97 replies to this topic

[Derek B]

Derek-

I would love to get ahold of some castings of the floor and shells- I have two of these sitting here, and would love to get them done, but I just cannot get a floor made that I am happy with.........I would purchase two sets of the floor/shell combos.....I could add my own details....
Just a thought. I am glad to hear you are well.......
THOR

Hi Thor, nice to hear from you again. I have a petty good idea of the level of detail I wish to add to the inside of the shells. The floor section will probably not need a fantastic amount of detailing, however, there are some significant feature that will require representation. Likewise, there is a pretty extensive pipe run down the starboard side of the fuselage, so that shall have to be included. The trick is putting in enough detail to take the pain out of the modeller having to do it themselves, but leave it bare enough for them to include whatever they wish to put in. I may do all of the internal equipment as a seperate detail pack later if there is sufficient demand for, but together, it would probably be double the cost of the basic kit! The planned two seperate 'spin-off' internal detail sets (cockpit and observer's areas) shall be fully detailed, and probably cost somewhere close to that of the full shells only, but they will simply be almost a 'pop-in' item, with all of the equipment incuded.

Regards

Derek

[Derek B]

hi derek, have you seen the two (mk.1--mk.2) resin builds over on modelling madness(72nd. but interesting).
cheers,
dave.

Hi Dave,

I just had a quick look at them yesterday, that they look pretty sweet (especially a 1/48 scale resin one that I had seen somewhere!). The Welkin is a bit of a big bugger - especially in 1/32 scale, but that is one of the things that attracts me to it!

Cheers

Derek

[Derek B]

Can anyone out there possibly suggest what other kit propellors/wheels/exhausts I might be able to modify for this build - it would just save me a lot of time havingh to master one, and get someone to copy it in resin for me?

Thanks

Derek

[Derek B]

Hi Guys,

Just started the Welknin. Here are some pictures of the plans and some Beaufighter parts laid out on it for size comparison. I am using some 8mm thick balsa sheet (plus laminations of other thicknesses of balsa sheet) as the core for the wings, which will be skinned with 1mm plastic sheet. The wings are the most complex part of this build, so once I have made the initial wing (which shall be in one piece), it shall be cut up in various areas to facilitate the radiators and wheel well bay, etc. The Beaufighter tailplane is surprisingly close to the Welkin taiplane shape, although lacking in span - if I can get some spare Beaufighter tailplanes, I shall increase their span and use them in the Welkin. The Beaufighter prop is there to show that it is nearly the right diameter, but unfortunately, is only three bladed and not four, so cannot be used. The Beaufighter main wheel is fractionally large in diameter, but probably close enough, so I may be looking for some of those as well. The exhausts look very similar to Mosquito items (the Welkin had mark 65 or 70 series Rolls Royce Merlins installed). I was wondering if the P-47 prop might be useful? (suitably modified, of course - the Welkin prop diameter - in 1/32 scale - is 124.5mm).













Derek

[LSP_Kevin]

I'll be following this one closely Derek. The Welkin's an interesting beast, no doubt. And there'll be plenty of tips and tricks to pick up along the way, for sure.

Bring it on!

Kev

[perry]

Wow Derek, very interesting!

[Allok]

Nice one, Derek. Looks like my kind of fun... sort of.
Actually, I'm getting extremely lazy in my old age but it still looks like fun.

Can't wait to see more,
Keith.

[JRutman]

Nice subject to choose Derek. I love to see good old model building at work. What a challenge! I can almost smell the sawdust! Get to work man,I want to see this big ol beastie finished,
JR

[bcauchi]

Fantastic Derek, the master at work. This should be one to follow closely. really nice interesting subject not to mention the methods you will be using. Great and thanks for sharing.

[Derek B]

Kevin, Perry, Keith and Jerry - Thanks for the comments guys

Not only can I smell the sawdust Jerry, I can assure you that I can taste it as well

The wing centre section was put under a 'press' (i.e. Several file folders) whilst the laminations glued themselves together - I have to glue one more lamination to it in order to get the correct wing root thickness (sort of what I did with the Tempest wing, but in Balsa).

Derek

[ruzlkampf]

Hooray! Just had to do it, eh, Derek! Looks like you got some really sweet plans to help with this endeavor. Nice. Good to see ya doing some modelling for your own personal pleasure. Gahhh, I've been contemplating coming into this forum with some really big scratch-bult projects myself,....and you've just about convinced me to give it a go! With a cool project like this Welkin to keep em company,...just might have to bring in those SR-71 and XB-70 Valkryie 'alternate' subjects into this fold. Chances of a GB theme I can fit them into is just about nil. Hmmmmm.
Can't wait to see how this project unfolds. I'm planning on using many other materials besides plastic myself. This is going to be veeery interesting. Cool project, Buddy! Russ

[Derek B]

Russ/Brian,

Thank you for the encouragement guys. As this is purely a fun build for me, I am not constrained to materials and production considerations, therefore, I can build this one anyway I see fit! That also opens up new problems for me, as there are simply so many ways to tackle any given build problem - therefore, I do not have a game plan - I shall basically 'wing it and see' (building pretty much 'on the hoof') as I go along . I often do this (none of my builds are ever exactly alike - I tend to try new methods as I progress the build - if they go wrong, I just start again!). I am hoping that Larry might come to my rescue again and help me with such things as exhausts, wheels and propellers/spinners, which will save me a great deal of scratchbuilding time and effort - but we'll see.

Regards

Derek

[LSP_Mike]

Derek, Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Sounds good, and since I have a couple on the shelf, I can send some business your way. Matty and I did everything short of crawling on the restored bird at Morrabain, and that is an interesting plane to see, especially if you are a young, impressionable lad like me.

[Loic]

Derek,

most interesting project my friend.
I will follow this one very closely.
Cheers,

Loic

[wingman777]

Go for the gusty Derek!! This is exciting, looking forward to future postings on this one.