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ThomasProbert

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About ThomasProbert

  • Birthday 02/16/1982

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    http://tpsmodelworld.webs.com/

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Kent, SE England
  • Interests
    Vacforms and scratch-building, civil aircraft modelling.
    Eighth Air Force in WWII

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  1. Greetings all - and all the best for coming year. Airfix 1/24th Hellcat II NF (F6F-5N), KD127, 892 NAS, Drem, Scotland, mid-1945. Here's my first completion of 2024 which nearly made 2023 but the cold, wet weather was against me for the final varnish coat! The Airfix 1/24th Hellcat is well known and documented so I'll save the background information but suffice to say it's one of the most enjoyable builds I've ever done - it's an absolute beauty of a kit and I loved building it. Whist there are some nice marking options in the box, I decided to go off-piste a little and do something different, hence buying the excellent Aerocraft set to make this into a Royal Navy night-fighter variant: The level of detail is sublime out of the box, and it went together beautifully with virtually no fit issues whatsoever. What I will say though, is tolerances are very tight indeed and the parts benefit from having their mating surfaces sanded slightly to cater for the thickness of the paint. The gun bays, for example, have a lot of the wing structure to add and thus very careful test-fitting was required to get that satisfying 'click' as it all goes together. The engine is a small model in itself - it took a total of three weeks to get it together and painted. Airfix give you a very detailed construction guide and this enables the builder to add the mass of wiring associated with the ignition harness - I used some aftermarket braided wiring and the effort was well worth it. The surface detailing is some of the best I've ever seen and gives a wonderful 3D effect - when you catch the right light it looks so realistic: Considering this was built OOB with the only additions being the seatbelts (I felt the kit examples were a little over-scaled), the ignition wiring and conversion set, it's exceptional value and quite a presence on the modelling desk. Paints were all Xtracolor enamels and I kept weathering effects to virtually none - these were, in reality, high gloss Dark Sea Blue and pretty clean. The stressed skin effect does most of the work for you to be fair, and other than some light exhaust staining I kept this in line with period photos of late-war Royal Navy Hellcats. To anyone considering building this, a few observations of the build process which may come in useful: As mentioned above, tolerances are very tight - gentle sanding of gluing surfaces and test-fits are a must and it will be very easy for things to become misaligned, especially in the gun bays; If you can, build the engine and main airframe as separate parts and bring them together after painting. I installed the engine as a completed unit prior to the main airframe being painted and this resulted in some very complex masking around the exhausts! The main canopy was quite a bit wider/flared at the base than the runners it is supposed to sit on. I had to coat the inside of the canopy with some Future (to avoid 'fogging') and then attach it with CA glue; The wing tip light lenses are slightly too large for the apertures they sit in - in hindsight I should have test-fitted these earlier in the build and not after painting! Be really careful when following the instructions as to whether you are doing wings folded or extended - the build sequence is very different between the two! Anyway, that's enough waffle from me! All the best, Tom
  2. This is looking so cool - and I’m so pleased to see the decals being put to good use!
  3. A few more details added to the Stirling of late. As I’m doing a MkIII, they were fitted with the later FN50 mid upper turret which is a bonus, as I can utilise the HK turret from the Lancaster. However, the fairing around the turret was not provided in this kit so I’ve had to improvise a little… The fairing itself gave a little aerodynamic assistance, but it’s main purpose was provide a runner for cams that provided an automatic cut off to the guns, stopping over excited gunners blasting parts off their own aircraft. I initially wondered if I could use the HK models fairing from their Lancaster kit, but quickly discovered that their shapes were quite different. One day, I’ll get my backside in gear and learn how do design and print such items in 3D, but for the time being it’s back to the old-skool…Milliput to the rescue! Step one was place some masking tape over the area the fairing will sit. Once I’d consulted plans, I transferred the basic outline of the fairing onto the tape. Next, I made some Milliput ‘sausages’ and placed then in position, before using my long-forgotten sculpting skills from my school art lessons and set about creating the approximate form of the fairing. Milliput acts just like clay when wet, so it wasn’t actually hard to get the basic shape - just lots of consulting of pictures and plans needed: With the Milliput given 24hrs to harden fully, I peeled it off from the tape and fuselage, and with some fine sandpaper did the final shaping: This was then glued back to the fuselage, and viola! It won’t be perfect, but it’ll do. Next up was the gear doors. These were cut away as a whole when I made the wings. Astonishingly, I hadn’t lost them: The gear doors are a very complex shape - there are various gaps for the other doors to slot into as they retract as well as an opening for the lower part of that massive wheel to protrude. Again, looking at plans and pictures of the real aircraft, these were cut and shaped accordingly and some ribs added to the inner surfaces: Finally, they were attached to the gear: Here she is sitting pretty on the bench… my kitchen table! I now need to finish detailing the forward part of the main landing gear bays before I can squirt some paint on the bays and the gear to see how it all looks. Until next time, Tom
  4. Waist guns are still staggered - therefore not strictly correct of BoL. You'd also need the earlier 3-pane windows. Tom
  5. This is shaping up really well - it’ll really ‘pop’ when the decals start going on. Tom
  6. Having returned from Telford (which was absolutely fantastic!) I've been all enthused/inspired and have made some more progress on the Stirling... The elevators were my next job - the molded hinge lines are often quite poor vacs such as these so I removed them when I made the stabilisers and planned to try to improve them a little. This also gives the advantage of being able to model them drooped like they usually were when the Stirling was at rest. Thankfully, I saved myself a bit of bother when I cut them away from the sabilisers and remembered to label which part of non-descript plastic was which... These were then sanded to reduce the thickness of the trailing edges and ensure the fit to the sabilisers was as good as it could be - I made a basic spar for each to get the thickness at the leading edges correct with the reduced taper as they progress outwards towards the tips. These were then attached to the stabilisers. The surface detailing is somewhat lacking, but looking at pictures of the real thing there is a very subtle fabric effect on the control surfaces, so I decided to do a little experiment. The ribs produce a very slightly raised line, with the unsupported fabric spaces between then sagging slightly. Therefore, I carefully cut the areas in between where the ribs would be with masking tape, and stuck these to the upper and lower surfaces: Three coats of primer were then applied: ...before removing the taped areas to leave very subtle raised ribs: These will need a very gentle sanding once the primer has cured for a couple of days, but I'm confident that under paint it will have a really good effect. Far better than anything I could have scribed, anyway! With this success I think I'll do the same for the ailerons and rudder... Next up will making the fairing around the mid-upper: Until next time, Tom
  7. Morning guys and gals! I’ve been working on the huge flaps on this beast of late - they are absolutely massive and I imagine vital in providing extra lift to get this behemoth off the ground. These two pics (used purely for illustrative purposes) show them fully deployed as they often were seen when parked up: I set about them by carefully cutting plastic card to the correct shape for the upper and lower skins, bending the upper surfaces carefully in some very hot water (ouch!) to best replicate the aerofoil shape. I then cut out the runners for the flap tracks and scribed some surface detail - incorrectly at first as the plans I was using were wrong! The uppers and lowers were then carefully glued together over a wooden dowel to act as a spar and help keep the aerofoil correct: As with all scratch building, test fit, test fit, test fit… I then made all the rough edges good with Milliput white and added the distinctive bullet fairings beneath - these were actually old and spare H2S scanners from 1/48th Sanger Halifaxes and with some minor mods did the job perfectly! These will then fit the wing like so: And the undersides: I’m well ‘appy with those! Onwards and upwards! Until next time, Tom
  8. Pictures of the test shot build look very promising. The wing has been corrected (or at least is a big improvement on the 1/32 offering) and they’ve captured the aero foil shape much better to my eye. Unfortunately, it does seem like there are joints down the centre of the turrets again though 😞
  9. Howdy, partners… I’ve now completed the main bomb bay structure as well as the wing bomb cells on the Stirling. 250+ pieces of individually cut Evergreen has got the job done - quite tedious but the results are worth it. There will still be some more to add when the bomb load goes in such as racks and some piping, plus the doors of course. On the real aircraft the divider between the gear bays and the outermost bomb cell is actually open with the truss work exposed, but I’ve gone for strength over accuracy as beefy card is needed for the wheel bays and general wing structure to give it enough strength to support the model. I need to finish off the main gear bays but I’ve had enough if cutting plastic strip for the time being so will focus on something else! All the best, Tom
  10. Evening folks, With the summer holidays here, there's been some welcome additional modelling time and this was finished off over the weekend. I was given this by my dad who had in turn been given it by an old family friend - I think it is an original issue, and if not it's a very early issue of this classic kit from Airfix: I just wanted to build this more or less as it comes and enjoy it. However, I couldn't let the gaping hollow wheel bays pass so made some simple mods by adding plastic card sidewalls and some Evergreen stiffeners to at least make them sort of passable: Other than that, I used some Eduard belts for the pilot's seat, Barracuda wheels as the kit's had dried out and cracked when I tried to apply them to the hubs, and some aftermarket decals from Techmod to represent Von Werra's machine who crash-landed not far from me in Marden, Kent - and became 'the one that got away'. Although old and basic by modern standards, this kit is a joy and went together pretty well. Surface detail is sublime and the super-detailer could really have a field day if they were so inclined. I really enjoyed it as nostalgic build from days gone by and that's what it's all about! Evolution: here is the 109E alongside the G-model: like the Spitfire the basic airframe had huge potential to evolve and did so as the war progressed: Paints were all Xtracolor enamels with some weathering using Mig-Ammo pastels. A really enjoyable build - don't overlook these oldies as they scrub up really well! All the best, Tom
  11. Hi all, The engines have been my recent focus, and considering the Stirling shared the same ‘power-egg’ as the Beaufighter, I utilised the cowls and engines (from the Revell Beau) which has made work much easier - considering all you get in the kit are these bumps in plastic: First up, I assembled the cowls themselves, tarting them up a bit with some Evergreen and plastic card: The engines from Revell are actually quite good out of the box, and considering everything is black and very little will be visible, I built them OOB, painted them satin black and weathered them lightly with some oils. Atop the engine nacelles are big carb and supercharger intakes. The MkIII Stirling had a longer intake than the earlier MkI, and handily the Revell Beau gives a good starting point to use. These were sliced and then extended with Evergreen: And then blended with filler: Next, the finished power-eggs were mounted to the plastic card firewalls I’d made previously when constructing the wings, the intakes added to the 12 o’clock position on the cowlings, and viola: A lot of this work has taken place al fresco as it’s been so warm of late: So, here we are as of now: I need to have a think about the oil coolers which hang low under the nacelles, but that’s a job for another day. All the best, Tom
  12. Time for and over-due update on the landing gear legs. The sprue structure has proved plenty strong enough so over the last few weeks I've been slowly making, adding and building up the details on these and have now more or less got the basic structures done and test-fitted. Lots of plastic card and Evergreen has been added to the basic sprue structure, and gradually it's all come to life: And after a glorious weekend away walking in The Lakes... ...I thought I'd have a proper test-fit of the gear as well as take some piccies using the decent camera set up. The undercarriage isn't attached yet as there's lots of detail still to be made and added to the bays - not to mention the painting of both the bays and legs - but a set of metal pins inserted into the spars as mounting points and holes of the correct size drilled into the upper-most past of the gear legs means they are a snug push-fit and support the model without glue. I've also made the basic twin-rear wheel set up by utilising Beaufighter tail wheels and legs, which with some mods have done the job. Not perfect replicas, but once the bays and doors are finished off not much will be seen anyway. It all looks very gangly at the moment, but when the undercarriage doors are added as well as the bomb bay doors, it should look the part. What to tackle next? The bomb bays or engines? Decisions, decisions. Onwards and upwards, as the old saying goes... Until next time, Tom
  13. You are quite correct - it is fitted with the standard D-model tail with the wider-chord rudder. I think it's just poorly written - the original rear fuselage as damaged and then replaced with another from a fellow D-model at the radio room fuselage break, hence the 'half and half' nickname being given. Tom
  14. I do it over the sink in water so dust is minimal. The wife does tend to get a bit excited if I don’t! Well… progress has slowed a little of late due to work, but I’ve made a tentative start on the very complex landing gear. This is a bit of an experiment, if I’m being totally honest, as I’ve knocked up some gear using spare sprue. I’ve no clue about working with metal or solder, so this may (literally) fall flat on its face, but we’ll see. I always keep large sprue trees as it’s so useful when it comes to scratch work. I’ve chosen some that’s a little thicker (by 0.25mm) than the HK Lancaster gear legs as my logic is if such diameter can support the heavier weight of that kit, it should be able to hold the much lighter vacform Stirling. So… some sprue and lots of small metal pins which will be used to reinforce each join: Following plans, I cut the main parts of the structure and these were then slowly put together. CA glue secured the metal pins in pre-drilled holes, and then when each ‘leg’ was complete TET was run into each join and allowed to dry for 24hrs to make a very strong join: Great care was taken to ensure each part of the gear was identical: The joins were then reinforced further with Milliput and sanded smooth: Next, the main cross members were added using more sprue and again strengthened with metal pins: And with the wheels added, they are starting to resemble the complex structure of the real thing: What I’m now going to do is temporarily fix the gear to the bays and leave it standing for a week. I’m off to Italy skiing so when I return, if the model is still standing securely on its gear I can call this a victory and crack on making and adding the rest of the detail - of which there is lots! If not, and I come back and it’s laying flat on its belly, it’ll be back to the drawing board and I may have to invest in a soldering kit and a whole lot of reading… Stay tuned! Tom
  15. Very kind, Kev - thank you! The landing gear is certainly going to be the most challenging part of this build, so 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
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