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An Airfix 1/72 Sea King Junglie


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The events of the two days doing the Mini Clutch caught up with me yesterday and I was too tired to even contemplate masking the Sea King so I left it rather than mess it up.

As said earlier, following @junglierating’s very helpful insight into the MAWS pods, I decided to snip off the two rear side pods and sand them back. The port side will get way with the green painting over the sanded part, but the white paint on the starboard side will need touching in with the airbrush as part of the exposed plastic is under the masked camouflage.

 

Tonight I carried on with the masking. It’s slow monotonous work but the effect will be worth it in the end. It was mainly a case of doing the masking on the starboard side and, where required, matching the pattern over the top of the fuselage where the port camouflage meets the starboard half. 

The sliding door was placed in the closed position and the masking was done with the door in situ. The tape also holds the door at the same time.

I then stated asking the underside stripe ends by trimming the side stripes where the model sides meet the belly panel. A fine line is visible all around which helped out there. I ran the blade along the line and the side stripes ended with a slight overlap up to the joint.

Then pieces of tape were placed over the small tabs (from the side stripes) which were visible in the underside. black pen was used to sketch out the pattern as per the Airfix colour call-out. Then they were cut out with a sharp blade and the waste removed. (I took a series of photos to explain it better).

 

The gearbox covers were mated up with masking tape and one of the braces had some masking applied to attempt to blend it with the masking applied to the sponson when viewed from above. I’ll do the other one tomorrow night while the masking continues.

I’m not looking forward to doing the masking the white sections on the nose. With hindsight, I should have left the front MAWS pods off to make the masking easier. 
I’ve also managed to rub the liquid mask off the bulged window so that will need re-coating.

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Oh yes, Chris, the Passat now has another steering rack fitted and now the PAS works beautifully. I was going to get a picture and post it up for you but in all the excitement of trying to get the front passenger door to open (due to being rusted up inside and cured with copious amounts of WD40), I forgot. I’ll get a picture next time I see it.

Edited by Brigbeale
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4 minutes ago, KingTiger435 said:

Crikey, I'm glad I chose to do the regular junglie not the camo! Is there no masking set or something out there for it?

Part of me does with I’d just gone with the all over green, but I was drawn in by the attractive camouflage pattern. 
I did a quick search for a masking set, but came up with nothing, so I had to do my own DIY making set. While I’m happy to share the way I did it, I don’t think I’ll put it into production🤣.

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This looks great Brian this is going to be awesome when unmasked.

Glad you got the Passat sorted, the B6 is a nice looking car. 

I was looking on Ebay at some early passats (GL5) the other week and they are starting to appreciate now too.  Would love a VW Santana, they were lovely. 

Great work on the Sea King. 

Chris

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The masking is looking great. Nearly there!

 

Judging by your comments, you guys seem to spend more time under family cars than in them! I’ve never owned a VW, although I came close to getting a Corrado VR6 in my misspent 30s. Went with a ‘92 Legacy Turbo estate as a “sensible family car” instead…

 

Regards,

Adrian

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13 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

The masking is looking great. Nearly there!

 

Judging by your comments, you guys seem to spend more time under family cars than in them! I’ve never owned a VW, although I came close to getting a Corrado VR6 in my misspent 30s. Went with a ‘92 Legacy Turbo estate as a “sensible family car” instead…

 

Regards,

Adrian

Thanks Adrian.

 

With the cars, I started after school on a YTS placement in an MOT station as an MOT assistant. It kind of went on from there. About 20 odd years ago, I had garage replace some brake discs that I couldn’t get off not matter how hard I tried, and also an engine part needed changing. I got the car back and heard a knocking as I was driving it down the road and later found both front wheels hadn’t been done up properly and the engine wiring was not put back where it should have been as they’d broken the retaining clips. So I do my own repairs now knowing I’ve done them right. Obviously the garage denied all responsibility saying it was already like it and the wheels had been torqued up.

The two stepsons just think ‘Oooh - free mechanic!”.

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I finally finished the camouflage masking yesterday:phew: and was looking forward to finally getting some green onto the Sea King.

I opted for my old (but still good) pot of Tamiya Dark Green. I have got a pot of Tamiya Olive Drab but it’s getting low and I didn’t think I had enough of it anyway and it had yellow flecks in it which would not blend in no matter how much I shook and stirred it. So I need a new pot. 

I dipped a piece of sprue in to check the colour - too dark - so I added some Flat White to it to lighten it up. Another dip with the sprue and I was was happy with that.

 

I went around the Sea King to make sure the tape had stayed stuck down especially where it overlapped a previously applied piece of tape. 
The paint was the correct consistency for airbrushing so I must have added some thinner previously. The only model painted with the Tamiya Dark Green was the restored Spitfire Vb. ( I must get round to re-restoring it as I bugs me each time I look at it as the Dark Green is too dark - not far off Nato Black).

 

So Airbrushing commenced with about 20 psi and the trigger stop set to about half way. Gradually the Sea King was covered with the lightened Dark Green. 
It was given half an hour to dry off and then then it was time to remove the masking that took me a best part of a week to apply.

As each piece was removed I was getting happier and happier. 
Eventually all of the camouflage masking was removed and I’m over the moon with the result. 
The only spot I’m in two minds about is the top of the engine where it’s white a large area of white. Maybe a touch in with some green to lessen the starkness of it.

The sliding door was temporarily attached with a spot of white tac so it doesn’t get damaged.

Also the area of white where the side MAWS were removed and sanded were touched in with white paint as were a couple of scratches and a distinct grey patch near the cockpit where the white went on a little too thin.

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Edited by Brigbeale
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That looks stunning Brian, your efforts have been well rewarded. What a madking job.Great work fella.

I had a similar issue with a garage when I took my car in for a cambelt change and it wasn't running right after, I thought they had it a tooth out but they told me it was like it when it came in,I insisted it wasn't and they ended up taking it to the local Seat dealer who diagnosed it straight away on their machine, all they did was knock an electrical connection on some filter or sensor whilst doing the work and this made it run lumpy🙄.

We shall be starting work on the Polo tomorrow with the front brakes, really looking forward to it!!!

Great work on you Sea King

Chris

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That looks good. I bought this kit because I was attracted by this zebra camo. It’s so different from the usual US Navy white SeaKing.

One question on this zebra camo. Does the real heli has a defined border between the two colours or a gradual blend like a typical USAF fighter plane?

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1 hour ago, Cklasse said:

That looks good. I bought this kit because I was attracted by this zebra camo. It’s so different from the usual US Navy white SeaKing.

One question on this zebra camo. Does the real heli has a defined border between the two colours or a gradual blend like a typical USAF fighter plane?

I used this picture as a guide for my Sea King

https://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2016/08/02/military-aviation-farewell-to-the-junglie-sea-king-hc4-retirement-retrospective/

 

Edited by Brigbeale
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On 7/6/2022 at 10:22 PM, Brigbeale said:

Tonight’s events were mainly airbrushing the interior colours wish a small amount of building the cockpit.

 

I almost didn’t start tonight as I was frustrated on the situation on my stepson’s 1.6 diesel Focus. The timing belt stripped, (which had the same result as snapping really and quite common on the PSA engine if the belt isn’t changed at the right time) and the camshaft and 4 valve rockers received damage. So a new camshaft, 8 rockers, timing belt kit, auxiliary belt tensioner, auxilliary belt and water pump were fitted.

Sometimes with these engines, the valves (being vertical in the cylinder head) push up on the rockers when the timing goes out of sync when they’re hit by the pistons. The rockers and the camshaft can take the damage and replacing these parts mean the engine can be returned to full working order.

Although this Focus engine starts and revs, the engine is very irregular on idle speeds and can be felt throughout the car as a result - meaning there must be some actual valve damage, which in turn means I’ve got to do it all again, and a lot further to take the cylinder head off to get to the valves. But first I need to borrow a diesel compression kit to confirm the lack of compression.

 

Anyway, back to the Sea King. 
The cabin floor, bulkheads, fuselage inner sides and a few other parts were airbrushed with a grey I had mixed up for something or other. The the cockpit side of the forward bulkhead, cockpit floor and centre section of the cabin floor were painted Nato Black (I didn’t want to go full black as it would be too much in there especially once it’s closed in). The seats and their frames and the console were painted flat black for some contrast (which again probably won’t be seen). Once I’d cleaned the airbrush I realised I’d forgotten a couple of seat frame parts and the collective levers, so they were fitted and brush painted in situ.

Once the paint had dried, the seat frames were built and the two seats were fitted. The two collective levers will be fitted later. 

The console was assembled and the first decals were applied. Plenty of Humbrol Decalfix went on to fix the console decal in position. That’s going to be left until tomorrow before it’s fitted to allow the decal to fully settle.

 

I fitted the two rows of cabin seating to their positions on each side of the floor assembly. They seem fairly solid despite only having the front mountings pins fitted to the floor (there’s no rear ones but I may add a couple to stiffen them up). I may add seat belts to each seat just to add some interest. The blue for the seating is deliberately patchy to denote wear and tear from use.

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The Like was for the job done on the Chopper....

I hope that the engine is fixed, the PSA engine is easier to fix...

I got a 1.4 Focus.... This car turned me mad.... I keep it 10 years and got 10 years of breakdown here or there.....

Fingers crossed.

CC

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  • Brigbeale changed the title to An Airfix 1/72 Sea King Junglie

There was no big progress on the Sea King last night - just removal of the masking and the start of the application of the decals. They apply if a fairly straightforward fashion. The only which had a slight niggle was the black exhaust protection on the port side. The starboard one was easy as it’s a flat surface, but on the port side, there’s a bulge and the decal didn’t want to conform to the bulge without creasing, so I made a tiny nick in the top just after the bulge and applied plenty of Decalfix. 
The ‘ROYAL NAVY’ decals fitted the green blocks perfectly which I was happy about as they’d been measured straight off the colour call-outs.

 

With the larger decals still wet, the Sea King was put in the cabinet to allow them to set.

This is how the Sea King looks this morning with the sliding door removed and put in a safe place.

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Edited by Brigbeale
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Oh, I forgot to add I had an issue with the rotor blades.

When I went to paint them, I put some double sided sticky padding on a stick to hold the blades.

I took them off yesterday morning and found the sticky from the padding came away with the blades and was still stuck to them.
It’s was a sticky mess and I tried various methods to remove it. Nail varnish remover would probably have worked but probably also destroyed the blades in the process. 
I used my airbrush cleaner instead. It removed most of it along with a blade, but a thin sticky film was still present but more spread out.
The other drawback of the airbrush cleaner was it went on the other side of the blade and started taking the paint off.

With the sticky residue still present, I got some simple IPA and that removed it. Great!

Only - not so great as I was rubbing backwards and forwards and one blade bent upwards which I straightened again.

So I changed tactic and rubbed in one direction towards the end of the blades.

While rubbing again to with the airbrush cleaner to remove the remaining paint to start again, another blade just broke in the centre🤬

So out with a lolly stick and 4 small pegs for a splint to repair the broken blade. 
A good dose of Mr Cement S and it was put aside to dry.

Hopefully, a some fine sanding and it won’t be noticeable once painted. 
If the worst happens, I can either use one of the folded blades or get another one from Airfix.

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9 minutes ago, Brigbeale said:

Oh, I forgot to add I had an issue with the rotor blades.

When I went to paint them, I put some double sided sticky padding on a stick to hold the blades.

I took them off yesterday morning and found the sticky from the padding came away with the blades and was still stuck to them.
It’s was a sticky mess and I tried various methods to remove it. Nail varnish remover would probably have worked but probably also destroyed the blades in the process. 
I used my airbrush cleaner instead. It removed most of it along with a blade, but a thin sticky film was still present but more spread out.
The other drawback of the airbrush cleaner was it went on the other side of the blade and started taking the paint off.

With the sticky residue still present, I got some simple IPA and that removed it. Great!

Only - not so great as I was rubbing backwards and forwards and one blade bent upwards which I straightened again.

So I changed tactic and rubbed in one direction towards the end of the blades.

While rubbing again to with the airbrush cleaner to remove the remaining paint to start again, another blade just broke in the centre🤬

So out with a lolly stick and 4 small pegs for a splint to repair the broken blade. 
A good dose of Mr Cement S and it was put aside to dry.

Hopefully, a some fine sanding and it won’t be noticeable once painted. 
If the worst happens, I can either use one of the folded blades or get another one from Airfix.

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Fine fixing of the blade Brian !!

That junglie will look ace !!

CC

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Hope that the blade is OK Brian.

 

Not much use now, but a good substance for removing sticky residues (usually petroleum based) like sellotape, or sticky adhesive left when you take a label off a new bowl or plate, is paintbrush cleaner. The blue stuff B&Q and the like sell. It's a fairly gentle degreaser and doesn't affect plastic - though I wouldn't leave it for too long. Washes off with warm water/detergent. And is also great for cleaning oil off engines!

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Last night saw the application of some of the finer decals such as the window surrounds and serial/identification/anniversary decals etc.

it’s surprising how the time passes down those small decals.

 

The upper and lower side door halves were placed in position to paint them with the green to match up the camouflage pattern. The lower half will have the anniversary, Royal Navy logo and one other decal fitted to it later today. 
The sand filter casing with the decals applied was also fitted into position.
 

With the decals still fresh, I didn’t want to handle the Sea King too much incase I disturbed one or two, so I set about assembling the main rotor.

The broken blade seems to be repaired sufficiently and it can support its own weight. 
I used my template which I drew on A4 paper using a dab of white tac in the middle to hole the hub still and added the blades in the appropriate positions. Mr Cement S was used to fix each blade to the centre hub and then the top? half of the hub was also fitted into position and then pressed down for a while to make sure it stayed flat. 

I cut the tail rotor from the sprue which I had previously airbrushed black. I do not need to airbrush the tips as there are decals for the front and rear of each blade. I’ll tidy up the sprue nibs on the blades, touch in the black, paint the hub and add the red/white decals to it later.

 

I couldn’t resist it, I had to place them in the Sea King to get an idea of the model with them fitted.

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