Sea Vixen FAW.1x2

[Brandy]

Splendid stuff once more Tony. All that plus shadows and moons too!

 

Ian

[hendie]

another exciting update Tony.  I really am impressed by that undulating, imperfect surface. It's so much more interesting than the standard CAD/CNC derived output we see in molded parts these days. As accurate as those can be (sometimes) they never seem to have any character.

Hopefully the paint will not eliminate any of that affect

[Space Ranger]

On 8/13/2021 at 12:58 PM, TheBaron said:

This was an especially critical problem to solve right now as in actually sticking parts together after so long, I need to constantly check that I'm getting the joins correctly blended between the various curves and planes of this aircraft. In my previous update the wings were stuck on, but with that great sweep back along the wing root, I needed to carefully carve back into the excess adhesive filler to get the compound curves sharply delineated. Despite this being an apparently straightforward job, to help with the the small radius of that curve where wing and fuselage meet, I ended up having to make my own custom tool by cutting and grinding a #11 scalpel blade to the required radius:

That's a modeling issue that's also given me much trouble over the years. I found the solution in, of all things, push pins/map tacks. You know, the pins with spherical heads used to mark locations on wall maps and hold things on bulletin boards. These are available in a variety of sizes at craft stores and dollar/pound/Euro discount stores. New clothing - men's shirts, for example - usually come with a bunch of pins with small spherical heads of about 2 mm diameter. The shafts of all these pins can easily be chucked up in a pin vise or even an X-acto or Excel knife.  I've also seen a set of clay sculpting tools which had several spherical attachments of various diameters. The ball heads of these make great tools for smoothing those radiused corners that give so much trouble, regardless of the type of filler you're using, and I've been able to accumulate quite a collection at a reasonable cost.

Edited August 14, 2021 by Space Ranger

[giemme]

Outstanding update, Tony - and those oblique light pics are a form of art in themselves

 

As regards the twin booms attachment: I was wondering (really without a real clue or knowledge about that) if it is feasible to model the booms as a whole piece, to be then inserted into appropriately designed slots on the wings. Not sure if I made myself clear, the idea is to avoid the mid-length joints, and consequent filling and sanding.

 

Ciao 

[CedB]

Looking gorgeous

 

Making your own tools now eh? Bar raised, again!

[Navy Bird]

11 hours ago, CedB said:

Making your own tools now eh?

 

Next thing you know he'll be 3D printing some sticks to help get termites out of a rotting log...     

 

Cheers,

Bill

[TheBaron]

Twice now I've been jumped back to the previous page on the forum without touching anything and lost about 20 mins writing on both occasions... 😠

 

Let's try again...

 

On 13/08/2021 at 19:37, Pete in Lincs said:

Another excellent update, your Baronship. Impressive trailing edges and booms. 

Nice moon too.

On 14/08/2021 at 07:43, Brandy said:

Splendid stuff once more Tony. All that plus shadows and moons too!

Cheers Pete & Ian .

I'm getting a bit fed up with our moon these days and hoping we might be able to swap with Jupiter and have Io for a bit. Be lovely to sit out in the garden peacefully watching the sulphur volcanoes spew forth of a summer's eve...

On 13/08/2021 at 22:03, bigbadbadge said:

I know I have said this before, but I can't help myself,  I love the first two images of the model, under the photo of your home made tool, showing the slight undulations in the model surfaces, it adds an air of realism.

On 14/08/2021 at 14:28, hendie said:

I really am impressed by that undulating, imperfect surface. It's so much more interesting than the standard CAD/CNC derived output we see in molded parts these days. As accurate as those can be (sometimes) they never seem to have any character.

Hopefully the paint will not eliminate any of that affect

Thank you both Chris and Alan.

 

Surface topography and optical texture/lustre are such a function of the appearance of real-world aircraft that I feel there's significant room to explore this aspect more fully in our craft. I'm also surprised at how little the varying qualities of light itself is considered as a factor in the appearance of things in the world! I bought this book nearly 30 years ago and am still learning:

If you're getting a copy yourself, avoid the shitelooking current edition with a rainbow on the cover that makes it looks more like an advert  for euthanasia services  - you can pick up this classic 1954 edition still in good condition for a reasonable price.

On 14/08/2021 at 22:33, Space Ranger said:

That's a modeling issue that's also given me much trouble over the years. I found the solution in, of all things, push pins/map tacks. You know, the pins with spherical heads used to mark locations on wall maps and hold things on bulletin boards. These are available in a variety of sizes at craft stores and dollar/pound/Euro discount stores. New clothing - men's shirts, for example - usually come with a bunch of pins with small spherical heads of about 2 mm diameter. The shafts of all these pins can easily be chucked up in a pin vise or even an X-acto or Excel knife.  I've also seen a set of clay sculpting tools which had several spherical attachments of various diameters. The ball heads of these make great tools for smoothing those radiused corners that give so much trouble, regardless of the type of filler you're using, and I've been able to accumulate quite a collection at a reasonable cost.

A good call for general fillers Micheal - indeed I snaffled my wife's sculpting tools to experiment with just such processes some time back but quickly found that the photopolymer resin used here as both adhesive and filler requires a mixture of careful carving and W&D sanding, due to its inherent hardness.

On 15/08/2021 at 19:00, giemme said:

and those oblique light pics are a form of art in themselves

From an Italian Giorgio there can indeed be no higher praise!

On 15/08/2021 at 19:00, giemme said:

As regards the twin booms attachment: I was wondering

A valid notion and one of several strategies that I initially tried here: the stumbling block was that attempts to design for a simpler assembly of parts always ended up causing significant problems at the earlier drawing stage in terms of the accurate alignment of profiles in three dimensions and their subsequent lofting into valid surfaces/solids.

 

Without going into numbing detail there were two significant and intertwined issues that all the various stage drawing, printing, and assembly had to reconcile:

1. The asymmetric interface of the boom with the wing (top and bottom)
2. The simultaneous interface of the lower boom profile with both the wheel wells and undercarriage doors.

With so many complex and varying compound curves and surfaces all meeting up with each other in those regions of the aircraft Giorgio, you're always having to seek compromises between what you want to be able to print and the ability to draw them in such a way that they will actually produce accurate forms within the software.

 

And this is why I should have started by designing something simpler like a Mig-15.....

On 17/08/2021 at 09:59, CedB said:

Making your own tools now eh?

The old ways are the best Ced....

Actually, how would flint work carving resin...?

On 17/08/2021 at 21:24, Navy Bird said:

 

Next thing you know he'll be 3D printing some sticks to help get termites out of a rotting log...     

When you have a very thin 30cm long tongue like mine Bill that is quite frankly unnecessary....

 

 

 

 

Well anyway I seem to have wandered off a bit, let's get back on track - I'd tidied up all the little nibbles and dings that'd managed to inflict along the trailing edges over the last fortnight:

If I can avoid repeating said nibbles, the thinness of those sections gives a pleasing expression of the actual wing shape along the back looking forward:

Moving on to some of the smaller items encrusting these lovely lines, in this shot of Julien's from the walkaround section you can see that sticky-out bit beneath the roundel:

The only reference I have to the name of this feature in my maintenance manuals calls it - in terms that make it sound like an item of intimate assistance - a  quote>'O' feel venturi <end quote. It's hollow and slightly flared at the rear end but in having to use 0.3mm brass tubing to express it, the flare will jut have to be imagined. First step was to solder a 'T' shape:

As it's mounted to the fuselage on a short blade of metal, I used a trick I've employed for such tasks on previous occasions of flattening larger diameter brass tubing around the mounting pin:

These test reading left to right were 1.0/0.9/0.8mm diameter - the eventual winner being 0.8mm for the scale:

As that'll doubtless get broken off during further handling I only bunged it on with Blutak here for a quick shufti:

Next up were the pitots for the end of each wing:

Lacking @hendie's lathing facilities (actually I don't really believe he has a lathe at all, he just stares intimidatingly pieces of metal until they spontaneously shape themselves) I used a bastardized method here of sweat soldering 0.7/0.5/0.3mm diameters into each other, then sanding down the excess solder to produce the required taper with the length spinning in the Dremel chuck:

Sufficient unto the grey...

Might need a bit taken off the front end, we'lll see about that later after a more careful comparison to refs.

Also crossed off the list was the small triangular antenna over the engine bays:

Whilst on antennaes, I also test fitted the larger bladed ones (from the PE set) onto port boom and under nose:

The arrestor hook got added to some 0.3mm brass arm:

-and test fitted onto the airframe:

I'm not sure that arm doesn't look a little thin when seen against the aircraft - if it is I'll slip a 0.4mm tube over it later.

 

The ejector seat then got added to the observer's cockpit:

Before disappearing forever beneath the door:

I'd also noticed a second triangular antenna forward of the cockpit of '481 so added that too at this stage:

Staying with the front of the pilot's cockpit, I also punched out a 1.2mm foil disk and added this to the projection gubbins of the PAS:

To form the g;bottom projector lenses themselves I used a couple of droplets of the fabulous 'Glass Drops' liquid from Fabrika Decoru as recommended by @AdrianMF (thanks Adrian!!) some time back:

The  glass of the sight screen was simply some 0.5mm PETG, coloured in at down each side (to give the appearance of mounting brackets) with some AK rubber black so it wouldn't look too stark compared to the surrounding structure:

Thanks for looking in as always - have a great start to the weekend!

Tony

 

Autumn must be close - mists draped the field behind our house last night:

 

 

[Brandy]

14 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

I'm getting a bit fed up with our moon these days and hoping we might be able to swap with Jupiter and have Io for a bit. Be lovely to sit out in the garden peacefully watching the sulphur volcanoes spew forth of a summer's eve...

I'm all for that, just think of the fun that could be had watching the Taliban getting their heads messed with!

 Probably result in a similar mix of awe and confusion that this build routinely presents to us!

Lovely details as usual.

 

Ian 

PS I did wait!

 

 

 

[Dave Swindell]

33 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

 

On 17/08/2021 at 09:59, CedB said:

Making your own tools now eh?

The old ways are the best Ced....

Ahh, caught (k)napping....

[giemme]

1 hour ago, TheBaron said:

With so many complex and varying compound curves and surfaces all meeting up with each other in those regions of the aircraft Giorgio, you're always having to seek compromises between what you want to be able to print and the ability to draw them in such a way that they will actually produce accurate forms within the software.

Makes totally sense, thanks for the explanation 👍

 

1 hour ago, TheBaron said:

Lacking @hendie's lathing facilities (actually I don't really believe he has a lathe at all, he just stares intimidatingly pieces of metal until they spontaneously shape themselves)

Still laughing at that     

 

Lovely update, this is dangerously getting close to some paint  

 

Ciao

[Martian]

4 hours ago, TheBaron said:

 

 

So that's how you have been making this! Nothing to do with fancy CAD work at all. (Actually, I have no idea how to use CAD, let alone how it works!)

 

Martian 👽

[perdu]

43 minutes ago, Martian said:

(Actually, I have no idea how to use CAD, let alone how it works!)

After months of investigative having a look I think it boils down to hammering stuff with a rock...

[hendie]

Quality greebling Tony. Delicately decorative. 

There'd be no chance of those sticky-outy bits staying sticked on with my clumsy mitts.

[Space Ranger]

11 hours ago, TheBaron said:

A good call for general fillers Micheal - indeed I snaffled my wife's sculpting tools to experiment with just such processes some time back but quickly found that the photopolymer resin used here as both adhesive and filler requires a mixture of careful carving and W&D sanding, due to its inherent hardness.

I never meant to imply that ball-end sculpting tools are the ultimate solution to creating fillets. I use them on Milliput, Aves Apoxy, Evercoat, and similar fillers to create fillets and sculpt them into a good "first approximation," which then serves as a basis for further applications of surfacing putty such as Spies Hecker Permacron, 3m Acryl, or Bondo, followed by sanding as necessary, then priming. For large fillets I create masks from tape, using plans as a guide, which I apply to the area to outline the edges of the fillet. I then apply my filler into the corner and smooth it using assorted ball-end tools as necessary, working it up to the edges of my masks. Any excess filler gets deposited onto the masking tape and comes off when the tape is removed. For small fillets such as a typical wing-to-fuselage joint on a modern aircraft, I just lay down a strip of masking tape on either side of the joint a few millimeters from it, apply filler, and smooth it with a small-diameter ball-end tool of appropriate size such as a dress pin. The edges of the fillet made in such a way are usually pretty obvious, and any excess filler not on the tape can be removed before it has hardened.

 

But even after taking care to get it as right as possible to begin with, some sanding with wet-and-dry paper is usually required. But wetting the sculpting tool with an appropriate plastic-safe lubricant helps get the fillet pretty close to begin with.

[CedB]

Lovely brassery Tony and impressive micro-greeblies.

 

Lovely stuff  

[TheBaron]

A late Monday lunchtime update, as the rest of the week is liable to be unpredictably busy work-wise.

Writs first.

On 20/08/2021 at 15:10, Brandy said:

I'm all for that, just think of the fun that could be had watching the Taliban getting their heads messed with!

Careful lad - this could quickly bloom into a full-blown conspiracy theory.

Lucky we never put in on the Internet!

On 20/08/2021 at 15:26, Dave Swindell said:

Ahh, caught (k)napping....

 

On 20/08/2021 at 19:35, Martian said:

So that's how you have been making this! Nothing to do with fancy CAD work at all. (Actually, I have no idea how to use CAD, let alone how it works!)

 

On 20/08/2021 at 20:19, perdu said:

After months of investigative having a look I think it boils down to hammering stuff with a rock...

Knapping or CADding. Despite the intervening millenia we just can't wean ourselves from silicon based technologies can we?

On 20/08/2021 at 16:14, giemme said:

Makes totally sense, thanks for the explanation

It was so long ago I did the design work on that part of the aircraft Giorgio that I actually had to go back and consult my desk notes about decisions made at the time. I had to do a bit more  work in Fusion at the weekend and not having touched the software in so long I felt incredibly rusty!

On 20/08/2021 at 22:49, hendie said:

Quality greebling Tony. Delicately decorative. 

There'd be no chance of those sticky-outy bits staying sticked on with my clumsy mitts.

Praise from the arch-greebler. Duly 'umbled Alan.

With my similarly indelicate paws I work using the 'iceberg' system of engreeblification, i.e., a region 2/3 larger than that visible is embedded in the aircraft. Given that those antennae so sharp though I'm probably going to end up as anannual freak statistic about the catching of tetanus from a Sea Vixen....

On 21/08/2021 at 02:48, Space Ranger said:

But even after taking care to get it as right as possible to begin with, some sanding with wet-and-dry paper is usually required

I think you're dead right Michael: no matter the material involved, it's always likely to require such a finishing procedure to iron out remaining micro-variations. I wonder what Peter Carl Fabergé used?

On 21/08/2021 at 09:16, CedB said:

Lovely brassery Tony and impressive micro-greeblies.

I may indeed have small parts Ced but try to keep them shiny.

 

From some more recent photographic discoveries I was able to piece together more clearly what's going on at the rear of the aircraft in respect of the relaying of Martel data to the chase aircraft. Not knowing exactly how much  museum refurbishment of various features has subsequently been done on XJ481 since the early 1970s, I've largely relied on contemporary shots from the 1970s. On one shot of the aircraft in her black/white garb for example the upper cable duct appears to have been removed altogether leaving only the the transceiver element on the rear of the fin, whilst the aircraft today has it back on.  Co-ordinating shots of the aircraft as it appears today with period photographs (themselves frequently often low res scans of slides or prints) I was able to come up with a working drawing of what to build next:

The outer surface of the transceiver itself looks slightly more convex in period shots than the more planar looking one does on 481 today - I don't know whether that is a trick of the light but at this scale I added just enough roundness to be able to say to people it's faithful to period photography, whilst it's subtle enough to be able to say 'Noooo. it's flat, you're eyes are playing tricks' to someone who definitely has evident that the flatter looking one of today is the correct appearance instead. I also noticed that there was a section of exposed wiring between the very end of the ducting and the transceiver that had a semi-circular dog-leg to it for some reason.

 

Prior to attacking this set of tasks though I paid some more attention to the lower rear apex(es?) of the fins themselves. Being so fragile at  I've constantly been brushing against the tips and breaking them off until eventually a very simple solution suggested itself whilst scrutinizing shots of this region during research of the above. Borrowing once more from Julien's most helpful FAW.1 walkaround shots on the forum, you can see that  (strengthening?) panel just above the tail bumper:

 - is a perfect candidate for some raised surface detail in this region used metal foil. Fortunate also that said panel on either side of the fin will provide invaluable reinforcement against me snapping off apex detail any further.

 

Back into Fusion then (I mentioned above to Giorgio just how rusty I'd become after not having touched the software at all over the summer) to draw out a panel suitable to cut out from foil  at 1/72:

These were then dashed off on the Portrait cutter and subsequently burnished on to said apexes:

I then brushed some Mr.Metal Primer-R (I've no idea what the 'R' bit means) over these foil additions, knowing I'd forget to do it later....

 

From then on it was just a straightforward job of adding the transceiver and cable duct along the fin/boom. Or I should say, straightforward enough regarding the transceiver on the apex but the ducting itself, well my first attempt using 0.5mm Evergreen strip honestly looked horribly crude done in plastic, especially when it came to getting the material to conform to the varying number of compound curves involved along its length. I lived with it on the aircraft for a day and then stripped it all off again, this time using 15 amp fuse wire for the duct, flattened into the requied square cross section on the small  anvil with a planishing hammer:

 - before being pinned to the aircraft using some (actually in my case) eye-wateringly small staples that I had to make out of 0.3mm brass rod, approximating the fixings visible on the real thing:

Despite the time and effort required the manner in which the metal conforms to the compound curves was a great improvement over my earlier pitiable fumblings:

- - most particularly in conforming to the front profile of the boom where it the cable enters the wing:

Finally, attention was turned to the companion details below the wing, where the cable emerge from the wheel well and curves forward to connect with port inner pylon. This time I remembered to draw out the cable run onto the aircraft and drill out all the holes first, before then adding the stapls in a single pass along the ducting:

The staples themselves were attached using drops of Rocket Max and any remaining evidence of the drilled holes being refilled with resin to tidy up:

A final upper/lower view of the cable aspect (note to self, more Mr.Metal Primer on those ducts...):

Before I go any further now I need to pay some attention to the wings stores and the pylons in terms of drilling out attachment points and fixings; let's see what time I can claw back during the week to make a start on that

 

Another ongoing project has been trying to grow more exotic foodstuffs in the greenhouse this year, a particular favourite being okra which I love for Indian cooking but which is almost impossible to get fresh here in Ireland. Having obtained some seeds back in the Spring, three plants managed to hold on despite the climate, though only one has borne actual fruit so far. Last night though one of the others completely stunned us by putting forth the most singularly beautiful bloom - the most delicate of yellows around a sensuous burgundy-like centre:

Something must have awoken in the air here over the last 24hrs as the garden is also full of red Admiral and Peacock butterflies getting stoned on the buddleia this morning.

Soul-warming to witness.

 

Take care of yourselves until next time.

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Space Ranger]

11 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

a particular favourite being okra which I love for Indian cooking but which is almost impossible to get fresh here in Ireland

Okra grows in Ireland??? I had no idea. It's a staple in many homes in the southern U.S., usually fried (of course!). I hate the stuff.

[giemme]

Lovely greeblering going on here, Tony    Smart thinking on the fuse wire, very effective

Ciao

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

58 minutes ago, Space Ranger said:

Okra grows in Ireland??? I had no idea. It's a staple in many homes in the southern U.S., usually fried (of course!). I hate the stuff.

It’s called O’Kra over here; a greener version

 

[perdu]

More stuff learned here, so I sits in admir-gratefulnessessity.

 

Science, technology, craftworks and horticulture, say no more can I Skywalker...

 

 

O'Kra?

 

I think there was one of they lads in class with me at Engrish Martyrs...

[Terry1954]

1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

It’s called O’Kra over here; a greener version

 

 

You actually had me going for that briefly ........... then I remembered the O'Bhindi's and the O'Bhaji's I met in a Dublin curry house long ago.

 

 

Terry

[LorenSharp]

Tony be careful of that "O'kra" Blossom..... it may be a Triffid. Especially since all the bugs are flying around stoned. Jes sayin'...

[hendie]

Tetanus?  Surely it would be rabies you'd get from a Vixen? 

Unless it was one of this lot of course

 

 

(I did search for Rusty Vixen initially, but you probably don't want to do that on your work computer )

 

 

That sure is some fine boom ducting. A tail to behold. (... not drop!)

 

Hendie - trying hard not to resort to mentioning old children's shows with a fox and lots of booms

 

 

 

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

13 hours ago, hendie said:

 

 

(I did search for Rusty Vixen initially, but you probably don't want to do that on your work computer )

 

Off topic, but…

 

We have a friend who owns a beautiful Cocker Spaniel.  A few weeks ago one of her nipples became infected with something (eventually turned out to be a seed embedded in the skin) and it turned an odd colour.

 

My friend’s 92-year-old Mum (who is something of a dab hand on the old iPad) wanted to help, so she put “Bitch with black nipple” into Google.

 

Oh dear.

[Brandy]

16 hours ago, hendie said:

Hendie - trying hard not to resort to mentioning old children's shows with a fox and lots of booms

That brings me to a different Basil...and reminded me of the fact I used to refer to my brother's first wife as Cybil, on account of the way she would snarl my brother's name!

 

Next drift please.....

 

Ian