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

[heloman1]

Looking at the 'fat' wing, reminds me when I did some car body filler work. I made hat was called a banjo (don't ask why, caus' I don't know). Basically fat file made of a piece of ply with a handle for some control and a sheet or part of abrasive open coat sanding paper.

I hope you had success?

 

Colin

[Heather Kay]

Just now, heloman1 said:

I hope you had success?

I think I had marginal success. I got to a point where I felt it was good enough, considering all the other little compromises in the build.

 

I follow a couple of car restoration YouTube channels, so I understand your issue with filler. It’s almost a dark art getting a properly seamless fill of a small ding in metalwork.

[heloman1]

1 minute ago, Heather Kay said:

I think I had marginal success. I got to a point where I felt it was good enough, considering all the other little compromises in the build.

 

I follow a couple of car restoration YouTube channels, so I understand your issue with filler. It’s almost a dark art getting a properly seamless fill of a small ding in metalwork.

Long time since I did any of that Heather but several coats of Hugh Build Filler applied via spray gun seemed to work.

I watch Kindig Custom, lots of body filler and consequently lots of sanding!

[Heather Kay]

Oh, hello there. It’s, um, been a while hasn’t it? Lots of excuses, I’m afraid.

 

The Manc is currently on the Shelf of Doom. The workbench is currently filled with commissioned model railway work, which has spontaneously developed a deadline of sorts. I’m also dealing with a fair old lump of adulting, which is never my favourite thing to do at the best of times. Needs must, as they say.

 

So, styrene and resin bothering has been very low on the agenda of late, and I fear it might be a while longer before I feel up to mixing two-part epoxy to glue wings on the proto-Lancaster. 
 

I am still lurking here, keeping up with everything as best I can. I hope to be back at the Bomber Command builds soon enough.

[RAF4EVER]

5 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

Oh, hello there. It’s, um, been a while hasn’t it? Lots of excuses, I’m afraid.

 

The Manc is currently on the Shelf of Doom. The workbench is currently filled with commissioned model railway work, which has spontaneously developed a deadline of sorts. I’m also dealing with a fair old lump of adulting, which is never my favourite thing to do at the best of times. Needs must, as they say.

 

So, styrene and resin bothering has been very low on the agenda of late, and I fear it might be a while longer before I feel up to mixing two-part epoxy to glue wings on the proto-Lancaster. 
 

I am still lurking here, keeping up with everything as best I can. I hope to be back at the Bomber Command builds soon enough.

Thanks for the update,take your time, real things take priority.👍

[Pete in Lincs]

3 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

I’m also dealing with a fair old lump of adulting

Vastly overated IMHO

[MOK61]

Like Pete said. Hang on in there.

[Heather Kay]

Still here. It’s been quite rocky this past few months, but I feel there is light at the end of the tunnel.

 

I won’t bore you with gory details, but essentially Best Beloved is quite poorly (though he’s improved this past couple of weeks), and I’ve had to move to a much more caring role as a result. Until you become a carer you don’t realise just how much work can be involved. It nearly broke me, but help has been offered and gladly accepted, so things are beginning to get back on an even keel.

 

Quite when modelling operations will restart is an open question. Soon, I hope.

[Pete in Lincs]

I was wondering how you were both getting on. Good to hear from you.

Yes, caring can be a full time job. And I know that it can really be a strain, physically and mentally on you both. Take your time, we and the plastic can wait. I hope you've found a little time to yourself and not forgotten the paying job on the Railway stuff. Best wishes, Pete 

[Heather Kay]

6 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

not forgotten the paying job on the Railway stuff

Thanks Pete! I’m afraid the paying stuff is sidelined as well. I’ll get back to it soon.

[Pete in Lincs]

Time is prescious and family must  come first. 

[jackroadkill]

Hi Heather, it's good to hear that BB is improving.  I hope you can find some time for yourself soon.

[Gondor44]

Wishing the two of you the best.

 

Gondor

[Keeff]

Good to hear BB is improving and you have some help on the caring front.

 

As said, we'll still be here and you need to prioritise the important stuff! 

 

Best wishes, take care both

 

Keith 😁 

[MOK61]

Modelling appendages crossed. Wishing you both all the best.

[Hamden]

 

Wishing you and BB all the best and glad to hear you have help at hand

 

      Stay Strong            Roger

[Heather Kay]

Thanks everyone! 😊

[Heather Kay]

Mrs Mojo wandered past, so I grabbed her while I had the chance.

 

Time to tackle sticking wings on this elephant Manchester.

 

 

Deploying the EBMA Wing Jig, Lego and masking tape got me here. I was worried about getting the wings to be as near level as possible, with the possible margin for error being ginormous when gluing heavy resin extensions on to plastic. I reasoned the plastic wing stubs were level with the ground plane, so I could use them as my datum. I spent a while making up Lego blocks to stop the fuselage from rocking and keep it level. Once happy, I strapped the thing down with tape.

 

More Lego joined the fray, to support the resin wing extensions as close to the correct orientation as possible. In this shot, and the previous one, the outer wings are just sitting on the blocks. Once happy with alignments - I measured the wing tips to get them both the same height above the desk - the support blocks were taped down.

 

My plan is to get the wings attached today. I will use the full-fat epoxy resin which has plenty of working time to allow me to set the wings just right before I leave them to harden overnight. Before that, though, I have to install some species of wing spars to help support the resin wings. This little jig of scrap wood, masking tape and blutack holds the wings in an orientation to stop the five-minute epoxy dribbling out while the 1.5mm diameter brass rod is glued in.

 

While I’ve been typing this up, the five-minute epoxy should’ve hardened. If things have worked, I’ll make an offering to the goddess of sticking things together permanently, Araldite, in the hopes the next stage will see wings successfully attached to my Manc.

 

[Chuck1945]

Glad Mrs Mojo was able to be snagged, her spouse slipped past me a bit too quickly to be nabbed 😂

[Heather Kay]

59 minutes ago, Chuck1945 said:

a bit too quickly to be nabbed

They can be slippery beggars, that’s for sure!

[Planebuilder62]

Goodness, thats a lot of dihedral there Heather, I bet you have a good reference. I guess Avro found out they could decrease it on the Lancaster with the greater wing span

Regards Toby

[Heather Kay]

39 minutes ago, Planebuilder62 said:

Goodness, thats a lot of dihedral there Heather

You’re right. Nothing has been glued yet, and your comment has given me pause.

 

I’ve been working on the basis that the cast wing "roots" are about the right angle to mate with the styrene stubs. The dihedral does, indeed, seem very steep. I went back to my references, and found photos of planes on the ground and in the air, and I have to say the angles seem to be fairly close. Then you turn the page and another photos shows something entirely different!

 

Back up the thread, page 27, @dogsbody posted comparison drawings of a Manc and a Lanc, and both dihedrals are very close to each other, and are much flatter in aspect than my efforts so far. I think I’ll fiddle about a bit more and see if I can get things a bit less pronounced.

 

 

[Planebuilder62]

I hope my comment was timely Heather. I have used a lot of resin conversion parts but have been burnt a lot of times thinking the resin designer got all their work right.

Regards Toby

[Heather Kay]

Take two! The wing tips are now 76mm above the desk and looking a lot better. I’ll just run some visual comparisons before I commit to the sticky stuff.

 

 

[Galligraphics]

6 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

Mrs Mojo wandered past, so I grabbed her while I had the chance.

nice to see this back under way, Heather. Lack of mojo can be a bu$$er at times - I blame real life...

 

Nige