Ryan Lumb Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 Hopefully I have this sorted correctly but here goes. I have started my Canberra b1 conversion using the classic airframes kit and the master caster b1 VN799 late conversion thats ment for the airfix kit. I am currently having a fight with the cockpit, it will not go together properly for some reason, so I am in the process of sanding parts back to try and get it to fit together, while I'm trying to figure that out I have started on the tail spine and so far thats going well, I am currently sanding down the side to get a smooth finish going to the spine. The next issue I have is the classic airframes canopy had a white mark in the canopy so I used 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper to remove it and the last one I use was 1500 grit but it's still cloudy, would anyone know how I can make the canopy clear again? Also a big thankyou to thecanberrakid for giving me the mk1 ejection seat, nose section and being extremely knowledgeable with the Canberra's. Also a big thankyou to britjet for doing the decals for me because I couldn't find them anywhere online. Progress on this will be slow but hopefully I can get it completed in a few months. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 Consider my chair pulled up, sir! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 1 minute ago, Hook said: Consider my chair pulled up, sir! Thank you its my first time handling resin and doing a small modification to a kit. Hopefully I can get it all done correctly because if I cant then the victor b1 and valiant wb210 conversion will be not looking to good for me 😅 im currently doing the toothpaste trick on the canopy and it's working to my surprise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 So thats the canopy better than what it was, now to figure out why the nose section won't go together properly 🤔 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritJet Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 Off to a good start and well done polishing the canopy. Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 21 minutes ago, BritJet said: Off to a good start and well done polishing the canopy. Steve Thanks progress has been slow but I'm hoping to get some more building done over the weekend. I was convinced the canopy wasn't save able but John said to ask people on here for some tips and tricks, the toothpaste one was one I could do and I was surprised it worked, now I can do it on the other canopies. I cant wait to get this finished and then get your decals on and then start the valiant conversion. Thanks again 😊 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mancunian airman Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 I remember an airshow at RAF Waddington where a certain Canberra was painted up as the prototype, was that VN799 ? Colour was Blue with a few marking on it . . . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 14 minutes ago, Mancunian airman said: I remember an airshow at RAF Waddington where a certain Canberra was painted up as the prototype, was that VN799 ? Colour was Blue with a few marking on it . . . T.4 WT478 in 1989, perchance? Cheers, Andre 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 On 3/23/2023 at 5:24 PM, Ryan Lumb said: Thanks progress has been slow but I'm hoping to get some more building done over the weekend. I was convinced the canopy wasn't save able but John said to ask people on here for some tips and tricks, the toothpaste one was one I could do and I was surprised it worked, now I can do it on the other canopies. I cant wait to get this finished and then get your decals on and then start the valiant conversion. Thanks again 😊 Toothpaste works in a pinch, but even better, get some proper polishing compound (I use Tamiya’s, which comes in three grades). Also, after polishing, apply a coat of clear acrylic (such as Alclad Aqua gloss, or Future/Pledge floor polish) for the final touch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted March 25, 2023 Author Share Posted March 25, 2023 55 minutes ago, billn53 said: Toothpaste works in a pinch, but even better, get some proper polishing compound (I use Tamiya’s, which comes in three grades). Also, after polishing, apply a coat of clear acrylic (such as Alclad Aqua gloss, or Future/Pledge floor polish) for the final touch. I shall order some online thank you for that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 I suspect that the resin interior parts are too wide and are pushing the fuselage halves apart. I had similar issues when I built their Seahawk kit. In the end it proved quicker and easier to junk the resin and scratch build the interior parts. Martian 👽 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted March 25, 2023 Author Share Posted March 25, 2023 20 minutes ago, Martian said: I suspect that the resin interior parts are too wide and are pushing the fuselage halves apart. I had similar issues when I built their Seahawk kit. In the end it proved quicker and easier to junk the resin and scratch build the interior parts. Martian 👽 It does seem like one of the resin parts is definitely causing it to not go together, I suspect its the part the main ejection seat glues to. Unfortunately I can't scratch build the cockpit parts so I shall have to keep sanding down the parts until I can get a nice fit. I have a vacuform valiant kit coming which I am going to use as a parts doner, the circular parts one will be going behind the noes sections wheel well, where I plan to put the weights to keep it on it's noes wheels and to stop the weights from if they come loose from going all the way down the back of the fuselage. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted April 5, 2023 Author Share Posted April 5, 2023 Sorry for the lack of updates, this nose section is giving me more trouble than I thought. I removed as much of the aerodynamic fairing from the canopy as I can before it starts to go up, so this is as far as I can go I think? Then i started making a circular navigators window that sits between the two rectangular windows behind the aerodynamic fairing, until I had a accident with the craft saw and my thumb. My thumb lost and has a rather deep chunk cut out so I cannot for the time being grip the nose section with my left hand. I have part of the circular window made, I just have to file it down to the right shape and then cut/ file the circular window into the nose section where i have marked. The Canberrakid ( John ) is helping me with getting details right and I am extremely grateful for his knowledge of this aircraft and in general of the Canberra, I just hope I can get this kit to come together without anymore issues. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted April 12, 2023 Author Share Posted April 12, 2023 So the nightmare of the nose section is finally ( I hope ) over. I had to leave the rear navigators seat out because the rear bulkhead thats connected to the noes wheel well wouldn't fit so I left it out because it's not possible to see it. I managed to get the circular navigators window in as well so that's good, I hope the rest of this kit goes well, because if it doesn't then I will not be buying anymore classic airframes kits, due to this nightmare of a nose section. I just have to tidy up the nose section now and remove the excess glue. I have the fin and spine all flush and I added a circular disk to sit behind the noes wheel well just incase the weights come loose and fall all the way down the back. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritJet Posted April 12, 2023 Share Posted April 12, 2023 Looks like the difficult part is done now but cleaning up the seams will keep you busy for a while! Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted April 12, 2023 Author Share Posted April 12, 2023 1 hour ago, BritJet said: Looks like the difficult part is done now but cleaning up the seams will keep you busy for a while! Steve I havent really had much experience with seams but I'm willing to try it. I have some glue removal stuff I am going to use to remove the excess glue on the nose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickthebrief Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 Ahhh yes, Classic Airframes kits... There was a time when, if you wanted a 1:48 model of quite a wide variety of aircraft, they were the only option. As a Fleet Air Arm fan, I wrestled with their Seahawk, Gannet, Meteor T7 and more recently the Sea Venom and Defiant Target Tug. All of them challenged my modelling abilities, but ultimately resulted in models that I'm really pleased to have built. So I would say "persevere" and, as you are already demonstrating, you will end up with a Canberra to be proud of. I shall be keeping a close eye on progress, as I have the kit in the stash and will be following your lead one day! Cheers, Nick. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 2 minutes ago, Nickthebrief said: Ahhh yes, Classic Airframes kits... There was a time when, if you wanted a 1:48 model of quite a wide variety of aircraft, they were the only option. As a Fleet Air Arm fan, I wrestled with their Seahawk, Gannet, Meteor T7 and more recently the Sea Venom and Defiant Target Tug. All of them challenged my modelling abilities, but ultimately resulted in models that I'm really pleased to have built. So I would say "persevere" and, as you are already demonstrating, you will end up with a Canberra to be proud of. I shall be keeping a close eye on progress, as I have the kit in the stash and will be following your lead one day! Cheers, Nick. Thanks Nick I'm hoping the rest of the resin pieces fit together properly. Just this nose section is the most challenging kit I have ever had, even the mach 2 vickers valiant wasn't this bad. I had to leave out the bomb aimers walk way, because the nose section at the front wouldn't close, and the bottom of the pilots instrument panel I had to cut off because that was also stopping it from closing. They can't be seen because the door will be closed and they are a bit hard to spot through the canopy. If I encounter any more problems with this build I shall let you know on here. Thanks Ryan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted April 22, 2023 Author Share Posted April 22, 2023 Hi all, so I have the spine attached and it is nice and smooth, but when I was getting the landing gear bays attached through dry fitting this is when I ran into another problem. So the resin pieces are definitely to big ( I don't know if it's a one off or if it affects any more of their Canberra's) but when I tried to fit the two wing half's together there's a very big gap. So while I was looking at the paint scheme's I discovered that there's a piece that sits under the tail, a aluminium bumper frame and well mine isn't in the box or resin bag 😑. So I have had a idea 💡 airfix does the B(i)6/ B20 Canberra in 1/48 and I have found one ( that has had someone attempted to build it but stopped for some reason ) and this I hope works, but I was thinking of taking the airfix wings, wheel bays and the aluminium bumper frame and using those on the classic airframes kit. Because they should go together easily and I hope fit nicely on the ca kit and they are much more detailed. Im not sure if its a good idea or not but with bits missing from the ca kit and the airfix parts donner kit im thinking it's worth trying before I loose my mind with the ca kit. Also I had to repaint the ejection seat because I found out that the A1 Canberra has silver ejection seats. This is my first time painting the detailed parts on a ejection seat but I think I have it all correct I hope 😅 I would like to say I'm half way with getting this kit built, but with how this kit is it's 1 step forward and 12 steps backs wards 🤦♂️it's starting to look like a Canberra now and it's actually a very nice size. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted May 15, 2023 Author Share Posted May 15, 2023 Hi all work shall continue on the Canberra this week. I had a rather hectic few weeks dealing with some personal issues but all is good now. The issues with the resin parts not fitting had driven me up the wall so i binned all the classic airframes resin pieces along with the wings. The parts airfix Canberra arrived, so I am now working to get the aluminium bumper frame off that and attached to the classic airframes kit, and I am currently making the holes for the wings to go into the fuselage, and a hole for the landing light that is missing in the wing of the airfix kits wings. My airbrush and compressor arrived along with a spray booth, so I shall use the parts Canberra fuselage and parts valiant to test the airbrush before I attempt to prime and paint the Canberra. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted May 29, 2023 Author Share Posted May 29, 2023 So just a quick glimpse at what I've been up to with the Canberra. I have been measuring three times and making sure I have the front and rear spar parts in the correct place on the wings, and making sure I have the wing slot in the correct position before I made the first cut into the fuselage. So far I have the bottom wing lined up perfectly, so all I need to do now is get the holes in the top wing half made and hopefully that will will be the left wing attached. I also added in the missing landing light thats missing from the Airfix kit. So far this has been far more enjoyable than the darned resin cockpit parts not fitting, so I'm hopeful that the rest of the transplant will go smoothly. Also I forgot to take a photo but I have also attached the airfix aluminium bumper frame onto the classic airframes kit. I believe I have it in the correct position after taking many many measurements from the Airfix kit, and then using them on the ca kit. I am much more happy to not be sanding nearly 3/4 of the resin parts to get them to roughly fit. ( it might not be exactly 3/4 but the amount of resin dust sure does look like it is 😂 ) More progress to come and hopefully the next time the wings will be on 🤞. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted May 30, 2023 Share Posted May 30, 2023 Great work taming the beast! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted May 30, 2023 Author Share Posted May 30, 2023 2 minutes ago, Hook said: Great work taming the beast! Thanks, it feels great to be making progress on this kit. I have the wheel bays and engine intakes primed, I just have to figure out how to mask them off but be able to un mask them when I need to 😅 I was expecting the airfix wings to not fit/ line up properly but so far everything is, and the great part with the Airfix wings is I can have the flaps extended 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Lumb Posted July 19, 2023 Author Share Posted July 19, 2023 Hi all sorry for the long delay, the past few weeks have been rather eventful, i have asbestos in my roof so i have had to deal with that first. So the ca Canberra is now looking like a Canberra finally, I have the wings all attached and the tail section nearly complete. The wings I have had to use Valljeo filler because if I attached them fully they would be at a 50° angle going upwards, so I glued the bottom half, the Slat and two fuselage spars and then just used the filler for the gaps. My next plan is to get the engine intakes attached along with the exhausts and flaps, which will be smooth going. I did notice that the nose landing gear wheel well is 0.01mm of center for some reason but the nose section is perfectly centered, so I think it's the ca kit that's the issue, unless the Canberra has a off centered wheel well which I don't think it does. Hopefully it will all be together over the next few days. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 On 4/13/2023 at 2:43 AM, Ryan Lumb said: I will not be buying anymore classic airframes kits Me, neither! They take so much fettling it's not funny. While my Vampire turned out okay in the end, it was a LOT of work to get it all to fit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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