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Dragonfly to Widgeon. Who knows?


perdu

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1 hour ago, perdu said:

Slowly, gets the prize, I am remaking the canopy buck this morning.

 

OK so.  I’m gonna withold the (inevitable) praise for a canopy well moulded until I’m sure it’s the final one :D

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3 hours ago, perdu said:

Little bit of gentle trimming and say "Hi Unca Bob"

 

P1010512.jpg

 

A future civilization <Attenborough voice> will imagine from such evidence that there was once a religious movement who worshipped these holy relics.

The Uncabobs....

 

Some seriously graceful shaping and structuring in evidence in those last couple of posts Bill. 👏

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A mild splothering of greenalike, this will do for me.

 

1636032777645776208131815726115.jpg

 

Trimming to suit on  the model is obviously going to be needed when it is time.16360328317324947737591131976526.jpg

 

Simply sitting here just, well, because.

16360328561332673183895116478600.jpg

Yeah that'll do.


Where is that canopy buck?

 

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Well this is embarrassing.

 

That carefully crafted entity, as usual, way too huge.

 

Luckily I have many Swann-Morton number two craft knife blades

 

P1010223.jpg

 

Using Bubble, the test piece canopy, shows the error of my ways

 

P1010224.jpg

 

At least the reduced in size item looks ok to build round.

 

I can't actually do this until the new canopy has been vac-ced and trimmed then the gearbox deck can be closed up, cockpit painted and detailed

 

Still I now feel a tiny raised tripping point is safely passed, phew

 

Another potential raised slab, you may recall my embarrassing misunderstanding of the oddly shaped fuel system protecting assembly under the belly of @hendie's Whirlwind.

 

No worries if you don't but I do :(

P1010227.jpg

 

Taking my lead from Alan's sculpture I made and fitted a new casing to replace the oblong box Airfix gave us, which Nabe's excellent photo-walkaround make very clear, just a couple of small pipes to add, fore and aft under there

 

 

Today I will be heading to the LMS to pick up some fine walled 6 and 7 mm tube for the jetpipe and the piece of visible donk down in the hole...

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Coming along nicely Bill.  Nabe's website is a mine of useful information isn't it? He takes a lot of shots from angles that a lot of photographers don't usually consider - all very useful in determining what those miscellaneous greeblies really look like

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I thought I would make the jet pipe hole before I stick the nose on and went shopping for 6mm tubing for the pipe

 

P1010003.jpg

 

An early, not likely to be the last, attempt at the subtle curve on the end

 

And to add interest down in the hole I put in ancillary tubing for the gear on the end of the Gnome

 

P1010001.jpg

 

Raw beginnings

 

 

 

 

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That there is some lovely crafting Bill. The rotor gear thingymajawhatsit is a thingymajawhatsit of beauty.  Lovely stuff. 👏👏👏

Johnny. 
 

ps. I’m a little bit jealous of your LMS visit. I haven’t been to mine in years. It’s in Brum. 😩

 

Johnny. 

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19 minutes ago, The Spadgent said:

That there is some lovely crafting Bill. The rotor gear thingymajawhatsit is a thingymajawhatsit of beauty.  Lovely stuff. 👏👏👏

Johnny. 
 

ps. I’m a little bit jealous of your LMS visit. I haven’t been to mine in years. It’s in Brum. 😩

 

Johnny. 

 

Is Birmingham under siege?

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9 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

 

Is Birmingham under siege?

No it’s not. I usually work in Birmingham but due to the pandemic we have been working from home. Still in place until next year for us. Maybe longer. So it’s a bit of a jaunt to get to the shop. 😩

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10 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

 

Is Birmingham under siege?

Actually it is under siege from its own elected city council who have declared a 'major hate' for the motor car.*

 

If Johnty's LMS is in Brum proper I would guess he might attend the fabulous little shop in Hockley, Parabellum which gets harder to park near by the minute.

 

Other potential shops to enjoy would be welcome if they could be listed.

 

 

 

*The Almost Legendary Motor Car Hate

 

I can drive into and through Birmingham's Inner Zone in my 1966 MG Midget, exempt by age from sanctions.

I can not drive into or through said zone in my 1990 MGF, too mucky by far even with catatonic diverters on it.

I can drive into and through ditto in our 2007 Ford Focus exempt from sanctions because compliant.

 

I don't worry, when I need to go into Brum I will, as proper, use the buzz.

 

And for modelling extras there is Scale Modelworld at Telford next very weekend, yeehaw!

 

1300 next the Birmingham IPMS stand is a date if anyone fancies getting in the almost legendary huddle of BMers On Tour.

 

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It is no good.

 

No not only the methods used to make the Dragginfly but also putting making it off.

 

#1 methods: find bits and throw glue at them, some might stick and some might even be in the proper place, roughly.

#2 the kit: mould shapes but forget any method of registry or other alignment, any.

#3 transparent bits: brown acetootleTg, the kit exhorts me to attack the innards of the clear bits with abrasives, polishes and elbow grease which might make them clear enough to see inside...

 

 

Hmmmm..............

 

P1010004.jpg

 

I rejected option #4 which would have entailed removing windows individually and replacing them from curved clear bit if I could.

 

Option rejected and cutting begins

 

P1010005.jpg

 

You know what Rod said, "First cut is the awryist".

 

Actually the first one wasnt bad but the second horizontalist one was a lot grim, as if in some Fairy tales to  frighten grown-ups

 

Luckily there was a deliberate intention to leave excess at the first cuts, trimming of  the clear (ho ho) bits is on the agenda.

 

The strange assemblage continued for a while longer.

 

P1010009.jpg

 

Yes that is a broken tail rotor on that sprue, ho hum said Pooh.

 

P1010014.jpg

 

The deliberate asymmetric side wall cuts show nicely here, they are out of kilter to allow me a chance of hiding some of the actual moulding decisions MPM, bless 'em made.

 

I won't keep ragging them, damn it I quite like quirky after all and the Dragonfly has been imprinted in my psyche for nearly sixty five years. I love 'em.

 

Now for more stuff on the Whirly canopy, polishing and the like.

 

👋

 

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I’ve just realised that my presence in the BM Massif meet up at SMW is contingent on me finding a petrol station that sells petrol this week…

 

Lovely work on the Whirlwind! 
 

Looking forward to the Dragonfly but really here for hints on the Whirlwind, cos I really want to do the type 3 baggie Antarctic version.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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:(

 

Hope you dont think I am setting up that gerflangered tripod at this time on a Sunday morning

 

Hand helds only this a.m

P1010015.jpg

 

A fortunate find of crosshatched metal backed plastic from a medication pack has given me the ideal product to make the sound proofed box (ha ha) behind the driver and his buddy.

 

P1010016.jpg

 

A little careful cutting and trimming kept scale creep at bay 

 

P1010017.jpg

 

The grossly truncated MGB can now be located, struts added and sidewalls placed round it.

 

Not sure yet whether to add the gearbox cooling fan which will live under the rear cover and will be absolutely invisible when in...

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8 hours ago, perdu said:

The grossly truncated MGB can now be located, struts added and sidewalls placed round it.

Almost

 

P1010018.jpg

 

P1010020.jpg

 

Somebody ought to tidy those seatbelts, bet no-one will.

 

P1010021.jpg

 

And with the walls to add

 

P1010024.jpg

 

To be trimmed

 

ciao

 

 

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Us does what we can Ian, thankee very kindly!

 

In which vein I needed to replace the gearbox oil cooler compartment cover after savagely hacking it about to tackle the canopy.

 

Last Whirly I did I left the Airfix plastic in  place and wangled the canopy fall-back section inside, but I wasn't happy with it.

 

15580934003082050706198556265970.jpg

 

Not too chuffed with this method either but its worth a try, a suitably shaped Milliblob used as a former for a quick and dirty 'pull moulding'

 

I made a couple and still have the blob if neither of these pans out

 

P1010027.jpg

 

Yes that is the aforesaid blob and the spare pulled piece.

 

P1010025.jpg

 

It looks a bit crude at the moment but I see promise in it, we'll see later maybe.

 

Ah...

 

Just seen this up on the shelf

P1010028.jpg

 

I'd better get a shift on if it's to be ready for Telford.

 

 

 

 

Next year.

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This
 
Did I not like this...
 
P1010030.jpg
 
With a few layers of 'shiny' on the clear bits and around the rest of the masking it ought to do.
 
P1010029.jpg
 
Wasn't fun and is maybe an hour anna huff I am never getting back any time soon.
 
Anyway, off to crib Alan's 28 sqn Whirly thread for a quick copy of his loadie rail in the cabin, hoping Postimage has gotten over its huff in there yesterday.
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Loadie rail cribbed and in, but its dark in there so I am not about to make Ian's 16% turn into 17%.

 

Maybe a picture later.  ;)

 

 

Time it was and what a time it was - a time , of innocence...a time for confidences.

 

Maybe, anyway I decided something had to happen to make these disparate parts a model helicopter so time to stick-'em, confidently together.

 

16365582006398697449744227594772.jpg

 

Mind you confidence can be misplaced...

 

16365582427392024237602072190188.jpg

 

When I Milliblobbed the nose the other day I expected some more reshaping to ensue

 

It has

 

16365582988262506254771751356766.jpg

 

Work to do on the nose and boy do I get nasty vibes from the tail end.

 

Off with its tail then

 

16365621975154171999522485606699.jpg

 

And insert a length of sacrificial American fighter drop tank, gone to a better place now into the tube and to be glued in place with a dollop of Milliput which I can also use to fair in the ends and sides.

 

The nose has had some side swiping with the uberfile, but obviously needs some more work

 

.

 

16365622300813273693090130759047.jpg

 

It will not be a quick five minute job methinks.

 

Side profile looks about right though

 

16365622633066472351186436125451.jpg

 

Mine is not going to get the Vokes type filter that Alan fitted beautifully, in Borneo Boys one of the technicians called it 84 pounds of wasted weight which means I might have to make a mesh type front panel as was used at the time, hmm not an easy option either.

 

Time it is, to ponder...

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OK as Alan said getting more symmetry on the nose was not awfully difficult and I think we will be fine where we are but...

 

Alan used the large sand filter on his Whirly but I didnt fancy it and knew from reading The Borneo Boys that the early Whirlwinds serving in Borneo did not have them.

 

From photos I could just make out that the frontal area changed significantly from the 60s to the configuration familiar to us latterly, so I put out an appeal for help, my mate Mike rushed in to help

 

This is the nose I need/want/must make the cab up as

 

P1010035.jpg

 

This view makes it seem the helicopters were painted in the replacement undersides scheme of Light Aircraft Grey instead of the normal High Speed Silver, comes as a shock to me because I expected silver underneath if they were not black as on later RAF helicopters.

 

So I now have to make mesh panels which don't look daft...

 

With the reshaped nose up to scratch I decided to try pull moulding a piece of acetate over it with a view to making a see through nose panel.

 

P1010031.jpg

 

I plastered the moulding with red marker pen which I might then be able to clean off when I finish marking the cutting zones.

 

Placed a little dab of blue to give me a datum before I get the cutting under weigh.

P1010034.jpg

 

Busy day now, laters folks.

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Lipstick???

And a wonky nose?

I'd sue. Where's our lawyer?

 

Oh yes, he's off playing.....

 

But in all seriousness, coming along in leaps and bounds and better in every (in focus) view!

 

Ian

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