danimalmagic

While that was drying I moved onto painting the wheels, I used Tamiya's Tyre black as a base then applied some dusting to age the tyre. All ready to be fitted. With that done I applied the gloss black top coat and fitted the rear bogey in place with the torque bar cut to length and fixed in place. Next I have fitted the fifth wheel this has been screwed in place at each corner. With that done I have mounted the engine and the set the drive shaft to length, this will still need to be painted but that is next week The last thing for the week was to fit the wheels, I test fitted 1st then on a level surface mounted each wheel. The chassis will need to be weathered a little so it matches the wheels, Ideally a relatively dusty finish as per the film, I will come back to this next week. There is a lot more to do yet in regards to the cab so that will be the bulk of the work for next week, I have done a little mock up with the cab and sleeper fitted, beginning to look like a truck. Thanks for looking. Danny

The next thing to do was mount the fuel tank and equipment boxes, these have again been pinned in place, the pencil line is just to highlight the engraved mounting guide lines in the casting. Next was the fifth wheel, I have drilled and pinned it on the mounting point so it actually pivots up and down. Another thing to tackle was the leaf spring as there should be a gap under it. I had to be a little bit careful but with a bit of effort I removed the unwanted resin. That is the majority of the work done on the running gear and sub frame so I primered and left to dry.

The same approach was needed with the rear connection to the axles, the kit has moulded the two mating halves together but no way to connect the shaft so I did a little more machining to make a stub connector. Stub connection in place though not pressed in yet, the drive shaft will slide over the stub shaft when fitted. Rear knuckle test fit, note coupling halves moulded as one. Next I did a test alignment using the grey plastic tube supplied, shaft is a little too short, rear axle is just resting on pivot. I was not happy with that so I have again machined a stainless steel tube to the required length. This is the actual knuckle with just the one have of the connection protruding from the transmission. Next was the torque arm that sits between the two axles, I could have just glued in in place but the arm itself sits on a mounting point as below. This was a pretty easy fix, I have just fixed a mounting block in place for each axle with groove filed into it for the shaft the slot into. In order to be able to mount the rear axle the shaft has to pass through the cross member of the frame so this was drilled out to accommodate this, I will cut the shaft to length later.

Hi all, an interesting project for me and not without its challenges, this is the A.I.T.M resin kit of the Rubber Duck R700 Mack Truck. I will start with the front axle and track rod, where ever possible I will be pinning parts in place so they are a good solid fit, it's no good just relying on super glue. Once I was happy with the alignment the two pins were pressed home with a little super glue. Next I assembled the rear axles, there is a tube supplied that forms the pivot but it was way too short as bellow. This was an easy fix with a bit of stainless steel tube machined to length, I have also pinned each axle in place. The axles have actually got a small steel bar running through them for extra support which is a nice touch as it means that the whole thing will remain rock solid. The steel pivot tube is not glued in place as per the instructions, this is so that the whole axle assembly can float freely under the chassis. Next up where the wheels, these needed a lot of work and cleaning up, I started with machining out the mounting hole, you could do it in a pillar drill but doing it in the lathe means I can get it properly in the middle and square. Next task was to clean up the castings, some required a bit more work that other with a little filler needed, nothing too serious just time consuming. With the rear wheels all cleaned up I test fitted to the axle assembly. Next up was the transmission, I was scratching my head a bit here as the parts supplied did not make much sense. I have fitted dozens of universal drive shaft and knuckles over the years and whether they be car, truck or 15,000 ton paper machine they are all much the same. The kit comes with two knuckles and a drive shaft but I need to be able to realistically connect the drive shaft to the output of the gearbox so a little machining required. Loose test fit. Actual output connection. Cont'd

Thanks Guys. Danny

Its a commission build for a museum exhibit, so space not a n issue.:-) Thanks for looking. Danny

Thanks Kev, please publish, no problem. Danny

Thanks Tony, a big old kit that is not without its problems but overall an enjoyable build. Danny

Thats all folks.

Hi all, with just under 9 weeks work she is finished, I estimated 10 weeks so an early finish keeps the customer happy. All in all an enjoyable project, I have kept the weathering restrained as it will be part of a larger exhibit and I don't want it looking to messy. Paint is all Tamiya acrylic with the addition of the Tamiya spray cans for the steel and aluminium finished parts. The only aftermarket additions were the RB Productions Sutton Q Harnesses and the Extradecal set other than that it is all OOB. Just got to take the masking film off the under wing lights. A few images. Thanks to all those who followed the WIP, time for a couple of weeks off now to catch up on some other jobs. Danny

Very last bit of the WIP, I will be posting the completed project on RFI shortly. I took a bit of time with the canopy, I gave it a good polish with Tamiya polishing compounds before masking, masking itself took a while. But all the effort was worth while, once fitted I gave it another polish, canopy is a nice snug fit. The RPG were a bit of a paint as they were in two halves and the seam was a bit of a mess. Thats about it from me, just got to do the final update for the customer then i am done. Thanks for looking.

Hi all, I am a day late with this week's update as I wanted to get the decals on and I did not finish that until yesterday afternoon. I started off the week with painting the bomb, gun bay and landing gear doors, these have all had a simple colour wash and then fitted to the fuselage. With them ready I could assemble all the parts that make up the bomb and gun bay. Next I assembled the 4 guns in the nose, finished again with a wash, still a little finishing needed on the recesses in the magazine feed chutes. Next we have the cover for the nose guns, this is a really nice fit and can be left in place without glue giving another option on how to display. This cover just needed to be sprayed as per the colour scheme. A minor but annoying issue to fix are the pin marks on the propeller spinner hubs, these actually are quite visible so I have sanded each of the two hubs to remove them. Next and the last thing for the week was the addition of the various decals, this always takes me a while to do as you need to use setting solutions to get the best results from the decals and this requires a bit of care. The Airfix decals are quite thick to say the least but they were eventually tamed with a few coats of Microsol/set. That basically completed week 8 and we now have something that is really looking like a Mosquito. This just leaves me to do the finishing this week and that is the completion of the cockpit, canopy and engine side panels and lastly the application of some pin washes to bring out the surface details. Hopefully the model should be completed by the end of the week.

Thanks Kev, very busy this week, just stopped for the day, it will not be done this week but should be completed in a week or so, next update should be a bit more revealing. Danny

Cheers Rocky. Thanks for looking. Danny

With the model safely on the jig I could mask and apply the invasion stripes, these are 24†wide so an easy one to scale down. This took a while to do and there are various raised surface details that allowed a bit of over-spray under the tape, I knew there would be a few areas but they were easily re masked. I seem to remember reading that at the time these stripes were far from being as neat and crisp as they are here, I think if I tried to replicate that it would look pretty grim so as ever artistic license required. Next I have added some further filters to help bring out the panel lines, very subtle again, I won't be weathering the model so it is really dirty with oil streaks everywhere etc. This is where I am up to now, I have tried using various techniques with the camera to give a realistic as possible idea of what the model looks like, usual silver foil in front of the flash seems to be the best. The goal for the coming week is to get the decals on and add some more final touches before assembling the remaining parts. I don't think I will get all that done this week but I should certainly be done at some point in week 9 which would be good as I like to bring a project in early if I can. Thanks for looking. Danny.

Hi all, missed out week 6 as i was waiting on a final decision for the markings from the customer. I decided to really put in the hours this week to bring me back on track and balance out week six, this has been achieved so i am now back on schedule. Basically this week has all been about spraying, I have a set plan in mind to weather it a little using post shading only, I have kind off a abandoned pre-shading now. Because of where the model will end up and customer requirements I done want a heavily dirtied model, just a subtle weathered effect. The 1st thing to do was spray the underside of the model, I have used the Tamiya XF-83 Medium Sea Grey II RAF. Once dried I applied a filter of the base coat (XF-83) to various areas of the underside to weather the paint a little. The effect is very subtle and difficult to see via the camera but if you look at the tail it is a bit clearer, certainly much better by eye. This is just the beginning, there is still the colour washes to add but I will come to that when I have all the decals on and I am finishing off. Next up I have masked the bottom of the aircraft so I could apply the camouflage to the top, I started with XF-81 Dark Green II RAF. I used to mask the camouflage areas with blue tack but I now do freehand with an airbrush. It takes a bit of practice as you have to get the paint thinned properly to avoid over spray but I think it gives a much more natural look. With that done I could apply the other half of the camouflage, I have used XF-82 Ocean Grey II RAF applied freehand again with the airbrush, quite a monster to handle so a great deal of care required, my new man cave now feels somewhat smaller. As with the underside I need to weather the camouflage a little otherwise it will look like a toy, which would not be very realistic. This is done the same way as the underside with a filter of the green and grey applied to surface to weather the aircraft. As before there is still more to do here but the final touches and oil washes can only be done when the decals are on, this will be very subtle. I would normally do these images on a neutral white background but the model is so large I can't actually get a suitable space to do it effectively. Next up is another Phase of masking, 1st is the 18†wide stripe at the base of the tail I have used XF-21 Sky for this, 18†scaled down to 1/24 is ¾â€, I think the filtering shows a bit clearer in this image. When you build a kit this size handling it becomes a real issue as it is quite delicate, the easiest way around this is to knock up a jig so the model is supported off the ground so to speak. Cont'd

Here you go Jim markings revealed. Danny

Thanks mate it was an interesting project, this is the completed model http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234987235-132-f-15a-streak-eagle-complete/ You may also like the XL http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234995718-132-wild-hare-f-16xl-project-scamp-wip/ Thanks for looking. Danny

Thanks guys, it will get more weathered as I go. Danny

Yes they are, not the greatest detail, its a commission build OOB, if it was my own project i would have used the brass aftermarket ones that are available. Thanks for looking. Danny

Next up were the four guns for the nose, after studying the instructions I realised these were very misleading and went my own way. The problem is getting all the parts to line up, there are two cross bars that serve as the gun mounts and these fit to slots on the side of the nose body, if you try and glue these to the guns first and then fit they will never line up with the mounting points. I chose to fit the bars first so I knew they were in the correct position, I then placed the base plate in position packed up on blue tack. From here I could position the first gun and raise the base plate up with more blue tack until it was the correct height and the base of the gun and magazine fitted to the slots in the base plate. This was then repeated for the other 3, once they were set in position and checked I then glued in the base plate more permanently. Nose cone was then check fitted to make sure the guns aligned with the very tight clearance holes in the nose where the barrels poke through, all good. The two black parts you can see are the magazine in feed chutes, these are made of rubber and can only be painted once they are finally fitted in position, the port and starboard chutes will also be fitted at that point. Guns done. Next was the bomb rack, quite straight forward, this will have a dark wash a bit later on in the project. With all the internal parts completed for the bomb and gun bay I quickly test fitted to make sure of no further surprises. The side walls of the bomb bay are a nice clean fit so all these parts will be fitted properly after I have painted the air frame, this saves on a lot of masking. There are decals to add to the bombs and some other minor details but essentially the hard bit is done. Lastly a check fit of the nose gun assembly. I have a few more bits to tinker on with but the main thing to do next is paint the aircraft That is it for now. Thanks for looking. Danny

Hi all, a slightly shorter report this week while I wait for the final decision on the markings. The plan for this week was to get the guns and bomb bay assembled, once I got to this point I realised that it would be best to assemble and paint all these parts but leave unfitted until the aircraft has been painted. It would be very difficult to mask these parts during painting so it is just best to assemble after, I have checked the fit of the parts that make up the bomb bay side walls and the doors and these are very good so they will be painted and assembled once I have sprayed the whole aircraft. I started with the 4 cannon, they have been painted with Gun Metal and the magazine chutes are bare metal silver with Alclad Brass painted in to represent the shells, this has been finished with a dark wash to detail the magazine chutes. The next thing to do was assemble the 4 cannon in the mounting frame, this proved to be quite tricky with Airfix not making this the easiest thing to do, fortunately once all the other parts are set in place the finished assembly is quite sturdy. With the cannon held in place I could fit the firing harness and the ammunition chutes, with these fitted the security and stability of the cannon assembly was greatly improved. Finished cannons. Con't

Thanks Kev, not an easy kit for many reasons. Danny

Big scale is my thing that's for sure, but the 1/24 Mossie is quite a lump. Thanks for looking. Danny

The next and probably the most awkward part was fitting the engines to the wing, this is when an extra set of hands would have been really helpful. In order to get the engine in the required space the wing has to be bent upward to give the required clearance you have to also align the engine frame mounts to the bulk head at the same time. Once I finally managed to position it I found that I needed to do a little bit of fine fitting to get the parts to fit perfectly so this process was repeated a number of times until I was happy. The seam from the engine side to the wing is excellent with no further filler required. Once the model is nearing completion I will come back to the landing gear assemblies and add a dark wash, this will help highlight all the tiny surface details you can see below. I have filled the seam at the top rear of each nacelle and cleaning that up is the next job. # The fit of the engines to the wing is really very good and does not require any further filler than mentioned. The next phase will be the assembly of the bomb bay, lower guns and the upper guns in the nose, like the Merlin's these are quite a little project on their own. I will look to get most of this done next week but I suspect it will take a little longer than that. As with all the weeks before there is still a great deal to do, I may well get all the parts for the guns and bomb bay done but leave un-fitted until I have painted the exterior of the model. The reason for this is it is going to be quite difficult to mask the parts that have already been painted so if you can leave major parts completed but not fitted this makes life much easier when you spray the model as a whole. That's it for now, looking forward to getting stuck into the guns and bomb bays.