John's TB.1 * * * Finished * * *

Runs: November 19th to December 23rd
GB Leader: bluesteel
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JohnRatzenberger
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Only a bit done today.

I fit the torpedo crutches into the bomb bay at an angle to hold the torp approximately right, I think. I also modified the Valom doors by taking off the outer part and then replicating it in the slid open position with plastic strip (see picture in my 30 Nov post).

Image

Image

However I see a problem and I think it is the Valom torpedo -- I think the torp fins are too big because it does not fit snug enough to the modified rear gunner station and I think the torpedo should sit back just a bit more. Thus I don't know if the partially open (closed) doors are going to look right. I do know there may be a conflict between the torp and the doors and I'll have to shave about 1/16" off the rear of the doors. It's going to have to do.

Meanwhile, I mounted the landing gear and thinned out the gear doors so they'll look good. The tail structure has been mounted and I took another shot at getting the shape of the fuselage at the upper gunner station right. I think you can see that in the torp assembly picture.

Tomorrow is supposed to be uninterrupted but Wednesday is close to fluttering over the horizon, so I don't know ...
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Jagewa
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by Jagewa »

Great to hear the op went well.

Smashing work on the torp and bomb bay, it's a poser how those torps were mounted with that air tail, the only goodish shot I've seen of a torp with an air tail is this one, a Beaufighter but a good shot of the air tail...
Image
ROYAL AIR FORCE 1939-1945: COASTAL COMMAND.". ".© IWM (CH 9769)IWM Non Commercial Licence
I wonder if its the same type as the Hampdens' carried. I do notice the the fins are not square to the horizontal but angled, looks the same on this Beaufort..
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/album/ ... photo=6127

Great fun, nutting out this stuff.

Cheers
Jim
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JohnRatzenberger
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Thanks, Jim. Yes, first thing I noticed was the non-square fin mounting. What few photos I have suggest the fin was square mounted on the Hampden, but that indeed may not be true. What I do see however is that the size of the fin in this photo matches with what I can see in Hampden photos which confirms (to me, at least) my statement that Valom's is far too big and justifies my trimming it down.
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Brews wrote:If it is at all helpful, I measured the torpedo to be approx 5m long. I suppose you need a more accurate length meausurement, though.
I don't think it is the torp length in this case but rather the diameter across the fins being a tad too much ... although it could simply be that I am not working from drawings much less any sort of decent photo. Or it could be the length of the Valom fins, after all they did get the MAT size wrong.

I am tempted to do a bit of surgery to one fin on the assumption that it'll be hidden away .... that would allow me to move the torp back a bit and it'll look closer to what I think it should.
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

First thing I did, as I thought about above, was to lop off a small piece of one fin so the torp would fit down and back a bit better in the bay. I don't think it will be noticeable ... and if it is, I have a ready-made story about a narrow slot in the gunners station that the fin slides into ...

Image

Next up was to put on the wings, which I have done. Any gaps are filled but not sanded out, so I have some work to do there.

Image

I think the wings are on straight but I have a slight twist to the tailplane; hopefully not real noticeable -- I'll just have to watch my camera angles.

I also fit the Engines & Things engines to the nacelles and started painting of same prior to assembly. I decide to use the Airfix glass but may change for some pieces depending on how detail fitting goes. I have drilled out the hole for the pilot's nose gun. Hardest part will be modifying the ventral gunner main and side glass.
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by Jagewa »

Good luck on the ventral glass, I can't get over how small a space it was until I came across this photo.. http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205090495, it must have been tight with the space reduced, I wonder if they used them on CC planes at all.

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Jim
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Oh, I konow -- it's hard enought to imagine how they got in there, much less out again, and it is obvious how little field of fire they actually had ...
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Today was mostly spent cleaning wing roots, assembling engines, and doing glass.

I decided to go with the kit glass rather than the Falcon vac. I drilled a spot for the pilot MG, masked each one, and then glued them to the fuselage. You'll see by the upper gunner station that I am going to mount the guns, even though it's just sitting on the ground. I also got the Engines & Things engines in the cowls, reasonably centered, etc.

Image

Then came the lower glass. Since I had to cut it to fit the reduced station, I decided to also have it open with the guns sticking out. That meant a very careful angle cut, but unfortunately I managed to crack the glass badly. I should have stuffed it with Blue-Tac before cutting but didn't. So I went to plan B which was to chop up the Falcon vac piece and use it. I am just hoping that piece holds when it comes time to pull the masking tape. And I still have the two side windows to put in ....

Image

So, I should be ready to start painting tomorrow, which of course is the last day of the GB, so there is no chance get done on time ....
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Friday: last little bits on, first coat of Sky on ....

With the kind extension given by our leader, I'll be able to wrap up in a couple-three days ....
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

No pix, boring ....

2 coats of Sky are on and dried. 1 coat of MSG is on and dry, 3/4 of a coat is on and drying (I had to have somewhere to hold) ...

Should be decaling tomorrow, assuming I figure out if I really, really have white codes of the correct size in the stash ... :oops:
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by Martin R »

John,

Following with interest and looking forward to seeing the pics when available.

regards,

Martin

PS Posting on Christmas night coz "Downton Abbey" is on the TV and I've been banished by my wife!
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JohnRatzenberger
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Martin R wrote:John,

PS Posting on Christmas night coz "Downton Abbey" is on the TV and I've been banished by my wife!
Is that a new (ie, 2nd) season ?
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by Martin R »

jRatz wrote: Is that a new (ie, 2nd) season ?
It was a Christmas special. According to my wife, the last season shown over here was the 2nd, so presumably you have that to look forward to.

Personally, I don't like it. Not enough planes . . .

regards,

Martin
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Here's a picture ... of problems ...

Image


You'll notice the right wing roundel has gone all wierd. It's a problem if it doesn't settle out as I have no more 63" scale B-roundels. If I have to puul them off, they'll go back as 66.5". Also the fin flashes aren't laying down nicely around the leading edge.

I have the Model Alliance sheet Paul & Bluesteel were using but I think, from my photos, the MA fuselage roundel is too small as are the codes. They appear to have a scale 18" roundel and slightly larger codes. As 36" is too big, I faked a 27" roundel by using a 48th scale 18" roundel (the math is left to the reader). From a set of post-war white letters, I found some of the approximate same size. They at least went on OK, or seem to have so far.

Tomorrow I have the a/c serial to apply, the fin flashes to fix up, and see what I have to do about the wing roundels.
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Re: John's TB.1

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

I spent part of a night feding Micro-Sol to the Hampden and the patient is healthier .... I had to do some touch-up on the one roundel -- White Ensign Roundel Red matches pretty well. I also got the serials on and then I saw I had a note that some aircraft had a small white code on ech side of the nose so I added them.

With decals on, I flipped it over and put in the torpedo -- remember a few days ago I did some "surgery" to make it fit better.

Image

Then I zipped around doing all the little things, formation lights, landing lights, paint touch-up, props, antenna, etc -- and the bomb bay doors.

Image

Image

All in an effort to make this thing look like my interpretation of what the TB.I actually looked like. I'm not totally successful -- I think I could have done "some things" to the bomb bay doors and maybe the torp itself to get it all to sit better ... but it'll have to do.

Image

And, oh yes, here's the top side ....

Image

Image


I have 5 things to do tomorrow -- right now everything is drying so minimize chances of an attack by the killer dullcoat ....
1. Dull coat
2. Unmask
3. Repair damages
4. MG's top & bottom
5. Antenna wire

So with a bit of good fortune, I'll have final pix sometime tomorrow ....
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