28 Sqn Westland Wapiti (1/48) scratch 'n' print

[The Spadgent]

Wow! What a ride. Just caught up eight pages of “Why you should be buying a Mars resin printer”  Totally inspired by what you have achieved here. Hell if you think your 3D moddeling is maverick / hard and fast, wait until you get a load of my methods. I think you know what I’m saying. 🤫😉

 

Johnny. 

[hendie]

On 9/23/2021 at 1:09 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

F'nar, chortle etc (where is @CedBwhen you need him?)

 

There's some nice texture on those surfaces. I was reminded of a Van ship from the Anime. 

Nice filling work too. Good luck with the hundreds of little holes. You should have subcontracted to @Martian

 

if only it were that easy Pete.  I've got to psych myself up for tasks like that, and it may be some time

 

On 9/24/2021 at 5:57 AM, giemme said:

Neat job with those seams, Alan  Let's hope the new primer batch gets to your door soon, and that it is a good one 🤞

 

Ciao

 

Primer arrived Giorgio. Not convinced yet, and see later in this post

 

On 9/24/2021 at 8:44 AM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

There was stuff about the Gunner’s Aperture too.  Filth, I tell you!

 

 

On 9/24/2021 at 8:53 AM, kev67 said:

Great stuff I have acquired the Mars 2 printer, have not done anything with it apart from test pieces to get the settings correct in Chitubox.

I always have found Tamiya fine grey primer works very well

 

another Elegoo convert.  I should be on commission 

 

On 9/24/2021 at 8:53 AM, RAF4EVER said:

You know what they say about the navy    😀😈

 

On 9/24/2021 at 1:53 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

I do, but it's best to keep it schtum in polite company.

 

 

On 9/29/2021 at 3:49 PM, The Spadgent said:

Wow! What a ride. Just caught up eight pages of “Why you should be buying a Mars resin printer”  Totally inspired by what you have achieved here. Hell if you think your 3D moddeling is maverick / hard and fast, wait until you get a load of my methods. I think you know what I’m saying. 🤫😉

 

Johnny. 

 

I can't wait to see what you come up with Johnny - slightly envious that you got the new fandabbydozy Mars.  I haven't been able to justify it to myself quite yet

 

I've got three updates to make tonight so I'll start with the smallest/easiest/newest problem build. The Wapiti.

Tail surfaces got added which took all of thirty seconds, not counting the fifteen minutes I spent making sure everything was square and symmetrical.  I'm convinced I have some sort of vision thing going on - For example, I look at the vertical stabilizer from head on and am convinced it has a slight lean, but when I turn it around and look from the rear, it still leans to the same side   I used an engineering square and it appeared spot on, but my eyes still told me it wasn't.  In the end I trusted the square 'cos I would never trust me in a month of Sundays.  

 

 

The new batch of Alclad grey primer arrived while I was away on my travels.  First impressions?  Well, it certainly seems less viscous than the last batch. It's also a slightly different shade of grey, almost creamy colored.  I guess I should spray some and find out then.

I got as far as this before having to give up

 

 

I can't blame this on Alcad though - this is Paasche's fault this time.  When I bought my airbrush set up, I saw all those 'cheap' Asian imports, and being a complete novice I didn't really know what to do, or which one was better (or worse).  Since I had purchased a Paasche airbrush, I thought I'll go for a 'quality' named compressor setup even though it looked identical to the cheap imports and opted for the Paashe D3000R.

I have to admit, it's been a workhorse and it's served me well over the past 6 or 7 years, maybe more and it's been great up until recently.  While draining it one day I noticed that the O-Ring on the water drain plug had rotted away (it gets very humid here in the summertime so no real surprise).  However on checking the pare parts manual the O-Ring wasn't listed - so I contacted Paasche Support direct.  Complete waste of time - they had no idea and basically washed their hands of it.  Out I went and bought a box set of O-Rings and out of 300 O-rings, not one was the size I was looking for.  I've tried metric and imperial but can't find an O-ring that fits.  The manual states that all the fittings are 1/4" NPT.  That must be all the fittings except the damned water trap plug then, cos it certainly ain't 1/4" NPT. 

Since then I've tried bodging it to get through with plumbers tape etc. but today the compressor decided it was having none of it and wouldn't hold pressure. The best I could get was just over 10 PSI.  So, after fighting with it for a while I decided it was time to give up and start thinking about buying a new compressor - if the new fittings I've ordered from Amazon don't work.

 

Despite that, I did manage to achieve some decent coverage.  I think the detail has popped out nicely and I'm especially pleased with the panel lines.

 

 

The seams turned out not too bad either. They are by no means perfect, but once I've colored it in and covered it in silly string I think you'd be hard pushed to see the defects (particularly if I don't point the camera at them for you  )

 

So there we have it.  Just the smallest of updates, but at least I can get on with hole drilling until I get the compressor issues sorted out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AdrianMF]

So nice to see it assembled! Looking fab.

 

I keep getting tempted by a printer but then I remember I like messing about with plastic, wood and metal, and after 40 years of working with them I’m getting a bit fed up with computers. There’s a full colour 3D printer that’s advertised with a print of a man holding a chainsaw, looking totally realistic. So In theory one day you could walk into Hendon or Duxford with a scanner or some fancy photo software, and by the end of the afternoon be ready to print out pretty much every aeroplane you ever wanted to build without even fitting a new blade in your scalpel!*

 

Regards,

Adrian
 

* except for a Stirling and a Whitley…

 

* Oh, and you wouldn’t get an upper surface for an RE8 or an Oxford either (without a drone**)

 

** Don’t get me started on drones…

[The Spadgent]

She looks great with some primer on, I can’t remember what you’re doing about canopies? Are you printing those too. Clear resin? . I’m not going as far as you to begin with. Just some little bits to enhance an older kit.
 

Johnny

[hendie]

54 minutes ago, The Spadgent said:

I can’t remember what you’re doing about canopies?

 

The windscreen on this is so small I'm just going with printing it in clear resin.  There's more frame than there is glass and it's so small I doubt anyone would be able to see any striations in the clear parts 

[Pete in Lincs]

O rings eh? for want of a nail.....

 

I was reading just last night, when they were doing air to air re-fuelling practice for Op Corporate, Victor tanker to Vulcan,

The fuel kept covering the Vulcan. Turns out that the Victor bits had been modded, while the probes, having been in store, hadn't.

If they hadn't sorted that out they couldn't have done the long range bombing operations. So no liberation of the Islands either.

 

Looking lovely in primer. I have to say that Captain Corncob doesn't look too realistic though.

[Pinback]

Wow! and more wow!

 

[perdu]

10 hours ago, hendie said:

I've tried metric and imperial but can't find an O-ring that fits.  The manual states that all the fittings are 1/4" NPT.  That must be all the fittings except the damned water trap plug then, cos it certainly ain't 1/4" NPT.

Can Mr H the engineer measure the defective item, then draw it up and print one?

 

Or if the plan b setup you ordered doesnt work please bung us a picture in here, with dims and I and no doubt others of a technical bent can peruse our sets of rings and things looking for a replacement here.

 

 

Wopty looks beautiful Alan sir.

[giemme]

Primer on - spot on! Love it !

 

Ciao 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

12 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

I was reading just last night, when they were doing air to air re-fuelling practice for Op Corporate, Victor tanker to Vulcan,

The fuel kept covering the Vulcan. Turns out that the Victor bits had been modded, while the probes, having been in store, hadn't.

If they hadn't sorted that out they couldn't have done the long range bombing operations. So no liberation of the Islands either.

The Black Buck raids were stunning examples of airmanship & courage, without question. 
 

But their contribution to the liberation of the islands was peripheral at best.  To say that without Black Buck the entire enterprise would have failed is, frankly, bonkers.  And 100% incorrect.

 

Far more important contributions from the RAF (quite apart the relatively obvious 1(F) Sqn in Hermes) came in less sexy but more influential areas like reconnaissance  - Victors doing radar recce pre South Georgia, Nimrod R1 from Chile etc.  

 

A legend seems to have grown over the past 39 years to the effect that the Vulcans “changed the course of the war”.  No they didn’t.  

[Terry1954]

35 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

The Black Buck raids were stunning examples of airmanship & courage, without question. 

 

I wholeheartedly agree with Crisp on that score.....................

 

And I feel I must add, as a layman who lived through that terrible time, and never once served in HM Royal Navy, let alone any other arm of service, that the Royal Navy were surely the real key force and ultimate success enabler in liberating those distant islands, at huge human sacrifice. 

 

The Royal Navy were IMHO the single biggest factor that enabled the Army and the Royal Marines, to do what they had to do in the end.

 

Just an opinion, and I hope it does not fuel an inter-service debate!

 

Terry

[TheBaron]

21 hours ago, hendie said:

I think the detail has popped out nicely and I'm especially pleased with the panel lines.

And so you should be.

 

Hope you get your compression issues sorted in short order Alan. I bought my colour-blower at Telford several years back and live in constant horror at the thought of having to do anything to its generic innards....

[perdu]

Black Buck gave the British and hence the rest of the world the impression we could 'hammer them' any them, so they had a morale boosting affect but Crisp is quite correct when he attributes the '100% wrong' label to their military effect.

 

We know the Royal Navy did the real going into harm's way for ground troops to get boots onto the ground.

 

As an ex-boots on the ground kind of chap I knew once that had happened we would win, as did Maggie T.

 

Now this compressor Alan, you are aware there are other specialists that might help with sourcing compressor parts and there is no way Paasche, complicated little beggars though they are, will not have had to go to a store/supplier to buy o-rings to use in construction.

 

Give us a picture and a few details and we can search over this side of the oggin for it on your behalf.

[Dave Swindell]

14 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

The Royal Navy were IMHO the single biggest factor that enabled the Army and the Royal Marines, to do what they had to do in the end.

Just an opinion, and I hope it does not fuel an inter-service debate!

You're forgetting that none of the armed services would have got anywhere near the Falklands without the logistics provided by the Merchant Navy....

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

3 hours ago, Dave Swindell said:

You're forgetting that none of the armed services would have got anywhere near the Falklands without the logistics provided by the Merchant Navy....

…and the United States Navy, too.  One of my more surreal memories of the Falklands War is of listening to some UK politician frothing at the mouth on the World Service about how “the US had let us down again…” while Fearless was plugged into a USN oil tanker on one side and a US military sealift command vessel on the other, providing fresh water (this was near Ascension and we couldn’t make it fast enough to satisfy the thousands of thirsty people on board and on the island - Fearless was massively over-loaded throughout the war, at least until we got the troops ashore).
 

I understand the Royal Fleet Auxiliary might have had some minor role, too - or are you classing them as 100% Merch for these purposes, Dave?

[Dave Swindell]

41 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

I understand the Royal Fleet Auxiliary might have had some minor role, too - or are you classing them as 100% Merch for these purposes, Dave?

The RFA are 100% Merchant Navy (apart from when the Admiralty says otherwise....)

[Marklo]

The build is great so far. I think I’m with Adrian on the not using 3D printing thing, but funds notwithstanding I’m tempted.

 

On the o ring front you could get something like this :-

 

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/HEATING-ELEMENT-GASKET-KIT-MAKE-YOUR-OWN-O-RINGS-ON-SITE-VARIOUS-SIZES-IN-BOX-/140302804818?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

 

and make a custom gasket. I’ve used the loctite( which is very expensive) set and it works really well.

[hendie]

Interesting thread drift.  From a 1930's Wapiti, we somehow got all the way across the Atlantic, roping in all three Services and even calling in a few favors from the colonial cousins. IT's BM so I shouldn't be surprised.

On to matters more relevant though. I am currently working my way through figuring out the rigging along with the incumbent ritual sacrifice of 0.3mm drill bits. As soon as that is done it will be ready to start putting together - which means I need colors on it first.

I have been unable to find any definitive guide to the colors used, but di come across this painting of K1268 which was a 28 Sqn airframe.  I neglected to note the artist so if anyone knows, let me know so I can add the credits.

 

 

I also came across this rather good photo of another 28 Sqn airframe.

 

 

It appears the color scheme or more correctly, the markings changed over time.   i.e The painting shows a chequered square on the rear fuselage which also shows up on other photos I have amassed, however, the shot above shows no such marking.

Chess boards aside, I am considering the following coloring in scheme: 

• Forward fuselage (metal panels) in some kind of shiny aluminum,
• Wings and fabric covered fuselage in flat/white aluminum (silver dope)
• Upper fuselage & wheel hub in Nivo (new to me!) which is a dark grey green mix
• Serials etc. in black
• Struts in Nivo - or would they be black?

 

any thoughts from the hive?

 

 

[Marklo]

12 minutes ago, hendie said:

am currently working my way through figuring out the rigging along with the incumbent ritual sacrifice of 0.3mm drill bits.

If it’s any consolation I went through six drill bits on my Brisfit last week. This is why I now buy them ten at a time  

[Marklo]

16 minutes ago, hendie said:

Upper fuselage & wheel hub in Nivo (new to me!) which is a dark grey green mix

Could that be PC12 either? I think NIVO is more a dark browney black which for some reason I associate with the Hendley page Heyford. I think it stands for night invisible varnish orfordness( no idea what that means btw)

Edited October 4, 2021 by Marklo

[hendie]

only 10?  I buy about half a dozen ten packs at a time

[dogsbody]

About all I have on Wapiti colours is this Granger drawing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[perdu]

I am trying not to throw any more opinion suggestions now Hendie but I agree with you re the struts, they don't to my eye, have the harsh darkness of black paint, that dark finish looks far more 'like' a Darkish Green.

 

Must add that nice as it is the artists impression of the Wapiti in flight has serious, er shall I say, inconsistencies to the photowapiti below it.

 

A new interpretation of the under nose panel amongst others...

[Brandy]

Good luck with the compressor 

 issues. Mine has a tank, but runs all the time since I got here, never seeming to get up to pressure. I'm thinking of replacing it too, but it's not that old!

As for Waptiti, she looks great in grey. No idea on the colours, but I do know that NIVO was developed for, and  used on, WWI night bombers so I'd be surprised if that was the colour. 

Stranger things have happened though!

 

Ian

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

56 minutes ago, perdu said:

Must add that nice as it is the artists impression of the Wapiti in flight has serious, er shall I say, inconsistencies to the photowapiti below it.

 

A new interpretation of the under nose panel amongst others...

The cabin struts are a tad impressionistic in the painting, too.