Airfix 1/72 Nimrod WIP

Update - over the past few days, I've been giving the panel lines an oil paint wash. It's quite a large model, with more panel lines than you might think, so this took longer than expected.

For the undersides, I used Prussian Blue, and Burned Umber for the uppersurfaces. I then added some Lamp Black to both these colours, and went over the control surface hinge lines and edges again. Standard oil wash technique - thinned paint (using artists' turps) flowed into the panel lines with a fine brush, left to settle for a few minutes, then wiped off in the direction of airflow with a dry cloth and cotton buds, and then with one slightly dampened with turps. Here are some piccies:

Underside:

Uppersurfaces:

Next up - detail assembly and varnish. Meanwhile the Komets are pretty much finished.

Cheers,

Chris.

I've just varnished the model - two coats of Humbrol Mattcote for a 'not quite matt' effect - and removed the transparency glazing. Airfix were right not to bother with detailing the flight deck. The only things I can see through the glazing are the pilots' faces and their headphones. Other than that, it's all very dark in there.

Cheers,

Chris.

This afternoon, I tried to install the jet exhausts. Fit was very tight, and I managed to open a seam by the exhausts while doing so. Then the carpet monster ate one of the exhausts....

So I found a length of copper tube of suitable diameter, and cut off four pieces the same length as the kit parts. I filed down the thickness of the tubing from the inside, held these over a candle to give a heated, blued and burned look, quenched them in water, and polished them. To be honest, they looked better than the kit parts, so I painted the interior of the exhaust housings black, and superglued them in place. Here they are:

Cheers,

Chris.

Work continues on the weapons bay doors, of which more anon. However, meanwhile, the Komets are finished. A fun build, and more nteresting colour schemes than the Nimrod. Fit of the cockpit canopies was not of the best, however, and they had to be faired in with repeated applications of Tippex. I suppose that, with the Academy kit at least, I could have just left the canopy open. With the Hobbyboss kit, it's moulded in one piece with the rear 3/4 glazing (though quite what you're supposed to do, in a Me.163, if you spot a P-51D on your 'six' must be something of a moot point....)

Cheers,

Chris.

Final construction stages are complete! The last major components were the weapons bay doors. These needed careful trimming and test-fitting in order to fit neatly. One area of frustration was the door actuating jacks. These were shown anchored to the inner and outer edges of the doors, while even a glimpse at the real thing ould have shown that the actuators are fixed to a point halfway between the inner and outer edges of the doors at one end, and to rails in the weapons bay at the other. I therefore scratchbuilt these rails, and installed the actuators in the correct position. The actuators, incidentally, bear not even the slightest resemblance to the real thing, being, mostly, hydraulic jacks.The kit parts are just rod structures, with no attempt to reproduce the real thing accurately.

I next installed the torpedos. I coundn't find any reliable photos of these weapons, so I left them painted semigloss white with a brown acrylic ink wash, to give some depth and interest. I cemented them in place with white glue, so that If I later find some reliable piccies, I can remove and modify them.

Further detail work included installing the Sidewinders and the navigation lights. For these latter, I used Bare Metal Foil, rubbed down, cut to shape, and then painted with Tamiya acrylic clear red and green. Final work was to install the electronics aerials, including the long wire ones. The locating points for these had to be scratch-built from brass rod, and the wires themselves from lycra rigging thread.

And there it was - finally - complete!  Project started February 13th, completed April 7th. Almost two months - the longest model aircraft build I've undertaken since a Tamiya 1/32 Mitsubishi Zero about seven years ago. Next up, something nice and simple - this year's instalment of the Heller 1/100 HMS Victory...

Piccies and final comments to come.

Cheers,

Chris.

And here, indeed, are the piccies:

Must get a bigger piece of blue paper!

Final comments to come when I've had a chance to assemble my thoughts.

Cheers,

Chris, and kudos to the Plastic Penguins and the Apprentice Chicks for their sterling efforts. Double gin all round!

OUTSTANDING!!!

Great work Chris, really looks the part.  I like the exhaust/brass tube idea- have to remember that one when my F-86 comes to the bench.

As far as SWMBO is concerned, simply state-

If you want (or expect to have) things both ways around here, then you married the wrong guy! :)

Outstanding, Chris.

You've really caught the feel of '34 and the look of weathered and patched hemp. Magnificent! 

Chris,

I have really enjoyed following your build and have learnt a great deal from the tips you have placed on the web. I'm looking forward to getting my Nimrod kit out of the box and starting to build it when I get some spare time to get stuck into it. I've spent over 17 Years flying on the MR2 at Kinloss and the R1 at Waddington so I'm still deliberating over which version to build. Your model looks great.

GREAT LOOKIN BUILD!!!!!!

Hi Monkey, and welcome!

BUild the MR.2. It comes in more interesting colour schemes, and if you open up and detail the weapons/ sensor bay, the MODPlod won't be coming round for you - which they would if you did this on the R.1!

Cheers,

Chris.

Thanks for the complementary comments, guys!

A short tail-note: A few days after I bought the kit, in early February this year, I sent an email to Hornby/ Airfix alerting them to the decal issue. Today, some six weeks after I cmpleted the model, and more than three months after my initial message, I received a replacement decal sheet. Unfortunately, they were no better than the first ones:

The decal, which is a spare 'faded' Type B roundel from the new sheet, is shown against the starboard upper wing of a Fujimi 1/72 F-4S 'Black Bunny', which I've just finished for a review in another magazine, and which happeneed to be the nearest gloss-finish model I had to hand. I think you can see the nature of the problems.

If Hornby wish to establish a reputation for quality for Airfix, I think they may have to accept that doing the decals on the cheap is not going to help them do this.

Cheers,

Chris.