin heating duct which feeds into the wing. Overall, they're not perfect, but I think better than the kit's ones. Note the front of the cowlings are painted black, which seems to be a common thing on Mk.IV Stirlings.

 

Meanwhile, on to the moan about the upper engine intakes. For reasons of commonality with the ones for their Mk.I Stirling, I think, Italeri in their infinite wisdom have moulded the intakes in three parts, which don't fit together all that well:

 

 

 

So - primed, filled, sanded...

 

 

and primed again:

 

 

Much better, but blimey what an absolute faff-on! If anyone from Quickboost or Eduard is watching, I think some Stirling Mk.III/Mk.IV exhausts and intakes could be a money-spinner...

 

More soon...

 

Cheers

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[72modeler]

Simon.

 

Those exhaust bits look really good attached to the QB parts! You mentioned vacuum casting- is that used to prevent air bubbles in the cast? If so, you could purchase a cheap electric engraving tool; if you set it for the coarsest setting and place the tip on your mold, the vibration should cause the air bubbles to rise to the top of the mold. I have used this method when making vacform canopy masters out of dental stone, which is very hard and is  much finer than plaster. (You sure know how to have fun!)

Mike  

[Simon]

Mike

 

It's recommended that you use a vacuum chamber when casting resin, as bubbles form when it's being poured.

 

I usually gently squeeze the silicon mould at the sides while the resin is still liquid, and also tap the mould from the bottom - seems to do the trick most of the time. The engraving tool sounds like a great idea.

 

Simon

[Dave Swindell]

18 hours ago, Simon said:

It's recommended that you use a vacuum chamber when casting resin, as bubbles form when it's being poured.

The vacuum chamber is usually used when making the silicone rubber moulds, a pressure pot is generally used for resin casting.

The longer curing time of the silicone rubber allows it to be degassed successfully under vacuum, whereas resin has a tendency to set like an Aero bar if the process isn't completed quick enough.

Vacuum will make the air bubbles expand to many times their original size before they collapse.

Pressure casting doesn't necessarily remove bubbles, but will make them much smaller, and tends to remove them from the surface of the casting.

[Simon]

16 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said:

The vacuum chamber is usually used when making the silicone rubber moulds, a pressure pot is generally used for resin casting.

The longer curing time of the silicone rubber allows it to be degassed successfully under vacuum, whereas resin has a tendency to set like an Aero bar if the process isn't completed quick enough.

Vacuum will make the air bubbles expand to many times their original size before they collapse.

Pressure casting doesn't necessarily remove bubbles, but will make them much smaller, and tends to remove them from the surface of the casting.

Ah, okay, I knew there was a vaccum chamber involved somewhere!

 

Thanks for putting me right.

 

Simon

[Simon]

So, another month flies by...! Progress has been a bit slower than even normal, due to other stuff to do, but here's a quick update:

 

I've finally got the major parts glued up: fuselage halves together, wings all glued together too. Just a couple of bits to be added to the wings, then a coat of primer:

 

Wing bomb bay cell doors:

 

 

and the later style set of three formation lights on the wing trailing edge:

 

 

These have proved a bit of a pain in the whatsits, as I keep losing one and having to replace it - it's always the same one, oddly.

 

Main fuselage bomb bay doors - the two outer curved ones are from the kit, and the four centre ones are a scribed bit of plastic sheet - the kit's centre four doors are a bit fiddly, to say the last:

 

 

 

The wings were primed, then pre-shaded, and on to the invasion stripes which I thought I'd do before the camouflage, and before adding the wings to the fuselage. The Stirling is pretty unwieldy to mask them off once the wings and fuselage are glued together. This is actually the first time I've done D-day stripes, and I opted to paint them, rather than use Italeri's decals. A few reasons: they're too black, they're too white, they seem a tad too wide, and they're too straight (!). I've seen a few photos of Fairford Stirlings from June 1944 with D-Day stripes, and they look like whoever painted them was out on the lash the night before. Straight they ain't.

 

620 Sqn had their D-Day stripes applied on June 3rd, and apparently each Stirling was allocated 6.5 gallons (29.5 litres) of black distemper and 9.25 gallons (42 litres) of white, plus four brushes to apply it with! Dunno what that works out at 1/72...

 

So, just like the real thing, they were marked out first:

 

 

White base applied, with some streaks added to represent brush marks:

 

 

White masked (with the roundel masked too - I didn't want to risk the black stripes to possibly show through the decals):

 

 

And the black stripes added:

 

 

Some dirty footprints and smudges added too.

 

Same with the fuselage:

 

 

 

Once they were done, the wings and fuselage were glued together and the stripes masked off ready for the camouflage:

 

 

The wings and fuselage seemed to fit together a lot better than my previous Italeri Stirling build - I've no idea why, but I was certainly relieved!

 

And finally (drum roll...) painted up and the stripes unmasked (note essential cup of tea):

 

 

 

 

Getting there, slowly and surely. All the major stuff done, just the myriad of fiddly bits on the to-do list...

 

More soon (maybe even this year!).

 

Cheers

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

[tonyot]

This is coming on really well so far,...... looking forward to the finished model,

Cheers

           Tony

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Ooh, yes - that’s coming up really nicely.  Great job.  I’ve always had a soft spot for the Stirling ever since building the 60s Airfix job as a kid.  It always feels to me like it had a residual inter-war grandeur - that 30s mixture of Imperial confidence and obsolescent technology.  The Halifax and (especially) Lancaster feel much more modern, despite being near-contemporaries.  The thought of flying one deep into Germany with that iffy service ceiling fills me with admiration for the young men who did it.

[veg]

This is a brilliant build, my only concern is that you set the bar so high im struggling to see how when i get round to doing mine i will be able to come even close to this. Fabulous work.

[Simon]

6 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Ooh, yes - that’s coming up really nicely.  Great job.  I’ve always had a soft spot for the Stirling ever since building the 60s Airfix job as a kid.  It always feels to me like it had a residual inter-war grandeur - that 30s mixture of Imperial confidence and obsolescent technology.  The Halifax and (especially) Lancaster feel much more modern, despite being near-contemporaries.  The thought of flying one deep into Germany with that iffy service ceiling fills me with admiration for the young men who did it.

Imagine having to tow a fully-loaded glider in one...!

 

It just looks like a proper bit of over-engineered technology - that undercarriage alone definitely has a bit of Forth Bridge-like complexity in it's design!

 

Simon

 

 

[Graham Boak]

47 minutes ago, Simon said:

It just looks like a proper bit of over-engineered technology - that undercarriage alone definitely has a bit of Forth Bridge-like complexity in it's design!

 

The Stirling is not particularly an example of earlier technology than the Lancaster or Halifax, they were all born from adjacent specifications.  Shorts just got it wrong, and  then had to carry on "fire-fighting" and fudging as they were driven down the road to that awful undercarriage.  The key problem was not, as often said, the small wing.   The wing is much the same as that of the B-17, and is bigger than the Halifax's.  The problem is a combination of an over-long fuselage and being grossly over the design weight, which meant they couldn't get decent take-off distances without a large wing to ground angle, and it was too late in the design to go the Whitley route of a high wing/body incidence.

 

I must admit being continually tempted by a "Shorter Stirling", with a chunk taken out of the rear fuselage and the intermediate undercarriage  chassis removed.  However I've not been happy with either a large dorsal fin a la B-17 or Shetland, or twin fins that would look too much like a Halifax or Lancaster.  Plus a feeling that I really should make a standard Stirling first, and I'm not going to make two.  Maybe if a 1/144 one came out - no promises!

 

Edit:  Or consider the wing size of Mitchell's B12/36.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Graham Boak

[Simon]

Just a quickie today. I've just taken a look at the cockpit canopy intending to get it masked, and it seems someone's had a nibble at it:

 

 

Wasn't me Guv, honest. Timing isn't great either - five days before Chrimbo, the Italeri website's down, I e-mailed them and got an 'out of the office' reply saying they're not back until January 7th...! Add another three or so weeks until they sort a replacement out and it'll be the beginning of February if I'm lucky.

 

Good job this isn't a quick-build...

 

Simon

 

 

 

[Simon]

Back again!

 

While I wait for the replacement canopy (and whole sprue E) to arrive, sourced from The Model Hobby Company, Italeri's UK distributor, for a small fee (thanks gents ), I've been busy fiddling on with various other bits and bobs that need doing.

 

Wing roundels are on, and a little bit of weathering. Port wing:

 

 

Starboard wing, with inner engine cowling test-fitted:

 

 

I test-fitted the cowling so I could make the hot air pipes for the cabin heating, whihc run from the back the two inner engines' exhausts:

 

 

 

Need some tidying up, but not too bad.

 

Meanwhile, I tried the rear turret in place:

 

 

and I thought - that seems to sit a bit high and too far out. I had a quick look through my Stirling IV reference photos, and they all seem to have an aerodynamic fairing over the rear turret aperture, which Italeri seem to have missed off. Curses!

 

Bit of a pain, but not insurmountable. Out with the plastic card, and a few trial and errors later:

 

 

 

 

 

Should do the job, and I can cut back the fuselage's turret aperture to make the turret sit a bit more 'right.'

 

That's me done for the moment, so Happy Christmas to one and all, I hope Santa brings you everything you wished for, and have a great New Year too!

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BlueNosers352nd]

Lookin good!  Nice clean paint job.  How'd you accomplish the rough edges on the DDay stripes?

[Simon]

31 minutes ago, BlueNosers352nd said:

Lookin good!  Nice clean paint job.  How'd you accomplish the rough edges on the DDay stripes?

 

Thanks! I used masking tape, but 'wobbled' the scalpel a tiny amount as I ran it along the steel ruler. I then added some small splodges and smudges using black and white watercolour pencils after the stripes were done.

 

Simon

 

 

[woody37]

Lovely paintwork, that canopy is a bit of a pain, looking forwards to seeing it on

[JWM]

If you would not get the replacement canopy from manufacturer I belive that with your skills you may cut out this single window and replace it...

Very impressive build, especially all those details of interior... I admire .

Regards

J-W

 

[Simon]

21 hours ago, JWM said:

If you would not get the replacement canopy from manufacturer I belive that with your skills you may cut out this single window and replace it...

Very impressive build, especially all those details of interior... I admire .

Regards

J-W

 

Blimey, no chance of that J-W!

 

Fortunately, Santa came early this year (I assume it was him, but he was dressed as a postman, oddly...) and delivered a new sprue E for the Stirling Mk. I this morning from The Model Hobby Company:

 

 

Cost me a few quid, but I've now got some spare turret glazing now for other projects, so job's a good 'un.

 

Simon

 

 

 

[Simon]

Hello again

 

Hope everyone had a great Christmas, and wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

 

Back for another quick update. Nearly eight months in to the build (!) and it's sort of starting to come together at last...

 

I'm just ticking things off the 'to-do' list at the moment, so first up as the towing bridle. Italeri's version is okay-ish, but seems to be a later version and is a little basic in some aspects. So the horse-shoe bridle itself needs a little bit of amending, with the central towing eye replaced, and some of the other bits and bobs could do with refining. Here are the various parts:

 

 

There's a fabric sleeve that covers the release mechanism (to the right of the bridle itself in the photo above), and it connects from the towing bridle centre to the underside of the fuselage. Air Publications AP 1660C/D has a great drawing of it. There's also a connector on the bridle itself (the white bit by the round centre part), to which I think communication line attaches. I also made a slimmer version of the kit's stablising strut. Here it all is in place for a test-fit:

 

 

 

 

and properly fitted and painted, together with the rear undercarriage and wheel doors, plus the rear turret fairing:

 

 

The tails wheels are okay, stability-wise - a bit of a weakness in the Italeri kit. One is rock steady, while the other is just a little wobbly - hopefully one solid one will suffice...!

 

I've also finished off the canvas seat in the nose for the Observer:

 

 

as well as his footrest:

 

 

Still plenty to do on the checklist, and I'll post another update once a few more bits have been ticked off it...

 

Cheers

Simon

 

 

 

 

[Brandy]

I've never seen that towing bracket before. What a huge piece of kit, it must have taken 6 men to fit it!

 

Ian

[RidgeRunner]

Lovely, inspiring work

 

Martin

[James G]

Amazing detail, great job!

[Simon]

Back for a quick update. Work had stopped for the last few weeks, as I've been getting optical migraines, which are not very pleasant at all . New glasses came yesterday, which hopefully will help stop them.  👓

 

Anyway, back to the workbench this afternoon, to apply some decals. I'm using Xtradecals' X72195 for the fuselage codes, fin flashes and roundels, and was going to start with the fin flashes. So, into the water they go, and as I slid them off the backing paper, noticed something not quite right:

 

 

Looking at the sheet, I see that the white hasn't been printed at all on the sheet, so no underprint for the coloured parts, and no white bits:

 

 

Not the end of the world, but a bit of a pain, seeing as I had bought it last July and didn't even think to check.

 

Simon