Variable Geometry: the Swing Wing GB

Wingman_kz

I hope your epoxy support works out.

Well, not quite.  The contact area was not large enough to hold the weight.  Looked good from the get go but when I started sanding the seams, it went pop! and the wing pivots snapped apart.  Had to do a quick fix with Tamiya extra Thin, so hopefully this will hold...

You can see that I've got some work to do to smooth the seams....,so what else is new with this kit...?

For the most part, the fuselage halves fit OK, but still will require some work.  But the bomb bays look OK...

That's it for me because I'm away on a business trip next week; to Bish's neck of the woods.  I trust that  you guys can keep the GB alive in my absence. 

Hey Bish, I'm in Winchester until Friday afternoon.  Are you close by?  If so, send me a quick PM before I board the plane.

Don

Hmmm, looks like we've been bumped off the front page. Can't have that.

Hope she holds Don and have a safe trip.

I'm gonna be pretty busy this week but maybe, just maybe, the Tornado will be complete by the weekend.

Tony

I managed to get the center fuselage section together as well.  I used some of the Testors cement in the triagle shaped bottle for the wing connection pillars and some Ambroid ProWeld for the remainder of the fuselage seams.  There will be some sanding and filling to be done as Pordoi already stated.  I got most of the detail painting done in the cockpit area too.  I will post up some progress pics tomorrow......I hope.

Hey, just bought some internet time and checking in from the south of England.  Thought that the U.K. was dreary ansd rainy but I've had sunny weather in the 70s.  Lucked out.  MacAttack; we are certainly encountering similar challenges.  Keep going; we'll compare notes when the final assembly begins.

Don

pordoi

 MacAttack; we are certainly encountering similar challenges.  Keep going; we'll compare notes when the final assembly begins.

Aye Aye Sir!!

Pordoi: Great job on the JDAMS! It is looking awsome. I especially like the use of the clamps!!! I am still putting the dio base for the Raven together. I have what I want it to look like in my head. Now I just need to get it out of there!

Travis

Man, I'm having a tough time keeping up with this build!

Don your B-1 is looking fantastic. The bombs and bomb bays are really quite stunning.

I've not started the Tornado yet. I'm bogged down with a few other projects, but I've been doing some research. I decided I didn't want to do the 'Black Panthers' markings...I didn't feel like applying those crazy decals....so I looked up an alternative scheme. And I found this.....

It seems rather unique for a Tornado so I thought I'd apply that when I get around to it. Speaking of Tornadoes, there are some really nice looking ones here!

Keep it up fellows, hope to join you soon!

Well....I didn't get as much work done as I had hoped.   It was my wife's birthday after all.  That will be my excuse.    I should get the last bit of detail painting done tonight.  Don't expect too much though.  I didn't go crazy with the detailing because a lot of it won't be seen anyway.   I think the sheer size of the model will be enough to wow someone anyway.

Jon I have seen harriers with white camo for operating in Norway, but never a Tornado. That should be interesting, will be looking forward to seeing that.

Don I have only just seen your post, bugger. I am based not far from Winchester, at RAF Odiham. But last night i came back home to Suffolk for a few more days off. My conection in my room in camp is rubbish so i wasn't able to do much online. What have you been upto over here. You are lucky, this week has been nice and warm. But as usual when we was off work/school it was raining. Well, have a safe flight back.

     Hey Bish, I was over to attend a Conference at the University of Winchester that was organized by Southampton U.  Yes, it seems that we did luck out with the weather.  It was beautiful all week; sunny and highs around 20C.  Great weather to stroll around town and walk in the countryside.  Considering that my hometown in the USA  was topping out at 31-35C, it was a refreshing break.  A shame that we couldn't get together for a beer as I see that Odiham is only about 30km up the M3.  Better luck next time, as I might be back over in the London area next summer. 

    I'm looking forward to getting home, seeing the family and continuing the B1. 

Don

Well if you let me know when you do we can arrange something. I have never actually been to Winchester but of course i know where it is, and a couple of the lads i work with live there. The weather is still good so i have been able to get some of the garden done.

Always good to get home after a trip. I have spent some nice time with the family but still not got to do any of my kits yet.

Sorry all, but it looks like i'm gonna be late starting on the build. Fixing to move in a couple of weeks and gotta start packing now. Hopefully i'll get everything organized quickly so I can start on my Tomcat.

No big deal Medicman.  There is plenty of time left in the GB.  Moving is not fun at all.  If the tomcat is still all boxed up it might be better to start after the move that way nothing gets broken.   Just my   Looking forward to your build, whenever you decide to start.

I do have a small update to my Lancer build.  I attached the tail section to the main fuselage section.  I am just about done with the pit and nose gear bay.

The seams here dont seem all that bad, relative to the rest of the kit.

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Here are a couple pics to show how it looks thus far:

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Thanks for looking.  As always any comments are welcome. 

I was losing my drive to keep working on this monster getting through all the bomb bays.  It has since been renewed ater I got some of the fuselage together.  Now I at least have something to show for all the hours spent in the basement.

Yeah I don't plan on starting it till we move and I get all my stuff set up again. Still need to order some stuff for it too. I hate moving but we're going from an apartment to a house so i'll have more room. Looking forward to it really. Nice work on all the builds. Really liking the Bones too.

macattack80

I was losing my drive to keep working on this monster getting through all the bomb bays.  It has since been renewed ater I got some of the fuselage together.  Now I at least have something to show for all the hours spent in the basement.

I hear ya man. I kinda lost focus on the Tornado and it's so close to being done. I haven't had homework since 1974, one of my professors is a lunatic and all these electrical formulas are driving me insane(er). So, I took an AC Moore 50% off coupon to Micheals and bought a Revell BF109 for $7 and change, went to the hobby shop and bought a couple bottles of Tamiya I didn't have, sat down and cut out all the parts and cleaned them up. Maybe I'm a little looney too. But those are the kinda things I do to get my head back in the game. If I had tried to do the needed detail painting on the Tornado or do some of the final assembly with all that stuff running through my head I would have screwed it up so instead, I do something that I really can't screw up too much. After a while, modeling zen is achieved again.

So tonite, I repainted the AIM9Ls that I didn't do such a good job on last week. Still not perfect but it doesn't bother me as much as it did last week. Also got the marker lights squared away. Now it's just a matter of gluing a few things on and getting some decent pictures. Hopefully I'll have finished pics by sometime Monday.

But I still have homework to do...

Tony

Hey folks, I'm back!

Wingman:  finish your homework first, guy.  We can wait a day or so for the pics of the finished Tornado.

Medicman: good luck with your move.  There's still plenty of time to get going in the GB. 

Kevin:  know what you mean.  alot of work goes into the cockpit and wheel/bomb bays given that those areas will not be very visible in the finished model.  I considered them each a model in themselves so there was a sense of accomplishment as each was completed.  But it is nice to start getting the fuselage together and actually seeing the Bone take shape.  I'm getting ready to attach the tail section myself.

Bish:  will certainly give you a heads up if I'm heading back to the U.K. next summer.

Don

Welcome back Don! Hope you enjoyed your trip.

Tornado is done. Needs a little clean-up from handling but ran out of time this evening, had that blasted homework to finish. Snapped a couple of quick pics but when I get it cleaned up I'll break out the good camera and try to get some better ones. I've made a bunch of mistakes and am pretty disappointed in the acrylic flat coat I used but I'm much better prepared for the next one.

Tony

Very nice Tony.  What didn't you like about the flat coat?  Looks like a pretty flat finish from here.  And mistakes?...  Maybe easy for you to see since you know where you encountered difficulties, but it's not obvious from the photo you posted.  We need to see other pics so that we can find all of these mistakes that you mention...    And that means that the next Tornado will be all that more impressive?  OK, go for it.  We're looking forward to it.

We seem to be at that awkward period in a GB where the jack rabbits have completed their builds and left for greener pastures, a number of members are still trying to complete other obligations before starting, and several of us that are engaged in builds are ready for a short respite before continuing (Hey Mac, sound like you and I?)  None the less, as the initiator of this GB I have the obligation to motivate and keep things moving... 

So Tony, looking forward to your next Tornado.  Macattack, take a deep breath and keep on going with the Bone.  To the silent members who joined the GB but have not started, chime in and give us an idea of when we can expect to see you begin.  As for my Bone, I seem to have an easy time in places where Macattack encountered difficulty and then I get bogged down on steps where Mac apparently breezed through.  Go figure.  I attached the tail assembly to the fuselage last night with some difficulty.  First, the halves of the tail fuselage were warped a bit and required support by a thick plastic rod to correct.  I should have shot a pic to show how I attempted to correct the problem, but never got around to it.  Sorry!  Then, the fit of the tail assembly to the main fuselage was horrible.  Probably my fault but I'm not quite sure where things went wrong.  A quite large step joint... so I'm digging myself out of another hole and spent the night sanding and smoothing.  Got to the point where a coat of thinned putty would smooth things out but not without my ham handed fingers dislodging two of the bombs in the fore bomb bays while I was sanding.. GRRRRRRR   Maybe some pics of the fiasco tomorrow night (or at least its outcome). 

Keep building gents. 

Don

It's too white Don. I used MM Acryll flat. First time I've used it. Don't know if Dullcote would have been better or not but I'll find out next time. This stuff is pretty new to me, I'm used to building shiney things. lol Had two classes today so didn't have much spare time. One class tomorrow evening so it will probably be Thursday before I get some better pics. You're right, some of the mistakes no one would know but me. I'll point them out when I get some better pics. My little Fuji is ok for progress shots but the other camera can do better.

Thanks for the compliment Don. It means a lot. I stopped sharing progress shots of car builds a long time ago. It seemed that someone that built faster than me always stole my ideas and showed a finished build before me. I didn't really know how to participate in a group build so I just tried to take a lot of pics and show the little things I did along the way hoping it would turn out ok in the end. Guess I got lucky.

I'm gonna try to wrap up that F-15 I painted a while back. It just needs a little weathering and flat coat then final assembly. After that it's on to the next Tornado before I forget what I learned on this one. I've never built anything as large as the B-1 but it's easy to see why someone would need a break. You guys just keep on keepin' on. For what it's worth, I'll be here. There's at least two more Tornados in the works.

Tony

made some progress with the cat im looking for feedback regarding the pit as i dont feel confident at all with it any comments will be gratefully recieved :)

Don,  back.  Hope the trip across the pond went well.  As for the tail section on my model, I had to manipulate the area of the join a little bit but it went together better than expected.  I think those were the only parts that weren't warped.    Although the forward bomb bay came a little loose when I was flipping the model over to make sure the seam of the tail section was secure  .  Some Testors liquid cement to the rescue!   No bombs were dropped though.  Your Lancer wants to go on a mission now by the sounds of it.

Tony, Congrats on finishing the Tornado!!!!    The flat finish looks good from here!  I haven't used the MM flat acryl yet.  I usually go with the Dullcote.  So I can't really comment on that.  Looking forward to more of your Tornado builds.

Eatthis, What were your concerns on the pit of the tomcat?  I am not an expert by any means but I will give it a shot.

I had to go out of town for the last 3 days so no more progress on the Bone.  The 3 day break may have been what I needed.  Now I can't wait to get working on that beast.   The nose gear bay and cockpit sections are done they just need to be glued to the forward fuselage section which I will do tonite and get some pics for ya.

Bish:  a reference book on the P-1101 eh?  Interesting.  Be sure to show us some of the illustrations as you start your project.  I think that sometimes you just have to sit down at the bench and start working; then you naturally get back into the groove.

Mac: yeah, by it's behavior that night, my Bone was looking for some action.  Dropped a JDAM and a CBU.  PITA, as I had to call ordinance to get a re-load...

Eatthis:  nice weathering on the Tomcat....    Regarding the cockpit, looks like a little drybrushing would help the instruments stand out some more.  Also, some of the buttons and switches on the consoles are likely to be colored.  Check the web for some interior photos of the Tomcat and use that as your guide.  A few small things like that can really make a cockpit pop.

Don

Wingman_kz

Thanks for the compliment Don. It means a lot. I stopped sharing progress shots of car builds a long time ago. It seemed that someone that built faster than me always stole my ideas and showed a finished build before me. I didn't really know how to participate in a group build so I just tried to take a lot of pics and show the little things I did along the way hoping it would turn out ok in the end. 

Hey, it's not a competition, Tony.  Look at us here; 3 of us started building the Revell B-1B at the same time.  But we all had different takes on it;  different camo schemes, different payloads and just different approaches to putting the thing together (hint:  Macattack starts at the last page of the instructions and works forwards ).  And in the context of a group build, it's not who finishes first but showing everyone all the steps you took to get there.

Don

Wingman_kz nice Tornado you have there, well done indeed I really like the color scheme and markings and the masterful work you have done on the canopy. The really cool part is the fact that I can see some of the cockpit detail through the canopy.

Eatthis nice work on the weathering of your Tomcat. I do have to agree with Don, some dry brushing and some color on the switches and such would really make the pit pop.

Bish I am looking forward to seeing more of your work.

What did I say that had anything to do with competition or trying to finish before anyone else? I don't know what to say to that. The only person I compete against is me. My intent was to get three Tornados built within the timeframe of this group build. That was MY goal. Not to impress anyone, not for anyone to say Oh My.

And here's why. The last one will have a difficult paint job. That's what I like to do. That's the enjoyment for me. The first was to build the kit, find the problem areas and get some practice with paint. The second is to improve on the first. And hopefully by the third I'll have it all sorted out and can concentrate on paint.

And you know what? I was going to do the same exact thing anyway. That was my plan. This group build just happened to come along about the time I was ready to start. If I've given the impression that I'm trying to beat anyone else then I'm sorry, that isn't the case.

When I get some better pictures I'll post them. I'll point out the flaws, there's plenty of them. After that, I guess I'm done.

Tony

what is dry brushing? il have a look for pics on tinternet btw its not weathered yet lol

Wingman_kz

What did I say that had anything to do with competition or trying to finish before anyone else? I don't know what to say to that. The only person I compete against is me. My intent was to get three Tornados built within the timeframe of this group build. That was MY goal.

Oops, sorry.  I think that I must have misunderstood your other post.  My Bad..  Continue on, we'll be watching.  You're off to a great start.

Don