chrish Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Amazing but, expected crisp clean work. I’m enjoying my foray into vac kits as well but, I’ll never be near your level. I couldn’t build a mainstream kit this well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 On 3/5/2023 at 3:53 PM, chrish said: Amazing but, expected crisp clean work. I’m enjoying my foray into vac kits as well but, I’ll never be near your level. I couldn’t build a mainstream kit this well! I think you're doing yourself an injustice here, Chris - seeing your Orion and Hudson you more than the necessary skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 spelbinding - what a build I am waiting with baited breath to see what you do with the U/C - if I recall its quite a complex gangly assembly.. gonna take some 3 dimensional chess that one... Peter tomprobert, JayW and Derek B 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 (edited) When you do a bit of research involving Stirlings, especially at Operational Training and Heavy Conversion Units where aircrew were trained, the most frequent problem encountered is the collapse of that gangly undercarriage. It’s certainly going to be a challenge, soldered brass construction would be my choice. Edited March 6 by mozart chrish, Derek B, tomprobert and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 Thanks, chaps - the landing gear is certainly going to be the most challenging part of this build. Speaking of which, I thought I’d start with something relatively straightforward as a first, tentative step. When I inherited Cees’ parts he kindly threw in some spare HK Lancaster wheels which has been most helpful. The Stirling and Lancaster shared the same hub, but the Stirling’s tyre was larger. Plans consulted, I came up with a cunning plan… First up, I used some Evergreen block strip of the correct size to enlarge the Lancaster tyre to the correct diameter. Using strip, rather than a sheet of plastic card, means they follow the contours of the tyre well and reduce the amount of sanding needed later. Here you can see the modified wheels with the strip added: Next, I used some tape to protect the hubs, and layered on some P38. The rear-most tyre has already begun the sanding to shape: Both tyres sanded: And then primed: Not bad - although the shoulders need rounding off a little more. A job for another day. Until next time, Tom Victor K2, scvrobeson, HB252 and 22 others 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archimedes Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 I bet not more than a handful of these have ever been built so it is wonderful to see this one in the hands of someone like you Tom who really knows how to do it. You Sunderland was jaw dropping and this Stirling will be evening more so because of the mind boggling complexity of the landing gear alone! Kind regards, Paul tomprobert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 That’s a really ingenious solution to increasing the size of those wheels Tom, brilliant! tomprobert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbetty Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 allways a pleasure watching your work, Tom tomprobert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankBuster Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Fascinating work as allways. Cheers. tomprobert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoggz Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Great ingenuity on those wheels Tom! I've always had a soft spot for Stirlings and to see one being built in 1/32 is brilliant. tomprobert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vvwse4 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 (edited) Looks great!! Try to get a hold of the Meng Air Modeller issue 67 from august 2016. There is a build in there from Megas Tsonos who scratch builds a Stirling 1/48th scale ( and it is a beauty!!). In this issue he builds the undercarriage. If you need the pictures from those pages let me know. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235034085-sanger-148-stirling-mki-bf372-ron-middleton-vc-finished-at-last/page/17/ But I think you know this one already. Rick Edited March 7 by vvwse4 tomprobert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Great efforts going on here Tom. As mentioned above: I have the Meng Air Modeller issue 67 from august 2016 if you need it. I thought there were a couple different build articles on the specific 1:48 build if not mistaken. Loving your efforts to date. tomprobert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 Thanks for the kind words, chaps I subscribe to Air Modeller so have all of the Stirling articles you mention - they have already been an invaluable resource. I've also found some really interesting clips on YouTube about the landing gear for those that are interested: It's going to be a nightmare of epic proportions making this!!! Tom Jack, Derek B, JayW and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Tom, just "stumbled" on your thread, how could i have missed that, unbelievable project and superbly executed, can't wait to see the end result!! Very very good show Jack Lee White and tomprobert 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 2 hours ago, tomprobert said: It's going to be a nightmare of epic proportions making this!!! I have always considered that the Stirling undercarriage was actually two - an undercarriage within an undercarriage! (I am not sure why it was designed to be so long?). Derek TheBaron, tomprobert and mozart 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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