airscale

little bit of progress... it's all about tailfeathers... fist up finished up the rudder - riveted, made a trim tab from brass and cut the hinge slots... ..next there are a couple of small navigation lights under each taiplane facing rearwards - they are faired so the light doesn't shine (or blink?) forwards.. I had a piece of acrylic that actually came as a cocktail stirrer once on a heavy night drinking mojito's - saw it and pocketed it - well today it served a higher purpose than aiding me getting eye level with the floor... cut and rounded the end to the shape of the light lens.. ..taped a bit of thin card to my steel rule, heated it and pushed the lens shape through a hole in it to form a matched fairing & cut out the lens area... ..futured the acrylic lens so it didn't whiten with CA, painthed the inside silver and stuck them together.. ..one lens - these things are freakin tiny... .made up the mounting plates and had the pair ready to fit.. ..also added other details including the rudder actuator fairing and put the lot together for a dry fit - the lights are the middle of the three details under the tailplane... ..making up wing tank pylons/fairings next and have some gear legs on order from Paul @ Fisher as the strucure is very complex & I might drive myself nuts trying to scratch them... ..until next time.. TTFN Peter

su·per·la·tive [suh-pur-luh-tiv,] adjective 1. of the highest kind, quality, or order; surpassing all else or others; supreme; extreme the word needs a new definition after seeing this - it is beyond superlative simply incredible Peter

...think I am going to do some bits in PE.. ..almost wish I had thought of this at the beginning - I could have done a detail set ..under cowl vents.. cowling latches.. ..trim for the cowling rings around the engine.. .....hmmmmmm

so very true.. the best way is photo's and lots of them - try and find a restoration site - a bit of time on google will get some shots Collings Foundation have this cutaway which shows major structures and has 360 tours - you can assume at least one row of rivets if not two for every rib, bulkhead and stringer you can see... HTH Peter

oh boy - is that a Glossy sea blue decal set I see? don't see enough of these in that scheme (in fact don't think I've seen one yet) - gonna look spectacular I'm comfy, shall we begin... :popcorn: :popcorn:

evening ladies.. everyone here was out all day so got a good stint at the bench ..it seems to have been a week of control surfaces - today was the rudder.. G-AKRY has a one-off rudder as it preceded the Sea Fury it had no tailhook so was more streamlined... ..I have been here before - way back in the build I chopped the tail down as that was how this aircraft started out, but thankfully it was pointed out along the way this was wrong - so I did a swap with an LSP'er - airscale bits for a spare rudder... ..made a sheet brass core to get nice thin sharp trailing edges and sanded the inside of the rudder halves as this was going to need a lot of thinning - the kit parts scale to about a foot thick... ..made the core with the curved bottom shape needed later on.. ...a long time later I had a finished structure - this is almost a day's work! ...primed & ready for detailing... ..also made up the other elevator - this was a similar process but skinned in brass as these have raised rivets... ..now had a pair.. ..and a dry fit... ..thats it for now - thanks for stopping by.. TTFN Peter

Tamiya F7F Tigercat - Item #60325 HPH - Blenheim / Hampden - Item #HpHa002/3 Zoukie-Maru - DH Mosquito - Item #SWS08 Silver Wings - Fairey Albacore - Item #32-013 Hasegawa - Gulfstream G6 - Item #HSGS08234 Revell - Junkers Ju388 - Item #80-4378 HK Models - Handley Page Hastings C2 - Item #01E07 ...fantasy....

thanks everyone Hubert I will see if I can find some of that PMMA perspex - so far have only found down to 1.5mm which is too thick, it needs to be 0.7 or less - thanks for the tip ..a bit more small stuff going on - needed to make & detail both ailerons.. ..first up the trim tab - I folded tamiya tape over the aperture to 'rub' down the shape by edging it and the fold with a pencil and then taped this to brass sheet to cut out... ...folded it & riveted it and stuck a small card spar in the fold to get the right thickness.. ..also added the hinge strengthening plate and the tops were complete.. ..the bottoms needed a tab actuator - I made these 2mm long with a modified part from our airscale PE cockpit detail set and some fine tube - the sheath is foil brass bent around a pin and snipping the corner off.. ...times two... ...and dry fitted - they will line up better when fixed and I need to make up another pair of actuators for them... ..glad I did those as the old bird is starting to look more like a Fury... ..until next time.. TTFN Peter

..that's incredible.. ..I have never seen anything in model form look so lifelike don't suppose you fancy painting a Sea Fury for me ..truly a master's skills Peter

wow, thanks chaps I will try those tips as I will need to pull another copy as I am not happy about the clarity of this one - I need to find some better quality clear sheet Hi Tony - thanks for dropping in - unlikely I will sell any of the parts I make under airscale as I would want them of retailable quality and quantity and i doubt the return is there for the time & effort involved. Also, I had never vac-formed until last week so I was one of 'those who cannot vacform'! About £20 got me the bits to make one and a bit (a lot) of trial and error and you could be doing it too - having said that PM me your address and I can pop you a spare I cut down the canopy as it was too tall - my measurements were off somewhere. This one will serve as a template / learning experience until I find the right PETG material to do another... I think the shape is better now.. ..also fixed the tailplanes and started working on the fairings - these are thankfully not riveted so green stuff would do the trick. I masked with electrical tape and got the rough shapes.. ..I left the tape on to file & sand down to, to preserve the distinct panel separation.. ..next up - ailerons.. ..I used tamiya tape to allow a 'rubbing' to be made of the exact shape - this then gets peeled off and stuck on card stock to get the internal dimensions - the external wing outline shape is the same process but from the plan... ..made up a sheet brass insert to get a sharp trailing edge and soon had the outline shapes together... ..added a solid leading edge and a lot of shaping later I had an aileron... ..primed & riveted.. ..still lots of detail & fittings to add, but a reasonable dry fit... ..thanks for dropping by ..it's late, so until next time.. TTFN Peter

ok, back again.. I was so pleased to have mastered the vacform machine and got a workable canopy, I got on a little roll and got it detailed... ..I use really thin sheet brass - the best way to use it is to make paper or card templates to get the final shape and for this very thin stuff tape it down to work it. you can also burnish the edges under the tape where it getss disfigured from cutting... ..this is the cap at the rear being worked.. ..riveting & detailing.. ..I dipped the canopy in future so I could CA all the parts - I made the front frame from thicker brass bent into a sort of 'U' section and filed & filled the kinks at the corners... ..and dry fitted on the airframe - I managed to lose the windshield so this is a duff one as a mock-up... ..until next time.. TTFN Peter

IT WORKED!!!! I took your advice Gedubelyer and also modified the whole vacform box - I think the problem was the moulds were too deep into the box so the plastic had to work harder to get all the way down and around the moulds... fist I raised the forming plate to the same level as the plastic sheet when it gets dropped on the mould... ..put the parts on lego plinths and pulled a copy - this one was 'baked' too long and the plastic went cloudy again, but at least it proved the changes worked & the plastic followed the mould better... ..at last a successful copy - down to my last sheet of clear too.. ..carefully cut the parts out while still in the mould... ..and they seem to fit... the rear canopy hasn't taken all the lower contours completely, but I can live with that I think... Will try cleaning and 'futuring' a test copy to see what the clarity finishes up like... ...I am so relieved and happy it worked... Peter

evening ladies... ..dropping in again with a little postette.. ..the saga continues with finishing up the wing radiators... ..had to make a panel to cover the lower wing intake which is curved at it's nose so laminated some brass to plastic card and tried to impart a subtle bit of curvature carefully using a bending press.. ...riveted and added the nosecap fairing... ..made the cooling flap from brass & plastic again and added an actuator from our airscale PE detail set... ...I airbrushed the inner parts silver and painted the radiator element, then fitted the parts - bet it's not long before I knock the flap off... ...and now for something completely different.... having made the parts for the canopy moulds, I needed a vacform machine. I went to the local hardware store and got some bits. I thought the aluminium mesh used to fix & fill car bodies would do as the plate so would build it to those dimensions... ..only took about an hour - found some sealant to make it airtight and gave it a go... ..bad news - the vacuum was so strong it sucked the moulds clean through the mesh - back to the drawing board.. I ended up drilling a bit of hardboard instead... ..I am on about my 6th attempt and so far no joy... ..in the first few the moulds moved (like right through the mesh..), and in others the parts just do not conform to the moulds - the tops are fine, but then the plastic just radiuses out and doesn't pull close to the mould. I tried heating the plastic for longer to make it more pliable, but it just went white & cloudy - sorry, no gory pics - I don't want to re-live the frustration ..will keep at it, but might move on to something else while I do a bit more research - any old hands out there know what I am doing wrong? TTFN Peter

evening all... ..a bit more done... ..I made up more formers for the canopy mould and blacked all the edges with a sharpie to see where to sand to... ..then it dawned on me that as I was making a mould for a vacform I could just try roughing the shape with plasticine - it should hold it's shape in the latex - well that was the plan anyway... ...cast a resin piece from the mould - good enough to work with... ..after sanding and shaping it I had something like what I wanted - I also built the front screen ..now all I need to do is build a vacform machine and find some clear plastic in enough quantity to pull a few copies & see what it looks like - I still may reshape this a bit more... ...also carried on detailing the lower fuselage - started scribing panels and stuck on the louvres I made a while back... ...added rivets and fittings... ...getting there slowly but surely - I want to have it on it's wheels in time to put it on the 32 SIG stand at Telford.. TTFN Peter

evening all... ..this one made me smile ..thank you Tim, but unlikely to be writing any books any time soon - would have no idea where to start and pretty sure there would be few takers.. ..this one cracked me up.. - thanks poopstack, but no, I am not the Son of God - my mother is Danish... ...never thought I would write that sentence in my lifetime... ..anyways - tonights installment... ..I started by adding a thin brass panel under the cowling - rivited it on a sheet of perspex and flattened them down from the other side so the mating surface was flat to get a good seamless join... ...lots more to do around here on the intakes & under the cowling... ..I also wanted to make a start on the canopy - I am going to try my luck at making one but it is a complex shape. This is actually G-AKRY after being repainted by the Egyptians showing it quite well - note the square edged windscreen frame that changes to a blown hood which is circular in cross-section within a few inches.. ..started off measuring, drawing and tracing from the plans I have. I cut some of the sections to slot them together to make a former to vac form or plunge mould - the base is a laminate of three sheets of card, heated and bent above a gas ring... ..started making the basic shape... ..I ran a black sharpie around the shapes I wanted to sand to and sanded until I wore the line out - here just the tip remains to be done... ...taking shape... literally.. ..started to work out how the blown hood will be incorporated - for now I am thinking templates - compound curves in three dimensions is hard to get my head around... ..will see how it goes - if it all goes wrong I will see if I can get a Fisher canopy, but for now I am determined to try it myself.. TTFN Peter

great scratchbuiding Derek, really enjoy watching how you go about it ..also good to see you 'in action' with an active WIP - we are all learning something new.. TTFN Peter

man you guys say some nice things - really helps motivate me to do better and make each post better than the last... ..speaking of which, last time around I had just ballsed up casting the drop tanks - lots of bubbles in the mould so a terrible, pitted surface.. I set the master in a new mould, flat side down this time so all the bubbles could reach for the sky... ...sanded off the bottom face on a board and got four matching parts - the casting only takes 15-20 minutes, it's the mould that takes 24hrs to go off - I like it as anyone can do it - I just got a kit from Sylmasta and played around - the witchcraft is in the measuring, as long as the proportions are accurate it's simple.. ...glued a half to some stiff brass sheet and shaped it to match the tank's profile.. ..soon had a set completed - I will use the old master to make another mould for the pylon at some point... ...also did a bit more surface detail - this is a little printout to mark the spacing for the rows of rivets on the fuselage underside - I just measure the rounded part by marking a bit of paper and make a shape in Powerpoint to the right length, with the right number of divisions.. ...it all needs wetting down, but you get the idea... ...pretty much finished up the topsides - had a nightmare with a wing root when I pressed too hard on the rivet wheel and the joint gave way so had to repair and re-do it... ..and a few gratuitous shots of the new 90gal wing tanks in a little montage... ..Bank holiday weekend so hope to get a bit more done - I have been playing around using the same casting technique to make a master for the cockpit canopy... thats it for today folks.. TTFN Peter

very, very nice Peter - always had a soft spot for the Jug and this one is looking superb Peter

thank you chaps here we go again... a bit more done... ..last time I had made a master for the 90Gal drop tank, now it had gone off it was time to start working it.. used a household sander to take all the bits that didn't look like a drop tank & polished it up.. ..primed & ready to go.. ...added a couple of pegs to stand on and made a mould I could just pour the resin into to get a relatively flat face on the half tank.... ...EPIC FAIL.... the mould was full of bubbles so the surface is pants - I did try spraying it and rubbing it back, but it was too far gone... looking back, I should have mounted the flat face of the master facing down, that way I think the bubbles would have risen to the top - as it was maybe they were stuck under the tank.. back to the drawing board on this one so I need to make another mould.. ..after all that I moved onto finishing scratchbuilding the wing intakes and sorting all the wing joints out... trust me this was a LOT of work... ...started scribing - this was really tough as there are compound curves, tight corners and no room to pull the scriber and keep it perpendicular to the surface.. ...same deal with the rivet wheel, so used a pin in places to get in all the corners... ...one side is nearly done - also had to go over a lot of detail on the wings as all the sanding & polishing took it's toll.. getting there though ...until next time my friends TTFN Peter

...day 413... murmurings were reported on the workbench.... ..it seems Hobbycraft decided wing leading edges have square blunt edges so a filler part in card was needed to get a round nosed normal aerofoil profile - seems a shame to add more work, but so be it.. ..had to wall in the sides of the intakes with card to be able to create the intake openings at the wing root.. ..rough opening added and CA'd all over - can sand this to fair it in.. ..also realised that the wing tanks in the kit are 45 gal ones - this is bad as G-AKRY wore 90 gals which are much bigger.. ..I will need to make a master and cast these in resin - I figure two halves with a brass shim inbetween to give the horizontal seam.... soon had cut out two templates... ...slotted them so I could slip one onto another and added card fairings - not accurate but just to give some body... ..mushed in some old and tired milliput - hope it works out. ..I will leave the wing tank a few days to go off and see what sort of a master I can make from it.. TTFN Peter

now that's a nice choice - thankfully my seat is still warm from watching Lady Lil... this is going to be another stunner :popcorn: :popcorn: I can't Rufe'in wait.. Peter

oh boy that looks good... ...it leaves an echo in my head...........<<<< must learn to paint like that.... must learn to paint like that... must learn to paint like that... >>>>

evening all... You say some very kind things guys - thank you I am really pleased I decided to do an online WIP (my first), it is so rewarding to hear what you think about how I am getting on... ..today is old school - no fiddly little bits, just hardcore filling, sanding, priming and more filling, sanding and priming - I might as well say move along, there is nothing to see here... ..I had CA'd the wings and had to get rid of the seam at the wing root... ..it has been pretty tricky preserving the surface detail surrounding areas that need work, but I have a method now to protect with insulating and masking tape when sanding, and mask with tamiya tape to the nearest panel line (just covering it) when priming.. ..here the wing root gets worked.. ..then under the cowl - I used dymo tape to mask detail as this was hacked at with a coarse sanding stick.. ...masked to the panel lines and shot a thick coat of mr surfacer to see what the first pas looked like... ...not too shabby - still needs refining.. ..the wing root needs a final shot of primer but I want to do this when I have finished working the whole area as I will mask it to also give 'panel' relief around the entire wing fairing by giving it quite a thick coat... ...that's it for now, got air intakes at the wing root to look at next.. TTFN Peter

like this one? graciously lifted from Paul Budzik's astonishing Tempest build fantastic build - really enjoying it... Peter

really like these new reviews Kev and the talent you have recruited to do them well done chaps.. I can see one of these on my bench one day - have a little thing going on for Hawker fighters... Peter