Skypirate's Hideaway

[Clashcityrocker]

Another one for your son to play with?

Nigel

[skypirate]

Another one for your son to play with?
Nigel

No way! I hope my interest in military aeroplanes is buried in his subconscious, awaiting the Day of Awakening, but he is long since immersed in computer hobbies.

cheers,

David

[skypirate]

Where has that last month gone?
I have been distracted by our local annual model exhibition, and then an IPMS meeting in Sydney. So, only got back to serious bench work this weekend.
This was my display at the model exhibition:



While I was there I made a little progress on the 1/72 Crusader. Here the canopy parts are being test-fitted:



That is a resin replacement seat with fuse wire pull handles. And the nose cone has been filed and sanded to the more pointy early shape.



And the 1/48 Tornado has all the underside decals done. All that is left are the zillion 'no step' stencils all over the top side.



Here is an overview of all the bits waiting to come together:



When the decalling is finished and another coat of Pledge protects the lot, I will have some work to do on the canopy and remaining fiddly bits.
Thoughts are now swinging to another fresh kit on the work bench! What shall it be!?

Thanks for looking,

David

[Stuart]

Lovely work on the F-8 and that Tonka David!

[Clashcityrocker]

Nice competition display. That Hercules looks nice flying above it all. The Crusader and Tornado are coming along well too.

Nigel

[PaulBradley]

Nice display, David!

[rednef6]

very nice work !
sack saucer is very cool, never seen one before

[Marek]

Very nice display! This must have been very rewarding month in general.

[ShaunW]

The Crusader and Tornado are both looking excellent David and what a great display you put on there.

[feanor]

Ayup David...

Very nice mate !

[skypirate]

Thanks, chaps! It was a busy exhibition.
Here is a link to the weird and wonderful Sack AS 6:
http://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t ... =Sack+AS+6

cheers,

David

[rednef6]

thanks for the link on the sack as6
now I must find one !

gino

[Narayan]

Brilliant display David.

______________
Narayan

They may be drinkers, Robin, but they're still human beings.

A:B 2015 10:03 2014 21:04 2013 39:12 2012 20:05 2011 11:10 2010 44:12 2009 19:16 2008 16:03 Overall 263:70

[skypirate]

Well, today I finished decalling the Tornado. Whew!
Lots of silvering in the tiny stencil and wing walk decals. I hope another coat of Pledge will help tone that down.

In the meantime, I have a kit of the Accurate Miniatures 1/48 Avenger with a terribly short-shot upper wing. This is a very fine kit, possibly the best kit I have ever built (a few years ago), so I grabbed another one, and found this fault.
Correction started:



I have cut styrene card to fill the huge gap. It will be scribed and rivetted after it is all smoothed into the host surface.
This is what it looks like from the other side:



Elsewhere, the Airfix Whirlwind HAS.22 got some attention at the recent model exhibition, where I did dome fettling to keep the punters interested:



Those cockpit windows are a very poor fit, but it is a 1958 kit! All the other window apertures will be filled with Kristal Kleer.



And the fuselage is closed up with some lead weight in the nose.
The box top displays the scheme I will finish it in, to match my Airfix Sea Hawk of similar vintage:



Tomorrow I expect to mount the Sidewinders on the Tornado inner pylons and dress up the cockpit canopy a bit.

cheers,

David

[skypirate]

Today that Tornado drove me crazy. Italeri fights back!
The 2nd mainwheel axle broke today. The 1st broke a couple of weeks ago. Both have been replaced with paperclip dowels and superglue.
Then I discovered I had installed the nosewheel leg back-to-front! So, yanked it off and same treatment there.

Here, the same method is used to fix the Itlaeri Sidewinder rails to the Airfix pylons. Tiny paperclip dowels already placed in the launch rails; matching holes drilled in the pylons.
Superglue and polystyrene cement will hold the assembly together.



The main undercarriage doors have no positive location. All those curves do not help. The Italeri instruction sheet has some very optimistic directions!
Instead I am adding some of my own bits and hope that together with the single door retraction strut, it will all stay put.



One of those landing lights fell off the workbench and I could not believe that I couldn't find it. (No carpet monster under my workbench). It was hanging on my jeans for about 15 minutes!
I did not get to the canopy today. Still many other fiddly bits to attend to.

The 1/48 Avenger short-shot upper wing has been puttied, sanded, scribed and primed:



That will have to do until normal construction takes care of blemishes, and painting should render it quite passable.

Thanks for looking,

David