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Sea Vixen FAW.1x2


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Watching the exquisite technical production of these two 1/72 beauties continues to enthral a mere mortal such as I. That is a given I guess.

 

My attention was also taken by that monster chipping machine - I love it! We are about to purchase a somewhat smaller machine to deal with a similar problem. I hasten to add that the size of our problem is such that your chipping machine might struggle to fit into our whole garden! Well ok, I exaggerate a bit - looking at it, we might possibly get between four or six of those beasts into our compact garden! I do love big machines.

 

Back to the subject in hand. I was wondering, will these two Vixens be ready for the summer air show season?

 

Terry

 

 

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14 hours ago, hendie said:

I've always had good luck with diluted PVA for this type of thing. Even after several layers, good clarity can be achieved.  For a piece that large I maybe tempted just to glue some clear runner on the front and sand it to shape (since you mentioned Occam's razor and all that)

 

I reckon that’s an Occam’s result too.  Clear sprue micromeshes well (obvs.). An entirely non-Occam’s approach would be to cast the front of it in clear resin.  After all....I’m not really sure this build is challenging/complicated/multi-media enough.....:whistle:

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Fritag said:

 

I reckon that’s an Occam’s result too.  Clear sprue micromeshes well (obvs.). An entirely non-Occam’s approach would be to cast the front of it in clear resin.  After all....I’m not really sure this build is challenging/complicated/multi-media enough.....:whistle:


That Occam bloke gets around; I had no idea he was a Vixen man.  Shouldn’t he have concentrated a bit more on a Safety version of his main claim to fame?

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4 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:


That Occam bloke gets around; I had no idea he was a Vixen man.  Shouldn’t he have concentrated a bit more on a Safety version of his main claim to fame?

He did, but it got too complicated.

 

Ian

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4 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

That Occam bloke gets around; I had no idea he was a Vixen man.  Shouldn’t he have concentrated a bit more on a Safety version of his main claim to fame?

 

He was more of a Thunderbolt man.  Did the the pre-bubble canopy ones.......

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5 hours ago, Fritag said:

 

He was more of a Thunderbolt man.  Did the the pre-bubble canopy ones.......

 

Ha! I get it. You funny guy!     :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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28 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

funny guy

Funny how? Funny like a clown??

 

...

 

Super stuff Tony. FWIW, for clear bubbles like seeker heads and domed light covers, I’ve been using Fabrika Decorati “Glass Drops”, which is  a PVA-like substance that doesn’t shrink as it sets (clear), intended for applications like this.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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Today's guest track is Booty Swing by Parov Stelar, for Sunday lunchtime kinds of reasons.

 

What have the boys in the band been saying first:

On 14/04/2021 at 16:16, bigbadbadge said:

Great work fella  bet this is very satisfying to see the fruits of your labour coming together. 

It is indeed a pleasant sense of equilibrium at present Chris: and no displaced egotism intended if I say that holding pieces of the aircraft in your hand after seeing them as entities on a screen for so long, you kind of feel that an adult has made them rather than yourself....

On 14/04/2021 at 16:48, hendie said:

 

For a piece that large I maybe tempted just to glue some clear runner on the front and sand it to shape (since you mentioned Occam's razor and all that)

On 15/04/2021 at 07:31, Fritag said:

Clear sprue micromeshes well (obvs.). An entirely non-Occam’s approach would be to cast the front of it in clear resin.

Both good candidate techniques Alan & Steve - the one thing that gives me pause is that lens hood of the tv camera in the seeker head appears to protrude *slightly* forward of the Martel casing, hence the initial search for a fluid based-solution to accommodate the feature. Certainly can't be arsified vacforming something that small and trying to glue it on so  I'll probably just wait a week or two before concluding that nobody will notice if I sand the lens hood level with the casing and whack some sprue on in the end... 😁

On 14/04/2021 at 18:27, Brandy said:

That hedge didn't stand a chance. Neither will your "printed bits" if you don't deliver on your promise to your better half!

I built a small plaza in front of the greenhouse yesterday Ian using some of said hedge chippings, so feel that my bodily integrity has at least been assured for a further while. 😁

On 14/04/2021 at 19:28, giemme said:

Paint.

More to follow in a moment G. Seems strange even saying it!.:thumbsup2:

On 14/04/2021 at 19:36, bbudde said:

Cheers from an typical April weather spring here. Dunno what to wear and how to heat.

Ditto at this end Benedikt: Surely there's a compound word in German for three out of the four seasons occurring all at once? 😄

On 14/04/2021 at 19:38, keefr22 said:

I agree with any and all remarks above Tony!

Vote Ketih: The Voice of the People! 😁 :thanks:

On 14/04/2021 at 19:39, Pete in Lincs said:

CRABLOGGER! - Hell yeah, check!

Kindred minds - fill yer boots Pete:

 

On 14/04/2021 at 20:15, 71chally said:

The detail and finish on those tiny components is absolutely mind bottling, I mean boggling!  Especially lovin' the radar scope unit!

The 'scope has been a source of obsession ever since I first saw it James - though I've absolutely no explanation as to why! :laugh: (Possibly explained by the above tweet however...)

On 14/04/2021 at 20:21, Fritag said:

That - and all of the other myriad detail coming to life under a coat of primer - is beyond exquisite.  

You should try my chicken biryani one day Steve....😁

On 14/04/2021 at 20:30, perdu said:

W O W !

 

(Colour extra as befits this magnificent foray into future model making...)

Bill you generous old thing! This is one of the great motivators behind my various forays, knowing that they have to survive exposure to the gaze of those far, far more experienced than myself. :thumbsup2:

On 14/04/2021 at 20:32, Spookytooth said:

As for the hedge , we live in a flat 5 floors up so not even a window box to worry about.

If you do find yourself having to trim the hedge Simon, it might be time to have the building checked for subsidence... 😁

On 14/04/2021 at 22:13, Terry1954 said:

My attention was also taken by that monster chipping machine - I love it! We are about to purchase a somewhat smaller machine to deal with a similar problem. I hasten to add that the size of our problem is such that your chipping machine might struggle to fit into our whole garden! Well ok, I exaggerate a bit - looking at it, we might possibly get between four or six of those beasts into our compact garden! I do love big machines.

It was a weirdly dreamlike day using it Terry - feeding the maw of the beast for 8 hours solid to create two identical piles in back ad front gardens. I had no idea such a thing could happen but I went to use some of the chippings to create seating area by the greenhouse yesterday, I found that the pile had begun to smoulder spontaneously in its core. I thought the layer of fine ash was dust a first but then a wave of heat came rolling out as you dug into the centre- - biit sobering to say the least! I raked both piles open so that last night's rainfall gave them a good quenching. (And there was me joking about volcanic vents in my previous post.... 🤦‍♂️)

On 15/04/2021 at 00:05, The Spadgent said:

Ooooh paint. My favorite bit! ☄️

:thumbsup:

On 15/04/2021 at 09:18, CedB said:

The detail in the parts really shows under that primer.

If it didn't, I would have had to enter a monastery and shrug off the material world forever Ced....

On 15/04/2021 at 10:18, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

That Occam bloke gets around; I had no idea he was a Vixen man.  Shouldn’t he have concentrated a bit more on a Safety version of his main claim to fame?

They don't call him The Father of the Brazilian for nothing.

On 15/04/2021 at 21:03, AdrianMF said:

Super stuff Tony. FWIW, for clear bubbles like seeker heads and domed light covers, I’ve been using Fabrika Decorati “Glass Drops”, which is  a PVA-like substance that doesn’t shrink as it sets (clear), intended for applications like this.

 

Cheers Adrian, and a great tip; within ten minutes of reading that I had an order in for a bottle of the transparent stuff. Always interested to try out a new substance! :thanks:

On 16/04/2021 at 14:55, Navy Bird said:

Occam's Razorback. 

Sounds like a Fripp/Eno collaboration from about 1974 if you ask me...

 

Out with one of the Pureref boards over the last few days starting to paint up the cockpit:

51122676689_74d884565c_c.jpg

This time around I gave myself a talking-to about the perils of over-detailing with paint at 1/72. I've noticed a deplorable (albeit natural) tendency in myself in the past about trying to render visible more details than the scale will bear in areas such as cockpits, leading to an unfortunate sense of visual exaggeration at times. It's always going to be a subjective decision of course about what point to stop at, but from staring at the above reference photographs over  prolonged period, I knew I wanted to create a visual impression of what you see in the above image, without it turning into an overly prominent diagram on me.

 

In preparation for this stage I'd also treated myself to a new set of RockNinja fine brushes (of the kind favoured by our hairier brethren for emblazoning their foul troglodytes with). These have a particularly well-designed triangular grip about a quarter of the way up that the shaft is a nice ergonomic feature, helping greatly with stability for  very small work:

51122363342_1aa9cd775a_b.jpg

No doubt many of you use something similar already, but this design of brush is certainly a pleasant revelation for me.

 

First then that  naval fetish object known as the observer's  AI18 scopes:

51122835358_44449574a3_b.jpg

With the overall black finish to the cockpits involved, I'm erring here and in what follows very much on a 'how little paint is needed to express the required details', using mixtures of tempera and Vallejo metallics. The radar screen for example had a layer of pale greeen with a lighter wash of pale grey added over the top, sealed with some of the excellent metal varnish from Vallejo also. The surrounding knobs and dials were brought out impressionistically with a few dots here and there of pale grey tempera, and  a final dry brushing of Vallejo steel for wear and highlight. effects.

 

The IPs were treated similarly, a toned-down white to express the more prominent dial features (the dials later glazed with more metal varnish), followed by more steel drybrushing using an old 00 brush deliberately mangled and cut down even further for the purpose:

51122363252_f9b7efff1c_b.jpg

 

51122930811_68c03c778d_b.jpg

They look pretty ghastly in close-up of course but from a distance serve to create the kind of 'busy' visual field that you see in typical  Vixen cockpit shots.

 

Same procedure for the smaller IP (Panel AU I think) that sits just below the PAS:

51122363312_55c17c83e5_b.jpg

 

51122363317_24af2afd9a_b.jpg

The two meniscus shapes in the top of the PAS I hope to fill later on using the Fabrika fluid I have on order to create the small (projection?) lenses. The actual screen for the sight  that sits upright at the diagnonal on top of this structure I'll add at the last knockings from a square of transparency.

 

The same methodology was also continued to treat the wider cockpit structures:

51122363282_82ac517fb3_b.jpg

Some small amounts of colour required on items like the knobs of the flap levers and so forth, but otherwise mainly just concentrating hereon sparing use of steel drybrushing to bring out surface relief and wear& tear on cockpit structures:

51122676629_c23b43745b_b.jpg

In using a metallic to emphasize things like corners and angles I wanted to create an effect which changes with a viewing angle in terms of the way it catches the light:

51122835318_671b212095_b.jpg

 - sometimes a detail is quite prominent in relation to its surroundings, and sometimes not:

51122676644_fb8f7d55f0_b.jpg

Nest step is to start painting and assembling al the MB4s before adding them to this lot to create the full full cockpit assemblies of both aircraft:

51122930791_61991845ff_b.jpg

It occurred to me this morning also that as XJ481 is going to be posed in flight, that there will need to be a driver visible in the pilot's cockpit attired in early 70s skyclobber out of Boscombe (bandana and cheesecloth shirt with Lennon glasses was it?). Nearest I can find in the stash is those unfortunate cadavers Airfix chose to bury in the Belvedere box. A fresh scalpel and Milliput might answer for a modification of said figures. Is it legs-on or legs-off in such cases @CedB?

 

Thanks for looking in as always all of you and hope that you're having a decent time of it - whatever the particular season turns out to be where you are today.

:bye:

Tony

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, TheBaron said:

urely there's a compound word in German for three out of the four seasons occurring all at once?

Yep,of course:

"Der April macht was er will."

Und dazu noch ein altes Gedicht:

http://www.medienwerkstatt-online.de/lws_wissen/vorlagen/showcard.php?id=7212&edit=0

Cheers

Edited by bbudde
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Tony, splendid job in giving a proper vest to the wonderful detailing you designed and printed out :worthy: :clap::clap:

 

If I may suggest one thing, but it's actually more of a request for a favour,  you should try and take pics of black parts against a different background,  to wit not white but something like light blue. I'm sure your wonderful paint job would pop out even more.

 

Ciao 

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Love it. Superb effects :) 

 

Smoldering chippings Batman, that was close! Reminds me of my ex-Father-in-Law telling me that wallpaper, when stripped, often does the same so never bag it until it's had a chance to dry out.

 

On 18/04/2021 at 14:15, TheBaron said:

Nearest I can find in the stash is those unfortunate cadavers Airfix chose to bury in the Belvedere box. A fresh scalpel and Milliput might answer for a modification of said figures. Is it legs-on or legs-off in such cases CedB?

Arggh. If I had any 'suitable' pilots I'd send 'em over.

Will surgery be required?

Depends on whether they behave themselves.

If the close their legs and wiggle in, fair enough.

Otherwise, surgical gown on…

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lovely work Tony.  Such a shame it's all black.  Why didn't the RAF go for nice pastel shades inside the airframes eh? 

That would also have helped keep the aircrew calm under times of stress. Scientific fact it is.

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19 minutes ago, hendie said:

RAF

 

Oops.  Sea Vixen.  Crisp’s gonna get you......:D

 

Probably is the RAF’s fault tho’....

 

Anyway - I’ve always thought it was a shame that the RAF started painting all the outside of their (training) aircraft black....

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15 minutes ago, Fritag said:

Oops.  Sea Vixen.  Crisp’s gonna get you..

At least he said aircrew, could have been dodgy if he'd alluded to a navigator!

 

Terry

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On 18/04/2021 at 16:12, bbudde said:

"Der April macht was er will."

Völlig!

On 18/04/2021 at 17:02, giemme said:

to wit not white but something like light blue.

Excellent tip Giorgio - I'm going to have a rummage about at work later in the week to see what's lurking in the stores. :thanks:

On 18/04/2021 at 20:42, 71chally said:

Superb stuff Tony, the cockpit break down of parts is pretty close to how Airfix did it, which is even more remarkable in this scale.

Thanks James. 👍

Whichever scale you approach it I think that in such cases there's only a limited number of ways in which you can dice such sections in such a confined space if they are to be capable of being assembled in sequence later on. Aside from the old Frog kit which I started this build off with (who knew? 🤪) I deliberately avoided looking at any existing manufacturer's instructions as I wanted this to be an entirely 'clean-slate' approach to replicating an aircraft here using the newer technology of 3d printing. The most influential and useful sources for thinking through parts and assembly in this respect were actually the drawings in the SV maintenance manuals themselves -  as you know the detailed breakdown of aircraft sections and sub-assemblies there give a pretty good intuitive feel as to how the real thing is put together as a series of linked units, even for an aeronautical engineering dunce such as me.

 

This is certain to be the most accurate VTOL triplane version for many years to come.

21 hours ago, CedB said:

Smoldering chippings Batman, that was close! Reminds me of my ex-Father-in-Law telling me that wallpaper, when stripped, often does the same so never bag it until it's had a chance to dry out

Blimey! I'd heard of flour and coal dust sometimes igniting in silos and ship's holds Ced but not that! Deadly boy!

 

Does this mean that somewhere a special forces unit is in training to blow an ingress point using 70s flock wallpaper? 🤯

19 hours ago, hendie said:

lovely work Tony.  Such a shame it's all black. 

FAA aircrew were in fact the original Goths and influenced popular culture in many ways with their brand of dark naval lugubriosity Alan. The use of the bridle in S&M clubs for example is believed to have had it's origins on the carrier flight deck.

19 hours ago, Fritag said:

Anyway - I’ve always thought it was a shame that the RAF started painting all the outside of their (training) aircraft black....

Why did they decide to do that Steve? Melancholy? Regret?

18 hours ago, perdu said:

Tony I may have a few sixties style Britfigures if you want, I will search the boxes in the morning.

That's characteristically kind of you Bill: I'll keep that as Plan B if I may as initially I'm going to go:

21 hours ago, CedB said:

surgical gown on…

and have a lash at your old pal from the Airfix Belvedere box with scalpel and Milliput:

51128183240_bd2577ca0b_b.jpg

Blimey - I've just realized who this is!

Jack Harper!

Mutiny-on-the-Buses-images-881e2631-62fa

18 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Great to see some paint going on and details popping Tony.

And for once I'm really getting into the painting process as it's usually a major source of stress on a build for me.

Not that I've actually checked that I've got all the required colours of course Chris... 🤦‍♂️

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1 hour ago, TheBaron said:

Why did they decide to do that Steve? Melancholy? Regret?

 

Could be.

 

They saw a red jet
And they wanted it painted black
No colors anymore
They want it to turn black

 

.........

 

They looked inside themselves
And saw their hearts were black
They saw their red jets 
They must have them painted black

 

 

On t’other hand they may just be easier to see.....

 

 

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1 hour ago, Fritag said:

On t’other hand they may just be easier to see.....

I recall reading that black was found to be the easiest to see, which still to this day baffles logical thinking process ........... wouldn't large dayglo patches make it easier? There is probably some science that proves black is best but I guess you can tell when I was brought up!

 

Terry

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