Heraldcoupe Posted April 27, 2010 Author Share Posted April 27, 2010 The 88's on hold while I finish the Blenheim's airframe. I'll then bring the 88 up to the same stage so I can paint them simultaneously, or at least that's the plan. Cheer, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heraldcoupe Posted April 29, 2010 Author Share Posted April 29, 2010 Work's been limited to 10 or 20 minutes here and there over the past few days. The back half of the cockpit is now in place, looks reasonable for 1/72 I think: I'm scratching my head a little now for the forward parts. I reckon a Hurricane instrument panel will yield the central panel, and if I can only find it, I have a PART set from which a few items were used on another project. The pedals should be straightforward, while the column will be fiddly rather than difficult. The big question is what it looks like ahead of the control panel. I've not found a single photograph showing this area, so some guesswork is in order, Cheers, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 Looking a bit good Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heraldcoupe Posted April 29, 2010 Author Share Posted April 29, 2010 A little more work done this evening. The engines and cowlings were cleaned up. The engine sits between a pair of flanges for fore and aft location. I removed the rear flange, and smoothed the area behind. This allows the engine to be pushed in from the rear, so I can complete and paint each cowling before inserting it's engine. The front flange was quite visible, so I blended this in with some strip and Mr Surfacer 500. This thickens the lip, making a half decent representation of the exhaust collector ring. The air intakes on the underside were also carved to a more prototypical shape and hollowed out. The engines themselves are a decent enough starting point. I drilled holes so that the prominent braces between the engine and collector ring can be represented with copper wire, but otherwise I've added only a few oddments of scrap to represent the odd lumps and bumps. That's enough for tonight. Getting it all together once it's painted is going to test my patience, but it's far more sattisfying than building something off-the-peg...... Cheers, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Superb! Looking forward to seeing this finished. Always liked the Blenheim and the Frog kit is a particular favourite of mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Koktavý Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 (edited) Hello, very good progress on Blenheim. I am looking forward how it will turn out. By the way, there is a new release of MPM Blenheim in Finish post war service. Maybe it will be my next subject in this GB. Edited April 30, 2010 by David Koktavý Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heraldcoupe Posted May 6, 2010 Author Share Posted May 6, 2010 Engines are painted, a little crude but better than I'll be able to see with the naked eye! The cowlings looked OK, but priming them revealed a noticeable line part way along the gills: Both cowlings are the same, looks like an anomally in the mould, and a bit of a bugger to fix. I wasn't too bothered about the thickness of the vanes, but I reasoned that it was easier to replace the lot than try to clean it up. This area is recessed on the model, photos of the real thing show the front of the gills to be more or less flush with the rest of the nacelle. So I trimmed back the kit's gills, to leave a ledge on which I could add new ones from 10 thou sheet. A little sanding and they soon matched the level of the cowling. I still need to demark the individual gills, there is a raised fairing at each join. I'll either add these with decal strip (under the paint), or by masking them and painting them in with Mr Surfacer. That will be later though. I've also added new exhausts in the above image. These started life as 1.5mm brass tube: The end was opened out with a twist drill, then filed to a (roughly) 45 degree angle. The end was squeezed in pliers. to give the more oval shape I wanted. This was all then filed and sanded to get the right profile: Again, looks a bit crude under magnification, but is quite reasonable viewed with the naked eye. These need a little blending in to match the front part of the exhaust which is moulded into the nacelle, but I'm quite happy so far. Now I just have to repeat this all on the second nacelle. I promised myself I wouldn't get too hung up on detailing this one, but I just couldn't leave it alone. ALl good practice for when I get around to that scratchbuilt 1/32 Blenheim I suppose........ Cheers, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Good work Bill! When you said you scratched your head, I thought for a moment that you meant ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Both models are progressing nicely. The only way I would build a JU88 would be in Finnish markings. Looking forward to seeing how you finish them up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heraldcoupe Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 (edited) Last week I spent most of my time panicking ahead of a major weekend event, so work took precedence over the old hobby. Since then I've been largely experimenting with rubber moulding, trying to get my vac chamber up to snuff, so again very little modelling time. Last night and tonight, I fonally found a little time to devote to the models! Firstly, this is where I got to with the engines before I downed tools last week: They subsequently got a quick primer coat which showed no major blemishes, so they've been put to one side until I'm ready for them. Looking at period photographs of Finnish Blenheims, I noticed some odd bulges where the landing light should be on the left wing. I'd already cut out the apperture I thought I'd need, it didn't take much internet searching to find that the Finnish-built Blenheims were different in this area. Looks like they were all built that way, Mk1 and MkIV, so I set to work with bits of plastic rod: They've since been blended in and received some Mr Surfacer, I overlooked photographing that though. I'll drill them out and add lenses later, glad I found this detail before I got down to paint prep. Last night I returned to the cockpit, and started making up an instrument panel. The central six instrument panel is a fairly standard RAF pattern, so I dug one out of a Part Hurricane set I had started cannibalising for another project. The pedals were tonights contribution, while the bent bits of copper are the beginnings of a steering yoke: More tomorrow I hope, we'll see how jaded I am after a day of rubber moulding..... Cheers, Bill. Edited May 20, 2010 by Heraldcoupe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Koktavý Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 good work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Crikey - that's a lot of work... Looking good! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heraldcoupe Posted June 20, 2010 Author Share Posted June 20, 2010 Hard to believe it's nearly a month since I last updated here - I must give myself a slap! Lots of bits and pieces have been done to the Blenheim, but I've been pretty poor at keeping a photographic record. I've been fitting 5 or 10 minutes in here and there, grabbing the camera hasn't crossed my mind often enough. I've done all the fearful jobs now. The cockpit's as complete as it will get, I could add lots more detail but it would drag on for years, it's a lot more busy than I started with. The engine cowlings are finished and exhaust collectors painted (of which more later), and the undercarriage is complete and ready to go on. I found some correctly sized wheels, modified them to match the originals then cast copies in resin. I'll pull a few photos together later to bring the build up to date. I still hope to get the Blenheim done by the 25th, though I am admittedly cutting things a bit fine. The Ju-88 will lag beyond the end of the group build, but will also be completed within a few weeks. Cheers, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Koktavý Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Hi Bill, I am looking forward to see pictures. I wish you to finish the kits well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heraldcoupe Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 (edited) As usual, I'm cutting it fine! Most of the Blenheim's airframe is painted now. I bottled it with masking up the canopy, having polished everything I reasoned it was easiest to mask the frames a few at a time, but that's bitten me on the backside as paint has lifted in a few areas as the masking's been removed. :shithappens: The same's happened in a few other areas with the green, so I don't know what went wrong there. The black has been fine to mask over.... Not bad overall considering what I started with, but I know there's plenty which could be done better. Time to press on and see if I can get this one compelte before the end of play today. Cheers, Bill. Edited June 25, 2010 by Heraldcoupe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Fantastic build so far. Looking forward to the finnished (!) article. MH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heraldcoupe Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 Well it's nearly there! A few notable omissions such as the cockpit roof hatch and gun turret! Less obvious, the wheels need painting properly, and the flat coat leaves a lot to be desired. But that's how she was at the end of the GB, I'll add the final touches tomorrow (today?). Cheers, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deon Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Very nice and so near yet so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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