realworkingsailor

Evening all,   more  odds and ends  added  and   primed  ready for   paint  layers  - 
 
OC.

Evening all,   a   small  bit of progress  today  -  I  have started  to collect some  odds  and    ends  - shakos (that needed cutting off  from heads  then hollowing out)   muskets  that have  had  hands  cut away   and ruck sacks.
 
OC.

Another update.  Slow going with RL getting in the way at the moment.   Got the bulwark tops trimmed and am pretty happy.  I know the photo appears to show all the tops trimmed below the line but that's the camera angle's fault.  A square shows me it's spot on.
 

Thank you Jim...
 
I have completed all of the hatches, gratings and partners to be placed on deck.  You have seen how the gratings were made.  The two hatches are pretty similar.  The only difference is they have cover boards rather than gratings within in the coamings.
 
 The photo below shows the laser cut coamings assembled.  There is no need to remove the laser char from the lap joints at the corners.  In fact it probably isnt a good idea at all.  They are precision cut so you end up with a perfectly squared up coaming the correct size.  You can and should sand both sides of the sheet before removing these laser cut parts to clean the char from those sides.  Just glue them up using the same right angle jig provided earlier.   Then sand the char off the top of the completed coaming being careful to keep the round-up consistent. 
 
You can see the smaller hatch completed.  The larger one shows the three cover boards also laser cut waiting to be glued into position.  But this you will also note the ledge created on the inside of the coaming that the cover boards will sit into.  These are laser cut for you and can be glued on the port and starboard insides of the coaming.
 

This photo shows the three coverboards in the coaming.  They are pretty thick, but only so they are flush with the center of the coaming to allow for the round-up.   The round-up along the sides of the coverboards should be sanded flush to the top edge of the coamings along the P & S sides.  I know some folks like to show one or two coverboards off the coaming.  You can do this if you want to.  But then you should sand that roundup into the bottom of the coverboards as well.   But I will show them all in place like the contemporary model.
 

To finish off the hatches...round off the corners using the right angle jig like you did for the gratings.   Trim them down to the top of the deck planking.   The bolts were added using black fishing line in the same way.   The iron ring for handles were made just like those on the lower platforms.  Exactly the same.
 

Also shown in the photo above are the mast and capstan partners.   These are completely laser cut for you.  They have etched lines to show the separate sections.   All you have to do is sand them clean and round off the corners as described earlier for the capstan partners only.  Soften the top edges as well.  Add the fishing line bolts and the eye bolts on the main mast partners.  Now some of these can be glued onto the model.  They are all ready to go so you can start planking the decks.
 
BUT there are a some like the main mast partners and capstan partners that need some extra work.   I will describe that next.   For example the elm pump tubes below the main mast partners and the capstan drum as well.
 
More to follow...but here is a photo with the all of the hatches, coamings and partners simply test positioned on the model.  They are not glued into position yet.   I did however glue the smaller grating and coaming on the forecastle deck in permanently....those are all finished up.  Its getting there!!!
 

Judging by the gentlemen in suits and ties at the far right of the photo, probably a demonstration shoot, but yeah, a very impressive photo!
 
Andy
 

Judging by the gentlemen in suits and ties at the far right of the photo, probably a demonstration shoot, but yeah, a very impressive photo!
 
Andy
 

Judging by the gentlemen in suits and ties at the far right of the photo, probably a demonstration shoot, but yeah, a very impressive photo!
 
Andy
 

Judging by the gentlemen in suits and ties at the far right of the photo, probably a demonstration shoot, but yeah, a very impressive photo!
 
Andy
 

Judging by the gentlemen in suits and ties at the far right of the photo, probably a demonstration shoot, but yeah, a very impressive photo!
 
Andy
 

Photo time

Evening all,   more  water  gel  in the  wheel tracks  and  a few  more puddles.
 
OC.

Hi,
this post is dedicated to a problem that I had once I mated the fuselage halves and wanted to install the canopy included in the kit. Actually, the canopy of the kit is very well made with a very clear plastic, but unfortunately it was found accidentally separated from its tree. Consequently, the plastic in the vicinity of the gate was torn off and stress cracked in the bulk of the part as shown below:

The depth of the of the frame at this location is very narrow and once painted it is not enough to hide the offended area. After some attempts to sand and polish the defect, where instead of improving I worsened it, I decided that the canopy had to be binned and replaced. After a search on the web, I bought two vacuum-formed canopies produced by Squadron.

I must say that I never used these types of canopies and I was uncertain about their quality. The bag contains a blister with two canopies, but only one of them is usable for the model I want to build (i.e. the standard type).

My doubts were associated with the very thin material used and with the necessity of precisely separating the canopy part from the rest of the blister. However, according to some articles, these canopies with their thin thickness are supposed to be even better than the original kit parts. For cutting, as prescribed by Squadron, I used a fresh X-acto blade making multiple passes with minimal pressure while the canopy was supported by a blu-tak plug pressed inside it. I first practiced on the bulged canopy before proceeding with the good one. At the end, the cutting and subsequent trimming fortunately turned out to be quite precise:
Next, the gluing operation followed. According to Squadron and to most of the articles that I read, the most suitable glue to be used is the Micro Kristal Klear. The glue had to be thinned with water to decrease its viscosity and allow it to penetrate by capillarity in the gaps between the canopy and the sills:
 
I brushed the thinned glue along the gap cleaning the excess with a wet pointed cotton swab. Because the thinned glue shrinks a lot when cured, this process has to be repeated as many times as necessary to satisfactorily fill the gap and obtain a fairly strong bond. So far it is going fine, but I will be able to see the quality of the result only when I will brush some paint over the joint.
That's all for now,
best regards.
Dan
 
 

I've been having a play with mixing colours and trying some pre shading for the first time in the cockpit. I'm trying to get somewhere close to this..
 

 
First I built it up and then primed it with Vallejo Black

 

 
Then fairly heavily pre-shaded with white, all paints are Vallejo Air range by the way. 
 

 
Then I mixed a combination of olive green, BS dark green, black, white and yellow until I thought it was close and then thinned to about 50%. Then applied 3 coats gradually. 
 

 
I'll let that dry now and see how it looks. Then I'll hand paint the rest and do some light weathering. As it's going to be in a museum it shouldn't look too shabby I'm thinking. 
 
 
 
 

Gradually the fuselage lengthens.
 

Don’t quote me on this as I’m really no expert, but I don’t know of any amphibious aircraft that are fully capable of landing on the open ocean in anything more than almost calm conditions.
 
From what I’ve read, a seaplane is a catch all term for any type of water capable airplane. A flying boat is a seaplane in which the fuselage is boat shaped and provides the primary floatation. A float plane being the other option.
 
Andy

I call this next one the "last time you'll ever have a clear view of this cockpit" shot.
 

 
And here's the cockpit section all closed up and mated to the forward fuselage. The butt joint did not turn out as nicely this time.
 

 
A simple fuselage slice is next, followed by construction of the observer's position.
 
Cheers!

There we go 😀 Thanks EG.
 

Macro is a little fuzzy. Probably from not holding my camera still enough. Need to add the harnesses.

Beautiful, with one exception, the front reduction gear cover should be grey... (your pics will give you the color) They were painted that way, (every single one) on the production line before they were ever shipped....

Hi all, 
 
So I've finished the engines, well almost, still the exhausts to add to the rear of them although I don't think they will be visible at all.
 
I'm pretty pleased with these though.
 

 
Shame that not too much is visible when built up... Dry fit test to see what they will look like reveals not much!
 

Looks great Dan! I’m glad the Yahu IP worked for you!
 
Andy

If you just want to replace the IP, try Yahu models. Here’s an example from a Canadian retailer:
 
https://thunderbirdmodels.com/en/132-aircraft-accessories/446-yma3210-yahu-models-132-mosquito-nf-iifb-vi-instrument-panel.html
 
They’re relatively inexpensive, and ready to use.
 
Andy

All the cockpit bulkheads have been prepped.
 

On the left is the assembled pilot seat, on the right, all the parts that make up the RIO seat.
These seats build up as well detailed as any aftermarket seats I’ve bought in the past.

I guess I stuck my foot in my mouth. I found this bag of seat harnesses buried inside the box along with everything else.