A tribute to XX411

[splash]

Nice work Jeff

[bromo]

How's the build coming along Jeff?

[jssel]

Better than the Fokker. Flight deck is completed and ready for paint. Appears to be dark gull grey as in the U.S. during that period. It is a pretty nice model.

[jssel]

Here is XX411 as of tonight.





Holes were drilled in the seat backs to allow the harness to be threaded through.

Next up is some drybrushing on the instruments, a little detailing on the harness, rear seat cushions detailed and painted.

The engine pieces have been put together and clean up started.

[Dazzled]

Coming along great Jeff. The interior colour looks spot on to me.

[jssel]

The cockpit is now about done. Stitching added to the belts etc.



Work progressing on the fuselage. The 3CBAS Gazelles had a simple tubular arm that came out of the fuselage for ordinance mounting. The kit featured an older style that I do not believe was accepted for long. So.....using the kit piece, I plugged the hole, sawed off the length and with a little filler and sanding, filled in the offending area.



Work is now shifting to rotor assembly.

[JamesPerrin]

The Airfix Lynx AH1 also comes with the HOT missiles that were never actually used in service. Interior is looking good.

[John Leah]

sweet and neat - I love all the interior fine detail stuff - even if the onlooker of the finnished kit overlooks it, there is nothing more satisfying than doing the neat bits inside .. top marks to you jssel

[bromo]

Great job on the interior Jeff cracking result,look forward to more.

[jssel]

After a couple of pleasant hours on the workbench at Jssel's Heavy Industries, the upper engine housing, push-pull rods and rotor hub is basically together. Compared to pictures the kit parts only lack a small amount of detail. Mainly around the swash plates. Nothing to worry about. Just have to go back and tidy up some details with the 10/0 hairy stick.

Also in this shot is the Fenestron mounted in the tail boom. Careful gluing and the thing actually turns in the hub.



An overview. Note the use of one of Gregers fine walk around pictures to make sure I get it right.

[jssel]

Those pesky rotor blades. With the exception of Italeri, most blades are molded flat. Having had the experience of snapping the thin blades in half manually bending to shape, I have come up with a plan to ease the process. Nothing original about it.

One block of basswood and a small basswood strip makes the device. Tape and clamps do the rest.



Here you can detect the "droop" on the blades.



Using a heat source: I have used hot water or my wife's blow dryer to gently heat the plastic. When cool, the droop remains.
If everything was lined up correctly, the blades are equal upon application.

[bromo]

Nice tip Jeff and thanks for the tutorial on how to do it.

[ShaunW]

Great stuff Jeff, I love to see ideas like that with the rotor blades!

[Molly-new]

Great work on the interior, and the rotor blade bending jig is inspired. I need a bigger memory space to store all these nuggets that you guys bring up.

[AndrewR]

That rotor bending jig ought to go in the Construction Hints and Tips section. Great idea.