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Saro Lerwick detail parts sought


Heather Kay

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I recently acquired a Contrail 1/72nd Lerwick kit. It is complete, with transfers and all the whitemetal parts, and the transparencies haven’t yellowed with age. It’ll be my first - and probably last! - vac-form kit.


While it’s complete, I am considering upgrading parts like the engines. To that end, I’m after recommendations for good sources of Bristol Hercules engines, cowlings, exhausts and props. The most obvious answer is raid a Beaufighter kit, so suggestions as to the best option from the many and various Beau kits out there would be appreciated. 
 

That said, I’d rather not spend a lot just for a pair of engines!

 

Anyway, there’s no rush for this info. The kit, while tempting me, is a long way down my build list! Any information or ideas would be most gratefully received. Thanks!

 

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I'd do exactly as your suggest Heather, and raid a Tamiya Beaufighter. If you buy an earlier Beaufighter kit then you would then be able to fit Merlin engines to it using a Beaufighter Mk.II conversion set, if, like me, the idea of wasting a kit just to steal its engines seemed morally wrong to you!

 

Bristol was quite keen on the "power egg" idea and the Hercules installations had quite a lot of commonality. When you wore one out, you simply unbolt the entire thing at the mounts then fit a complete new engine/cowling assembly.

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The 1/48 Tamiya kit is no use for a 1/72 Lerwick. 

The best source of a good pair of Hercules power eggs in 1/72 nowadays is probably the Airfix kit, and I would definitely endorse the idea of conversion of the rest of that to a II. Or, if you're happy with something a little less state-of-the-art and don't actually fancy a Beau II, then an Aeroclub Lancaster II conversion would be perfect and give you a couple of spare engines left over for something else.

They come up occasionally on eBay or, if you're stuck, drop me a dm

Edited by Work In Progress
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13 minutes ago, gingerbob said:

Now that's a thread title that one doesn't see very often!  (Sorry, I haven't got any useful suggestions, but I'd love to see a Work-in-Progress on that one.)

One day. But not for a while. I don’t have anywhere to display it at the moment, so it must languish unbuilt.

 

8 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

I'd do exactly as your suggest Heather, and raid a Tamiya Beaufighter.

Good idea, but isn’t that the wrong scale? 
 

(I haven’t checked if Tamiya make a seventy-tooth version.)

 

1 minute ago, Work In Progress said:

The 1/48 Tamiya kit is no use for a 1/72 Lerwick. 

The best source of a good pair of Hercules power eggs in 1/72 nowadays is probably the Airfix kit. 

Sounds like a plan. I recently built the Hobby2000 repop of the Hasegawa Beau. That was quite good, so I might look out pre-owned Hase kits rather than spend on quite expensive recent kits. 
 

Cheers everyone. I’ll dig around and see what comes up on the usual web sites. :like:

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Heather, the only resin Bristol Hercules I know of are made by Vector, available on the Neomega Resin website. They're £7 each, but do look rather nice (he says wondering if they'll fit an Airfix Beaufighter.....

 

https://www.neomega-resin.com/bristol-hercules-172nd-scale-873-p.asp

 

Alternatively Alleycat do a couple of Beaufighter Mk.II conversions, so it's possible someone here may have some spare Airfix Hercules' going spare.

 

I've no connection with either company.

 

Edge

 

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Have you ever tried doing cast copies in resin of styren part? I've learnt this some 15 years ago and this gives you incredible freedom of doing conversions. You can just borrow the part you need from a model you have in stash, do the copy of a part and you have still complete model and extra part!

What you only need is a silicon (can be such from tube, like plumbers use) and a slow fixation (better then fast) resin glue. Maybe you will need to do some test which resin glue is the best for you. I have my favourite but it is Polish, I do not think that available in UK. You take the part (engine for example - in case of Hercules do the copy of each row separately), cover it carefully with some silicon (with some 1 cm from all sides but one, where it can be mode shallow), then wait a week, after week cut silicone to get the part out (but left it in one piece) . Then you can pour resin into vain and left it overnight. You surely can do this with your experience!

Regards

J-W

 

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41 minutes ago, JWM said:

Have you ever tried doing cast copies in resin of styren part?

That’s an excellent idea, but I don’t have the gear right now. It’s one of those funny situations where I really don’t want to get involved with messy chemicals if I can help it.

 

I'm also wracking my brain To recall if I’ve got another model with Hercules engines in the stash. I have an old Airfix Stirling, but that would be worse than what Contrail provided! :giggle:

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16 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

That’s an excellent idea, but I don’t have the gear right now. It’s one of those funny situations where I really don’t want to get involved with messy chemicals if I can help it.

I understand, however one can always reduce inhalation of agents doing things outside or with widely open window, in summer its easy :). In case of silicone it is acetic acid which smells horribly for a while, The resin is maybe less odoring, but in some way not good fro health indeed.  It is usually written on it that it can have some not nice effects. On the other hand the chemistry of resin glue is I think the  same or very similar to that of milliput, I think, and we work with it all.... The feeling of freedom you get when you can copy parts is worth all this! The wheels, props, engines, cowlings are the most important and relative easy. Airfix Beau is a good donor for sure.

I keep my fingers crossed for you :)

Regards

J-W

 

 

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5 hours ago, JWM said:

I understand, however one can always reduce inhalation of agents doing things outside or with widely open window, in summer its easy :). In case of silicone it is acetic acid which smells horribly for a while, The resin is maybe less odoring, but in some way not good fro health indeed.  It is usually written on it that it can have some not nice effects. On the other hand the chemistry of resin glue is I think the  same or very similar to that of milliput, I think, and we work with it all.... The feeling of freedom you get when you can copy parts is worth all this! The wheels, props, engines, cowlings are the most important and relative easy. Airfix Beau is a good donor for sure.

I keep my fingers crossed for you :)

Regards

J-W

 

 

Acetic acid is the essential ingredient of vinegar.  The vapour can be neutralized in air by ammonia which is just as unpleasant!

Without knowing the mixing process etc it might be possible to cover/immerse the curing silicone with a dilute solution of washing soda or sodium bicarbonate (bicarbonate of soda) which would also neutralize the acid.

Edited by Denford
Incomplete information
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6 hours ago, JWM said:

Have you ever tried doing cast copies in resin of styren part? I've learnt this some 15 years ago and this gives you incredible freedom of doing conversions. You can just borrow the part you need from a model you have in stash, do the copy of a part and you have still complete model and extra part!

What you only need is a silicon (can be such from tube, like plumbers use) and a slow fixation (better then fast) resin glue. Maybe you will need to do some test which resin glue is the best for you. I have my favourite but it is Polish, I do not think that available in UK. You take the part (engine for example - in case of Hercules do the copy of each row separately), cover it carefully with some silicon (with some 1 cm from all sides but one, where it can be mode shallow), then wait a week, after week cut silicone to get the part out (but left it in one piece) . Then you can pour resin into vain and left it overnight. You surely can do this with your experience!

Regards

J-W

 

Do please give me the name of the silicon (though I think you mean silicone) and also the resin.  My wonderful Polish cleaner regularly visits her home town of Krakow and maybe could get me some, then maybe it is available under another name here in UK

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2 hours ago, Denford said:

Do please give me the name of the silicon (though I think you mean silicone) and also the resin.  My wonderful Polish cleaner regularly visits her home town of Krakow and maybe could get me some, then maybe it is available under another name here in UK

The silicone (indeed with "e") is the simplest like that one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soudal-m289985-Silicone-Universal-traslucida/dp/B00UCB9QES

Due to globalization I have found one available in UK and Poland!

The Polish resin glue is Distal Classic by Libella company

https://www.emodel.pl/distal-classic-61g-epoxy-p-4090.html

However currently there is a shortage with buying it, maybe due to Covid ? I have found that it was in shops in last December. Since I did not get it recently I substituted it by also a Soudal company slow fixtion "extra strong" glue

https://www.skapiec.pl/site/cat/3873/comp/14535355

Perhaps that one will do the job also

https://www.amazon.co.uk/StewMac-2-Part-Epoxy-Slow-Setting-Clear/dp/B0731DKCJK

it is liquid for 20 minutes, so maybe enough to penetrate all deep parts of vain... You have to try, it like with playing the violin - no practice, no results :)

Regards

J-W

 

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4 minutes ago, airbus said:

My way for Lerwick engines is fairly simple:Airfix Lancaster ll + Blacbird Lincoln conversion=4 spare Hercules engines ....

Peter

A sound plan, but I have a problem. I only collect and build planes that were operational in 1940. ;) 

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14 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

I might look out pre-owned Hase kits rather than spend on quite expensive recent kits. 

The Matchbox TFX  kit might be a cheaper alternative for the Hercules cowlings and props. That being said, Heather, you might check to see if the Lerwick and Beaufighter props were the same diameter- I'm betting the Beau props had longer blades, but that would be easy to fix..  

Mike

Edited by 72modeler
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1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

A sound plan, but I have a problem. I only collect and build planes that were operational in 1940. ;) 

Short Stirling was first delivered into squadron service in August 1940, declared operational in January 1941. Can't think of anything else, apart from early Beaufighter I that were fitted with Hercules engines, in service in 1940 & are available as 1/72 kits.

 

Edge

 

 

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On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2020 at 1:14 PM, Heather Kay said:

 

I'm also wracking my brain To recall if I’ve got another model with Hercules engines in the stash. I have an old Airfix Stirling, but that would be worse than what Contrail provided! :giggle:

The Airfix Stirling engines and cowlings are quite useable if you have them available. Many Lancaster BII's were built using them in the past

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6 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

I think we have a winner!

But you would still need a set of props, Heather, unless you already have a set from a  Blenheim kit. Don't think Beaufighter prop hubs will work, as they were the DH Hamilton Std. type, if memory serves. (I'm most likely wrong, but somebody will be along shortly to correct me!) Going to be an unusual-looking flying boat- such a short fuselage and hull- bet it was no fun operating from anything other than a calm sea state!

Mike

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