Notdoneyet Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 (edited) As I spent most of the first 11 years of my career engaged in missile firing trials in Aberporth and the Hebrides I thought it appropriate that I build a little homage to those days in the form of WK128 a Canberra TT.18 of the RAE at Llanbedr. Why the "High crosswinds at Llanbedr" comment I hear you ask........Well, missile trials involve a LOT of waiting around for the trial conditions to be within certain parameters - system serviceability, range facilities availability/serviceability, weather conditions and target availability must all come together at the same time for a trial to go ahead. Unfortunately this means that there is a LOT of waiting around for the right conditions and many trials were "scrubbed" when one or more conditions could not be met. Soooo we happy band of trials engineers had a sweepstake on the days that we had a trial to forecast the reason why the trial would be cancelled - whoever drew "Target unavailable due to high crosswinds at Llanbedr" was always favourite to win the sweepstake I'll be using the 1/48 Airfix B.2 as the basis of this build (WARNING: gratuitous box photo and use of the word "obligatory" next) Here's the obligatory box photo :- As I'm not building the Classic Aiframes TT.18 I have to scratch build the Rushton Winch and target under the port wing and the Stiletto Drone under the stbd wing. Luckily Airfix have provided suitable raw materials in the box. I started by butchering the kit AS 30 missile and then laminating 6 lengths of 1.5mm x 4.8mm strip :- The laminated plastic was then glued to the remains of the AS 30 missile body and sanded to shape - starting to look like a Rushton winch now (Top). Whilst the filler in the rear of the winch dries I sanded a piece of sprue to shape and Dremelled a slot in it (Middle) into which I'll glue another piece of shaped sprue (bottom) to act as the lower (boost motor?) fairing :- Next update should have the Rushton winch, target and Stiletto drone completed and then I can make a start on the airframe. Thanks for looking and any comment or critcisms you may have. Ian Edited August 8, 2009 by Notdoneyet
Julien Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 I love that scheme, cant wait to see how you get on. Julien
MODeller Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 I can guarantee that you will have lots of fun masking this one! Best of luck with the build looking forward to seeing it completed. MODeller
Ian @ KitsforCash Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 hi looks good heritage rushton winch due soon then the tt18 conversion with decal set rgds ian
Notdoneyet Posted June 7, 2009 Author Posted June 7, 2009 Thanks for the comments guys! MODeller, I hope that mine comes out as nicely as yours! I have two rolls of masking tape at the ready so I hope that will suffice ...... Ian, what are you including in your TT.18 conversion? Oh and what aircraft are the decals for? Small progress update - taking shortcuts invariably leads to extra work ................. I couldn't be bothered to go down to the basement to get some Milliput and mix it to fill the hole in the rear of the Rushton winch prior to shaping so I used some Tamiya putty................. 24 hrs later the solvent in the putty had softened the plastic of the AS 30 tail parts and I had to surgically remove the affected area and break out the Milliput after all Some shaping and sanding later I have a Rushton winch. While I waited for the Milliput to cure I fashioned some wings, canards and fins for the Stiletto drone out of 10 thou card and fitted them. I also constructed a Rushton target from sprue and 10 thou card :- When I took the photos I was struck by the resemblance of the winch and Stiletto to some Gerry Anderson creations - "The Mole" and Fireball XL5 anyone? Here's another photo showing the underside & rear of the Stiletto and the Rushton Winch/Target placed together :- I'm currently sanding away creating some pylons for these and then it will be time to give them a coat of primer and make a start on the Canberra. Thanks for looking and any comments you may have. Ian
sonofjim Posted June 7, 2009 Posted June 7, 2009 great start so far and a VERY interesting subject not to mention how slick it'll look in its ripple scheme superb job
ollieholmes Posted June 7, 2009 Posted June 7, 2009 Ive just orderd the Airdecal sheet for the Rasberry ripple Canberras and i look foward to the Heritage Aviation conversion being released.
Martian Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 Ah Llanbedr! I spent a very happy afternon there as a guest and have fond memories of being on holiday in the hill above Harlech watching the base though my binsCan't wait to see how this one turns out. Martin
Notdoneyet Posted June 13, 2009 Author Posted June 13, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the comments guys. Time for a small update. I started work on the Canberra airframe this week, constructing and painting the cockpit (NATO black mostly) and adding some Mike Grant instrument decals to relieve the monotony a little :- In photos I've seen the seat "cushion" has been a natty piece of sheepskin, hence the (dirty?) white cushions. Handles were added from wire and plastic rod/strip :- You will notice that I have omitted the rear instrument panel - for two reasons really - it doesn't fit and it cant be seen if it is fitted ...... Once I'd finished the cockpit it was fitted to the port fuselage along with the front wheel well and bomb bay and a ludicrous amount of weight added :- In total I've crammed in 120g of fishing weights and the fuselage now weighs a whopping 230g !! I hope the U/C can take the strain .......... Before buttoning up the fuselage I added the (telemetry?) aerial, made from plastic rod, in the nose :- So the fuselage is now glued and drying and it's time to make a start on the wings .... Thanks for looking and any comments and criticism you may wish to add. Ian Edited June 13, 2009 by Notdoneyet
AnonymousDFB1 Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 Just catching up on the builds in here and looks like you're doing a pot on job Ian
avro683 Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 This will look spectacular Ian. Great work on the cockpit. Tony
Notdoneyet Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 Thanks for the feedback Mish and Tony. Just catching up on the builds in here and looks like you're doing a pot on job Ian Mish, I'm assuming a "pot on job" is a good thing While I figure out the best way to mask the interior of the intakes here's a small update on my progress with the wings. First thing that needed some work were the oval and round intakes on the leading edges near the wing root. Unfortunately these intakes are just below the apex of the D nose so I had to (carefully) chain drill the oval intakes and open up with the tip of a No11 blade once the wing halves were joined :- Next up was the addition of the downward facing ident/landing light to the port wing which was added by drilling a suitably sized hole and adding a section of clear sprue which had been domed and polished at the inner end and given a coat of Alclad chrome. Once CA'd in place the stub of sprue was sanded flush with the wing and polished. Hey presto, a light is born. While I was in the area I also scribed the missing underwing airbrakes :- You can also see that I added a small piece of card to the engine bay/wheel well junction to prevent any "see through" into the engine cavity. It was then time to detail the wingtip lights. The Canberra has a landing light as well as a navigation light in each wingtip housing. To create the landing lights I first Dremelled out a semi circular recess in the wing using a small ball headed cutter :- Then light housing was sprayed with Alclad aluminium :- Some oversize circles of kitchen foil were punched out using my trusty Waldron set and "dished" using the rounded end of a paintbrush and a hole (2 sizes smaller than the foil disc) in the Waldron set :- These shiny foil hemispheres were then glued into place in the wing :- When dry the excess foil was trimmed off and the covers (with holes drilled and painted for the navigation light) were CA'd in place, sanded and polished:- As the exterior colours wraparound into the engine intakes I had to find a way to de-seam the intake joins and paint the interior before attaching the fan faces/starter bullet. So the rear locating ring for the fan face was removed to enable it to be fitted once the intake had been assembled/painted :- The intake halves were then joined and the internal seams filled/sanded. I then addressed the incorrectly depicted starter exhaust ports by filling those in the kit and cutting two correctly positioned items on each intake using an end mill in my trust Dremel :- Not the most exciting update I'm afraid but I hope that it is useful to those of you contemplating a Canberra build in the future. I'm off now to ponder how to mask the interior of those intakes. Thanks for looking and any comment/critique you may have. Ian
bexwh773 Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 This is looking very impressive Ian. Cockpit floor scuffing is very authentic (Ive got a photo of 773's floor which would verify it) and I like the landing / nav lights in the wing tips For those not sure what Ian is on about, heres a photo or two: Wing tip lights: Pilot Floor & rudder pedals, you can see the Zinc Chromate in places along with white oxidisation(sp?) Nav Floor: Bexy P.S: Ian, spoke to Dave Collins last Saturday, he sends his regards
Andrew Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 ....Not the most exciting update I'm afraid but I hope that it is useful to those of you contemplating a Canberra build in the future. I'm off now to ponder how to mask the interior of those intakes. Thanks for looking and any comment/critique you may have. Ian Ian, I'm finding your whole thread informative and the corrections you've made with a corresponding explanation are indeed very helpful. I'm looking forward to more of your build. For Bex, thanks for including photos; it's great to see Ian's efforts backed up with the real thing and adds immensely to improving my understanding. Cheers, Andrew.
Notdoneyet Posted June 24, 2009 Author Posted June 24, 2009 Many thanks for the comments Bex and Andrew. <Snip>For those not sure what Ian is on about, heres a photo or two: <Snip> Bexy P.S: Ian, spoke to Dave Collins last Saturday, he sends his regards Bex, thanks for sharing the photos. I'm glad that someone is knows what I'm on about ....they say there's a first time for everything Please give Dave my regards the next time you see him. I'm still waiting to see one of his Hornet models appear on here ...... Time for another update on my glacial progress .............. Having masked and sprayed the inner intakes before fitting the fan fronts here's how it all looks when finally assembled in place on the wing. Doing it this way made masking the yellow/red demarcation much easier. The wings were added with a little "persuasion"........... By clamping the wing in place and then applying thin liquid poly to the bottom join, letting it set overnight and then applying glue to the upper surface join the wing/fuselage join required no filler at all. That's a 1/48 Spitfire PRXI fuselage in the background which gives some idea of the size of the Canberra - when the wings are attached it becomes a very unwieldy and heavy (!!) model to work on. Having left the bomb bay doors off in case more weight was required to prevent tail sitting, I discovered a little more "persuasion" was required to get the doors and fuselage to align acceptably :- A second winch operators window was added on the stbd side the glazing coming from a Mosquito BIV "cheek" window cut to size as it had some curvature to match the Canberra fuselage. Before fitting the canopy I added the silver"fingers" that appear on the inside of the "goldfish bowl" canopies using some clear decal sprayed with Alclad aluminium. I also added the canopy seal from black electrical (self amalgamating) tape. Vortex generators were added to the sides of the fin from 10thou strip and the intake on the stbd side of the upper fuselage was made from drilled out sprue sanded to shape :- The two winch operator mirror housings/fairings were fashioned from laminated card sanded to shape and then glued in place. So now she's ready for a trip to the paint shop for a coat of Tamiya Fine White Primer which will act as a base coat for the red, blue, yellow and black as well as being the white for the top side. An update on the painting progress soon I hope. Thanks for looking and any comments/critique you may have. Ian
avro683 Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 Thanks for the feedback Mish and Tony.Mish, I'm assuming a "pot on job" is a good thing While I figure out the best way to mask the interior of the intakes here's a small update on my progress with the wings. First thing that needed some work were the oval and round intakes on the leading edges near the wing root. Unfortunately these intakes are just below the apex of the D nose so I had to (carefully) chain drill the oval intakes and open up with the tip of a No11 blade once the wing halves were joined :- Next up was the addition of the downward facing ident/landing light to the port wing which was added by drilling a suitably sized hole and adding a section of clear sprue which had been domed and polished at the inner end and given a coat of Alclad chrome. Once CA'd in place the stub of sprue was sanded flush with the wing and polished. Hey presto, a light is born. While I was in the area I also scribed the missing underwing airbrakes :- You can also see that I added a small piece of card to the engine bay/wheel well junction to prevent any "see through" into the engine cavity. It was then time to detail the wingtip lights. The Canberra has a landing light as well as a navigation light in each wingtip housing. To create the landing lights I first Dremelled out a semi circular recess in the wing using a small ball headed cutter :- Then light housing was sprayed with Alclad aluminium :- Some oversize circles of kitchen foil were punched out using my trusty Waldron set and "dished" using the rounded end of a paintbrush and a hole (2 sizes smaller than the foil disc) in the Waldron set :- These shiny foil hemispheres were then glued into place in the wing :- When dry the excess foil was trimmed off and the covers (with holes drilled and painted for the navigation light) were CA'd in place, sanded and polished:- As the exterior colours wraparound into the engine intakes I had to find a way to de-seam the intake joins and paint the interior before attaching the fan faces/starter bullet. So the rear locating ring for the fan face was removed to enable it to be fitted once the intake had been assembled/painted :- The intake halves were then joined and the internal seams filled/sanded. I then addressed the incorrectly depicted starter exhaust ports by filling those in the kit and cutting two correctly positioned items on each intake using an end mill in my trust Dremel :- Not the most exciting update I'm afraid but I hope that it is useful to those of you contemplating a Canberra build in the future. I'm off now to ponder how to mask the interior of those intakes. Thanks for looking and any comment/critique you may have. Ian Nice work so far Ian. One thing, I think you have used the nacelles for the B(I)8, not the '2. Is that correct? Tony
Notdoneyet Posted June 24, 2009 Author Posted June 24, 2009 Nice work so far Ian. One thing, I think you have used the nacelles for the B(I)8, not the '2. Is that correct?Tony Tony, Thanks for the feedback. I used the B(I)6/B.20 nacelles with the B.2 fan front/bullet which look correct for the aircraft I'm modelling (WK128) - see the photo below from Airliners.net :- Cheers, Ian
bexwh773 Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 Many thanks for the comments Bex and Andrew.Bex, thanks for sharing the photos. I'm glad that someone is knows what I'm on about ....they say there's a first time for everything Please give Dave my regards the next time you see him. I'm still waiting to see one of his Hornet models appear on here ...... Thanks for looking and any comments/critique you may have. Ian Ian, Youre most welcome And still looking good Well WK128 still exists And once Ive had my records updated I'll get Les's new webmaster to update WK128 LINKY PAGE Bexy
avro683 Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 Tony,Thanks for the feedback. I used the B(I)6/B.20 nacelles with the B.2 fan front/bullet which look correct for the aircraft I'm modelling (WK128) - see the photo below from Airliners.net :- Cheers, Ian Ian Logical choice, cracking photo too. I wish I'd thought of your technique for painting the nacelles! Tony
Notdoneyet Posted June 26, 2009 Author Posted June 26, 2009 (edited) Thanks Bex and Tony. <Snip>Well WK128 still exists <Snip> Bexy Bex, Thanks for another cracking photo. It's always sad to see aircraft chopped up but I'm glad part of her is preserved, mind you if she had just come a little closer in the '80's and '90's she would have been in a lot more pieces So here's a little update on the painting progress to date :- With a musical theme first up on the turntable pop pickers is "All white now" .......... Beautifully smooth white courtesy of Tamiya Fine White Primer straight from the rattle can Next up came the start of the masking ......... more "Lemon Sorbet" than "Raspberry Ripple" :- I masked the roundel positions to give a white background and prevent any possibility of the strong background colours "bleeding through" the "white trap"* of the decal. * Technical term courtesy of Mr Jonathan Mock Next up comes some not so "Mellow Yellow" sprayed during a particularly raucous thunderstorm last night :- I used 2/3 of a pot of Citadel Golden Yellow to get a good coverage - everything bad that I've read regarding the coverage of yellow is true, there must be 10 coats of the stuff on here. Next on the agenda is a marathon masking session for the black stripes and a trip to Montreal to get some Citadel Midnight Blue (for the fuselage) and Blazing Orange (for the Stiletto). Thanks for looking and any comments/critique you may have. Ian Edited June 27, 2009 by Notdoneyet
Deanflyer Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 Looking good Ian...and great idea masking the areas for the roundels, too. I'd have done the same myself if I'd known how translucent the decals were...looks like my build thread has served a useful purpose then! Cheers, Dean
AnonymousAA72 Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 Loving it Ian! Very nice - Citadel paints are rather nice, and Blood Red is a great substitute for Signal Red, ...not sure, but were underwing roundels carried?
Notdoneyet Posted June 26, 2009 Author Posted June 26, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the comments Dean and Bill. Loving it Ian! Very nice - Citadel paints are rather nice, and Blood Red is a great substitute for Signal Red, ...not sure, but were underwing roundels carried? Bill, A big for the Citadel paints from me. I am indeed going to use their "Blood Red" for the Signal Red bits. Regarding the underwing roundels I didn't think they were carried until I found this photo on Air Britain :- So underwing roundels it is !! They add a spot of colour to an otherwise drab scheme don'tcha think Ian Edited June 26, 2009 by Notdoneyet
Andrew Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 .......So underwing roundels it is !! They add a spot of colour to an otherwise drab scheme don'tcha think Ian Too true, Ian. Thankfully there's a bit of stencilling as well to break up the monotony........ Great progress and excellent pics ; thanks for the update. Andrew.
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