woody37 Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 Got some time playing with the vac former today. I had a few issues so drilled more holes in the base plate and that did the trick. It's hard to see but I've got a few off that are OK so I'll choose the best one to trim further but I reckon I can knock a few out for people. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 Managed to trim one and do a dry fit. It's not too bad although I had to cut a bit out of the forwards fuselage as it's longer so I doubt it would fit a standard fuselage unless the same mod is done. The lower fuselage is splayed open here so it looks a bit wonky EDIT: After comparing the shape of the canopy to photo's, the taper at the front of the canopy isn't prominent enough (far too square) so tonight, I've sanded it more and will remake the canopy over the next few days. It's quite a critical area to get right so better to have a set back now rather than it forever bug me! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Brilliant job with the canopy mate,..... are you thinking of positioning the top hatch open? I`d love one of your offcasts please mate,.....are you thinking of vac forming the rear turret too? Keep up the brilliant job mate and Merry Christmas, Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 looking great! (by the way, in all fairness, "a bit wonky" is a key feature of all British design 😉) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 That's sure to look even better after modification but looks bloody great already. Lovely clarity too Neil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 9 hours ago, tonyot said: Brilliant job with the canopy mate,..... are you thinking of positioning the top hatch open? I`d love one of your offcasts please mate,.....are you thinking of vac forming the rear turret too? Keep up the brilliant job mate and Merry Christmas, Cheers Tony Hi mate, For sanity sake, I'm thinking of just keeping the canopy closed but never say never! I'm hoping to run a few copies off once I'm happy with the shape. Last night, I did some further playing with the part that I'd cut out because it was too long. The good news is that because the former is over size in length, there's some room for manoeuvre. I reckon the clear part should now fit a kit that has been built from the box and there's enough material to allow final fettling to shape. I was thinking about the rear turret last night and possibly the nose cone. The benefit of redoing them is that the plastic I'm using is much more durable and clear. This is how it's looking with the existing clear part, but once I've finished updating the former, the upper profile will taper more towards the windscreen. The usual approach of measure once, cut 3 times as been upheld 😂 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 (edited) That already looks fab (even with the well-known Handley-Page Blue Band modification!) Edited December 22, 2019 by Ex-FAAWAFU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 23 minutes ago, woody37 said: Hi mate, For sanity sake, I'm thinking of just keeping the canopy closed but never say never! I'm hoping to run a few copies off once I'm happy with the shape. Last night, I did some further playing with the part that I'd cut out because it was too long. The good news is that because the former is over size in length, there's some room for manoeuvre. I reckon the clear part should now fit a kit that has been built from the box and there's enough material to allow final fettling to shape. I was thinking about the rear turret last night and possibly the nose cone. The benefit of redoing them is that the plastic I'm using is much more durable and clear. This is how it's looking with the existing clear part, but once I've finished updating the former, the upper profile will taper more towards the windscreen. The usual approach of measure once, cut 3 times as been upheld 😂 Cheers mate,.... and it is truly looking superb,...... cannot wait to see this one finished. You need a trip to Elvington in the New Year for inspiration! Merry Christmas bud, Tony 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Looking fantastic Neil, some amazing work fella. All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Looking good my old mucka, she's coming together very nicely and at quite a pace, great job on the vac canopy, would you be a dear and set one aside for an old war horse with a dicky ticker and a wooden leg... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 17 minutes ago, general melchett said: Looking good my old mucka, she's coming together very nicely and at quite a pace, great job on the vac canopy, would you be a dear and set one aside for an old war horse with a dicky ticker and a wooden leg... Ha ha, how you doing me ol mucker? Who could say NO with a request like that! Bout time you cracked on with yours instead of meddling with stuff powered by those noisy blighters called jet engines, they'll never catch on! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 1 hour ago, tonyot said: Cheers mate,.... and it is truly looking superb,...... cannot wait to see this one finished. You need a trip to Elvington in the New Year for inspiration! Merry Christmas bud, Tony Lets sort something out and I can pick you up on the way 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Just add my tuppeny ha’penny worth to the general approval of that vac form canopy Neil. The Woody DIY vacformer is clearly a superior device 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 That is such a massive improvement - I’d love a copy if you can spare one? Watching this come together has got me thinking about restarting mine. Good stuff! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Quote instead of meddling with stuff powered by those noisy blighters called jet engines, they'll never catch on! Funny you should say that...something of a similar ilk, same scale, only a tad later is on it's painfully noisy way... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 3 hours ago, Fritag said: Just add my tuppeny ha’penny worth to the general approval of that vac form canopy Neil. The Woody DIY vacformer is clearly a superior device Thanks Steve, it's a bit Heath Robinson but is doing the trick. No one has noticed that the toaster has disappeared yet, it's currently residing in the garage to heat the plastic sheets up! 3 hours ago, tomprobert said: That is such a massive improvement - I’d love a copy if you can spare one? Watching this come together has got me thinking about restarting mine. Good stuff! Hi Tom, Yes mate of course. Just improving the shape and once I'm happy, I'll run a few off. I'll mask off the basic shape as a cutting guide but I'll leave them untrimmed so you can fettle to ensure a good fit on yours. 48 minutes ago, general melchett said: Funny you should say that...something of a similar ilk, same scale, only a tad later is on it's painfully noisy way... Hmmm. Is that a rumour you're starting? 🤔 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 The cockpit former is still getting fettled so in other news, I've decided what to do with the side windows. They have been cut out and clear sheet cut to shape. I'll drop these in later once tinkering with the interior is complete, The forward part of the canopy should be parallel to the panel lines so it needs building up further yet as per the red line 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 (edited) Ahh looking good already, you are certainly on a roll here Neil. That port quarter panel really needs tweaking to get the windscreen section of HP's finest correct. I glued a thick piece of plasticard and hollowed it out on the inside, the rest was easy. Now if Tom (and the General Sah!) want to join the party then it would be great. Cheers Cees Edited December 24, 2019 by Cees Broere 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 10 hours ago, Cees Broere said: Ahh looking good already, you are certainly on a roll here Neil. That port quarter panel really needs tweaking to get the windscreen section of HP's finest correct. I glued a thick piece of plasticard and hollowed it out on the inside, the rest was easy. Now if Tom (and the General Sah!) want to join the party then I would be great. Cheers Cees Splendid idea! Had a few set backs forming the canopy today. I previously used car filler primer but used Tamiya primer after the tweaks and it came off in places when removing the parts so I've recovered it in the car primer to get some parts off it. Managed to get a half decent one so cut it to shape and here it is... @Cees Broere, the improved shape on the left hand side, just needs a bit more filler to tidy it up. note the improve taper forwards of the bulkhead located behind the pilots seat There's a bit more fettling on the right hand side but it's largely there. I can start back on the interior now this is done 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Nice work - another FM kit tamed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 4 hours ago, CJP said: Nice work - another FM kit tamed! It's not there, plenty of 'two steps backwards' in store yet 😂 couldn't resist a dry fit of the major parts after being lost in the detail just to remind me what I'm working towards, I do enjoy these Christmas breaks! That said, the missus has a list of jobs for tomorrow I'll try to squeeze a bit more in between real tasks! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongMan2 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Hi Woody37, Yeah its looking real sharp...just kinda thinking about mine right now. Hope to kick on with mine for the new year... Keep going with it....one of the best FM Halifax MkIII I've seen so far. PHIL. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Neil, You have nailed the distinctive Halifax canopy shape very well. What an improvement. Especially from frame 7 (the pilot's bulkhead) forward. Finally a canopy in one piece instead of the impossible join between the two parts as intended by FM. Well done. In the meantime I have been doing some more work on the interior. Cheers Cees 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 On 12/24/2019 at 7:27 AM, Cees Broere said: Neil, You have nailed the distinctive Halifax canopy shape very well. What an improvement. Especially from frame 7 (the pilot's bulkhead) forward. Finally a canopy in one piece instead of the impossible join between the two parts as intended by FM. Well done. In the meantime I have been doing some more work on the interior. Cheers Cees I've been copying your work today on the interior focussing on the area behind frame 7. I'm hoping to have the interior largely finished this week whilst off from work but then got the bomb bay to tackle....gulp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 27, 2019 Author Share Posted December 27, 2019 This is the progress on the interior so far using @Cees Broere build as both an inspiration and guidance HERE and photographs ont net. I'm not too worried about inaccuracy as long as it looks about right... I've added some extra fuselage stiffeners to help rigidity once it's stitched up There's some wires that need adding and any other bits that become apparent if anyone has any photo's of this area to share? Next step is the cockpit area 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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