Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase ***FINISHED***

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bluesteel
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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by bluesteel »

Today I have been mostly doing flying surfaces...

But, and I hope nobody else has done or does this, I made the schoolboy error of not checking the fit of the wings before sealing the fuselage. Then I discovered that the flanges are too thick to fit into the slots. Now the fuselage is sealed with all that interior detail I found it was hard to file the slots wider, so had to resort to sanding down the flanges. Took a while, but they fit OK now. The u/c is in and cemented in the up position with enough wheel showing to poke through the hole in the u/c doors. Then the parts of the tail surfaces was assembled.

Oh, and I squared off the wing tips too.

Image

One other thing I have noticed is, fitting the ailerons into the slots to make them movable, means that there's about a couple of mm gap between them and the wing where the light shows through. So I may have to refit of fill in slightly with a sliver of plastic card as I don't think there's such a gap on the real thing.
Bluesteel

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bluesteel
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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by bluesteel »

Wings and tail now on the Hampden. Lots of filler for the wing roots....

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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by PaulBradley »

So, its not just me! Check you tailplane, Julian - it looks skewed off - I thought the same of mine, but on measuring, I discovered its an optical illusion!! Weird!! :???:
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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by bluesteel »

First undercoat of primer to check for seams that need sorting. Not too bad at all, just a little Tippex now I think. The Halfords primer is almost but not quite the right grey shade for the CC scheme.

Image

@ Paul, yes it looked skewed but must be an optical illusion as you say. I've measured it and it checks out level and straight.
Bluesteel

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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by bluesteel »

Final priming today then sorting out the engines and painting the copper/brass band around the cowling fronts. The paint scheme for L-XA by Model Alliance states the upper surfaces are in Medium Sea Grey and has this as Humbrol 165. It looks OK when I test painted part of the tail area, but 165 is satin and I'm not sure if the scheme would have been satin. Perhaps a coat of Mattcote afterwards may be in order:

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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by JamesPerrin »

Now I like those markings. The almost contempory "shades of grey" with the strong national insignia looks rather neat. Kind of remind me of the RAF's high altitude markings.
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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by bluesteel »

My first major issue with this build tonight, not with the kit but with the Humbrol 165, it just doesn't seem to want to play ball with the airbrush, no matter what the amount of thinning it keeps blocking and spattering. I've had to sand the uneven 165 all off and re-prime. I think I might go to plan B and Mattcote the Primer as it's pretty close to H165 anyway and I've already taken off too much surface detail with sanding and re-priming anyway.
Bluesteel

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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by bluesteel »

Finally removed all the bad paint, re-sanded and resprayed. Then the engine cowlings attached - I thinned down the gills substantially beforehand:

Image


Then the underside in sky. The Airfix bomb doors are just clipped in as a mask prior to fitting the open doors for the Torpedo.

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Bluesteel

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Martin R
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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by Martin R »

Looking good, Julian!

How well do the transparencies fit?

regards,

Martin
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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by Dirkpitt289 »

Sweet build
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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Getting way ahead of me ....
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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by bluesteel »

Martin R wrote:Looking good, Julian!

How well do the transparencies fit?

regards,

Martin
The transparencies as supplied fit surprisingly well for a kit from such old molds. Although they are rather thick and light distorting, so if you wanted to show more interior detail you'll need vacforms. But I'm quite happy to use the kit ones.
Bluesteel

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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by PaulBradley »

Nice!

I also found the transparencies to fit pretty darned well, considering. Masking is going to be a pain though...
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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by bluesteel »

Tonight I have been mostly holding my breath and wracking my nerves, manipulating minuscule PE as I build the torpedo:

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Re: Bluesteels Torpedo in a Suitcase

Post by Jagewa »

Wow! That PE looks fantastic.

Cheers
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