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1:48 Rat Bird (kit bash)


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17 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

John, It's coming along very nicely. You're doing pretty much just what I would have done to it.

If you can source some thin silver tape or bare metal foil he may be onto something here. Repair patches over bullet holes or missing panels?

Keep on with the brainstorming!

Pete

kitchen tin foil may be an option, or wine bottle foil?

 

 

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48373781122_432c0d8024.jpg

 

Small gaps were filled with perfect putty and cleaned up with q-tips and water.

48405623877_730cbbf938_b.jpg

48405623767_79f37be52d_b.jpg

These gaps will be checked and fine-tuned after I spray some black primer, I’m 100% certain they’ll need more work.

 

The Tamiya Corsair has the ailerons fixed in the down position, so I’ve removed the tabs to allow them to be positioned ‘straight’.

48405473766_277bc309ef_b.jpg

This meant that I had to fill the tab holes.

48405473921_786ff20998_b.jpg

 

Landing gear doors also had their tabs removed and were glued ‘closed’, these will need some filler and then re-scribing.

48405623647_ec47be1388_b.jpg

 

Ailerons attached

48412741737_6df46b3d29_b.jpg

48412741652_a1ba0525f8_b.jpg

 

 

Next I’ll be attaching the rear wing(s).

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

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John,

Kitchen foil may well do it. Have a look at one of the bare metal finish builds for the type of glue to use. I can't remember.

Those ailerons are the flaps, and the rear wings are tailplanes. 

The fit of those gear doors is not pretty, they really wanted them in the open position didn't they?

Cheers

Pete

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9 hours ago, shortCummins said:

kitchen tin foil may be an option, or wine bottle foil?

 

Builder merchants, DIY places and some pound stores sell Aluminium tape, it's used for sealing joints on foil backed insulation.

eg

https://www.screwfix.com/p/diall-aluminium-foil-tape-silver-75mm-x-45m/4415v#_=p

note they sell cheaper silver jointing tape, but this is like adhesive backed tin foil,  it is  pretty flexible, and can be bossed down and stretched a bit to conform to shapes. 

You can also gentleman's parts it with a point for rivets.

 

Wine bottle foil far too often, unless it's posh wine, has plastic sheeting as part of it.   thin 'lead' foil  is often on malt whiskey bottles, and it 's possible to buy thin lead sheet/foil,  great for seat belts and straps.

 

HTH

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On 02/08/2019 at 19:21, Pete in Lincs said:

John,

Kitchen foil may well do it. Have a look at one of the bare metal finish builds for the type of glue to use. I can't remember.

Those ailerons are the flaps, and the rear wings are tailplanes. 

The fit of those gear doors is not pretty, they really wanted them in the open position didn't they?

Cheers

Pete

Thanks Pete,  I'm surprised by the lack of fit on the gear doors, I'd have thought better from Tamiya 

 

rgds

John

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On 02/08/2019 at 21:39, Troy Smith said:

 

Builder merchants, DIY places and some pound stores sell Aluminium tape, it's used for sealing joints on foil backed insulation.

eg

https://www.screwfix.com/p/diall-aluminium-foil-tape-silver-75mm-x-45m/4415v#_=p

note they sell cheaper silver jointing tape, but this is like adhesive backed tin foil,  it is  pretty flexible, and can be bossed down and stretched a bit to conform to shapes. 

You can also gentleman's parts it with a point for rivets.

 

Wine bottle foil far too often, unless it's posh wine, has plastic sheeting as part of it.   thin 'lead' foil  is often on malt whiskey bottles, and it 's possible to buy thin lead sheet/foil,  great for seat belts and straps.

 

HTH

good info Troy, that tape looks interesting 

 

rgds

John

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48412749592_0b2df462d1.jpg

 

I think that the drawing has the rear of the aircraft based on a bf109? However I’m not going to try and bolt a 109 rear-end on, I’m going to ‘cut down’ the vertical stabiliser, rudder and tailplanes (thanks Pete) as I’m not aiming for an exact version of the drawing, just something that represents Christian's drawing.

 

The Tamiya kit has a separate vertical stabiliser and fuselage spine, presumably to allow for either bubble top or razor back versions?

48413578517_fa980255af_b.jpg

48413578402_258e0a0fbb_b.jpg

 

The tip(s) of these were then removed with a fine razor-saw. I followed an existing panel line as a guide for the cut.

48413428856_e60a10da38_b.jpg

 

Both of the tailplanes were given the same treatment.

48413578232_62536993eb_b.jpg

 

The spine, vertical stabiliser and rudder were fixed to the main fuselage.

48413734402_65c2aa0370_b.jpg

48413584171_97256fdd2f_b.jpg

 

Next the tailplanes were attached.

48413734212_772c3b3744_b.jpg

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Next I’ll be attempting the rear cockpit section and fitting the windshield.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

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On 06/08/2019 at 08:30, shortCummins said:

The Tamiya kit has a separate vertical stabiliser and fuselage spine, presumably to allow for either bubble top or razor back versions?

No, the Razorback has a entire new fuselage,  but the P-47 M has a spine fillet, and new cockpit. (as do some late D models)

the P-47M kit has an extra tree with the new fin, and cockpit parts.

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/tam/kit_tam_61096.shtml

hope of interest/use

 

 

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On 06/08/2019 at 10:27, SafetyDad said:

Well done John; that's a simple but very effective way to change the tailplane shape with a nod to the Pearce drawing.

 

Looking good!

 

SD

Thanks SD

 

I'm aiming to replicate the "spirit" of the drawing rather than getting my model exact, for example my paint scheme will be noticeably different

 

rgds

John 

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On 06/08/2019 at 16:41, Pete in Lincs said:

I agree, the rear end looks very different now.

How much fun can you have without instructions? Lots!

lots of fun (so far)

 

still waiting for a major hic-up, so far so good

 

rgds

John

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On 06/08/2019 at 17:40, Troy Smith said:

No, the Razorback has a entire new fuselage,  but the P-47 M has a spine fillet, and new cockpit. (as do some late D models)

the P-47M kit has an extra tree with the new fin, and cockpit parts.

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/tam/kit_tam_61096.shtml

hope of interest/use

 

 

thanks Troy

 

I've a feeling that I'll be building the P-47 "proper" in the future, this Tamiya kit will almost certainly be the one I opt for

 

rgds

John

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48414302376_aa4cf88ae2.jpg

 

So the drawing shows an open cockpit with the rear part of the cockpit raised on the fuselage.

48249077836_dd1587a934_b.jpg

 

The bubble-top P-47 doesn’t have a raised back for the cockpit so I’ll have to fabricate one.

Both of the Tamiya kits have parts to make external fuel tanks, I thought that adapting one of these could be used. Part of one of the Corsair external fuel tanks placed over the cockpit to get an idea of what it could look like.

48414443402_c57d79624f_b.jpg

 

A razor saw was used to cut it to size…

48414443327_c6356e86db_b.jpg

 

…and this is what it will look like.

48414294036_4a7c08ab86_b.jpg

 

I thinned the sides of the rear cockpit and gave the interior a coat of Tamiya XF-4.

48429572561_3d80f33212_b.jpg

 

Then glued it to the fuselage.

48430506911_cc79541351_b.jpg

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Some time ago I bought a set of master tools plastic circles from Hannants, I can’t remember why I got them any how as they have a number of different sizes I thought I could use one as an ‘inspection cover’, no I don’t know why there’d be one there either but I think it’ll look good.

48430648477_cef14b43d4_b.jpg

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A little bit of sanding and I think it’ll look the part.

 

Next re-fixed the gunsight, having broken it off several times, and then glued the kit windscreen, in the hope that it will give some protection to the gunsight and if I don’t fit it now I’ll probably forget it.

Tamiya tape cut with a new blade was used as masks.

48430506571_e3dbe6d30e_b.jpg

48430648352_28c3569fdf_b.jpg

 

 

What to do next, I’m in a bit of a quandary, the original graphic shows quite a lot of different bombs and rockets and my problem is “how to fix them” to the wing.

Well first off its what bombs do I have in the spares box and then it’ll be how they will be fixed?

I need to decide this before I glue together the outer-wing halves and pre-drill for any fixings.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

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48430648317_31e3aff564.jpg

 

So I raided the spares box to see what bombs I have and which I can use, different sizes will be good and I want to find some way to attach them.

 

Bombs were harvested from the Tamiya Corsair, Thunderbolt and Mosquito, Hasegawa P-38, Airfix Bf-109 and Eduard Spitfire(s) and Fw-190, I’m not sure that I’ll use all of these but I’ll bolt on as many as I can.

48488362842_e38c211b6a_b.jpg

Tamiya Corsair

 

48488362542_26235f1dd7_b.jpg

Tamiya Thunderbolt

 

48488200826_e6112b9f6f_b.jpg

Tamiya Mosquito

 

48488200856_b3e74f233f_b.jpg

Hasegawa P-38

 

48488201001_a29cbfa62d_b.jpg
Airfix Bf-109

 

48488362627_265fafc72d_b.jpg

Eduard Spitfire

 

Some of them have under-wing attachments which I’ll need to plan where to fit them and drill relevant holes for the attachments.
This are a couple of proposed load-outs…

48486993007_4def7521f3_b.jpg

I’m tempted to use the rocket launcher tubes from the P-47 kit

48486992942_8dbb9f48a1_b.jpg

…both subject to change!?

 

Currently I’m leaning toward the second load-out as I really like the look of those rocket launchers.

 

Most of the bombs have fixings that I’ll be able to use so any scratch building will be kept to a minimum.

The Hasagewa P-38 kit has a couple of “U” shaped rocket launcher assemblies, one of which I plan to attach some bombs.

48488200606_309742645e_b.jpg

I’m not sure which are the best size to be attached, I’ll have a play, favourites so far are either the Spitfire or the Bf109 bombs.

 

 

Now that I’ve got a definite/maybe plan for the load-out next I’ll be attaching the outer wings.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

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Looking good. I just noticed support struts under the tailplanes on the original drawing as on a bf109E or Stuka.

I like the rocket supports as bomb hangers. Can you fit horizontal pylons to them?

At the rear of the cockpit fairing, how about a length of sprue to the fin?

More sprue for the exhaust, chromed if possible!

That circle on the cockpit fairing is obviously for filling the fuselage tank. Needs a Luftwaffe 87 octane triangle.

Keep on rocking, you're doing great.

Pete

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On 08/08/2019 at 17:09, Pete in Lincs said:

Looking good. I just noticed support struts under the tailplanes on the original drawing as on a bf109E or Stuka.

I like the rocket supports as bomb hangers. Can you fit horizontal pylons to them?

At the rear of the cockpit fairing, how about a length of sprue to the fin?

More sprue for the exhaust, chromed if possible!

That circle on the cockpit fairing is obviously for filling the fuselage tank. Needs a Luftwaffe 87 octane triangle.

Keep on rocking, you're doing great.

Pete

Hi Pete

 

I'm not sure what to do about the support struts, I had thought of shaping some styrene and nailing them in place however if I do this I'll add them after the initial paintwork, I'm going for a "shabby" NMF look and adding the struts before paint would cause more problems then adding them later?

The rocket supports are about the right size for some small(ish) Bf109 bombs so that's what I'm going to use.

Good idea about the sprue for the cockpit fairing I'll use that, thank you.

I've a plan for the exhaust, as us suggest I'll be using more sprue however I plan to make them rusty as most of the airframe will be various shades of natural metal.

I knew that circle would have an obvious purpose, I just couldn't think of it.

 

your help and suggestions are greatly appreciated 

rgds

John

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23 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Will you be adding the Bf109's cowling guns to this like the original picture ? 

I'd thought about adding the cowling guns but I can't see an obvious way of "blending" them in so I'm going to omit then

 

rgds

John

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48496638622_581b70e0a5.jpg

 

I’ve decided I like the rocket launcher tubes so holes were drilled in the under wing to allow for these and the bomb fixings.

 

48496476486_9045721689_b.jpg

F4U “main” bomb

 

48496644232_ce50099251_b.jpg

48496644172_c0cb816037_b.jpg

Spitfire bomb and attachment with P47 rocket launches

 

48496644117_1fb1d7e778_b.jpg

From left to right: P47 bomb & pylon, Bf109 bombs attached to P38 rocket supports, Mosquito bomb and rack, Spitfire bomb and attachment

48496644047_32aa122760_b.jpg

 

As you can see I’ve change the load-out and I’ve had to reposition where the bomb attachments will be fixed to the wings, I’ve two of three holes that will need to be filled as I was far too impatient and drilled the holes before positioning the bombs, the P38 structure with bombs attached proved to be larger than I’d anticipated.

 

The Bf109 bombs all have had connection holes drilled and I’ve glued thin brass rod into the bottom of the P38 structure to enable a secure fit to the lower wing, the bombs make it quite heavy.

 

 

I’ll wait until the main airframe paintwork has been finished before I fit the bombs and attachments but I needed to drill the connection holes now before I attached the outer wings, which I’ll be doing next.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

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