1:72 CMR Blackburn Firebrand TF Mk.V

[Navy Bird]

Need to take a short break from modelling, as I have a contract job from an old employer that will occupy most of my time for the next several weeks. Sorry!  

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I shall return, older than ever.

[Terry1954]

6 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

PS. I shall return, older than ever.

Older certainly but hopefully a little richer too!

 

Take care Bill and see you after your break!

 

Terry

[CedB]

No worries Bill - I hope it goes well and we'll be waiting when you get back  

[825]

On 3/29/2020 at 10:09 PM, Navy Bird said:

 

By the way, CMR have you fold up this silly photoetched jig thingy in order to align the fins on the back of the torpedo. Their great idea is to put all four fins in the jig, then slide the jig/fins onto the back of the torpedo and add glue of your choice. Problem is, the fins will not stay in the jig. I thought maybe I could glue them with water soluble white glue so I could remove the jig when finished, leaving the fins in position, but decided the heck with it. Just do it by eye. It will work. And I think it did.  

 

PS. Yes, this is a jet torpedo, as it has no propeller. CMR give you tiny prop blades, each about the size of a coronavirus molecule, and expect you to butt join them to the end of the torpedo. Right.

Valom do the same with their Firebrand. As well as etch that will never be seen, they provide some tiny, tiny, tiny, did I say tiny, prop blades to go onto the rear of the torpedo. I couldn't fit them on unless I miniaturised myself and fitted them on using both hands. 

 

 

I do like etch and resin in its place. And in Valom's Firebrand some of the resin is beautiful but most of the etch is either too small, can't be seen, or in the case of the intake on the cowling, a bit on the big side. I'd rather kit makers would spend their money on better detail or designing the moulded so as the pins weren't on difficult to remove places. 

[Navy Bird]

17 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Older certainly but hopefully a little richer too!

 

Richer? Ha, you funny guy.   

 

12 hours ago, CedB said:

No worries Bill - I hope it goes well and we'll be waiting when you get back  

 

I'll keep checking in (when I'm on work-break). Just won't have time to do much modelling.   

 

4 hours ago, 825 said:

Valom do the same with their Firebrand. As well as etch that will never be seen, they provide some tiny, tiny, tiny, did I say tiny, prop blades to go onto the rear of the torpedo. I couldn't fit them on unless I miniaturised myself and fitted them on using both hands.

 

Them look just like the ones on the CMR fret (which was also made by Eduard). I don't mind the tiny size as much as I do the butt join, but both would take too much of my time and sanity to be worth it. Ain't nobody gonna see the lack of the prop blades unless I show them.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. So I got a call from my doctor saying "stay at home" due to my immunodeficiency. Then I got an email reminding me to go to the hospital on Friday to get my infusion. Hmm. Maybe I'll call tomorrow and see if they can send someone to do my infusion at home.

[72modeler]

You have got to be kidding me! A Skyraider into a Firebrand? I don't think the famous late modeler  'Bondo Phil' Brandt would try that one! About the only similarities I can see between the Mauler and the Firebrand are:

• they are both single-engine
• they are both single seat aircraft
• they both have radial engines and four-bladed props
• they are both naval aircraft
• the only decent kits for each of them are resin and expensive
• they are both BIG airplanes for a single engine, single seat
• they are both beloved and sought after by 1/72 modelers despite their low production numbers, no combat records, and short service lives.

You keep going, Bill- she's looking great!

 

Does that about cover it? (Uh, oh- incoming!)

Mike

[Screech]

On 3/24/2020 at 6:56 PM, Navy Bird said:

Not much to report nearly a month after my last post. I've haven't spent much time modelling, but I did get back to the Firebrand today and re-scribed some lost panel lines. I also added the Master turned brass cannon barrels. The vacuform canopy was trimmed and cut open, and is currently recovering in its Future bath. Hopefully I can get the windscreen on tomorrow so I set to painting this baby.

 

 

As you can see, I tried to recreate the engine panel clasps that were lost during heavy handed sanding. Kinda cheesy, but might look OK under one or three coats of paint.

 

In the meantime, I'm staying indoors since I'm immunodeficient (thanks to my chemo, but hey - it's better than being dead). Wifey does an occasional errand. Both of my daughters work in the hospital, so they and the grandkids are staying away just in case they've been exposed to the virus. I'm a little worried about my oldest daughter, as she's been re-purposed from orthopaedic surgery to the E.R. Of course, that's where the folks with virus symptoms are being tended to when they arrive. I hope they have enough masks, gloves, booties, sanitizer - all that stuff.

 

Stay safe guys and gals - you've got a big stash, so get to it.  

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I'll try to get a picture of the vertical tail from a head-on perspective. CMR have correctly cast the fin at an angle, which was done on the real bird to counteract engine torque.

Hi Bill,

 

what barrels from Master did you use on the kit?

 

I have the same kit, so I would like to get them as well.

 

Thanks

[Navy Bird]

On 15/04/2020 at 23:56, Screech said:

what barrels from Master did you use on the kit?

 

AM-72-078 Fairey Firefly Hispano 20mm Cannons in Short Fairings.

 

I picked these because I already had used them on a Firefly build, and they match the kit's resin parts nicely.

 

Cheers,

Bil

[Navy Bird]

Oh, I almost forgot. I've managed to spray some Sky on the undersides and next up is masking off the wheel wells and painting them Interior Grey-Green. That's what the destructions say to do anyway, along with Sky undercart legs. Which seemed a bit odd to me, as perhaps the wells should be Sky as well? What do you guys think?

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Martian]

I would be looking at Sky.

 

Martian 👽

[Beard]

I'd go with Sky too (but I'd be happy to be proved wrong).

 

[825]

Looking at the pictures in my 'From the cockpit' book there's not much difference in colour between the underside and wheel wells. I would go for Sky and that's what I've done for my Valom build. 

[Navy Bird]

Thanks mates. Sky it is!

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

So the wheel wells started out Sky, but once I dirtied them up a bit they look a bit different.

 

 

 

Nice detail though. I suspect there may be a bit more detail painting coming up in those areas.  

 

I have the main flaps ready to go as well, and I was surprised that they have "mini" flaps attached to them, like trim tabs. Another set of these go on the underside of the wing right next to the fuselage. Interesting. Of course, they're PE so I'll probably knock them off before I'm done.

 

The special project I'm working on for a former employer is nearing completion. More time on the bench is looming!

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I bought the relatively new Ginter volume on the YF-23, and I'm starting to feel the need for some supercruising speed. Why is the top speed achieved by PAV-2 still classified?

[PlaStix]

Hi Bill. I hope you are keeping well in these strange times. I'm just trying to catch up with some other modellers builds. Looks like you have a very impressive project going on here!! Very nicely done.

Take care and stay well.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Screech]

Really looking good!

 

[Terry1954]

She's looking good Bill. I especially like those wheel wells.

 

Terry

[Cookenbacher]

That looks perfect Bill.

[Navy Bird]

31 minutes ago, Cookenbacher said:

That looks perfect Bill.

 

Only God is perfect. That's why I always leave in several intentional mistakes.  

 

Cheers,

Bill

[CedB]

Very nice Bill, love it  

[giemme]

8 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

That's why I always leave in several intentional mistakes.  

 

Could be worse, though. Could be raining     

 

Seriously, looking gorgeous  

 

Ciao

[Navy Bird]

Don't know if I ever talked about this yet, but the CMR kit does a nice job of including the angled aspect of the vertical fin. I think you can see it in this photo:

 

 

The front of the fin is not on the fuselage centreline, but is offset to starboard - presumably to counteract the engine torque?

 

What I called the "trim tabs" on the flaps are actually called auxiliary flaps. So far, I haven't knocked them off - ooh, I shouldn't have said that!   

 

 

Now, speaking of the flaps - you may recall that CMR had cast the mechanisms for flap deployment in "wafer-thin" resin. A couple were broken off in transit, and I managed to break another one somewhere along the way. I repaired them with bits of styrene the same thickness as the resin. Ha. To be honest, I couldn't see these bits holding anything, let alone the flaps. So I figured I would rip out the original resin and replace them with a bit thicker styrene. Which I did, easily enough. In fact, the original resin bits, which were cast as part of the wing, came out so easily and cleanly that I know they would not have held the flaps securely for long.

 

Next, I made up four pieces from card stock to take their place:

 

 

I simply used one of the original bits as a pattern, and made these "approximately" the same size. Close enough for horseshoes. Rather than glue these into the wing, and then add the flaps, I decided to add them to the flaps first, thereby allowing me to better align them with the receptacles that are cast into the top of the flaps. Like this:

 

 

I wonder what colour these rails and the receptacles should be? Interior grey-green? Fuselage colour? CMR doesn't say.

 

I believe that halfway between these bits there is an actuator - probably a ball screw or something like that - that is visible in some photos. CMR provide a simple resin rod for these parts, but I may substitute brass or styrene, depending on how strong I think this whole mess will end up being. We'll see.

 

I want to get the flaps on soon, so I can gloss coat the gal and get to applying some transfers. She's not all that far from being finished. < Famous last words.  

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Cookenbacher]

On 5/4/2020 at 4:41 PM, Navy Bird said:

Only God is perfect. That's why I always leave in several intentional mistakes.  

Not to brag, but my multitude of mistakes mean I'm much more pious than you are!

 

This is incredible work Bill.

 

 

[Tailspin Turtle]

26 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Don't know if I ever talked about this yet, but the CMR kit does a nice job of including the angled aspect of the vertical fin. I think you can see it in this photo: 

 

The front of the fin is not on the fuselage centreline, but is offset to starboard - presumably to counteract the engine torque?

 

Cheers,

Bill

It’s desired as a result of torque, P-factor, and prop wash swirl at low speed, all acting to roll or yaw the airplane to the right in this case, because the prop is turning counterclockwise looking forward. Many big single-engine airplanes have a fin angled to one side although generally it is to the left because the propeller is turning the other way on most of them. It’s really notable on the AD Skyraider vertical fin but so unknown that even though the old Airfix 1/72 kit has it, at least one modeler went to the trouble to delete it. Also see https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2017/08/relying-on-museum-pieces-for-accuracy.html

Edited May 8, 2020 by Tailspin Turtle
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[giemme]

There's a lot to those small flaps, really ... They look impressive by their own  

 

Ciao