Academy Hawker Hunter F.6

Hunter F.6 001
Originally uploaded by sisaphus

The Academy Hawker Hunter kits can be a real pain to put together, particularly getting the wings properly aligned and there are also problems with the cockpit.

Starting with the cockpit, the kit parts are very basic and worst of all under scale , the ejector seat is closer to 1/72 than 1/48. Fortunately there are a number of replacements available from after-market suppliers and I chose to use the resin and photo-etch cockpit set from Aries. This includes separate etched harness for the bang seat allowing some variation, unlike the all resin ones that all look exactly the same. A further benefit of having a large lump of resin in the nose is that it helps to balance the model overcoming tail sitting.

The problems with fitting the wings was not so easy to solve as they stem from the way the way Academy designed the kit. They have included the intake trunking and the engine compressor fan which all have to be assembled and inserted into the fuselage before it is glued together and the wings built as separate sub-assemblies are then meant to slide over the parts of the trunking that protrudes though the sides of the fuselage. However there is no clear indication or positive location points to ensure that the assembly is aligned  so that the trunking is square to the fuselage's vertical datum line. This is further complicated by the huge wing root cutouts in the fuselage sides into which the wing sub-assemblies are supposed to slot, with only small locating lips a the front and back. Their profiles do not match those of the the wings in depth, the distance between top and bottom of the wings is less than the cutout's resulting in gaps. In the end, after a couple of abortive attempts resulting in damage to the trunking I resorted to building a stubby box spar profiled to fit inside the wing roots using plastic card in place of the trunking. With this in place inside the completed fuselage I was able to adjust the alignment by simply rubbing down the upper or lower surface until the wing slid into place correctly. Of course this meant that the plastic card spar was visible through the intakes, but a couple of FOD guards also fabricated from plastic card solved this difficulty.

Once this was done the rest of the kit was straight forward and resulted in a model that looks like a Hunter capturing its elegant lines.

The model was finished in the markings of no. 19 Squadron using Aeromaster decals, the paint used for the camouflage was Extracylics and the undersides were painted with Tamiya titanium silver.


This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

The "Unbuildable" Fonderie Miniature Halifax

Handley Page Halifax
Originally uploaded by sisaphus
As I mentioned in an earlier post the Fonderie Miniatures 1/48 scale Handley Page Halifax Mk III has been described as "Unbuildable", here is a photograph that disproves that claim.

This Halifax was on the Quarter Scale Group's stand at the East Midlands Model Show, Hinckley, Leicestershire 25th April 2010. I am not 100% certain as to the identity of the builder (If it is your model please contact me and I will be happy to credit you).


Finished as "Friday the Thirteenth" this model shows what can be achieved with the F.M kit by a top class modeller and is and inspiration to other modellers. 

I have two of these kits currently under construction (see previous post) and will be charting my progress with them in this blog, I just hope that I can come close to the standards demonstrated  with this example. 


Certainly the F.M. kit requires a lot of work and is not for the the novice but anyone who has some modelling experience should be able to achieve and acceptable result with some time and patience.


This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Aircraft Detail for Modellers Group at Flickr.

As a result of some feedback that I have received and having reviewed my viewing statistics I have set up a new group on Flickr called “Aircraft Detail for Modellers”.

I was amazed to find that the most popular photograph on my photostream at Flickr was this picture of the pilot's seat from one of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's aircraft. A conversation with a friend and fellow modeller explained the reason, he is building the Tamiya 1/32 scale Spitfire and had used my photo as reference for painting and detailing the seat in his model. This led me to think – it would be a good idea to create a resource on Flickr to enable modellers who are also Flickr members to post and share their photographs of aircraft details so that other modellers can access and use them?

The more I thought about this the more I was convinced that it would be of benefit to other modellers, I have often wished that I could quickly access a photographic reference rather than trawl through a pile of books and magazines to find that elusive detail that is needed to complete a model only to be frustrated and the model put to one side. The advantage of this group will be that, assuming modellers post their photos, any other modeller can view the picture and use it as a reference, this would be especially useful were there is only one example of the aircraft in a museum or collection thousands of miles away in another country so a day trip to take a few photos is out of the question.

To be truly effective the group needs to have lots of people posting their photos to build substantial pool of pictures, so if you are already a Flickr member please become a group member and post your detail photographs. If you are not yet a member, have a look at what is already there by clicking on the link below and if you like what you see and want to participate, open an account (The basic account is free, a “Pro account” is $24.99 a year) and start posting.


Aircraft Detail for Modellers at Flickr.


This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Dragon Focke-Wulf Fw-190 A-8

 

Dragon kits have a lot of very finely moulded detail but the fit often leaves a lot to be desired. Unlike Tamiya, their designers do not seem to keep in mind that the kits are going to be constructed by people with widely differing abilities, the plastic is quite thin and delicate and frequently the parts lack clear or positive location points making assembly something of a trial and error process. Because of this the major parts such as the fuselage halves usually require reinforcement otherwise things tend to come apart even with the carefullest of handling.

This Fw-190 A-8 is no exception and in particular the undercarriage legs proved to be an absolute swine to get symmetrical with just the right degree of toe-in. My first three attempts resulted in the model sitting at varying drunken angles to left or right with the third being the least bad. Although in all other respects it was finished, I put the model away in a box for about a year, not wanting to display the thing in that state. In the end I dug it out, took off the undercarriage and with a good deal of trepidation tried to get it right and, believe it or not, everything slotted neatly into place without the slightest problem at the first attempt!

The paint used was Extracolor (It was built before I had become a convert to acrylic paint) and the decals are from Aeromaster set No. 48-061.

This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Interview with Wing Cdr W "Taffy " Holden

In the post about my 1/48 scale Lightning F.1 I mentioned that the aircraft that I had finished the model as, had been taken on an unintentional flight by an engeneering officer, Wing Commander Walter "Taffy" Holden at RAF Lynham. By chance I came across the video below on YouTube, to be strictly accurate it is a still photograph of the actual aircraft preserved at Duxford as backgrown to a recording of an interview with the retired Taffy Holden on the BBC Radio 2, John Dunn Show some years ago.The matter of fact tone that he takes and his obvious concern for the safety of others in the predicament that he found himself in, only adds to
the admiration for his cool handling of a situation that would leave most of us jibbering!


Video from YouTube




This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Handley-Page Hampden 1/72 Scale

This model was built back in the mid nineties and was actually awarded a commended in the Bomber Command Trophy at the IPMS Nationals in the year that it was finished. It still appears from time to time on the Bomber Command SIG (Special Interest Group) display table at model shows

It is built from the old Airfix kit with quite few improvements, the wing tips were reshaped and a lot of internal detail was added (Little of which is visible). The tail and tail boom required a fair amount of reworking and filling to correct gaps and areas were the tools appear to have been damaged resulting in moulding faults.

The paint used was Extracolor and the decals came from Modeldecals range of roundels, codes and serials.

Although it requires some work the Airfix kit is not a bad representation of the aircraft, for sure the moulds show their age, but the kit has been around since the late sixties after all.

Sometime in the future I intend to tackle the Fonderie Miniature 1/48 scale Hampden but must get a few existing projects finished first!
 


This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Normanrie Niemen Yak-3

This Yak-3 is built from the Eduard kit and is finished in the markings of Normandie-Niemen Regiment, the Free French fighter unit operating within the Soviet Air Force.

The model is built pretty much straight from the box and uses the kit decals, the paint is from the old (Original) Aeromaster acrylics range.

The Normandie-Niemen unit fought a distinguished campaign on the easten front from 1943 and one of its Yak-3s is on display at the Musee de l'Air et Aerospace at Le Bouget just outside Paris.

History of Normandie-Niemen at Wikipedia.
Normandie-Niemen Museum (In French).
Photographs of the preserved Yak-3 at Le Bourget.


This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.