Aeroclub 1/72 English Electric P.1A conv

[JamesPerrin]

How about using WD40 as a mould release

Yes a good idea. The petroleum jelly was the first thing I saw suggested and I had some to hand.

[DavidWomby]

Excellent. If you have any spares, I'd love to take one off your hands (he said cheekily).

David

[TeeELL]

What great work James, you have mastered the art of vac-forming very well indeed.

[iggie]

Impressive stuff!

[Stuart]

Very impressive work James - I'm in awe, That master you moulded out of platiscard, milliputt and tape looked superb.

[ShaunW]

That is something of a masterclass in vac forming, James!

[SJPONeill]

Totally inspiring, James, might have to knock out a bit of overtime for one of these as many of my vacs have super yellowed canopies now, plus a number of paper models come with formers for DIY vac canopies...

[JohnRatzenberger]

Another excellent trip through “thinking it out” land.

[B4en]

That is some magnificent work James!

[shangos70]

More great problem solving going on. The canopy really turned out well with the tape frames.

[Flipper23]

Amazing skills and superb work on a beautiful subject !

[TeeELL]

James,
Why don't you use the ‘positive’ that you have created rather than casting a ‘negative’? I realise that the canopy it will be fractionally larger - but only by about 0.2mm. You should be able to remove the PETG without needing any release media. I create plaster ‘positive’ moulds and don’t use any form of release agent.

[skypirate]

I am gobsmacked by your moulding and vacuforming skills and equipment, James!
Not to mention scribing and riveting!
This is going to be a knockout model!

Cheers,

David

[JamesPerrin]

Thanks all.

Up next was recreating the intake trunking. Aeroclub do supply parts for this important feature but they don't really work. The cross-section doesn't meet that of the intake and doesn't have the "lump in the throat" which is caused by the nose wheel bay.



To allow for a sharp intake lip I decided to make my replacement part stop short of the lip. I carved a recess into the plastic for it butt against. This will help avoid sanding through the walls when blending it in. A former matching this recess was created.



...and then a profile with space for the nose wheel. The bulkhead is a kit part that also forms the back of the cockpit.



With some additional horizontal formers, the shape was filled with milliput and sanded to shape. I went back and forth a couple of times to get the nose wheel recess correct.





I cut the mould horizontally using the formers as a guide and then vacformed the parts directly from them, the internal dimensions being what I'm after.



Some fettling still to be done to achieve the final fit, but the outcome is a massive improvement and captures the look of real thing https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1320383

[Stupot]

Nice project James, the intake will look great. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Stu