Dan Vadas

More planes. 4 aerials to go. 


7752FC30-2CC5-48C1-92A7-69C5EA8438AD.MOV

Thanks to a knee injury, surgery and subsequent recovery, I am finally making a comeback on my Bounty!
 
Wrapping my mind around planking was a MASSIVE learning curve and a large factor in my near 6 year absence. Over that time I read and re-read the recommended planking manual and made several attempts at marking, measuring and even cutting a few planks. But without a solid block of time to figure it out, my efforts proved rather fruitless and the learning curve just too steep. 
 
Grounded from work and physical activity of any sort, the last few weeks have provided the ideal opportunity to overcome previous limitations. Planking continues to be a humbling experience but after a long time investment (and redoing all my measurements three times), I'm finally making enough progress to post again!
 
I opted to go against the instructions of my model in favour of the method described in the beginner planking manual as I was concerned that my lack of experience wouldn't allow for me to overcome the challenges arising from planking from the deck down and just dealing with problems as they appear. The "full buttocks" nature of the Bounty made this method really difficult, and I found myself reconsidering how seriously to take the "don't bend the plank laterally" instruction; the math of my measurements just didn't seem to work. In the end I opted for a bit of a compromise and accepted some clinkering. Below is the temporary planking battens, only nailed to bulkheads 5 and 6 to allow for different curvatures to be experimented with.

I used an excel sheet to record my measurements and make subsequent calculations.

The Bounty also required me to try mastering stealers in the very first segment, as the kit doesn't come with a wider garboard plank. I found it near impossible to get a nail into keel to hold the furthest extent of the bottom stern planks and resorted to clothing pegs to hold them in place while drying.

I learnt just how essential a metal ruler is, at the cost of a plank or two, as well as the vital importance of proper hull fairing (one of the reasons I had to start my measuring from scratch again). I soaked the planks for ease of cutting and bending (with the help of a steam iron) and subsequently learnt how much they shrink when drying. I took to gluing the planks down after they dried to minimize those resulting gaps and discovered how much harder it is to drive a nail into a dry plank compared to a wet one, leading me to now put in all the nails before letting the plank dry.

I'm now two bands in and going steady. The third promises to be the most difficult due to the way the hull curves, but being the first planking, it doesn't have to be perfect, just a good learning experience so that I can do the second planking better! 

Now for a REAL fun bit - the control system for the main rotor. Here are most of the parts :

 
The lower part :




 
A "drive shaft" part which controls the angle :


 
The upper part. I used a 2mm punch to keep the centres aligned while gluing the pieces together :





 
The upper and lower parts fitted to the main shaft :


Danny

The final pieces of the exhaust coolers are two flanges :

 
The coolers fitted. I'll fit the right side one later, as it will be in the lowered position :





 
I've re-installed the part that broke off earlier and fitted the guards around it :

 
Then I fitted the weapons platforms :




Danny

I took it to her place this morning - she's stoked with it  . She's giving it to her grandson who's name happens to be ......... (drum roll) ........ BYRON  .
 
Thanks for the comments guys  . Now it's back to the Hind helicopter.
 
Danny

Now for a REAL fun bit - the control system for the main rotor. Here are most of the parts :

 
The lower part :




 
A "drive shaft" part which controls the angle :


 
The upper part. I used a 2mm punch to keep the centres aligned while gluing the pieces together :





 
The upper and lower parts fitted to the main shaft :


Danny

The final pieces of the exhaust coolers are two flanges :

 
The coolers fitted. I'll fit the right side one later, as it will be in the lowered position :





 
I've re-installed the part that broke off earlier and fitted the guards around it :

 
Then I fitted the weapons platforms :




Danny

I took it to her place this morning - she's stoked with it  . She's giving it to her grandson who's name happens to be ......... (drum roll) ........ BYRON  .
 
Thanks for the comments guys  . Now it's back to the Hind helicopter.
 
Danny

The final pieces of the exhaust coolers are two flanges :

 
The coolers fitted. I'll fit the right side one later, as it will be in the lowered position :





 
I've re-installed the part that broke off earlier and fitted the guards around it :

 
Then I fitted the weapons platforms :




Danny

I took it to her place this morning - she's stoked with it  . She's giving it to her grandson who's name happens to be ......... (drum roll) ........ BYRON  .
 
Thanks for the comments guys  . Now it's back to the Hind helicopter.
 
Danny

Now for a REAL fun bit - the control system for the main rotor. Here are most of the parts :

 
The lower part :




 
A "drive shaft" part which controls the angle :


 
The upper part. I used a 2mm punch to keep the centres aligned while gluing the pieces together :





 
The upper and lower parts fitted to the main shaft :


Danny

A Weather Vane sits atop the light dome. The orientation of North is correct (before you check it John  ) :

 
There is an Anemometer where the original radio antenna used to be. I think the antenna was removed when radio technology improved :

 
With the fitting of the safety railings the model is FINISHED :










 


 
Danny

Now for a REAL fun bit - the control system for the main rotor. Here are most of the parts :

 
The lower part :




 
A "drive shaft" part which controls the angle :


 
The upper part. I used a 2mm punch to keep the centres aligned while gluing the pieces together :





 
The upper and lower parts fitted to the main shaft :


Danny

The final pieces of the exhaust coolers are two flanges :

 
The coolers fitted. I'll fit the right side one later, as it will be in the lowered position :





 
I've re-installed the part that broke off earlier and fitted the guards around it :

 
Then I fitted the weapons platforms :




Danny

Now for a REAL fun bit - the control system for the main rotor. Here are most of the parts :

 
The lower part :




 
A "drive shaft" part which controls the angle :


 
The upper part. I used a 2mm punch to keep the centres aligned while gluing the pieces together :





 
The upper and lower parts fitted to the main shaft :


Danny

The final pieces of the exhaust coolers are two flanges :

 
The coolers fitted. I'll fit the right side one later, as it will be in the lowered position :





 
I've re-installed the part that broke off earlier and fitted the guards around it :

 
Then I fitted the weapons platforms :




Danny

A Weather Vane sits atop the light dome. The orientation of North is correct (before you check it John  ) :

 
There is an Anemometer where the original radio antenna used to be. I think the antenna was removed when radio technology improved :

 
With the fitting of the safety railings the model is FINISHED :










 


 
Danny

Thanks guys  .
 
Here's the light. There are laser-cut parts to be fitted, starting with these "wrought iron" brackets which support the mesh railing under the light :


 
The dome on top of the light came out well, thanks mainly to the support I fitted in the middle of it :


 
I used a piece of PE brass railing left over from one of my ships to make the platform rail. It's not quite the right spacing between posts, but who would know  ?
 
These are officially the smallest paper pieces I've ever fitted, they represent brick supports :


The bricks fit under the roof of the toilet :

 
A little bonus - a WB Holden Sandman Panel Van which took me about 3 hours to make. The kit supplies two of these plus two Kombi Vans which are optional extras. One was enough  :




 
Danny

A "cupola" is fitted to each corner of the deck. This is the card of parts for  them. I scored all the fold lines before cutting out the individual pieces. One good (but at first confusing) feature of this kit is that all fold lines are printed on the BACK side of the part, so they don't show on the finished side. Cut lines on folded parts are also printed on the back side :

 
One of the cupola roofs :

 
The cupolas fitted :

 
Next is the very complex "castle" type battlements. The instructions don't give much of an idea on how they are assembled, but I managed to work it out OK. Once again these are printed on the back side of the part, the face side is just blank white. Careful cutting was needed :

 
The battlements fitted. I glued these in stages and let the glue set between each stage. I also added extra support pieces to the deck and under each lower section. It would have been very difficult to assemble each piece without them. These were actually quite a bit easier to do than they appear :




 
An overview of the lighthouse to date. The light itself is the next stage :

 
Danny

Now for a REAL fun bit - the control system for the main rotor. Here are most of the parts :

 
The lower part :




 
A "drive shaft" part which controls the angle :


 
The upper part. I used a 2mm punch to keep the centres aligned while gluing the pieces together :





 
The upper and lower parts fitted to the main shaft :


Danny

The final pieces of the exhaust coolers are two flanges :

 
The coolers fitted. I'll fit the right side one later, as it will be in the lowered position :





 
I've re-installed the part that broke off earlier and fitted the guards around it :

 
Then I fitted the weapons platforms :




Danny

Now for a REAL fun bit - the control system for the main rotor. Here are most of the parts :

 
The lower part :




 
A "drive shaft" part which controls the angle :


 
The upper part. I used a 2mm punch to keep the centres aligned while gluing the pieces together :





 
The upper and lower parts fitted to the main shaft :


Danny

A Weather Vane sits atop the light dome. The orientation of North is correct (before you check it John  ) :

 
There is an Anemometer where the original radio antenna used to be. I think the antenna was removed when radio technology improved :

 
With the fitting of the safety railings the model is FINISHED :










 


 
Danny

The kettenrad was just horrible to build. The little Kubelwagon was a bit better. Torpedo and bomb trolleys, and the Stukas are done.