Anigrand's oddities...

[Whirly]

Now I have a real conundrum which asks for the help of all reading this thread!

The engine exhaust are much smaller than the fuselage cross-section as you can see in the images below.

You could think that Anigrand's master maker was quite drunk but seems it is not the case: actually this is the least photographed part of the mock-up though there actually is a step which can be seen also in some artists renditions. What I really can't believe is that a Mach 3 interceptor could live with such an aerodynamic nonsense, what are your thougts?

 

 

 

[modelman182]

Hi Whirly

 

Not sure what's happened to your exhausts there, but here are a couple of pics from mine:

 

 

 

As you can see there is a tapering ring around the base of the exhaust nozzle which matches it to the fuselage size. Either yours was cast incorrectly, or with the ring as a separate part (which I presume was missing) or you could have mistaken them for casting blocks and removed them during prep..

 

If you need them, I can take measurements with my digital calipers to give you the size of the rings to allow you to reconstruct.

 

HTH

 

Kev

[AdrianMF]

3 hours ago, Whirly said:

oustanding subjects which no other would do in model form

I know... I keep looking at the F108 but my wallet is staying strictly closed at that price...

 

You seem to be getting over all the problems very thoroughly - looking forward to seeing it develop!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Space Ranger]

The F-108's J93 engines were to have been equipped with thrust reversers, and those "tapering rings" are apparently supposed to represent the fairing covering the reverser's clamshell doors. This split view from the KR model drawing shows the fairing (indicated by red arrows). Top is to left.

 

 

This scrap view from the inboard profile shows the fairing as clamshell doors (but see below):

 

 

Here's an image of an actual engine showing the thrust reverser deployed. The clamshell doors are enclosed within the tapered fairing. Most of the mechanism apparently was to have been concealed within the fuselage but translated aft, along with the fairing, to cover the jet nozzle when the reversers were deployed. The thrust was then directed forward through the front of the tapered fairing. The outer ends of the hinge pins for the doors are clearly visible.

 

 

 

[Whirly]

12 hours ago, modelman182 said:

 

 or you could have mistaken them for casting blocks and removed them during prep..

 

 

Now that I see the original parts I remember I had a hard time separating the casting blocks back in january.... for a reason! 

 

In my (very weak) defense I can say that your newer parts are much better cast than mine, maybe I will consider buying more kits from Anigrand (my poor wallet!)

Thank you Kev, much appreciated.

[modelman182]

I suspect that they may have started leaving the 'casting tags' on the mating surface for exhaust and fuselage because you are probably not the only one to have cut off the tapered section. Do you want me to get the measurements and send you a drawing to help with the reconstruction? It's no hassle to do so as the kit is sat right next to me (cos I have run out of storage space and have nowhere to put my unbuilt kits at the moment! 🙂 ).

 

I've recently bought three Anigrand kits and they have all been good - though I did find some pinholes in one part of one kit, but they were on the inside and the outer surface was still intact, if a bit thin. Because of the esoteric subjects they produce I would rate them as good value for money with their current quality of production. They're always gonna be expensive, but where else are you gonna get a F-108 Rapier, a XP6M-1 SeaMaster and an M-50 Bounder with three Russian Interceptors included? (though all 4 of the Russian aircraft are in 144th scale). I also bought a Mach 2 Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart to accompany the SeaMaster and that kit is gonna be a right 'bear' to get looking good - a very typical 'limited run' Injection kit.

 

Kev

[Whirly]

On 7/15/2019 at 11:16 AM, modelman182 said:

Do you want me to get the measurements and send you a drawing to help with the reconstruction?

Hello Kev, sorry for this late reply. Don’t worry for that: seeing what is behind the exhausts I have to think a different solution.

[modelman182]

No worries, Whirly.

 

Looking forward to seeing what you achieve.

 

Kev

[Whirly]

Well, summer holidays are approaching so I thought it would be better to make progress in other areas while my secondary CPU is working on the thrust reversers problem (in other words I postponed a solution 😉)

First step was to shot two coats of Tamiya silver spray:

These cans are expensive but incredibly good for big resin models where you have many sins to hide under a good paint coat!

 

 

And since this is after all a flight of fancy I chose to model the fictitious Edwards paint scheme imagined on Airpower's cover.

 

 

Where are my sunglasses?  

 

 

 

 

[modelman182]

Holy Moley - that's an oustanding scheme! No problem finding that aircraft in a darkened hangar!

 

I haven't looked into the possible scheme for mine - as a Valkyrie Chase Plane, there could be some interesting possibilities 😁

 

Nice smooth finish on that Gloss Aluminium. I can't seem to get on with the rattle cans, so I tend to decant them and shoot them through my A/B.

 

Kev

[Whirly]

1 hour ago, modelman182 said:

I can't seem to get on with the rattle cans, so I tend to decant them and shoot them through my A/B.

 

It's funny how everybody's experience with tools and paints is so varied! To me is the opposite: I usually get quite good results straight from the can but when I need to do small retouching jobs and I decant the paint I always get a very grainy finish no matter how low I set the air pressure.

[billn53]

Most excellent! If I ever get around to building mine, I’ll be referring to this WIP. What are you using for your red color?

[Whirly]

Thank you Bill, just because is the only one progressing so far here on BM? 🤣

Paint is Testors Modelmaster 2041 fluo red-orange 28913 over a yellow background.

[modelman182]

1 hour ago, Whirly said:

 

It's funny how everybody's experience with tools and paints is so varied! To me is the opposite: I usually get quite good results straight from the can but when I need to do small retouching jobs and I decant the paint I always get a very grainy finish no matter how low I set the air pressure.

Indeed - but wouldn't it be boring if we all reacted exactly the same and had all the same skill sets? 😁 A lot of the joy I get from modelling is seeing someone demonstrate something that I'd never even thought of and then trying it (with results ranging from success to complete disaster!).

 

I find the rattle can too "uncontrollable" and end up with too thick a paint finish, whereas I can control the flow through my Iwatas and Paasche to achieve the finish I want. It could be that my finger has a 'muscle memory' for pressure and presses too hard on the rattle can, who knows? If I could achieve what you've done with that rattle can I would be a happy, happy guy - but all previous attempts do not bode well. 🙂

 

Kev

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

5 hours ago, modelman182 said:

Nice smooth finish on that Gloss Aluminium. I can't seem to get on with the rattle cans, so I tend to decant them and shoot them through my A/B.

Im exactly the opposite ? I use my airbrush for most things, but before i had it i used a lot of rattle cans. I made just one attempt at decanting to airbrush. This very paint in fact. It looked like i set off an paint grenade when i was done and had given up. Ruined an air brush paint jar as well in the process. So i will let you voodoo experts decant paint, and i will just use the purpose made stuff in my Iwata. 

 

Dennis

[Whirly]

Once the masking is removed the result is quite good. The silver finish is very tough and I was lucky to have only a very small blemish from masking tape under the belly, despite the battered surface and multiple filler applications.

 

 

Next step the various bays to be done in Interior Green 34151.

 

 

Done!

 

 

The same green was used for the doors which I previously rebuilt with thin plasticard: the resin parts supplied were too thick and irregular. The curved doors were crash moulded over the resin originals: at least their thickness came useful!

 

 

For my what-if I chose a plausible serial from FY 1959 and traced over the logo appearing in the Wings Magazine feature: it is too cool not to be applied on the nose!

All laser printed with the special decal paper, came out quite good.

 

 

And here is the logo in situ:

 

 

I used all the kit supplied decals, they are quite good quality but the stencils a bit simplified. Only other addition was the Edwards tail flash robbed from a very old Airfix U-2 sheet.

 

I'm pondering about adding also a red turbine warning stripe, what do you think?

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

Edited July 31, 2019 by Whirly

[modelman182]

That is looking great, Whirly. I really like the scheme and the finish you've achieved is stunning!. Can't wait to see what you do to resolve the exhausts/reversers situation.

 

Kev

[AdrianMF]

That is looking very smart! Red warning stripes might clash with the orange...

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

[Bronzemeister]

Looking sweet!

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Very nice, the colour scheme looks great and I am thinking about something similar when I tackle mine.

 

I think the red turbine stripe would look fine and break up the silver on the lower fuselage a little

[Whirly]

Hello, thank you for the appreciations and your opinions re. the red turbine stripe. I think I will add it together with more refined stencils if I can find any in my decal bank.

Now I'll take an holiday break for a few weeks, so don't expect any update soon 😉

[Whirly]

Hello everybody!

Back from holidays and a few other things to do for the famiily and home, finally found time to go on with this build.

Unfortunately time has somewhat weakened my resistance and I was feeling the rush to have it finished before too long, so I didn't take many images of the progress.

First the u/c doors: while the bigger ones didn't pose any problems I needed to found a way to suspend the main leg doors, so I drilled a small hole to have a sprue pin going directly in the side of the leg and then formed some thick copper wire with pliers and hammer so that it acts as a kind of bracket.

 

 

And here you can see it in place, the retraction arm came from the spares box.

 

 

The front leg was simpler, another spare part came useful for the retraction arm.

 

 

Missile bay doors installed. If were to do another (God spare me...) I would rebuild completely the bay enlarging the dimensions: as it is and with the thinnest plasticard additions I could use it is simply too small to realistically contain a GAR-9 Falcon, let alone three in the revolving unit.

 

 

I didn't want to add aerials and other completely fictitious details (not being any on the mockup) but just two red beacons to add interest seemed reasonable.

 

 

 

 

[modelman182]

44 minutes ago, Whirly said:

Hello everybody!

Back from holidays and a few other things to do for the famiily and home, finally found time to go on with this build.

Unfortunately time has somewhat weakened my resistance and I was feeling the rush to have it finished before too long, so I didn't take many images of the progress.

First the u/c doors: while the bigger ones didn't pose any problems I needed to found a way to suspend the main leg doors, so I drilled a small hole to have a sprue pin going directly in the side of the leg and then formed some thick copper wire with pliers and hammer so that it acts as a kind of bracket.

 

And here you can see it in place, the retraction arm came from the spares box.

 

The front leg was simpler, another spare part came useful for the retraction arm.

 

Missile bay doors installed. If were to do another (God spare me...) I would rebuild completely the bay enlarging the dimensions: as it is and with the thinnest plasticard additions I could use it is simply too small to realistically contain a GAR-9 Falcon, let alone three in the revolving unit.

 

I didn't want to add aerials and other completely fictitious details (not being any on the mockup) but just two red beacons to add interest seemed reasonable.

Nice to see it back in progress. Great work on the U/C doors and legs. I'm very glad I intend to do mine 'wheels up' as it means only having to fill and rescribe the panel lines for the main U/C doors.

 

You have got to be brave to even think about doing another one! And if you intend to enlarge the bomb bay you will have a lot of work to do!

 

I do like the clean look of the airframe, but I think I'll add some antennae to mine (using artistic license, of course).

 

Great job done so far - have you decided on a 'workable' solution for the exhaust problem?

 

Kev

[RidgeRunner]

2 hours ago, Whirly said:

Hello everybody!

Back from holidays and a few other things to do for the famiily and home, finally found time to go on with this build.

Unfortunately time has somewhat weakened my resistance and I was feeling the rush to have it finished before too long, so I didn't take many images of the progress.

First the u/c doors: while the bigger ones didn't pose any problems I needed to found a way to suspend the main leg doors, so I drilled a small hole to have a sprue pin going directly in the side of the leg and then formed some thick copper wire with pliers and hammer so that it acts as a kind of bracket.

 

 

And here you can see it in place, the retraction arm came from the spares box.

 

 

The front leg was simpler, another spare part came useful for the retraction arm.

 

 

Missile bay doors installed. If were to do another (God spare me...) I would rebuild completely the bay enlarging the dimensions: as it is and with the thinnest plasticard additions I could use it is simply too small to realistically contain a GAR-9 Falcon, let alone three in the revolving unit.

 

 

I didn't want to add aerials and other completely fictitious details (not being any on the mockup) but just two red beacons to add interest seemed reasonable.

 

 

 

 

She is looking gorgeous! I love that colour scheme . You've done a fantastic job with her!

 

Martin

[Gondor44]

Nice work with the main gear doors, just the kind of thing that woould be done

 

Gondor