giemme Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 What scissors links? Those scissors links! Amazing brass job Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I never knew you had such nice legs! And with integral torque links - presumably for lateral control and stability when twerking? Cheers, Bill PS. Serious soldering, dude. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 16 hours ago, CedB said: Lovely legs hendie (fnaar!) 15 hours ago, Wez said: Hendie, some brilliant workmanship going on here, very inspirational. 13 hours ago, corsaircorp said: Impressive work on the legs Hendie !! 12 hours ago, bar side said: Very nice work on those legs Hendie. Thanks folks - much appreciated. 12 hours ago, TheBaron said: Your alighting gear simply a joy to behold Alan. Not surprised you're experiencing such feelings of satisfaction, they are well earned. I don't envy you all the sanding involved in this so far - aside from working with transparencies it's the part of modelling I enjoy least. Doesn't seem to have dimmed your spirits any! 👏 and yet more sanding to come. and transparencies - with more sanding 10 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said: Tony, have you been on one of those Jacob Rees-Mogg training weekends again without telling us? Arghhhhhhhhh... thread pollution! 5 hours ago, giemme said: What scissors links? Those scissors links! Amazing brass job all that work never to be seen again. 1 hour ago, Navy Bird said: I never knew you had such nice legs! And with integral torque links - presumably for lateral control and stability when twerking? Today I have mostly been fiddling with fiddly things. Damn fiddly they are/were/is I did find that my patented Wessex fondler also holds a Venom pretty well too. The first problem of the day was how to attached the doors to the undercarriage. Had I stuck with the plastic parts this would have been an easy job, but oh no, not hendie. He had to go all fancy and make with the brass didn't he? The solution, or at least the solution I came up with, was to drill yet another hole in the leg and superglue a piece of kit plastic in there. I could then drill a mating hole in the undercarriage door, pop that "pin" through it glue that together. Definitely not the strongest joint in the world but enough to keep things in place. The outer skin of the door was sanded flush and some more superglue weeped into the cavity 'tween leg and door Seems to be working so far - but will it hold until we're finished? on t'other door I added some greeblies to make up the two hinges and latching mechanism. The hinges have still to be filed to shape, but it was a lot easier to stick them in place when they had extra plastic then try to file them down and then stick them in place. More fun was had testing my "how straight can you drill?" skills. These are resin valves I bought some time ago and they have been useful in all sorts of ways - I wish I could remember where I got them. Once drilled they could be threaded with stainless steel wire, and we now have a hydraulic line and brake valve. The valve should really have another wire coming in but I was pushing my luck already with just the one wire. I then spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get the valve and hydraulic line in the right place, and to stick there. Eventually both were done and it was time to prime and spray with flat aluminum I hand brushed some Alclad titanium gold over the flat aluminum to give some variation and a kind of greased look. Then, when all was done I added the last piece of brake hose. All of this will be completely hidden of course. But when has that ever stopped me before eh? Finally, some Flory wash was applied. Note that all these photo's have had contrast and other bits adjusted to make the images a bit clearer. In the flesh, the colors are a lot more subtle... honest. The mojo rising dry fit. I thought for a moment that I was almost getting close to paint, then remembered I had cut off some knobby bits so I could get into the wing roots to enjoy my sanding sessions. After searching fruitlessly through my spares box, I remembered that I had some brass rivets left from the train build (yes, that build!) - and as luck would have it, I found some rivets which had just the right size head. See?... proof! Two up top, and two down below. Guess how much of the coaming I had to remove in order for the windscreen to fit ? Lots! I don't think there's anything left to fit the gun sight to , not that there's actually any room inside for the gun sight. But at least the windscreen now fits. I was about to fit it when I remembered I still have a bunch of sanding to do, so that's going to stay off until all the sanding is completed, otherwise we all know what happens there don't we? To kill some time while glue and paint was drying I painted up the wheels. Tomorrow I can give the undercarriage doors a coat of clear matt to tone things down and blend the colors in a bit more. Then to finish up for today I added a couple of strengthening strips I spotted on a photo. I still need to figure out what to do about the hard points - the kit only has a bunch of dimples on each wing, but I'll need something better. So while we're belly up... should I fill those holes or not? Or should I add the 4 danglies for the cartridge ejectors. I assume they go over the holes n'est pas? The kit had the cartridge chutes off to one side of the holes and I can't find any photos anywhere that clarify that arrangement. Tomorrow may be the last sanding session - if the wife goes out to the horses again tomorrow (fingers crossed!) OH Oh oh - guess what? The wife went out to the stables today only to find out that someone had found her car key and actually handed it in to the stables!!! Talk about luck - the stables are a good 3 or 4 miles from the trail and there's more than one stable in the area. She called me today just as I was about to order a new key. Fortuitous or what! 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Great legs. With varicose veins brakelines too. Bonus. BTW, do you say, Soldering, the British or American way? Great news on the car key. Saved all that money. What to spend it on...... Had a quick look on line for belly pictures (fnar) I know I've seen deflector blocks like that on something? Hunter? or maybe another DH? https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSGdFfuPb7PCWANl9NuLPnX78O0rYq0utHGpaCMhkGsDUdq_2Z8&s It may help? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 More great work hendie - nicer legs! Great news on the car key too - Lady Luck is obviously with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 If it's like the vampire my CMR 1/72 Sea Vampire has little chutes moulded over the holes. I suspect the do go there but can't be certain. As others have said, great legs! Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 16, 2020 Author Share Posted February 16, 2020 16 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: Great legs. With varicose veins brakelines too. Bonus. BTW, do you say, Soldering, the British or American way? Great news on the car key. Saved all that money. What to spend it on...... Had a quick look on line for belly pictures (fnar) I know I've seen deflector blocks like that on something? Hunter? or maybe another DH? https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSGdFfuPb7PCWANl9NuLPnX78O0rYq0utHGpaCMhkGsDUdq_2Z8&s It may help? Solder? The Scottish way of course. I pronounce the "l" Were they deflector blocks? or chutes? Oh well, too late now 14 hours ago, CedB said: More great work hendie - nicer legs! Great news on the car key too - Lady Luck is obviously with you I couldn't believe it when the wife called to tell me. I'm sure Lady luck has worse things in store for me later on - she's obviously playing with me! 12 hours ago, Terry1954 said: If it's like the vampire my CMR 1/72 Sea Vampire has little chutes moulded over the holes. I suspect the do go there but can't be certain. As others have said, great legs! Terry Thanks Terry - I bit the bullet and made something up - rightly or wrongly, it's on there now. Today's adventures began with making lots of scrap brass. I had intended to make cartridge chutes though from what Pete mentioned I may have been better off attempting deflector blocks. In the absence of photographic evidence combined with the fact that I've already made them, we are now stuck with cartridge chutes. Anyways, brass, that's what I was trying to use. I set my calipers to 1mm, 4mm, 5mm and 8mm and used the point to scribe some markings on a piece of brass sheet. I then used those markings to scribe lines with a trusty old scrap blade. I thought it would be a relatively simple job to fold that up to make a rectangle. Wrong. It was a lot harder to do than to write about. Getting a rectangle that was actually rectangular and not a deformed irregular quadrilateral shape proved difficult, not helped by the fact that it was so small that any discrepancy in my scribing/measurement was magnified when it was all folded up. In the end I made a three sided "thing" and just soldered the last side on and filed off the excess - much easier. So we now have a cartridge chute It's a bit long though innit? The long square tube was cut into appropriate lengths and I then scribed a line at 1.75 mm from the bottom - this gave me a mark to align to the fuselage when the chute was inserted. In hindsight this would all have been a lot easier had I done this before I closed up the fuselage - but where's the fun in that? Once in position, they were ca'd in place and once again Mr Dissolved putty was used to fill in any remaining gaps around the chutes. Side view. Front view. Okay, even if it's wrong I'm still quite pleased with how it's turned out. Given the historic importance of such an aircraft, I am really surprised at the lack of good period photo's, particularly of the underside. There are a few good shots of the restored flying versions but I'm not sure what details and features can be trusted. One thing I have noticed on my references is that the lower nose panel was fitted with a number of Dzus fasteners and they are quite prominent, so it was out with the railroad resin transfers and some Dzus fasteners, okay then, rivets were added. On this aircraft, they almost count as greeblies. Now, this has been bugging me. There's a pitot tube on the tail fin and of course it's not included in the kit, though they do include a sketch of the part and tell you to make it yourself - along with a bunch of other little bits. The biggest issue is I am sure they have the tail fin incorrect. Look at this - it's razor sharp! Photo's of the 1:1 show a nice rounded leading edge. You could damn near shave with this thing. Even using a 0.35mm (or was it 0.5mm?) tube doesn't leave much room to play with. My plan here is to ca the pitot in place then build up with more ca and Mr Dissolved Putty (yes, I am really coming to love that stuff) Once I've built up the shape I can refine it with some careful carving/filing Then to finish off todays session I added another couple of greeblies. I believe these are two small vents. I'm using small sections of rod and then (wait for it) Mr Dissolved Putty to blend the leading edge into the fuselage . You'll have to wait for the next episode to see if I am successful or not. I was hoping to have this finished by the time the transfers for the train arrive but I doubt if I am going to be successful in that endeavor. Second best would be to have all the construction completed and at least be ready for paint. I'm not taking any bets though 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 So you made a rectangular pipe out of brass sheet just like that? Not to mention the undercarriages! Incredible detailing going on Ciao 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 I kind of feel like I'm on a Ced-thread on here these days, such is the rapidity with which you're ticking off the jobs Alan! That undercarriage and those cartridge thingies are superb enhancements. 9 hours ago, hendie said: am really surprised at the lack of good period photo's, It does indeed appear to have been remarkably under-documented; even the normally fertile IWM archive is fallow ground for sources. 9 hours ago, hendie said: they do include a sketch of the part and tell you to make it yourself - along with a bunch of other little bits. Bloody trolls. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Chutes, Greeblies and a Pitot tube. Works for me. All you need to do now is to teach the rest of the continent how to pronounce solder. Easy. (Other words are available too). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) Sol-Der easy, just like it's spelt! NOT saader! While we're at it, it's RESIN not ROSIN too! Too long in the US. Ian Edited February 17, 2020 by limeypilot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 The model has taken a massive leap forward over the last couple of updates. We are greatly impressed! Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 (edited) On 2/17/2020 at 3:24 AM, giemme said: So you made a rectangular pipe out of brass sheet just like that? Not to mention the undercarriages! Incredible detailing going on Ciao Just like that - yes. By the time I got to the eighteenth attempt it was easy! On 2/17/2020 at 3:47 AM, TheBaron said: I kind of feel like I'm on a Ced-thread on here these days, such is the rapidity with which you're ticking off the jobs Alan! That undercarriage and those cartridge thingies are superb enhancements. It does indeed appear to have been remarkably under-documented; even the normally fertile IWM archive is fallow ground for sources. Bloody trolls. Given the lack of photographic evidence this is becoming more of a "What-if-maybe-it-did?" On 2/17/2020 at 12:15 PM, Pete in Lincs said: Chutes, Greeblies and a Pitot tube. Works for me. All you need to do now is to teach the rest of the continent how to pronounce solder. Easy. (Other words are available too). On 2/17/2020 at 12:59 PM, limeypilot said: Sol-Der easy, just like it's spelt! NOT saader! While we're at it, it's RESIN not ROSIN too! Too long in the US. Ian and Tunisia, Persil, and Defense, just to name a few others. And my pet hate - learn the bloody difference between Insure, Ensure and Assure! It's really not that hard. Oh, and Asterix is a Gaulish Warrior, not a flippin' punctuation mark! On 2/17/2020 at 4:30 PM, Martian Hale said: The model has taken a massive leap forward over the last couple of updates. We are greatly impressed! Martian 👽 Thanks Martian, more of a slight wobbly shuffle today though With the train transfers choo-chooing their way across the oggin to me I took a day off work to try and take the sting out of this Venom in preparation for jumping back to the other build, but alas twas not to be. I had a load of those "little" jobs that seem to take forever to put to bed. I did however manage to find a photo of the last Venom in Hong Kong and though the photo isn't particularly clear I did make out some greeblies that needed adding, such as hard points This is the kit rocket rail. Somehow I don't think I shall be attaching that to this Venom, though I should at least include the mounting points. Searching around I came across some PE from my DB5 build of many years ago which looked promising. Nice little stainless discs. On top of those I used a piece of - wait for it... Fly kit!!! There was a door rail I hadn't used so I cut some 1mm length sections and glued those on top of the ss discs. It's certainly not accurate but at a glance on a fast drive by they should look okay. That is to say, they should look better than nothing at all. Also added were a tail lamp, a backwards pointing thingy along with some reinforcing panels around the undercarriage bays The photo of the last Venom in HK showed the a/c with pylons fitted but no load. I found these pylons in the kit though the instructions make no mention of them, but decided that more greeblies were needed to add some visual landscaping Then from an aerial shot of an FB4 I spotted something that looked like weld lines or maybe pressed channels on the underside. The railroad resin transfers I have had some "vents" which looked perfect for the job. It's starting to look suitably greebled by now. Oops - forgot to mention, the HK photo also shows two aerials protruding awkwardly from the underside. I guess if it's a Venom it'll need fangs then? They have since been removed as they've bitten me on at least two occasions with those sharpies so they'll get refitted later on in the build. There was no getting around the fact that I needed to add the canopy before it went to the paint shop. After studying available photo's I realized that the kit canopy only bears a passing resemblance to the 1:1. Me being me thought I could wing it and use the masking to make things appear right... then carelessly dragged a nice sharp blade across the front of the windscreen! Arghhh. That was after I had dipped them in floor polish and for the first time in my life got a canopy that looked batter after the dip than it did before. You can see the scratch just below the masking on the windscreen. Luckily (or maybe just wishful thinking), the 1:1 windscreen is not as long as Classic have molded it so I think I can perhaps get away with it. The windscreen will have to be blended in after the putty has cured. Then a test fit showed that the rear canopy doesn't quite meet up with the front part - a nice little gap here and a larger gap on the other side. Looks like I will be having this one in the cabinet with the canopy open then. Then I got fed up faffing about and decided to squirt primer on it so I can figure out which areas need more work. Those little vents on the spine turned out fine. I am officially a Mr Dissolved Putty fan now. I'm finding all sorts of uses for the stuff. Underside is looking good - just needs a good micro-thrashing and it'll be ready for final color Though I prefer this stance - it looks a bit more dynamic and aggressive Last job for today since I'm waiting on putty to dry before I can sand the Venom was to paint the rear canopy. I can't believe I actually found some dashed yellow lines small enough to fit on the canopy rail - and from the Fly kit again. In preparation for painting I started checking the Classic painting guide. Their guide states dark green and dark grey over PR blue. But take a look at @JasonC's photo of this airframe at Kai Tak That does not look like grey and green to me. Dark Earth & Dark Green with PR Blue underneath? This was a gate guard (I think) so is it possible they just repainted it with whatever they had? and I just noticed that you just about make out the cartridge chutes on the underside in that shot! So what do I do here? Classic's guide state grey and green for the scheme - as does every other painting guide I've come across, as are all the die cast models. Is that just a rogue paint scheme in the shot above, or is it real? Thoughts from the hive? Edited February 21, 2020 by hendie 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Although I am colour blind, that picture just doesn't look right to me. My gut feeling is that your theory about a gate guardian getting repainted with whatever was to hand is the correct one. Martian 👽 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 2 hours ago, hendie said: On top of those I used a piece of - wait for it... Fly kit!!! Heaven forbid!!! Are you sure?? So a Fly kit has provided useful parts? There's a thing..... Great work on this Venom Alan. Loving this build. Terry 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 7 hours ago, hendie said: along with some reinforcing panels around the undercarriage bays I used to do exactly the same thing on Tucano's. Cracking of the skin made it necessary. Dark earth and PR blue? well it was Far East air Force. Anything could happen. I think it would look more interesting like that? It is looking pretty good at this point. Full marks, as always, for your perseverance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 (edited) Hendie, Great work as ever, really looking forward to the next instalment. As for the colour scheme on the gate guardian, it would have really bothered me if I'd seen it in the flesh, so much so I would have volunteered to repaint it (and being ex-mob, I never volunteer for anything)! I think the colours you're seeing there are just what the dopers had enough of kicking around the paint store, not even aircraft colours. Go with all of the other evidence you've seen DSG/DG upper surfaces, I'd expect the undersides would be aluminium paint or PRU Blue - personally, the DSG/DG/PRU Blue scheme is my favourite post-war scheme. Edited February 21, 2020 by Wez 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 "And my pet hate - learn the bloody difference between Insure, Ensure and Assure! It's really not that hard. Oh, and Asterix is a Gaulish Warrior, not a flippin' punctuation mark!" I even emailed Cessna once to tell them that "assure" was not the correct word to use on a checklist. They replied that they used Collins dictionary definitions! I gave up and didn't bother replying with the obvious "dictionaries give definitions, not correct usage". Nice greeblies, I especially like the "backwards facing thingy", a very useful technical term! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 44 minutes ago, limeypilot said: I especially like the "backwards facing thingy", a very useful technical term! Could that be the jet exhaust fuel drain? ISTR seeing pictures of Vampires being upended to drain unburnt fuel from their exhausts, perhaps DeHavilland may have actually thought about remedying that on the Venom? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Blimey this has come along in leaps and leaps I agree with Wez and the concensus, Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey and as a Far East scheme I would plump for the PRU Blue underbottoms (Not, incidentally that pretty light blue from Dulux that the painter of that gate guard had handy. I think that was the colour my dad painted my brother and I's room woodwork) Nice realistic looking greeblies under her belly too, this really has come along very well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 On 2/16/2020 at 9:53 AM, hendie said: Guess how much of the coaming I had to remove in order for the windscreen to fit ? Lots! Just like the Vampire T.22! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 just had a catch up on this build and am really impressed with the brass u/c -lovely & sharp work - much stronger than a set of white metal replacements I think. CJP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 On 20/02/2020 at 21:29, hendie said: Thoughts from the hive? Green and grey for sure. The gate guard (note concrete pads!) must have been repainted at some point, possibly even by a local contractor with whatever they had. J. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 (edited) On 2/20/2020 at 4:39 PM, Martian Hale said: Although I am colour blind, that picture just doesn't look right to me. My gut feeling is that your theory about a gate guardian getting repainted with whatever was to hand is the correct one. Martian 👽 Thanks Martian. It seems you are not alone with that thought On 2/20/2020 at 6:38 PM, Terry1954 said: Heaven forbid!!! Are you sure?? So a Fly kit has provided useful parts? There's a thing..... Great work on this Venom Alan. Loving this build. Terry I managed to salvage one or two bits from the Fly kit, well to be more correct, I salvaged a couple of bits of plastic from the Fly kit and modified them. On 2/21/2020 at 12:23 AM, Pete in Lincs said: I used to do exactly the same thing on Tucano's. Cracking of the skin made it necessary. Dark earth and PR blue? well it was Far East air Force. Anything could happen. I think it would look more interesting like that? It is looking pretty good at this point. Full marks, as always, for your perseverance. Thanks Pete On 2/21/2020 at 1:07 AM, Wez said: Hendie, Great work as ever, really looking forward to the next instalment. As for the colour scheme on the gate guardian, it would have really bothered me if I'd seen it in the flesh, so much so I would have volunteered to repaint it (and being ex-mob, I never volunteer for anything)! I think the colours you're seeing there are just what the dopers had enough of kicking around the paint store, not even aircraft colours. Go with all of the other evidence you've seen DSG/DG upper surfaces, I'd expect the undersides would be aluminium paint or PRU Blue - personally, the DSG/DG/PRU Blue scheme is my favourite post-war scheme. Seems to be the general consensus of the hive, and what I have chosen to go with. The last thing I need is all those rivet counters chasing me down. On 2/21/2020 at 2:13 AM, limeypilot said: "And my pet hate - learn the bloody difference between Insure, Ensure and Assure! It's really not that hard. Oh, and Asterix is a Gaulish Warrior, not a flippin' punctuation mark!" I even emailed Cessna once to tell them that "assure" was not the correct word to use on a checklist. They replied that they used Collins dictionary definitions! I gave up and didn't bother replying with the obvious "dictionaries give definitions, not correct usage". Nice greeblies, I especially like the "backwards facing thingy", a very useful technical term! Ian I found the same thing in the doctors office for disposing of sharps - "Please insure sharps are disposed of safely" On 2/21/2020 at 3:00 AM, Wez said: Could that be the jet exhaust fuel drain? ISTR seeing pictures of Vampires being upended to drain unburnt fuel from their exhausts, perhaps DeHavilland may have actually thought about remedying that on the Venom? Could be Wez. I've really no idea but that sounds like a good guess On 2/21/2020 at 4:27 AM, perdu said: Blimey this has come along in leaps and leaps I agree with Wez and the concensus, Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey and as a Far East scheme I would plump for the PRU Blue underbottoms (Not, incidentally that pretty light blue from Dulux that the painter of that gate guard had handy. I think that was the colour my dad painted my brother and I's room woodwork) Nice realistic looking greeblies under her belly too, this really has come along very well Thanks Bill. The last of the greeblies has gone on today. - and more paint On 2/21/2020 at 6:37 AM, Bell209 said: Just like the Vampire T.22! I got one o' them too, minus the T. After this I'm not looking forward to the Vampire 18 hours ago, CJP said: just had a catch up on this build and am really impressed with the brass u/c -lovely & sharp work - much stronger than a set of white metal replacements I think. CJP It amazes me that people will actually pay for white metal undercarriages. A decently molded kit will have stronger parts than white metal. 15 hours ago, JasonC said: Green and grey for sure. The gate guard (note concrete pads!) must have been repainted at some point, possibly even by a local contractor with whatever they had. J. Thanks Jason. Green and Grey it is. ***EDIT*** Dammit! Bloody forum has gone and ghost posted on me again. Hold on, more photo to add and some words here and there. The Last Greeblie well a couple of last greeblies. I thought the canopy rail was rather ill defined and a bit soft so I added a thin strip of styrene to protrude slightly above the kit rail to make it look more like a *ahem* rail. Also just below the windscreen I added a small greeblie - windscreen washer? demister? (though wouldn't a demister be on the inside?) Ailerons added and everything microthrashed to within an inch of it's life. Then off to the paint shop and hit with a few bucket loads of RAF Dark Sea Grey. To be honest I am amazed at the quality of the joints given what we started with here. The windscreen is probably the worst area of the kit while the wings which were terrible to start with have turned out pretty good. Now I thought I had taken a photo with it all masked up ready to do battle with the spray booth but either the camera ate it, or my dementia is kicking in again. Anyways, no photo of that but here's one with masking and some RAF Dark Green. Just imagine the same shot without the dark green and you'll be okay. like a kid, I couldn't wait to unmask - and of course, find out what collateral damage had occurred. There were a few tiny areas which I've already touched up and this blurry photo sort of shows the worst area - some of the resin dzus fasteners pulled off with the masking. Overall though I'm quite pleased. At the other end, that little pitot tube didn't survive unmolested. - Not with the masking though - I whacked it with my thumb as I was preparing to mask. Another touch of super glue and a lick of paint will do the trick but I'll wait until the end because I'm bound to catch it again. Here we have it as it prepares to spend the night in the hangar until tomorrows battle with the painters again. Despite hating the sanding and constant shaping and micromeshing, I'm glad I persevered with it as the paint job has come up nice and smooth The next masking session is going to be a doozy. Getting a nice clear demarcation along the leading edges is going to be a pig, then those tail booms promise to provide some nail biting and hitting of small animals and children. Why couldn't the RAF have thought ahead for us model makers and just made the booms all one color? Aside from the PRU Blue undersides, the wing tanks have to be painted yellow - if I can decide where the grey/green stops and the yellow starts. Then I just noticed today that the instruction call out that the rudders are painted black! At least that masking should be straightforward. The plan of attack is to get the remaining painting done tomorrow, then all that's left is to add the leading edge slats, wing tank lights, and small nav light underneath, and the undercarriage. I can't say this has been one of my favorite builds though as it's my first jet, I have learned a few things as the build progressed. Namely, put the Vampire to the back of the stash and try and build everything else first. As this gets put away and I plan to start on my train build as soon as the transfers arrive I will still need another "relief" build to keep me sane. I'm not sure what that will be yet - definitely not the Nimrod (or Vampire!), but it could be any of (Hasegawa?) Hurricane IIc, Revell/Eduard Sopwith Camel, Roden Bristol F2b, or possibly a kit bash of AMG's Hawker Hart into a 'Art wiv an 'ook - if it ever arrives from China - it was order back in December Edited February 23, 2020 by hendie 18 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 She definitely looks smooth! Impressive paint job Ciao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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