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Supermarine Stranraer K7297 209 Sqn - RIP Ian Kennedy


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She's looking fantastic Mike - great detailing & corrections. I have a similar difficulty in sustaining interest in builds long-term, particularly now I am almost permanently working from the home office, which doubles as my modelling space.

 

Edge

 

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On 3/16/2021 at 12:21 AM, rob Lyttle said:

This looks great, Mike, and the makings of an excellent adventure! Interior is splendid. Rewarding to try these things. When you're into a particular subject it's the time to go the extra mile 👍

 

1 hour ago, Edge said:

She's looking fantastic Mike - great detailing & corrections. I have a similar difficulty in sustaining interest in builds long-term, particularly now I am almost permanently working from the home office, which doubles as my modelling space.

 

Edge

 

 

Thanks Rob. I'm glad I live in the centre of so much aviation heritage, it definitley helps with inspiration for builds. I'd struggle otherwise, as I tend to flit around from one thing to the other and get distracted very easily.

Edge, you have my sympathies. I worked from home for a while, but came back into work as soon as I could. (October last year?)  As our workplace was basically deserted during the lockdown I chose to stay, I figured it was no more dangerous than being at home, and the cycle commute did me the world of good. I'm lucky I only live 4 miles from work though. I was very interested to see in the news this week that in a survey, (43 out of 50?) London workplaces won't go back to regular 9-5 hours going forward. These new flexible working practices for people with long commutes is a godsend.

https://www.thebcfa.com/sites/default/files/uploads/wn-bcfa-report-download.pdf

 

 

2 hours ago, Dunny said:

Coming along nicely Mike - look forward to seeing this progress!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

 

2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Interior looking great Mike, great work and like the approach to the windows. 

Chris

 

Thanks fellas. Seeing what other people get up to on here is a massive help. I think it was @Heather Kay work on her recent He111 that gave me the confidence to chop the windows around so casually!

 

I'll get some photos of the outside of the hull tonight hopefully. You can see my homemade rivet tool in one fo the photos. It's far from perfect, but better than the cheap and cheerful Trumpeter riveter I've seen. I basically (badly) copied the Rosie the Riveter, which seems to be the Rolls Royce of all of them.

 

 

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A bit of help here in trying to work out what the undersides of the 1938 Munich Crisis applied RAF Temperate Scheme  would be, as it's difficult to tell in the two photos I have.

 

On 1/17/2016 at 3:12 PM, rossm said:

Repeating what I put in another thread -

Looking at MJF Bowyer's feature 'Coastal Colours' in Airfix Magazine Annual 7 I found...

"Prior to 1939 aircraft of RAF Coastal Command were silver overall, with planing bottoms of flying boats grey. In the months leading to the outbreak of war maritime aircraft began to be camouflaged on their upper surfaces Dark Green and Dark Earth, incongruous colours for seaplanes for which some experiments were being conducted making use of green and grey shades."

The next paragraph goes on...

"September 1939 found Coastal Command flying landplanes and flying boats in the immediate pre-war colours with silver undersurfaces usual, although some Sunderlands, Vildebeestes and most Hudsons were already wearing black."

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Right, here's a few shots of the hull all nipped up. This is my first serious go at adding panel lines and rivet detail, and I have armed myself with a CMK razor saw, a Trumpeter scriber, and a homemade rivet tool. I had seen the photos of the cheap Trumpeter rivet tool, and they were enough to tell me it would be pretty useless. The Rosie Riveter tool looked amazing, but I couldn't justify spending out on one presently. My homemade version is adequate. The wheel wobbles a little, and when it doesn't wobble it tends to stick. I'll keep saving for a pukka one. The old watch I robbed the wheel from never kept good time, it won't be missed.

 

I scribed the panel lines with the razor saw, and cleaned them up with the scriber tool. I'm reluctant to pass judgment until I've splodged some primer on ... It's not easy, and an extra few fingers would have come in handy to hold the dymo tape while I lightly used the edge of the razor saw. I mainly used drawings for reference, and there are a couple of good photos that show the separate panels quite clearly.

 

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Adding extra detail to the outside of the hull by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Adding extra detail to the outside of the hull by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Adding extra detail to the outside of the hull by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Adding extra detail to the outside of the hull by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Adding extra detail to the outside of the hull by Mike, on Flickr

 

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12 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Crikey what a difference,  the surface with the panel lines and rivets looks great.

Chris

 

Thanks Chris, I'm hoping it holds up with a few coats of paint. I can't tell you how many times any one fo the sharp tools I used went off piste and carved a furrow where I didn't want it. It's looks a bit rustic in places!

Also, I managed to pop one of the side windows in, the one furthest from any opening of course. I tried with bits of wire, bluetack, cocktail sticks to get it back into place, to no avail. Then I just trimmed it the the same size as the opening, and pushed it firmly in from the outside. Crisis averted!

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  • Quiet Mike changed the title to Supermarine Stranraer K7297 209 Sqn - Adding rivets and panel lines
On 5/10/2021 at 9:28 AM, Ray S said:

That is good work on this, the extra surface details outside make a huge difference!

 

Ray

 

On 5/10/2021 at 10:14 AM, RichieW said:

So much better for the detailing you're adding. Very well done it is too!

 

Richie

 

On 5/11/2021 at 1:24 AM, TheyJammedKenny! said:

These are some pretty serious efforts on your part, and I think the results will be worthwhile.  I'm looking forward to seeing how good this turns out!

 

On 5/11/2021 at 2:52 AM, Dunny said:

Rivetting looks awesome Mike - well worth the effort!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

 

Thank you for the feedback gents. I will throw caution to the wind and admit, it doesn't look half bad at this point. Which is no mean feat for a first attempt, but of course this is just setting me up for a fall. I fully expect the primer to obliterate all those minute little rivet dots!

I've now taken a rest from the hull. There is still plenty of little details I need to add, like the tiny cleats and grab rails and suchlike, but these can wait until I've worked on the wings. I've added panel lines and rivet lines where appropriate. A fair few are guesswork, where the drawings and photos I had didn't match up. I've also drilled holes for all the rigging lines. This is causing me a fair amount of head scratching as I've never attempted a rigging job this big before. I've paid close attention to @Vulcanicity attempt, with making dozens of minute wire loops and using EZ line. At the moment I'm thinking of a different approach, and painting the wings while dissasembled, then threading the line through the holes of the bottom wings, and closing them up and fitting them. Then attaching the lower halves of the upper wings, pulling all the wires through, and then fixing the tops halves of the wings on. It sounds massively complicated though, and it's still not straight in my head. Also, I'm not sure I have enough hands for this!

 

Bomb racks. These are present in all the photos I have found. I made a paper template, covered in tape, to mark them out. I thought they looked 6/10, but looking at the edges here under the unmerciful eye of the macro lens I'm leaning more towards 4/10 now!

There is also a box opening on the insides of the racks, but I'm not convinced this wasn't covered up in some cases? It's difficult to be certain but in some photos you can make out the two racks, but not the box. Would they be covered up when not in use?

They were a lot of work, it took two evenings to finish them. And I need to filler in my slapdash saw marks!

 

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Detailing the wings of the Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Detailing the wings of the Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

 

Underneath the centre wing section, showing off my homemade riviter, which I'm getting the hang off.

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Detailing the wings of the Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

 

Rivit detail on the tops of the lower wings

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Detailing the wings of the Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

 

You can see a couple of chunks from my new razor saw missing here. That was those fiddly little bomb rack holes, and annoyed me greatly!

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Detailing the wings of the Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

 

 

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Just caught up with this after a while - superb work! I am particularly in awe of the rivetting, not something I have ever tried but it makes a massive difference to your hull I think. Good luck with the resin Pegasus- they're not easy to get into the cowlings straight but worth it if you can manage it!

 

In answer to your question about the large rectangular recesses inboard of the bomb racks which carried a Small Bomb Carrier, these could definitely be doped over or fitted with some kind of cover but most of the images I have seen showing the outer bomb rack recesses show the large rectangular one uncovered.

 

Regarding the discussion about Cerrux Grey I could never find any photo evidence of British production Stranraer hulls being painted grey  (or anodised such that they appeared grey). More of a dull silver seems to be the case in the few pre-war photos I was able to find, and certainly this was the case for K7292/P of 228 squadron which I chose as my subject.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Cheers for the tips Phil, I think I'll take on board your comments about the cerrux grey undersides. I'm going do all the undersides in silver dope or aluminium, with the large identification numbers on each wing. I've painted the metal parts in what should be gloss black. It falls short of that,but it's not matt at least, and will hopefully give the aluminium parts a bit more shine than the doped fabric. I'll leave it a few days before I paint over it. (I'm not so concerned for the camouflage top surfaces.)

 

Here's the hull and wings in primer -

 

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First coat of primer on the Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

 

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First coat of primer on the Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

 

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First coat of primer on the Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

 

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First coat of primer on the Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr

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Oooh that riveting and scribing makes a huge difference you've made her come alive i reckon, i have one in my kit sanctuary and will definitely do this to mine ! thanks for the inspiration , such a lovely Aircraft and great model too , good old Matchbox , please keep posting !

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Wow! Your detail work gives this kit a fresh lease on life, and completely transforms it from so-so to outstanding!  Talk about a complex task--look at that stack of wings you have to deal with!

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Coming along nicely Mike - that rivetting really brings the fuselage to life!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mike, fantastic work. I have the Matchbox Stranraer and Walrus kits in my stash and hope to do a similar level of detailing for them. I came across this book on the Supermarine Walrus and Stranraer that has some great pictures as well as three view diagrams. It’s a PDF to download. I recently found the actual book on eBay and it just came in the mail. Hope this is of some value. 
 

Supermarine Walrus and Stranraer

 

By the way, there are a ton of other aviation and modelling books on this same website. 
 

PDFdrive.com

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20 hours ago, Trivic said:

Mike, fantastic work. I have the Matchbox Stranraer and Walrus kits in my stash and hope to do a similar level of detailing for them. I came across this book on the Supermarine Walrus and Stranraer that has some great pictures as well as three view diagrams. It’s a PDF to download. I recently found the actual book on eBay and it just came in the mail. Hope this is of some value. 
 

Supermarine Walrus and Stranraer

 

By the way, there are a ton of other aviation and modelling books on this same website. 
 

PDFdrive.com

 

Thanks Trivic, I've already got that Mushroom Press book, it's well worth it! Same goes for the Walrus book that also pops up on this link. (I think I may spend more on books than I do on plastic)
I didn't have the Profile booklet on the Walrus though, I've just downloaded it and printed it off here at work, thanks for the heads up on this resource.

Thanks for the feedback chaps. I have spent a little time adding some silver to the undersides of the hull and floats. The aluminium dope finish on the wing undersides is next I think. Progress has ground to a halt as I'm working on the 1/1 scale kit in the shed outside. Like a fool, I don't like crawling around on a cold concrete floor in bad weather, and put off maintenaince jobs until it warms up. Of course then I can't think of anywhere worse than sweating away under a rusty Kombi in a heatwave! Anyway, I've swapped a scalpel and glue for an angle grinder and a welder. It's a lot noisier, and a lot more dangerous. A slip with a grinder makes me shudder 😬 

 

Rust never sleeps. Most of this is the original 1959 metal.
 

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Kombi chassis repairs by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Kombi chassis repairs by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Chassis repairs by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Chassis repairs by Mike, on Flickr

 

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Chassis repairs by Mike, on Flickr

 

 

I also had an unsignificant birthday last week, and got a good haul. The 1/24 2CV was from my work colleagues, they know me well 😉

 

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