realworkingsailor

It required some very clever thinking to get all of this plastic organized into one smallish box. Once removed, it won’t be easy to get it all back inside if possible at all. I like the way they separately boxed up certain fragile pieces. There’s a ton of plastic trees in the box with much of it being ordnance.

Weathering  done,  but to  be honest  I am  self  critic-ing  it   -  not sure  if  I  have gone  over the  top?
 
OC.

Hi Lou, great to hear from you and thanks for the kind words.  I have the following book which has a lot of great pictures of both the civilian craft (including the Howard Hughes plane) and the military craft.  It's definitely worth buying if you're going to build this kit I think.  
 

Interestingly, the interior of the military craft looks very similar to that of the civilian craft, down to the interior curtains.  I decided not to open the model up in part because I wasn't too certain about whether the interior from the kit was accurate or not.  
 
For the wheel wells, the photo etch actually adds some nice detail like the rivets and the panels which seems very consistent with the pictures I've seen of the actual wells.  The PE is also really helpful to cover up that dreadful, hard to get to, ejector pin mark in the deep recess of the well.  Though, this is not an issue if you use the CMK wheel well replacement parts which actually fit better.
 
The kit is ok, and the CMK set is a nice add-on, but things like the need to clean up pretty much every piece, as well as the fit of the pieces, including the windows, the canopy, and the engine cowlings, make this a bit frustrating.  There's also the issue of no interlocking connecting points for the wing and tail struts (as well as a number of other detail parts) which is annoying.  Then there is the matter of certain details that are helpful to add, like the nose center rib in the book picture above, and the location and angle of the antenna mast in the center wing that is different from plane to plane.  Also, the tail wheel in the kit looks nothing like either of the two versions of the tail wheel on the real thing, so of course now that I've seen the actual pictures (the book above has great close-ups)  I feel obligated to scratch build a more accurate one, though not really looking forward to it.
 
I've started to lose interest in finishing the model, but am going to try to push through to get it finished by the beginning of June for the group build on LSM.  It didn't help that the model took a nose dive off the table last week and three of the interior windows fell off.  Thankfully the top two pieces of the fuselage had also loosened, so I was able to take them off and reinstall the windows.  If it was one of the windows further back I probably would have had to junk the model.  If you end up building the kit, I'd probably try not to be as OCD as I have been and just enjoy building it.
 
 

When this kit first arrived, I noticed that it is designed to use butt joints. I really dislike butt joints. Because it uses butt joints, no joiner strips are provided -- not even the sort that are typically used to close rings. Hmph.
 
Work proceeded on the first fuselage section. Regardless of what the kit designer intended, I simply made myself a joiner strip to close up the ring, which, as you can see in this first photo, is not entirely ring-shaped. It's a ring where it joins the cowl, but then flares to a flat bottom along the rest of the fuselage. The forward-most bulkhead is a simple circle, but the aft bulkhead has a cutout where cockpit elements will be located. I stiffened the entire flimsy-looking bulkhead with thin CA. I also painted the interior a sort-of canvas-colored tan, because I don't know how much of it will be visible once the fuselage and cockpit are assembled. (BTW, that's just an old, dried glue blob in the lower left corner.)

 
Both bulkheads required some sanding to get them to slip easily into the ring. Here's the completed fuselage section, now mated to the cowl assembly. The cowl has numerous blisters, which I will add later to avoid smooshing them while working on the fuselage.
 

 
That first butt joint turned out well. I'll be very happy if the rest turn out as nice. Moving to the next fuselage section, construction of the forward cockpit begins, so there will be a lot more elements.
 
Cheers!

The big bat is finished now, that I found the courage to paint the figures. The young boy with the broken toy plane is exclusively painted with Scale 75 acrylics. I had to strip the oil colors off his skin, because they never cured and I couldn´t touch the figure for further painting.

Thank you all again for participating in this log, which helped me a lot in form of encouragement and practical information.





































Cheers Rob

Paul and Chris - many thanks.  I picked the scheme because of the bright colors.  The other decal choices that came with the kit were all based around the standard British olive drab.  This one was a lot more fun and looks good in the display case.
 
I didn't take many pictures between the last ones and now, but it is finished.  The rigging took a few evenings and painting was complete on the other parts, so it came together very quickly.  I'm overall very pleased with how it came out, and learned a lot, especially with the decals.  I really love these wingnut wings kits.
 
  

Well, here are my feeble attempts in figure painting. I try to do one or two figures per build, but often shy away, because painting these is always like a burde for me. Nonetheless, i try to improve my skills and sometimes force myself to finish the figures.

The mechanic is painted with acrylic colors from Scale75, except for the skin, which was painted with oil colors.


 

 
Cheers Rob

Slow and steady progress. 
 
There are 72 parts per engine. You can't fault the detail. And that's before you put the exhaust stacks on.
 
If the rest of the kit has this much to it though, I'll finish sometime around Xmas....2026! 😁

Oooh, it's fiddly for my fat fingers! Adding the pipe work to the engines. 
 

 
 
And in other news the B-24's partner in the museum has arrived. 
 

 

First two cowl rings and radiator shutters completed.

 
Now I'm busy trying to make sense of the assembly instructions and diagrams, which leave a substantial portion of the build process to the imagination.

Next up will be the Kotare Spitfire Mk.Ia.  I usually build my world war 2 planes in 1/48, but have been really happy with the wingnut wings kits and wanted to try Kotare, which is the company that some of the WNW designers and engineers moved to when WNW folded.  I got a good deal on it at the local IPMS show in February.  I will build the AC Deere "Kiwi" plane because I like the kiwi on the side and the black and white underside.  Given the quality of the kit, I don't plan much in the way of aftermarket.  I got the HGW seatbelts because I like them a lot more than photoetch and eduard masks because trying to mask canopies drives me up a wall.  I'm also going to try some camouflage masks.  Will probably be a little time before I make any progress - I have some work and family stuff coming up and want to make some progress on the two boats I'm working on.
 

The decal sheets included with the kit are extensive.
 
 

Coming Soon

Dry fit of engine number 1. Still needs a lot of work yet before fitting the other parts, there's some paint and filing to do so it fits together better, but I'm liking the look of it. 
 
 

First Cuts
 
Construction begins with the forward fuselage. One unusual feature of the Salmson was its powerplant -- a liquid-cooled, 9-cylinder Salmson 9Z radial producing 231 hp. The radiator layout featured shutters that looked rather like fan blades. You can easily see them in this photo:

from Wikimedia Commons
 
And here are the shutters as seen in the construction diagram:

 
The shutters are provided as a flat, printed part depicting the shutters closed, but the instructions say that experienced models may attempt to display them in the open position.
 
Challenge accepted:

 
That job took awhile, so that's all I got done this evening.
 

So after a few days visiting one of our kids in Falmouth I've returned to find that the decals I've ordered have arrived. But first a photo of the lovely boats in the harbour and the fantastic coastline for your enjoyment...
 


 
So on to the decals, I ordered them from Kitsworld in Essex and they also included some free samples. There's a couple of their Diorama airfield display bases, these are stickers effectively, plus some 3D cockpit decals and stencil masks. I'm not sure which model these are for but it's a nice touch and good promotion from them.
 

 
The decals look to be good quality, I'm a long way from using them at the moment though, so let's see later how they go on.
 

 

Post One Hundred and Seventy-four
18’ cutter – fitting out.

4571
A shot of the gratings and footwalings which are laser cut. A much better option than the brass etch version.👍
These take a little fettling to get them to sit fully down involving bevelling the underside of the parts, and shaving down the frames as required.
 
The kit sternsheets are combined with the aftermost thwart.
This is an arrangement I don’t like primarily because the grain of the thwart tends to run the wrong way and the set-up  makes it more difficult to  fit the vagaries of  individual hull constructions.

4577
I find it easier to cut away the thwart and make a replacement from spare fret. I have also filled in the open stern area to create an additional bench seat.

4570
At the bow I thought the area looked a little unfinished with  the remnants of the mdf construction block on view.
 
The kit plan (sheet eight) does show a small fore deck in this position but I can’t locate such a part with the 18’ cutter fittings.

4582
This benefits from facing up using spare fret, and the addition of a breasthook above it.
 
One other puzzlement with the 18’ cutter is the height the thwarts and sternsheets relative to the wash strakes.

4579
They are positioned as per the kit and instructions, but have very little freeboard. It is not a case of fitting them too high as the scale figures show a correct height between thwarts and footwaling.

4580
There is only 2mm between thwart top and wash strake top. This equates to 5” at scale.
Working up from the 1:48 scale drawings of an 18’ cutter in The Frigate Diana AotS book the difference should be around 11”
 

The new Vanguard resin cutter, what a beauty that looks, shows a much greater depth between the seating and wash strakes which looks more appropriate.

4583
Even so, visually the wooden version is a pretty little thing, and for most casual viewers this disparity won’t even register.

4588
I am fairly happy with the ‘clinker’ look but it does need a good clean-up.
 
 
B.E.
08/05/2024
 
 

Greetings!
 
Whenever I order stuff from Poland, I like to max out the order that can be sent at a certain shipping price point. That means that for my last order from WAK, received just this week, I was able to slip WAK's latest release into my cart. It's a Salmson 2 A.2, a French two-seat observation plane used in the last year of the Great War. First Squadron of the US Air Service also operated the type.
 

 
The kit is designed by Maciej Lewan and features very nice artwork done by Marcin Dworzecki.
 

 

 
A little skimpy on the diagrams, but hopefully enough to get the job done.
 

 

 
Of course I also ordered the requisite laser-cut frames . . .
 

 
. . . as well as a pair of resin Lewis guns for the observer's twin mounting.
 

 
Okay, so you might be wondering why I decided to start this build when I just finished the Hurricane and had started back on Phoenix. Well, I'll tell you why. I blame this wholly on WAK. I checked the inside front cover to see if there was any information about the aircraft depicted in the kit, and there I saw the following (in English, no less):
 

 
Yup, the plane was "piloted by A.J. Coyle."
 
That did it. Hot new release . . . chance to be one of the first to build it . . . pilot with the same surname as myself (and it's not a common one) . . . the kit fairly screamed "build me NOW!"
 
So I caved. BTW, I have not yet been able to determine if Capt. Coyle and I are distant relatives, but I have an extensive family tree, and he's not in it, so I suspect we are not. Oh, well.
 

Capt. Arthur J. Coyle (standing), with Lt. A.E. Easterbrook. Anonymous unknown author, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
 
I may try to build this concurrently with Phoenix, or I might not. I'll just have to see how it plays out. Plus, I have another project on my radar. 😬  So many projects, so little time!!
 
Cheers!

Got the two long pieces of veneer on the upper hull attached.
 

 

 
Because these pieces are so wide, they are terribly unforgiving of any error in hull fairing, and that point is made apparent toward the bow. Here you can see that the natural curve of the veneer creates some small pockets where too much material was removed during the hull fairing process.
 

 
You can't simply smash these down, because that will cause the veneers to buckle. Nor can you simply ignore them, because doing so will cause the wales (the next belt of planking) to sit too low relative to the upper veneers. Nope, I'm gonna have to add some material in those areas to raise the surface slightly and allow the wales to sit level with the upper hull veneers. An unwelcome task, but necessary.
 
In the meantime, I may be hitting the pause button yet again on this build, for reasons I'll discuss in a separate topic. 😮 Don't worry -- nothing bad!

Evening all,    washes  on  the  extension  -  just needs  some gentle  dry brusing  dust  to blend the  roof  in  and  some  on the edges  of  the  posts  (also  noticed a  piece of the  roof  edge  missing  paint)
 
OC.

Dear all,
these are last steps with the fuselage interior. I added the gunsight to the cockpit and these are its last images before enclosing it in the fuselage:



The fuselage interior was painted black and then mottled with the interior green. The cockpit posed with the port half:

And with the starboard half:

The first important milestone, the fuselage is now buttoned up:

With few additions, the parts of the kit allowed to fabricate a nice and detailed cockpit. The last piece of equipment glued on the edge of the coaming:

The bomb bay with the false breeches of the four cannons now looks like this:

For @Old Collingwood, I tried to take a picture of the cockpit seen through the open hatch, but it is not in focus:

That's all for now, thanks for following,
Dan

That would be so nice but it probably would put the builder at risk of being abused.
 
Anyway....those gratings
 
You will basically get all of the laser cut parts in this chapter.  There are only four hatches with gratings.  They are not very large.   Here are all of the elements needed.  You will get two layers for the jig.   The two layers are glued together to form the jig.
 
You also get a right angle jig which is 3/64" thick.  The thickness is very important.
 
Lets get started.
 

Start with the coamings.   They are laser cut and 1/8" thick.
 
The fore and aft sides are already shaped with the round-up of the deck....or camber as usually described but is an inaccurate term.
 
Use the right angle jig to glue two sides together...dont worry about the laser char just yet.   Then glue the remaining two sides together using the same jig to make a nice right angle.
 

Glue the two right angles together to form the coaming.  Sand the sides clean which are left a bit longer as you can see in order to remove the char and leave a nice bright smooth surface.   Also sand the top sides to clean the char.  You can see the cleaned coaming below.
 
Then you can start working on the grating.  Again just like my other smaller scale grating kits.
 
Insert the laser cut grating strips in the slotted jig.  NO GLUE of course!!!   This is just for alignment.
 
Then start adding the cross battens.  These are glued in position.  They may be too tight as you want a press fit.  So just run the small strips 1/16" x 1/16" through your fingers with some fine sandpaper.  Not much.  Just enough so the battens fit into the slots. see below.  There are seven batten strips and seven laser cut grating strips for three of the hatches.  The fourth is made the same way but is much smaller on the fcastle.
 

When all the strips are glued in position,  remove the grating from the jig.  Snip off the edges as shown below.  Then sand all four edges clean.  Try and not distort the perfect square shape.  In the photo two sides have the ends snipped off.   The smaller hatchway will have fewer battens and more to snip away.  Also sand the top surface clean and smooth.  Once again try and maintain the proper shape with the round-up.  You will know when its all done when the char is cleaned from the laser cut grating strip squares.

The photo below shows the top of the grating and sides all clean and nice and smooth.  It makes a nice grating.  The holes are 1/16" or 2" on the real ship and perfectly in scale.

You should but dont have to sand the bottom side as well.   Here is a look.  The battens are clearly less thick than the grating strips and these are pretty close to actual construction methods.  Or at least the impression of it.
 

And almost done...you will see how nice and tight the grating fits in the coaming.   Dont over sand the edges and you should test the grating in the coaming as you sand the edges.   In fact, the coaming normally has ledges on the port and starboard sides inside the coaming.  These create a ledge that the grating sits on so it doesnt fall through.  You can add those if you like.  But in my case the gratings fit so snug that they were not required.  I simply glued the gratings into the coamings making sure the top of the coaming was flush with the grating.  I sanded it smooth with some 400 grit paper.

The four corners of the coaming are very sharp at this point.  You dont want that.  They should be rounded off.  But they are only rounded off down to the deck level.   That is when you take that same right angle jig and use it.
 
The jig is the same thickness as the planking.   So you can place the coaming into the corner and use a sharp #11 blade to slice away the corner.  Slice it down to the top of the jig only.   You can make a stop cut at the jig level before slicing off the corner.  Then just round off the corner.
 
 
Dont slice off too much.   Just a little bit to round off each corner.
 
To finish it off I drilled three holes with a #76 bit.  I used 20lb black fishing line to simulate the bolts on the top of the coamings.  Three on each side.   They cut flush with the top of the coamings with a sharp blade.
 
All done!!!
 
 
 

I am just about to post an update with those...LOL
 
The gratings for Speedwell are different but the same basic concept.  They are a different scale to reflect the larger size needed.  They will have 1/16" square openings which at 3/8" scale would be a 2" hole.  Just right and exactly the same number of holes as the contemporary model.
 
These will all be included in the chapter along with the jig needed.
 
I will have construction pics really soon.
 
I have been distracted lately with the topic on the SOS where the staff and admin are trashing this project relentlessly....but its a lot fun to watch.   Many of you guys have sent me messages alerting me about it.
 
I have to thank Ben however for being a brave soul to have something nice to say about it knowing he will get the wrath for it.   I must be the worst kit designer in the world if you read some of that stuff over there.  But seriously...dont put yourself out there because if you do say anything positive about Syren or any of my projects on SOS they will lambaste you.  So no worries.   Dont put yourself in that position.  Its not worth it.   Most folks know its all nonsense.  And I am well aware.  But thanks for the positive notes of private support.
 
Anyway...back to building gratings.

Did Mini-me bring a camera? I’m sure he’s had an adventure! How many model ship decks has he walked since he left?
 
Or is the next piece of electronic equipment that he’s going to get an ankle monitor?
 
Andy

Well the move was completed after our new home was built on Oak Island.
The new model workshop/office is far smaller than my previous one at only 13x13 but I’m using shelving and other things to maximize space which is ongoing.
Winchelsea is now waiting for me to start Chapter 7 on the Quarter Deck hopefully in the next couple of weeks as soon as I find all the parts!