MikeC Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 I happened across this recently, and thought it would complement this excellent thread: it's a film of no 617 VGS, RAF Manston, during the silver/dayglo era. Although the film is not the best quality, for reasons explained at the start, I'm sure that those of us who have "been there, done that" can use a healthy dose of nostalgia to fill in the blanks, and I expect a fair number of us can still run through the checks as they're doing them. "Spoilers fully open and in line!" Enjoy ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXvk3OQOUpo wunwinglow and Stevepd 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted May 14, 2022 Author Share Posted May 14, 2022 Oooh - thanks Mike - will have a watch tomorrow! In latest news Tim has been experimenting with 3D printed wing struts - and initial results are very encouraging. Being relatively long and thin, these are pushing the envelope with current resins - but with a little shortening of the CAD master it looks like they may work perfectly - *providing* the wing is very firmly attached to the fuselage first. Photos below are a test fit on the airframe I'm building: Next job is to sort the dayglo strips for the outer wing leading edges... Have fun! Iain Starfighter, denders, Fanes and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevepd Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Tim/Iain, absolutely top notch accolades to you both. I’ve been loosely following this thread and this morning dived in again to see it painted up, and it does make you smile. Regarding the rod, have you considered carbon rods. I purchased and used some for my Puma build, needing strength and watching the weight. I fell into the “got to have it” modellers frame of mind, so may be not viable for Tim, but just a thought. Steve. Iain and MikeC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palm-tree Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 (edited) 8 hours ago, Iain said: Next job is to sort the dayglo strips for the outer wing leading edges... Have fun! Iain Hi Iain, you are making a lovely job of the Mk3. I expect you are aware that sheets of dayglo red and orange decals are available, which would be an option rather than painting the wing leading edges? I have photographs during my gliding prof course at Kinloss in 1985 when the dayglo leading edges were starting to appear, some aircraft had them and others did not, probably to increase visibility in flight when seen from head on. Edited May 15, 2022 by Palm-tree To reduce size of post wunwinglow and Iain 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Flawless paint work, Iain! Kev Iain and wunwinglow 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted May 15, 2022 Author Share Posted May 15, 2022 1 hour ago, Palm-tree said: Hi Iain, you are making a lovely job of the Mk3. I expect you are aware that sheets of dayglo red and orange decals are available, which would be an option rather than painting the wing leading edges? For things like this I make my own decals - spraying white - then dayglo - onto decal film. The thickness of the decal replicates the 'Scotchcal', or similar, used on RAF aircraft of the period quite nicely - although I'll be trying the MRP Luminous Orange for the first time on this... Iain wunwinglow and MikeC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted May 15, 2022 Author Share Posted May 15, 2022 2 hours ago, Stevepd said: Tim/Iain, absolutely top notch accolades to you both. I’ve been loosely following this thread and this morning dived in again to see it painted up, and it does make you smile. Regarding the rod, have you considered carbon rods. I purchased and used some for my Puma build, needing strength and watching the weight. I fell into the “got to have it” modellers frame of mind, so may be not viable for Tim, but just a thought. Steve. Hi Steve, Hopefully we're sorted with the printed struts - but I'd use the stainles steel over carbon fibre here as the ends will need to be bent to locate in the holes - and they should be more than strong enough if needed. But, crossing fingers for the performance of the printed ones... Iain MikeC, wunwinglow and Stevepd 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Just a note that after some tiny adjustments to the lengths and a change of resin type, the latest set just dropped into place and the whole assembly became remarkably stable. I had to revise the cure program too to prevent bends appearing in the struts. Never easy, is it!? Anyway, I am now happy these work, so all kits sold from now on will have the resin ones included. I will be sending out sets to folks who have already bought a kit. The batch on the shelves right now already have the metal ones packed, so you will have a choice! Next batch, probably resin only. Right, off to print some more struts!! And thanks Iain for the build report, it doesn't look too bad, does it!? Iain, Stevepd, Landrotten Highlander and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted June 26, 2022 Author Share Posted June 26, 2022 With apologies for lack of updates - my attention has been elsewhere - but now back on this delightful kit! Cockpit sills on this scheme are black - so these areas have been carefully masked and sprayed. The wing strut between the front and rear cockpits has had two 0.6mm holes drilled through, prepped and sprayed matt black. Here dry fitted in situ: I love the way the vac transparencies have been done - as combining front and rear sections means you can take a two-stage approach, and make everything a little simpler! You get two sets in the kit, so you have backups should things go awry. One of the two sets has been cut out - by gently running a fresh scalpel blade alone the 'creases' in the moulding. Keeping the front and rear together at this stage makes it a lot easier to sand the lower edges true - as you have more to hold - and the parts are stiffer together. In other news, I hear that Tim has some young Air Cadet figures to go with the project! Hopefully some more progress this evening... Iain Troy Molitor, Rockie Yarwood, Stevepd and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted July 23, 2022 Author Share Posted July 23, 2022 Feeling a little guilty as I've been putting off something that I was worried could go horribly wrong... The airframe I'm modelling has DayGlo/Scotchcal sections on the outer wings - complicated by the fact that they follow the radius of the roundels at the inner ends. Main issue was that I'd already applied the decals for the roundels - so didn't want to damage those when removing masking. Solution I came up with was thin paper masks the same diameter as the roundels, cut with a compass cutter, and held in place with a thin strip of Tamiya tape across the middle - parallel to the leading edge. Next I cut circular masks in 'Oramask' masking film, again with the Compass Cutter, and with a radius around 1.5mm larger. These were then applied over the top - using the holes in the centres of both paper and Oramask circles to align. After that, the rest of the areas could be masked up safely using Tamiya tape. These areas were given a very light coat of MRP Luminous Orange (MRP-194) along the edges of the tape, at low pressure, followed by a coat of MRP White to provide a solid background, followed by a final coat of MRP Luminous Orange. Results are shown in the photos - and I'm happy with the results - after a little nail-biting! Letting these areas harden off - then the main airframe parts will get a light coat of satin varnish. Iain LSP_Kevin, Landrotten Highlander, geedubelyer and 9 others 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 Nice work, Iain! Kev wunwinglow and Iain 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockie Yarwood Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 That came out really well. Cheers, Rockie Iain and wunwinglow 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 More progress! 0.5mm brass wire cut and bent for the wing mounts - this material is supplied in the kit. Here loosely fitted in place and not glued: Tailplane bonded in place - and support struts cut to length from the 0.5mm brass rod, painted red and fitted: Nose and under-fuselage cable connections painted and fitted, along with the main wheel and skid. Skid suitably weathered to depict a worn wooded surface under the paint: All out! Iain wunwinglow, themongoose, Landrotten Highlander and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Looking magnificent Iain. Really appreciate your in-depth build which shows the quality of this kit. She's shaping up to be a real beaut Iain and wunwinglow 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 And an overview of where we are now - ready for a coat of satin varnish - and some more detail work. It's a pity the camera doesn't really pick up on the DayGlo effect - looks great with the rest of the scheme: And gratuitous 'dry' assembly: This kit has been an absolute delight to build so far - great fun, something different, and hugely rewarding! I believe Tim *may* soon have some cadet figures to go with this kit... Iain wunwinglow, Starfighter, Fanes and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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