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SUPERMARINE SCIMITAR **RFI posted**


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8 minutes ago, CJP said:

Hi Derek - if you want my plan for the tail just PM me with your email - they are in 1/48 but you can resize if needed to 1/72

 

CJP

Thanks CJ - I may do that! If (and when) I get around to making the Scimitar, it will most likely be scratch built to 1/32 scale, hence the question.

 

Many thanks

 

Derek

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15 minutes ago, Derek B said:

Thanks CJ - I may do that! If (and when) I get around to making the Scimitar, it will most likely be scratch built to 1/32 scale, hence the question.

 

Many thanks

 

Derek

Wow now that I would  like to see!

CJP

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On 7/1/2020 at 10:08 PM, CJP said:

Thank you - your comment reminded me of the three CMR Scimitar builds you posted here on BM so I found them and had a good look at the builds - found it very informative as I have one of those to do too - the CMR Scimitar is a good reference for detailing my Dynavector one - unfortunately some of the photos in the post are fuzzy & you have to go into Photobucket to see them clearly -  is that part of their policy now?

 

CJP

Hi, I am afraid so. Photobucket are a great example having been one the first to gain real traction and then completely alienate their user base. I will look to update the photo thread as I have moved in Imageshack. I may also look to finish them at some point! All 3 are staring at me from the room of doom!

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Greetings  😀 back with another update - After looking at Liberator224J's Dynavector Scimitar I decided to make things more difficult for myself by making my Scimitar with the wings folded. I separated the outer and inner wing panels and added some internal structure and spars - they are not recommended in the instructions but I'm  happier with them in place

 

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Also added a 4mm splice in the front of the wheel bay as the space in the forward part of the wheel bay looks more open in photos - this necessitated trimming the fuselage moulding where the wings sits at the wing root to clear this mod.

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Once dry the wing ribs were dressed with a flat file until the wing halves fitted neatly together and they were then glued - the inner wing panels were dry  fitted to make sure they sat right against the fuselage and I took the plunge and glued them on too.

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I came across a photo on the internet of a Scimitar on HMS Eagle with wings folded, wing flaps down, leading edge flaps closed and decided that this configuration is how I would model my Scimitar.

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The trailing edge flap was cut away and modelled based on a photo I found in a decades old magazine

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The next part I wanted to see if I could get made were the wing fold hinges - these ended up being very delicate so I will have to  make the folded wings strong by making the Jury struts from brass tube/wire and I think I will make the bracket the hydraulic ram is attached to from brass as well - then hinges will mainly be cosmetic.

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To make the hinges I glued two strips of 60 thou card 4mm wide together, filed the block to the hinge profile & cut fine slots with a razor saw to represent the individual ribs - this is very fiddly and the ribs break easily but ok if you do a couple at a time.

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So far so good and I'm having fun building this Dynavector Scimitar - it really has dispelled any fears I had of doing a vacuform model.

 

CJP

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Scimitar update time - I have pushed on to set up the wing flaps in the down position and setting up the wing fold geometry

I wanted to build in some metal parts to add strength to the wing  fold area - I made the bracket and hydraulic ram for the wing fold out of brass & copper - the bracket was filed out of a piece of copper with a  length of brass wire soldered to it and 1/16th aluminium tube slid over it for the ram - the outer wing panel had a section of Evergreen square section 3.2mm tube let into the aerofoil section so that the aluminium ram could slide into it

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Wing flaps were made up and the retraction jacks were made from Albion Alloys brass tube and after a lot of fettling the flaps were glued into place

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The jury struts were  made up from Albion Alloys SFT1 wire and tube set with a bit of detailing at the attachment ends and then soldered - the tube where the ends slide into were left unsoldered so they could be lengthened to fit in the final set up - the outer wing panels were then dry fitted for an alignment check which looks reasonable at this stage - the brass ram/bracket and jury strut should add enough strength to the wing fold as the  hinge detail carved out of plastic is very delicate.

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The Scimitar posed showing current work to date - time to sit back and decide what area to work on next

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Cheers  CJP

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I love the Scimitar. Very elegant looking machine. Only time I've ever seen one is in New York on the deck of the USS Intrepid, it stood out with its understated elegance.

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2 minutes ago, TonyOD said:

I love the Scimitar. Very elegant looking machine. Only time I've ever seen one is in New York on the deck of the USS Intrepid, it stood out with its understated elegance.

Thanks TonyOD - The Scimitar has always been my favourite aircraft & in my opinion  this kit does it justice apart from the fin and tailplane shape which is relatively easy to correct - I understand the Intrepid Scimitar has been moved to some other museum - it looked in pretty good condition looking at walk around photos - unfortunately can't say the same about the one at the Solent Sky museum which looks in poor condition - hope someone saves it before it is too late.

CJP

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3 minutes ago, Martian said:

Those hinges are most impressive.

 

Martian 👽

Thanks Martian - I lost count of how many hinges I have made over the last couple of weeks  & either destroyed them in the process or had them ping off - and why is it  can't we find bits that ping off? - I'm fully expecting to break a couple more before final assembly.

 

CJP

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Your words are slightly inaccurate in that we do find the bits that ping off. Its just that we find them after the model is completed.

 

Martian 👽

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3 minutes ago, Martian said:

Your words are slightly inaccurate in that we do find the bits that ping off. Its just that we find them after the model is completed.

 

Martian 👽

not what I want to hear😁

 

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37 minutes ago, CJP said:

Thanks TonyOD - The Scimitar has always been my favourite aircraft & in my opinion  this kit does it justice apart from the fin and tailplane shape which is relatively easy to correct - I understand the Intrepid Scimitar has been moved to some other museum - it looked in pretty good condition looking at walk around photos - unfortunately can't say the same about the one at the Solent Sky museum which looks in poor condition - hope someone saves it before it is too late.

CJP

Ten years since I was there, . It was in lovely condition. You're right, it's been moved from Intrepid to the Empire State Aerosciences Museum in Schenectady, apparently.

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🙄It just occurred to me that one area I completely overlooked was modelling a representation of the bay that the main wheels retract in to that is covered by the fuselage doors - as built the wing undercarriage wheel bays have a solid side where they meet the fuselage rather than being open into the wheel bay - I've thought about trying to open this area now but decided I will leave it be but thought I would mention it for anyone else building the Dynavector Scimitar.

CJP

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You're doing a great job of this kit. I built all the Dynavector kits about 15 years ago and really enjoyed them. Most have since been released as injection kits but the Scimitar seems to have been neglected. 

A note to your idea with detailing the undercarriage bays,  the main doors were always closed once the gear was extended and little can be seen around the legs. The only time the main doors were open were when the aircraft was on jacks.

 

Colin 

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I had a think about the main gear bays & had a who am I kidding moment - its a little thing but it will bug me so I cut out the fuselage doors for the main undercarriage so I can now access the bay and box it in to some degree - I won't spend much time on detailing in there but just want it to look like it is an opening into the wheel bay - I have a CMR Scimitar that replicates this nicely 

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Decision made on what to tackle next on the  build

CJP

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42 minutes ago, Colin W said:

You're doing a great job of this kit. I built all the Dynavector kits about 15 years ago and really enjoyed them. Most have since been released as injection kits but the Scimitar seems to have been neglected. 

A note to your idea with detailing the undercarriage bays,  the main doors were always closed once the gear was extended and little can be seen around the legs. The only time the main doors were open were when the aircraft was on jacks.

 

Colin 

Thanks for that Colin - I am just going to open up the end of the wheel bay at the wing root, do some basic boxing in and replace the main wheel bay doors - probably a bit silly but something I need to do.

I am really enjoying this kit and still have the Dynavector Gannet & Wyvern in the stash - I would love to see an Injection Scimitar released in 1/48 by Airfix

CJP

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Excellent work there CJP. I have the Sea Hornet well advanced and the Gannet pre cut ready for assembly. I think the Dynovector models are quite superior vac forms with lovely metalwork. Thank you for sharing your modeling.

 

Keith

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After my decision above and after a few hours work I had a basic wheel bay  - I used some Scrap plastic and Evergreen strip of various profiles to represent the structure and with wire to represent hydraulic lines - I need to remember to airbrush the bay silver before I closed it up!

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Wheel bay with one of the bay doors sat in place

 

CJP

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Wow, some lovely work and I especially like the vents you made up and the hinges.  I have been looking at Martian's Vacform Tutorial (must catch up with that before I get in to trouble and he gives me lines, it's alright for him being able to write so many lines at a time, but I have only got the two arms) and after seeing this too I will go and purchase a Vacform and give it a try.  Thank you for posting and inspiring.

All the best

Chris

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32 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Wow, some lovely work and I especially like the vents you made up and the hinges.  I have been looking at Martian's Vacform Tutorial (must catch up with that before I get in to trouble and he gives me lines, it's alright for him being able to write so many lines at a time, but I have only got the two arms) and after seeing this too I will go and purchase a Vacform and give it a try.  Thank you for posting and inspiring.

All the best

Chris

Thanks Chris - it was Martians tutorial that motivated me to give this one a try - turned out to be quite straight forward and rewarding - the Dynavector vacforms have a good reputation but are hard to find these days.

 

CJP

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm sort of stuck in the cycle of filling joints, sanding, priming & repeat - easy to lose your mojo doing this stuff - at least once it is primed it is easier to see blemishes - unfortunately the wing fold jacks have got caught in my jumper and bent but they can be fixed later when the fuselage is done.

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At this point I got sidetracked and looked at some of my 1/72 Scimitar kits -the CMR Scimitar and the Xtrakit Scimitar - I also had a made up SKybirds86 Scimitar in need of TLC - I was not happy with the nose profile on this Skybirds86  kit so looked at the Xtrakit and thought the nose/intakes looked reasonable on it and to cut a long story short I started cutting  and before long I had the Xtrakit nose/intakes, & a section of rear fuselage grafted on to the Skybirds kit - I then married it to the spare resin wing I had from the CMR kit. I am happy with the result of the kit bash and will use the canopy from the Xtrakit Scimitar - thinking of finishing it as a FRADU Scimitar whenever I get that far. Also started putting the CMR fuselage together.

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Back to the Dynavector kit - I started working on the cockpit next and decided to not use the kit instrument panel and scratch built one from plastic card but did use the kit side consoles - I will fit the small horizontal panel above the main one when I cement it in and then replace the coaming that I had to cut away to fiddle the panel in -  I will add various levers and throttles later and some suitable Airscale instrument decals.

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CJP

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎7‎/‎2‎/‎2020 at 7:52 PM, Derek B said:

CJ, as a starting point, which Scimitar drawings would you consider to be the most accurate at the moment?

 

Cheers

 

Derek

Hello Derek - you asked this question a while ago but I just got hold of a book Scimitar Supermarine's last Fighter by Richard Franks - as well as having a lot of interesting photos I had not seen before it does  have some rather nice 1/72 drawings, although the head on view shows a sharp vertical line at the intakes rather than the curvature of the fuselage which gradually flattens from the windscreen  back until it gets to the boundary layer panel at the intake 

regards CJP

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