AdrianMF Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Heather very kindly sent me her Smer re-box of the Bloch 152 after building the RS kit instead. Given that someone stole my car out of my driveway in the wee small hours of Thursday morning this act of kindness has rather restored the balance of my universe! I am going to try to add a bit more detail to the basic kit. It have made some notes: I must remember to add “shell ejector chutes” to my list. There seems to be a big hole for shell cases and a smaller hole on the feed side. (The notes also cover a pink Spitfire PR1G - please ignore!) I have thinned the back lip of the undercarriage bay so that I can put in a spar to close it off: The clear plastic inserts for the rear-view quarter lights do not fit and I’m not convinced yet about the shapes either, so I will be re-shaping them to look more like photos of the real thing: given that the canopy is very large, I can show it slid back over the rear quarter lights, this avoiding having to glaze them: this means I will have to add some detail to the cockpit. Wings are together now: Next up: detail wheel wells, make cannon ejector chutes, lose the overdone fabric effect everywhere and the erroneous flap detail on the upper wing surface. Then on to the cockpit and to decide whether to fake up an engine in the cowling or not. I also need to check out the 2.6 degree port offset of the engine cowling! 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 14 minutes ago, AdrianMF said: I also need to check out the 2.6 degree port offset of the engine cowling! I remember seeing a profile of this 'plane as a kid and couldn't get my head around that offset - I always thought the artist had made a mistake! 🤨 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Great to see this one join the GB Adrian are you going to do the similar camo to your previous build or something different ? Cheers Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 6 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said: similar camo Definitely a slightly lighter grey than last time but I still don’t know about the greens and browns. My Yak 9 paint testbed will have a few more coats before I’m done! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 I note from pictures of the real thing that this aircraft seems to have both a reflector sight and a ring and bead arrangement. I would have thought one or the other but not both? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Apologies Adrian I should have said how sorry I was to hear about your car being stolen. I thought that was really difficult now with all these blooming computers they have fitted to modern cars ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 3 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said: I thought that was really difficult now Er, apparently not! I’m surprised by how indifferent I feel about it. I don’t think I’ve driven more than twelve short trips since March and Mrs MF won’t drive it because it’s too big. So instead of getting tea and sympathy after reporting the theft I got invited to look at listings of second hand Fiat 500s! 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 5 hours ago, AdrianMF said: Er, apparently not! I think it actually got easier... And if they don't want to take the whole car they can still take all the airbags etc... happened to me twice already. Ah well... I think most of us would be worse off when the stash was stolen instead of their car! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 2 hours ago, JeroenS said: Ah well... I think most of us would be worse off when the stash was stolen instead of their car! And can you imagine the conversation with the insurance company - "Your stash is worth HOW much?" Seriously though, sorry to hear about your car Adrian, but glad that you're relatively fine with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 I'm on the point of declaring one of these for another build Adrian. I'll be treating your build thread as a instruction sheet! 📋 Try not to get things wrong, there's two builds to consider now. No pressure there then! Your plan with not glazing the side windows is a masterstroke. That area always gives me problems, P40's in particular. The real deal looks thin and delicate, the kit parts always a bit eye catching and oversized. Leaving the glazing out completely will let the eye see things as it should be. I'll be taking a slightly different approach and use a replacement Falcon canopy , mainly as I have one here. I can see your method being the more effective. I've already cut away the rear window area otherwise I would have followed your lead here. Good luck, I'll be looking over your shoulder throughout. Tony the Plagiarist. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 It turns out that the angled offset in the cowling is provided by the part with the cooling gills, This has to be mounted the right way up to match the cowling ducting, and is thicker on one side than the other. Interestingly, the original Heller instructions contain a little call out telling you that the cowling is not straight, presumably to avoid people sending back the bits because they are wonky... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 A cheeky bit of late-night modelling - shell ejector chutes made with a hot screwdriver tip, and filler to lose the flaps on the upper wing surface and to get rid of the overdone fabric effects: 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 24, 2020 Author Share Posted October 24, 2020 Le Weekend is here! Back to the bench, starting to get the interior kitted out so there’s something to look at in the open cockpit: The ‘orrible fabric effect and upper surface flaps have gone and I re-scribed the control surface edges in the putty. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 Some really nice work going on here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 24, 2020 Author Share Posted October 24, 2020 Someone said that time wasted enjoyably isn’t time wasted. In that case I haven’t wasted this afternoon: I will add a square of clear plastic to the gunsight later on, if I remember! 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Thats a hell of an improvement... you sure haven't wasted your time ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Very nice work, Adrian. I wish I had the patience and skill to produce a cockpit like that. I’m too impatient Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prenton Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Lovely job! How did you do the IP? Philip 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 ...and painted: Now I can close up and get on with it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 3 minutes ago, Prenton said: How did you do the IP? Two layers of plastic card cut to fit, mini drill through the top one. When it’s all painted up, I twist a slightly larger drill backwards over each hole to rub off a tiny bit of paint on the rim. If you go forwards, the drill bites and then you have to start again. This is all with a hand pin vice, not a Dremel or Black and Decker! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prenton Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Adrian - thanks for the reply - great stuff! (my Bloch is stalled, as I am waiting for the Yahu IP to come from Poland.....I am sure your result will be just as good as that....when it arrives) Philip 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 I always find superglue sets in the wrong time/place and there’s too much paint to use poly cement, so I’ve coated everything liberally with PVA to get some sort of stick and some fiddle time when I drop the seat in. Why didn’t I glue it in before closing up?? It went perfectly. First time I dropped it and had to wipe a dribble of PVA of the front of my gardening attire. Second time I got PVA all over the control column, which then transferred it back to the visible part of the seat... 🙄 All in and mended now, assuming it doesn’t fall out when I turn it upside-down and shake after my coffee. Note that the area under the engine cooling gills has been painted black (as has the inside of the gills) to avoid seeing flashes of light glossy plastic later on. Here’s why I don’t buy expensive aftermarket. Picture taken at 7x zoom from 3 inches away with exposure pushed right up: Yep, can hardly see a damn’ thing IRL! 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 The oil cooler (or whatever it is) under the port wing seems a bit small so I’ve built a new one out of card: Here next to the kit part: And fitted: I rather belatedly realised I’ve been staring at a stand slot for most of the build without realising it, so I filled that too. I have to say the fit has been pretty good so far, with only a bit of filler. The undercarriage will take a bit of fettling though to get the right lengths and angles. I might have a look for some less balloon-like wheels too. The Smer schemes are both for C1s, which seem to have had different cooling gills and possibly no oil cooler. I’m not sure whether I will do anything about that... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 On 10/25/2020 at 11:49 AM, AdrianMF said: hand pin vice, not a Dremel or Black and Decker! My kind of modelling I dont possess anything powered for modelling, except the airbrush Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS_w Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 FYI, the engine cowling is not straight as you wrote in your note, the engine setting was 3° left, fin 1° right and the stab dihedral was 4,5° measured on top face of front longeron. https://lapatrouillesimple.forumgratuit.org/t487-bloch-mb-151 https://lapatrouillesimple.forumgratuit.org/t186-mb-152-azur-1-32 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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