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PK601 - Supermarine Stranraer


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Holy Heck (not my first choice of words!) that's looking so much better with every post you put up Mark. This is gearing up to be a major piece of excellent work. Fabulous job so far.  

Cheers.. Dave 

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This is stunning, I take my hat off! Wish I had had the skills and materials to 3D print stuff like the engines and seat, it would have made my life much easier!

 

The line drawing of the working platforms is from the original AP which I viewed in the National Archives and which dates from the time of the prototype's approval for service (IIRC it's dated 1936) so I can only assume they were used on RAF machines as well as the Canadian aircraft :)

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1 hour ago, Vulcanicity said:

The line drawing of the working platforms is from the original AP which I viewed in the National Archives and which dates from the time of the prototype's approval for service (IIRC it's dated 1936) so I can only assume they were used on RAF machines as well as the Canadian aircraft :)

Thanks Phil, that's great, I will go ahead and try and replicate some sort of servicing scenario incorporating at least one of the platforms.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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Morning all,

 

Not had much time for modelling this week so still really in the preparatory stage,

 

I have started drilling out the rigging points on the main planes, but you don't want to look at holes in plastic, do you!

 

I am finished adding interior detail and I have made the adjustments to the 3d prints for various components:

8NNFEWI.jpg

Both the steering assembly and the glazing frame had to be adjusted, the steering assembly had to be reduced in width and now fits properly.  The glazing frame was too flimsy so I had to find away of making it more rigid and in the end opted to create a 'false' bulkhead across the back and include the top bar as part of the whole piece.

6ofd813.jpg

I have added a more substantial sill to further bolster the rigidity and just a little detail on the inside around the bulkhead.

b83z2ou.jpg

Obviously I had to remove the top bar from the fuselage parts plus there were some pretty substantial sink marks in the top surfaces hence the plasticard which will be feathered in after joining the two fuselage halves. The fit is much better than the image suggests.  The detail I added to the kit bulkhead has been removed to accommodate the 'false' bulkhead and will need a bit of tidying up.

Hv8HqId.jpg

All the engine components are done a test fit of one engine/collector ring onto a nacelle shows the effect I'm after.

4CfWwr3.jpg

And finally I have modelled and printed some replacements for the beaching gear wheels.

 

Hopefully I can get some real modelling done over the weekend!  definitely want to prime and paint the interior at least.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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This is some of the best modelling I've seen. As someone who has the Matchbox Stranraer in their stash. I'll be coming back here to get some ideas and inspiration.

 

I wonder if I can ask for a 3d printer for my birthday :) 

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Mark,

 

Those additions are fantastic, could I be so bold and ask what type of printer do you have? And would you recommend it?

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29 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Those additions are fantastic, could I be so bold and ask what type of printer do you have? And would you recommend it?

 

Thanks Ozzy,

 

I have an Anycubic Photon Mono SLA printer. The prints were done with Anycubic's  ECO UV resin which is plant based and bio-degradable and much lower odour (the usual handling precautions should always be observed however). I modelled the parts in Rhino 3D which I have access to through work. (I will however be purchasing my own license when I no longer have access...its that good).

 

Would I recommend the printer? well its my only printer so far, and although I would recommend buying a replacement resin vat (because you cannot change the FEP film independently, you have to buy the whole FEP frame, which is generally never available) I have not had any issues outside of my own inexperience or general idiocy.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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Evening all,

 

Finally got around to applying some actual paint to this build........despite compressor problems...might need a new regulator.......:swear:

 

v9s9XQS.jpg

Primer; stynylrez, never lets me down.

 

reWllqa.jpg

Tamiya XF71 cockpit green base layer then a few areas sprayed with the same lightened with white and all sealed with Mig Ammo Lucky satin varnish

 

usvLqm2.jpg

I added a sort of floor to the mid section compartment, it's probably not at all accurate but I felt something needed to be seen when looking in through the mid upper gunner's position. The detail painting added, a brown and black wash plus some light grey dry brushing.  I will seal it all with matt varnish tomorrow.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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Incredible work Mark. I still can't get my head around being able to design and print your own replacement parts! 

 

I feel like I'm living in the past.. 😄

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Awesome Mark. Love the way you use a hybrid of old and new school fabricating, the best of both worlds.

Great stuff. How long does it take you to 3d model a stranny canopy frame for example? I mean design wise rather than render/print wise.

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That's a phenomenal amount of detailing that you've added to the forward fuselage area topped off with some very impressive canopy framework.

The 3D printing development in the world of modelling, is far, far beyond my computer based knowledge and abilities, but I'm seriously impressed by yourself and others on this hobby who can use it to enhance or improve your models.

 

Chris.

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Hi chaps and thanks for the comments.

 

11 hours ago, Dansk said:

How long does it take you to 3d model a stranny canopy frame for example? I mean design wise rather than render/print wise.

The canopy frame took about an hour to model for the initial pass, its a fairly simple set of solids and primitives all boolean-ed (combined together) plus being symmetrical you only need to model one half.  After the initial modelling there was some tweaking required so about another hour.  The longest part of the process was measuring the existing kit part to make sure the new part was close to fitting.

 

8 hours ago, zebra said:

How did you model the tyre treads?

Similar to the canopy frame, it is a set of solids and primitives boolean-ed. I modelled one tread block with enough depth to account for the curve of the modelled tyre profile and arrayed a set of five across the tyre, the two end blocks were cut in half.  Four whole blocks were offset and all were adjusted for height above the tyre cross section profile to create the outer most curve.  The whole lot were then polar arrayed around the wheel axis, the number iterations  was adjusted until a suitable offset was achieved.

 

It should be said that the models are nothing more than 3D sketches, most of it is seat of the pants stuff but as long as you make sure that you end up with a "closed solid polysurface" as rhino calls them the slicing software and the printer won't have any problem printing.

 

Slow progress this weekend, painted and installed the pilot's seat and the steering assembly:

 

L6UmawB.jpg

 

hLnXGuu.jpg

 

Fuselage now ready to be closed up.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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The problem with massive GB's like this is that it takes an age for GB hosts to get around to seeing all these impressive updates. I have to say, this is THE build of his GB so far. Those 3D improvements are totally awesome and its almost as if we are witnessing what a modern day manufacturer could possibly produce if they were to ever to tool up and modern day Stranraer kit again. 

Cheers.. Dave 

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6 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Those 3D improvements are totally awesome and its almost as if we are witnessing what a modern day manufacturer could possibly produce if they were to ever to tool up and modern day Stranraer kit again. 

 

Thanks Dave you're too kind,  but what a glorious thought... the Matchbox kit is great but a new tool, state of the art kit, maybe in 1/48th of the Stranraer!...I've gone quite light headed.

 

Not much to report on this Stranraer at the moment, I am currently mulling over the most taxing part of the build i.e. the general assembly phase, you know the bit with the wings! I am not being helped by a fairly badly warped port upper main plane lower section that is going to require some kind of internal stiffener to sort it out.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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Evening all,

 

Not much actual Doin' but a fair bit of cogitating, deliberating and general head scratching you've probably heard the cogs grinding from there!

 

The fuselage has been closed up and the canopy frame fitted, a little bit of tidying up required but generally it sits quite well, I brush painted the whole thing inside and out with Tamiya cockpit green and it'll be totally masked of before any general painting starts, obviously it means that I'm going to have to brush paint the exterior colour but we're a long way off from that stage yet! I have also fitted the dorsal gunners section and re-scribed the panel lines a bit more accurately.

TCoqj35.jpg

 

The main issue with the Stranraer kit is the general build sequence and how to accommodate all of the various and numerous bits of rigging as well as the rather indistinct location points for struts especially around the upper wing mid section.

So I have decided to use some brass strip to create strengthening spars for both lower and upper main planes which hopefully will also help to alleviate the noticeable warping in some of the wing parts.

 

For the lower main plane I drilled out a slot above the location tab and as you can see in the image of the fuselage above I enlarged the slot in the wing root to allow the spar to run through the fuselage and be in solid contact with the under surface of the upper wing part.

ztAQcWY.jpg

 

The 'spar' has been epoxy'd to the wing.

OKbpLJZ.jpg

 

The same slot cut for the opposite side.

kpuxnLq.jpg

 

 

A test fit

 

JSR4K0q.jpg

 

The spar will also help to set the dihedral so I can install the upper wing parts and paint fuselage and wing uppers in one hit.  The lower wing parts can be treated the same and installed later in the process.

XI0xjzW.jpg

 

A similar approach for the upper wing parts, I can now glue the separate upper and lower sections together the and will be able to mate them without too much concern about strength

MNij8J9.jpg

All in all it means that I can install rigging, paint, assemble, rig and touch up with a fairly stable and strong structure.......hopefully!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

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Another nice update Mark and the use of those brass strips is certainly something one should consider if building one of these beauties. It’s all coming together really nicely. 
Cheers.. Dave 

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Love all the different solutions to rigging this beast! You've already clocked the main problem of fitting the main central spar. When I built it the tops of the spars had not fixed to the underneath of the top wing properly, but there was no way of knowing as it's all hidden in the engine nacelle. Plus the way I decided to rig it all wasn't the best solution at all. I have a feeling I am going to do a lot of face palming as I follow this, you are making so many better choices than me!

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