Frog DH Hornet (F239) 1/72 - AndrewR and Lancfan

[ShaunW]

As I've come into this half way through I've now had a look back and you are both doing sterling work with this old kit. Yes, it is a lot of work and faffing about but the aircraft is such a nice looking subject it will all be worthwhile I'm sure.

[AndrewR]

I'm enjoying this. I've just spent an hour sanding down the joints, and a bit more work on the leading edge intakes will do it for the basic airframe. I'm tempted to leave off the weapons and pylons and leave it as a clean airframe, as it's such a stylish piece of design.
The good thing about this kit is that there is not much in the way of difficult modifications to make, just filing, sanding and filling.

Cheers

Andrew

[splash]

Hi guys I just picked up a book called "aircraft of the fighting powers" that is full of a/c plans including the Hornet

I have scanned the Hornet 3 view plan so here is the link.


Regards Splash

[lancfan]

Saved with thanks, cheers Splash.

David.

[AndrewR]

Hi guys I just picked up a book called "aircraft of the fighting powers" that is full of a/c plans including the Hornet

I have scanned the Hornet 3 view plan so here is the link.


Regards Splash

Thanks for that. It's very useful - it looks like I have too much dihedral set

Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.

Cheers

Andrew

[lancfan]

The cockpit is now almost ready for paint, when cutting away the rear canopy frame from the fuselage sides I found that the sides were too thin to save the correct shape behind the canopy so this has been built up using plastic paste, this of course will not be dry until tomorrow when this can be reshaped, the cockpit painted and the fuselage assembled.


David.

[AndrewR]

Looking good, David.

I'm cleaning up the wingroot seams some more.

Cheers

Andrew

[jssel]

Nice work you guys.

@Splash: Nice three view. Printed and set asside for the August blitz.

[AndrewR]

I had some time this morning as Graham has gone to a birthday party and David has physiotherapy. The hands were shaky, but I was okay doing a lot of filing and sanding at the wingroots, followed by priming, and a coat of PRU Blue (well actually, it's US Intermediate Blue, but don't mention that to the Ministry of Supply )



I even had a go at some panel line preshading. The base primer was light grey, and then I used some of the Panzergrau primer to go over those lovely raised panel lines.



I also did a bit of post-shading with the blue lightened a little with some of the medium sea grey, sprayed into the centre of the larger panels.

I think it's okay for a first attempt, and as the model will be on the flight stand, any dodgy bits won't be too noticeable.



I have spotted a few of the said dodgy bits on the upper side wing roots, so I will have to fix that before spraying the Medium Sea Grey uppers. First I'll let the lower surfaces dry, before I start handling the model. Pity I failed to notice them before spraying the blue

Other than that, I washed the remaining sprues in soapy water - there was a considerable quantity of oily residue inside the fuselage and I want to get rid of any of that stuff.

cheers

Andrew

[ShaunW]

Great work gents, nice bit of cockpit detailing David and from where I'm sitting I think the panel shading has worked well Andrew.

[lancfan]

The cockpit is here finished and the fuselage halves are ready to be joined together.


The fuselage is now in one piece and has been set aside for the glue to dry.


David.

[AndrewR]

More smoothing work on the upper wing roots this morning. I should be ready to put on another coat of primer later tonight.
I've also cleaned up and primed the props and tailwheel.
The exhaust manifolds have been slightly modified, to separate the stubs a little more. A few passes with a razor saw and a bit of whittling with a knife between each stub sees to that. It'll only be visible from a few angles, but wasn't particularly time consuming.
I will have to modify the manifold mounts as they are now too wide to fit in the narrowed down slots.

Cheers

Andrew

[Jagewa]

That is a very neat technique with the Milliput for a cockpit David.

You guys are going great guns.

Cheers
Jim

[Stuart]

These are looking great guys - well done!!

[lancfan]

Jim, Sir T, thanks for those words.
Jim, this is a very quick and easy way to provide any model with a 'one-sided' bulkhead or floor and also works with car filler. Because it is pressed/wiped into the shape of the kit parts it will automatically take on the required shape when it is trimmed/sanded down when dry. As for the shared build, this is another example of how useful these are especially when working up an old kit, Andrew and myself have both learnt from the kit and each others methods in improving an old but still worthwhile model.

David.