ianwau Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Starting to make some headway on a scratchbuild of the Norman Fieldmaster in 1/48 scale. Started off with the framing for the fuselage buck... Then the buck almost ready for vacforming. Shown alongside the Valom 1/48 Britten Norman Island for a size comparison... Then after vacforming. Split into front and rear sections for size practicalities. Front fuse moulded left/right halves per convention. Rear fuse moulded top/bottom - which is going to assist with building the interior as we see later... Then here' s the tail in a jig - with fuse under way in the background. Lego has the big advantage of being resiliently 'square' which comes in handy for modelling. And here are he basic component parts dry-fitted. Interior is being installed in the lower half with clear section to go over the top. The big plus of separating front and rear fuse halves (apart from moulding limitations) is that I can basically build the cockpit 'pod' as a hermetically sealed unit - without having to worry about plastic swarf, sanding detritus etc making their way inside and ultimately clinging like limpets to the canopy interior.The wings have separate 'trailing' flaps and ailerons which will add a bit more depth. And here's the scheme I will do - G-NACL on evaluation in Australia 1988 https://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled/Norman-NAC-6-Fieldmaster/2513794 (a Daniel Tanner copyright photo on Airliners.Net) 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(ex)Sgtrafman Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 That’s awesome, great modelling skills on show. cheers Iain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Duvalier Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Random thoughts: Oi, that's some proper modelling there! 😎 The plans look like it's got a P-38 greenhouse on it. Lego is an amazing jig-making material. Looking forward to seeing more! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 (edited) Brilliant! That's a great subject which is much larger than I expected - I'm pretty sure I remember seeing the Fieldmaster in an 'Observers' book when I was young. Very nice vacform work, Ian - what medium did you make the mould out of? P38 body filler? Jon Edited January 2, 2021 by Jonners 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 This looks very interesting, the aircraft looks slightly unusual yet pleasing to the eye. I like the way you have tackled the fuselage too . Great work. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Lovely work so far and an interesting subject. I too find that a horizontal split can make interior detailing much easier, when I’m scratch building. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 2 hours ago, Jonners said: ... what medium did you make the mould out of? P38 body filler? Jon The skeleton frame is sheet styrene and the filler is standard 2-pack panel repair 'bog' from the auto spares shops (ie a golf ball of filler with a pea of hardener). This filler is 25% styrene and when hard is easily carved/sanded etc. Usually takes about 4 putty runs to get it to mouldable state - but it goes off in <30 mins so pretty quick... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Real modelling there. And not ordinary subject. I really need to follow this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 An unusual subject, and one I'd never seen before. It looks great so far. I'll pop back from time to time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted January 10, 2021 Author Share Posted January 10, 2021 A bit more progress on the Fieldmaster. 'Canopy' has been fixed to the bottom half of the fuse and first coat of Milliput to blend. The tail assembly was fixed beforehand as I wanted to ensure the cockpit interior was fully sealed before wet sanding etc. Have then moved onto wings. Have 'tabbed' each wing root to assist with fixing - and also manufactured a styrene spar with the correct dihedral. Then a bit of a dry fit to make sure it goes together as the manufacturer intended. Happy with that. The wings look like they have a really narrow chord - but the flaps and ailerons hang off the back of this as pretty much independent appendages? Rear fuse at this point hadn't had it's first sand (the first photo above is post sanding, post first primer) And with dry fit passing the test - the wings have been transferred to the Lego land facility for gluing to the front fuse pod - with some Lego-LAM assistance. Need to do some detail work at front end of cowling but thinking that'll be easier to do once I have some reference points to reference to (ie the wings). Over the next week I expect I'll get to joining the front and rear sections. It's a slightly unconventional approach but all driven by need to keep the cockpit interior free of muck... 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Excellent! And I love that busy little factory you have there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 Some more progress - engraving of panel lines, cleaning up of front end, fitting/blending fillets for the tail. And sorting out a robust tab system to join the front fuse section to the rear fuse section - which you can see in the pic below.. And then back to the lego jig yard for aligning and gluing the fore/aft sections. With some assist again from the Lego LAME's Have also scratchbuilt the flaps and ailerons which will be a late fitment after paint. Next steps are blending this new join, then onto undercarriage, vents, intakes etc. This photo below of G-NRDC is shared from Chris England Flickr page (1986 Farnborough) 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 First off - great subject, awesome modelling skills! I really love quirky aircraft like this, so it's right up my street. Can't wait to see how it progresses. I hope you won't mind me posting some (not very good images) from Farnborough. These show the (water scoop?) being demonstrated, and the Fieldmaster being flown two-up. Apologies for the quality: I had a Zenit SLR, which took great photos on sunny days but not-very-good photos at any other time 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 15 hours ago, Sabrejet said: I hope you won't mind me posting some (not very good images) from Farnborough. Excellent reference photos thank you! The under side shots in particular. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Oh wow this has really progressed and looks fantastic, great job. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 Progress continues - blending in the wing/fuse join. Adding lumps and bumps. The latest milestone has been fitting the main undercarriage - heavily spatted, heavily engineered in 1:1 . And then the big test - will it be a tailsitter?? There's a LOT of plastic behind the pivot point..... Ha! Yes! There's no shortage of space to put lead in the nose - so have not skimped. The flaps/Ailerons have been scratched - but are not shown here. Next step - getting to the point where I'm going to mask off the canopy - that'll be a significant step in making it look like the real thing. And plenty more detail to be added - struts, hopper detail, engine vents etc. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Nice job on the undercarriage and good news that it stands up okay too. Cracking work Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Impressed with this, I recall the FM from the day but wow, I didn't realise how big it was, from that Farnborough shot above, it was a monster. What chance did it stand against hoards of Agwagons & the like. Steve. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 28 minutes ago, stevehnz said: didn't realise how big it was, from that Farnborough shot above, it was a monster My thoughts exactly! Ginormous. And super modelling too! Regards, Adrian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 Progress has been slow - but a bit of a milestone today - finally masked the cockpit and proceeded to undercoat. Step one, given the absence of any canopy framing lines - was to create a 'positive' mask (vs negative?). ie apply masking lines where you KNOW you want canopy framing to go. the advantage of this is that you can quickly check the symmetry of what you're doing and make minor adjustments without actually having to commit the mask. I am using Tamiya tape - cut to the required dimensions of the canopy frame.. Then (obviously) fill in the gaps with the ACTUAL mask. A sharp scalpel. Thin strips initially. Then infill with chunkier bits. Easier than you might think ... Then remove the 'positive' mask leaving what remains ready for painting. This bit dead easy! Just run over all the masks remaining to make sure they're bedded in properly. And wing struts added just because they needed to be. A bit of Contrail strut profile used to good effect And some Tamiya rattle cat fine grey primer (great stuff!). The (overlength) flaps and ailerons have been taped on just to show the characteristic wing chord of the Fieldmaster. Next steps are hopper entry and exit details. - and some photo-etch hangers for the flaps/ailerons/spray bars, and PE atomisers for the spray bars (thanks entirely to a friend who's "in the know" about custom photo-etching!). A little bit of a lead time for these - so don't expect it finished next week! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 Oh wow it looks fantastic with the primer on . Great work Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted August 14, 2021 Author Share Posted August 14, 2021 Due (overdue) for an update on the Fieldmaster. The main reason for a pause was waiting for some custom photoetch for the spraybar hanger, more on that later... In the meantime I've been attending to various detail items - the hopper lid, engine venty things, a fair bit of clean up. And of course some white undercoat (Tamiya fine white primer from a rattle can). This undercoat will actually end up the topcoat... Here's the underside. Have added hopper chute, tail bumper and some underwing bulges with unclear (to me) purpose. The nose undercarriage is still to be fabricated - just a bit of temporary brass tube in there at the moment to aid painting/detailing etc And here are the spraybar hangers. A friend who's handy with CAD prepared the masters (along with some of his own projects) - then had the sheet photoetched by a photoetching mob. There are 4 different size hangers, each consisting of six pieces of PE (some lamination required to achieve thickness). And the photo also gives a free plug to Loctite Powerflex CA glue. Which is 'rubber infused' and almost makes PE a pleasure (almost, I said), You end up with a bit of flex at joints vs normal CA which is pretty brittle. Next steps - get the hangers hung, mask up for the large diagonal red stripes, paint. Then we'll be on the home stretch with a host of dangly bits to be added, main u/c etc 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Great to see this back on the go again, still can't get over the size of this aircraft, your model looks very impressive and looking forward to seeing the sprayer development. Great work Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Ian, fantastic work, always good to see a fellow modeller having a go at scratch building. Great subject. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herrick Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 You’ve got some serious modelling skills on show here Ian! Fantastic work, setting the bar really high. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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