L391 Search and Rescue LeO 453S - Update 15mar21 - Flory wash, windows, hand rail, etc

[TonyOD]

5 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

I can see that they are only lightly marked with framing so that is going to be fun!

Oh, it is...

 

[RidgeRunner]

I’ve picked up a set of rectangular leather punches off Evilbay to experiment with before attempting the windows. Have any of you used such a thing before?

 

Martin

[RidgeRunner]

8 hours ago, TonyOD said:

Oh, it is...

 

That looks fiddly, Tony! 

[TonyOD]

Wee bit!

 

I’m enjoying your build, learning a lot.

[RidgeRunner]

23 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

I’ve picked up a set of rectangular leather punches off Evilbay to experiment with before attempting the windows. Have any of you used such a thing before?

 

Martin

After scratching my head a while I didn’t think the punches will work so I’ve ordered a 2mm modelling chisel. The windows are around 2.2mm wide and a little more than that in height. My hope is that once marked out with tape and pre-drilled, I will be able to cut each window square-sided. Fingers crossed!
 

The Renaissance parts arrived today. I haven’t opened the package yet so will give you all a few images in the next couple of days.

 

Martin

[Terry1954]

Interesting choice of build Martin. Tagging along on this one for what I think will be an enjoyable ride!

 

Terrt

[RidgeRunner]

I had deliveries today :). The first is the package of Renaissance Models parts. These arrived very well packed in a sturdy box. Here is how they look:

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the parts are nicely moulded. The undercarriage assemblies come as four copies (I think) so, if two go on well without issue, I will have a spare set! I have also noted that the cowling and prop set also includes wheels. Again, I will have spares! I’ll sell these of the For Sale thread on BM for any of you LeO builders :). Bear in mind that I haven’t actually opened these packs yet.

 

My second delivery was the Berna roundel set. Now I just need the book and the chisel and I will be on course For the build

 

Martin

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

Finally, with the Harvard done, I am able to get going on the LeO :). 

 

My first task today was the re-check this size issue (see @AntoineG's thread). Having now received the Meunier book, and assuming that his 1/72 drawings are accurate, I  have found that the sizes of the Heller LeO are all over the place - the distances tail cone to rear of the cockpit framing, tail cone to nose, tailplane to the same references, and more are all wrong! When I say wrong we are talking minute discrepancies. Also the raised panel lines are wrong. So, "what to do"? Well, I've decided that worrying about Antoine's 6mm in the face of these other dimensiion errors would be crazy. I will leave things  as they are. In the end she'll look like a LeO!

 

The book:

 

 

 

For anyone interested in the LeO 45 series and want a project this is the book for you :). There were a number of engine testbeds as well as survey aircraft of the IGN.

 

Having made the decision about sizes it is on with the build. My first task has been to mark out the side windows. These machines were converted to fast transports and then SAR aircraft. They therefore needed more light in the cabin.  The standard LeO 451 had a set of windows on the starboard side of the main fuselage. This provided a reference for him as they were the same width as the new ones need to be. From those I calculated the heights and depths and used Tamiya tape to mark out. This then gives a very clear and sharp line againsts which to cut :).  I havent taken to the next stage yet as I have a busy day ahead of me in the garden! ;). Anyhow, this is how the marking out looks today:

 

 

I'll be taking the drill and 2mm chisel to her tomorrow

 

The next subject for me to chew over is the upper aperture. On these machines the cannon was removed, of course, and the opening had a new cover. This seemed to vary from machine to machine. The generally used config was this:

 

 

This means a lot of filling of the kit parts:

 

 

As I see it today the rear "triangular section” needs completely filling. Then I could use the kit transparency for the forward section. I'm not sure yet.  

 

Thereafter I need to:

 

1. Drill and cut the windows

2. Decide on the configuration for the nose area - what equipment supplied in the kit is not necessary? Certainly the odd tubing arrangement - whatever it was - needs to go. 

3. Finish off detailing the cockit and deciding if I need to build in a floor for the main cabin. This, for me, depends on how much can be seen. This is primarily through the large cockpit glazing and possibly the dorsal glazing.

 

I'll be back tomorrow evening with a further update

 

Martin

  

 

[TonyOD]

1 minute ago, RidgeRunner said:

I've decided that worrying about Antoine's 6mm in the face of these other dimensiion errors would be crazy. I will leave things  as they are. In the end she'll look like a LeO!

When faced with stuff like this I always come back to my extremely rigorous accuracy quality control benchmark: "can it be mistaken for a Spitfire"? 

 

You've got me thinking about the innards of my nose cone now. Presumably some of the kit gubbins represents bomb aiming equipment, which in a fast transport (like the cannon) would logically have been removed? The whole cabin configuration is a bit of a mystery. I've already bet on the retractable ventral gondola turret being, absent, not that it makes any difference to my build. Funny though how with those builds I learn so much about the aircraft whether I set out with that intention or not.

 

Bet that book's fascinating....

[RidgeRunner]

Hi Tony @TonyOD,

 

Sadly even the wonderful book I have doesn’t help too much on the cabin detail question for the transport conversions :(. As it can hardly be seen, if at all, I may not bother too much apart from the cockpit and nose,m.

 

I’m afraid there is nothing on your German in the book
 

 Catch up tomorrow  
 

Martin

[TonyOD]

25 minutes ago, RidgeRunner said:

Hi Tony @TonyOD,

 

Sadly even the wonderful book I have doesn’t help too much on the cabin detail question for the transport conversions :(. As it can hardly be seen, if at all, I may not bother too much apart from the cockpit and nose,m.

 

I’m afraid there is nothing on your German in the book
 

 Catch up tomorrow  
 

Martin

I was thinking of pressing into service 17 unneeded chairs from my Dragon Rapide build and scratchbuilding a passenger cabin.

 

And if you believe that... 

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

Today's update. I've spent a couple or more of tedious hours drilling and cutting out the twelve windows along the cabin sides. I am purely a non-"power assisted" and so it was just a slow, methodical process: mark out (I did yesterday), drill out, cut claen edges with a chisel and clean up. 

 

 

I've got them all done now plus I've added a few ribs to add a little little interest. In the absence of good photos of the 453 cabin I've just added a few generic bits here and there. I'll add a few more "boxes" and cabling and set her aside until Monday, when I can get more done.

 

 

Martin

 

 

[TonyOD]

Proper craftsmanship that, @RidgeRunner.

[JOCKNEY]

Outstanding work Martin, your attention to detail is very inspiring, I would love a copy of that book but with a shocking lack of French I would have to hope for lots of photos for guidance. 

I fancy doing a Vichy one of these but that's a shed load of stripes !  

Cheers Pat

[RidgeRunner]

4 hours ago, TonyOD said:

Proper craftsmanship that, @RidgeRunner.

 

 

1 hour ago, JOCKNEY said:

Outstanding work Martin, your attention to detail is very inspiring, I would love a copy of that book but with a shocking lack of French I would have to hope for lots of photos for guidance. 

I fancy doing a Vichy one of these but that's a shed load of stripes !  

Cheers Pat

 

Thanks chaps. I will add more ribs, cabling and boxes here and there before giving it all a shot of primer

 

Martin

[RidgeRunner]

Steadily getting to the fuselage close up stage :). I have added a few "boxes" here and there in the cockpit and nose area, plus some cabling (from electrical copper wire), tape seat belts etc. The interior has then had a blast of Humbrol 121 Stone to simulate Chamois, being an out of stock item at Sovereign. Its is pretty close but maybe a little lacking in the yellow spectrum? Once dried I wil paint the boxes, instrument panel, seats, etc and then use a combination of dry brushing and washes to get it looking used. 

 

 

I havent found any good images of the LeO 453 cockpit, nose or cabin and so these are really just to "busy" the internals. I will then move to fuselage closure. The next job will then be to work on the dorsal opening in which the transport/SAR LeOs had a more solid cover. For this I intend to use a cut down large wing tank from a Super Mystere as it is the largest moulded tubular item I have that also has a curvved end. 

 

 

So far I have cut the tank half in two parts and inserted a plug to widen it to match the aperture width. 

 

 

I reckon that once set and cleaned up it will be just right. I will then need to cut the kit transperency to fit as a wedge shape at the forward end of the filler:

 

 

For all the cabin windows and the side door and opposite circular windows I will be using Kristal Klear. 

 

Back again soon

 

Martin

 

 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

This is looking better with every post Martin. Nice internal detail and it’ll all look really great once finished. 

Cheers.. Dave

[TonyOD]

19 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

So far I have cut the tank half in two parts and inserted a plug to widen it to match the aperture width. 

 

 

Much more elegant solution than my bodge job. Whole thing looking great.

[RidgeRunner]

I grabbed an hour to get some weathering done on the internals; painting various generic boxes black, seats (black, brown, tan). After, and having added the instrument panel as best as I could (should have fitted the control column after the decal  ), I gave the whole interior a light dry brushing with Humbrol 11 and then used some Tamiya Weathering Powders (Oil and Silver) to add some grime. Here she is dry fitted from the front:

 

 

 

The panel behind the pilot modified to - hopefully - resemble a transport machine:

 

 

and an overall shot:

 

 

I've not gone for too much - or any - authenticity here! The seats are woeful! And I realised the the control Column is actually on upside down!!

 

I'll be glad to get the two halves together so that I can get on with the dorsal void and then the wings  I must remember the side tansparencies for the nose!!!!

 

Martin

 

Edit: Control column fixed  

[Toryu]

These multi-seat models demand a lot of interior decoration, unfortunately. You're doing well with yours. Not too much will be visible from the outside, I guess.

[RidgeRunner]

You are right @Toryu, you won’t see much in some areas but I hope some of the cockpit and nose detail will have been worth the effort ;).

 

Martin

[Rabbit Leader]

Always worth the effort Martin, you know it’s there and we can always look back on these photos and marvel at all the good work. looking really lovely oo. 
Cheers.. Dave 
 

[AdrianMF]

Those windows look very smart and the interior will look great. There’s a ton(ne) of glazing so it won’t be lost.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[RidgeRunner]

Thanks Dave @Rabbit Leader and Adrian @AdrianMF :). 
 

No construction news but I am pleased to report that the drawings have gone to Mika at Arctic Decals for the decal set, covering LeO 453 No.21/99-JC of SASM99. Immense thanks to my friend, Giorgio @Giorgio N, for his generous help with the coreldraw tasks. Thanks also to Mike @Michou and Scott @Jinxman for help with my research.
 

Progress will be slow across the next couple of weeks while I get my other build (MiG-21UM) off of the bench. I’m also now considering a scribe of the main panel lines. For this I've ordered a new scribing tool. I’ve gone for the Tamiya which seems to get good reviews. 
 

Martin 

[RidgeRunner]

Despite my resolution to get the MiG-21UM moving, I've done a little on the LeO today. First of all I am posting the decal sheet drawn by Giorgio:

 

 

Please excuse the odd "C", my error with Photoshop! You can see that the AIA badges are included and, after referring to the various publications, I've decided these are the colours, and not as shown in the Meunier book. 

 

Today I got the nose and upper fuselage transparencies installed:

 

 

 

 

They needed a fair bit of rimming as the rear "flange" is excessive. Once cured I will use Krstal Klear on the outer faces to seal around the frames. I also realised that the kit decals included both black and white instrument panel decals. So I repainted the panel and applied the white version.

 

I also noticed in the Meunier 1/72 drawings - the most accurate I can find - shows a belly window. I therefore cut this and applied a black interior. It, along with the other small windows, will be filled with Kristal Klear later. 

 

 

I then went over the interior again with some more weathering sticks to gve a bit more depth to the insides. Not much will be seen so it is a bit rough here and there.

 

 

After that I cut the tail wheel doors and cemented the two fuselage halves. I had to do this section by section as the two parts shift a lot. So, it was a matter of cement and tape on section, wait for a degree of curing and move to the next. She is now together:

 

 

The line you can see along the slot windows is the route of a cable (?) that clearly shows on this variant.

 

I am now waiting for the arrival of my new scribing tool so that I can set about remarking the panel lines, which I have discovered are wrong. As I've said in oher posts, the dimensions of the kit are not accurate and so the panel line redraw will be to get a representation of the correct configuration.

 

Now, I must get on with that Sparka!!!

 

Martin