Brickie's Svenska Hampden

[Brickie]

Right, the play is over - full houses, rave reviews, blah blah blah ;) - so it's time to crack on with the Suitcase before Dora Dora Dora starts as well. I'll finish off the interior tonight and try to get a couple of photos uploaded.

[Brickie]

OK, here we go.

First up, I finished off the interior...





It's a bit scruffy, but I don't think it'll be overly visible anyway so I'm not bothered.

[Brickie]

... then stuck it together ...



... before adding the tailplane and the bottom of the tailfins (leaving the tops off for the moment), assembling the wheels, painting the insides of the wheelbays and attaching the main undercarriage strut as per the instructions. Close of play today:

[Brickie]

There are a number of fit problems which will be fun to fill - possibly my fault due to slightly over-exuberant sanding off of flash...

The ventral gun position is a particular mess:



The nose forward of the cockpit is not too clever either. That has been reglued slightly since, but it's still going to need some filling and sanding.



And the canyon between the bomb bay door and the fuselage on the starboard side is definitely my fault for getting all enthusiastic and gluing before dry-fitting properly.



Also note the edge of my cardboard spar box - as discussed earlier, I'm going to need to cut a bit out of the wing tab for that. The tabs are far too thick to go in the holes as well, so there was going to need to be some attention paid anyway.

[Brickie]

I also realised that I'd cemented the fuselage shut without adding the twin-gun mount for the rear dorsal turret.

Actually, that's a point. Does anyone know if the Swedish evaluation Hampden was armed at all?

[Jagewa]

Nice work, I wouldn't sweat the guns, less to bust off, they were removable so no probs, I'd say.

Cheers
Jim

[Brickie]

There are two canopy options for that bit at least - one open and one closed. So it's getting the "closed" version.

[Brickie]

I got a fair bit done this evening, which is good. It's starting to look like an aeroplane. Wings are on, glassware is masked and in place.



In fact, most of my evening was taken up with a reel of Tamiya tape, a very sharp knife and the telly on in the background. I'm actually quite chuffed with the results.



The bottom turret is going to need some serious putty.

[Jagewa]

Tricky masking those curved nose frames. Have you got working undercarriage? a working feature joy

Cheers
Jim

[Brickie]

My ailerons and elevators move freely and - for the moment - so does my undercart (fnar). I'll probably need to fix the undercarriage once it's assembled properly as I don't want it to be wobbly.

OTOH, one of my props came without its shaft, so that's going to have to just get glued in place, so I'll do the same with the other one too.

[Brickie]

Question - is it best to attach engine cowlings, radio antennae, air scoops and general kibbles & bits before priming? Or leave them off to enable you to work better on the surface if priming shows up more sanding needed?

[bluesteel]

Question - is it best to attach engine cowlings, radio antennae, air scoops and general kibbles & bits before priming? Or leave them off to enable you to work better on the surface if priming shows up more sanding needed?

I usually leave them off, as it's inevitable that I'll knock some small aerial off when I'm priming and sanding. Also it's easier to paint the circular metalic part of the cowlings when they are separate than when attached.

[Brickie]

While I'm asking for advice, what would you reckon is the best way to tackle the "wavy" interface between the olive and grey? I'm thinking of attaching a strip of broad masking tape, then using a sharp knife to "carve" the wavy pattern out of it.

[Dazzled]

Impressively speedy work on this, better get that hole in the bottom filled though or the ventral gunner will fall out

As for the "wavy line", I'd mask with tape away from the line then paint the demarcation line in with Maskol or something similar, overlapping the tape with the Maskol. When you lift the tape it should lift the Maskol off too.

[MerlinJones]

If you're capable of holding aknife steadily enough to carve your line out of tape, could you not use the same hand to paint your line?
It looks hand-painted anyways, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about accuracy.

Regards,
Bruce