Fleet Air Arm Group Build

jeaton01 wrote:

Sprayed flat white all over the Fortress II today.  Just seems wrong, really.  But I think it's going to look nice when it gets the other colors.

John, see my pm about FB-111 when you get a chance.

simpilot34 wrote:

Well I had planned to build my Buccaneer OOB, however, I have ordered 3 PE sets and resin weighted wheels. So hopefully should look pretty sweet when finished. Had thought about getting the resin cockpit, but for 26 pounds from hannants they can keep it! They are the only ones for anything to do with the 1/48 Buccaneer. I will be doing good to get the PE sets in!

Oooooh, yeah Richie, you got my blood pumping for this build!  Can't wait to see you work your magic!

Brian

Alright its a******in the wind. Friday night it's grog call and the post is headed for second page, Imagine that me hearties. Shame to follow and target practice on that Miata off the lee.

Jeaton renders a ribbing and Aaron needs to finally finish his Albacore.

CAG I will issue cannon shells to the men for the cigar smokeoff. Dam their eyes, pass the ammunition and I hope they all go to heck in a puff of smoke because they're a scummy, scurvy, worthless, drunken, louseridden, clapped out, drunken, fartsmelling, rabbleish, stupified, boorish, nonclever, roundheeled, pudpulling, wretchinducing, stumblebum bunch wot we've never had on deck and I'd give my life for them good modelers, but WTF if they can't make 8 Bells on the second dog watch. Soon as I appoint a Bosun (Guy) to pipe up the stinkin' masses he offs and becomes a carthorse for his wench. Need Master at Arms SUMMIT, NOW to assemble a flogging of his lessers.

Get with the program, Cp. Bondoman RAF (CC)

 Ah I tried to post last night good Captain!  My computer jumped overboard or was malfunctioning from the salt spray.  After 3 hard drives and 2 full days of work It is up and running again. However when I hooked my Digitial cameras up it crashed and delelted my post... Not quite sure why my Camera is crashing it but it is a pain to spend so much time and effort when I should be building!

Got the Fuse halfs joined in my twin birds also very painful. Many ill fitting sub assemblies that are tantimount to solving a Rubiks cube to get them to fit well enough to proceed!

 Guess everyone has computer woes this weekend? Very quiet!

Aye lads, has been might quiet as of late.  No doubt it's the officers fault for not crackin the whip on the watch.  Hope you get our computer problems fixed Aaron, not the same around here without your cheeky photos.

As for me, sad news earlier this week.  Got a layoff notice on tuesday effective middle of next month.  Actually, wasn't all that sad.  Only thing I'll miss about that job is the paycheck.  Been trying to get out of there for some time now but the stinkin' economy wasn't helping to open any other doors.  Ah well, lots of work to do on the house in the meantime and I can always get a job swabbing the decks of some scurvy ship somewhere till things turn around. Right now it's the weekend and there is Rum (Rootbeer) to be had.

 Sorry to hear about the layoff Dave.  Been teetering on the brink myself. Got 5 years seniority and am able to hold less jobs than when I was first hired. So I am stuck working like crazy just to get a paycheck.  Have to make up for all that time I missed when Dee was in the Hospital so I can feel your pain. On the bright side there are lots of models to be made and other paths to follow. Just kinda a pain to figure out where they lead to. 

I think I figured it all out now. The computer stuff.  Updated the drivers and rolled back some and got my camera working. Actually things are now running to well on it.  I built this one myself way back in 2002 when all this stuff was the latest and greatest.  Been such a stable platform that has always done what I ask of it I really hate to see the need for a new one.

 Custom job with 6 hard drives a Gigabyte motherboard and XP Bartan 3200+ processor with the ATi 9800 XT Video card and 2 gigs of PC 400 ram. Ancient by todays standards but it works very well and in most cases leaves the new ones I have got for Dee and the Kids way behind as far as never locks up or crashes.  Hard drive just wore out and had to do a fresh install which is a pain.  I am out of practice in my techno geekiness as well.

 Well rolled back the USB driver and have camera!  Hurray!

Not a lot to look at. These twins are the Special Hobby 1/48 Skua and Roc both by Blackburn. I am guessing some of the diffs in layout and construction may be due to these Warbirds being produced by Blackburn as oppossed to Fairey, Hawker,Supermarine or other more well known companies.

A lot of the same interior green color.  Very dullish which was probably the case. You can look at the IP and see how I did both differently in the absence of ref or instructions,  Also the sub assemblys are a real puzzle to get to fit and to be able to close up the Fuselage.  Just taking my time and trying different things until I am happy with it.  Don't want to rush and mess up wishing I had been more patient later on.

 Think Sean said his computer was taken outside and executed as well.

Guy is moving house?  I saw a job opening on his bus companies web site for a driver!  Probably wouldn't work for me as I am not used to steering wheels!

Dave, yes sorry to hear abou the layoff! Hopefully one door shutting will open another will hold true!! All the best!!!

Aaron, your twins are looking great!!!!! Was starting to wonder about you, glad the puter sityation is taken care of!!! Really looking forward to seeing them progress!!!

Have a little bit of progress to show. I have made the cradles for the fish! Don't know why I was so intimidated by such small parts, but think they turned out ok. Thousand times better than what was supplied in the kits!!! Still have to make the connecting structure in between the cradles. Placed them on the fish to see how they look, and was quite happy!!! Thanks for looking!!!

Have lil less than two weeks till the comp!!!!!!

 I'm loving the Swordfish Ritchie!  Judges can be hard to predict at contest but it sure looks like it should do well!  Very nice!

Probably not going to work tommorrow night. Memorial day and all. I usually do a lot of reflecting and thinking. Kinda my quiet day where I take a walk.

Been piddleing with the twins again.  Mostly on the Skua today. There are quite a few diffs in the parts which surprised me. Sort of had to regroup and concentrate on each individual build for the moment so as not to get mixed up.

 These kits are being a bit of a challenge. Parts fit is ick. Actually I would categorize them as in the unbuildable category and that is being nice. Just trying to take my time and make them look as good as I can.

The Fuselage fit I spoke of earlier is abissmal. The Halfs themselves are warped and when adding the puzzle which is the interior you actually have 1/4 inch gaps which even if they could be filled would totally wreck the scale look and the fit of the other major parts. Time to be creative!

Dremeling and cutting parts and a lot of thinning in places that won't show have allowed me to kinda force the fit in the problem areas which are many.  I had to actually heat parts and slowly tak them with CA and acclerator a little bit at a time to get it closed up. I would wrap the fuselage tightly in Nylon kite twine. ( like a Mummy) inbetween these sessions to hold the shape.  Vey slow process that takes a lot of patience. Not really in my nature.

A view of the parts on the bottom show why a good fit of the Fuse halfs is so critical.

 I tried to keep the top as even as possible during this battle.

 So with about a weeks worth of effort I have managed to almost resculpt and reshape the main parts to where before they would not fit, into at least something that can be made to look right with some of the more conventional filling and sanding steps.

In the mean time between waiting I worked a bit on the resin engine.

The wheel wells are resin. Don't no why not a whole lot to them but they have the regular expected issue of being too large for the wing halfs to fit properly.

More thinning and rehaping. Got a gap on the first one I tried but the second on the right turned out better.

By the time I do the next two I should be getting pretty good at it.

 All in all I am battleing my way through it. Kinda anxious about the turret fit on the Roc.  We shall see! See y'all later work alas is calling me away yet again.....

Probably not going to work tommorrow night. Memorial day and all. I usually do a lot of reflecting and thinking. Kinda my quiet day where I take a walk.

Umm.. U have to take a whole NIGHT off to go take a walk?   You havent taken a walk in like .. well NEVER since u moved here..  ok u did walk down and look at broken fence and water after IKE but that was like 500 feet ..

I will let you know if he actually walks or not..

 Dee

DeeYankeeinTexas wrote:

I will let you know if he actually walks or not..  Dee

I Just got back from my walk. Stopped by the store and bought her a bag of cookies too!  See the thanks I get?! Of course she wouldn't be happy unless I took a long walk off a short pier! or perhaps a plank!

 Really why are you here and why are you not dressed as a cheerleader?!

Aaron those are the first Blackburns I've ever seen built, except for the Buccaneer, and a Beverley once in a mag. Great complement to the Albacore. You need a Fulmar now.

A really important type(s), read the Norway campaign. You'll have to show these to the guys over there in that GB; Huxy is a good leader.

Ritchie, good idea I say. I'm inching towards the start, need to pick a good day. just got Miss Bondo through the prom; graduation next week so kinda busy, relatives coming aboard and all.

Bondo - She looks Stunning. Sheesh Graduation already too. My daughter had her Prom a week ago, even though she will be 18 in August she has another year of school. (We started her a year later due to her age being on the border) I wouls post a picture of her but this blasted laptop will not give me the option. When I bring up the photo box from above all the options are "gray ghost's" and not clickable links.... I really dont understand these things at all.

Aaron- Fantastic work on the twins and what a "Swell Guy " you are to get "Dee" a bag of cookies.

Wow Prom already... where does the time go?  Think I said before that it is a very good thing that Ms Jr Bondo takes after her mother. She looks really grand and stunning. Nice of her to scrunch down as not to be taller than her date in the picture! I'd have to take my tank along to chaparone. Tell her date that if he doesn't want to end up looking like used oatmeal that that is as close as he better get and to quit smiling. That only makes me suspicious.  Oh I feel sorry for my daughter. 

 On the plastic modeling side I actually have a Fulmar in the line up. The Edward 1/48 one. Also a Barracuda that I am backdating to the Tirpitz attacks.  About the only thing that I can't seem to find is the Firefly in 1/48. Like hens teeth but I think it would really round out my WW II FAA project.  Man we are already 1 month into this nearly and I am falling behind! ACK!

Bondo, your a stronger man than I.  My daughter wouldn't be allowed out of her room looking like that, I'd have to follow her around with a baseball bat and whack any hormonal teen (ie: all of them) boy that got to close. 

Sean, did the same thing with our daughter, born Dec. 28th so we held her back and it was a good decision.

Aaron, loving the work on the Skua.  If anyone can force a twisted piece of crap into shape it would be you.  Keep up the good work.

Rithchie, that fish for the swordfish is shaping nicely!

 Well I have to take the cookie monster ( Dee) to the doc today for a follow up.  See if anything new is happening so I have to sit the twins down again. I have resumed the duel build concept again as the engine parts and cowlings are quite close again.

 Been pretty critical of these kits but they seem the norm as with a lot of the limited run kits. If you get a part or parts that fit nicely than that is the exception and a blessing to be counted.

 That said the resin parts are very nice indeed.

 I think I commented earlier about how the resin wheel wells are an unneeded complication as they have pretty simple detail. The Engine however is another story. It is very nicely designed and sharply molded.

 You can actually see the cooling fins extending from the cylinders and the top caps are awesome looking. Pity most of this grand detail will be hidden.

 Put on the little tiny 8 exhausttubes that point forward and your eyes get crossed.

Do it twice and your eyes fall out.

 Anyways they are nice and the resin parts actually look and fit very well. here is however a catch. All those little exhaust tubes are supposed to fit into a styrene molded exhaust ring that then fits into the cowling behind the ones you see.  I'll let you know how that turns out.

I hope all's fine with the CM! Aaron, it would be a good time to check to see if the engine fits in the cowling- it's not unusual that it won't as the parts probably came from separate subvendors. At least it doesn't have valve covers, LOL!

My f-in-law really liked working on the Bristol sleeve valve p/plants, in his case the Hercules in the Beaufighter.

Ar, been away the last 5 days on a mini vacation in the White Mountains here in New Hampshire.  Nice to see ye scallywags ain't been asleep at the wheel or drunk of that there fine rum.  Time fer this here buccaneer to get back to work on the Sea Harrier.....

Brian

bondoman wrote:

I hope all's fine with the CM! Aaron, it would be a good time to check to see if the engine fits in the cowling- it's not unusual that it won't as the parts probably came from separate subvendors. At least it doesn't have valve covers, LOL! My f-in-law really liked working on the Bristol sleeve valve p/plants, in his case the Hercules in the Beaufighter.

Will do Cpt Bondo sir!

 No real issue there everything fit. Exhaust ring had an internal part that needed to fit into the exhaust pipes. Very tricky and finicky but it fit which is half the battle.  Saving the odd dirty penny color until the end so it all matches up but have a preliminary bronze coat to give it some effect.  Lets zoom in!

Ack I can see it better here than I can on the table!  Dern technologie!  There are still 4 parts to be added. Look like bicycle horns, air intakes of muzzle covers that pair up on either side of the top of the triangular cowling brace. They are painted black and drying so will add them in a bit.  A lot of parts and figiting to these engines and cowlings. Very interesting to see how the exhaust was routed forward on these birds.  Cool!

Edit. I forgot to mention that Cookie Monster's appointment went ok. New perscriptions and starting some sort of balance theoropy tomorrow. Very long and frustrating recovery. The Doc likened it to how they train ice skaters to stay straight and balanced after the crazy spins and stuff they do in figure skating.  If I am lucky maybe I can swing her around in circles by her ankles like in Blades of Fury!

Thanks Frank, Bondo, and Dave!!!! Afternoon shift today so will try and get something done in the wee hours!!!

Aaron, the twins are looking good mate!!! I guess the good fitting parts help give you hope for te rest!! Glad to hear Dee is doing ok!!! Great news!!!

Aaron - Great news about the appointment for the CM. I never even thought about how thos figure skaters keep from being dizzy. I thought some people were just lucky that way - like sea sickness some get it some dont...

Weekend wildlife pic while out Mtn Biking...

Aaron, glad to hear Dee is doing well also.  I wish the best. I'm also glad those engines fit after all that work.

Sean,

Summit wrote:

Aaron - Great news about the appointment for the CM. I never even thought about how thos figure skaters keep from being dizzy. I thought some people were just lucky that way - like sea sickness some get it some dont... Weekend wildlife pic while out Mtn Biking...

WOW Sean, How exciting is that????!!!!! Beautiful animals!!!!!!

 Now there is something that looks like it could give you a bear of a time Sean!  Hope those beast don't chase after bicycles like a lot of dogs do! I know you said you carry repellent but wow that would really have to be a method of desparate last resort for me to be close enough to squirt one of those things!  I have run into black bear but those are another matter entirely!  You and Bondo need to train a few of those bears to act as guards for your daughters!  I showed my son Shane who turns 18 on June 5th the pics of both of them in the Prom dresses.  Now he wants their phone numbers!..

 Still pretty quiet on the old FAA front.  The weekend is coming soon though.  Been researching a bit more on my twins.  I am finding mistakes in the instructions especially with the Roc turret that would make it impossible to build if followed.  Obvious things like putting the barrels on the back of the MGs. Makes me paranoid to think what else may not be correct.  Need to look up some info on these birds to be sure of things now.

  Got the wings and tail on the Skua and will post more pics as soon as I get the Roc caught up.  These kits really don't share as many parts as I thought. the Engine and cowling, Tail flats and landing gear is about it.  There are diffs in everything else. The wings Fuselage and interior are actually very different.  Wouldn't have thought it but Kudo's to special hobby for going the extra mile to get the details right if not the directions.

Ok going off to work.... again....   Doesn't seem right to not at least send a picture of some progress before I go.

 Here is a look at the Skua.  If you think it was easy to get the wings to fit that well, then er I guess I am making it look a lot easier than it is.  The Resin wheel wells have that wing spreading effect complicated by the  fact that the Resin wheel well actually goes into the other wing parts extending from the fuselage. Very tricky. The split is where the wings would fold for storage but no provision was made to have a folded wing option. The Resin wheel well would have to be cut in half as well to even attempt it so again it is way more complex than is needed.

Pu a MM paint jar aside it so you can see the size comparison. Kinda reminds me of a Dauntless in the basic arrangement of the aircraft. Although not quite as pretty. I shall post more when I get the Roc caught up as I am checking into the turret.  Thanks for looking.