Heather's TSR2 diorama *DNF*

[Heather Kay]

I like the TSR2. One of British aviation's best might-have-beens. I managed to get an Airfix kit years ago, and threw as much aftermarket at it as I could find. 
 

 

I'm sure you’ve seen this documentary before, but I was much taken with a short sequence that happens about 28 minutes in. A camera is being waved from a helicopter as it circles XR219 on the apron, being prepped for a test flight.

 

 

Here she is. Since that photo, I’ve added a Douglas Taskmaster tug and towing hitch. Studying the aerial footage, I began to be able to recognise the vehicles around the plane, and acquired kits of them, or as near to them as I could get anyway.

 

 

I wanted authenticity when I started. However many years on it is now, I’m settling for near enough. So, what goodies have we got?

 

Flightpath oxygen trolley. The kit includes a nitrogen trolley, as well as transfers.

 

 

Flightpath Houchin starter trolley.

 

 

BW Models Leyland 19H Hippo refueller, whitemetal cast kit. I am hoping to be able to recreate the exact variant in the video, but "near enough is good enough" may come into play. I reckon the kit weighs almost as much the real thing!

 

 

BW Models Austin K6 CO2 crash tender, whitemetal cast kit. There’s definitely one of these in the film. If you ever had the Gerald Scarborough Airfix Magazine Guide 27 "Modelling RAF Vehicles" you will remember this vehicle was a kit bash of the Emergency Set K6 chassis. 
 

I have no idea how many of these will be completed. That Hippo looks a right beast for a start. Incidentally, I will be mostly soldering the whitemetal kits together. I’m far too lazy for epoxy resin!

[Mjwomack]

And another, what not to like?

Giggled at the packaging on the K6 (last photo) being described as 'modern military vehicles'

[Heather Kay]

15 minutes ago, Mjwomack said:

Giggled at the packaging on the K6 (last photo) being described as 'modern military vehicles'

 

I am still on the lookout for figures to represent Roland Beamont and the small army of donkey-jacketed and gum-booted BAC technicians!

[TonyW]

That lot are going to build into a pretty impressive looking display.

 

Michael Paul Smith built models without ever using figures, yet the images come to life in front of you. Check him out here if you haven't already seen his work.

 

https://blog.flickr.net/en/2013/10/04/crafting-scenes-of-iconic-americana/

[Heather Kay]

8 minutes ago, TonyW said:

Check him out here if you haven't already seen his work.

I have seen his work. I believe he died a year or two back, which is a sad loss to the diorama world. As you say, he didn’t use figures.

 

It is an option, though I wanted to try to illustrate the activity around the aircraft before a flight. Still, they can be added after the fact if any turn up.

[Mjwomack]

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

 

I am still on the lookout for figures to represent Roland Beamont and the small army of donkey-jacketed and gum-booted BAC technicians!

PD Marsh

https://www.pdmarshmodels.com/collections/oo-gauge

Have depot staff and dustmen, both of which could lend themselves to mutilation modification

[Navy Bird]

Ooh, got to watch this one.   

 

Adding a bunch of airfield equipment is a great way to make a TSR2 monotone white finish come to life.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. You can always sculpt Roland if you can't find him ready-made. 

[Heather Kay]

1 minute ago, Navy Bird said:

PS. You can always sculpt Roland if you can't find him ready-made. 

I think I spotted some one-seventytooth 50s/60s RAF pilot figures somewhere. They appeared to be wearing the one-piece suit of the period. I’m sure I’ll find something one day - I doubt my sculpting, beyond modifying another figure, would be up to the job.

[Navy Bird]

11 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

I think I spotted some one-seventytooth 50s/60s RAF pilot figures somewhere. They appeared to be wearing the one-piece suit of the period. I’m sure I’ll find something one day - I doubt my sculpting, beyond modifying another figure, would be up to the job.

 

Be sure to have Roland with a cuppa after a test flight. There is a great photo of that somewhere...

 

Cheers,

Bill

[LorenSharp]

,OOOO The combo of Heather, a TSR2, AND a diorama, this is is going to be awesome! Count me in for the journey.

[TonyW]

There's a few casual pose workmen and the like here...

 

https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/montys.php

 

Maybe a bit 40's/50's rather than TSR2 modern, but some might suit.

 

Tony.

[JOCKNEY]

27 minutes ago, TonyW said:

There's a few casual pose workmen and the like here...

 

https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/montys.php

 

Maybe a bit 40's/50's rather than TSR2 modern, but some might suit.

 

Tony.

Presumably the council workers will be the ones leaning on a shovel looking in the hole 

 

Good luck Heather, you have certainly made sure that vehicles are well represented in this GB.

 

Cheers Pat 

[Terry1954]

20 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

Incidentally, I will be mostly soldering the whitemetal kits together. I’m far too lazy for epoxy resin!

I don't know about being lazy, but soldering is the proper way on these models IMHO!

 

Excellent subjects(s) choice, and that clip at around 28 minutes in, as you say, shows all the ground "impedimenta" needed for this glorious yet superbly potent aircraft.

 

If I can unearth it from the stash, I'm considering joining this GB with an ancient BW Models Green Goddess in 1/76.

 

Terry

 

 

[Mjwomack]

Did you pick up that last moth's Aeroplane Magazine had a big feature, cover story even on the TSR2? It might have been the month before last's now- I struggle to keep up with magazine copy dates.

[Heather Kay]

28 minutes ago, Mjwomack said:

Did you pick up that last moth's

I didn’t pick up any mags, not even ones on Lepidoptera .
 

It’s not something I tend to do, and the range available at my supermarket is pathetic. I have one magazine sub, not counting society journals.

[Mjwomack]

31 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

I didn’t pick up any mags, not even ones on Lepidoptera .
 

It’s not something I tend to do, and the range available at my supermarket is pathetic. I have one magazine sub, not counting society journals.

I read it on readily, other platforms are available 😏. I do remember paper magazines and supermarkets, just

[Navy Bird]

On 21/03/2021 at 08:43, Heather Kay said:

I didn’t pick up any mags, not even ones on Lepidoptera .

 

Are you a butterfly chaser?

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Heather Kay]

Blimey! You turn your back, working on other builds, and a thread disappears into the dark recesses of the last page!

 

I will get round to these builds, at some point. Meanwhile, I found a bit of paper while rummaging about in what is laughingly known as my filing system for other important paperwork.

 

 

This was my list of "would be nice to have" kits for the TSR2 diorama. This would probably be around 2010 or 2011, so bear that in mind when chuckling at the prices. The TSR2 detailing list came to pass, but quite a lot of the BW Models list didn’t. I wasn’t exactly flush with cash at the time, and it took a while to save up. In fact, I wrote to Barry Wright with questions about the Leyland Hippo kit and explaining my plans for the diorama, which he answered quite happily. Eventually, money was found, and I ordered some of the list. I’ve still got the box and covering letter from Barry, dated July 2012. Like so many plans, this one is taking a very long time to come to fruition.

[Heather Kay]

After a couple of weeks concentrating on my paying work, I found an afternoon free today to make a start on one of the builds for this diorama.

 

 

I decided to start with the most complex kit, the BW Models Leyland Hippo 19H refueller. Oh my.  That's a lot of bits. 
 

 

At some point in the past, I seem to have made a start in tidying up castings. It was obviously a pretty onerous task, and the kit had been dumped rather unceremoniously back into its ziplock bag. At first blush, most castings are pretty tidy. There’s the usual expected flash and mould split lines to deal with. Things are a bit chunky. The cab casting, for example, is thick enough to give the armour plating on a main battle tank a run for its money!

 

 

As you would expect for a fuel delivery truck, there’s quite a lot of pipework. Most of the cast items will need some very careful tidying and straightening. A couple of lengths of lead wire are included in the kit, too. 
 

 

About two hours later. The chassis, cab and bits have been tidied up. You can see the small pile of swarf, which is about 80 per cent of the material filed and sanded off. The rest is probably on the floor!

 

 

I don’t have much regard for my remaining brain cell, so the risk of lead poisoning doesn’t figure highly. I will give my hands a good scrub before I think about handling anything else though!

 

Well, it looks about right. The alloy used for this kit is pretty hard, but it is still possible to bend or break if I’m not careful.

 

 

This rubbish image is of the big cabinet at the back of the vehicle. You can see some coarse filing from yours truly, and also some mould registration problems. These areas are going to problematic, I think.

 

The join of the tank halves is also questionable. The little square platforms are to support the various walkways on the top of the tank. I think they might well be lost during filling and sanding. Before I worry too much, though, I will need to assess how much of this join will actually be seen once all the fuel delivery gubbins is installed. For basic filling on whitemetal kits, I generally use low-melt solder. It’s essentially the same material as the kit is made from, and can be used to fill quite large gaps.

 

My aim at this stage is to assess each part, tidy up and remove flash and so on. Once I’ve done that, I can think about beginning construction. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dnl42]

Good start. 

 

12 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

For basic filling on whitemetal kits, I generally use low-melt solder. It’s essentially the same material as the kit is made from, and can be used to fill quite large gaps.

I'd like to see this bit. Have you shown it in another of your builds?

[Heather Kay]

8 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

Good start. 

 

I'd like to see this bit. Have you shown it in another of your builds?

I haven’t. I suspect it’ll be used a fair bit in this build though!

[Ray S]

1 hour ago, dnl42 said:

Good start. 

 

I'd like to see this bit. Have you shown it in another of your builds?

 

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

I haven’t. I suspect it’ll be used a fair bit in this build though!

 

It will be interesting to see how it is done (please!). It does look to be a very complete kit and, judging from your other builds, it will come up a beaut.

 

All the best, Ray

[Heather Kay]

25 minutes ago, Ray S said:

It will be interesting to see how it is done (please!).

I will make a point. I plan to do a sort of tutorial of how I do low-temp soldering. I will stress it will be my techniques, based on learning from others and long experience, and not the only way to do things.

 

 

[Bengalensis]

That's a proper hand working a white metal kit for a few hours. Way to go!

[JeroenS]

Just before you said "Oh my that's a lot of bits" I was thinking the exact same thing! 

 

And I'd say only 10% is on the floor, the rest is on your hands 🙂 

 

Way back, "in between studies", I worked in a factory handling (drilling, stamping) aluminium parts and profiles, the look of your hand reminds me of that time. I must have drilled a million holes in those 6 months...