825 Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 My second contribution will be another Sea King this time a 'Baggie' of 849 NavalAir Squadron. The base kit dates from the original 1969 Airfix S-61 Sea King which I think was issued in Apollo rescue chopper livery. This boxing dates from 2010 and has a bundle of new sprues with updated parts and the necessary parts to make an AEW2 or an ASaC7 both from 849 NAS. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Looks a lovely kit @825look forward to seeing you bring this one to life cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Several sprues of grey plastic of variable crispness and moulding quality. The 'old' sprues were already 40 year old and you can tell the old from the new. Although the flash is minimal there are some moulding flaws flaws that will need attention A clear sprue and some nice transfers. Standard Airfix instructions and my piece de resistance, an Airwaves resin deflated bag. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 Nice subject choice I'm interested in how the new and old parts compare and fit together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 13 hours ago, Col. said: Nice subject choice I'm interested in how the new and old parts compare and fit together. The moulding sharpness differs quite a bit with the newer parts being a lot crisper and lack moulding pips and they have no flash. The original parts are all there including the dipping sonar. Originally the instructions showed how to make the sonar lower and raise using thread and a wrapping it around a spigot on the rotor shaft. Turning the rotor one way lowered it and the other raised it again back into its housing in the cabin. The parts are all in the box as are the retracting undercarriage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 Lots of paint on parts and the interior assembled and painted. Straight OOB apart from some harnesses from painted Tamiya tape. And now fuselage sides glued together. I was impressed for such an old kit the join was not at all bad and will not need an enormous amount of work. There is a slot in the underside which was the hole for the stand. I put a piece of plastic strip on the inside to act as a base for filler. Some other sub assemblies put lies put together and again the joins aren't too bad. I was worried that I was going to spend a lot of time filling and sanding but so far it's only the front end that looks like it'll need some attention. Spoke too soon. And now we have something to deal with. The engine intake cover is a really poor fit. I've filled most of the holes with plastic strip and will let cure before trimming. This should minimise the amount of filling and sanding with the consequent layers of dust. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 8, 2020 Author Share Posted July 8, 2020 An hour or so of sanding has improved things somewhat. Then a number of the main parts added on. The fit wasn't too bad for most of them. Mind you this hole is bigger than the part to go in so I've popped some plastic strip shims in to help seat the front part. Seats well but will still need some filling. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr T Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 On my last encounter with the Airfix old tool Sea King I seem to recall that the big canopy moulding had suffered a bit over the years. Nice to see these kits being built though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 Coming together nicely indeed,I've got an original boxing which is nicely molded but missing glass damn it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 On 7/9/2020 at 12:00 AM, Mr T said: On my last encounter with the Airfix old tool Sea King I seem to recall that the big canopy moulding had suffered a bit over the years. Nice to see these kits being built though. Thanks for the heads up on the canopy. So far the glazing has gone in OK. I'll spend a bit of time to make sure that the fit is good. On 7/9/2020 at 9:05 PM, stevej60 said: Coming together nicely indeed,I've got an original boxing which is nicely molded but missing glass damn it! On 7/9/2020 at 9:05 PM, stevej60 said: Coming together nicely indeed,I've got an original boxing which is nicely molded but missing glass damn it! Not so good as the main canopy in particular is a real challenge. And the lower front windows would be really challenging. Anyway as the assembled fuselage is awaiting masking in anticipation of painting, I cut out the slot in the main door for the radome mount. At present it's just been glued with plastic cement which will hold in place fine for the moment. I'll solidify it with some cyano before attacking it with some sandpaper 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 Masking done, including the main canopy. After @Mr T's heads up on the canopy fit I spent a bit of time tidying the canopy and surround to get a better fit. It's not brilliant but almost everything matches up enough to finish off with some filler. The moulding has curved tops to the three front windows but looking at pictures they're actually straight. I'll do some re-masking before I fix the canopy in. I've put a coat of transparent green on the inside of the roof windows and I'll put another on. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert falcon Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Looking good so far @825, she will be looking fine with some paint on her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 Canopy masking fixed and another coat of transparent green on the roof insides. And now fixed. It was a nightmare and took forever to get some semblance of order. Now apart from a gap at the front and top, both of which are easily dealt with this side is not at all bad. However the other side is a completely different proposition altogether. There's a fair old step . In effect the canopy is too wide but I think the plastic too brittle to try and squeeze and clamp. I'll fill the gaps initially with Krystal Kleer which I can then paint in the interior colour before using Perfect Plastic Putty to smooth everything off. The use of a first layer of Krystal Kleer means that you don't get a sliver of unpainted filler showing through on the inside. Assuming you paint it of course. I'll leave it to solidify before attacking the starboard side. Some cyano and brute force might get it close to sand in. Though that's for another day. 4 hours ago, desert falcon said: Looking good so far @825, she will be looking fine with some paint on her! Thanks, I'm eager to get some paint on but there's a wee bit of work to do unfortunately. This kit is a bit weird in a number of ways. It goes together pretty well and reasonably quickly but there's always something needed to be done to get a good result. Hopefully it will turn out fine in the end. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 I've done some further cleaning up and painted around the canopy. Some is faired in but the canopy is still a bit wobbly so I'll leave it and hope it firms up before I attack it with some more aggressive means. I have though managed to lay down a couple of coats of Dark Sea Grey on to much of the airframe. Starting to look like a Sea King. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Good lord,you've had your work cut out here,you should be awarded a large shiny medal for persistance,and one for making a far better job than should ever be possible with this old mold 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 A lot of work gone here to get this to the standard that you have obtained. Well done in doing this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 I agree, a lot of very good work to get you to this standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 A lot of work to get this far but all worthwhile On 7/4/2020 at 12:03 PM, 825 said: Originally the instructions showed how to make the sonar lower and raise using thread and a wrapping it around a spigot on the rotor shaft. Turning the rotor one way lowered it and the other raised it again back into its housing in the cabin. The parts are all in the box as are the retracting undercarriage. Soon as I read this the memory of doing it as a boy on my own kit came rushing back 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 On 7/14/2020 at 6:32 PM, Hewy said: Good lord,you've had your work cut out here,you should be awarded a large shiny medal for persistance,and one for making a far better job than should ever be possible with this old mold 👍 It's a little frustrating at times @Hewy, as some of the fit is excellent for an old kit, only needing a little cleaning up and other parts are just awful. But it looks like I'm now on the home straight. 16 hours ago, Jabba said: A lot of work gone here to get this to the standard that you have obtained. Well done in doing this. 10 hours ago, modelling minion said: I agree, a lot of very good work to get you to this standard. Thanks guys. 2 hours ago, Col. said: A lot of work to get this far but all worthwhile Soon as I read this the memory of doing it as a boy on my own kit came rushing back There was a time when Airfix in particular had loads of working parts in their kits. I think this must have been one of the most ambitious. Anyway after a lot of work done around the canopy and it's looking good on the port side and almost presentable on the starboard side. A little bit of filler to smooth off and I can move onto the next stage. Also under a few coats of Dark Sea Grey a lot of imperfections start to disappear. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 19, 2020 Author Share Posted July 19, 2020 A fair amount of work over the last few days with files and filler around the canopy to give something that's almost reasonable. The black area around the exhausts masked off as well and a layer of matt black on. Now painted and the black surround for the lower windows and canopy done as well. Masking off and looks not too bad. Not perfect but will pass muster once the transfers and sticky out bits are on. Door is on as well. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Coming on in leaps and bounds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 Main airframe finished and the majority of transfers on. The transfers went on well some needed a little bit of adjusting to get in place. They were fairly resilient although the window surrounds were a little fragile. They are beautifully detailed. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 And the majority of aerials and other sticky out bits on. I found the winch a bit of a challenge and one of the supports broke, then half got lost to the carpet monster. I fabricated a replacement from plastic rod. Now for some touching up. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 The airframe is pretty well complete and will need a coat of matt varnish to both dull down the finish and pull the transfers and paint together. The deflated radome has been washed in detergent and the end smoothed off, while the support arm has also been cleaned up. Really just the rotors to add then. They have been assembled and painted the main rotor head is simplified but the rotors are a tad flimsy so I'll work out a way of making them removable. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Some good work getting the decals on. Yes that carpet monster will eat anything, but well done in getting a replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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