crobinsonh

Ok - intakes are now sanding and pretty smooth - will apply super glue over the top for final finish and to stop putty cracking. I really like the Academy Hornet - it has a real quality feel about it. However there are some really strange issues where panel lines are missing as shown below or are not straight and need to be re-scribed. I am determined to fit the LERX tonight as I am away in Stockholm Tuesday through Friday and will get no modelling time. These are a much better fix that the intakes but are still going to cause some headaches with regard to getting a tight fit and as few a gaps as possible. Regards

Work continues are re-scribing and riveting.. and then onto to those intakes! After much sanding and fettling this is the best I could get to. Worst part of the this kit by far. and then I found that when I closed the fuselage with the Aires cockpit and wheel bay (which where a pig to fit not least as they are smaller than the kit parts with resin shrinkage and therefore nothing fits that well!) have damaged the plastic. Oh well more work to fix!

Ok - some more work with sanding the filler and then super glueing and then sanding again... I know other people have found difficulty with fitting the front fuselage to the rear fuselage - I actually found this very easy. Which is good as the intakes are going to be a right pig! Here is the joint line with Mr Surfacer Now some re-scribing and then onto those dratted intakes!

Hi Phil, Stunning job. Best AIrfix Mossie I have seen so far. What will be your next one...?

Long time since any update - but whilst I am awaiting my trip in the Lightning to get more details and I have lost a little interest in the Spitfire 22/24 I went back to the Hornet. Did more re-scribing and filling and finally connected the main fuselage and front cockpit! Lets see how far I get with this before losing interest I also fitted a spacer to make sure that the top piece of the front fuselage would fit nicely. I have been lucky as I know a lot of people have had issues with warped wings but so far so good mine have been nice and straight. Regards

And now some "construction work" rather than sanding, sanding, sanding... And that is it for today (and the last week of work). Regards

Here is the incorrect Matchbox gun cover and with the amazing Master Barrel replacements

Whilst my Lightning T5 build is stalled (http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=34720&st=0&p=323253entry323253) as I do not have any reference for the rear cockpit bulkhead and will now have to wait until August 6th until I do a fast taxi in the Cranfield T5 I have moved onto the old Matchbox Spitfire Mk22/24. This is a kit I have wanted to do for a long time but just required too much effort in getting the Warbirds nose (correct contours) to fit the Matchbox fuselage (incorrect contours) - then Iconicair came to the rescue, Whilst this is not as accurate IMHO as the Warbirds conversion it is a lot easier to use as it fits as a drop in replacement for the Matchbox parts. I have been working on this for about a week as I have been suffering with jet lag and waking up regularly at 3-4:00am in the morning. I therefore spent a lot of that time sanding away inaccurate detail, sanding trenchlines and sanding more detail away. Here is where I have gotten to...

I have ordered one and sent an email with a question about postage on buying more than one - had nothing back yet and this was several days ago. Regards

Great job - cannot wait to see your next one!

Hi, Flightpath have a F4 full meal deal conversion set - it is very comprehensive. I believe there are two F5 survivors and one of those is at Tangmere in beautiful showroom condition. http://www.tangmere-museum.org.uk/flash_page.php?table=museum_aircraft&id=5 As already pointed out the reviews http://www.xs4all.nl/~designer/models/hunter-32/hunter-home.htm have all of the information for the Sapphire engines. Regards

Work on the inside on the intakes and fitting the Aires bullet and front U/C bay The conversion provides a correctly shaped intake as the Trumpy one is to circular And with additional details fitted to the side consoles and work started on the seats (these need a lot of love). BIG ASK - Does anyone have photographs of the cockpit rear bulkhead as I need to scratch build this as the one in the conversion is a little to crude as can be seen here:

Hi, This is an overview of a WIP I have over on Britmodeller. This is using a Whirlybird Lightning T5 Conversion with a Trumpy F1a/F3 Lightning. I am actually converting it to a Lighting T4 as I really want to build this one: http://www.lpgestore.com/english-electric-lightnings.asp?prdid=103 http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1056932/ Quick shot of the conversion. New scratched IP as the T4 was very different to the T5. Side consoles. Placed alongside the modified F1a/F3 Trumpy fuselage - extension piece fitted, area at the rear been smoothed out by the engines and the top spine removed and sanded to the correct shape and is ready for re-fixing at a later date.

I have several Echelon lightnings (4 to be exact) and all the plastic and canopies are fine. I have fitted the aires cockpit, engines and wheel bays all with relatively little work.

Hi Eli, I have one of those - is there anything specific you would like to know? Regards

Next steps - bare metal finish, this will then be sealed and have yellow zinc chromate and then finally airframe silver. Then a small amount of chipping. But first I need to remember to do the wingtip navigation lights! More over the next couple of weeks

Ok - re-scribing of panel lines and riveting is now complete. Not sure I would do this again as it has taken way more time that I appreciated when I started out on this! Anyway a few poor shots so you can see how it looks. Next steps are into the paint shop - Metal then primer and then silver! Regards

Latest update having spent the last two weekends whilst watching the NFL playoffs checking, measuring, drawing more rivet lines. Not sure i am going to do this again as i found it extremely boring. next stage is actually riveting the lines!

Ok. Going is slow as there was a lot of sanding, filling and rescribing. Finally got to some planning of riveting hence the pencil lines. There are also some missing panel lines on the Fisher Sea Fury. The first shot hopefully explains some of the changes - more to come! (apologies for the awful photo editing and text) Now the start of the changes on the engine / front fuselage Better shot of the wing fillet detail that is missing Some shots of the very laborious job of cross referencing photographs against drawings to try and make sure I have the right panel lines. Everything is drawn in pencil first and this has already taken 5-6 hours today. More soon.

Ok. Finally getting somewhere with this one. This has been a lot more challenging that the single seater I built mainly down to the main wing being warped, not terribly well moulded compared to the first example and being a horrible fit to the fuselage (granted the folded wings that came with the kit fitted very nicely). I have re-scribed the panel lines and repaired many of the mould flaws on the wings and sanded etc. Anyway I am almost at the point of riveting (on the silver twin seater photographs you can certainly see the rivet lines more clearly from a distance IMHO) and then starting the marathon paint sessions. The nose and prop are attached with good ole blue tac! More to come later this week. Happy New Year to everyone.

Hi Cunumdrum61, I may have missed this on other threads but what is the issue with the Trumpeter intakes? I ask as I am considering purchasing the Trumpeter F-14A to do an early bird from USS America VF-142. Regards

Ok. Whilst waiting for the filler to dry on my two seat T.20 I dug out this kit and got working on it... I have used the Eduard mesh set for some parts (although it arrived a little too late for the vents on the fuselage as I had that glued together already! First off sand off the old detail Now all prepared for the etch Now the filling starts - I could not get a great fit on these but may have been my lack of skills and/or patience Fuselage together, filled and sanded - now just needs rescribing etc. I have decided to resolve all of the filling and rescibing etc on each major sub assembly therefore it should make handling of the model easer. Next step fuselage section together and spray the pack of the intake covers before gluing to the fuselage. Did I tell you that I HATE rescribing,,.,

It has been a while but I finally have everything locked up in the fuselage and I have the wings together and attached. The wing to fuselage joint was not great on this one - last time I only used a tiny bit of filler this time I needed a little more... Whilst I am waiting for the miliput to dry I have gone back to an old build - the Academy F18D... Regards,

Does anyone know when the last Harrier flights are and whether this will be open to the public as well? Regards

Hi Derek, Back at home and the fuselage lengths are the same when I lay a LH Airfix fuselage against a RH Trumpeter fuselage. There are some minor difference with the depth of the front of the fuselage (i.e. the cowling under the engine) of around 1 - 1.5mm. I will post photo's later Same for the wings as we discussed previously - again the depth at the point where the wings meet the fuselage is around 1-1.5mm greater in the Airfix kit but is pretty much the same at the wingtips. Not sure where the "1/20th" came from - whether this was the thick wing (which is thicker on the AIrfix) or the "Mr blobby spinner" - but if the Airfix kit is 1/20th then so is the Trumpeter Hurricane from my observations. Regards,