FM 1/48 Hampden - Duel Build with the General!

[general melchett]

Hi chaps, just a quick update on the Hampden. For anyone interested, the replacement cowlings and gill rings are now available on the Hannants website. 

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/TWC48072

 

Header artwork

 

 

Melchie

Edited December 19, 2020 by general melchett

[heloman1]

HI general, I think those new cowling rings are going to look far better than anything that was in the kit. Bravo!

 

I'm back on  my Seasprite build (see elsewhere) and my first build post in over a year or more. 

 

Colin

[tonyot]

19 hours ago, general melchett said:

Hi chaps, just a quick update on the Hampden. For anyone interested, the replacement cowlings and gill rings are now available on the Hannants website. 

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/TWC48072

 

Header artwork

 

 

Melchie

Thanks for the heads up mate,..... I was considering parting with my kit,...... but might have a look at these. 

[tonyot]

On 10/20/2020 at 8:42 PM, general melchett said:

Thought it was about time I posted a few images of what's happening with my Hampden, can't let Neil carry all the weight, (and there's a fair bit of it). Progress has been slow, due to other projects taking precedence, modelling and 'real life', including the removal and replacement of a new kitchen here at Melchett Towers, all at the rabid insistence of the Memsahib, (under threat of death and/or cessation of my 'Wensleydale with cranberries' ration, affirmative action was needed).

 

Not far off finishing the interior now, just a bit more work on the nose area including  window framing, bomb panel wiring, an ABS bomb sight, nav's tools and map for the nav/bomb aimer's table. There's also a few odds and ends like fitting the seat, radio boxes, control wheel, control-surface cables, pipes and glazing to the door, then it's onto the bomb bay. The basic structure is there now, but it needs all the electricals, racks and bomb door actuators to be fitted.

 

Thanks for looking, hope you approve.

 

Melchie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scratch built seat and radio set, still to be fitted.

 

 

Parachute and survival pack made from Magic Sculpt modelling putty, great stuff, easy to use.

 

 

Everything together.

 

 

 

 

Yeah not bad I suppose,....... love it mate!

[general melchett]

Thanks Tony...well, if you're a really good boy, Santa may well bring you a nice pair of Pegasus XVIII's to put inside them for the New Year....but only if you're extra good!

[tonyot]

5 minutes ago, general melchett said:

Thanks Tony...well, if you're a really good boy, Santa may well bring you a nice pair of Pegasus XVIII's to put inside them for the New Year....but only if you're extra good!

As the bin man said in Common As Muck,..... "I`m a Good Lad I am",....... LOL,... and if you believe that you`ll believe anything!

 

Sounds good bud,.... ta,... Hope you have a good Christmas mate,

Cheers

          Tony  

[general melchett]

Thanks Tony, same to you and yours.....take care and go easy on the CA.

[woody37]

The cowlings are great and take pain out of this painful build!.

 

sorry I've not made any updates on mine either. I made the moulds to form nose and rear lower gun position but PET plastic prices have gone through the roof due to some bug that is going round and people are making visors out of it. It's gone back in the box for now until I get round to buying some plastic. I tried forming some with 0.75mm thick which I have but it's too thick to work with, I need 0.5mm.

[woody37]

Managed to get hold of some plastic for a reasonable price today so will have a go at getting these bits formed over the weekend and see if we can get this thing finished in 2021!

[woody37]

I've resurrected this build on a moment of impulse (or insanity perhaps!) and managed to get a bit more done:

 

1. Fettled the formers ready for vac forming the new clear parts

2. Prepared the tail feathers

3. Rescribed the fuselage panel lines using pictures of the restoration at Cosford as guidance

 

I'm awaiting some Evergreen plastic strips to get the other fuselage half interior finished so it can be painted and the fuselage joined. Fit on the big bits is vague at best so alignment on the wings and tail feathers will be a pain. The tail plane will be secured with brass rod going through them. There's a lot of work required to get these parts on, but it's kinda fun. The tail plane is much thicker than the stubs that they are to mate too so I'll have to use some miliput or P36 to blend it all in.

 

 

 

 

[heloman1]

Good to see you back on this build Neil. I see we still had Tony with us further up the page, as sad day for this site with his 'departure'!

Not going to be able to make it up north on  my trip next wee. I'm only in the UK for six days, no family or friends visiting!

 

Colin

[woody37]

3 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Good to see you back on this build Neil. I see we still had Tony with us further up the page, as sad day for this site with his 'departure'!

Not going to be able to make it up north on  my trip next wee. I'm only in the UK for six days, no family or friends visiting!

 

Colin

Sorry to hear you can't get over Colin, I understand though, 

 

Yes, agree, really miss Tony on here. I know he has his own Facebook page, but his builds,  knowledge sharing and general contribution was a key part of being here for me.

[Cees Broere]

Yesss, keep at it.

Cheers

Cees

[woody37]

15 hours ago, Cees Broere said:

Yesss, keep at it.

Cheers

Cees

Thanks mate, got the Evergreen delivered yesterday so can crack on this week

 

[woody37]

Blimey, we're dragging this thread out! Here's me cracking jokes about Steve @Fritag and his glacial builds when I'm just as guilty 😂

 

2023 has been a focus on clearing the shelf of doom and next on the list had to be this damn thing! I decided to fit the wings and tail feathers over the weekend as a motivation to crack on, but even that posed several challenges. The tailplane was overly thick, so I sanded it thinner and the join on the rear end was all over the place. Also, the wing join gaps were quite big and varied so I attacked it with some P38 car filler. After lots of fettling (actually more than lots!) we finally have something resembling a Hampden. Next steps has to be getting the clear parts formed, the bit I've been procrastinating over!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your patience 🤪

 

Neil

 

 

[janneman36]

Glad you are going to finish it as I loved what you did to it up till now 🥇

 

cheers, Jan

[woody37]

11 hours ago, janneman36 said:

Glad you are going to finish it as I loved what you did to it up till now 🥇

 

cheers, Jan

Thanks Jan,

 

I'm still hoping to be taking one for the team so that a new kit gets released imminently!

[CJP]

Hi Woody37 - getting a FM kit to the finish line is a challenging project but you've already got this one looking very neat - looking forward to seeing it finished.

CJP

[janneman36]

3 hours ago, woody37 said:

Thanks Jan,

 

I'm still hoping to be taking one for the team so that a new kit gets released imminently!

Nahh a new one will be coming when I build mine I have in the stash🤫

[Stephen Allen]

Now I have found this WIP I will be following with great interest. Makes my Wimpey look a doddle by comparison with the work you have put in to lifting this kit.

 

cheers

 

Steve

[davidl]

Outstanding work sir !

That interior is about  perfect -

You have correctly captured the crew access from the nose under the pilot's seat and over the wing spar - nearly everyone gets that completely wrong - but you seem to have omitted the 4 steps which allow the crew to climb up from the nose enclosure up along the front wall of the bomb bay and under the pilot's seat -

You can see these steps on a couple of the available cutaway drawings. I have included these steps in my 1/48 Sanger vac rendition and was wondering if you think I got this wrong ?? It was the only way I could see how crew could move past the pilot's seat when the machine was airborne ...

Your corrections to what is a truly terrible and inaccurate "Frankenstein" of an injection kit are just a superb example of real scale modelling

Regards

David 

 

[janneman36]

3 hours ago, davidl said:

Outstanding work sir !

That interior is about  perfect -

You have correctly captured the crew access from the nose under the pilot's seat and over the wing spar - nearly everyone gets that completely wrong - but you seem to have omitted the 4 steps which allow the crew to climb up from the nose enclosure up along the front wall of the bomb bay and under the pilot's seat -

You can see these steps on a couple of the available cutaway drawings. I have included these steps in my 1/48 Sanger vac rendition and was wondering if you think I got this wrong ?? It was the only way I could see how crew could move past the pilot's seat when the machine was airborne ...

Your corrections to what is a truly terrible and inaccurate "Frankenstein" of an injection kit are just a superb example of real scale modelling

Regards

David 

 

Regarding the the Frankenstein FM Hampden I can tell you that this is just a copy of the Sanger vacform!

I have both 🙃 and really everything matches up .

 

cheers, Jan

[woody37]

14 hours ago, Stephen Allen said:

Now I have found this WIP I will be following with great interest. Makes my Wimpey look a doddle by comparison with the work you have put in to lifting this kit.

 

cheers

 

Steve

 

Thanks Steve, I'm enjoying your Wimpey build, especially for the corrections and improvements you're making so following yours as well

 

8 hours ago, davidl said:

Outstanding work sir !

That interior is about  perfect -

You have correctly captured the crew access from the nose under the pilot's seat and over the wing spar - nearly everyone gets that completely wrong - but you seem to have omitted the 4 steps which allow the crew to climb up from the nose enclosure up along the front wall of the bomb bay and under the pilot's seat -

You can see these steps on a couple of the available cutaway drawings. I have included these steps in my 1/48 Sanger vac rendition and was wondering if you think I got this wrong ?? It was the only way I could see how crew could move past the pilot's seat when the machine was airborne ...

Your corrections to what is a truly terrible and inaccurate "Frankenstein" of an injection kit are just a superb example of real scale modelling

Regards

David 

 

Hi David,

 

Andy's interior is far better than mine, I've just gone for an approximate look and will put greater focus on the exterior finish. I must of forgotten the steps even though I remember it being my intention to fit some! I've just had a look inside and realised it's just a ramp! Doh! Steps or no steps, I don't suppose it was much fun trying to pass under the pilot in flight in full flying gear.

 

Yesterday I made a start of forming the clear parts, however the sheets of clear PETG I bought a few years back just aren't working. The plastic is going cloudy before it gets enough elasticity to pull around the former so I've ordered some more sheets. I suspect the plastic I previously got wasn't PETG as described. This stuff isn't cheap but at least if this doesn't work, I can ask for a return and get my money back.

 

Whilst waiting for the PETG sheets to arrive, I'm cracking on with the rescribing and riveting. 

[Fritag]

4 hours ago, woody37 said:

Whilst waiting for the PETG sheets to arrive, I'm cracking on with the rescribing and riveting. 

 

Rescribing, riveting and working with PETg.  Three tasks that I find a bit of a pain - and would much rather watch you do, than do myself....

 

On 9/4/2023 at 8:23 PM, woody37 said:

Here's me cracking jokes about Steve @Fritag and his glacial builds when I'm just as guilty 😂

 

Ha.  I've just nearly finished a model in mere months!  Not at all glacial.  Well not in pre global warning terms anyway...

 

Glad to see this one again Neil.

[woody37]

13 hours ago, Fritag said:

 

Rescribing, riveting and working with PETg.  Three tasks that I find a bit of a pain - and would much rather watch you do, than do myself....

 

 

Me too Steve, and the main reason why this has stalled. 

 

Last night I finished cutting out the bits that I could potentially use from the kit clear parts. Quite happy with how they look so they've been dipped in Kleer now. In the process of rescribing and riveting I snapped both tails off, so they'll stay off for now. Having big clumsy sausage fingers is a pain at times!

 

The clear parts so far...

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Neil