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Airfix Stirling III


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I'm with Gondor on the subject of the rear turret.....I would certainly use the kit turret as it sits correctly...the tooling on the Lancaster turret is way too big!...what's the matter with the glass on the kit turret?

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all,

 

Apologies for the lack of progress shots, but modelling time has been quite scarce so not much has been done.

 

Here's a pic of the latest status:

 

2020-05-24_08-22-13

 

After a couple of rounds of psr, the joints are sorted, I've masked the fuse windows, scribed and added the tail feathers.

 

I've also hacked away at the rear turret in both height and depth, and it now sits like this:

 

2020-05-24_08-22-39

 

I'm happy with that, especially as I plan to add a strip of thin sheet in front of the turret. With appropriate shaping, this will form the air deflector visible in photos.

 

The mid-upper is now a bigger concern as, having added the support structure for the kit turret in the fuse, this now prevents my Lanc replacement glazing from fitting correctly.  More thought required there.

 

I am now procrastinating about starting the wings.  Lots of sanding, rescribing, and adding 'pretend'  detail to the main gear bays.  Oh  and the wing halves are warped, so may need spars adding.

 

More soon (hopefully).

 

Rgds

 

Martin

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  • 1 year later...

So, after a long hiatus, I have returned to my old school Stirling build.

 

I got wrapped up in how to fit the mid-upper turret (from an old-school Airfix Lanc).  I think I have now sorted that - at least I have a plan.

 

So, after putting the box and completed fuse away for 18 months, I returned to it over Christmas.  I spent some time boxing in the wheel wells and adding wing spars; but I then got bored as the interior would never look particularly accurate, so painted the interiors black and joined the wing halves.  These have now been added to the fuse.

 

In the time since I last posted, I purchased some Paragon Hercules engines & cowlings intended for a Lanc II.  These were cleaned up, primed, painted, and added to the wings.  That leaves me here:

 

2022-01-01_05-19-54

 

2022-01-01_05-20-11

 

I am now working on building a carburettor intake as I can only find 3.  I also need to block up the leading edge oil cooler holes.

 

Hopefully not much longer and it'll be time for some primer.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

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Looking good Mike👍

 

I have one of these in the stash that I'm saving for a rainy day 😉

 

can't help you with your query with the landing light but I would be surprised if it didn't have one.

 

Cheers, and Happy New Year Greg 🍺

 

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This kit was the first multi-engine aircraft I built some time in the early '80s (followed quickly by the Airfix Sunderland and Catalina) so I've read through this thread with nostalgia pouring out of me.

Be really interested in watching the completion.

 

DennisTheBear

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Hi Martin

The Sterling had retractable landing lights under the leading edge of the port wing...hope this image helps!

 

Stirling_Av_GB_4205_sk_cutaway_p147_W.pn

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11 minutes ago, Fozzy said:

The Sterling had retractable landing lights under the leading edge of the port wing


That’s helpful. I’ve also got images in my references that show a "normal" double light faired into the leading edge. I wonder if the retractable light was found unreliable or affected by icing? 

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9 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:


That’s helpful. I’ve also got images in my references that show a "normal" double light faired into the leading edge. I wonder if the retractable light was found unreliable or affected by icing? 

Possible I guess...I have looked for reasons to have the lights retractable but have come up with no info as yet...will let you know if I find anything!

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11 hours ago, DennisTheBear said:

This kit was the first multi-engine aircraft I built some time in the early '80s (followed quickly by the Airfix Sunderland and Catalina) so I've read through this thread with nostalgia pouring out of me.

Be really interested in watching the completion.

 

DennisTheBear

Let's hope the nostalgia keeps on coming!

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33 minutes ago, B_Bogus said:

OK if I tag along too?

Also a nostalgia trip for me  as I built one as a schoolkid back in the '70s.

 

The landing light issue got me all curious, and a (very) quick Google search found this:

 

ss9-Short-Stirling.jpg

Well there indeed seems to be an absence of LE lights!

2 hours ago, Fozzy said:

Hi Martin

The Sterling had retractable landing lights under the leading edge of the port wing...hope this image helps!

 

Stirling_Av_GB_4205_sk_cutaway_p147_W.pn

Thanks, Fozzy.

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I hope people have noticed that the cut-away drawing with the retractable landing lights had spinners on the propellers yet everything else people have been shoing do not have spinners. Different versions?

 

Gondor

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4 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

Here’s an image that shows faired leading edge lights…

 

https://www.militaryimages.net/media/short-stirling-bomber.3887/

 

 

Hi Heather,

 

That looks like a Mk I coz of the leadinflg edge oil cooler inlets.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

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1 hour ago, Gondor44 said:

I hope people have noticed that the cut-away drawing with the retractable landing lights had spinners on the propellers yet everything else people have been shoing do not have spinners. Different versions?

 

Gondor

I think some of the early Stirlings had spinners - like early Beaufighters.

 

More common to see Stirlings without though.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

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Hi all

 

Mark Is had a recessed landing lamp in the L/E, whereas later marks had retractable ones. In all cases you could alter the angle of the dangle but I suspect that in the Mk 1 the angle would be more limited. 

 

More likely it's that Shorts thought they'd like to make things even more complicated than they needed to be LOL

 

John

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2 minutes ago, isaneng said:

12Jaguar, I never realised the faired in lights were adjustable! Was that a Stirling 'thing', or a common ability on other types?

Cheers John,

 

Rick.

 

I wasn't aware of any dangle angle adjustment. I thought it was either extended or fully retracted. Many aircraft had retractable landing lights but I've never read of there being any alternate positions available to the pilot.

What about those aircraft with fixed leading edge lights?

 

 

 

Chris

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No idea about other aircraft types, but the Stirling landing lamps were adjusted by a teleflex cable and handle located on the RH side of the Throttle Box.

 

On the MkIII, another lever lowered the landing light pneumatically through yet another lever also mounted on the throttle box; the Stirling cockpit is an ergonomic slum which you needed to have octopus arms to operate all of the various controls😮

 

cheers

 

John

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14 hours ago, dogsbody said:

I wasn't aware of any dangle angle adjustment. I thought it was either extended or fully retracted. Many aircraft had retractable landing lights but I've never read of there being any alternate positions available to the pilot.

What about those aircraft with fixed leading edge lights?

I think  you're both right, Chris. The retractable lamp units have two positions, up or down, but the actual lamps can be adjusted over a small range within the lamp unit. A small angle adjustment of the lamp will make a significant difference to the point of focus over the distance involved, think headlight adjustment available in some cars, you can tweak it from the drivers seat to compensate for load condition.

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Hi folks,

 

A little more progress has been made.  Oil cooler holes filled in the leading edge; the landing light was added - it was undersized - and then filled and sanded.  I also made a new carburetter air intake to replace the one I lost, plus the under-cowling oil coolers from the Lanc II resin set. 

 

 

2022-01-04_07-47-07

 

 

2022-01-04_07-47-25

 

2022-01-04_07-47-51

 

So, just the filler around the tail fin to sand and then, perhaps, a scoosh of filler to see how it looks.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

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Looks good so far but I always liked the fine rivet detail of this kit. It was about right I always thought with just a light rub down all over.    I built one when it first came out. One of my older brothers bought it for me for Christmas. I started it within the next few days. I think I was around 12 and 14 at the time of its release.

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It was kits like this that got me started with modelling, although I never had this one.  When I look at what we have today and compare it to these I shudder at the thought of trying to build one, so I’m massively impressed that you have tackled this project Martin.  Crack on!

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