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Airfix Short Sunderland to Empire


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Adrian, I trully admire your development of skills in huge vacu forming.  Since I am also decided from some time already for similar conversion I am and I will watch for it very carefully.

Currently I think that I will try a kind of a short cut (despite that fameous Robert Altman's movie suggested that it is not good way to use them ;) ) . So I am going to construct the fuselage using fragments of Sunderland fuselage, some plastic cards and maybe two tubes of a putty :) .   I do not think that my way is better but I think less efforts will be needed,  but also smaller added value (by avoiding new skills), unfortunatelly ...

I wish you success

Regards

Jerzy-Wojtek

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Hi Adrian,

 

When I mentioned cooking oil as a release agent I was thinking of my efforts with resin casting, so I am glad it worked for you as well - groundnut oil has of course a high flash point so is a good for both my stir fries and your vac forms it seems and is a lot cheaper than the "proper"release agent spray I tried. I would imagine getting it off before you paint could be a problem as you can't use really hot water on the plastic so how did you do it - half a tube of denture cleaning or sterilising tablets in the sink?

 

I am very impressed by your efforts, though not entirely surprised given your track record. Well done, and I will try and follow it in the WIP thread - have you thought of putting it in the current KUTA which would give you until February next year? I have a few part finished kits on the go in that thread.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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25 minutes ago, PeterB said:

I have a few part finished kits on the go in that thread.

I won’t have enough time by February so I’m heading for WIP. I still have Mojo for this but not enough free time so I’m hoping to keep it going. I have promised Pat that I will get my Rareplanes Breda 65 in there though.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

10 hours ago, DMC said:

Empire al forno

Just as long as it’s not flambé!

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Just caught up with this Adrian (I don't usually venture into GBs) and I'm looking out for the WiP… great work and experimentation, you are a brave man! :) 

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22 hours ago, PeterB said:

When I mentioned cooking oil as a release agent I was thinking of my efforts with resin casting, so I am glad it worked for you as well - groundnut oil has of course a high flash point so is a good for both my stir fries and your vac forms it seems and is a lot cheaper than the "proper"release agent spray I tried. I would imagine getting it off before you paint could be a problem as you can't use really hot water on the plastic so how did you do it - half a tube of denture cleaning or sterilising tablets in the sink?

I think just a dish cleaner agent like Fair (or similar detergent) should do the job with removing traces of oil. I would avoid really hot water that it can make plastic soft and risk of losing of shapes will appear...  

Merry Christmas to all

Regards

J-W

 

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22 hours ago, PeterB said:

I would imagine getting it off before you paint could be a problem

Isopropyl Alcohol?

Available cheaply on eBay. Excellent cleaning and de-greasing qualities. A non-aggressive cleaner, evaporates quickly and safe on plastic, but it does have some solvent qualities which may affect existing paint. As always, experiment with a non-vital area or spare plastic (Adrian has a lot of this! ;)) before using on your irreplaceable pride and joy! And, it is highly flammable!

I use it prior to painting.

Edited by Johnson
typo
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22 minutes ago, Johnson said:

Isopropyl Alcohol?

Available cheaply on eBay. Excellent cleaning and de-greasing qualities. A non-aggressive cleaner, evaporates quickly and safe on plastic, but it does have some solvent qualities which may affect existing paint. As always, experiment with a non-vital area or spare plastic (Adrian has a lot of this! ;)) before using on your irreplaceable pride and joy! And, it is highly flammable!

I use it prior to painting.

 

Can't you just buy isopropyl alcohol at drugstore/pharmacy like I can do here? I've got both 70% and 90%.

 

 

 

Chris

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1 hour ago, dogsbody said:

Can't you just buy isopropyl alcohol at drugstore/pharmacy like I can do here? I've got both 70% and 90%.

Hi Chris,

 

A few years ago, yes.

 

I ran out earlier this year and none of the drugstores/pharmacies stocked it. One of the pharmacists suggested I try buying online and sure enough it was readily available and pretty cheap. 1 litre of 99.9% lab grade IPA for £5.95. Should last... well, probably I won't have to buy any more at the rate I use it.

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1 hour ago, Johnson said:

Hi Chris,

 

A few years ago, yes.

 

I ran out earlier this year and none of the drugstores/pharmacies stocked it. One of the pharmacists suggested I try buying online and sure enough it was readily available and pretty cheap. 1 litre of 99.9% lab grade IPA for £5.95. Should last... well, probably I won't have to buy any more at the rate I use it.

 

Wow! If I want, I can go over to the grocery store that's a few hundred feet from the drugstore and buy it there. It has a small pharmacy inside.

 

 

 

Chris

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A wonderful thread Adrian et al, a worthy subject, infectious enthusiasm & inventiveness, matched with sage advice!

 

I have also dabbled with a home-made vacformer & recognise your challenges.  One of the few things I’ve tried which made parenting look orderly & predictable by comparison!  You should be very pleased with your results.

 

I will look for the continuation of this project in the WIP forum...

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Sorry to be late again Adrian but I have only just returned from a holiday break. Excellent new fuselage - that is a very large moulding and yours has come out extremely well. I know who to ask if I need one that size in future....!

 

I too will be following your WIP thread as there is so much to be learned from this conversion.

 

P

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  • 6 months later...

Hi all

Iam new to this forum but have been modelling for a long time.
Very well done with your C Class fuselage. Am vey interested in your work.  Many years ago I obtained a clearish plastic 1/72 C Class fuselage  It is very basic and it needed so much work that I put it back into my stash and went back to the Airfix Sunderland kit as a base.  My airfix based model is still a WIP but finally nearing decal stage.
 

Just for interest I will try and post a photo of the old fuselage

 

 Regards to all 

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  • 1 year later...

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