Marathon - vac style

[cngaero]

On 6/27/2020 at 4:30 PM, Sabrejet said:

I did feel that I'd let @Moa down, so I've made a small addition.

 

 

 

You'll have to bring your own loo roll. 

Very neat work indeed. Was that bog standard fit on all Marathons? 

[Sabrejet]

2 hours ago, kev67 said:

You probably have these photos, but these were taken from the Magazine Early Post War British Airliners that has the Miles Marathon

 

No actually most were new to me: many thanks for posting!

[Sabrejet]

Seats went in before the fuselage halves were joined. Not enough room for two rows of two, but you can't really see them anyway!

 

 

And strapped up while the glue set:

 

 

And finally, the LOTS of filler I expected. Actually not as much as I'd expected.

 

 

Forgot to mention: before attaching the cockpit glazing I made an overhead console, the back of which you can see part-painted where it's glued on.

Edited June 30, 2020 by Sabrejet

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

It's a pleasure to watch the wonderful job you are doing with this model.

 

[Sabrejet]

Lots of sanding later...

 

 

Unfortunately the thin port-side fuselage half finally bit me and while 'robustly' holding the fuselage while sanding, a large crack appeared, running vertically up the forward fuselage. Fingers crossed the MEK and Humbrol filler did the trick, but you can see the extent of the damage below. Wings and tail fins are just on temporarily.

 

 

While I remember, Contrail placed a large cargo door on the port side nose section but it's only applicable for the prototype. So that was filled and will be scribed in place on the aft starboard fuselage side.

 

 

So a guide coat of primer went on:

 

 

And then the task of filling gaps and scribing panel lines:

 

 

And there were still a few bits to fill but generally it looks OK. Time for some masking...

 

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Beautiful!  Scribing is my least favorite task.  What do you use to render the scribed lines and guide yourself?  How do you get a good datum on the fuselage?

[Sabrejet]

Just now, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Beautiful!  Scribing is my least favorite task.  What do you use to render the scribed lines and guide yourself?  How do you get a good datum on the fuselage?

Me too. I always think it will be therapeutic but it rarely is. I use a mix of masking tape to put the lines in place and a pencil to mark them. Then some old Tamiya templates to wrap the panel lines. For the passenger door and cargo door I made a thin plastic card template to scribe round, as I did for the wing root fairings.

[Sabrejet]

Minor update: first colour coats on.

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Oh, man! that's looking gorgeous!!!

[71chally]

Superb workmanship, caught the lines perfectly, can't believe how clear you've got that cockpit glazing.

[Jonners]

Very nice work. I'm just a bit concerned that the cistern might have spilled water on the passenger's head in turbulence...

Jon

[rgb40]

Beautifully done. love vacu forms

George

[Sabrejet]

Only a minor update. I started on the engine nacelles, and thanks to @John Aero, the propellers will at least look good! This was the starting point for the engines, with some spurious 'intakes' (blobs) to remove and fill:

 

 

And progress so far. Inboard nacelles also house the main landing gear and engine oil tank, so will receive a bit of internal detail.

 

 

And I never did reveal the colour scheme for this one. Well here it is - Union of Burma Airways (photo courtesy of Peter Amos). Fortunately I have a few other photo references for the three Marathons they operated, so decals will be OK. They are being designed as we speak (not by me!) but won't be ready until August, so hopefully it will all come together by then.

 

 

[Sabrejet]

More engine & wing stuff. Two oil tanks:

 

 

Main gear doors:

 

 

And then some interior added to the main gear bays:

 

 

And the generator and oil cooler intakes, plus some filling...(again).

 

 

Then finally mounted onto the wings. I did toy with wondering what they'd look mounted on the top surfaces: quite cool actually. And the passengers would have had an awesome view. One for the "What If?" pile...

 

 

I also made cooler flaps (brass sheet) and put those on too. Then yet more filler. 

 

 

This isn't the final location for the oil tank, but close enough to sort-of show how it will look:

 

 

Just visible is one of two holes in the top of the gear bay for mounting the main landing gear. There is another one aft, and once I've finished sanding and filling, that will be the next job. Hope you like it so far

[Shorty84]

Wow, great update. Liking would be the wrong word, impressed is more fitting. You really put a lot of work into this vac kit and it progresses really well.

 

Cheers

Markus

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

It's just a thing of wonder.

Such beautiful work.

[Bengalensis]

This is very impressive work, absolutely wonderful.

[Sabrejet]

Thankyou for your kind words: they mean a great deal. 👍

[kev67]

Wow, this is great, I think I still have a lot to learn in vac form building to this standard 

[71chally]

Yep, have to agree, superb and very clean and crisp modelling. You wouldn't think this started out as a vacform.

[Sabrejet]

Robin Hood, Robin Hood here we are again. Now there's an obscure reference from my youth. Anyway the wings have moved ahead, with a bit of filling (not as much as I thought), some primer...

 

 

Then a quick check of the propellers:

 

 

 

 

And then some paint.

 

 

 

 

 

Paint is Mr Color acrylic No.8 Silver, with a Vallejo Model Wash 76.516 Grey panel wash and sealed with Mr Color Gloss Premium Topcoat. I will try a few shades for the propellers when I get to them, to try and add a bit of contrast. It's all silver/NMF, but these aircraft didn't get much use so I want to keep it clean-looking.

 

Then a quick shot of the wings on the fuselage: looking OK still!

 

 

 

So next up will be panel lines on the fins/rudders plus paint and the same for the ailerons and elevators. Apologies for the photos - it's dark and rainy here!

[Hayden Northcott]

Interesting to see a vacuum build!

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Wow!  It looks like you're about ready to wrap this one up, and with a flourish.  It's beautiful.

[Sabrejet]

OK so we have been on holiday for a week or two and only just got back. So hopefully a good catch-up. First of all I finished off the props and the rest of the basic scribing and painting.

 

 

I also wasn't happy with the canopy framing so did it again a bit neater.

 

 

Then today I've managed to get started on the main landing gear, which is made mainly from brass tube and plasticard, with a bit of carved resin to act as the main forging. The kit part shown in the first photo.

 

 

 

 

 

The shock absorber part works on a lower trailing link, and to make the assembly stronger, the shiny part is made from polished aluminium tube, which passes through the trailing link and is cross-drilled to accept a thin brass rod, which will also act as the basis for the axles.

 

 

Unfortunately the main gear legs are black, so not much chance of showing off the detail. However it's not fully finished yet so we'll see. These are various shots of the painted gear, and also with the main retract actuator installed. All of the main retraction actuators (two for each main gear plus an unlock actuator) extend to retract the gear and so there are no visible shiny parts when the gear is down

 

 

 

Then mounted in the wing:

 

 

Another peculiarity is that each main leg is raked aft when fully extended: it's braced by the aft retract actuator (not fitted here)

 

 

And these final shots with the retract actuator fitted and a bit of detailing done.

 

 

 

 

Nearly there. Other good news is that my decals are currently in the mail to me, so hopefully it will all come together sooner than I expected. As ever, comments most welcome!

[Shorty84]

Nice legs Looks like the build will be finished soon?

 

Cheers

Markus