Matchbox Tiger Moth RAAF Air Ambulance

[LSP_Kevin]

2 hours ago, mozart said:

Yes Kev, that certainly sorts out the dihedral issue, the question of whether there are ‘faults’ or not is another issue! Perhaps omissions might be a better way of putting it if you want to make a reasonably accurate model but it depends entirely on how far you want to take it....isn’t that always our LSP dilemma!? 

 

I'm still debating how far I'll take this one, but between your Walkaround here on LSP, and the photos that James Fahey sent me, I have all the detail information I need, and it would be a shame not to go as far as I can!  But do I really want to turn this into something that complicated?

 

 

Kev

[mozart]

41 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said:

 

I'm still debating how far I'll take this one, but between your Walkaround here on LSP, and the photos that James Fahey sent me, I have all the detail information I need, and it would be a shame not to go as far as I can!  But do I really want to turn this into something that complicated?

 

 

Kev

Hmmm, there's the dilemma Kev!  Some things can be ignored for sure, but structurally I think the brackets between the fuselage and the wings are a "must" (for me):

 

 

and you can chose whether improve the underside or not, it's rather frugal on the Revell kit:

 

 

The other important feature to note is that the fin is not directly joined to the fuselage, but this is an easy fix:

 

 

[Alain Gadbois]

Great start on a very original subject!

I like your planing in respect with the vac canopy.

 

Alain

[Alex]

10 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

But do I really want to turn this into something that complicated?

 

Kev

As I get deeper into this hobby, I find myself asking that question fairly often...

[LSP_Kevin]

9 hours ago, mozart said:

Hmmm, there's the dilemma Kev!

 

I've just been reading through your own build thread again, Max, and would love to know how you went about making the front seat. I've been able to confirm that the front seat arrangement remained unmodified on this aircraft, so I now feel compelled to at least try to correct it!

 

Kev

[Anthony in NZ]

Nice build and interesting/unique subject choice Kevin

 

Everyone loves the Tiger, keep up the great work!

[mozart]

Ah yes, that front seat.....one glaring fault that John Adams didn’t spot? The photograph with all the seat dimensions on it in my build thread should have been credited to a fairly new member of our happy community, @VW Chris 1969 who has recently posted his excellent Tiger Moth in RFI. Chris and I both started Matchbox/Revell Tiger Moths in a Britmodeller STGB though neither of us completed our builds. Several years later Chris has, to his credit. 
 

As I recall Kev the seat was simply cut in sections from 10 thou plastic sheet and glued together. I contemplated making a wooden mould and plunge forming one, I think Chris may have done so, not sure. Fortunately Silver Wings have got the front seat arrangement right! 

Edited September 5, 2020 by mozart

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, Max. I did find Chris's post in my searches, and he did an amazing job on his Tiger Moth. With all this inspiration around, I feel compelled to make at least some of the improvements you guys have shown!

 

Anyway, I'm back with an update of sorts, involving (partly) getting the canopy sorted. I started out with attempting to address the wobbliness of the cuts I'd made on the fuselage. The port side was acceptable, so I laid some Evergreen styrene strip along the problematic section on the starboard side:

 

 

Then, using a combination of diamond files and sanding sticks, I attempted to level it out as much as I could. It's not perfect, but acceptable, and certainly much better than it was:

 

 

I now need to add a shim under the rear section on the port side, but I'll take care of that later.

 

At this point I thought I'd figured everything out, so I measure and cut the kit's rear spine part, and glued its tail fairing into the kit tailplane:

 

 

Turns out I was completely wrong here, but it's nothing a few modelling skills won't sort out.

 

OK, on to the canopy. Here it is, waiting patiently for me to butcher it:

 

 

The first job is to remove it from its unwieldy surround. For this I used my JLC razor saw:

 

 

I used the tape as both a guide for the saw, and protection for the clear plastic in case of a slip. To remove the unwanted front and rear portions, I switched out the razor saw for a #11 blade, and the Tamiya tape for some much more robust Dymo tape:

 

 

It's essential that you put a brand-new blade in your hobby knife for this operation, and begin with a light slicing motion as you run the blade alongside the tape. In the end I resorted to the razor saw to help finish off the top section, which was noticeably thicker than the sides.

 

Here's the final result (note that I've tweaked the contrast in the image to an unnatural extent, just so you can see the clear plastic properly):

 

 

You can see in the plastic some evidence of the 3D masters that were used in their creation, and I'm not sure how visible this will be on the final model. I'm hoping that a dip in floor polish will be enough to disguise it, but I'm not certain. You can't really polish this kind of plastic, so that's not an option. I'm still undecided on whether to open it up, but doing so would go some way to minimising the problem as a central point of focus.

 

Anyway, here's the final dry-fit, with everything pretty close to where it should be:

 

 

Note that there's now a substantial gap at the rear. This is slightly exaggerated here, as everything is a little too far forward. The tailplane fairing seen earlier will take up some of the remaining space from the rear forward, and what's left will have to be filled. Honestly, I love these kinds of challenges!

 

Now, please help me out, guys: should I open up the cockpit hood and detail out the cockpit accordingly? Or just leave it alone and limit the challenges to external stuff? (On the real aircraft, the entire 'canopy' rear of the windscreen hinges open to starboard, along the frame on that side. The rear section isn't a clear part at all, but an opaque hood.)

 

Pros:

- will minimise fit issues with the vac part;

- will minimise the visibility of the 3D striations;

- will look cool and unusual;

 

Cons:

- adds a metric jiggerwatt of work to the project;

- will look dodgy if I screw it up;

- I might screw it up;

 

Vote now!

 

Kev

[red Dog]

Open

What else. don't fight it. you know what you'll decide

[Alex]

Go for it!  You won’t screw it up.

[Dpgsbody55]

Good to see you back the workbench again, Kevin.  You've picked an interesting subject too.  I'm looking forward to see how this turns out.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Anthony in NZ]

Open her up!  I bet you will regret not doing so if you leave it, besides how cool will it look....as long as you got good refs...go for it!

[D.B. Andrus]

Open canopy - the works in the cockpit, that's my vote. You've got the skills and the talent, all ahead full!

 

Cheers,

Damian

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys. I'm conscious of how rusty I am after a long break from serious modelling, so while I'm not feeling all that confident, my enthusiasm has definitely returned! So, open the cockpit I will! I'm also going to be implementing many of the fixes and improvements I've seen in other builds, especially Max's and Eric's.

 

Update soon!

 

Kev

[Anthony in NZ]

Thats the story Kev!!