Airfix 1/72 TSR2 upgrade.

[Patrick Martin]

Just a bit off track, but I have looked around, but on the real thing, has anyone seen panels open on the port side front fuselage?

I have the resin bits for the starboard - but what is under the panels on the starboard?

 

PM

[amos brierley]

Hello Patrick, two simple questions: what’s under the skin of XR220’s port AV bay and  when was it last seen open? And I think the same question applies to the starboard side.

 

Difficult questions to answer, so here goes.

 

The real A/C XR219, period photos from BAE Systems heritage centre will help here, but on this site from 2017 jasman71  TSR-2 question should be able to help out. Period photos are relatively good, but were not ment for modellers, the exact fit of what XR219 flew with is still elusive. As is any photos of XR219’s port A/V bay, rarer than hens teeth. Pictures of the starboard A/V are really good, but, please take into account the museum factor. What was on show at RAF Cosford may or may not be real, most of it looks good but, I suspect some of the ‘top secret’ bits have gone and other stuff was swapped out .

XR220 RAF Cosford, generally seen with its starboard A/V bay door open, but.....

I could have sworn I’ve been to the museum and the port A/V bay doors been open....

Sometime in the last 12 months XR220 went outside for a ‘night photo shoot’ hence why if like I have you seen her recently, she’s all buttoned up.

XR222 IWM Duxford spent some of it’s as a teaching aid at Cranfield then got a restoration, again looking for photos of this aircraft with any A/V bay door open is like finding hens teeth......

 

Modelling the TSR2. On just a personal note I like the clean lines of the fuselage and having one or both A/V bay doors open is not for me, it makes me think it looks like the Russian Concordski. Some modellers on this site used the open door as a way of masking the deficiencies of the Airfix 1/48 kit. Martian a very good modeller who scratch build the R/H bay being one such person. The reason for any companies not reproducing the L/H avionics bay is simply that they like me don’t have any information to accurately reproduce a scale saleable item. 
 

That’s all for now, stay safe.

 

 

[Patrick Martin]

1 hour ago, amos brierley said:

most I have seen of the port insides

thanks

PM

1 hour ago, amos brierley said:

 

 

 

[James G]

Super work!

[amos brierley]

Hello gents.                    Update No 24 - intake side skins.

 

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve found time to make a post. Time being elusive and life being complex.

 

Last month our club managed to have a club night, it was nice to see friends and some models in the flesh. But a proposition put forward, a club Xmas competition of lockdown models troubles me : I still haven’t made anything yet. A night out - modelling time zero.

 

Two model shops have gone, firstly Transport Models Preston, the owners of the building wanting everyone out, I miss the variety of stuff you could buy, tools, books , plastic stock. Also gone is the old MJR Hobbies shop, they use Facebook to operate. The old shop was a mid terrace house, next to a school, miss time your visit and school finishing time will get your hackles up. And any more than four people and the shop was rammed. Not many good things can be said of Covid19, but in this case MJR now have a new shop. Having been deprived of all things model related a short trip to the shop was most welcome, it’s nice to be able to browse, find and be surprised by the unexpected. Modelling time- forfeited for shopping. 😀

 

Unfortunately my mum’s had a fall (she’s 87) , not wanting to digress, the fallout and ramifications are wide ranging. ....... 
As we know this kit is less than stellar, I previously had some momentum grinding out results and occasionally being bitten along the way. But, In recent weeks  I’ve found finding time to post troubling. Posting can take anything up to two hours to compose from photos to the full stop. And occasionally I managed to take 4 hrs.

 

For some time I’ve been looking to complete the fuselage before moving onto other parts. Airfix have seen fit to bestow a whole heap on nonsense on the sides of the intakes, here’s my thoughts.....

 

 

First step fill the joke panel lines, their intersection of other good panels is beyond me.

The locating hole for XR220’s cameras has to go.

Missing is a small oval access panel it’s minuscule size being problematic.

Around the ECS duct two fuselage access panels are missing.

 

Not the best photo. My work’s looking a little scruffy. Thankfully my 0.5mm clicker pencil is out of lead, I think the 0.3mm draws a nicer line!! 

 

Today’s final thoughts: previous club suggestions of a club build have been a mixed bag, great if you’ve built something or something close. This means I’ve gotta look at convoluting things.... I could do with a bit of light relief.

 

Thats all for now, stay safe. 😉

[Nikolay Polyakov]

I’m glad that you’re having some progress, Amos! 👍

22 hours ago, amos brierley said:

My work’s looking a little scruffy.

As for me, the rescribing and re-riveting is a hit and miss. Your work looks well done.

 

It’s sad to read the bad news about your mum, hope she’ll get well. Stay safe and creative.

[amos brierley]

Hello gents.                  Update No 25 - air starter access panel.

 

Some more miss representation from Airfix, how so? For most people the fact the panel is on the bottom of the model will not trouble them. But for this modeller it’s been a challenge to move it from it’s incorrect L/H side to the R/H side.

 

 

Like all things, if I’ve got this wrong once, this area has been reworked 4-5 times. It’s small and has to be shaped via silver tape / speed tape, getting the shape and size right is tricky. Getting the screw head detailing correct is particularly challenging. There’s a lot of filler in this area not so much an overall problem in itself but the sticky ness of the speed tape being able to pull this model apart even through primer. One problem I’ve got to overcome is the two silver exhausts, not showing in my model they were produced via drilling holes. But, these are in reality wire mesh like several other orifices. I’m not above being open to reporting my failings, in this case I managed to really get the position so wrong. Imparting this feature on my model is challenging, scribe a small circle ( two in a line and correctly positioned), drill a circle ( not correct), or maybe punch out plastic stock circles ( easily positioned but ever so slightly raised).
I’ve not said what this access panel was used for. At least the first two A/C weren’t to be self sufficient in the air start of their engines, for this, like many American A/C they need an air start cart. A ‘Poloust’ . The bay was to become an area for additional test equipment. In some photos you’ll see the access panel partially lowered, hinged at the front. Latter A/C were to be fitted with their own APU.

 

 

 

Little steps fwd, today.

 

That’s all for now, stay safe.

[amos brierley]

On 8/27/2020 at 9:37 PM, Patrick Martin said:

Just a bit off track, but I have looked around, but on the real thing, has anyone seen panels open on the port side front fuselage?

I have the resin bits for the starboard - but what is under the panels on the starboard?

Hello gents.                   Update No 26 - it’s been a while.....

 

Now with new information at hand the answer is : 

 

 

With the end in sight for my small scale model, it’s time to set my sights on the next project....... In this case a return to a little problem from last year.  So, I wasn’t far last year from getting the fuselage complete for the wing to go on.  The re-start  was re-ignited with the need to make a small base, this saw me using a previously rustled up base. Shame I’d been careless with it in the interim,  I’ve sanded it down ready for both to be completed together. 

One thing that had crossed my mind whilst enduring frustrating times was that I’d not done much in the way of spraying the niceties of this kit: towbar, intake blanks and such. A pot full of parts.......
 

A new year, more sun light and all that.... and no pressure to get anything done for a possible S.M.W 2021!!!
 

Until next time, stay safe.       😉

 

[Patrick Martin]

Solved at last 

thanks  PM

[amos brierley]

Hello gents.                   Update No 27 - it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new plan.

 

Where to start.

 

Man with a plan 2021 this model is : ( Pt III ). As I’ve alluded to with my A-4M Skyhawk build I have a plan . It’s a three part affair. ( Pt II ) Dec 2020 saw me thinking about at least some form of interaction with all forms of modelling for the forthcoming year. A quick session with the stalled Skyhawk has gotten it ready for some more attention. ( Pt I ) Completion of the G.W.H TSR2. So, this is the the ( Pt III ). 
 

Now the days are drawing out, some of that natural light is going to help out.  When I finish my shift on Tuesday next week it’s my super seven, seven days off work. It’s all going to help , seven days to concentrate.... 

 

I got myself bogged down with this kit from Satan.  I may not be friends with some models or certain brands but this kit is the only one I’ve ever classed as 100% hoop. 😡 . But when you dance with the devil, it’s bound to change you. When you’ve chucked one of these horror shows in the bin, then tacking one for a second time it’s asking for trouble.   😠.   I’ve set myself a very tall order, to make it as accurate as can be done. 
Where did it all go wrong?  Well, it took the tarmac guys nine months of racket to sort out our new estate. Just my street corner took them a month of jack hammering constantly making noise. Add in some temperatures far too hot for me and a constant wrangling with this model and  I was kippered for.

 

A fresh look was asked for and a fresh approach will be required. For 2021 I want to be content with just being me and the best I can. I was all set for Gatwick to kick of the 2021 model show season, then Coventry (it’s now moved to Aug 1st) but it’s only to be expected. No complaints from me, I just have to be ready for what ever comes my way. I’ll be supporting as many model shows as I can, but turning up as a club with nothing to show is not the best form of support. Each of my last three models has taken 18 months to produce, the headline figure does not tell the whole story. Whilst building my first Airfix Shackleton, I had the Revell Shackleton on the go as well. That rot box went in the bin. As did a Tamiya Mig 15. 😬.  These latter two models can be replaced by other brands, the Revell A.E.W Shackleton was replaced by the eminently better Airfix A.E.W . But for this project there’s no alternative.

Now with at least a model of a TSR2 built abet somewhat smaller than I would’ve liked, it’s a start. It’s a reconnect.   And, a step on a journey we as modellers will be making at some point in time this year. 
One of the things I’ve over looked whilst tackling this problem project is paint, to be precise, anything but grey primer. The disconnect has not just happened, it crept up, I was preoccupied with the big picture - all things scribed and detailed. I’d forgotten about painting wheels, bang seats and everything else. And I was trying to hard to post weekly....

 

The first step is to complete the fuselage, very little work to be done, but it’s the last hurdle. Get a few more details done and the reconnect with this model happen. 
One of my changes for 2021 will be the challenge from silver speed tape to painters fine line tape. Why?? Speed tape is very sticky (can be used on fast jet A/C) and it’s pulling off my model filler. As I’ve been saying all to often ‘ one step fwd - two back. What’s so good about painters fine line? It’s just as thick for creating an edge to scribe against, as it’s stretchy it can be used to conform to radius’s, it’s not as tacky, so I’m hoping it’s filler friendly. And of course it’s got a true straight edge.

 

 

Thanks for looking, stay safe,     😉
 

 

[amos brierley]

Hello everyone.             Update No 28 - some random modelling.

 

I’m looking to getting some traction with this model and to keep it going. 
 

Firstly I’ve vaguely tackled the last panel lines to sort out on the R/H intake, still not summoned the enthusiasm to finish the panel fasteners, it’s the curves that’s the issue. 
 

The tail pipes was another issue grinding my gears. So, this area has been nearly tackled. Some of the missing panels and panel lines have now been added, a little more work and I’ll post some pictures.

 

Going backwards moving forward.  As I’ve said before so many times, this one came about whilst fondling some resin 1/48 tail planes I noticed something odd, just , not looking right. So, out with some filler and some of the upper panel lines had to be removed.  Then there’s the things starting me in the face, so I made a template and scribed a missing panel an the lower tail plane flaps. 
 

 

Looking scruffy, but correct.

 

 

Even the tow bar is a big problem, it’s only a very vague facsimile of what one should be.  Both the tow eye end and the A/C tow end are just a lot rubbish. The towing eye is made of metal just like the rest of the detail set, I threw it out as trash, not realising what it was...... any-hoo it was wrong. Having made the tow bar and wrestled that into submission some months ago, one thing at a time. The eye end tested my modelling skills, firstly, I tried to use 20 gauge wire, was always set to fail, it’s way too hard to form so small. Copper wire - not quite as thick as I would like but supremely malleable. Next the straight section - I found a copper rod , but the hole diameter was massive. So it’s a rod within a rod.   As for the other end, that’s a problem for another day. 
 

This is in no way close.....

 

Having got bogged down with line scribing, endless scribing. Time for some painting.

 

 

That’s all for now, stay safe.         😃

[amos brierley]

Hello everyone.                Update No 29 - tow bar head end.

 

It’s been a little while just trying to get a post done. I’ve been doing some work with this model, just not anything I fancied posting about. My A-4 Skyhawk bomb truck as an other build is where I’ve posted a general life update……

 

Any-hoo, the model,  I’ve done some work to get the fuselage to get it reasonably finished, first thing grinding my gears was some of missing details around the exhaust shroud. My mental block was some little squares- access panels, the deal being getting them symmetrical and square, by square I mean true square. One less job to do…

 

Next up was the R/H intake outer skin, another thing that was badly grinding my gears. Having done the L/H side and struggled to get the screw head details in place in a true manner, on the left side because of the curvature some of the indentations went wonky - out of true alignment. Filling and starting again would just be twice as hard. Another job done……..

 

I’ve just not given any thoughts about how to wrap up that section of the model and how I portray the work so far…….

 

The other thing really rubbing my rhubarb is the AMS tow bar. I really haven’t got on with this piece of junk.  The whole on-somble being utter nonsense. Having dealt with the tow eye end last time, this time around it’s the head end. The end for towing is almost devoid of details. Making something from this tosh hasn't been easy as what the A/C maintenance manual shows and what the period photos shows are separate things…… Again I’ve said before - beware of too much photographs. Some of the photos I’ve seen have been tow bars designed for other aircraft (possibly H.P. Victors), they may be attached to a TSR2 but weren’t from the 1963 period onwards.

 

From this sowes ear to something a little more detailed. I thought I’d photographed the circles I’d cut to start the ball rolling, but here’s some jaws in the process of being cut and shaped.

 

 

The ubiquitous arrows are back!! This is XR220 on route to the spray shop. The orange arrow is where the HF NOTCH aerial will go and the green arrows showing seldom seen details. This photo shows what an actual TSR2 tow bar should look like, whilst for my model tow bar now detailed and needing a little more fettling.

Whilst nothing like the real thing, at least it’s better than the stock AMS offering. I’ve seen a photo of a tow Bar not attached to an A/C but with a rod in the middle, not saying the photos right but, it looks good to me.

 

 

I’ve got 99 problems but 3 less this time around. Next time around maybe some proper modelling……..

 

😀.

 

 

 

[amos brierley]

Hello everyone.              Update No 30 -  everything two by two - just the wrong shade                                                     paint. Dark mist clearing. ( and this iPad just won’t center this header.)

 

Oh man where to start. 
 

Firstly a shout out to Jack Ruskin , nice to see you at the Avon show.

 

Black mist rising , for the moment the black mist that has descended is now starting to lift and is now being replaced by 30 degree heat haze, phew, it’s too hot by 10 degrees  🥵.   My other WIP a Skyhawk bomb truck has caused me some anguish in that a stray finger whilst creating a new update,  it was deleted, an hour or so of new post, and wasn’t recovered. As this is going to be a substantial post I don’t want a repeat.  As creating it a second time around is never the same.

 

The black modelling mist has made a simple task seem far to hard, so, this is what I’ve come up with to close a chapter. I’ve pondered how to close the basic fuselage chapter, simply because I’ve posted various pictures quite a lot. So, here’s what I have to say. The lower jet pipe area has a few extra details added in the form of scribed lines, but, not the latches, nor is it the final word in my quest to add as much missing details. The R/H intake skin, applying the screw head details and sorting out the panels even on a good modelling day was going to be a challenge. I’ve done my best and if I can’t mark that area (absolutely) perfect then so be it.  This is the fuselage done for now. The missing pieces of details are things I can only do when the wings go on, or something to savour for another day. Things for another day are static ports and as I have said latch details. This I can now say is the fuselage is done and I can move onto the wings. These photos are how I’m going to sign this part off. 

The panel lines were easily done, but, getting the two outer square access panels took time as they are tiny and have to be accurately depicted. The rubbed back primer is where I’m on about. Difficult to get a square in the middle of a panel line.

T

 

One of the hardest parts to get right- it’s more ish than I’d care to admit….…

The completed tow bar is now where I want it to be , complete less the wheels and another layer of primer added as some had been worn away.

 

Back to basics for this tow bar. After the metal primer a base  layer of yellow for the blue to follow. I’ve used Xtracolour for the last 36 years and have drifted towards Gunzi and MRP recently.  Xtracolour is not the quickest to dry but Mr Colour Levelling helps out. Touch dry in just 3 hours! 

 

The tow bar ready for the blue.    The ejection seats - now both are in silver for the main bodies, black ancillaries, black seat cushions, grey head box and green metallic tubes ( who’s name I forgot.) The Humbrol paint is all but useless so I’ve bought something else and it lovely ( thanks Amazon). The L/H ecs duct has now been crafted, it’s always hard to make a second item as good if not better than the first one.

 

 

Not the best photography. Basic seat painting.

Not the best showing of photos but here’s what I’m working towards. Part of the ejection seat launch system is this metallic green. Next the two black pads are a real pain to paint in these CMK bang seats. Coming down the line will be the harness, CMK have created their version in beige and would stand out very well against black , but, Eduard offer the correct straps as a blue purple.  I’m going to use the Eduard straps even though there designed for the Airfix kit seats. I’d love to apply some of the colourful Eduard stencils but they just won’t fit the CMK seats.

 

Photos such as these crew photos are a good provider of details for the seats/cockpit. And a bit of nostalgia. On the back of photos like this I’ve bought things like Jimmy Dell’s signature. 

You can’t have enough sources of information, and replacement parts for this project.

 

Oups got the colour of the tow bar wrong. I went with RLM24 Dunkelblau, it’s what my mind thought was a close match. 🤨 Turns out RLM  24 is a very good match for a black and white photo. I found some time to go through some of my back catalogue of photos only to be shocked that the real colour is very bright and vibrant. My second guess was Ukrainian Su-27 Flanker Dk blue, as per my Mk82  Snake Eye bomb. Turns out BAC must have gone to town painting their ground equipment, as the bottom picture seems to suggest.

 

I’d love to say this is my garage, but sadly not. I was recently told that a set of these were sold for £1000. Pricey but I think would make this TSR2 nut very happy. 😄

Whilst on our favourite auction site a chance encounter pointed me in the direction of these beauties. A pair of 3D printed ladders. I would suggest sold by J.S.Coteril. I have various etched offerings but the real things are tubes, and the 3D printed are simply superb. Now, as I got my colour wrong this morning, with more stuff to spray at the same time, it’s a small error I’m happy with. 
Three pictures of tow bars and what appears to be three versions of tow bars. 😵 The top photo I like a lot, but it has details not seen in drawings nor the AMS kit ( just visible two rings with bolt details.) Photo two is XR222 at Duxford circa 2006/7 post restoration. Ignore this nonsense of a tow bar at it is far too modern. Maybe a Tornado tow bar?? It’s modern as it’s got yellow stripes on it, I did fancy creating this on mine, but, I could here the back lash. 😲  The third photo again shows a genuine TSR2 tow bar, this time it’s just a plane tube.  As always just a talking point - is it dark green or could it just very well be dark blue more akin to the dark blue shade I went with in the first place. As always interpreting B/W pictures is an art form.

 

This selection of photos is very eclectic: the top photo is showing the ladders attachment points (two dark dots) and etched vrs modern 3D printed. Next is the nose blade aerial and third photo the pitot and static ports mentioned earlier. Why?  And I know you’re likely to say Kfir? ( Again it slips my mind as to what it means in Hebrew) WELL, firstly if you’ve ever seen the utter nonsense from Airfix for the blade aerial, it is neither a blade nor an aerial. It’s a horrible blobby mess. Secondly, missing from the kit are in kit form the pitot statics and the static ports. Now, not one to turn down something vaguely passing a resemblance this detail set could very well help me out here.  No’s 2+4. thank you very much. 

 

So, a long overdue signing off of the fuselage and some movements with bits and pieces. Moving forward I’ll be working on the wing, a quick look through my saved photos is some work previously un-reported. Having now got my timings of posts down from months (10 weeks) down to just weeks I’ll be hoping to create a free post (for me)from these photos. Having not done any real work on the wing in a long time I’ll need to start collecting my past thoughts together. The SMW2021 has been announced, whilst this model won’t be ready then I might have a real go at getting my Skyhawk bomb truck at a push moving along as well. There’s eight or nine weeks to go and all could change (not wishing this to happen.) The Keighley model show has been cancelled, just announced on Tuesday.      Thanks for looking. 😉

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by amos brierley
Last paragraph expanded from two lines.

[Helen57]

On 09/09/2021 at 00:39, amos brierley said:

Hello everyone.              Update No 30 -  everything two by two - just the wrong shade                                                     paint. Dark mist clearing. ( and this iPad just won’t center this header.)

 

Oh man where to start. 
 

Firstly a shout out to Jack Ruskin , nice to see you at the Avon show.

 

Black mist rising , for the moment the black mist that has descended is now starting to lift and is now being replaced by 30 degree heat haze, phew, it’s too hot by 10 degrees  🥵.   My other WIP a Skyhawk bomb truck has caused me some anguish in that a stray finger whilst creating a new update,  it was deleted, an hour or so of new post, and wasn’t recovered. As this is going to be a substantial post I don’t want a repeat.  As creating it a second time around is never the same.

 

The black modelling mist has made a simple task seem far to hard, so, this is what I’ve come up with to close a chapter. I’ve pondered how to close the basic fuselage chapter, simply because I’ve posted various pictures quite a lot. So, here’s what I have to say. The lower jet pipe area has a few extra details added in the form of scribed lines, but, not the latches, nor is it the final word in my quest to add as much missing details. The R/H intake skin, applying the screw head details and sorting out the panels even on a good modelling day was going to be a challenge. I’ve done my best and if I can’t mark that area (absolutely) perfect then so be it.  This is the fuselage done for now. The missing pieces of details are things I can only do when the wings go on, or something to savour for another day. Things for another day are static ports and as I have said latch details. This I can now say is the fuselage is done and I can move onto the wings. These photos are how I’m going to sign this part off. 

The panel lines were easily done, but, getting the two outer square access panels took time as they are tiny and have to be accurately depicted. The rubbed back primer is where I’m on about. Difficult to get a square in the middle of a panel line.

T

 

One of the hardest parts to get right- it’s more ish than I’d care to admit….…

The completed tow bar is now where I want it to be , complete less the wheels and another layer of primer added as some had been worn away.

 

Back to basics for this tow bar. After the metal primer a base  layer of yellow for the blue to follow. I’ve used Xtracolour for the last 36 years and have drifted towards Gunzi and MRP recently.  Xtracolour is not the quickest to dry but Mr Colour Levelling helps out. Touch dry in just 3 hours! 

 

The tow bar ready for the blue.    The ejection seats - now both are in silver for the main bodies, black ancillaries, black seat cushions, grey head box and green metallic tubes ( who’s name I forgot.) The Humbrol paint is all but useless so I’ve bought something else and it lovely ( thanks Amazon). The L/H ecs duct has now been crafted, it’s always hard to make a second item as good if not better than the first one.

 

 

Not the best photography. Basic seat painting.

Not the best showing of photos but here’s what I’m working towards. Part of the ejection seat launch system is this metallic green. Next the two black pads are a real pain to paint in these CMK bang seats. Coming down the line will be the harness, CMK have created their version in beige and would stand out very well against black , but, Eduard offer the correct straps as a blue purple.  I’m going to use the Eduard straps even though there designed for the Airfix kit seats. I’d love to apply some of the colourful Eduard stencils but they just won’t fit the CMK seats.

 

Photos such as these crew photos are a good provider of details for the seats/cockpit. And a bit of nostalgia. On the back of photos like this I’ve bought things like Jimmy Dell’s signature. 

You can’t have enough sources of information, and replacement parts for this project.

 

Oups got the colour of the tow bar wrong. I went with RLM24 Dunkelblau, it’s what my mind thought was a close match. 🤨 Turns out RLM  24 is a very good match for a black and white photo. I found some time to go through some of my back catalogue of photos only to be shocked that the real colour is very bright and vibrant. My second guess was Ukrainian Su-27 Flanker Dk blue, as per my Mk82  Snake Eye bomb. Turns out BAC must have gone to town painting their ground equipment, as the bottom picture seems to suggest.

 

I’d love to say this is my garage, but sadly not. I was recently told that a set of these were sold for £1000. Pricey but I think would make this TSR2 nut very happy. 😄

Whilst on our favourite auction site a chance encounter pointed me in the direction of these beauties. A pair of 3D printed ladders. I would suggest sold by J.S.Coteril. I have various etched offerings but the real things are tubes, and the 3D printed are simply superb. Now, as I got my colour wrong this morning, with more stuff to spray at the same time, it’s a small error I’m happy with. 
Three pictures of tow bars and what appears to be three versions of tow bars. 😵 The top photo I like a lot, but it has details not seen in drawings nor the AMS kit ( just visible two rings with bolt details.) Photo two is XR222 at Duxford circa 2006/7 post restoration. Ignore this nonsense of a tow bar at it is far too modern. Maybe a Tornado tow bar?? It’s modern as it’s got yellow stripes on it, I did fancy creating this on mine, but, I could here the back lash. 😲  The third photo again shows a genuine TSR2 tow bar, this time it’s just a plane tube.  As always just a talking point - is it dark green or could it just very well be dark blue more akin to the dark blue shade I went with in the first place. As always interpreting B/W pictures is an art form.

 

This selection of photos is very eclectic: the top photo is showing the ladders attachment points (two dark dots) and etched vrs modern 3D printed. Next is the nose blade aerial and third photo the pitot and static ports mentioned earlier. Why?  And I know you’re likely to say Kfir? ( Again it slips my mind as to what it means in Hebrew) WELL, firstly if you’ve ever seen the utter nonsense from Airfix for the blade aerial, it is neither a blade nor an aerial. It’s a horrible blobby mess. Secondly, missing from the kit are in kit form the pitot statics and the static ports. Now, not one to turn down something vaguely passing a resemblance this detail set could very well help me out here.  No’s 2+4. thank you very much. 

 

So, a long overdue signing off of the fuselage and some movements with bits and pieces. Moving forward I’ll be working on the wing, a quick look through my saved photos is some work previously un-reported. Having now got my timings of posts down from months (10 weeks) down to just weeks I’ll be hoping to create a free post (for me)from these photos. Having not done any real work on the wing in a long time I’ll need to start collecting my past thoughts together. The SMW2021 has been announced, whilst this model won’t be ready then I might have a real go at getting my Skyhawk bomb truck at a push moving along as well. There’s eight or nine weeks to go and all could change (not wishing this to happen.) The Keighley model show has been cancelled, just announced on Tuesday.      Thanks for looking. 😉

 

Picture 10 “Hello Boys I”m  BACKKKKKKKKKKK!!!! Tell my children I love them very much!” 

[Gondor44]

If your haveing difficulty with writing posts for a thread because they get lost, try writing them useing Word or some other program then copying to the forum.

 

Gondor

[amos brierley]

Hello Gent’s.                      Update No 31 - a splash of colour.

 

A simple update today, not much to say except I’ve spent some time applying some paint. With the tow bar now looking much more acceptable after a second brighter blue was needed.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.       😉

 

 

[amos brierley]

Hello everyone.                Update No 32 - signing off 2021 - finally a happy clapper. 🥳
 

I wasn’t sure where to start with this post nor what to say, I’d hoped to get this done a couple of days ago then planned for the New Year, so, now I’m rushing a little……

 

A quick run through some stuff in my life this year.

 

What I wanted and what I got were two different things, I’ve only realised things now it’s the years end. Shame I thought this year was the new start, by that I mean that I expected a little too much and achieved no big things. But, what I have achieved was more like 100 little gains, and that’s been hard to see. 
 

I went to the first gulf war , and was diagnosed with PTSD afterwards, that was some 30 years ago, it’s been suggested a few times that I revisit this. So I’ve had a little councilling…..

 

I’ve seen very little said about model shows this year. I’ve been to quite a few and topped things off with SMW 2021, which did make me a little nervous, as always I did the set up thing and I throughly enjoyed being a competition judge, lots of lovely kits for my enjoyment. I didn’t fancy the family being there this year and so I took a trip to RAF Cosford on the Sunday. With my new camera……

 

Whilst I really expected some form of large modelling gain or something finished I’ve fell somewhat short. Frustrated….. but, this Xmas week has seen me somewhat chipper about modelling……. 
 

Whilst in a good mood I picked up the wing and set about it …… only for previous peeves to appear, yup cracked plastic. This time around some Humbrol liquid polly was used as the immediate fix then what I should have done a long time ago, a more permanent fix Araldite. It’s come with a little cost, I’ve had to trim the fuselage junction, even with a thin smear the wing would fit as it did. 
I’m hoping this is the last time this problem occurs.

 

One thing Airfix got reasonably correct was the top of the wings, but improvements can be made. A look at the TSR2 wings being made (in a factory) shows a left and a right that are joined in the middle. Whilst Airfix shows just a set of scribed lines down the center of the wing I’ve added some 5 thou plastic sheet to depict the joining strap, and a few screw head details……

 

Whilst not totally correct it’s better than nothing, if I’d tried to get the correct style and number of screws I’m sure it would just look wrong……

 

Sometime ago whilst I was going full tilt with this kit I got rid of the very rear panel line, it didn’t look right and photo evidence is king, a little filler later. The blue walkway line is where I talking about, it also shows how the flap access panels should look like, more on that another day………

Green arrow shows the good work I’ve done….and just visible the point of the orange arrow shows the line I’m removing. The right wing is looking little closer to completion, some more work to be done on the leading edge. This is the first time I’ve  mention this work and this is now the focus of my attention.

 

Showing some changes for another day…….

 

I’d love to know more about these two photos, mysterious straps, one wing photo being taken at a scrap yard.

 

In among other things I’ve been doing recently, is painting these CMK wheels. They’re not the best around, technology having cough them up, but I’ve given them a go. The photo makes them look a little darker and scruffy.
 

 

The brake unit has stayed Lt Aircraft Grey but the inside of the wheels have been painting silver, along with the big nuts. The red circles have been painted in too, and not my favourite bit of tyres is the red creep mark.

 

I’ve also knocked myself out with these by painting the hub half joining bolts silver too..

 

 

A plethora or details to frustrate modellers……..

 

I think thee red hexagons are blow out fuses, when the wheels get too hot they pop and the tyre deflates .

 

Thanks for looking, and supporting me for the year. I’m straight into New Year on my shift pattern, a month of Sun, Mon, Tuesday. Hopefully I’ll see you soon.    🥳

 

 

[Dave Wilko]

On 5/27/2020 at 8:32 PM, amos brierley said:

Hello Gents, 

The yellow kit was sold to me as a Heritage kit, this copy came with a very lovely brass etch set. 

DaveWilko - please don’t fear making the Heritage kit, as it’s the best TSR 2 that you have. I built one of these kits from an unbuilt offering, it builds reasonably lovely, you will have to test fit a lot. The wing to fuselage is tricky, some plastic shimming is required. The reason I gave up on this kit was because it was started, to be polite about the past owner, it was mostly built but the builder (appears) to not have test fitted the parts and then sanded lots of those very fine details away and added lots of filler and at some point in time her realised he was in too deep. I knew it was never fixable but gave it a go.  As for that brass etched set, now going begging, it will be used on this Airfix build as it is very good. 

 

Thats all fow now,     Stay safe.

Amos Sir,

It wasn't one's self that had the resin model,it was a modelling work colleague that had bought and built what one now knows to be the

"Resitech" kit.

As one mentioned,the cockpits were all done in etched brass,IIRC,the seats and undercarriage legs/wheels were whitemetal with etched brass

detailing.

The etched brass detailing was absolutely exquisite(there were even etched brass  cockpit ladders),very finely detailed.

 

Your work on the Airfix kit is fantastic,one has gazed at XR220(to have been the weapons drop test aircraft one believes)many times

when visiting RAF Cosford,it would have been a very potent machine had it have come to production.

One's Father was very displeased when the Labour government of the day killed off the project.