rob Lyttle Posted May 5, 2022 Share Posted May 5, 2022 (edited) It's odd sometimes how you select the next project to work on, isn't it?!? "Of all the kits in all the World, you walk into this...." I don't know how it works in the brain, but this reissue from 1958 is what I've started tinkering with. I've just taken delivery of a bunch of auction wins.... 2 wins comprised of 5 kits.... So I need a WIP to keep me from wandering off on some of the other delectable items. I'm planning on sticking with the kit supplied livery, G-AORG of Jersey Airlines. Should look good if I can pull it off. Here's the state of the bench currently. (I know..... 😋) Some work internally and preparing for the windows to go in. In the background is a pile of seats, 14 in all. I'm not a huge fan of interior furniture and stuff that can't be seen, but this thing is like a glasshouse with these big windows. If ever a plane needed some seating, it's this one! Wing root recesses are blanked off, and the front bulkhead has had an opening carved into the blank plastic. Cockpit and 2 pilots is progressing... They are basic but workable - the rest of the figures supplied are shockingly bad. And finally a couple of engine units and one of the tailplanes that I have been tinkering with.... The model is a notorious tailsitter and the scope for getting ballast up front is very limited. The supplied passenger stairs can be used to support the tail end if necessary but I want to at least try to balance things. So the nacelles have Ali tube fitted right through and the rest of the nacelle is filled with plasticine. It's not a lot, but 4 of em should be some contribution to weight up the front. The trailing edges of the wings and tailplanes are thick and blunt, and I've been trying out a method I've used before to help the situation with this elevator. I'll explain what I have done shortly. So the plan is for a straight kit build with a few improvements as I go, and nothing too radical. 😎 Edited May 24, 2022 by rob Lyttle Titles change 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 I am looking forward to this one. All the best with it! Ray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 6, 2022 Author Share Posted May 6, 2022 (edited) A quick look inside the fuselage half to show what I've done. There's a blanking plate of 1mm styrene over the wing root area and a wing spar fixed in line with the rear of the 3rd window. So 3 seats can go in front of it..... Seems about right. Some 1mm added for flooring, and another layer may be added to get the seat tops up a little bit more. It's all being made in the 2 separate halves before the big join up. In relation to the wings and tailplanes and the trailing edges, here's what the kit parts are like... Before glueing the fixed blade together top and bottom, I shaved and filed the plastic edge back to give a recess to accommodate the elevator part. And I glued some stretched sprue along the blunt trailing edge of the elevator. Once dry this can be honed away at, top and bottom, and the join line filled, to give a sharper look to the TE. I needed to fit a length of shim along the elevator's front edge too, to compensate for the groove I'd made. This is the end view of the reworked elevator.... There's the front "cap" that goes in the recess on the tailplane, and the end of the sprue addon. The overall look of the assembly benefits, I think, Bear in mind that at the time, Airfix were making retractable u/c legs, hinged moving ailerons, and raising thousands of rivets all over the airframes. So the control surface hinge-lines are all very compromised to allow for the "toy" movement. Definitely worth a makeover. The other figures I mentioned are civilians and a hostess. I don't think I can do anything with them.... Flight attendant on the right might be a possibility with some help, but look at the other 2😜😂 Edited May 6, 2022 by rob Lyttle Correction 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 Great start Rob, looking forward to seeing this develope. Got one in the stash to do as a Royal Navy aircraft. I take it you're will be foil involved in this one??? Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 6, 2022 Author Share Posted May 6, 2022 21 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said: I take it you're will be foil involved in this one??? Hi Chris. I thought about it 😎! The thing is, what I'm seeing in all the reference material is painted fuselages. Apparently the Duke of Edinburgh flew a polished metal plane, with green lines along windows etc, but everything for Jersey Airlines seems to be a paint that is hard to define. Sometimes it looks grey, but then it can look like metallic paint, metallic grey. Not even like RAF high speed silver. Have a look, and tell me what you think! It's a temptation, but I've got plenty of others for foil finish, including a little Lockheed L10 Electra! MMMMM....! 😍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 6, 2022 Author Share Posted May 6, 2022 Check out the BM Walkarounds section - G-AORG is the 2nd section. I'm thinking of experiments with mixing light grey and Ali paint. The trouble with mixing is trying to get a match with the 2nd batch 😕 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMB Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 (edited) 26 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said: Check out the BM Walkarounds section - G-AORG is the 2nd section. I'm thinking of experiments with mixing light grey and Ali paint. The trouble with mixing is trying to get a match with the 2nd batch 😕 Nooo..wings and belly on the Jersey Airlines Herons were natural metal/silver. Also, note that the decals in the latest reincarnation of the Airfix Heron depict the aircraft as it is now. When they repainted the actual Heron, they didn't bother painting the wing markings " JERSEY AIRLINES" (staggered) or reg on the wings. The original Airfix kit had these on its decal sheet, so the kit represents the aircraft as it is now. Edited May 6, 2022 by AMB 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 7, 2022 Author Share Posted May 7, 2022 1 hour ago, AMB said: .wings and belly on the Jersey Airlines Herons were natural metal/silver Thanks for that, @AMB. Yikes!! Do you mean polished bare metal on the original? Wow, that's a different story.... Well, now I have a dilemma 🤔🙄 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted May 7, 2022 Share Posted May 7, 2022 Hi Rob Some lovely details in those walkaround photos, I was going to suggest a metallic silver finish which is darker than the paint used on the undercarriage legs. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Venables Posted May 7, 2022 Share Posted May 7, 2022 This should be a good one to watch. I have a couple of Herons stashed away somewhere; one of them was bought many, many years ago with bright ideas to slash & bash it into a Dove but that's not necessary now that I have a couple of the very nice A-Model kits. Those figures would probably look a little better if you cleaned up the "flash" on the mould seams. Admittedly, with the female on the left it seems to be more a case of mould mismatch but it would probably still benefit from a little scraping and a rub down with a sanding stick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 7, 2022 Author Share Posted May 7, 2022 10 hours ago, James Venables said: I have a couple of Herons stashed away somewhere; one of them was bought many, many years ago Hi @James Venables, thanks for that. It sounds like you may have one of the original boxings, and judging by what AMB says there, your Decal sheet might include the "Jersey Airlines" writing on the wings. Is your kit anywhere near the top of your stash where you can take a look?? If it is, I'd be interested to see a picture for the size, style and "stagger" of the lettering. Or a scan of the sheet. Let me know please if the box is handy 🙏😍 Well, I'm going for the foil option 😋👍 My favourite, any excuse! Side panels first. Ali foil really picks up and amplifies raised surface details so virtually all has been removed before the foil is applied. The other side has the windows fitted already which is a bit awkward, but they are in with Kristal Kleer so I'll see if they will pop out easily. Otherwise I'll cut the foil around the windows. Visible there is the faintest whiff of the rivets details that I've left rather than have a totally blank fuselage surface. Rattlecan white primer and Appliance White gloss is scheduled for the the top once we're all glued up 😎 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 7, 2022 Share Posted May 7, 2022 That old kit is starting to look very sharp indeed! I think I had a boxing with Shell/RAF options when I was a kid. I remember being quite chuffed with it at the time. My only ever childhood 4-engined plane . Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted May 7, 2022 Share Posted May 7, 2022 (edited) The Heron was the first kit I ever built. I built the same one (Shell livery) a couple of years ago just for nostalgia. I can say that the canopy was a little bit off. But I think it worked out not to bad in the end: https://www.baecklund.eu/scalemodels/72/heron.html Edited May 7, 2022 by Orso 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 7, 2022 Author Share Posted May 7, 2022 34 minutes ago, Orso said: I can say that the canopy was a little bit off. That gave me a bit of a scare, @Orso.... 😲 But I tried a dry fit of the parts and mine isn't looking too bad, I had a look at yours and that's a good save you have done. The re-riveting process must have taken a while to do!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted May 7, 2022 Share Posted May 7, 2022 It is funny. It is always said that earlier issues isbetter as th moulds wear but my kit one from 1960-70 clearly was worse than yours. The riveting was a quick "dirty" fix. I just rolled the wheel along the old panel lines and sanded them down after that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 8, 2022 Author Share Posted May 8, 2022 Pressing on with the improvement of parts and the ailerons are getting the same treatment. I'm stretching the 4 sided sprue which gives a 4 sided stretchy piece and I'm flattening the trailing edge of the ailerons as well. This glues on better. Of course this widens the ailerons - the face that they fit into on the wing mouldings is being chamfered away to give a concave hinge line and this will accommodate (some of) the extra width when I improve the shape of the front of the ailerons. Here's the 2 of them part way through the honing process, and the rudder Well, you know what's going to get it next...... These flaps are WAY too thick.... 😋🤣 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 8, 2022 Author Share Posted May 8, 2022 Yep, the flaps are off, and the plan is to have them deployed when they go back on. Looks to me like these flaps are a simple design, no pylons or slats, just basically dropping around a pivot line on the bottom face of the wing. What you might call a Variable Camber Wing. This means that the top face rotates out of the wing and the wing edge is very thin. Basically a pocket in the wing edge that the flap moves in and out of. (I like flaps..... 😜) Anyway, here's what I've done, On the wing top panel, that edge has been thinned right down and the white addon strip will just nuzzle up to it when the flap is fitted. I haven't bothered changing the wing bottom panel, the pivot point is along there and the flap piece will butt against it. The flap cross section is this.... Just a length of 1mm stock attached at a bit of an angle to start the curve down and a couple of little wedge shaped supports glued in. When it's set, a bit more honing and curving to make a presentable top surface to the flap. And of course the stretched sprue added along the trailing edge to aid the sharpening up process. As for the fuselage and furniture, there's a little bit of progress, This strip of 4 should go aft of the wing spar. The structure is rudimentary with more emphasis on the head rest area, this is more visible through the windows. Each seat has a side panel, the original idea was for these side pieces to be towards the centre aisle, as rows of armrests. It now looks like a bad idea in such a cramped passenger cabin. Apparently it has been said that, as a passenger, you don't so much get into the Heron, more like you wear it for the journey. I'm going to try it with the armrest/side piece against the interior wall where it's out of the way and leave more aisle access. It's as well to have a plan, isn't it 😅?! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 9, 2022 Author Share Posted May 9, 2022 Well, I have a full set of wings and associated parts. Some extra support is required internally due to the removal of the flaps. The kit "retracting u/c legs seem to work so I've decided to go along with it. The inside looks like this before joining, And after.... All the raised rivets covering the wings are being reduced to basically nil, ready for the sticky backed Ali foil. The wing location lugs have been reduced substantially to allow for the blanking panels inside the fuselage. A dry fitting trial of the wings shows that the fit to the fuselage is actually very good. I have high hopes for these joints 👍 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 9, 2022 Author Share Posted May 9, 2022 Some Ali foil has been applied to the starboard wing to see if it shapes up. In I've got a little bit of blistering going on, especially on the outer part. I'm fairly confident that it's not air, I suspect it's an unevenly applied layer of the adhesive. This is the outer section, rather harshly illuminated . .... I could peel it off and do it again, but I think it looks like what is referred to as "oil-canning", that slightly dimpled or stressed effect that used airframes get. I'm going to leave it for now and see if I get used to it.. Under-surface went OK, and the gear door was included in the process.... The nacelle bulges will be dealt with separately And just offering the wing to the fuselage shows what I judge to be a pretty good fit, I can work with that 😎👍 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 11, 2022 Author Share Posted May 11, 2022 Foiling process continues, and fitting of the engine cowlings. I gave myself a straight line around the nose-piece of each cowling using a blade trapped in a book and adjusted to the required height, So all 4 come out the same. Foiled and fitted, although they are a tight fit into the wing and some trimming and easing is required. I'm making enquiries on the "civil aircraft - early" section about the wing lettering and so far I have a pdf of the original Airfix instructions. They are famously vague sometimes with accuracy of such details, but it's all I've got so far and it conveys the general styling. I've typed, printed and snipped for a 1st effort and I'm not a million miles off. Just bits of paper taped on for a look and bearing in mind that this is just the main wing panel, with the flaps and ailerons off, it's in the ball park at least ☺️ 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 I decided that the fuselage needed to be dealt with to get on with this. Seats assembled with a couple of extra ones on the starboard side. Lengths of 3mm solder wire are curled and fitted in the nose such that the nose wheel still has space to retract up inside. Gloss acrylic varnish is the glue and plastecene added for extra mass where it would fit. Then.... This is what the seats look like through the windows.... That's fairly necessary, isn't it? The canopy fit isn't Gold Standard but not as bad as Orso's.... The top of the nose needed a panel of thin styrene to build it up to meet the windscreen and I've decided to have a go at scratching that crest feature on the cockpit roof. I've seen pictures of G-AORH with no crest and I'm not sure of the history of this item - originally fitted? Or a later addition?? Well, I'm having a go at it 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 Some kind of decent effort is now required on the windows of the cockpit canopy. 🙄This is NOT my favourite modelling activity!! Taking some sound advice from Johnny @The Spadgent I deployed a scalpel with a brand new blade to assist, and it's helping the process 😎 Nice and steady, and stop when I'm bored - which isn't very long! The thin addon panel over the nose area is a bit more visible there and I don't mind if it's slightly seen as there is an access panel in that position and it's all under paintwork and antiglare. The white primer and gloss needs to be applied over the canopy at the same time as the main fuselage top and tailfin. Once I have this masking done.... 😝 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 Upon consideration of the long sweeping curve of the paintwork around the front of the fuselage, I hatched a cunning plan...! ☺️ The decals include the pinstripes that border this curve on each side. So I took a tracing of the decal curve and transferred the shape to the Ali foil, marking the ends of the lines ... Cut the foil, lined it up and BINGO, I got my curve which should match the shape of the decal stripe. The dark navy blue should be a piece of cake now with the curve already in place. The Ali is buffing up nicely too. Nice.... I like that look😎 Foil is applied to the rear of the fuselage too, so I'm nearly ready to mask off and get the spraycan going on the white top. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 Wooohooo! Almost missed this one. Looking at the size of those figures this is a tight fitting aircraft for sure. Talk about sardines. 😯🐟🐟🐟 Glad you went for the foil option. It’s been ages since I watched you make one of these. I know you know but just in case don’t forget to use a contrail stick to find the edges of pesky clear parts before you use that new blade. Strangely I love masking canopies. I find it quite therapeutic. 🤫🤗😅 I’ll tag along for the rest of this lovely build as she’s looking soo damn fine. ❤️ Excellent interiors too. Johnny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 Great progress Rob, coming together very well fella. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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