1/32 Brit Phantom FG.1 XV571 conversion from Tamiya and Wild Hare set

[Johnson]

2 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said:

An air conditioning duct runs around the inside edge of the windscreen with a fishtail type outlet

 

An important detail. Looks the bizz! I think I may have to add (something like that) for my next 1/72 effort.

 

2 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said:

but...my goodness the camera hides nothing!

 

But also reveals some absolutely stunning (and very clean - my pics always highlight the dust) work.

 

Great work Anthony.

[Anthony in NZ]

23 hours ago, Johnson said:

 

An important detail. Looks the bizz! I think I may have to add (something like that) for my next 1/72 effort.

 

 

But also reveals some absolutely stunning (and very clean - my pics always highlight the dust) work.

 

Great work Anthony.

Thanks Charlie! Nice to hear as I try not to focus on the things I could have done better.

 

Ok so I think I am going to pause on the cockpit for now as I dont want to risk damaging or getting dust inside that I cant remove or fix later.

Just trimmed @Ali62 beautiful front windscreen (perfect fit) and temp sitting in situ.  I am so happy with it.  Of course me being me now...I have added an edging to the rear 'hoop' where the canopy section closes onto and locks and seals. Blended in with a little JB Weld for strength.  There is definitely more to go in the cockpit but it's time to move back to the internals of the fuse so I can get the wing on.

 

 

Cheers Anthony

[bigbadbadge]

Great work on the air conditioning ducting and the screen does look good .  

Chris 

[Anthony in NZ]

On 12/4/2022 at 12:34 PM, bigbadbadge said:

Great work on the air conditioning ducting and the screen does look good .  

Chris 

Thanks Chris, I reckon your Sea Venom and my FG.1 Phantom would look right nice sitting on the shelf together!

 

So it is time to move on from the cockpit for now and get the last items in the fuse ready for epoxying the wing on.

 

Sadly I didn't take a pic of the 3 piece engine fronts before I epoxied them into the intake ducts.  These ducts needed a good clean as they were dusty from prev work.  Anyway I have them all sealed up and the Tamiya Canopy kit parts (excl the centre piece) back on and sealed with Tamiya masking tape to mitigate dirt and sanding dust getting in.

 

So back to the 'hot' end again

This is a very uninteresting part to paint but kinda tricky at the same time.  I used a base of Mr Color Titanium, then sprayed various mixes of greys and a touch of green.  Then washes and streaking with Tamiya weathering pigments.  I did my very best to copy photos and as much as I wanted it to look more 'dramatic' and exciting I just couldnt.  I used these as some of my refs

Photo credit Iain Ogilvie

 

Photo credit Dave Gledhill

 

 

Trying to get the streakiness to match

 

 

 

But you know what....once the cans are on and I dont have direct light shining up there you cant really se a lot anyway...oh well

 

Ok now it's back to the upper and lower aux air door interiors then I think I can get the lower wing on??

 

Cheers guys as always thanks and I hope it is of use to anyone wanting to tackle this.

Anthony

 

[bigbadbadge]

Oooooooo that's looking lovely Anthony, all that hard prep work is really paying dividends now, it's going to be gorgeous .

Thanks for your kind comments about my Sea Venom, it is no where near the quality of this beauty. 

Great work

Chris

 

[Cees Broere]

Still working on this masterpiece Anthony, your perseverence is boundless. Keep it up.

[Fritag]

On 12/3/2022 at 9:14 PM, Anthony in NZ said:

There is definitely more to go in the cockpit

 

Is this a subtle jest?  It looks like it achieved peak replication of a not atypical 70’s/80’s ergonomic slum some time ago 

 

Is there a best cockpit award on BM? Best burner cans? Best fuselage reprofiling. Best? 

[Anthony in NZ]

On 12/11/2022 at 2:12 PM, bigbadbadge said:

Oooooooo that's looking lovely Anthony, all that hard prep work is really paying dividends now, it's going to be gorgeous .

Thanks for your kind comments about my Sea Venom, it is no where near the quality of this beauty. 

Great work

Chris

 

Thanks Chris!  Disagree on the Sea Venom...I love it!

 

On 12/12/2022 at 3:03 AM, Cees Broere said:

Still working on this masterpiece Anthony, your perseverence is boundless. Keep it up.

LOL yes mate and thanks!  Where are you at with your one?

 

On 12/12/2022 at 4:31 AM, Fritag said:

 

Is this a subtle jest?  It looks like it achieved peak replication of a not atypical 70’s/80’s ergonomic slum some time ago 

 

Is there a best cockpit award on BM? Best burner cans? Best fuselage reprofiling. Best? 

Haha only a few small detail items

How about Best use of fellow Brit Modellers brain pool?

 

Back to the Aux air doors, they're all finished but as usual I needent have put so much detail and structure in there as most of it wont be seen, but I am pleased I did it.

 

 

 

Cheers team

Anthony

[Cees Broere]

My FGR2 was finished early January, and I took it to Telford last month. The FG1 is quite advanced but on the backburner as the Manchester needs to be finished for Telford  2023.😄

[TheBaron]

Why does this look so pleasing in its own right?

2 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said:

 

I  mean there is so much miniature-marvellous going on in this thread to begin with that even a seemingly less-dramatic view like this is somehow just as compelling a view of the aircraft.

Phantom it may be but that feels most 'real' to look at.

[bigbadbadge]

Love the look of the panel lines and rivets on the bare plastic, nice job on the Aux door areas Anthony. 

Chris

[Antti_K]

Anthony, your build is just pure magic (I guess I have said that earlier). I'm still staring at all those cockpit details. Brilliant work.

 

Cheers,

Antti

[Anthony in NZ]

On 12/13/2022 at 8:24 AM, Cees Broere said:

My FGR2 was finished early January, and I took it to Telford last month. The FG1 is quite advanced but on the backburner as the Manchester needs to be finished for Telford  2023.😄

yes I loved your FGR2 build, an absolute beauty!  

 

On 12/13/2022 at 9:57 AM, TheBaron said:

Why does this look so pleasing in its own right?

I  mean there is so much miniature-marvellous going on in this thread to begin with that even a seemingly less-dramatic view like this is somehow just as compelling a view of the aircraft.

Phantom it may be but that feels most 'real' to look at.

Wow...well thank you kind sir!  I tend to be hard on myself when doing some of this work and sometimes dont see what you guys see....so comments like this mean a great deal!

 

On 12/13/2022 at 10:04 AM, bigbadbadge said:

Love the look of the panel lines and rivets on the bare plastic, nice job on the Aux door areas Anthony. 

Chris

Thanks Chris, yes the surface detail looks nice I think too.  Shame most of it will disappear inder paint in places, but  close scrutiny will show it up.  That's if I can achieve what the mental picture is in my head LOL

 

On 12/13/2022 at 11:56 AM, Antti_K said:

Anthony, your build is just pure magic (I guess I have said that earlier). I'm still staring at all those cockpit details. Brilliant work.

 

Cheers,

Antti

Awww thanks Antti, that's very kind.  I super appreciate your emails and PM's with advice etc, You sure have helped me get to this point, and I am relying on you to keep me on track with your feedback on corrections etc.  The upper wings are going to need a lot of details added etc.

 

Cheers guys, sorry I don't have much to show today as work has been busy and lots of other things have consumed my time....hopefully this weekend will yield results!

Anthony

[Anthony in NZ]

Firstly thanks to @geedubelyer and @Spooky56 for help with engine parts from their Tamiya F-16 kits, This has enabled me to put some sort of semi accurate detail in here, but I think I should have added more plumbing...

 

Right, I can feel the nerves as I approach the time to epoxy the lower wing on!

 

I did my best here to be accurate but it was a really tricky area to understand and get slightly accurate. I’m not too worried as most of it won’t be seen but if someone decides to shine a light in there then they will see a reasonably accurate representation. But also partly fictional, but it is what it is.

 

Lick of paint and epoxied in

 

 

 

Now I have to go back and study some details that I might be better off doing before I glue the lower wing on.  I dont want to damage anything by doing stuff that would have been easier to do when still apart.

 

Thanks for looking in

Anthony

 

[Anthony in NZ]

Oh I forgot...I added the fire wire sections in...still need clean up obviously

 

 

But todays mission after I pluck up the courage and do some more planning is epoxy the wing on!  I spent a large chunk of yesterday getting all the guts to actually fit in.  I was so worried about everything being in the right place and structures where they should be the fit was so tight I had to grind out a lot of unseen stuff with my trusty Dremel which made a MESS!  Anyway I had to remove all masking and dust everything off, thankfully she endured the episode unscathed!

 

Lets see what today brings!

I've still got her covered in plastic in case any residual dust settled on her overnight...

 

Cheers and I hope you all stay safe and warm over this festive season

Anthony

 

[bigbadbadge]

Merry Christmas Anthony, the bits you've added to the underside Aux doors looks great.  Looking forward to the wings progressing now too.

Great work 

Chris 

[heloman1]

Looking good Anthony, I do like those two underwing equipment bays. A great idea with the dust sheet I may just pinch that one. My build space/work station was in one section of my garage (no cars allowed) but the one fold up door stood open all day, so wind would drive dust etc in. I'm moving in the New Year and will have a dedicated room within the house.

I will then after may years looking at my display cabinet, get the doors on!

 

Hope your festivities go well.

 

Colin

[Anthony in NZ]

22 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Merry Christmas Anthony, the bits you've added to the underside Aux doors looks great.  Looking forward to the wings progressing now too.

Great work 

Chris 

Thanks Chris, there really should be more plumbing in there, but I just wanted to do what I could with the little ammout that is seen.  I left it mostly silver so it showed better in a dark hole.

 

11 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Looking good Anthony, I do like those two underwing equipment bays. A great idea with the dust sheet I may just pinch that one. My build space/work station was in one section of my garage (no cars allowed) but the one fold up door stood open all day, so wind would drive dust etc in. I'm moving in the New Year and will have a dedicated room within the house.

I will then after may years looking at my display cabinet, get the doors on!

 

Hope your festivities go well.

 

Colin

Yeah, dust and fingerprints are my constant worry.  Yup get those cabinet doors on!

 

Here is the clamping in progress yesterday, this was stage 2, stage one was the back end which I didnt take a pic of sorry.

 

I took this yesterday as I was really happy with the lower contour and the 'big butt' this girl has LOL

 

Lot of cleanup, contours and panel line work ahead of me....

 

Clamps off this morning, dropped fin on just to remind me where I am at and if I am getting that unique Brit Toom 'look/feel.

 

Still got to sort the very end of the nose bulkhead shapes before committing to last gluing session today

 

But I think I am getting there

 

Cheers Anthony

 

[bigbadbadge]

Oh yeah, looking lovely Anthony,  what a landmark step in the build.  Great job fella, you'll be flying it around the room making Spey noises before you know it 😉

Chris

[Anthony in NZ]

7 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Oh yeah, looking lovely Anthony,  what a landmark step in the build.  Great job fella, you'll be flying it around the room making Spey noises before you know it 😉

Chris

Haha, already have!!! 
Only cos I needed to check profiles and shapes from different angles 

[bigbadbadge]

1 hour ago, Anthony in NZ said:

Haha, already have!!! 
Only cos I needed to check profiles and shapes from different angles 

Ha ha of course😉

[heloman1]

Definitely getting there but using the top of the log burner as a display surface!!! Good job it's summer, ha, ha, ha!

 

Colin

[TheBaron]

16 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said:

But I think I am getting there

Only one permissible response to the astonishing of this model Anthony:

 

*inserts <peak experience> emoji and spontaneously plays 'Ode to Joy' on Stylophone.

[Anthony in NZ]

On 12/26/2022 at 7:32 PM, heloman1 said:

Definitely getting there but using the top of the log burner as a display surface!!! Good job it's summer, ha, ha, ha!

 

Colin

Hahaha...true!

 

On 12/27/2022 at 1:55 AM, TheBaron said:

Only one permissible response to the astonishing of this model Anthony:

 

*inserts <peak experience> emoji and spontaneously plays 'Ode to Joy' on Stylophone.

Thanks buddy  

 

Which leads me into the last update for the year as I am going away to Queenstown with my sister who is out from the UK with her family.

 

I managed to pull the nose section up to its correct position and am really happy with the way the new modified nose profile looks. Although a few panel lines will need shifting a little.

 

Every possible type of glue, epoxy, bracing and clamps were used to hold the correct profile whilst everything set rock hard

It seems to have held out!

LOL what a mess in there, good thing you wont see it!

 

This now leads to a tricky and complex section of the conversion and that is that the radome is too long, but the fwd fuse is the correct length .  I have had lots of awesome info and help from several people and studied multiple drawings.  It's just really hard to figure out once the radome has 3mm removed (as per someone actually physically measuring one) where the deficiency is.  I have come to the conclusion that the forward fuse station 48.28 is slightly too far back.  This corresponds with the air conditioning ducts on the nose sitting incorrectly at that panel line when it should be further back.  I know most sand it back but it measures pretty well spot on.  I have opted to increase the frame station forward 1.5mm at this stage and I reckon I should be pretty close.  Maybe I have it wrong, but it all seems to add up and look correct on test fittings etc.  Thats how I will fix it anyway.  The Flightpath nose is very good but because I now have a slightly deeper profile it wont fit.

 

So.......3mm removed off the rear surface on my belt sander, then a cut along the lower line to open up the dia a touch, then where the tape is I will will make a couple of cuts to help with lowering the and holding a round radome section....well thats the plan!

here is where I am at

 

I am making it up as I go really, But this is the direction I am heading for now.

 

Well this is my last update for the year

Thanks to you all, your support to me has been amazing through 22.  Largely its because of your encouragement it might otherwise be on the SOD, every comment and 'like' is super appreciated and taken to heart!

I caught up with Kerry last night as he was down and enjoyed a drink together and for you buddy....thanks!!  Your help in CAD'ing up these parts would not have led to such a result so far and in many respects I consider this a joint effort, not just my model or work!

 

I will be on line but not at my bench, keep up all the amazing work chaps, and here's to a much better 2023!!

 

Cheers Anthony (who better go pack the car now as everyone is buzzing around the house LOL)

 

 

[621Andy]

Great work! How will we cope without updates😲😁

 

Enjoy Queenstown; Nice place. I was there 2 years ago😉

 

Happy new year from sunny Myanmar!