Airfix 1/72 TSR2.

[amos brierley]

FOREWORD : As you can see i started this kit some time ago when i was in a relatively good mood. At the time i`d just finished some big builds with just some clearing up of others, so this was ment to be a slow burn, giving me plenty of time to get it right. Unfortunatly my mood deteriorated with the model prooving to be some what a bit of a pig it was time to step back from the birink of kicking 9 months work into touch!!

PRE-SCRIPT : Having already built a customer build Denvacator 1/48 TSR2 i was keen now to build something that was a reflection of my style of modelling. I`m a fan of detail sets with this kit getting a good proportion of whats out there, and, just a little bit of added detail to boot. The only thing missing from my repetoir was a good working knowlage of the plane and some good quality drawings. Between the drawings, photo`s and the Airfix kit`s short commings have led me into making errors and going in the wrong direction. Finding the info required on this secrative of A/C is difficult, though more and more stuff is coming to light.

THE PAST : Having started the kit almost blind to its short commings things came to a head simultaniously, with the bulk of the easy cutting out of the less than detailed areas done it was time to move onto the external detailing. This was my undoing. And at the same time a new source of infomation was opening up to me, infact it turned everything on its head, i had decided i could not do research and build at the same time. When, out of the blue i was asked to build another TSR2 for a customer. As the source of info was being very kind and generrous i was compelled to return the good will. This prooved to be a valuable turning point, it gave me time to research the subject whilst not getting bogged down in my own build. And, at the same time a chance to look at how Airfix should have done things. Also word was braking of not one but two new books on this subject. Surely now i should have everything i could posibbly need on the subject???

MISSION STATEMENT : To build an accurate and fairly intresting rendition of this plane.

THE FUTURE : My aim is to go over the kit where Airfix is lacking. At my disposal are : Eduard etch

Herritage etch

CMK cockpit

CMK U/C bay

CMK bomb bay

CMK flaps/control surfaces

CMK exhausts

CMK intakes

CMK intake/exhaust covers

CMKweapons bay pannier

Odds And Ordenance fin.

As you can see its no small project, first things first is to remove tamiya`s white primer and i`ve dropped the model with part of the exhausts breaking free and rattling around the innards. So, thats , go backwards and re-asses the mess i`ve made. Until next time...........

Edited November 23, 2010 by amos brierley

[Martian]

Go for it Amos! and I thought I had the TSR2 bug bad!

Martin

[amos brierley]

Hi here`s where i`m at this week.

COMMITMENT. With my modelling area pritty much cleared, this model will now become my primary concern for the moment so, all negativety has been put to one side. Next, its time to nail my flag to my mast and sort out which A/C i`m planning to build. I`ve seen some tasty pictures of XR219 at Weybridge, think around 1964. With this A/C and time frame i can nail down the work i want to do to complete the model to a finished standard. Not wishing to do a what if version that leaves the only version being one of the 9 pre-production test A/C , with XR219, when flying started new features started to be added to deal with the difficiences now appearing, so, with a specific time frame in mind this can eliminate some of the work involved in making this A/C correct.

PAST ERRORS. I`m not a fan of masses of research but i`ve had to spend wey too much time researching this beast. First one was not making sure bits of the model would not fall appart, thowt i would not drop/damage the kit but thats just what i did. I`d added CMK exhausts to the model but failed to ensure the parts would now come adrift, just superglue holding everything in place. Should have adaldited to the edges. Secondly, the kit comes with the upper wing skin planks marked by engraved lines but some how just dont look right, to make matters worse the lower skin planks are missing, and to confuse things the Herritage kit has a clean wing configuration and drawings are generally inaccurate. For my sins i`ve obbliterated the kits skin planks, only now i`ve decided its a must to have them on the finished model. This is what happens if you dont research well and the real thing is in white making interpratation of the photo`s diffacult.

THE RATTLE. I was looking at the exhaust area and noticed a crack along part of the join, whilst thinking about why it had split i decided in a fit to try to remove the exhaust shrowd, so, with some judicious prodding and force, off it finally come. And to that end the annoying rattle of the past 5 months has been delt with. And the model will now have this area back as i wanted it to be.

TAMIYA PRIMER. Everytime i did work on the model - sanding, scribing, filling gapes i flashed over that area with white primer. Now i`m bored with it being white and feel it needs to come off to better progress the model. First i tried Mr Muscle oven cleaner, but it just removed dust and grease. Next i `ve been polishing the model with a cloth and IPA this week, time consuming and confusing. White primer on a white model not a good mix. I`m thinking of using a grey primer for further work as a pschological experiment, grey is pleasing to my eye and the white plastic is just awful to look at.

Untill next time,

[amos brierley]

Its with great saddness that i`ve got to say i`ve got to give up on this model. I`ve spent the last couple of weeks hacking around with some of the parts and making progress, but, things came to a head when i cought myself superdetailing the new resin tailerons, and the final insult was the application of more filler to the kit. Its not often i sack off a model......maybe one every 10 yrs, and this is the one. So, to everyone who were intrested in this posting i`m sorry to bail out as i just cant face this kit any more, i just cant see the end. Sorry fella`s.

[Vulcanicity]

Sorry to hear that Amos...it's certainly not without its share of problems (the kit I mean, I'm not commenting on your abilities!)

Without wanting to sound like a scrounger/circling vulture, have you definitely given up? If so, do you have/still need the kit decal sheet? I have a 1:72nd TSR2 that I built OOB 4 years ago and am not at all happy with; it's currently in bits waiting for a rebuild but I can't seem to get a replacement for the decal sheet (I too want to go for one of the pre-production a/c).

I would be very keen to get hold of your sheet as long as you have finished with it. Sorry if this sounds like trying to benefit from your misfortune!

[amos brierley]

Sorry to say, but, would be willing to give up my decal sheet if i still had it, but it was used on a Herritage kit build the other month.

[mrvr6]

what made you call it a day?

what are you doing with the kit?

[amos brierley]

Last year i had been hoping /planning to make changes to my life so as to get myself back on top of the issues getting me down. Reasons to give up on this kit come down to things like putting wey too much pressure on myself to produce a kit and having very high standards, something evident as my models inevitably end up on competition tables where ever i go. SO, this year i`m still looking to make changes again and make that move to getting the events in my life to being more fluidic, in terms of modeling its all to often stop start and its unsettling. Although i managed to make a good 4-5 models last year it just did not feel satisfying, one model was from my lift share and was a WW1 Male tank , whilst the model was not my scale nor prefered era of tanks it came out very well indeed. But, i had plans to build other kits and did not build any of them, and this i found unsettling. Also i was well and truely `gazumped` by Airfix kits. I resumed the build of my Nimrod R1 again as i was now in posession of more info on this ellusive of A/C but had to stop the build again as the remaining A/C will very soon be in meuseums, this will allow me to get more photo`s and anything i need to feel satisfied i`ll have an accurate one. Then came a bit of bad luck in the form of an open bottle of glue, gggrrrr!!! I was progressing another prodject for the future when it all came unstuck pardon the pun or to be precice it ended up in a sticky mess. I`ve wanted a Vulcan for a while and last year was as good a time as any, i`d started to cut out and build up the wheel wells and had nearly compleated all the re-scribing work of the wings and seperate plastic peices when the bad luck struck. Whilst the model was on rout in my car the screw top on my liquid polly bottle came addrift, one cheap buy on ebay wrecked by one brand new bottle of glue. Further along the year i was getting the hump with this TSR2 kit and then i was asked to build the Herritage kit, again, a kit not on my list to do.

This year my aim is to build what i want and in a timely manner, with a considerable 26 kits part built i`ve got a choice of what i would like to build. Something i dont wish to do is build for anyone (Herritage), do lots of research (TSR2) nor difficult (Nimrod R1) biulds this year. My attendance at model shows will be dictated by what hols i have and my shift pattern and not simply my desire to attend the usuall model shows. This is a back to basics excersise, get back to regulary building and nocking them out, i`ve plenty of kits part built, so this should speed up the production, as for competition tables a change of mind sett will be required.

I hope this sheds some light on my life and how i came to getting into a postition of mild depression.

As for the kit i`ve just been asked, and will give it a new home. On the bright side i still have the big Airfix one to build in the future, this is assured as i can take a differant approuch to its build and have now got all the info at hand to do this.

With a plan in place, i`ve got a positive approach to this year and for now the mild depression is undercontrol. As for modelling nothing british for the moment, but a replacement Vulcan will be with me soon and I`m working on plans for Typhoon DA2 ZJ588. Finally the Hendon show is calling me, good show fantastic Meuseum and maybe i`ll have two new models by then, Revell He177 and a Hasegawa 1/32 Fw190 A5.

Happy New Year to everyone and hoping for a `Bucc` in what ever scale comes allong.

[AnthonyWan]

Can't wait to see this build...Take note of my signature banner

Good luck! (If i might recommend something - Mr Surfacer 1000 and 1200 are both good "gray" primers too. You can thin them down about 3:1 primer to thinners..should work quite well at about 15-17psi )

-Anthony

[xffw45343tg]

Hi Amos. Sorry to hear the run of bad luck, but delighted to hear you have a plan. What you've set out there is something I aspire to: having the SPARE time to build models quickly and to a standard that makes you happy. Instead I suffer from paralysis by over-analysis and have a pile of projects going nowhere.

Enjoy whatever you decide to build and if you get a mo, post a pic or two.

Cheers, Kirk.