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Blackburn Shark +++++Finished+++++


825

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1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

That's a real shame 825, however I'm glad you're gonna take a breather and have another go. Looks like you may need to add those inter-wing struts at the same time, although having not completed a bi-plane in years I'm honestly guessing here. Thanks for sharing both the good and no so good parts of this build, however the Nostradamus in me does see brighter days ahead. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 Thanks Dave. When I initially fitted the first upper wing I was going to add the outer strut but the wing joint was never stable enough. Although the plastic does form good strong joints using Tamiya Extra Thin (apart from the struts as I've found out) it lacks 'bite' when first applied and takes time to cure. I may have been better to have added the struts and hopefully stabilise the structure before adding the other wing but I wanted make sure everything was square. I might double up on my jigs as the whole upper wing is relatively heavy. There's some tidying up of glue marks and stained paint so I'm rectifying that first. 

 

30 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Hi 825,

That is a shame about the centre section. I was wondering whether to  join the wing sections prior to mounting the top wing myself. I will do that now. I have a Jig (although this is for larger models) and have got the Shark fitted and made up a card Jig for the centre section. I will use this to set the centre section temporarily in place and the glue the top wing together and then start with the struts. I will post some photos later.

Hope you get the wing sorted as you have created a lovely model there. 

Keep up the good work

All the best

Chris

 

Thanks Chris, as I say above the whole upper wing, which I have defaulted to, is quite heavy and will need a fair amount of support, so your jig will be needed. I'll keep any eye on how your doing as well. It'll be a coup,e of days before I attack the wing again as there's some tidying up needed, and I've a couple of busy days. 

 

Thanks both Roth for your support. This is a nice plane and I'm determined to complete it. And hopefully before the end of the GB. 

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27 minutes ago, 825 said:

Thanks Chris, as I say above the whole upper wing, which I have defaulted to, is quite heavy and will need a fair amount of support, so your jig will be needed. I'll keep any eye on how your doing as well. It'll be a coup,e of days before I attack the wing again as there's some tidying up needed, and I've a couple of busy days. 

 

Hi 825

I know what you mean re busy days. I will let you know how the Jig works out as it's meant for larger scale Aircraft but the shark fits well.  I would recommend getting one if you build biplanes and this is one of the cheaper laser cut ply wood types .

Keep up the good work

All the best

Chris

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've bitten the bullet and attached the upper wing. I added the front inner struts to the upper wing and left them to firm up. Using the cardboard jigs I attached the upper wing with just two struts and then added the two rear struts. Left to dry before doing anymore work. I've also switched glue to Mig Extra Thin Cement and it seems to be more effective. There is a bit of a bite when first applied and it dries firm very quickly. It also seems to be sturdier once fully cured. 

 

I've now added the next set of struts and left them all to dry. The fit isn't great and the paint will need touched up. I think once all are on I'll firm up with cyano which may also act as a filler for the gaps. 

 

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I'll resist any temptation to touch overnight and we'll have instalment 2 of the struts assembly tomorrow. 

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That looks very good, and from that angle the strut arrangement looks daunting to say the least.

 

Interesting hat you say about the Mig cement - must give it a try.

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That is looking good 825 and I’ll also look out for that Mig element as well. There seems to be quite a few fast curing liquid cements on the market (Tamiya Extra thin Quick set & Gunze’s ‘S’) however I’m yet to pick one of these up and try them as yet. There’s a definite market for fast drying stuff that’s for sure. 

 

Cheers and nice update.. Dave

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Awesome! Looks like you have the wings parallel in gap and stagger too.

 

im pretty sure a Shark is worth double kudos points for finishing (OK, I’ll throw in double points for twins and 4x points for Shacks/B17s/Lincolns)

 

Regards,

Adrian

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17 hours ago, Jinxman said:

That looks very good, and from that angle the strut arrangement looks daunting to say the least.

 

Interesting hat you say about the Mig cement - must give it a try.

Thanks @Jinxman the strut arrangement is unusual, and the struts aren't quite perfect, but I've managed now to get them all on. I've long been a fan of Tamiya Extra Thin and only bought the Mig when an LMS didn't have the Tamiya brand and thought I'd give it a try. I'm a real convert and it's certainly helped ensure the bonds, even when a bit ropey are god and strong. 

 

All the struts on and on and doesn't look too bad. Although you'll see the rudder has fallen off. Fortunately straight into my lap and no food for the carpet monster. 

 

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However , there was a bit of forcing and poor fit so the underside is far from perfect. It'll need a bit of filler and careful sanding. I might wick in some cyano 

 

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11 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Awesome! Looks like you have the wings parallel in gap and stagger too.

 

im pretty sure a Shark is worth double kudos points for finishing (OK, I’ll throw in double points for twins and 4x points for Shacks/B17s/Lincolns)

 

Regards,

Adrian

Thanks Adrian, despite the imperfections above the wings look more or less right. I like biplanes (and I've a bundle of resin inter war FAA machines in the stash that I should attack) but I've always found the struts a pain. Believe it or not the most straightforward I've found are the old Revell kits dating back to the 60's. The Shark isn't outrageously difficult or poor, it's just there's a lot of parts and complex struts. 

 

There's filler on now and I'll leave it to dry out and then gently wipe away the excess with a damp cotton bud before sanding down. The only strut challenge left is the main undercarriage. 

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Hi 825 

Wow this is looking very nice now the Top wing and struts in place. I have wicked in CA too and on one or two had to mix up some CA and Talcum powder especially on the strut used for the floats I used in the wing to make the flared attachment point . It just shows different strokes for different folks.

Great work and lucky that you were able to deprive the carpet monster of the rudder, as they are greedy buggers at the best of times.

Keep up the good work

All the best

Chris

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Some filler, cyano and a bit of sanding has tidied the struts up quite a bit. I think there's so more to do. I decided to put on a layer of light aircraft Grey onto the struts to see how they are doing. Looks a bit better than I thought. I'll leave to dry and pop some filler on later. The spaces are now quite small and can be awkward to get into so needs to be done when I have some patience. Today I'm off on an 8 mile walk round Buckinghamshire so it'll have to wait. 

 

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Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement. 

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Great going there 825, it sure looks like a challenge, so even more rewarding when its finally done and on display. You deserve a couple of beers, one for the Shark and the other after the long walk! 

 

Cheers.. Dave

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On 03/08/2019 at 02:07, zebra said:

Nice work. You’ve got me wanting to find one of these now.

I can't believe how many of these have graced the pages of this GB, but I am soooo glad they did !

 

Keep up the good work @825 it's looking the business 

 

cheers Pat

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Thanks @AdrianMF, @JOCKNEY, @Rabbit Leader and @bigbadbadge for your kind words.  I have spent the last couple of days tidying up the struts and joints. It's time consuming as it's awkward to get into some spots and this combined with my arthritic fingers and tiny pieces of sand paper means it's a slow old process. I'm getting near the end and hopefully by tomorrow I'll have finished the struts and get started on cleaning up the paintwork. I'm off on holiday in less than 3 weeks so have to get a move on to finish before I go. 

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Got to the stage where I'm happy with the struts and upper wing, it's not perfect and a little more paint is required but I'll live with it. So got the engine and exhaust on. As well as started on the undercarriage. The only problem seems to be is the front struts are either too long or the location point is too far back. They do fit if added to the location the instructions say the front torpedo crutch. Anybody else found out how best to fit them. Once I'm happy I'll firm them up with some cyano. Before that a little filler may be needed. 

 

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I've had a look at a few of the Shark resources on BM including @AdrianMF 's lovely build, and have concluded that the struts go on the front holes. So here we are with a little bit of Putty on the joints which will be smoothed over later once everything has hardened. 

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Undercarriage tidied up and completed along with a few other bits. Sitting here it does look like it's ready to 'Fly Right Off the Ground' 

 

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and the underside. 

 

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On the home straight now. 

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