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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

Short Sunderland MkII


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  • 4 weeks later...

Good evening ladies and gents,

I've not updated this thread for a while but I've nevertheless been beavering away with the mighty Sunderland...

I've made four small tabs on the sill of each porthole which will support the glazing when the time comes. Once these have been painted black and the 'glass' is in, they should be all but invisible:

Pic 1

I've also sprayed the bulk of the interior and the bulkheads black for the areas that won't be seen. The forward section and basic flightdeck structure has been given a coat of British Interior Grey/Green:

Pic 2

 

Pic 4

 

Pic 3

There's obviously lots more detailing to be done here, but the basic shapes are coming together quite nicely.

The 'bomb room' in the centre section has been given a base coat of Aluminium in preparation for more detailing:

Pic 5

When the fuselage is closed it should look busy enough when depth charges etc are hanging from the racks:

Pic 6

I've begun making interlocking tabs to help alignment and the joining of the fuselage when the times comes - a must for vacs:

Pic 7

This will give a lovely strong join:

Pic 8

Still lots to keep me occupied on the interior, so until next time...

Tom

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  • 4 months later...
On 11/18/2020 at 7:35 AM, Wingco57 said:

Very nice Tom, I am curious how you will support those wings. That should take a sturdy wingspar.

Wood or brass?

Hi Cees,

Spars will be thick plastic card - I've a tried and tested method of supporting the wings so stay tuned for when the time comes!

I've had the Sunderland out again over the weekend. At some point in my future I'll learn to focus on just one model at a time, but I seem incapable of that at the moment...

Now that I'm happy with the interior structure I've done the final positioning of the bulkheads which are now all firmly in place and give a lovely and strong structure to the model:

51057955471_fda49474ae_b.jpg

I've also begun working on the hefty support frames for the pilots' seats - these will be fitted after the fuselage is together but it's easier to work out dimensions and positioning whilst the halves are separate:

51058038067_88a094cb53_b.jpg

I've also made the mooring winch which sits in the nose as well as the racks for additional depth-charges that reside in the centre bomb room:

51057231763_6b1d57363a_b.jpg

These obviously need to be painted before adding - and then I'll be making some of the smaller details to add to the visible areas of the fuselage before I can close her up!

Regards to all,

Tom

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  • 2 months later...

Evening all,

It's been a while since this build saw any action, so time for an overdue update...

Last time I'd been working on this I had made some good progress with the interior and was more or less ready to join the fuselage halves. I finished off adding some details such as the radio operator's chair to the flightdeck and the depth charge racks to the centre section, as this would be impossible to install once the fuselage was together. I'd also fabricated some beefy wing spars and attached these to the appropriate internal bulkheads:

DSC_0091

I also added some low-tac tape to the interior of the cabin windows to keep dust and debris entering the fuselage to the minimum - this can easily be removed after painting is complete:

DSC_0095

It was then that disaster struck - I was happily working away on the kitchen table when the need for a cuppa meant I got up from the table and unbeknown to me, my hoodie had caught on the rear fuselage and whole lot went crashing to the floor. Typically, it was the side where all the bulkheads were glued and as you can imagine, when it hit the tiled floor it was carnage. The interior sections all came away, some breaking into smaller parts. The nose section was totally destroyed and the flightdeck, stairs and forward floors all smashed into an unknown number of pieces. A mammoth, and totally morale-sapping repair job was needed. I simply picked the whole lot up and put it all into a bin liner - manging to overcome the desire to bin the whole thing - and put it into the back of the attic until I could gather my thoughts and find the mojo to repair it all...

...fast forward a few months and I was in the loft having a rummage and I came across a rather sorry bag of Sunderland parts. Suddenly the accident seemed a distant memory and it was time to get going again. The interior was painstaking rebuilt over a few evenings and then it was a case of adding the two fuselage halves together. This went without a hitch, and here we are now:

DSC_0131 (2)

 

DSC_0133

 

DSC_0134

 

DSC_0136

 

DSC_0138

 

DSC_0143

 

It sure is a big old brute - here it is alongside a 1/32nd F-4J that's entering the home straight, and that ain't small!

 

DSC_0146

Barring any further mishaps, this build is back on track!

All the best,

Tom

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On 6/7/2021 at 11:00 AM, Peterpools said:

Tom

Great save and allowing enough time to regroup the troops is the best way to salvage projects that need more TLC. 
she sure is a BIG beauty

Keep ‘em comin

Pete4

You're absolutely right - some time away is often all that's needed to reinvigorate and refresh...

 The long process of scribing the panel detail has begun. This is the culmination of two nights' work so far - with at least another long session needed to finish the upper fuselage:

51235572285_32f584f87f_b.jpg

 

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Back soon with an update over the weekend, all being well.

All the best,

Tom

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 Taking a break from the tedium of scribing, I've had a look at the mid-upper that was fitted to the MkII Sunderland. 

You get the basic shape of the fairing which is mounted off-set of the centreline (to starboard) on the upper fuselage, and the turret glazing itself (which still has its protective coating on):

51240615749_895b59c0fb_b.jpg

The fairing was trimmed to the correct size using the plans I have, and turret itself has also been trimmed and test fitted after its aperture was opened up:

51240047538_76a9940665_b.jpg

Once the remaining scribing is done on the upper fuse, this will be ready to install.

Take care all,

Tom

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13 hours ago, Wingco57 said:

Great progress you have made Tom.

I have the same transparency to use on the Manchester. Will you keep the framing as moulded or will you alter these?

 

I'm not sure yet, Cees - I have numerous copies of the turret so will look through them to find the best of the bunch as make a decision later down the line.

10 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Nice work...  though it looks more like an alien saucer than a weapon system.

Ha! Yes, so it does!

I've now completed the scribing of the main fuselage panel lines, and given the whole airframe a gentle rub-down with fine sandpaper to make the surface completely uniform.

The detail doesn't show up as well as I'd like in the pictures, but hopefully they'll give you the general idea.

Forward nose section:

DSC_0167

 

DSC_0157

Mid-sections:

DSC_0169

 

DSC_0165

 

DSC_0159

 

DSC_0170

And the rear fuselage:

DSC_0158

The mid-upper fairing has been completed and added, the the turret itself test fitted:

DSC_0172

So... here's the state of play. Fuselage as complete as it needs to be at this stage, so I may have a look at the wings next:

DSC_0154

 

DSC_0161

Until next time,

Tom

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