The Mach 2 VC-10 - What Rough Beast

[Bangseat]

@Scott Garard..thank you! Really appreciate you making your professional resources available to me. Two little blue/red BA logos coming up..

[Ed Russell]

This is brilliant work on what appears to be an utter dog of a kit!

[Bangseat]

On 12/03/2020 at 06:53, Bangseat said:

 I'm going to call it and say resin moulding (sort of) mastered

 

I'm afraid I was talking complete cobblers. Here's why.

 

I've been using clear polyester resin to make a solid cockpit chunk to replace the fictitious excrescense in the kit. I thought I would try a test coat of paint on a spare moulding in the interest of science, and this happened:

 

 

Further tests revealed it to be phobic of all my acrylic or lacquer paints. It did like enamel - I had to hunt around in the cupboard - but while I entertained doing the whole plane in humbrol, I also found it is contemptuous of masking tape:

 

 

That was a lovely smooth clear panel. Now, even after a wipe with IPA, or a brushing with future, the surface is as rough and sticky as a student disco floor. The resin seems to break down very easily - it even became distinctly tacky after paint was applied (on the non painted surfaces). Any hint of a solvent and it runs for the hills.

 

I think it's possible I have some bad resin that's been in some flea bay seller's lock up for years (when will I learn). But rather than experiment with different resins (my mould is made from condensation cured silicone, which does limit my options) I tried a different tack. Couldn't i just make a proper cockpit?

 

So in the spirit of government advice, today I've eschewed the sunshine and done this:

 

 

Which leaves me here:

 

 

I've used tiny t-section to make the frames, so I hope I can seat some clear styrene sheet for the glass, but for now the putty's curing. 

 

This does leave the possibility of putting a real cockpit in, though the engineering complications are significant (that giant pillar is doing an essential job at the moment). 

 

It's funny how these things work out. All that silicone and resin moulding for nought, but it honestly never occurred to me I could succesfully make a cockpit void. And to top it all, I've only just noticed I got the wrong number of windows on the resin piece! The modelling gods work in mysterious ways.

 

Cup of tea now...

 

[AdrianMF]

That cockpit looks a hundred times better. Solid canopies (I carved a few canopies from solid perspex as a nipper) have a habit of reflecting and refracting in all sorts of ways that you only discover when you've just finished the model!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

 

 

That cockpit looks a hundred times better. Solid canopies (I carved a few canopies from solid perspex as a nipper) have a habit of reflecting and refracting in all sorts of ways that you only discover when you've just finished the model!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

 

 

[woody37]

Just caught up with this, your perseverance is superb, it's looking like a VC10 now. It's one of them kits that I'm much happier watching someone else tackle!

[Max Headroom]

I admire your dogged determination to whip this.....’thing’ into a Vicky 10.

 

Good ol’ modelling skills on display.

 

Trevor

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Admirable perseverance.

I am sure you thought of this already, but perhaps you could use the resin part to pull a vac copy after some cleaning and smoothing?

I any any case, the build up approach is a good one too.

Good luck and hope you smooth the wrinkle soon.

 

[Bangseat]

On 04/04/2020 at 18:11, Moa said:

 

I am sure you thought of this already, but perhaps you could use the resin part to pull a vac copy after some cleaning and smoothing?

 

Thanks Brother Moa. Vac would also have been a potential way through, I got as far as building a 10" vac table with a hoover attachment. Unfortunately, I'm a lousy carpenter and it must have had several leaks as the vacuum was not strong. I'm sure I will have another go in the future, as you can tell, I'm not one to let the chastening effect of hitting my head against a brick wall prevent me from hitting my head against a brick wall repeatedly in the future..

 

On 04/04/2020 at 16:53, woody37 said:

 It's one of them kits that I'm much happier watching someone else tackle!

 

On 04/04/2020 at 17:28, Max Headroom said:

this.....’thing’

 

At some stage in the future I will have to mount a humble (and qualified) defence of *parts* of the kit. If someone could just release an aftermarket nose, this could be fun project for a reasonably confident modeller without masochistic tendencies.

[Tinners]

Bangseat - There is a paintable resin that you can use for FDM prints that smooths the lines out. It is called XTC3D, and although it is expensive, it is easy to use and once sanded, provides and excellent base to prime and paint on.
Here's the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/XTC-3D-High-Performance-Print-Coating/dp/B00PFXK4JY

 

[Bangseat]

Marching on with the beast. Since building up the cockpit framework last week, I dropped in a bit of an interior:

 

 

I then cut windows to shape from clear styrene and Krystal kleared them in place:

 

Alternate windows were done, and i filled in the gaps after they were dried. Fairing them is a mixture of perfect plastic putty and prayer. I also did the vertical framework with strips of alu tape. It is a blessing that this area is all white, and not natural metal, as I'm not sure I'm ever going to be completely satisfied with the finish.

 

It took a couple of attempts, but eventually I stuck it on:

And yes, that's a new nosecone made of Miliput, in the early stages of development! I'm still a long way off sticking the airframe together- I need to sign off on the nose, and then rescribe the fuselage before I can think about mating wings and tailplane.

 

To lighten the mood, I've been doing some details. The printed wheels have had brass rims added, and painted up, and although a marginal improvement on the originals (actually not the worst bit of the kit) I'm fairly happy:

 

The engine pods are going to be a bit of work. The real ones are dirty with lots of detail, and of course some natural metal, so finish will take some time. Also, the thrust reverser outlets are wrong, and need to be increased in size:

I used alu tape scored with a blade to make the grate. 

 

Aside from the main bodies, the engine faces are big and very visible. And of course those provided are not really up to the mark:

Kit part below, and above a well meant but unsuccessful attempt at scratching. So I decided to use my Green Stuff "Blue Stuff" thermo plastic mould material- first outing - and I found a RR Pegasus front from an Airfix Harrier. I added a bit of bomb to make the cone. This stuff is fun - you soak a few chunks in boiling water:

..then knead the bits into a soft dough, press your master in, and 10 minutes later you have a mould. I used Miliput to make the pieces:

 

So in place, although not an absolutely authentic Conway frontage, an advance from the baseline at least:

 

So many little jobs to do at this stage, and absolutely everything needs checking against references. Bit of a break now, and then I'm moving on to the wing fences. I've been putting them off for some time...

 

All best, Harry

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2020 by Bangseat

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Oh my, immense amounts of modeling hard work!

 

[Max Headroom]

You’ll deserve a knighthood at the end of this. Tackling the impossible, one hurdle at a time.

 

Trevor

[Vlamgat9]

Very pleased i didnt buy one of these

[P.1127]

Fantastic modelling making on display here, a very determined effort with excellent results so far. Your compressor faces look particularly nice, a great technique there.

It's a shame there's so much awry with this kit but you're doing a great job!

Jack

[Shorty84]

You are really showing a lot of skills and determination, the nose looks so much better now.

And thanks for sharing your method for copying kit parts without resin casting. I've never thought of using Miliput but it makes sense. This trick is now archived for the future

 

Cheers

Markus

[Bangseat]

On 12/04/2020 at 12:24, Shorty84 said:

You are really showing a lot of skills and determination, the nose looks so much better now.

And thanks for sharing your method for copying kit parts without resin casting. I've never thought of using Miliput but it makes sense. This trick is now archived for the future

 

Cheers

Markus

Thank you Markus. I'm not paid to promote things I promise, but Blue stuff is the business. I didn't mention before but it is of course reusable. Plasmo on YouTube has a good video on it. It is also called "Oyumaru". 

 

[Bangseat]

It's amazing how you can seem to so long mired in prep work and sub components, that when the day comes to actually attach the wings and make an aeroplane, it seems incredible. Surely it can't be time, surely there's 10 more jobs...? 

 

Well I'm pleased to report that they went on with no great drama, even to the extent that I'm glad I kept the mid section fuselage from the kit, despite its meandering window line. 

 

The tabs fit snugly, and the top of the wing butts up nicely to the fuselage at the correct dihedral, with (for this class of kit) very little gap:

Below there is a bit more of a chasm, but I'm in a forgiving mood:

CA did most of the job, and the bottom gap filled with a first pass of Miliput. Miliput has been a new friend these past few days, I've been brushing it out of my teeth at bedtime. In the past I've overestimated its capacity for sanding, and failed to exercise time and patience fairing it in with a wet finger or cotton bud, which I think is the key to getting rid of the excess (and 90% of the putty you apply will be excess). The wing root fillet I decided needed work. The real thing looks like this:

A tricky shape, and if it was modelled in the kit I've obliterated it with sanding. It's not a big fillet, I've added some styrene and applied and shaped putty around it:

 

Below it I need to create the contoured fairing, that'll be round 2. 

 

Not wishing to waste putty, I've also been working on the engine pods. The bummer here is that Mach 2 model the squared off exhaust fairing, and I need the round point type. It's taken a few attempts, but this is what I've come up with:

Yes, a bit of missile covered in Miliput! I've also replaced the nozzle inserts with brass tube and some engine detail, sadly a long way off from the crisp diameter of the original, but a step up from the massive squared off section of the original exhaust:

I'm hoping I can improve the finish  a bit with ppp and sanding, it's some way off being ready for metalizer! I'll be attaching the engines at a later stage, after painting and weathering, so there's time enough.

 

An easier bit of puttying was the tailcone, ready for a little drain pipe made of syringe:

 

The horizontal stab will be attached at a fairly late stage, but in between puttying I went and painted it, and did a bit of chipping on the leading edge as references suggest appropriate:

To prove that the Rough Beast is not unaffected by Covid19, this is what I used as primer, bought on an essential shopping trip:

Actually, a perfectly competent paint so far! I am however worried about my dwindling CA supplies, and might have to resort to B&M own brand if my order doesn't show up soon...

 

All best,

Harry

 

 

[Max Headroom]

Sticking on the wings is always a Big Moment and gives a boost to the building process I find. 
 

Although a bit late now, the underwing gap could have been filled with plastic card of suitable thickness. This would have the dual benefit of giving the joint strength and also reducing the amount of filler required.

 

I’m still in awe at your single-minded determinedness to batter this into the finished product. You’re doing a cracking job so far and look forward to further progress.

 

Trevor

[Bangseat]

@Max Headroom, thanks Max. Incredibly for this kit I didn't think it was a plasticard shim job, whereas the Heller 707 definately was!

 

Meant to post a gratuitous wings on shot, but Flickr was on strike:

 

 

[Bangseat]

It's been a while since the last update. But as you can imagine, there's not been much else to do, so modelling has occurred. Actually, mainly painting. Apologies if you like in progress shots of planes covered in masking tape (thought not) but I'm at an advanced stage now:

Red is Tamiya X7, grey is Tamiya XF80 Royal Light Grey. Tamiya, can't go wrong, nuff said. The blue is Humbrol 15 acrylic. Interesting paint, it does work, sort of, but compared with Tamiya it suffers. Thinned, it looses opacity, and needs several coats, and I also had runs - even sprayed neat, which I did for small areas. Masking tape lifted a small chunk even after a week of drying. That said, I did not use the proprietary thinner, just a homemade water/retarder/flow aid mix. It might prefer something more alcoholic, but I doubt I'll use it much in the future. 

 

I'm going for a dirty tail but mostly clean overall. The tail has had a flory wash, and the substantial panel lines are a tad unrefined. I have also picked out details on the wing tops. A full wash would be a bit dungeons and dragons due to the panel trenches, but I have done that underneath - hopefully with some dirtying the effect will look a bit more proportionate.

 

 

The engine pods are a mare. It's not just a matter of getting engines themselves at the correct angle, the pylons need to mate with the pod at the correct leading edge and trailing edge points. The kit mounting is approximate of course, but does have a preferred angle where it sits fairly flush. Different both sides, and at the wrong angle, of course:

Don't even mention the kink on the pylon! I'm not about to start scratch building aerofoils at this stage (I lack the moral fibre) but I'm not averse to reengineering the pylon/pod mount and hopefully will only have to do a bit of refinishing. 

 

By the way, does anyone have a clear idea of the size/shape of the emergency wing walkways on a Negus 10? I've painted them, but easy to fix. A very rare angle to find in ref shots, and I can't make out if there was a big red "run in terror this way" arrow?

 

For a bit of relief, I've also done some vehicles for an eventual diorama:

The Leyland National is from an OO gauge Peco kit, and the tractor is a scratchbuilt effort based on refs which we think show a Douglas DC12 Tugmaster. 

 

Anyway, onwards and upwards. And if any of the above sounds a bit grumpy, I am actually enjoying myself by the way! 

 

All best, Harry

 

 

[Dave Swindell]

34 minutes ago, Bangseat said:

the tractor is a scratchbuilt effort based on refs which we think show a Douglas DC12 Tugmaster.

Nice job on that, Harry.

[Bangseat]

8 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said:

Nice job on that, Harry.

Thanks Dave! You are the resident Tug Master 👍

[Parabat]

Looking brilliant - certainly proof that a vision and perseverance pays off!

[seadog]

In awe of your tenacity and masochism! Looks very much as though all the pain and frustration will be worth it though.

[Robert]

You have done a great job in getting a straight demarcation line between the white and blue, great work.

 

Regards

Robert