Thrust2

[Bengalensis]

The airbrush session resumed with Alclad. I'm not overly concerned with the material names of the paints; I'm trying to use them to reach something that resembles what I see in references, or how they appear relative to each other.

 

I used Jet Exhaust, Exhaust Manifold and Stainless Steel to get more done on the reheater.

 

 

 

Gun Metal for the intake vane, or whatever it's called for real.

 

 

Dark Aluminium for the turbine blades. Mmm, compressor blades of course they are...

 

 

Steel for the brake discs.

 

 

Titanium Gold on the fixing point for the brake parachute lines.

 

 

Aluminum for parachute canisters, their line ductings and the conduit for the starting air.

 

 

As I was just about to spray the wheels I realised I had forgotten about the bolt pattern which broke my work flow. I drew up the pattern in AutoCAD and printed it.

 

 

The pattern was centered on the wheel and using a needle each location was marked. Then two drill sizes were used to lightly drill each position. Despite having a template one of the inner marks ended up astray and had to be filled and redrilled...

 

 

Then the wheels could be sprayed in White Aluminium.

 

[JeroenS]

That is called good progress! This should look great when assembled. 

[Sabrejet]

Looking great. I do like Thrust 2 - recall seeing it displayed at (Halfords?) in Poole many moons ago.

[Bengalensis]

Thanks a lot guys. It's been a good day's work, and I think I have deserved the glass of wine I just served myself... 😎 I must say that I like Thrust2 more for each day I'm working on it...

 

The gloss black base dried faster than expected, so with no reason to delay progress the bullet was sprayed in Chrome.

 

 

And the rear suspension struts sprayed in Highly Polished Aluminium. There will be more detail painting later.

 

 

In between some detail painting has also been started.

 

 

Further work on the reheater. The outer parts were given a black wash and the interior deep down were given a light dry brush of dark silver using a small rounded make-up brush. Then I masked the exterior and sprayed a flat varnish as best possible inside. It's hopeless to photograph this thing...

 

 

[Bengalensis]

Looks like another work week from hell rising... But it can be seen as a good thing... It will affect progress though. But I managed to finish off detail painting today, for the moment, more to follow when things start to come together. More gold base paint arriving tomorrow.

 

[tweeky]

Quote

Dark Aluminium for the turbine blades.

Sorry old chap but those will be compressor blades your paining the turbine is at the other end the hot end.

 

Loving the build.

Edited June 9, 2020 by tweeky

[Bengalensis]

4 hours ago, tweeky said:

Sorry old chap but those will be compressor blades your paining the turbine is at the other end the hot end.

Yes of course you're right. That I actually know if I think, but I am very much a man of piston engines and wheel drive... 😎

[Bengalensis]

@tweeky You might be the right person to know the answer: On the the right side of the nose, just behind the big air intake, there is a blackish square "panel", and I can see a matching thing on the engine when the bodywork is off. Any idea what it is? I can get some pictures of it collected later if it's not clear what I mean.

[Six97s]

Nice work.  Sounds like you're talking about the compressor bleed valves?

[Bengalensis]

5 hours ago, Six97s said:

Nice work.  Sounds like you're talking about the compressor bleed valves?

It's certainly in the compressor area. It's visible here, as a couple of black squares in a metal piece.

 

[tweeky]

yes it the bleed valve. to much air is flowing into the compressor so it vents it overboard, sounded like a sea gull when it open

.

 

This item

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=DFT3tzHR&id=4237B10DB2F14C57F214DDC4AA3E2BA57481B0A9&thid=OIP.DFT3tzHRzMngCT_5iosppgHaFj&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.equipmatching.com%2fuploads%2fimages%2f6451c9ghg0.jpg&exph=768&expw=1024&q=avon+bleed+valve&simid=608010203169096299&ck=E060F5C3EA5DE13453D43EB889696290&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0

Edited June 9, 2020 by tweeky

[Bengalensis]

@tweeky @Six97s Perfect, thanks a lot, that's it; the compressor bleed valve. I get its function and the need for it. It's so much better knowing what it is one is trying to model. I suppose the vents on the Thrust2 body is something custom made, and not from a Lightning?

 

It is represented by this decal of for black rectangles in the kit.

 

 

Here is the best photo of the real thing I have found. Not definitive. I'm thinking that I would like to make something else for it than the decal, but it's hard coming to perfect terms with it...

 

 

I must admit that my respect for the modern jet powered non-wheel driven LSR-cars are growing a lot as I work on this one...

 

With a new can of gold paint arrived I had to get that done tonight, and now I have a base coat I'm happy with. Next will be coat of 2K clear and then Alclad Aluminium on the rear panel.

 

[Schwarz-Brot]

shiny!

[tweeky]

The bleed valve was covered by four  "blow open" doors on the No 2 Engine so that's another lightning bit on thrust 2.

Edited June 9, 2020 by tweeky
typo

[Mr Mansfield]

I thought the gold looked good before, but now it really shines! Nice outcome 

[Bengalensis]

Thanks a lot guys. The gold base is shiny indeed, but a bit too garish and gold-like, and less paint-like. I will try to change that.

 

I unexpectedly managed to get the clear coat sprayed today. The fins and antenna were straightforward.

 

 

Now that gold needs a little bit of toning down. I remembered what I did a few years ago when I built the Golden Arrow, using the same gold base. After the base I sprayed a coat of 50/50 mixed yellow and orange Tamiya clear paint. It was a huge improvement for what I needed.

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234946505-golden-arrow/page/3/&tab=comments#comment-1656936

 

I thought something similar would work here as well. This time I added a few drops of yellow and orange clear paint into my 2K clear mix. That gave me a clear like this:

 

 

It made the difference I was after, but it's not very visible in the photo I guess. This will now some good curing time to be safe.

 

[UKmodeller-Reborn]

Bring back so many memories, lovely work

[Bengalensis]

For the panels that goes in the rear beside the reheater I decided to use Bare Metal's Matte Aluminium foil. First I made two paper templates of the pattern.

 

 

The templates where taped to the foil and then I did all the cuts through the paper. Then it was a matter of applying, smoothing out and cutting every section.

 

 

 

I also decided that the driver's fresh air bottle, that is placed beside the headrest, has to be added. I'm making it from a fire extinguisher left over from a Fujimi GT40 kit.

 

[Bengalensis]

The gold body was masked off and the rear panel sprayed with Alclad Aluminium, and later the framework was also painted.

 

 

The inside of the whole shell has been painted black. As assembly starts I will see if additional measures will be needed to avoid seeing holes or emptiness anywhere.

 

[Sabrejet]

How I do love the smell of resin in the morning. Looking lovely!

[harveyb258]

Beautifully executed paintwork, Jorgen. Hat's off.

[Bengalensis]

Some assembly work started this morning. The front parts of the engine glued together.

 

 

The panels beside the reheater are also installed.

 

 

The forward section of the engine is glued into the nose section.

 

 

It now became apparent that the reheater ended up too far back as it was.

 

 

Some material had to be cut off inside, then the position was better. I'm not gluing the reheater yet as I need to some finishing work on the inside after the fins are glued.

 

 

Before any decals are placed I also had to fit brake parachutes and the line ductings.

 

 

The safety belts were built using the Modeler's set and a piece from a Detail Master set.

 

 

The belts were brightened up a little with some thin medium grey paint, then the decals could be applied and the cockpit assembled.

 

 

I believe there should be some more equipment at the passenger side, but I'm leaving it with the kit details.

 

 

Time for some more serious decaling. The fins were soon done and were straight forward.

 

 

Then I had to start with the main decals on the body. I thought it would be best to cut and test fit first, as I realized that in case the decals don't fit perfectly on the body it's better to deal with problems in a planned way while dry...

 

That proved to be very necessary.  The decals for the sides are somewhat too high, so the red stripes that go above them would be impossible to fit below the panel line leaving a gold strip between. Also the rearmost Plessey sections are too short and are not reaching down far enough, there should be a gold line left at the bottom of even height all the way through the kink after the Loctite section. This is especially important as I will add some small decals in that area missing in the kit. Also the Plessey text is placed too low and on the right hand side the logo and text are placed reversed.

 

I first cut down the height of the whole sections as much as possible.

 

 

I decided to try cutting off the whole Plessey sections and make new ones from white stock sheet, rather than try patching up such large areas. It would also allow correction of the text and logo placements.

 

 

Here the first section is finished. It now dawned on me that decaling this beast will be a pretty demanding project. The decals are fragile as they are and even more fragile with the edges cut. They also respond a bit iffy to decal softeners, and do not like at all to be cut into over panel lines, even with a perfectly new blade. It's possible to win over them, but at the price of much fine touching up required later. It was now clear I had my work cut out, and that there would be need for compromises...

 

 

I thought cutting new white sections instead of patching up would make the inevitable mismatch of the whiteness less disturbing if still trying to save the text and logos. I cut them out closely and cut a new panel from white stock sheet.

 

 

So far so good. I'm happy the placement and the white shades melt together pretty well. But the cut edges of the new white panel are also very fragile.

 

 

The opposite side was also done the same way, and with the same difficulties to overcome. Well, I'm sure a set of perfect Cartograph decals would have made the project of having this kit issued in the first place a very effectively dead end economically, so I'll keep on happily working...

 

 

It was now possible to just squeeze in the red cheat line, just. The gold line left between is too thin, but it's at least present. It looks pretty smooth from little distance, but there is a lot of tiny damage needing fine touching up later. There will be a few hours with fine paint brush, strong glasses and paint mix matching ahead...

 

 

 

Then I moved to the areas framed with red stripes that do not match any of the hatches or panel lines, another interesting feature on the real car. The stripes should follow the curvature of the windscreens, but the decals do not reach that far. I had to cut them apart and reposition. By now the temptation of extra decal sheets in the kit was too much, and I cut into the second sheet to get a piece of red stripe to patch up. Oh well...

 

 

On the opposite side I cut the forward section of decal off from the start, only to find I also had to cut off all the tiny details regarding the hatch lifting as they were still placed corresponding to the other side.

 

 

After a lot of patching up with small decal pieces I finished off this side as well.  Both sides are still a compromise, but not worse than many other things, so I'm OK with that.

 

 

By now a full day's effort had passed and I felt that this work was getting the better of me. Very much the time to stop, retreat from the work room, pour the first glass of wine, while considering the remaining work...

[Bengalensis]

13 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

How I do love the smell of resin in the morning. Looking lovely!

Thanks a lot.

 

I will admit to being a resin addict, as if someone didn't know... There was a time some years back when a newly opened resin kit had a very special and wonderful smell, mostly that was french resin kits, when one ordered the newly released ones. That was a smell of hope, excitement and interest. Opening the box and going through all the parts was very special. A good glass of Shiraz was perfect to go with that smell. Oh the good old days, often in 1/43 scale...

[Sabrejet]

4 minutes ago, Bengalensis said:

Thanks a lot.

 

I will admit to being a resin addict, as if someone didn't know... There was a time some years back when a newly opened resin kit had a very special and wonderful smell, mostly that was french resin kits, when one ordered the newly released ones. That was a smell of hope, excitement and interest. Opening the box and going through all the parts was very special. A good glass of Shiraz was perfect to go with that smell. Oh the good old days, often in 1/43 scale...

Same here: Provence or Starter usually. I think my first was a PM XJR-6 (Mosport '85) which I built in 1986. I've built dozens since and never tire. Modern resin doesn't smell the same but fortunately I have a few of the old ones stashed.

[harveyb258]

14 hours ago, Bengalensis said:

had a very special and wonderful smell,

Much like the smell of a new album by your favourite band, back in the day.... happy memories!