Special Hobby Whirlwind

[HubertB]

37 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

Thanks Carl but at this stage of the game, I'll stick with the kit ones. I spent a good amount of time this morning sanding, scraping and removing the mold seams. They aren't perfect but look a lot better.  

 

I have found the perfect solution for my build of the Whirlwind, thanks to my « no-camo » idiosyncrasy : G-AGOI, the civilian airframe kept by Westland after the war had no guns

Hubert.

[Peterpools]

Hubert

Prety cool idea - looking forward to your build

 

[Clunkmeister]

On 9/9/2022 at 8:07 AM, Spitfire said:

Well spotted and fixed in time, one for us all to take note of.

Cheers

Dennis

This is EXACTLY why, unless it’s an aircraft I know well, I hate being the first guy to build one. 🤣. I tend to do what Peter did.

But nice save, Peter, and flawless recovery!

[Peterpools]

Thanks Ernie, it sure was close to becoming a Shelf Queen but way too much work to not forge ahead and finish. Its fun being the first but oh those pitfalls.  I'm starting the final sanding, masking and prep work over the next few days and then hopefully priming. 🤞 

 

[Kaireckstadt]

Great surgery on the nose Peter. 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kai

Appreciate you pointing out my blunder and it's fixed. This afternoon, I finished all the priming prep work and should be ready to prime in a day or so.

 

[Peterpools]

FINALLY KNOCKING ON THE DOOR

PREP FOR PRIMING

PREP:
It’s been a lot of work to reach this point, countless go backs, redo’s, cleaning up mistakes, errors and blunders; one by one they have been slowly corrected and redone as best as I can do. With the wings and fuselage assemblies sanded, polished and cleaned up, it’s time they were attached together and of course, a few more gaps and seams now needing attention.

The front windscreen and canopy were masked using the ASK set and they are superb, easy to work with, very complete and each mask is numbered making life a lot easier.  The windscreen was carefully glued to the fuselage with Tamiya extra Thin and a spot of filler was required – a nice, tight fit.

The oil cooler doors were added, slightly in the open position for a bit of added interest. Gaz had pointed out the nasty mold seams on the cannons in the macro shots for the nose repair and since there were no Master Barrels sets available, I spent a lot of time cleaning up the seams as best as I could, using my magnifier lamp and a brand new Tamiya blade. Not perfect but much better then before.

I decided to risk it all and add the two front antennas as the glue points are very small and trying to do this after painting is a disaster waiting to happen for sure. I just need to exercise care for the balance of the build and hopefully not knock them off. 

Masking:

Just seems masking these days takes forever and I decided I would use foam blocks in the wheel wheels so I could sit the Whirlwind down during all the painting stages without worry of marring the paint itself and also act as nice chunk of masking.

Both prop assemblies are also now ready for priming.

PRIMING TIME: Here we come.

The canopy still needs to be tacked in place

Mighty wide wingspan - reminds of a Gooney Bird

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks great Peter - exciting step to get to in the build just before the primer goes on.

One question I've been meaning to ask - for these larger models/larger scale builds, do you spray in a spray booth?  My booth with exhaust is probably 20 inches or so wide, which limits what can be put in the booth.  Since I like to use Mr. Surfacer and other paints on the stinkier side, I'm curious what set up you guys use to paint bigger models?

[Spitfire]

Coming along nicely Peter, it will be great to see paint.

Cheers

Dennis

[Peterpools]

2 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Looks great Peter - exciting step to get to in the build just before the primer goes on.

One question I've been meaning to ask - for these larger models/larger scale builds, do you spray in a spray booth?  My booth with exhaust is probably 20 inches or so wide, which limits what can be put in the booth.  Since I like to use Mr. Surfacer and other paints on the stinkier side, I'm curious what set up you guys use to paint bigger models?

Thanks Mike,. very much appreciated. I'm actually priming later today and finally I feel as if I'm over the hump. 

I used a paint booth for years but not religiously. Since being now in remission and through chemo therapy, I am ever so vigilant about chemicals, paint, paint fumes and never air brush without using a paint booth and a very good respirator. I use a paint booth I purchased from Micro Mart, single extractor motor and about 16 inches in width: Fold Up Spray Booth for Spray Painting Models (micromark.com). The Whirlwind just squeezes in and to turn it around or over, I need to pull it out, reorient it and then back in she goes. Even the Spitfire was a tight fit.

I have another and much larger spray booth I use to use but haven't set it up as it has two extractor motors and double the exhaust ducting: Artograph 1530 (Artograph 1530 HOBBY MODEL SPRAY SYSTEM® (madisonartshop.com) which is 30 inches wide. Most likely I'll eventually wind up hooking up the Artograph 1530 as it's much more convenient to use and our home renovation is done.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Dennis, priming today. 

[Martinnfb]

Excellent work and nice nose correction. I was thinking about those barrels and Hurricane barrels from Master would be a good starting point to re-create the new ones. Flash deflectors will need a little extension, but it can be done. Sorry, if it's too late.

[Peterpools]

Thanks Martin, they might have worked but at this stage of the game, the kits cannons are cleaned up, drilled out and will have to do. With my luck and how the build has gone, any tinkering will lead to a disaster. 😉 

[DocRob]

16 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

One question I've been meaning to ask - for these larger models/larger scale builds, do you spray in a spray booth?  My booth with exhaust is probably 20 inches or so wide, which limits what can be put in the booth.  Since I like to use Mr. Surfacer and other paints on the stinkier side, I'm curious what set up you guys use to paint bigger models?

Hola Mike, I had the same problem some years ago with my tiny booth.

I removed the plastic sidewalls and bottom parts and used a large plastic container sawed in a rectangle opening into the bottom and duct-taped it to the vent unit.

Then I spun some flexible LED strips around for lighting e voila the booth is enlarged and takes a wingspan up to nearly 60cm's. The modification was a cheapo and it works very well, even better when you use highly thinned colors, which escaped the old booth layout much easier, than after the modification with the higher volume.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Fantastic progress Peter, you seemed to have sailed easily through this build, where the kit is not up to Tamiya's standard. This shows your experience and building qualities. I can't wait to see the colors on the Whirlwind. 
She's a strange looking beast with the thin nosecone, protruding guns and hefty nacelles in these lengthy wings. Not the nicest of airframes, but even more interesting and with your magic, she'll be a beauty.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob for the very kind words on my progress. No question, the Whirlwind's long thin wings is so like that of a sailplane or even the U2 Dragon Lady. Strange looking in appearance, yet still has some good looks.

Nice modification on your spray booth, as I find mine getting tighter and tighter as the builds seem to be getting bigger and bigger. Lately I've been thinking it's time to buy a second flexible vent hose from Micro Mart and hook up the Artograph 1530, which has two extractor motors and needs the two vent hoses. I never leave the vent hose in the window and only hook it up when painting. See how it goes and I'm also thinking about your modification.

  

[Landlubber Mike]

Peter and Rob, many thanks for answering my question about the booth.  For what you get, the booths seem inordinately expensive.  

Rob, I was thinking about doing something similar - really, all you need is a plastic box with a hole cut out, and those LED lights are a nice touch (mine includes the lights).   I might also try opening up one of the side panels and attaching an extension to see if that works.  Either that, or ultimately get something like the one Peter shows.  Even 30" seems a bit too small for some of the bigger builds.  I have ship models that will exceed that - the 1/200 Bismarck on the shelf is something like 4-5' long   For those very big builds, I might get one of those pop-up spray booths and use it outdoors or in my detached garage.

[Bill_S]

Very nice save there, Peter! I've heard of people using Tamiya extra thin to loosen glue joints. I also use a needle in a pin vise to mark gun barrel centers; if the mark is off, it's not too difficult to apply sideways pressure and move the mark.

[Peterpools]

M Ike

Agreed, they are climbing in cost and they work for most modeling but large ships most likely require a different type of paint booth or even just large extractor fans in a room with the door closed when in use plus a good respirator. As far as the fan and motor go, there was a lot of discussion about what motors/fans systems are safe to be used with solvent paints, as the general consensus was, most aren't and care needs to be taken. How true this actually is, I still on the fence about it.

 

[Peterpools]

HI Bill, thank you for the tips.

I've tried using Extra Thin for removing glue on parts a few times and it did work but the noise had four solid plastic shims added in the inside faces and there was no way for the Extra Thin to actually reach those glue faces.

I do use a needle in a Pin Vise to help locate the center holes and my success rate is still pretty low and always takes a long time and multiple attempts to get close. 

[Peterpools]

PRIMING – DONE

Priming is complete and went a lot better then I had thought it would. There are just two small seams and two small sanding marks and that’s it – talk about a complete reversal of how the build had been going. Finishing pre-painting touch ups tomorrow and then it’s off to the paint shop.

The Whirlwind with her long slender wings, certainly could be a forerunner of things to come: The Lockheed Dragon Lady.

With so little actual work done and only needing two photographs, setting up for my usual photo procedure wasn’t in the cards and my iPhone substituted just fine.

 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Looks good Peter. I took my kit out last night and debated starting it. Then decided I'd best try to finish what's already on my bench. 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Carl and good decision for sure

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks great Peter!  Nice and smooth!

[Peterpools]

Thanks Mike, much appreciated. Can't wait to finally reach the paint shop portion of the build.