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Airfix 1/600 HMS Ark Royal + PE + crew - Finished


AdrianMF

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3 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

enjoy the outcome

Wise words - thanks for the encouragement Jeff!

 

1 hour ago, Old Man said:

CA accelerator destroys the tack

Thanks - filed away for future use!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

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Accepting mistakes and chalking them up as part of the learning process can be a liberating mindset for modelling in general, but I feel it is particularly key for this GB. This isn't the time or place to get hung up with rivet counting or what rivet counters will say. Keep channelling JFK's moonshot speech and crack on (he says, skilfully avoiding mentioning how there has been little cracking on in the area of figure painting yet :whistle:)

 

The PE crane part looks like a terrific improvement :like:

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1 hour ago, Bobby No Mac said:

JFK's moonshot speech

I suppose I could channel the SpaceX approach to modelling: "if the modelling bench doesn't get destroyed then we'll call it a successful build"

 

:)

Adrian

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That PE crane looks superb, Adrian, but you also deserve some kudos for the cleaned up kit plastic; a significant improvement over what was on the sprues!

 

James

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Hi Adrian , I saw your ref yo this build on your Spitfire RFI and so came down to take a look, like your thinking re the Pom Poms and the crane looks great.  For cutting brass rod I roll it back and forth on the cutting matt under a Stanley blade or one of those razor blades with yhe other side has a metal bit bent over it to act as a handle and it cuts easily  and you get a pretty straight cut too.

I am interested as I have just started my first ship model too an A class destroyer and also want to do a water base so am picking up hints and tips along the way.

Great start

Chris

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3 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

first ship model

It seems to be a different hobby altogether, doesn't it? I've admired the ship models on display at SMW many times, so I'm determined to have some PE detailing to add finesse.

 

Meanwhile, those portholes won't drill themselves out:

28007128-0-CAB-47-B2-AE95-9-A0-FDD483-EB
 

I'm using the centre punch to press a dent in the middle of each moulded porthole, and then I'm drilling them out with a 0.5mm drill in a pin vice. Using the centre punch first stops the drill bit wandering. The plastic is quite hard but the mould maker did a wonderful job of marking the portholes accurately and uniformly. It's going to take a while, but I have the day off and I'm chatting to my daughter while she is baking a cake, so it's not too much of a chore.

 

I'm using some generic Chinese-sourced 0.5mm drills off ebay, but I've also got some branded Draper drills, so at some point I need to switch over and see if I can tell the difference.

 

When they are all done I will run a knife over them all lightly inside the hull to remove swarf, give them a light coat of paint and push the drill through each hole again to clean up. I will keep the little rings of plastic that come up when you push in the centre punch if they look uniform enough, otherwise I will smooth them all down.

 

Then after that, a film of glue'n'glaze over each one* to complete the porthole effect.
 

Regards,

Adrian


 

 

* only kidding, 0.5mm disk of perspex in each one, obvs...

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1 hour ago, AdrianMF said:

It seems to be a different hobby altogether, doesn't it

Crikey it certainly does

 

2 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

only kidding, 0.5mm disk of perspex in each one, obvs...

Ha ha like that 😄

Got that to do too, although not as many on the destroyer:whistle:

Chris

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10 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I'm using the centre punch to press a dent in the middle of each moulded porthole,

Gidday Adrian, I use a fine pin for the same reason, or for any hole I drill. Good luck with them. Regards, Jeff.

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Drilling portholes can be a seemingly endless task, but it's such a good feeling when you drill the last one!

 

I'm sure you already have it covered, but it's worthwhile to block the light inside the hull from reaching side to side.  It's a bit like see through jet fuselages, only on a much smaller scale.

A bit of card glued the length of the hull works fine.

 

Given your history of detailing any cockpit that comes within a mile of your workbench, I'm waiting with much interest to see how you deal with a packed carrier deck.

I've ordered a microscope in anticipation...

 

Tony.

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The PE addition (nice job with the crane), refined or scratched plastic parts and drilled out portholes will definitely make your built kit looks more striking than the original.

Better to concentrate on such improvements than on perfect accuracy (which, if attainable, essentialy depends on each's modeller perspective, objectives and skill and isn't always the best possible way of achieving a nice result IMHO)

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6 hours ago, TonyW said:

Drilling portholes can be a seemingly endless task

Yep

 

6 hours ago, TonyW said:

it's such a good feeling when you drill the last one!

I hope so!

 

6 hours ago, TonyW said:

I'm sure you already have it covered, but it's worthwhile to block the light inside the hull from reaching side to side

No I didn't- thanks for the tip!

 

6 hours ago, TonyW said:

I'm waiting with much interest

I'm finding it hard to visualise the stages in the build without my usual landmarks like cockpit-undercarriage-etc, but now I've started doing things I'm hoping it will become clearer.

 

1 hour ago, PattheCat said:

crane

That one part on its own has made me a whole lot more pro-PE!

 

1 hour ago, PattheCat said:

concentrate on such improvements

I think I've come round to the view that it will be an approximation, so I will concentrate on keeping the gluey fingerprints to a minimum!

 

Thanks chaps, half way through the portholes on the other side now. "Demons be going" :)

 

Regards,

Adrian

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21 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Step forward the FROG Buccaneer (before remedial work):

IMG-1838.jpg
 

My worst one ever.

 

I can't but sympathize. My very own chidhood's nightmares: Frog's Harrier and Javelin 😱

I think it cost me more for putty than for the kits :frantic:. Never again.

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Speaking of Buccaneers, I went to the de Havilland Museum's model show today and there was a chap with a pair of 1/32 Buc's. I thought they were 1/24 at first because they were absolutely massive! Definitely one for the "go large or go home" GB

 

James

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The crane looks very nice Adrian and top marks for drilling out all the portholes, I am not sure I would have the patience. 

I cannot let the reference to Edward Wood cinematic masterpiece pass, are you just wearing an Angora sweater, or are you planning on the full 'Glen or Glenda'?

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On 5/9/2023 at 4:13 PM, AdrianMF said:

Then after that, a film of glue'n'glaze over each one* to complete the porthole effect.

 

I'd maybe try that on some scrap plastic first Adrian.  I think you might prefer them unglazed (surprisingly) ;)

Keep up the great work.

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On 14/05/2023 at 22:25, 81-er said:

absolutely massive

I was struck by how big a Buccaneer was when I put my newly built Buccaneer down next to my previous build, a Lockheed Hudson. Recently I was storing away my single seat, single engine F-106 in the same box and it's 3m/10ft longer than the Bucc!

 

Regards,

Adrian

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On 22/05/2023 at 15:42, AdrianMF said:

ecently I was storing away my single seat, single engine F-106 in the same box and it's 3m/10ft longer than the Bucc!

 A few years back at the Turkish Air Force museum in Ankara I saw a TF-102 "in the flesh" for the first time. They are big aren't they?  It made the F-4 Phantom next to it look neat!    Amazing family of planes.

 

Rob

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At last, I think I'm getting somewhere! I've finally broken out of AMS/analysis paralysis, and realised that I just need to build anything that moves in the kit box until I run out of things to build.

 

I constructed some more templates:

IMG-6691.jpg

The cards with the notches allow me to cut 1.5, 2.5and 4mm wide strip without having to measure. Simply stick the card in the notch and cut with the blade pressed up against the template. The jig in the middle allows me to drop in a scored-out disk, drill the hole in the middle, add the raised rear quarter decking and cut off the front without having to do any measuring.


The first two look promising with an undercoat:

IMG-6692.jpg

 

And a full set with a spare:

IMG-6695.jpg

 

I think they look better than either the kit or the PE ones, and they scale out correctly. I may add PE railings to them later.

 

Although I was slowly getting there, I'd like to send a big thank you to @ArnoldAmbrose for so generously sharing his techniques for building these damn' things!

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They look far better than the kit "offerings", and I'd agree more realistic than the PE too

 

James

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