Done! RAF HS.125 CC.3

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Folks--lesson-learned in the limits of the so-called "fudge factor."  I realized after cementing one of the engines to the fuselage that there was something quite wrong.  It seemed to be too honking big, and a close study of photos of the real aircraft confirmed this.  I also looked at the scale drawings in the January '85 issue of Scale Aircraft Modeling and quickly realized that this was something I couldn't leave as-is.  So I tore off the engine and contemplated the alternatives.  The -800 series engine pod appears to be 10 feet in length, whereas the scale drawings come out to about 8 feet (sorry--metric is hard for an American).  Doesn't sound like much, but it IS a lot and it can't really be fudged.  Ok, and the shape is different.  There's a less gradual transition on the underside between the curvature at the front of the engine and the tapering in the rear.  

 

I considered robbing the engine assemblies from A-Model's Falcon 50, but they don't have the right shape, and I did not want to sacrifice three kits for the sake of one completed model.  Instead, I thought the Sword kit's engines could be suitably modified.  So...I impulsively grabbed my razor saw and went to town.  Where to cut?  The center section, of course!  I probably removed a little too much, so I added some styrene to the center to see how it looked and came up with something that looked closer to -700 series engine pod:

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by TheyJammedKenny!
added photo

[TheyJammedKenny!]

The plan now is to add some filler putty to the rear part of the new join (which is pretty solid, I should add), and sand it to shape.  Also, I noticed that the engine pod is set back a little farther to the rear than with the old Viper turbojet, and seems to align lower on the fuselage (in the horizontal) relative to the passenger window line.  That means I'll need to make some slight changes to the mating surfaces and reshape the stub-wings.  But no worries--this is for the future.  Lots of plastic removed here, and the kit's parts are super thick!

 

 

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Engines on at last, with much modification work to the mountings, which are about 5mm shorter than the Viper stub-wings.  My engines ended up about 22 scale cm away from the fuselage, which I think is a good "ballpark" estimate of where they should be for vibration/noise reasons on the real aircraft.

 

I was a "little" aggressive with the sanding/shaping, however, and had to add back some putty to restore some the roundness of the engines.  Even so, they did not look quite right, even though they scaled out properly.  They are certainly fatter (and appropriately so) than the old Viper 601s.  After all, the TFE-731 is a short, fat turbofan with an accessory pack underneath.  Also added antennas to the fuselage.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Next step: wings

 

 

Edited June 21, 2020 by TheyJammedKenny!
original deleted as redundant

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Now for the wings.  These went on without serious trouble, but I had to eyeball the dihedral.  The kit's design doesn't offer really good guidance.  But I achieved equal wingtip height off a flat surface, and that's most important.  Also, the HS-125 has a strange flap design where it meets the fuselage in a kind of inverted gull, which I'll attempt to recreate with filler putty and some scribing.  As the engines' shape still didn't look right, I recontoured their top-sides to impart more taper at both ends, combined with curvature in-between, and the results looked closer to the -700's nacelles.  I also added what I think are moisture drains underneath the engine pods.  Photos follow.

 

All of this was a major milestone, because the model now looks closer to HS-125-700, and it's now a matter of cleanup, windshield application, and...paint!  

 

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

It is certainly looking the part now. Nice!

[TheyJammedKenny!]

1 hour ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

It is certainly looking the part now. Nice!

Thanks, Ray!  I appreciate the feedback on this.  This is my first attempt at blending two kits to achieve the right shapes, and it seems to be going right.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

I attempted to blend the strange trailing edge-to-body configuration to simulate the type's inverted gull set-up.  The flap separation is at the fuselage, rather than on the wing.  Working with this tight space was hard with the engines in place, but in the end I managed something that at least suggests an inverted gull.  How to do a better job of this in plastic, with the kit at hand, is honestly beyond my skills.

 

Next came the nose gear bay.  Photos of the real thing show that there's a kind of half-circular buffer that slows the nose wheels after retraction.  I created one using some Evergreen tubing and scrap styrene.  Further to the right is part of the retraction mechanism.  Not perfect, but at least something's in there.

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by TheyJammedKenny!
minor word change

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Now came the part that has given me the most pause.  The kit's windscreen is way too short in height, and has molded-in framing that would need to be sanded off.  It's fine to build the kit with it, but the plane will look like it's squinting.  The Airfix Dominie supplies a different windscreen that seems closer to the mark, but needs to be gently scored at the Vee frame to fit somewhat.  Below is a comparison, with the Airfix windscreen on the left:

 

 

I considered numerous options, including plug-molding a new cockpit,  because the Airfix cockpit transparency still did not fit right even after removing a lot of the kit's cockpit plastic above and below.   On the other hand, the Airfix windscreen offered the equivalent of four scale inches of armored "glass" I could work with when sanding and polishing.  It was just too tempting to pass up on, so I installed it 1mm forward of the kit's transparency, and filled the space with sheet styrene.  Because the windscreen now stuck out 1mm in front of the original cockpit roof, I had to build a new "skin" layer using sheet styrene.  I cemented the clear parts with Zap 560 Canopy Glue, waited 24 hours, then built up the gaps using cyanoacrylate and Mr. Hobby 1200 filler putty.

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

After waiting 24 hours, I sanded and polished the clear parts using a combination of Squadron emory boards and Novus 2 liquid polish, and this was the result.  The vee pillar is slightly "off," but will not be obvious once paint goes on.

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by TheyJammedKenny!
minor correction

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Another view.   There is a little distortion due to the thickness of the plastic, but the results are quite transparent:

 

[Pete in Lincs]

That was a brave move with the windscreen, but it paid off. Nice work. And a very interesting catch up. 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

I've applied the primer coat in stages, slowly, with a bit of PPP and sanding in-between, and it all now looks integrated as a single model.  No more bright red plastic!  My go-to for priming is Stynylrez, which is quite hardy and nicely self-leveling, but which can still strip off in clumps if not sanded with care.  The PPP is a little less than "perfect," but I'm working with it!  My greatest bugaboo has been with scribing the aileron separations, and I still need to work on refining the lines so that they look better.  In hindsight, I might have been better off with cutting them from the wing and reshaping them as I did with the rudder, but the time for that kind of surgery (I think) has passed, unless I suffer a serious attack of Advanced Modeler Syndrome.  I also need to clean up the wing root undersides, which are still a bit of a mess, and white--or more properly, high gloss white--will show off everything.  

 

Here are some views of the slightly tubby aircraft so far:

 

[John_W]

Killed that red plastic nicely. Looking good.

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Looks great now TJK, the windscreen work looks excellent.

[bar side]

That’s looking good.  I always liked the Dominie but like most RAF types there are a wide variety of versions & fit at different times.  I got thoroughly confused when I started building mine & even now finished I have bits that are wrong.  Researching & checking drawings & reference photos is part of a build I do like.  You didn’t fancy dropping the flaps then?

 

[bigbadbadge]

I have got to say that this looks amazing, great corrective surgery.  This is looking absolutely stunning in paint.

 

All the best

Chris

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Thanks, all!  We'll see how it actually turns out when I spray on Tamiya gloss white.  There's a bit of a slog before that happens, with lots of clean-up and some minor corrections along the way.

 

@bar side: I like yours!  That appears to be a T.1 with the Viper fit, right?  I'd love to see the completed model!  I think dropping the flaps on this thing would be a taller order than I could tolerate, particularly as I like my aircraft relatively "clean" on the ground.  My plan is to display it with the door/integrated air stair open, expecting passengers, which should generate some visual interest.

Edited July 19, 2020 by TheyJammedKenny!
Aaaagh! Yours is a T.1, not a CC.1! My bad.

[bar side]

Yes CC.1 not that I knew the difference when I started.  I built her a few years back in 1/48.  This is her done

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

@bar side: I'm really impressed!  Yes, come to think of it, I now remember your 1/48 scratch built Dominie.  That's a bold one!  Great job.

[bar side]

Yours is coming on well.  Much underrepresented and long serving type in my view

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Cockpit integrity check! I removed the masking over the windscreen at the primer stage because I wanted to quality assure the appearance and check for dust and other nasties on the inside.  Just one particle, which I hope to remove via the passenger door.  Also, thanks to all the sanding, the masking tape is almost flush with the primer, making it difficult to remove without yanking off the surrounding paint.  This becomes especially important once I put on the final finish--I don't want any rude awakenings, and a fresh masking job will be easier to remove than an old one. Believe me: I've learned this from experience.  Anyway, it looks relatively symmetrical, and nothing that a little touch-up can't fix in places.  It captures the "look" of this unusual jet.  I'll apply new masks, follow with a couple coats of primer, then hopefully "turn finals" on this one.

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by TheyJammedKenny!
minor wordsmith

[TheyJammedKenny!]

It's been a while since I reported in.  In the meantime, I applied several coats of rattle-can Tamiya pure white, then laboriously polished it down with NOVUS 2 liquid polish.  I removed the masking over the engine intakes and used a sharp blade to create a hard step demarcation between the engine intake trunk and intake lip.  After this, I carefully removed the masking over the mid-wing lights and navigation lights on the tips, just to see how things were going.  I'm a little disappointed that both tip lights appear red, a consequence of the old Matchbox plastic being a bright Postal Red.  I figure I can give the starboard light a little touch of clear green later.  I'll re-mask them, of course, before applying the metallics.  It's just easier to muck around with de-masking from several rather heavy coats of white acrylic and lacquer-based paint without having to worry about marring a metallic finish.

 

So this is how it looks now.  The next step will be to mask off the wing and horizontal stabilizers, as well as the engine intakes, and mist on several coats of polished aluminum.  There are some other aluminum areas on the aircraft that will need attention, including the air conditioning and APU intakes.  After that, it'll be a case of applying decals and proceeding with final assembly.  

 

Shape-wise, I think it looks fine, aside from the nose.  I think Matchbox made it a little more "cheeky" than the real aircraft, but I'm hoping that a nice roundel blue cheat-line will conceal that!

 

 

 

 

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Looks TJK, looking forward to seeing ti in its full colours.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Thanks, Ray!  I'm awaiting delivery of the metallic paint for use on the leading edges, as well as some additional decals for rendering the tail flash.