rieser Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Flying along. Great to see the momentum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Thanks Ralph, I appreciate you looking in and keeping me honest! Quick update, the throttle has been wired to the gunsight mounting: The gunsight will go back on then the front canopy will be masked, interior colour sprayed and affixed to protect the gunsight. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkranias Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 great work on the pit, looking nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Gunsight completed! The Barracudacast Gyro MkII is a lovely piece. The PE shield is the kit piece and the clear is some clear sheet that was measured and cut to 5mm X 4mm then scored along the 2mm mark to divide the 5mm side into two unequal length (3mm, 2mm). This was then placed in position and held with a couple of drops of Future and allowed to set. It was then CA'd into position. The two upper lenses are 1.5mm little lens just cemented over the depressions: Happy with that. The canopy front piece has been masked inside and out. The interior will be flat black with some RAF interior green on the lower areas where it joins the sidewalls. Regards, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Look! An airplane! The main construction of the fuselage has been completed and the wings attached. No filler required at the wing root. The seam at the rear of the wing attachment point on the underside may need a swipe of filler but it has all come up really well: Got some paint in the wheel wells and various parts. Have a quandry to sort out with the cannon attachments using the Master Barrel E wing but there is no hurry. The kit door has been tacked in place to act as a mask for painting. The Barracuda cast door will be the final one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingco57 Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Nice work and you have really put the coal into this build. Haven't even posted mine yet. Cheers Cees 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 After some time away from the bench, it is time for an update. The Master barrels, their plastic counterparts and the LE inserts have been entrusted to a friend with a lathe to see if he can sort out the fit. I have also heard that Master may be releasing a reworked set of Mk XVI barrels that fit the Tamiya kit in late 2015! The upper and lower fuselage joins are good but a small seam appears on both as well as a couple of other minor locations on the lower wing joins that needed tidying up. I masked each side of the seam to protect the details and applied a thin coat of Perfect Plastic Putty, allowing it to cure a bit before smoothing with a dampened Mk 1 finger: The rear stabilisers have been set at a slight droop ( a tad less than shown here) and all the control surfaces have been attached and cemented in place: The MG blanking ports have been fitted and whilst still visible they ae what they are and I am happy with the joins which should be okay under a primer and a couple of coats of paint. Just visible are the clear plastic win tips. Both have had a small depression drilled into their inside faces and filled with appropriate acrylic paint to create the red/green bulbs. The kit masks have been cut out and used to mask the areas to remain clear: The radiator housings have had the ejector pin marks in the flaps puttied and sanded. Tamiya do not include the flap mechanism nor the support braces that are so obvious so these have been scratch built from left over PE and some styrene card and strip. They are not perfect but will allow for the idea to be conveyed. I have set the flaps in the open position and I am aware they should normally be closed but doing so hides the excellent RB Productions radiator faces that are due to be fitted: That's all for now. Hopefully I can get some bench time in this week (school holidays) and I hope to tackle the final preparations to commence painting. Regards, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rieser Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Good stuff. I completely missed the nav light painting on mine. "Such is life..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Mate, The upside to PTSD is the fact you become very, very focused on details, sometimes to the detriment of everything! AMS is like a younger brother Regards, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 Not much time spent at the bench the last few days, but I did squeeze a couple of hours in after the kids went off to bed! I moved onto the radiators and assembled the RB Productions radiator faces to replace the kit ones. There are three pieces to each face and the outer is bent to form an open ended rectangle. The inner pieces are then aligned and placed "inside" the rectangle and a drop of CA to each corner. The tabs correspond to those found in the kit plastic which had the faces painted dark iron: A smear of Gator's Grip on the upper side that sits against the wing and then a drop into the recesses. It has the effect of standing the radiator faces straight off the plastic: There are four more small pieces (two per radiator front and back) that are bent in half and secured at 90 degrees to the outer panels. They go in the grooves you can see above but I got excited, finished them and forgot to take a photo! The radiator covers are now simply placed over the assemblies and secured with Tamiya Extra Thin: A view from the rear: Hopefully you can see the flap supports! I cut some chrome Bare Metal Foil to size and secured these about the oleo struts: These have now been masked to protect them during the remainder of the build. The attachment points for the wheels have been trimmed so they fit the Barracuda wheels. I have also drilled out the holes in the oleo supports and in the frame next to the brake line attachment point as per references: Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 A friend of mine with a lathe has worked on the armament question. He removed about 8mm of excess material and turned the brass canon barrels, resulting in this: which fits thus: Due to their construction, he is unable to do the same for the .50 cal MG pieces. So it will be either kit parts or time to use the suggestions and drill out the MG inserts for the brass barrels. My thanks to Matt Gilks for his workmanship. Regards, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repeater Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 A whole lotta work so far Kent! looking great. can't wait for the paint to go on. I'm hoping to start on a Mk IX for this GB very soon... you and Ralph are keeping it going! Tim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rieser Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Great to see that at least some of the brass set will be used. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted April 24, 2015 Author Share Posted April 24, 2015 With the positive news from Matt, I thought I should get back to the bench! A couple of days just preparing seams and sealing up the airframe. The lower cowling to remove the seams: The racks for the MC 250lb bombs were fitted: I had to remove the peg for the kit bombs and in doing so made a little bit of a mess of the apertures. You can also see that I have masked and filled the MG inserts to improve the finish. Perfect Plastic Putty was used and should benefit from a light sanding. Being a water based ingredient you should be wary of wet sanding, not a mustn't do but just very sparing: The racks will be home to these MDC 250lb bombs. Two part body and tail assembly has been sanded. The PE fins will go on soon and then painting and decals from the kit: I went back and forth about including the ability to see an open engine. The MkVIII I have will definitely be closed up so I decided to go the operable route: The supercharger is not yet cemented and I have some more detailing (drilling and wiring) to do. Using Dave's build and the build by Aleksandar Pocuc in the excellent "The Modeller's Guide" from ADH books, I hope to end up somewhere between OOB and Wolf Buddee! Thanks for looking and regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 I unexpectedly found myself with some time so I thought I would start detailing the engine. Thumbing through various references and on line builds yo can really go to town. I thought I would just do a little plumbing. I drilled various diameter holes in the kit parts to accept lead wire and other items. I drilled out the spark plug holes on either side and filled them with 0.05 lead wire. This was then trimmed just proud of the plastic to represent spark plug heads. An indentation into the top of each one and then CA attached 0.03 lead wire and connected to the styrene rod I had added earlier: Same for the other side and some other plumbing bits: Ignition cables on the top: And a start on the firewall: A few more bits then I shall start shooting paint on the engine. The airframe is sort of in limbo until I get the armament inserts back this weekend but I hope to have some colour on there shortly. Regards, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 After the good vibe of the weekend show and getting my gun parts back from my sub contractor Matt Gilks, I decided to put them to the test. Removed all the material from the inner plug and carefully sanded, filed the excess plastic and prayed. Got the shape and position of the MG sorted. It is necessary to remove some material from behind the insert as the base of the MG is round and won't go into a square hole: It took a little jockeying into position and then set with CA before gluing the inserts: The cannon are not cemented in as yet and there is some cleaning up to do: I sat the engine in its cradle and just test fitted it to the airframe: Some colleagues have indicated the detail work on the spark plugs and cables will interfere with the fit of the braces (parts Q) and they had to remove their work to get it to fit. I have reworked the cables so they are closer to the engine. An initial test fit indicates if I carefully sand down the marked areas on the Q pieces to make it 2 x 45 degree angles rather than 1 x 90 degree (approx) it may fit: Speaking of the engine, I finally put some paint on something: Regards, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 So...I have removed the marked material from the Q pieces and it now appears they will allow the work on the spark plugs to stay (yay): Both are now complete and have been test fitted with success. I started plumbing the firewall and engine supports using various thickness lead wire. It is not exact and to be honest I don't know where a lot of it actually goes but it appears to correspond to most of the other on line and referenced builds: I then used BMF to form clips for the cables and pirpes where they ran along various structures. There are still some open ended cabling to be completed but I then shot the RAF Interior Green on the assembly: The panel supports have had the holes drilled out and painted: I also did the interior of the wing joins and the areas around the engine pod that will probably not be seen but if I left them unpainted you could bet they would be seen! I got a bit excited by progress and will have to work out how to paint the details as I have secured the engine bearers, oh well: Thanks for checking in and regards, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 Well, it has been a while between updates. I found the building of the engine became obsessive. I would get to a point where I would say. "Okay, that's it." Then I would say, "Maybe just a little more detail....." Anyhow, I got a chance to try out the AK Interactive True Metal line and I am impressed. I still have to "master" working with a wax but it definitely is something to bear in mind. Onto the pictures with the beginning of the engine detailing: Basic plumbing installed with lead wire and BMF for retaining clips. Painted with Tamiya copper and MM Aluminium: Now this is where the AK Interactive True Metal Copper is added. You can hopefully see it is a smoother application than the Tamiya paint: Here is the TM on the aluminium parts and buffed after about 30 minutes: I have never used a pure metallic "paint" before and it certainly is a very nice finish. I did find, however, that the TM was a little delicate, in that being an unsealed wax, it tended to continue to rub off when handled and sometimes in applying it with a brush, you removed too much and the bare primed plastic showed through. I will go into that in my next post. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Back with more... As I said the TM was applied with a brush, dipped in white spirit to dilute it. I had a learning curve trying to apply it as I tended to overdo the brushing, removing material and having to let it dry before trying again. You can see some exposed areas on the picture below: But I continued with that and added some decals from the Airscale Allied cockpit placards set to the engine and the other appropriate places: It was about this time I was getting bogged down with my engine obssessive disorder, so I decided to break out the MDC 250lb bombs as a distraction. Here they have been prepared, primed, sanded and the fins and tail ring removed from the frets. I annealed the rings and used my Small Shop PE set to make them into almost perfect circles: I then struggled to fit the tail fins and after two sessions put them away for later. If anybody has a secret for successfully putting them together, I would love to hear it! Anyway onwards! Testors Lacquer glosscoat, followed by a 50/50 Black/Dark Shadow oil wash for the parts I had ready: The engine was already glossy so just an oil wash with "Engine Grease" for this: Regards, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 After a couple of days to let the oils dry, I applied a coat of Testors Lacquer Flat to all the assemblies. The MLG wheels then had their BMF protective covers removed and the MLG assemblies, less wheels were put together: The engine bay rear wall and associated plumbing: And finally, the engine: There is still some more pipework to be added but that will be done after the engine is installed into its position. I hope to finish the engine pod this weekend and set it aside so I can get back to the airframe proper. Regards, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repeater Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 All the work is paying off - engine bay, wiring etc looks great - definitely worth the effort. How does the engine look in the cradle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 All the work is paying off - engine bay, wiring etc looks great - definitely worth the effort. How does the engine look in the cradle?A bit like this: A few touch ups to be done and some more plumbing. Thanks for looking and regards, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Just a quick addition. I added the engine to its cradle, attached the coolant tank which had been augmented with some scratch built details. Some more plumbing (to be painted). Some touch ups to be done: Thanks for looking. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted May 24, 2015 Author Share Posted May 24, 2015 Hello all, I did a little bit of late night work, re-routing the coolant tank plumbing and secured it with BMF clips, which will be painted later. I also used Tamiya tape to make connectors for some of the other piping, securing it with CA: I added sope more plumbing/wiring to the starboard side and I then set about the anti chafing pads on the engine support frames. I firstly tried my new BFF, BMF, but it didn't give me the result I was after. I then turned to ye olde Tamiya tape and sliced 1-2mm strips and secured these to the framework. After about two hours I ended up with this: Quite happy but cross eyed by this time. The TT could be a little thinner, but the scale thickness is better IMHO. Regards, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahunaminor Posted May 24, 2015 Author Share Posted May 24, 2015 Engine work continues: Regards, 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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