28 Sqn Whirlwind: A highly detailed, shake and bake kit

[Head in the clouds.]

8 hours ago, perdu said:

Well we like it

Took the words out my mouth..😃

 

Bit of a mixed bag there, nice scratchbuilding and then possibly let down by what is fast becoming a problematical product. I have to admit too that every time I reach for my new bottles of Alclad products I do it with an element of trepidation.

 

With regard to the 'blueing' of your gloss varnish, my bottles are about 5 years old now and I have no problems such as yours, I decant straight from bottle to brush. Again, and I believe I have said this before but my bottles of gloss are the old, original bottles, not the new ones so maybe there has been a change in the production/quality.....who knows?

 

Onwards and upwards..👍

[Terry1954]

8 hours ago, hendie said:

I'm becoming more and more suspect of Alclad products recently

 

I'm sharing your concern there Alan. Some of the issues I've had could be down to shelf life I suppose, but other products survive longer in my experience. I love their white gloss primer for example, but over time I've had two bottles turn to gloop. Same with the white micro filler primer. I've had black gloss primer (for the metallics) that never really set properly, yet other examples of same, that did. Could all be down to user error I guess, but that means the product is more challenging to use than others I would say. In summary, for me, when they work, they are brilliant, but now and then they catch me out big time.

 

The whole rotor head assembly is coming together very nicely to me eyes, and the Whirlwind in those last few shots looks great in it's "proper" colours!

 

Terry

[heloman1]

Well, didn't you get a spurt on. I had it in mind that you were going to be doing a yellow cab! However, a camo/Jungle one is good.

 

Neat work on the main rotorhead.

 

Colin

[SafetyDad]

Looking good there! Great choice of colour scheme!

 

SD

[TheBaron]

10 hours ago, hendie said:

 It's not my best work, but still streets ahead of the kit parts.  I should really have just printed the whole darned thing - would have been a lot easier.

You might change your mind and feel more sanguine anout matters when you see it painted and integrated into neighbouring structures Alan. Context etc.

10 hours ago, hendie said:

28 Sqn must be the worst record keepers in the entire RAF

With a frankly laissez-faire sounding squadron motto of: 'Whatsoever you may do, do', I guess they didn't, didn't....

 

[RichieW]

Pity the curse of the Alclad primer struck again but it really does look good in camouflage and you will soon have the problem areas corrected.

 

I like the rotor head, it really does look the business to my eye. Remember you didn't quite like the tyres at first but they look absolutely real with the treads perfectly in scale. 

 

Richie

[giemme]

I hate when paint lifts happen You seem to have managed them properly, though - this build is definitely still fun  

 

Ciao

[AMB]

On 8/21/2021 at 11:25 PM, hendie said:

 

 

I used a mix of DSG and black - since I can no longer get my favorite grimy flat black anymore - to cover her bottom

 

 

 

 

Alan, I am assuming either that black belly paint is an undercoat or you have a photio of a 28 Sqn. Whirlwind with a black belly?  All my photos of 28 Sqn Whirlwinds show the belly to be painted in High Speed Silver, at least up to 1968.  84 Sqn in Cyprus and 230 Sqn. had their Whirlwind undersides painted black in the early '70s. However unsure if any of 28's Whirwinds did as the squadreon disbanded in August 72?

Edited August 23, 2021 by AMB

[hendie]

On 8/21/2021 at 6:39 PM, perdu said:

Well we like it

 

I aim to please. Though often miss.

 

On 8/22/2021 at 3:09 AM, Head in the clouds. said:

Took the words out my mouth..😃

 

Bit of a mixed bag there, nice scratchbuilding and then possibly let down by what is fast becoming a problematical product. I have to admit too that every time I reach for my new bottles of Alclad products I do it with an element of trepidation.

 

With regard to the 'blueing' of your gloss varnish, my bottles are about 5 years old now and I have no problems such as yours, I decant straight from bottle to brush. Again, and I believe I have said this before but my bottles of gloss are the old, original bottles, not the new ones so maybe there has been a change in the production/quality.....who knows?

 

Onwards and upwards..👍

 

That bottle is probably approaching 5 years old.  I think I am going to ditch Alclad in favor of Mr Color

 

On 8/22/2021 at 3:27 AM, Terry1954 said:

 

I'm sharing your concern there Alan. Some of the issues I've had could be down to shelf life I suppose, but other products survive longer in my experience. I love their white gloss primer for example, but over time I've had two bottles turn to gloop. Same with the white micro filler primer. I've had black gloss primer (for the metallics) that never really set properly, yet other examples of same, that did. Could all be down to user error I guess, but that means the product is more challenging to use than others I would say. In summary, for me, when they work, they are brilliant, but now and then they catch me out big time.

 

The whole rotor head assembly is coming together very nicely to me eyes, and the Whirlwind in those last few shots looks great in it's "proper" colours!

 

Terry

 

after my last couple of orders of Alclad I've become increasingly suspicious of their quality control.  Once bitten, twice shy, which is a shame because as you say, when they work, they are great, but...

 

On 8/22/2021 at 3:48 AM, heloman1 said:

Well, didn't you get a spurt on. I had it in mind that you were going to be doing a yellow cab! However, a camo/Jungle one is good.

 

Neat work on the main rotorhead.

 

Colin

 

thanks Colin.

 

On 8/22/2021 at 4:39 AM, SafetyDad said:

Looking good there! Great choice of colour scheme!

 

SD

 

thanks SD

 

On 8/22/2021 at 5:04 AM, TheBaron said:

You might change your mind and feel more sanguine anout matters when you see it painted and integrated into neighbouring structures Alan. Context etc.

With a frankly laissez-faire sounding squadron motto of: 'Whatsoever you may do, do', I guess they didn't, didn't....

 

 

 

On 8/22/2021 at 7:02 AM, RichieW said:

Pity the curse of the Alclad primer struck again but it really does look good in camouflage and you will soon have the problem areas corrected.

 

I like the rotor head, it really does look the business to my eye. Remember you didn't quite like the tyres at first but they look absolutely real with the treads perfectly in scale. 

 

Richie

 

Good point Richie - I'll stick with it for the time being, but I may just model one up while I'm doing the rotor blade

 

On 8/23/2021 at 7:45 AM, giemme said:

I hate when paint lifts happen You seem to have managed them properly, though - this build is definitely still fun  

 

Ciao

 

that's easy to say from a distance Giorgio 

 

On 8/23/2021 at 7:42 PM, AMB said:

Alan, I am assuming either that black belly paint is an undercoat or you have a photio of a 28 Sqn. Whirlwind with a black belly?  All my photos of 28 Sqn Whirlwinds show the belly to be painted in High Speed Silver, at least up to 1968.  84 Sqn in Cyprus and 230 Sqn. had their Whirlwind undersides painted black in the early '70s. However unsure if any of 28's Whirwinds did as the squadreon disbanded in August 72?

 

Adrian, I have limited information on 28 Sqn any aircraft and the whirlwind info is even rarer than most.

I have a list of 28 Sqn aircraft and serials that I got from somewhere long ago.  

From the Whirlwind section:

Whirlwind HAR Mk 10

XJ432 (S), XK968, XL109, XP301, XP303, XP328 (K), XP332 (E?), XP340, XP358, XP363 (D), XP393 (U), XP401, XR455, XR458 (E), XR477, XR482,

 

The code designations are my additions based on other info from the web.  As best I can tell, those serials (along with other aircraft types serials listed) check out. 

My reference shots of 28's WW's runs to about a dozen grainy photos. Most of them as you point out, show high speed silver on the underside, however, 4 of those photos show a black underside.

XP328 shows a dark demarcation line at the bottom though there are lighter shades showing below that so I'm not sure what's going on there.  There's definitely a few rough patches on this one.

 

 

This following shot clearly shows that the underside is not high speed silver. I am making the assumption that this is either XR455, XP340, or XP363 as they were recorded as being blown over during the night by high winds while parked at Kai Tak in May 1972.  Note also the Wessex in the background which didn't arrive in HK until 1972 (?). From this it appears that sometime around the 70's, the undersides on at least several WW's were painted black. I also note that the serials themselves changed from white to black

 

 

This appears to be the same airframe though it is strategically placed so I cannot make out wither the serial number but the code letter is J. 

 

 

interestingly, on the WW just behind the tail, I can make out what appears to be the 28 Demi Pegasus on both the tail, and on the nose door. On the downed aircraft, I can see what appears to be the demi Pegasus on the nose door but not on the tail, though on zooming in I could be talked into the edge of it being barely visible.

 

To be honest, I've gone down the path of painting the underside black and with the masking issues I've encountered, I am loathe to remask and paint it HS Silver. If pushed I'm going to have to claim it's a WOTIF.

 

I think I am going for XP328 as it is the clearest photo I have, but if anyone could shed any light on the 3 casualties of the high winds, I would be very appreciative.  Or any of 28's WW's for that matter

 

thanks for bringing that up though Adrian. It made me go back and check my references more thoroughly.

 

 

 

[perdu]

I can see the same unemployed chock at the same point in the circle on both pictures Watson, this leads us to the inevitable conclusion the barking dog did it that night.

 

 

Yep I concur with boring black bellies for 28sqn in the seventies.

[Terry1954]

1 hour ago, perdu said:

Yep I concur with boring black bellies for 28sqn in the seventies.

 

I'm with you an Bill on the black belly post 1970. Anyway, to me it looks nicer, probably because I don't recall seeing any camouflaged RAF Whirlwind or Wessex at Airshows in the late 60's early 70's that were not black undersides, so I'm biased! Obvs there were probably loads I didn't see with silver .......... 🤔

 

Being a teenager of that era you probably won't be surprised also to learn that RN Wessex "Commando" mounts also only look proper to me in spinach and sand!

 

Slips on Duffle Coat and makes a hasty exit.

 

Terry

[perdu]

The first Naval Wessex I ever met was at Cannon Hill Park during a display at the Tulip Festival (I really miss the Tulip Festival) 

This was a jungly Mk5 with the slightly later all over dark green, very svelte I thought so that would be my fave.

 

[LorenSharp]

Lookin' better every day. I've had issues with Alclad's Black primer  since day 1. Anymore I just use rattle can Gloss Black Lacquer I get from the local Building supply outlet. Not only get more, but its cheaper too and haven't had any failures. 

[Pete in Lincs]

Shame about the paint peeling issues but it does look good in Camouflage. I'll agree with the black too.

Print a rotor head? Ah go on go on go on. (That was a vote from Mrs Doyle BTW). Though your hand built versions look good too.

[hendie]

Ah... that's the fire access panel on the nose door, not the squadron crest.  The crest does appear to be on the tail pylon, though from what I can see, only on one side.

Question: do I assume it's on both sides of the pylon? I have no evidence to the contrary

[heloman1]

Alan, your pic of XP328 K and it's lower parts shading. Look at the hardstanding, there is a large white circle. This looks like it is reflected in the lower fuselage and also on the tail boom joint. That could also be the reason for the lighter line on the belly pan. I'd go with the black. JMTPW.

 

Maybe have a look at Operation Firedog?

 

Colin

[perdu]

Adrian's Warpaint agrees with black underbellies on Whirlys in 1969, black serials and white titles too for 230 sqn

 

Seems 230 had fin flashes too.

[heloman1]

Hi Alan, did some research in the same book as Bill. No. 28 Sqdn was in HK during 1968 based at Sek Kong until 1972 with Whirlwinds until they were replaced by the Wessex.

Colour scheme for Tactical Transports was initially gloss Dark Sea Grey/Olive Green with Highspeed Silver cabin underside, with White ROYAL AIR FORCE on the cabin sides. Roundels were RWB.

In late sixties, changes were made with the underside being painted in Black with a wavy demarcation and the ROYAL AIR FORCE moved to the tail boom, then by early/mid 1070's the scheme became matt finish. Serials change to black with Red/Blue roundels

 

Hope this is of use?

 

Colin

[hendie]

4 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Hope this is of use?

 

Thanks Colin - much appreciated.  That was a great spot concerning the white disc reflection.

It seems that XP328 is a bit of an oddity then? Or maybe all the HK WW's?

It has black serials with RWB roundels and ROYAL AIR FORCE is not displayed anywhere, either on the tail boom, or fuselage.  In the shots of the sickly WW above, it would appear to be wearing the same scheme, and with the Wessex in the background confirming it to be 1972, yet it is still wearing a RWB roundel.

I can see RAF painted on the sides of WW shots I have with the HSS undersides, but none of the black birds seem to have RAF carved on them anywhere

Concerning the matt finish - the shot of XP328 appears to show a very matt finish, but those reflections you pointed out would not be possible on a matt finish (and on a dry pan too) . I'm guessing the graininess of the photo is making her skin look less than prystine. 

 

I might stay with the gloss finish on this build, just for a bit of variation as everything else I have is very much matt.  I've already strayed a little bit from the camo scheme, and now I've added the squadron crest on the tail boom - because I convinced myself I could see it on a tail boom of the WW's in the background in the shots above.

 

[hendie]

With her coat of many, well two colors on, it was time to add a splash of color and go for the anti-dazzle on the nose.

It took me a few attempts with paper templates to get the right demarcation lines, getting there after about 4 attempts.

 

 

I found some vinyl masking sheet that came with the Fly kit (I think), but like everything else on that kit, it was rubbish.  I'd burnish it down and before I had time to exhale, it had started lifting again.  Oh well.

 

 

It was time to return back to the tried and tested Tamiya tape method, with the added excitement of will it lift?, won't it lift?  It's anybody's guess

 

 

I'm a big coowardy at heart so I take no chances when it comes to overspray.

 

 

End result?   Result!  No paint lifting at all.  

 

 

The whole kit and kaboodle was given a onceover with Mr Color Crystal clear which went on very nicely.  Now it was time to get down to business and start sticking on the stickers.

First one down. Yup, I know it's white, but this was a leftover from the !/48 Wessex build and those decals came with white backers and a separate yellow overlay.  It's amazing how much fun you can have trying to overlay yellow see through text on top of white text and try to get them both to line up so you don't see any white.

 

 

This was a real hunt of many avenues going through my somewhat limited decal stash trying to find anything that was appropriate in size, color, and theme. Over the last week, I must have gone through my decal stash at least a hundred times cherry picking a decal here, a decal there.   The DANGER signs came from a donation from Bill - many thanks Bill !

Of course when it came time to add the serial number XP328,  I struck out on the very first character.  No X's 

 

 

I had bought the Xtradecal sheet back when I was doing the Venom (?), then had to buy a second lot of the same sheet as I ran out of one of the characters.  I think that was an X back then too.  There was no way I was going to break into the retirement fund to purchase yet another lot of the same sheet, so I used two Y's to make an X by cutting off the drop leg on the Y leaving a V shape.

Before long I had run out of yellow decals and had to resort to using white ones. To get around this I used some yellow strips on top of the white decals as in this instance where I'm covering a white arrow with the yellow. Oh, and yes, the Italeri decal does say PICKED HERE.  At this point though it was a case of make do with what I had one way or another.

 

 

I won't bore you with a shot by shot account of sticking on bits of transfers, suffice to say I worked on this for an hour or two every evening this week, and stealing an hour at lunchtime each day.  I ended up using whatever I could lay my hands on, and in some instances (don't tell anyone) they're not correct - I picked stencils that looked like they could belong in that position.  Why does no-one do a generic stencil sheet for helicopters eh?

By the end of the week I had one of these

 

 

and one of these

 

 

The most fun were the fire panel stickers, - a white rectangle then adding FIGHT and FIRE as separate items.  Even more fun were the squadron crests on the tail pylon.  I spent literally hours trying to use my cheapo circle cutter to cut small discs from white decal sheet before resorting to punching them out (which I was trying to avoid as the punch was slightly too small). AFter the white disc came a yellow donut, then finally the squadron crest itself.  A complete palaver if ever there was one.

The very last decal to go on was right on the nose. 

 

 

What's that you ask?  Where' are the roundels? 

Well, I had every size of roundel in every type of roundel apart from the ones I needed for this. Sod's law.

I spent I dunno how long trying to see if I could use a Type A and overlay a red dot and so on.  I very seriously considered spraying the roundels which is a task I've been wanting to do for some time, but given the issues with paint lift on this build, I was too scared to attempt the sprayed on versions.  An order has now been submitted to Hannants so in a week or two I should be able to finish the stickering.

 

There's plenty to be getting on with in the meantime. Lots of other stuff to do.

I started off easy by painting, then adding the handles and catches to the sliding windows.

 

 

and that was close of play yesterday evening. 

 

As much as this appears to have been fighting me over the last few weeks, I feel I've now made it over the hump and the rest shouldn't be too difficult.  I've made a start on 3d'ing the rotor blades and also the rotor head so hopefully I will be able to get those finished sometime this week.  At least the absence of the roundels doesn't hold me back as they can easily be fitted later without disrupting anything else.

 

I've really got to build something out of the box sometime. I'm sure it must be fun.  Meanwhile... back in the jungle, I am starting to have an itch to do another 1/48 Wessex.  Luckily I haven't been able to find one anywhere yet but no doubt the malevolent side of me will keep looking

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheBaron]

9 hours ago, hendie said:

A complete palaver if ever there was one.

I've said it before on your threads Alan but >coughs into hand< 'Silhouette cutter'...

For masks, metal foil panels/fairings and outlining shapes on plastic mine's an indispensable part of the bench - I can only imagine the gems that you'd produce with one.

 

9 hours ago, hendie said:

I am starting to have an itch to do another 1/48 Wessex.  Luckily I haven't been able to find one anywhere yet but no doubt the malevolent side of me will keep looking

Lucky you don't have a 3d printer with which to produce your own - I've heard it can be fun!

 

Nice anti-dazzling btw.

 

 

 

 

[Terry1954]

21 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

I've said it before on your threads Alan but >coughs into hand< 'Silhouette cutter'...

 

You mean I need to get one of those as well as the dental thermoformer that just arrived? Puts the cost benefit calculations back a bit showing payback in about 50 years now?

 

The decals are bringing the Whirlwind alive Alan, most impressive. And given the varied responses to good old Alclad, I reckon you are onto something with your batch theory.

 

Terry

[perdu]

You lot are seriously trying to deplete my pension too, are'nt you?

 

Now its a sillygit cutter too...

 

I have been trying to work out what roundel size you need, do you know?  Even good old Modeltoys doesnt help very well.

 

But Modeldecals 47 does have a very informative help sheet.

 

 

I dont understand why Hannants only reproduce some of the Modeldecals range, 47 was the best of the best in my book.

 

Sorry about the flash flash but it is what it...

 

 

 

 

I have so many unused type \D from unbuilt or unbuildable kits that if you can give me the SIZE in inches of millimotores I can probably find one if Hannants does not come through.

 

Or we will get Ced working with a Sillyyet cutter thingy

 

[Martian]

13 hours ago, hendie said:

I've really got to build something out of the box sometime. I'm sure it must be fun.  

It probably is Hendie but once you are on this slippery slope of converting and super detailing there is no return. Blame it all on the plonker who persuaded you all this was a cunning plan all those years ago.

 

The "I Didn't Do It" Martian 👽

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 hours ago, hendie said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hendie]

11 hours ago, TheBaron said:

I've said it before on your threads Alan but >coughs into hand< 'Silhouette cutter'...

For masks, metal foil panels/fairings and outlining shapes on plastic mine's an indispensable part of the bench - I can only imagine the gems that you'd produce with one.

 

Lucky you don't have a 3d printer with which to produce your own - I've heard it can be fun!

 

Nice anti-dazzling btw.

 

 

 

 

 

I still have that expensive cutter that I acquired during my early Pegasus days Tony.  It lives under the bench and has become a very effective dust collector.  My last laptop died and I couldn't retrieve the licence and the software company has gone out of business.  All I need to do is spend a few $ to buy another software and it should be up and running.  But the Scots in me, well, y'know how that goes.

 

10 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

 

You mean I need to get one of those as well as the dental thermoformer that just arrived? Puts the cost benefit calculations back a bit showing payback in about 50 years now?

 

The decals are bringing the Whirlwind alive Alan, most impressive. And given the varied responses to good old Alclad, I reckon you are onto something with your batch theory.

 

Terry

 

The one thing I am waiting for is when CO2 lasers become cheap enough that they're included in those little $199 laser cutters - easy PE and no need to mess about with chemicals.  I reckon 3 or 4 years maybe.

 

10 hours ago, perdu said:

You lot are seriously trying to deplete my pension too, are'nt you?

 

Now its a sillygit cutter too...

 

I have been trying to work out what roundel size you need, do you know?  Even good old Modeltoys doesnt help very well.

<snip>

 

But Modeldecals 47 does have a very informative help sheet.

 

<snip>

 

I dont understand why Hannants only reproduce some of the Modeldecals range, 47 was the best of the best in my book.

 

Sorry about the flash flash but it is what it...

 

<snip>

 

I have so many unused type \D from unbuilt or unbuildable kits that if you can give me the SIZE in inches of millimotores I can probably find one if Hannants does not come through.

 

Or we will get Ced working with a Sillyyet cutter thingy

 

 

Thanks very much for the offer Bill but the roundels should be winging they're way to me as I type.  Whirleybirds seemed to have varying sizes of roundels and on this particular bird, I think it works out as 25" or somewhere around 14/15mm

 

7 hours ago, Martian said:

It probably is Hendie but once you are on this slippery slope of converting and super detailing there is no return. Blame it all on the plonker who persuaded you all this was a cunning plan all those years ago.

 

The "I Didn't Do It" Martian 👽

 

 

That's easy for you to say when you've got a load of tentacles to help you out.  Why are they called tentacles anyway?  An octopus only has eight - shouldn't they be called eightacles?  How many numeracles do you have anyway?  Can you detach them and they still wriggle when you're being chased like those little chit-chats?  So many questions.

 

Anyhoos.  Second half, round 2. Ding Ding.

 

Now with added undercarriage.

 

 

The stance isn't too bad at all, and though I could probably remove a smidgin from the flats on the front wheels, I'm calling this a win.

 

 

More fun stuff next though.  I had to run another round of window rubbers last night as I somehow mislaid my last batch.  The nice thing about doing the rubbers this way is that you can paint the things before they get fixed in place thus ensuring a nice neat edge to the surround.

 

 

That was the easy part though. Actually getting them in position is a game not for the faint of heart.

If you remember back, I had tried printing them directly on the build plate, but for whatever reason, they always came out flat and didn't have the correct cross section.  Perhaps it's something to do with my setup, I'm not sure. Adding supports fixed the issue.

First though, you have to remove them from the supports which in itself is not an easy task and I lost a few, hence all the extra's

 

 

Pride of place for first window rubber goes to the cabin door.

 

 

Followed by those little skylight windows.  My masking was a bit iffy, and the handle got in the way which is why the rectangular rubber isn't quite lined up with the square one.

 

 

The fuselage windows were another challenge, so masking tape was employed to give me half a chance of getting them straight, and aligned properly. The rubbers themselves are 0.7mm wide by about 0.35mm thick - so very flimsy indeed.  I did not bother to try and cure these as that would have made them too brittle and any flexing would simply have broken them.  Leaving them uncured meant that I could easily bend them to fit fuselage contours without worrying about them going 'ping'

 

 

A bit Heath Robinson, but my method was to position the rubber as best I could, then slap a piece of masking tape to hold it in place.  I could then use a piece of scrap rod to lift up one side enough for me to apply some superglue with a very fine wire.

Once glue was applied, the rod was slipped out and the rubber pressed down into position. That was one half glued so just repeat the process for the other half.

The first one I managed to apply squint, so had to be very carefully sliced off with a sharp blade and a new one applied. Then the plastic rod stuck to the next rubber and broke it as I slipped the rod out.  Y'know... all the usual fun and games. Eventually, I think I won the challenge.

 

 

If you've been paying attention above you'll have noticed that the windscreen is now clear of masking tape.  How does it look?  Well, my masking appears to have worked but the windows themselves still need a bit of clean up. Overall though, I'm very pleased with how they turned out. You can even see the support bars.

 

 

Now that I had some extra light coming into the cabin it was time to try and fit those cyclic levers that I had completely forgotten to fit before the windscreen went on. I ended up using the flashlight on my phone to help me out and it was pretty straightforward once I could actually see the holes in the floor.   Crappy photo but I think you can just make out the levers fitted in position.

 

 

The electrical box got fitted to the undercarriage with some E6k and from this hot it looks like thebottom corner on the forward window rubber is not sitting down properly - I'll check that later. 

 

 

Things are all starting to come together now and it's really beginning to take shape, but there are still lots of those little jobs to be attended to, like adding that pipe thingy underneath

 

 

along with a couple of aerials.  The plastic tube allows me to cut both aerials at the same height.

 

 

The Vokes sand filter. Now there's a job that isn't much fun.  I hadn't really left myself much room for error in dimensions, and ended up shaving the filters down sliver by sliver until they fitted.  There was no problem fitting them inside the filter housing - the issue came with them fitting onto the nose itself, and still keeping the filter housing central to the nose

 

 

a generous dollop of E6k to stop things falling out

 

 

Then finally, the sand filter was fitted.

 

 

I had a quick test fit of the tail rotor to check everything was still in order down the back end - but not fitting it at the moment as there's still lots of opportunity for me to break it into pieces with subsequent handling

 

 

I also spent a while trying to clean those windows that I had so scrupulously cleaned before all the painting works.  Despite my best effort they still got filthy, and no amount of swabbing would get them clean. 

 

 

Once I had them as clean as I could get them, it was time to fit those protruding ducts.  Port side.

 

 

Starboard side.

 

 

Almost on the home straight now (if I ignore the fact that I still don't have rotors or a rotor head) a few handles to be added.

 

 

Along with this aerial, which was made from the unused rotor blade that I made from the unused aileron from the F2b kit.  Nice touch of color there, though back in the 70's shouldn't they have been using cream and brown?

 

 

and that's you lot pretty much up to date with where things are at so I'll leave you with some spare shots that just happened to be lying around (that window rubber is annoying me now)

 

 

Further away and it still annoys

 

 

ah, that's better

 

 

so's this view

 

 

Almost helicopterish

 

 

Even although my masking wasn't the greatest, I think those window rubbers have really worked well.  Much better than I imagined.  Could I have got them finer?  Probably, but I don't think they're too much out of scale and really add to the overall texture of the fuselage. 

 

 

Next up is the weeks shopping then I hope to be able to get working on the rotors and rotor head.  There's still a few bits and bobs that can keep me busy until the decals arrive from Hannants, but soon I am going to have to start thinking about what's next in line... back to the Wapiti perhaps?