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Aeroclub Felixstowe F.2a 1/72 ++ FINISHED ++


Ray S

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Pat and CliffB, thanks for the comments!

 

I have had another day of work, but not much to show for it. The progress can be summed up in one picture:

 

DSCN7215

 

The rib tapes as moulded were not too visible on the horizontal tail control surfaces, they were incredibly faint. I also found that top and bottom tapes were not quite aligned, I do not know if it was anything to do with me, but the upper and lower sections did fit together very well. I first drew in the lines on the top, then marked on the underside with a pencil where the rib tape was, and connected those marks. I then cut slots in the leading edge for the control horns, and then marked the four points where the control wires go through the surfaces (each control horn has two wires from it in a 'V' shape. I used a .4mm drill to open up the holes, and then used the 0.7mm Aizu tape to add the rib tapes and keep it in keeping with the rest of the model. Oh yes, I did end up drilling small holes in the control horns after all, despite saying I would not! I just need to drill holes in the trailing edge of the stabilizer, and in the leading edge of these elevators to get them a bit more secure.

 

There is just one more to do now, and then I can get the tail fitted and filled at the roots.

 

Thanks for looking, progress is slow, but what an enjoyable project this is for me. Ray

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Ray, this is looking absolutely fantastic. Great progress, and the rib tapes look very tidy. I completely 'get it' about this being an enjoyable project; you're steadily convincing me that, when I'm able to resume my own vacform and scratchbuild modelling (current work circumstances have temporarily stopped play), I really must get my own Aeroclub Felixstowe. So much more challenging and satisfying than its injection counterpart! 

 

I would definitely be 'in' for a floatplane GB, as I keep telling myself I must scratchbuild a new, improved 1/72 Avro 510 to replace the unfinished and  not-very-good first attempt that's languished in a box for the last few years...

 

Jon

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14 hours ago, Jonners said:

So much more challenging and satisfying than its injection counterpart

This!! no pain, no gain allegedly. But I certainly find far more involvement and correspondingly satisfaction with wrestling something from these kits than a shake and bake. Though I'm no where near this level of excellence.

At one level I don't want this build to ever end because I'm lapping it up, equally though, I can't wait for the decals to go on because they look the business!

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@Jonners and @Mjwomack, thank you for those very kind comments! Jonners, I feel I was very lucky getting this for just £15, if you see one for anywhere near that, go for it. £ for £, it is some of the best cash I have spent!

 

Today, I was able to get the final rib tapes on (for the time being, that is). I needed to adjust the slots I had cut out to fit the tailplanes to make the assembly fit square and true. I then attempted to drill for some strengthening rods to fit the elevators, but could not get it right today, so I glued them straight on, with some droop for show. I hope they do not fall off later, but if they do, I will try drilling again. I still need to rib tape the upper wing and the rudder, but will do that later.

 

DSCN7225

 

The control horns fitted in pretty well all things considered, and I am glad I took the time to do them and also to drill them out too. One thing that always amazes me with the Felixstowe, is just how big the tailplanes are in relation to the fest of the aircraft, especially the fuselage length:

 

DSCN7227

 

On 4/23/2021 at 6:52 AM, CliffB said:

Superb so far Ray and no wing droop (the bane of the Roden kit) :thumbsup2:

 

Cliff, I will let you into a secret, and nobody else will know - the wings are reasonably level, my attempt at introducing dihedral was a complete failure, and I am not sure where I went wrong. I am sure a long time ago I just scored on the underside of the wing at the dihedral break, bent the wing upwards and that was that, but it did not work this time, and I tried at least three times before I gave up.

 

I am now just letting the tailplanes dry for now before I fill the remaining gaps, and I must also remember that I still need to drill four holes for the engine supports close to the fuselage.

 

I got some new filler the other day, as I was not getting anywhere with some of the surface irregularities using Perfect Plastic Putty. The only stuff I could get was Revell filler, and what funny stuff it was. I squeezed some out, and I had more liquid that filler ooze out! I think it is getting better now I have used it a couple of times, it certainly has improved the area around the nose gunner station.

 

That is it for now, paint soon!

 

Cheers, Ray

 

PS, If anyone does want to arrange a 'Flying Boat/Float-plane' Group Build, I would certainly be in. I do not think I would have the organisational abilities to host one, especially doing something like our 'pie chart' of builds that we have on this one!

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It looks very neatly done indeed. That will look super when you get some paint on it.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

PS I use Revell filler sometimes, and it mixes well with Contacta or tube cement if you need a slightly more spreadable version. Although it looks like you are getting alllthe runny stuff first!

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23 hours ago, Ray S said:
23 hours ago, Ray S said:

 

I got some new filler the other day, as I was not getting anywhere with some of the surface irregularities using Perfect Plastic Putty. The only stuff I could get was Revell filler, and what funny stuff it was. I squeezed some out, and I had more liquid that filler ooze out! I think it is getting better now I have used it a couple of times, it certainly has improved the area around the nose gunner station.

 

 

 

Hi Ray,

 

I have had similar problems with the odd tube of Humbrol filler over the years. Trying to give it a good "squishing" in the tube with the cap on seems to help, but only when the tube is part used - otherwise I suspect it would burst like some Polyfilla in a tube I tried that trick on a while back! Otherwise I squeezed out the goey stuff on to a bit of kitchen towel until it started to come out thicker.

 

Pete

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@pheonix and @AdrianMF, thanks for those comments, they are very much appreciated!

 

@PeterB, I will remember that! I tipped some of my filler out into a milk bottle lid and mixed the filler and the liquid up a bit, and it worked very well indeed. I had wondered about 'squidging' the tube, but I had an accident with one once before so was a bit wary to begin with! It was toothpaste that time...

 

Today was a day I had been dreading - cutting out the transparency! There was only one, no spare:

 

DSCN7228

 

It has fared remarkably well, it looks very clear, but importantly there is no yellowing at all, unlike some other brands I have encountered! The frame lines are on it too, but I do have to look very carefully to see them. Masking will be fun soon.

 

I had mentioned in another thread that having a 'pile' shown in these 'Anything but Injection' builds should become a tradition, so, after a little while attacking clear plastic with a pair of small scissors, I had collected a suitable pile, and more to come! I then needed to cut away a large upper panel, which is an open area on the real Felixstowe:

 

DSCN7229

 

With a great deal of trepidation, I set about cutting this out. First, I filled the transparency with bluetack - that gave it a bit of oomph and acted as a support. I masked the area, and then carefully scribed around close to the tape quite a few times, before using a fresh scalpel to further cut into the plastic. I then used the scissors again along the fore/aft masking once the scored lines were deep enough, and was then able to bend the side to side line to get that section out. Here is how the glazing sat on the fuselage before that:

 

DSCN7230

 

I will need to make some adjustments to the glazing, and have also thinned down the sill area around the cockpit now. The glazing does look to be just a little wide, but that may have been me. Anyway, after a little more filing and sanding and trimming, the glazing finally looked like this:

 

DSCN7231

 

There is plenty of dust in there from the sanding, but it will be washed before I start to mask it later.

 

It was with a great sense of relief that I had got this bit out of the way.

 

Thanks for looking and for the comments and likes, Ray

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I was able to get a quick minute or two at the bench this morning, so this is a limited update.

 

Aeroclub had moulded on some external features, and they were very well done, considering the limits of vacform mouldings. I felt I needed to improve one aspect of this detailing, namely the twelves ledges used to get into the aircraft. I had toyed with doing this with square strip, but, as the steps are on an angle, they would have looked wrong even in this scale. I eventually used .3mm plastic rod, which probably still is wrong, but they looked fine to me. I measured out the size and cut my dozen steps, and then had fun trying to pick them up with my sharp pointed tweezers! No way could I manage that, and I had to try and slide each step off my work board and pick them up with my fingers! The first couple of these I added, I used Tamiya Extra Thin cement, but it pooled rather, and then I plucked up courage to use a couple of dabs of CA placed with fishing line - that worked a treat, and allowed a little wriggle time, then I was able to lock them in place with the Quick-drying Tamiya glue with no pooling.

 

DSCN7232

 

I think they look better now. I can also now see how ragged the planing surface/fuselage join is, but it looks okay with the unaided eye.

 

When Felixstowes first entered service, they had fairly subdued colour schemes, sometimes still having varnished ply visible. However, in mid 1918 the crews were allowed to make their aircraft a bit more visible for identification purposes, and possibly allow them to be seen more easily if they had to ditch. From this distance in time, it seems like the crews took to this like ducks to water, and came out with some amazing patterns. I must admit that when I bought this kit a few years ago, I was well up for doing one of the original options, as I wanted to do a varnished ply version. Then I found that AIMS did a transfer sheet (the only transfer sheet I was able to find), and I was hooked. Here is a reminder of the scheme:

 

AIMS7204 Felixstowe

 

Roden chose this option in their injection moulded kit and suggested Humbrol 132 Satin Red for the main colour, and AIMS supplied all the white swirls. Wingnut Wings had some red options in their somewhat larger model (oh, I do wish I had had somewhere to put one when they were available!), and they suggested Humbrol 19 Gloss Bright Red for theirs. I am going to wait and see. However, I have now started painting this, and have given the fuselage a first undercoat of brush painted, thinned Humbrol 60 Scarlet. I am going to do some test patches to see which will come closer to the red on the fin flashes, as I will be painting those, rather than using the kit transfers. I also need to find some roundels for the underside of the wings, as one of the kit ones is disintegrating.

 

DSCN7020

 

The paint does seem to have gone on quite well, but will still need some more tin coats:

 

DSCN7233

 

This aircraft was N4512, and it does not appear to have carried the serial number on the airframe at all, but I will have to find  a stylized 3 for the rudder. The aircraft was lost on 21st June 1918 when the crew were trying to rescue Lieutenant Pack, who had been forced to ditch. The crew of the Felixstowe were saved, but Lt Packe was lost.

 

I am happier now I have got some paint on, but there is still a long way to go, so this is going to keep me out of mischief for a while yet!

 

Thanks for looking, Ray

Edited by Ray S
corrected spelling
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I only noticed this today or would have commented earlier. Very nice so far. I have one cut out (sprayed with grey primer) and then shelved a few weeks after it was released. Can't remember why now because its a cracking little kit. Also have one of the Roden kits, and recently picked up another Aeroclub off Fleabay which was going for a fiver because there were no instructions and it was all cut out. Bit of a risk, but although the previous owner hadn't primered or marked up the plastic before cutting, he was pretty accurate, so it will be do-able with some extra effort.  The canopies in both of mine are very yellowed though, which will determine how I eventually build them ( working of course on the basis that I'll live forever, despite being 63 today).

 

Anyway, far too late to help, but thought you should know that there is a Part PE set which would have helped you a lot with the interior. But if you ever do another, now you know (sorry if that was mentioned before, I'm getting really good at being selectively word-blind when playing catchup with a thread ).

 

Paul.

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1 hour ago, Ray S said:

fun trying to pick them up with my sharp pointed tweezers! No way could I manage that

Top tip: roll and shape a lump of Blu-Tack so that it has a sharp pointy end. This should have just enough tack to pick up the tiny part. Use a scalpel tip to hold it against the glue while you pull the Blu-Tack 'holder' away.

Jon

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Wax pencils work well for this or you can make your own with a bit of bee's wax and a toothpick or bamboo skewer suitably shaped. Melt the bee's wax and dip the pointy end of your chosen instrument into the wax to build up a small layer of wax.

 

Wax pencils can be had a your finer hobby emporium or you can check ebay or amazon, for example:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Adhesive-Rhinestones-Picker-Pencil-Crystal/dp/B06XK3CBGB/ref=sr_1_6

 

Used in the beauty industry for nail art and sometimes called rhinestone pickers.

 

cheers, Graham

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Paul Thompson said:

Anyway, far too late to help, but thought you should know that there is a Part PE set which would have helped you a lot with the interior. But if you ever do another, now you know (sorry if that was mentioned before, I'm getting really good at being selectively word-blind when playing catchup with a thread ).

 

@Paul Thompson, thanks for that! It would have been quite helpful, it had not been mentioned. I have heard of Part, in fact, I will hopefully get some of their etch for the Gotha GIV (Rareplanes) and GII/III (Roden). I had not even considered them, so, Part, I am sorry!

 

@Jonners and @GrahamCC thanks too for those tips - when I fit very small photoetch, I use a wooden cocktail stick which has been dampened slightly, but did not consider that either.

 

As for the damaged roundels, I had a look through my transfer bank and found a set by Blue Rider which have roundels the exact size I needed for the underwing markings, and also some transfers that will also do for the number 3 I need.

 

I am off to put another layer of paint on shortly, 

 

Cheers, Ray

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Ray, I've used the Part set on the Roden Gotha G.III, and it was very useful for many of the bits. Very fiddly though, but worth it in this case. I also have a set for the G.IV which (since I mislaid my Roden kit) I may use on a Rareplanes one I bought before Roden were a gleam in the eye of Toko. The only bad thing about the latter kit is the tail surface control runs being moulded on the fuselage sides - you really should delete those.  If you ever see one, the white metal accessory pack by Aeroclub really helps the kit out (full engines and exhausts, all guns, that sort of thing).

 

Paul.

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11 hours ago, Paul Thompson said:

Ray, I've used the Part set on the Roden Gotha G.III, and it was very useful for many of the bits. Very fiddly though, but worth it in this case. I also have a set for the G.IV which (since I mislaid my Roden kit) I may use on a Rareplanes one I bought before Roden were a gleam in the eye of Toko. The only bad thing about the latter kit is the tail surface control runs being moulded on the fuselage sides - you really should delete those.  If you ever see one, the white metal accessory pack by Aeroclub really helps the kit out (full engines and exhausts, all guns, that sort of thing).

 

Paul.

 

Hello Paul, I have the Aeroclub set for the Rareplanes GIV too. The whole set was very kindly given to me by @PeterB, and I intend to build both it and the Roden one side by side when the time comes. I had noticed the control runs, and will certainly delete those as well.

 

Yesterday evening I started to give the red another coat, but even after 10 hours drying time, the under layer started to pull off. I think I was a little too keen, so the extra layers will be done with a greater time span in future. One of the perils of brush-painting enamels, methinks. Thank goodness I had started on the fin.

 

Cheers, Ray

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19 minutes ago, Ray S said:

 

Hello Paul, I have the Aeroclub set for the Rareplanes GIV too. The whole set was very kindly given to me by @PeterB, and I intend to build both it and the Roden one side by side when the time comes. I had noticed the control runs, and will certainly delete those as well.

 

Yesterday evening I started to give the red another coat, but even after 10 hours drying time, the under layer started to pull off. I think I was a little too keen, so the extra layers will be done with a greater time span in future. One of the perils of brush-painting enamels, methinks. Thank goodness I had started on the fin.

 

Cheers, Ray

    As I recall, and am likely to trot out repeatedly to anyone who shows the slightest interest, the main problem with the Roden Gotha G.III was the nature of the plastic they used back then, which was (usually) very brittle, which made getting the finer parts like the struts off the sprues intact a bit more of an adventure than you'd want. Still, by doing as much flash removal and parting seam cleanup as possible while the parts are still on the runner, you can minimise the risk. I'm quite clumsy and still only broke one strut. That's the main thing I've read complaints about.Well, that and the modifications required due to Roden maximising the number of versions you can do, which you've probably already seen in the instructions and involve mostly minor things like knifing off unwanted fuselage protruberances. The worst bit is changing the sweepback on the wings. The theory is nice, but how you get on is down to your own accuracy in cutting the wings (as I recall - it's been a while).

 

    Again, I said all this to someone intending to build a Roden Gotha of some flavour in the last few years, so I hope it wasn't you, but erring on the side of caution and since you haven't started yet, be aware that getting the engines into the nacelles needs advanced whittling skills. The Roden engines are more or less the right size which doesn't allow for the thinckness of the nacelle plastic, and you'd need to sand the insides to a true scale thickness for them to fit unmodified, by which time they walls would have suffered complete structural integity failure. A pity, because both the nacelles and engines have some nice detail on them.  Having discovered the fit problem after everything was painted and ready for assembly, my 'solution' if you can call it that was to hack away most of each engine and carve and sand the edges of the openings as thin as I could until the exhausts could more-or-less fit in the right place. Knowing about it beforehand should make it a lot easier. 

 

    I don't recall any other issues with the kit, and it's held together quite well over the years despite several house moves. I got the Rareplane kit to the rigging stage and stopped due to disillusionment with the job I'd done, particularly the handpainted fuselage markings, which was utter pants. No suitable off the shelf decals back then, unlike today. I might re-do it one day though, just so I can say I finished it (same reason I use to keep a Contrail Staaken hanging around even though I built one of the Rodens).

 

    I hate brush painting red enamel for just the reason you describe, when using gloss Humbrol colours, mostly H19. Not so bad with matt versions, I find they'll stand overcoating in half the time.

 

Paul.

 

 

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On 4/26/2021 at 6:55 PM, Ray S said:

I had mentioned in another thread that having a 'pile' shown in these 'Anything but Injection' builds should become a tradition

It really is happening! Wouldn't be able to flaunt these with a Tamigawa kit🤪; is this what's meant by 'added value' because you get more material than is actually used?

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Thankfully the latest attempt at giving a second coat of Humbrol 60 Scarlet went somewhat better than it did yesterday. The paint on the model felt different this morning too so it looks like it needs to dry and harden off for more time that I had suspected, perhaps it is a thinners thing. I know ColourCoats and their naphtha thinners dries off and hardens very quickly, Jamie has said it is because the naphtha is a short-chain molecule, and maybe Humbrol thinners is not. Anyway, I will give a good 24 hours between coats in future. Here is the result of the second coat:

 

DSCN7237

 

I think it still needs another undercoat, then I have to decide whether to Humbrol 132 or 19 it, either way, it gets even redder! When I did a Roden Britannia a few months ago, I did find that the Humbrol 19 Bright Red Gloss remained tacky for quite a long time, that was thinned with the Humbrol Thinner too.

 

As I could not touch the plane again for a while, I thought I would get on with some more prep work, I sanded and smoothed the underside of the upper wing and drilled out the strut location points. This took a little while, and created more dust, and then I marked up the rib stations and started to get the next batch of rib tapes onto the underside. This was awkward work again, and after over 40 rib tapes (and 33 still to do) I had to call it a day!

 

DSCN7238 (2)

 

I will try and finish that off this evening, and get it sealed in with a varnish.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking, Ray

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Hello all. Today's work on this has consisted of paintwork. I gave the underside of the upper wing a base coat of light grey, and have given the fuselage another (third) coat of brush-painted Humbrol 60 Scarlet. There were no issues with lifting of the paint this time either, so I hope I have got that cracked. In their instructions for the 1/32 scale kit, Wingnut Wings suggested the wing top surfaces were either Humbrol 30 or 195. I have decided to initially give them a coat of 30 first off, so I have painted one wing and the horizontal tail surfaces so far. As the fuselage red was still drying, I had to use the other wing as my handle, hence why it is still white!

 

DSCN7239

 

In front of the Felixstowe, you can see my 'swatches' of paint. Each coat I have added, I have also put onto the test piece, so each red splodge has three layers of H60 so I can then try out the 132 Satin Red and the 19 Gloss Bright Red and see how they look. I will note what paint is which when I start the variations, so anything else done to the fuselage will be tested on the swatches. One will just be glossed, and the others will have the extra paint on.

 

I have also started to clean up the metal parts, and I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I have drilled out the final for location points for the angled braces for the engine mounts.

 

That is it for now, more soon!

 

Cheers, Ray

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I am still at the paint stage at the moment. The fuselage has been left alone, but I have given my paint swatches some attention. The three coats of red Humbrol 60 have had gloss varnish on one, Humbrol 132 Satin red on another as a top coat, and Gloss Red 19 on the third. The latter one seems to be a close(ish) match to the red on the transfers, both Aeroclub's and Blue Rider's, so I think I may do the tail flash with that, and just give the fuselage a gloss varnish and put the transfers on over that. I have started another swatch set, this time for the blue for the fin flash and am trying Revell 52 and 56, along with Humbrol 25 and 104. I will see which combination is closest and use that as I do not really want to use the transfers for the flash, as I never seem to get it wrapped over the edges of the rudder properly.

 

As for the Felixstowe itself, I have given the underside of the wings a second coat of Humbrol 64 (mainly to hide the pencil marks I had put on the plastic). I should have done this on the lower wing before I painted the rib tapes brown, but at least I had a good enough small, flat brush to get in between the ribs okay. I did not make the same mistake with the top wing, I still have to paint those ribs. The second coat has also gone on the top of the lower wing, and the Humbrol 30 looks to have given good coverage. I have swatches for the green too, so I can see how Humbrol 195 looks over 30.

 

DSCN7245

 

That is all drying and curing now, so hopefully more soon! This is getting exciting now, nearly time for the white swirly transfers!

 

All the best, Ray

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20 hours ago, Ray S said:

nearly time for the white swirly transfers!

And suddenly I had a mental image of the photographic negative of a tub of raspberry ripple ice cream. Hope you have a successful BH weekend on it- going to be too cold to go out and eat ice cream.

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I had to stand up to my impatience today. I was dying to get the transfers onto the fuselage, but there was something screaming at me to 'WAIT!'

 

Hmm, I still had to paint the planing surface, which means masking, which means do not add the transfers yet ('cos you just know they will lift when the masking comes off). So I did some painting instead. The first thing I did was decide on the colour for the Clear Doped Linen for the underside of the wings. Roden suggested Humbrol 74 (Linen), while Wingnut Wings said Humbrol 28 (Camouflage Grey). I thought WNW would have been more like it, so that is what I did. I thinned the paint quite a bit, and then brush painted it onto the wings, and hoped that the previously painted rib tapes would show through as a slightly darker tone. I think it worked:

 

DSCN7251

 

That will dry off now, and I will add another thinned coat tomorrow and see how it goes. I then remembered to add the second grey undercoat to the tailplanes.

 

The planing surface on the Felixstowes was often a glossy bitumenous black, but both Roden and AIMS (on their transfer sheet instructions) showed a wood colour for it, and WNW also indicated that some of their options were also wood coloured. I tried to mask along the side edges of the planing surface but could not get the tape to stick and follow the lines, but I did manage to mask across the first step in the hull. It has had the first coat of Humbrol 110 Natural Wood, but needs a bit more!

 

DSCN7250

 

There is quite a bit that needs to be done with that wood section, not least of which is the lack of covering power over the excess red. I ended up doing the division between what should be red and brown freehand, using my best brush for the job.

 

Sadly, I think the transfers are still a way ahead yet, but I will get there.

 

Thanks for looking and the comments,

 

Ray

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