TonyW Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 This one should have kicked of my GB contributions but my helpers were late getting here. They are here now, but they are a bit confused… “ But Tin Tin, he can’t be building this one! It’s a minter for goodness sake, what’s going on?” “It beats me Captain, I thought he was a Collector. The Telegram said GB starts stop stop everything stop get Captain stop start your journey stop.” “ Fair enough… I think” “Just look at it though, it’s all complete, sealed in the bag and fresh as a daisy. I’m not sure we should be involved here, we can’t be linked to crimes against plastic” “Tin Tin, look over there, it’s those irritating Brits. They look like they have survived a bit of a plane crash” “ Ah, Tin Tin, Captain Haddock, and, er, Snowy I believe. Is this crash something to do with you? It appears to be the remains of a French Airliner of some sort. Well, you lot took your time! The GB has been running for days now, I needed you for the kickoff, not half way through. You’re not needed now, go and have an adventure somewhere else and let me get on with putting that train smash back together. Anyway, The long and the short of it is that Mike Dean put me on to the worlds scruffiest built model… .. yup, another Arc En Ciel. Complete, but in a bit of a state. There's silver paint underneath that brown crud. It seems these things are like buses, none for ages then three turn up. I’ve a proper builder, missing a few parts for later in the GB. The minter above is safe. No danger of me building it but there’s a need to build non the less. I'm saving the builder for Xmas. That leaves the bones above. The dirty old kit got scrubbed to within an inch of its life… And broken down to component parts. It’s a sorry sight and there’s never going to be a decent replica made out of it. Glue marks and broken plastic everywhere, once the brown mess was scrubbed off it revealed a lot of glue damage to the subtle fabric effect Heller provided. There’s only one treatment I can think of for this one, Desk Model! A mega session of filling, sanding and multiple applications of S n’J Polishing powder might get me out of jail. It worked for this 1.48 Airfix Javelin… … And by Golly, it just might work here as well. While I was setting up the pictures above, the heavens were opening and closing and the sun was in and out all day. About four o’clock this was the view from the shed window… It’s an omen! Work will start shortly and be fitted in around the other builds underway. In theory. Tony. 11 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Welcome Tony with yet another one, you just couldn't resist could you? 🙂 Tis a very nice looking aircraft, says me the non-aircraft builder. Very unusual shape. Good luck with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 This is verging on archaeology when recovering a kit from that condition. Best of luck Tony, its a truly iconic aircraft with deserves getting time and attention lavished on it, it couldn't have found a better home. Cheers Pat 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Just knew you would pull out (at least) one of these Tony. What a lovely looking aircraft and if there’s anyone that can retrieve some goodness from that carcass, its most certainly you! Good luck and looking forward to seeing how things transform and develop on here. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 So pleased to see the Art Deco aeroplane in the GB Tony. Loved the introduction too. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 Well, once the kit was out and looking at me, there was bound to be a re-shuffle of the build schedule. I've made a start on the reassembly. A bit of a clean up of the mating surfaces followed by some industrial glue spreading. I used tube cement and lots of it. The plane will be getting a ton of rubbing down so I need strength built into it. Here's some of the damage under the filth and old paint... It's a shame about the glue damage. Just about every panel and surface suffers from it, leaving no option other than a total refinish. It's some consolation knowing that I have a proper builder kit for later in the GB. Having said that, a desk model is still a good save for what could easily have ended up in landfill. The shape is starting to appear though, and what a shape it is! I'll let things fully harden before getting the filler out. More later. Tony. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 That's some quite extensive damage! But certainly worth the effort and looks like you're doing a good job on the repairs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 This is probably my all time favourite aircraft Tony, so thank you so much for building it Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Hi again Tony, I meant to say that I enjoyed the Tin Tin intro too, although things will never be the same again for me since watching a Teeside Tintin video on YouTube. Not recommended if bad language offends! Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Dean Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 I hadn't realised that the built kit was in such a bad condition. There's a lot of repair work just to get that into some kind of normal, so the desk model option sounds just the right thing to do with it. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 It looked promising before the big clean up Mike. In its favour, it is complete, including prop blades! It probably looks as bad as it will ever get at the moment, it's all downhill from here on in. Its had a full day for the glue to dry, so tomorrow it can get a rub down with some coarse grit W+D paper followed by a coat or two of filler primer as a guide to what's needed next. In a way it's good that it's in such poor condition. Had it been in better nick I would have been reluctant to tear into it like this. Tony the Optimist 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 There is something to be said for making this a smooth, slick, shiny desktop piece with those beautiful lines. *settles in* 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 2 minutes ago, alt-92 said: There is something to be said for making this a smooth, slick, shiny desktop piece with those beautiful lines. *settles in* It actually fits in and is quite apt for this wonderful French Art Deco period. I can imagine this is one model that even the Missus would be happy to have proudly displayed on the mantle piece! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Hopping on for the ride ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Nice work! Good luck with this beauty Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 9, 2020 Author Share Posted October 9, 2020 An hour or so in the shed this morning got a fair bit done. The whole plane got a bit of a shock with three full sheets of 180 grit used up sanding it all down. I've used less on full sized cars! I'll be trying to keep the rivet detail on the outer parts of the wheel spats, I think it's very deco looking. Once I had had enough of sanding I hit the airframe with a couple of coats of primer filler to see how things looked... Yay! Let's hear it for the Big Bananna I'm tempted to make it into the Fyffes Bananna entry for the Trans Bermuda Air Race of 1932... only no such thing existed! Ditto mottling it and hanging a torpedo underneath and calling it an early Italian Maritime Strike aircraft. It looks like the solvents in that primer were stronger than I thought. There's going to be a fair bit of sanding, filling and priming followed by more of the same going on here over the next week or so. It's getting colder and a bit damper now so the drying times for the filler and primer will be a bit longer. If I rush things there's a chance of cracking or shrinkage at a later date and nobody want's that. There's not much point posting more until things look a bit different so the thread will step back for a while. I'll be back... Tony. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Mmmmmmmmmmmmm i want one !!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Great work Tony, although I think you are showing off your trainer yellow skills ! Cheers Pat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 That looks terrific. It is a beautiful aeroplane. I don’t know if rivet patterns on spats are a French thing or a Heller thing, but my Dewoitine 500 and 510 kits have distinctive and different patterns on their spats. And yeah, stop showing off with the Trainer Yellow Regards, Adrian 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 9, 2020 Author Share Posted October 9, 2020 56 minutes ago, Norman said: Mmmmmmmmmmmmm i want one !!! I've wanted one for ages, the planets must have got in alignment for this Group Build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 9, 2020 Author Share Posted October 9, 2020 55 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said: Great work Tony, although I think you are showing off your trainer yellow skills ! Cheers Pat Point and squirt. It works for me. The primer colour is nowhere near as yellow as it looks. More a custard, or Sauce Anglaise if you must. The phone camera I'm using at the moment is a depressingly good bit of kit but it will sometimes do its own thing without input from me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Great bit of Salvage and reclamation work done there! 👌 I think you got it dismantled to below the 25% threshold OK 😅 In fact with that amount of recovery you're probably starting with a - 25% credit! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 11, 2020 Author Share Posted October 11, 2020 Looks like the ARC was parked near a flock of seagulls or two! Superfine Milliput has been pressed into service here, and will get sanded back to smoothness once it's dry. Then no doubt I get to do it again. Eventually it will be smooth enough to proceed to the next stage. Tony. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toryu Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 That's an extraordinary restoration! I've got a number of those wrecks in a box deep down in the basement - can I send them over to you? 🤪 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 11, 2020 Author Share Posted October 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Toryu said: That's an extraordinary restoration! I've got a number of those wrecks in a box deep down in the basement - can I send them over to you? 🤪 There's a good chance they would never get done! I have a whole load of other restoration projects here that will take me a lifetime or two to finish. Dig a few out and have a go, it can be very satisfying to bring an old kit back from the grave. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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