On Heather's Workbench - Strike Hard, Strike Sure: RAF Bomber Command 1940

[marvinneko]

10 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

While most of the kit hadn’t suffered from warping during its long sojourn in the box, I had noticed the forward part of the port fuselage half had a twist.

 

Does heating the plastic help at all, like putting it in hot water before clamping it? 

[Heather Kay]

5 hours ago, marvinneko said:

 

Does heating the plastic help at all, like putting it in hot water before clamping it? 

It might do. I’m happy that forcing it to the right shape and hoping the glue will hold will work. 

[perdu]

I would advise a bit of hot water treatment if ever the bend is that bad Heather, just wow.

 

Still watching and loving it

[Heather Kay]

3 minutes ago, perdu said:

would advise a bit of hot water treatment

Advice noted. I’ll get the kettle on and have a go in a bit.

[perdu]

Wouldn't normally interject but that is one hell of a distortion, even for an old kn..ker of a kit

 

👍

[Heather Kay]

23 minutes ago, perdu said:

Wouldn't normally interject but that is one hell of a distortion, even for an old kn..ker of a kit

 

👍

Perhaps, but it’s a huge bit of plastic. The nose section is full of gaps for glazing and turrets, and there’s that huge hole for the bomb bay. Until the floor section goes in, the nose is virtually in free space. During dry fits, the bomb bay area tended to bow inwards. So, I’m not surprised there’s some kinkiness going on.

 

I've just had a session with some near boiling water, flat piece of wood and some clamps.   The bend has been lessened. If nowt else it’ll mean less strain on the glue joints.

[Heather Kay]

I have reached a part of the build that fills me with trepidation and expectation in equal measure. The cockpit, or flight deck.

 

 

This is what Airfix provides. The instrument panel is due for some Eduard PE goodness, which will liven it up nicely. That ladder affair was also home to a firefighting axe, and presumably was literally just an easy step or two up from the navigator's floor level. The control columns are chunky but serviceable with a little finessing with a file, while the seats are not at all like they should be. There’s all sorts of framework and arms, plus some armour plate for the back of the pilot's seat. 
 

 

 

 

With the flight deck and accoutrements dry fitted. I’ve added stringers to the walls, which instantly lifts affairs. I’ve also made a new navigator's table. The Airfix one was too small and set too low down. The seats for the pilot and co-pilot are set an awfully long way back. Perhaps pilots were fitted with telescopic legs so they could reach the rudder pedals under the IP! According to the various internal photos I’ve dug up, the seats are mounted on runners, so I will shift them forward to a more sensible location. In the triangular section in front of the windscreen there should be a small circular porthole on each side. I’ll work out where they go and drill them out. 
 

I hope to work out what detail is worth the effort of adding, beyond the bits in the PE sheet. I also hope to add some detail to the bomb-aimer's area at the bottom of the nose. As the engineer and wireless op were behind the bulkhead at the back of the flight deck, I won’t bother fitting anything in there as it’ll be invisible. 
 

The Falcon vac form glazing set has been cut out, but not trimmed out yet. The set includes the main cockpit canopy, lower nose, astrodome, landing light cover, plus parts for all the various turrets. I really wish the aftermarket chaps would give us superdetail turrets, as it looks like I’m going to have to scratch nose and rear internals. Oh, what fun I shall have…

 

[Gondor44]

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

 

I really wish the aftermarket chaps would give us superdetail turrets, as it looks like I’m going to have to scratch nose and rear internals. Oh, what fun I shall have…

 

 

You and me both Heather, I suspect there are a few others who would like to see that happen as well.

 

Gondor

[Brandy]

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

I’m going to have to scratch nose and rear internals.

Please make sure your nails are nicely trimmed first or that could be uncomfortable!

 

On another, more sensible, note...coming along rather nicely. The control columns are definitely a tad on the heavy side.

 

Ian

 

[12jaguar]

Hi Heather

 

Just shout if you need some better internal photos of Stirlings

 

John

[Heather Kay]

16 minutes ago, 12jaguar said:

Just shout

That's very much appreciated John, thank you. 
 

What would be useful, if you have anything, is a view showing the starboard wall behind the navigator station, what the navigator sat on (if anything), and anything that shows clearly what is going on along the centreline inside the canopy. It seems quite busy from the snatches I can make out in published photos. It would be handy to know what colour the blackout curtains were, though I suspect they’re simply a dark green thick canvas.

 

I always attempt to overdo detail, when I should be aiming for an impression rather than dead scale. I’ve just trimmed out the Falcon transparencies, and while commendably thin they still blur a lot of the interior.

 

37 minutes ago, Brandy said:

Please make sure your nails are nicely trimmed first or that could be uncomfortable!

 
 

The jury's still out on the control columns. If I think I’m able, I’ll perhaps try to make some more slender ones.

 

I think I’ve run out of puff this weekend. I’ve hit a bit of a hurdle concerning the kink Bill @perdu mentioned. In correcting it, I seem to have caused a problem elsewhere. I’ll need to sort that out before I get carried away.

[marvinneko]

11 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

The seats for the pilot and co-pilot are set an awfully long way back. Perhaps pilots were fitted with telescopic legs so they could reach the rudder pedals under the IP!

 

Short legs were a problem. I read one squadron ORB where a pilot washed out of a heavy conversion course (from 2 to 4 engine bombers) because his feet didn't reach the pedals. In an unrelated accident report I read for Venturas I believe, the pilot was noted to be short and needed a cushion to help him reach the controls. 

 

9 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

I’ve just trimmed out the Falcon transparencies, and while commendably thin they still blur a lot of the interior.

 

Have you tried the floor polish dip trick? Seems to me I've seen people claim that fixes clarity issues.

Edited June 5, 2023 by marvinneko

[Heather Kay]

4 hours ago, marvinneko said:

Have you tried the floor polish dip trick?

I have tried it, and decided it doesn’t work for me. I once fairly wrecked a set of transparencies when the clear stuff dried with ridges across the panels. No idea what I did wrong, but that was enough for me to avoid doing it again.

[CedB]

You're certainly beating this into submission Heather - what a pain!

 

Looking forward to your detailing.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

19 hours ago, Brandy said:

The control columns are definitely a tad on the heavy side

I think Airfix used them on the Fokker F-27, too!  How very resourceful of them.

[Heather Kay]

Just a quick note to thank John @12jaguar. He contacted me outside BM, and has generously sent me copies of photos that illustrate the internal details I haven’t been able to find. Obviously, I’m not going to share them here, as I don’t suppose they’re public domain, but I just wanted to publicly thank John for his help. Enough there to keep my detail freak busy for ages!

[Samuraiwarrior]

Hi Heather, 

What a great guy, to manage to find those really hard to find pictures. Looks like you will have enough to spend a few hours of 'tittyvating' that cockpit. 

Can't wait to see what you can do now. 

Thanks for sharing 

Kevin 

[12jaguar]

Regarding short @rsed pilots, the seats have a fairly large amount of adjustment both fore and aft and up and down.

 

The rudder pedals actually come in 3 different patterns; plain, with a detachable platform to make them taller and solid cast with the pedal already taller. The pedals themselves can also be adjusted in the fore and aft plain

 

John

[Heather Kay]

Before I get too involved in titivating the flight deck, I needed to deal with the kinkiness round the nose. While I thought I had fixed the initial problem, I found the original Airfix canopy and the Falcon vac version revealed the side walls to be still too far apart.

 

 

The canopies measured 24mm wide, give or take, but the fuselage was a couple of millimetres wider overall. I let the problem fester for a couple of days, periodically picking the plastic up and prodding it. In the end, I decided the best thing to try was more boiling water. Lots of masking tape was deployed in an attempt to pull the flight deck sides in to 24mm.

 

Did it work? My options if it didn’t were limited. I suppose could source another ancient Stirling kit to cannibalise for spares. I could just give up and throw the whole thing in the bin and live in hope of finding an Italeri MkI at some point - but I’m not that kind of modeller. Per ardua ad astra, or something or other.

 

 

 

Well, I reckon that’s a win. The canopy looks cloudy, but that’s residual condensation from the hot water. Happy with that, I can resume detail freaking under the coupé. (It’s what the greenhouse was officially known as, apparently.)

[TheBaron]

Very nicely fettled Heather. Congratulations.

[Hamden]

10 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Very nicely fettled Heather. Congratulations.

 

Seconded!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

  Stay safe      Roger

[BillF67]

I have an old Airfix Stirling that I will never build. Bits are off the sprues so I have no idea of completeness. You can have that for just the postage if you like?

[jackroadkill]

Nicely saved, Heather.

[Heather Kay]

28 minutes ago, BillF67 said:

I have an old Airfix Stirling that I will never build. Bits are off the sprues so I have no idea of completeness. You can have that for just the postage if you like?

That's very kind of you, but I must decline. This house is barely big enough for one Stirling, let alone a brace!

[Martian]

Good save Heather! I am enjoying this build so much that my thoughts are turning towards the Stirling kit that sits beside my desk. With my desk cluttered with Zeppelins and that Zerbe diorama needing my attention, someone needs to stop me! Then there's that Airfix Sunderland Mrs Martian bought me...... Help!

 

Dithering of Mars 👽