GB: Academy : DR_GN

[dr_gn]

Here's mine. Won't get around to starting it until probably next week, but I have dug out my old RAF tractor and bomb trailer, and a aux. power trolley. I'll try to make a simple diorama out of these things assuming I can refurbish them nicely:





Mine will be out of box apart from the following (all being well!):

Scratchbuilt flaps.
Drooped elevators.
Rudder moved.
Flatted tyres.
Perspex navigation lights.
Cockpit and wheel-well pipework added.

Using the kit decals (JF @ E).
Using airbrushed acrylics (Tamiya and/or Vallejo Air).

Not built a serious 1:72 kit for years, so I will also be borrowing one of these from work:

[dr_gn]

Wrong aircraft but you get the idea.

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

No doc

right aircraft for one of us

But the idea is sound

You finally going for it then Perdu?

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

dr_gn said:

perdu said:

No doc

right aircraft for one of us

But the idea is sound

You finally going for it then Perdu?

I have begun the research and deciding how it should differ from the original moulding stage

I'm about to reprofile the weird Frog wing section that has a trailing edge that looks almost as thick as the leading edge, relatively, then rescribe a few panel lines.

A few minutes with a decent small French file and a number 1 Swanny should suffice.

Then the wheel bay section to be extracted and a new inner built deep eneough to fit real wheels into.

Should take me 'til Sattiday-ish!


bill

Great! Looking forward to progress pics.

I'm just about to order a consignment of lead wire and brass tube etc. for the SE5a. I'm going to add some of the thin stuff to the cockpit and wheel well areas of the Tempest. If you've not tried it, it is excellent for pipes and wires becasue it has virtually no spring to it.

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

Neither I nor the camera are very/any good at this sort of thing but VOILA

the first plastic has been worked

I didn't cut my hand open with the No2 blade (yet)

And the earth still rotates around a type G star

(I expect they have reclassified the star types since I were a lad, but you know what I mean...)

I won't hijackj this thread any more G, I'll do one of my own as I go along

It will not be comprehensive like yours though

I have

no journalistic ability
no decent photography skillset
no sense of urgency

but I am into it again, wonder what SWWSWTBO* will think?

she who wishes she was to be obeyed

Excellent!

I can imagine you taking great pleasure in slicing those gun barrels off and replacing them with brass tube coiled with wire for the recoil springs...

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

but I am into it again, wonder what SWWSWTBO* will think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfzZ4znHE1A&feature=related

[dr_gn]

72twink said:

Not wanting to hijack a thread either but is a Tiffy eligible? When I saw it was Tempests I thought to myself that if only if it'd been Typhoons I'd have been in ........

I've been trying to get Perdu back into modelling for the past 2 years, so anything is eligible for him as far as I'm concerned!

[dr_gn]

72twink said:

Fair enough - I'll stick with my 1/48th 109 E7 Trop ....... I wonder who's recent build influenced that then?

As far as I'm concerned build your Typhoon by all means...it's a very similar looking aircraft to the Tempest, and I'm sure any techniques used would be just as valid.

[dr_gn]

Might as well post a couple of pics on day 1...even though I've not done much:



Must admit I'm surprised the fit of the wings isn't better, both roots-fuselage and there are also very small raised lines on the inside on the ailerons which prevent the wing halves from fitting together (leaves a noticable gap on the trailing egdes):



Easily cured though.

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

I see you have begun your Shagbat dio then, too.

Yup!

[dr_gn]

Here's the look I'm aiming for with the flaps down, elevators drooped.

As yet I've not found a picture of a Tempest with the pilot's door/flap open. I've got some pics of pilots climbing out *over* the cockpit side, but not through the side flap. Presumably it did actually open? Judging by the tiny size of the cockpit opening I can't see much point in going OTT with cockpit detailling.

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

From all the sorting out I've done with my Tiffie so far it seems that after the Typhoon 1B when the sliding canopy appeared the doors fell out of use

The Flight cockpit diagram for the Typhoon shows a sliding hood, but I cannot yet see any actual evidence that the door opened from that point



Then, just to over complicate matters a photo for the cockpit interior shows what could just be a door but shows no sign of an opening handle





Mine will be of the doored variety to eliminate all doubt

I think the 'doors' are actually not very easily removable panels. Reason I ask is if they are indeed inspection/access panels, then there's little point doing much cockpit detail since it will be mostly invisible.

[dr_gn]

Nick_F said:

There's not much 'cockpit green' in evidence, either...

I think if you look in areas other than around the instrument panel there is a bit more.

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

Yes I'd noticed that

basically green then blackish everywhere there's something to see

done a bit of Typhoon

I'll show this then butt out and get a new thread started to share the fun

if you don't want to see this G let me know and I'll pull it 'til my thread starts

Feel free to post here Perdu. Looking better than resin/photo etch already! Are you considering cutting the doors open on this one?

[dr_gn]

Found some more info on the Tempest V 'door', which is actually an emergency access panel. If I decide to have this removed or 'open' in my dispersal scene, then I'll fully detail the interior, otherwise I'll stick to plan 'a' and build it OOB:

[dr_gn]

Instrument panel painted:



Can't help thinking it would be better as a decal. Anyway it's heading for the bin because I think I might get a full cockpit detail kit after all. For 1:72, I can't see any other way of getting the same detail as resin within a sensible timeframe. Plus now I know I can display it with the emergency door removed, it makes more sense. Kind of.

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

optimist



Sorta scary what they miss out isnt it

I'm building a roughly -ish right panel and controls for my Tiffie but I wont have the door open

I am still considering opening the separate canopy door though

I'd consider using that one but make the "blind flying panel" separate with scored detail and such

the panel really was a basically standard shape across the range of aircraft

have you seen this picture it may help you with this bit



Anyway I would work that one up

1/72 doesn't pay back major reworks I found/find

I'll start putting my efforts up for critique tomorrow but I doubt it will be finished any time soon

MMM still finding my way with 1:72. Many ways more difficult than 1:32. Anyhow it's meant to be a learning exercise, and I've never tried resin before. Guess in terms of cockpit detailling it's not really 'modelling', just 'painting' mostly? It's like taking the 2 or so months of work that went into bodge-building the Bf109 cockpit, and replacing all the individual details with one massive lump of stuff?

We shall see.

I thought your Tempest had a car door type arrangement?

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

In 1/72, the effort to super detail cockpits is not that rewarding - although some do like to do it all the same. I tend to just want to add whatever detail is necessary to take any "bare look" off the interior.

I think if it's a cse of bodging a few lumps of resin in there, for the sake of £10 - why not?

The things you can actually see well, like the seat and belts, do look considerably better than the original kit items.

[dr_gn]

Ho well, slow progress tonight. Cut the flaps off (ouch) and elevators. U/C legs partially assembled too:



Also repaired / bodged / filled the Airfix Tractor and bomb trolley, and sprayed it RAF blue. Bizzarre Humbrol colour that: you can watch it dry from gloss to matt when wafted with a hirdryer, but when you tough it it's still moist. Takes another 8 hours or so in a warm room to cure. Wierd - I'm positive that matt enamels didin't take so long to dry in the good old days.

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

Ah...

I hoped that was a primer colour
the actual war time colour is much darker blue than that looks to me

It could easily be a problem with the colour and hue on my monitor but in honesty I've not seen any similar differences

The blue I am thinking of is more like the old Airfix Blue they advised for the tractor in the Stirling kit.

RAF Blue Grey however which was a post war colour mainly, I think is easily looked up as it is a proper Britsih Standards colour (was that BS 381? Kinda think it was)

Huh. What a pisser. It's definitely lighter than it was originally painted by me years ago.

I looked at the Airfix Refuelling Set in the shop to see what blue the refuelling tender was (was the same as the tractor back in the day) and it said Humbrol 96 "RAF Blue", so I bought it and merrily re-painted everything. No big deal to redo it, but I painted my 'Walrus' crane the same colour! (and I aint redoing that).

Typical bloody Airfix dheads.

Ah well, put that down to experience

ETA, luckily it darkens after a couple of coats of Klear, and will darken more after a dark wash and satin varnish presumably (the crane's been "Kleared", the tractor hasn't):

Edited by dr_gn on Wednesday 19th January 00:26