Bruised, Battered and on the Beach - Tamiya 1/48 Phantom - Finished.

[exdraken]

nice start and project!

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 hours ago, exdraken said:

nice start and project!

 

Thank you.

 

If I can avoid rushing, I think this could perhaps possibly be the first aircraft model to satisfy my requirements, in years, maybe.

 

(I certainly didn't rush it today!)

[Bertie McBoatface]

Good as it is, I think that great big American cockpit need a little help.

 

 

The first thing was to tack it with a couple of dots of glue, to the nose undercarriage roof. This will allow me to align the cockpit tub accurately with the fuselage sides, one at a time, while I add detail, With luck this will prevent me adding detail that might interfere with the final fit.

 

 

Tonight I worked on this bit, the pilot's port side console area. It's just under an inch from front to back.

 

 

With the cockpit sill in place, the sidewall is still quite visible and the canopy will be open. The two handles sticking up from the sill are the manual canopy jettison levers. If the seats are fired first, the automatic systems blow the canopy away, but there are circumstances when the crew might want to lose the lids and stay in the aircraft. (I imagine a really warm sunny day with not much traffic and a scenic route might require the Phantom to be driven as a convertible? 😂)

 

 

A glance into my reference book reveals the operating rod attached to the levers. It's quite noticeable and because of its position, very difficult to mould integrally with the sill.

 

 

It was quite easy to add a simplified version made from stretched sprue. (I did the rear cockpit too.)

 

 

Next were the breadsticks. These are strong rods which the pilot hooks his fingers around when holding the throttles open on catapult launches. They stop his arm drifting backwards with the acceleration and inadvertently closing the throttles just as he hits the sky! Why two? Some launches are made in Military Power and some in Afterburner which is a couple of inches more forward throttle travel. My version is way overscale. I first thought of using stretched sprue again but the fuselage side is too thin to drill and I couldn't see any way to fix the things in place well enough to stay there through the painting process.

 

 

I found something which was close enough in here, the good old spares/greeble box. "My precious...."

 

 

On the picture of the breadsticks above you will see a tiny lump on the frame aft of the throttles. I wanted to make this a little larger and more complicated. It's the RAT deployment switch and is quite square and chunky. Actually the Tamiya lump is about right for size but I'm going to paint it with black and yellow stripes so I found a bigger one. I used to be an electrician and this is part of my gear, hence my interest.

 

 

Next thing missing was the undercarriage selector lever. It's enormous. It looks like a handbrake in an old fashioned lorry and really had to be included. Especially as it has a bright red knob on the end. I'm a sucker for a bright red knob in a cockpit.

 

 

I used stretched sprue, held to a flame until the end melted into a ball, then quickly flattened between my fingers into a lollipop shape. I later sliced the sides off with a sharp blade to give me a better shape.

 

 

It's not as round as I would have liked but I'm still half blind so I'm rather pleased that I got this far. (I saw my optician today and he says that my vision will suddenly return at some time in the next few months when the dangling bit of fibrous jelly finally falls off the back of my eye and gets out of the 'space' between retina and iris. So that was good news. If it doesn't fall away there are options involving knives and needles which I prefer not to think about! 😱)

 

 

On the forward side of the throttles is the speedbrake switch. A nice simple job once I found a suitable piece of scrap. (Ha, this is weird. See the big grey blur on the right? That's what the view from my right eye looks like except that the blur wanders around unpredictably. So no giving me hell for not rounding off the ends of the breadsticks!)

 

The last thing I added tonight was a pipe which runs vertically up the wall aft of the RAT switch. I was losing concentration by then and added a vastly over-large one which I might remove later. 

 

 Before and...    ...after.

 

I have a feeling that none of this will make a blind bit of difference to the final outcome, which will be far more dependent on the outside and the battle damage. However, it is sharpening my skills for the damage, it makes the moddel a little 'odd' (unique and Bertie's own) and most importantly, I had fun doing it.

 

This build might not make the deadline at this rate, but who cares?. 😄

 

 

[Pappy]

G'day Bertie,

 

Some really lovely work going on. Ref the u/c lever, perhaps make it again from clear sprue to that you can paint the 'big red knob' clear red? The knob illuminates when the cockpit lights are on, hence being clear.

 

I like the breadsticks but for some reason I feel like prosciutto now.....

 

 

Pappy

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 minute ago, Pappy said:

make it again from clear sprue

 

I wouldn't be able to see it.😂

 

And the power is off in the diorama.

[Dansk]

lovely detailing Bertie 👍👌

[Bertie McBoatface]

29 minutes ago, Dansk said:

lovely detailing Bertie 👍👌

 

Thansk Dansk. I've been at it again tonight.

 

Yesterday I was following references but today I was in the mood for some improvisation. The chances of finding close up pictures of the inside of the Phantom's internal wing tank being slim to none, I made it up.

 

 

The kit has a massive spar which supports the wing over a much larger area than the real spar. It goes right through the area of the wing tank that I want to put a hole through. So that was where I began. I had to leave the edges of the spar intact or risk having the wing collapse. This limited my damage area a little but in compensation, provided me with a frame to make my internal tank structure on. If you've never been inside an aircraft fuel tank you would be amazed what you find in there. Pumps. Pipes. Baffles to stop the fuel sloshing around. Valves. Wires and sensors for the fuel contents systems. Reed switches to turn things on and off at particular fuel levels. Blah. Blah. Blah...

 

I chain drilled a hole in the middle of the spar and then enlarged it with some carving burrs until I met the edges. I finished off the corners with a scalpel. It was a bit rough but would all be covered with greeble anyway. The edges of the hole in the spar don't correspond exactly with the sides of the tank but that's ok. We can imagine them as baffles with the tank wall beyond them. 

 

 

I transferred the outline of the hole to the wing top and bottom and then using the burr again, ground the skin thin enough that I could feel the burr about to come through with a finger laid against the outside. It's not as risky as it sounds, the burr cuts quite slowly, if you are careful.

 

 

Then It was back to the spar for installation of some structure.

 

 

I began with the cross piece which follows a line of rivets on the wing surface. I assume this indicated some sort of rib underneath. I used an engine bearer from some WWII aircraft, because of the holes, originally there to add lightness, which would allow the fuel to flow through the tank.

 

 

Then I just worked around the edges with the rest of the engine bearer, some ammunition cans for pumps, a bit of a Lynx, and then some pipes, which will be left dangling in space. I think they will look amazing sticking up out of the hole.

 

When I punch the holes through the tank, I'll keep them in the middle so that the wall structures and pipes are visible only at an angle. That way the wing can be thick enough to make contact with the spar at the edges but realistically thin at the point where it's pierced.

 

I finished off with a quick check for fit and cut back a few pieces that were too high. All sorted! Two hours of total engrossment, gone in a flash.

[Col.]

The tank internals certainly look the part Bertie

[81-er]

Nice work Bertie. Am I imagining things, or is there a hook with a skull on it in your "spares" pile?

 

James

[Bertie McBoatface]

30 minutes ago, 81-er said:

Nice work Bertie. Am I imagining things, or is there a hook with a skull on it in your "spares" pile?

 

James

 

Don't be silly James, why would I have a hook with a skull on it? That's actually a skull with a hexagonal magical amulet hanging from it. 😉

 

There's a saying in Warhammer modelling "You can't have too many skulls!" They even sell bags of hundreds of them, human, aliens, giants etc. They get everywhere! 

 

How long did it take you to find it, by the way? I imagine there are many people looking at that photo for a long time, spotting bits that they recognise. (It's exactly what I would be doing, anyway.)

 

[81-er]

That clears that all up nicely then, perfectly normal. It didn't actually take me long to spot it as I clocked it when I first read that post yesterday. Remembering to ask about it though...

 

James

[Bertie McBoatface]

13 minutes ago, 81-er said:

It didn't actually take me long to spot it

 

It took me ages! But once seen, it does stand out.

[modelling minion]

Nice work on the damage to the tank Bertie, going to look very effective when finished.

[roginoz]

Ooooh !! Another Bertie-Build !! Sorry I'm late for the party.

 

Caught up now, most impressed with progress so far and plans for the rest of the project. Wrecked tanks !, shattered aircraft ! Is this what you got up to during your time in the service ?

 

Rog

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

58 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Nice work on the damage to the tank Bertie, going to look very effective when finished.

 

Thanks MM. As an AFV modeller, tanks are not a problem to me! 🤣

 

 

14 minutes ago, roginoz said:

Ooooh !! Another Bertie-Build !! Sorry I'm late for the party.

 

Caught up now, most impressed with progress so far and plans for the rest of the project. Wrecked tanks !, shattered aircraft ! Is this what you got up to during your time in the service ?

 

Rog

 

 

Better late.... You'll have to keep an eye on me, I pop up all over the place.

 

Thank you for the compliments, Rog. I actually think my undoubted tendency to model wrecked military stuff is a reaction to all those years of putting them back together. Or it might be an age thing, I'm starting to get pretty wrecked and shattered myself. 🤣

 

[roginoz]

You're no Robinson Crusoe there !

[Toryu]

On 24/01/2022 at 21:23, Bertie Psmith said:

I have a feeling that none of this will make a blind bit of difference to the final outcome,...

 

This build might not make the deadline at this rate, but who cares?

 

Exactly who cares as long as you have fun. I love (over-)detailing cockpits - and then close the canopy... But I know it's there!

Hope I'm ready to show my SB2U crew compartment on Saturday.

 

Nice job on the wing structure under the battle damage, btw!

 

Cheers, Michael

[Bertie McBoatface]

33 minutes ago, Toryu said:

 

Exactly who cares as long as you have fun. I love (over-)detailing cockpits - and then close the canopy... But I know it's there!

Hope I'm ready to show my SB2U crew compartment on Saturday.

 

Nice job on the wing structure under the battle damage, btw!

 

Cheers, Michael

Thanks Michael. 
 

The detail work is really slowing me down which is a good thing. I’m getting more value for my money for one thing but more importantly I feel a lot more relaxed while I’m working, no, PLAYING with it. 
 

I still haven’t grasped that as a retiree I don’t have to rush anything. 😃
 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

 

I was distracted by a spot of figure moddelling today, as well as a very long dog walk while the sun was shining. I did manage this; the piston from the main gun of the RIO's seat is now securely Araldited in position. 

 

I note that in the 27 days of the year so far, I've done some modelling, and at least one update, on every single one of them. I've now started counting my hobby streak day-by-day. I wonder how far I'll get before I miss a day and have to start over?

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

16 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

securely Araldited in position

 

It fell out when I tried to gently sand it for paint! 

[Bertie McBoatface]

Day 28 of my hobby streak saw me brave enough to actually grind through the wing of my very expensive aeroplane kit. Have I ruined it or made it more interesting??

 

 

Here is the underneath with the barely visible bits inside. That's the entry wound.

 

 

And this is where the flak left the aeroplane. When it's all finished I will use a pair of fine tweezers to drag that pipe, which is only glued at one end, slightly out of the hole.

 

Fuel will have been pouring out of here all the way home making the area behind the hole remarkably clean. It will still be dribbling out when the aircraft is parked which will call for drip trays and fire extinguishers, and maybe a roped off area to keep the many 'goofers' away.

 

I really hope that I remember to paint in there before I glue the wing halves together. Any suggestions on the colour? It wasn't a bag tank and the only wet wing type tanks I've ever been in were Victor underwings. Everything in those things was simply left in natural aluminium, if my memory is to be trusted. You wouldn't want flakes of paint wandering around, would you. There was the odd patch of brown sealant but only where rivets has started to weep.

 

I will paint the round 'fuel pump' in something interesting. Anodised blue?

 

 

[Jasper dog]

Some of the nicest (? ), or at least most realistic, skin damage I've seen!

 

I'd be very anxious too about doing it to a new Tamiya F4 but it's looking good so far!

Nice work

Darryl 

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

Some of the nicest (? ), or at least most realistic, skin damage I've seen!

 

I'd be very anxious too about doing it to a new Tamiya F4 but it's looking good so far!

Nice work

Darryl 

 

Thanks Darryl,

 

I was very couscous that grinding through the skin was the crossing of this build's Rubicon - there's no turning back to a conventional finish now! That's probably why I needed a day to summon up the blood. 😬

[Col.]

Yes as Darryl says that's authentic damage work there Bertie. Good stuff  

[Bertie McBoatface]

27 minutes ago, Col. said:

Yes as Darryl says that's authentic damage work there Bertie. Good stuff  

Thanks Col.

 

I haven’t quite worked out how to do the damage to the tail yet. The two pictures on page one will be my guides. I think they are the same aircraft, and I’ll work on that assumption.

It seems to me that the fin is bulging outwards, which I guess is a curious symptom of explosive overpressure?