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

[Heather Kay]

5 minutes ago, Cees Broere said:

Hmmm, Manchester. Pulling up a chair….

The adventure starts here:

 

Mind you, most of it so far has been "part-building a Lancaster". I got rather stuck about the time the Manchester parts were meant to be fitted. 

 

[Terry1954]

The re vamped Whitley is looking very good. Well worth doing. 

 

Can't recall if its making the flight from Kent to Shropshire?

 

Terry

[Heather Kay]

23 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

Can't recall if its making the flight from Kent to Shropshire?

Most certainly. My next job is making the carry cases up so the models can travel safely.

[charlie_c67]

7 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

…I’m pretty sure the MkIs not converted to fighters were mostly sent to the Mediterranean and North Africa and therefore will be for another time in my 1940 plan…

I may have mis-read, but I believe 18 squadron operated the Mk.I for January over France before transitioning to the Mk.IV the next month so just squeak in. I think 57 squadron may have also operated the Mk.I over Norway as well.

 

That said I am more than willing to accept that your sources are more likely to be accurate mine! 🙂

Edited October 29, 2023 by charlie_c67

[Klaasdebouwer]

Nice looking Whitley there Heather. I love the busy airfield setting too. A worthy salute to the efforts of these early war efforts.

[Pete in Lincs]

On 10/28/2023 at 4:38 PM, Heather Kay said:

The old bird looks the part from any angle now.

It certainly does. You've done it again, Back from the brink of duff decal disaster. Brilliant.

[MOK61]

Wonderful Whitley.

 

Thanks again for more inspiration, Heather. The idea of rejuvenating an old model, that isn't quite up to scratch, with a fresh paint job is a new one on me, but then everything still feels new to me! 

 

 

[AdrianMF]

Terrific Whitley and a super photographic setting. I had to double-take on the first photo to be sure it was a model!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Heather Kay]

14 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

super photographic setting

Thanks Adrian! I’m slowly perfecting it. I have some tentative plans for further improvements to the backdrop.

[Heather Kay]

37 minutes ago, MOK61 said:

The idea of rejuvenating an old model, that isn't quite up to scratch,

I must admit it’s not something I do often, or would want to do frequently. The only other rejuvenation in my cabinet is an old Matchbox Gladiator that was stripped and repainted completely. Now I know it is possible to repaint parts of a model, I’m not going to be too scared of doing it again if needed.

[Ed Russell]

57 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

The only other rejuvenation in my cabinet is an old Matchbox Gladiator

and maybe a Caproni?

[Heather Kay]

5 minutes ago, Ed Russell said:

and maybe a Caproni?

Ah, yes. Hmm, I’ll need to work that one into my schedule, I think.   

[Heather Kay]

Just for fun, I found the original photo from 1940…

 

 

[Heather Kay]

Packing for SMW.

 

 

At this point, I hoped I could fit a second deck in for the Wimpy, Hampden and Blenheim.

 

 

Sharp blade, five millimetre foam core, hot glue gun. Let battle commence!

 

My aim is to drop the board into a 50 litre Really Useful Box. Each model will be supported so it’s not standing on its undercarriage, and restricted from sideways movement as much as possible. 
 

That’s the Stirling in place. Next?

 

The various upstands around the edge were glued in as I was still hoping to add the second deck. Sadly, the height below the lid wasn’t enough for the Wimpey to fit. Looks like a second 50 litre box needed.

 

The remaining models would have fitted on a second layer, if the Wellington didn’t have such a tall fin. Oh well. The Belgian Battle sneaked in to confirm a future Bomber Command Battle model will have room.
 

So much wasted space. Oh well. I need a bigger car, or a small van, if I’m taking Best Beloved and luggage with us.

 

 

Despite my best efforts, Captain Clumsy paid a call. First, I pinged an antenna wire, then the towel rail and a underwing bomb. The latter two had been, in a rare moment of foresight, attached using PVA, so caused no damage as they came away. I’ll fix this, then all the models heading for Shropshire will be ready to load into the car and will - fingers cross - arrive at the show in one piece.

 

 

[marvinneko]

2nd tier could go in upside down so fins have more space

[Brandy]

If I were you I'd either move the underwing supports inboard, or add an additional support under the fuselage to reduce any strain on the wing joints if you hit a bump!

 

Ian

[Heather Kay]

1 minute ago, Brandy said:

If I were you I'd either move the underwing supports inboard, or add an additional support under the fuselage to reduce any strain on the wing joints if you hit a bump!

Smaller models have been safely transported in this way. As you say, the larger models might have issues. 
 

Incidentally, the Stirling wings are embedded in deep recesses in the fuselage. The models likely to suffer at wing roots are the Whitley and Wellington, but both have a wing spar system. We shall see what happens. I’ll pack a toolkit in case.

 

[Heather Kay]

15 minutes ago, marvinneko said:

2nd tier could go in upside down so fins have more space

I’ll first need to rewrite the laws of physics and come up with some anti-gravity system. 
 

You’ve set me thinking, though. I could support the Wellington upside down with a slot in the base for the fin. I’ll think on that for a bit.

[Pete in Lincs]

17 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

and come up with some anti-gravity system

I'd send you one but the Post office won't ship it with the Dilithium crystals fitted.

[Stevie B]

Hi Heather

I’ve been watching your builds from afar and may I add a word of caution regarding insufficient packing supports in that they may induce a split down the centre of the fuselage if the model is stressed too much at the wing to fuselage join in transit, (ask me how I know 🙄) hard to fix once at the show.

 

Regards 

Steve 

[Heather Kay]

Thanks for all the warnings. I’m taking them on board and will review supports. Funnily enough, the Stirling acquired a chin support to prevent it tipping into the Whitley.

 

I have transported quite large models like this before. Last year, my Battle of Britain section travelled up to SMW, and rattled round most of Shropshire without any harm. 

[Galligraphics]

3 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

The remaining models would have fitted on a second layer, if the Wellington didn’t have such a tall fin.

Perhaps storing the Wellington upside down with a slot cut in the deck for the fin might've worked...? Next time maybe... (Doh... just spotted that others have made the same suggestion. That'll teach me to read all the posts carefully before being too eager to be clever...)

 

Looking forward to seeing these next weekend .

 

Nige

Edited November 4, 2023 by Galligraphics
Realised that I wasn't the first to make this suggestion...

[Terry1954]

3 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

Packing for SMW.

 

Snap! I was packing all mine today.

 

Exciting init? 

 

T.

 

 

[Lord Riot]

Just caught up with this, they’re absolutely superb! I never realised how big a Whitley was, almost Stirling size! I always assumed they were about Hampden sized. 

[Zephyr91]

Apologies if this has been mentioned before but in which areas at Telford will your models be viewable Heather (I did scan back through the thread but to no avail)?

 

cheers

 

Rob