Gondor's Grumblings

[NARSES2]

Sorry mate I don't remember. It know I dry fitted it a couple of ways and one just went well

Edit - just looked at another one in my stash and I THINK I put the side walls in first and then wiggled the back wall into position.

[Gondor]

Sorry mate I don't remember. It know I dry fitted it a couple of ways and one just went well

Edit - just looked at another one in my stash and I THINK I put the side walls in first and then wiggled the back wall into position.

Thanks NARSES2 

Gondor

[Gondor]

Been working on several builds lately, slowly as is usual for me, came across a problem I expected this evening. The EJ200 engines are smaller than the J79's they replace 

I already have a work around figured out which involves some thin plastic card being wrapped around the exhausts before the petal area. This will then be tidied up to look as if some kind of collar was fitted to deal with the difference in width of engines.

Gondor

[Nils]

if you wanna replace a J79-size engine with another one, i would advise to use either an P&W F100 or a GE F110, a P&W TF-30 or RR Spey (or Snecma ATAR) could also work.

to replace the EJ200, i think the GE F404, F414 and Snecma M88 are the best options.

[Gondor]

if you wanna replace a J79-size engine with another one, i would advise to use either an P&W F100 or a GE F110, a P&W TF-30 or RR Spey (or Snecma ATAR) could also work.

to replace the EJ200, i think the GE F404, F414 and Snecma M88 are the best options.

This is for my West German F-4F ICE II upgrade or I might call it the F-4F ICE+ upgrade where not only were all the upgrades that really happened involved but like the Israelis and their Kurnass 2000 program I am upgrading the engines too. I chose the EJ200 because Germany were getting the Eurofighter Typhoon which has the EJ200 engine which allows for greater commonality and cost reduction as well as improving performance and fuel economy.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Bought some paint today to go with the Curtiss H-75 decals I bought recently.

I needed several colours that I didn't have so after looking through the IPMS Stockholm web site article on paint and colours I went out and bought
Hu 64 & Hu 65 to be mixed together to make FS 25189
Hu 98
Hu 101

To me the Hu 101 looks a little on the bright side be we shall see in a couple of weeks time when I should be starting to paint the exterior of the aircraft.

Gondor

[NARSES2]

As an aside re paints. White Ensign do some really good quality enamels for those countries not normally covered by the other manufacturers, Italian, French, Russian etc. They also cover some of the RAF/FAA not covered by the others, early FAA in particular.

Enamels which were formulated by the same guy who did Xtracolour I'm told but with the same drying time as Humbrol. I recommend them highly

[Gondor]

As an aside re paints. White Ensign do some really good quality enamels for those countries not normally covered by the other manufacturers, Italian, French, Russian etc. They also cover some of the RAF/FAA not covered by the others, early FAA in particular.

Enamels which were formulated by the same guy who did Xtracolour I'm told but with the same drying time as Humbrol. I recommend them highly

I did look at them as a possible source of paint but decided that I would look at my nearest Humbrol outlet first as that was the cheapest option. In future I may buy from them but not right at this moment. I will probably buy some of their white metal detail sets at the same time.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Slight problem encountered while test fitting the EJ200 exhausts into the F-4. The cut outs I made for one of the exhausts was not wide or deep enough and I have nothing that will reach in and cut away the plastic to make the space bigger  Good job I have another two Revell F-4F's in the stash so I am makeing sure that the second go at the cut outs WILL be big enough for the Ej200's.

Second problem is that one of the plastic fillets I was making, by wrapping thin plastic around the EJ200 exhausts, was not as neat or as tidy as required so had to be removed. No an insurmountable problem, just a pain that I have to do it again! 

Gondor

[Gondor]

Almost a week has passed since my last blog entry and things have moved on. My Spey powered F-4E which I think I shall call the F-4M, alternative time line where the RAF version of the Phantom got the gun of the E version, has had the radome cut off. This was helped by the reduced thickness of the parts at this point, designed to facilitate the removal of the radome so that a replacement with a flat lower section for a hight finding radar could be fitted in the Boscombe Down version of the FGR.1 kit. Other parts for the node undercarriage door and some of the fairing for the gun are being removed from an Italeri F-4E/G that I am scrapping.

My He111-H6 is progressing nicely, still got lots of painting to do prior to putting the fuselage half's together but I have tonight glued the wing parts together. My Hurricane is making slow progress, a small amount of painting for the cockpit prior to a wash which I hope to administer to all the aircraft I am building at the moment, that's three Phantoms, one BoB Spitfire, the Hurricane and the He111... oh, nearly forgot the G91 as well 

And only three weeks until Glasgow!! Will anything be ready in time! 

Dam good question which I have no answer to 

Gondor

[Gondor]

While out enjoying the Open Door policy in Falkirk and climbing up the Tower there to see the two Jail cells within as its the Towers 200th anniversary, I bought  some Poster Paint from The Works in the hope that I may be able to dilute the paint to make a black wash for my models. 600ml for £1.49 so it should keep me going for some time. Results later.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Found there was a small package at work for me today from Airfix.

I had bought one of the Fabric Winged Hurricanes from Hannants which I was intending to build, unfortunately when I opened the packaging up and started inspecting the components, I realised there were two sprue C's. One quick email to Hannants had an email sent to Airfix and a reply to myself from the Big Yellow H. The package was a replacement sprue with the correct A inside it so I can now build it as I desire which for this one will probably be real world.

On another note, progress is slow but steady with my two F-4M's that I am building as well as with my He-111 and Hurricane. I should do more work on my BoB Spitfire too but that is not a priority at the moment.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Typical! I spend weeks looking for a reasonably priced Matchbox 1/72 Phantom them four of them turn up at once!

Gondor

[Gondor]

Progress has been a little slower on my builds for Glasgow than I would have liked. Progress is still being made so I am hopeful that I will finish at least two models by then, it all depends on how much PSR I have to do one they are fully assembled.

In the lead as far as the building goes is the Fiat G91R although the Node wheel leg has me worried due to the lack of the axle that nose wheel is supposed to fit onto  Not sure how I will get around that, my favourite method is to make an axle out of wire and incorporate that into the nose leg, the second option I can think of is the super-glue the wheel onto the undercarriage and hope everything stays put. I also have to add some nose weight which being me I have made things rather difficult by remembering to add this after the fuselage is all glued together. Fortunately I have yet to add the jet pipe so I can add weight from the rear  the difficulty will be in securing small weights some three to four inches (7.5cm to 10cm) from the opening 

In second place is probably the Hawker Hurricane as there is less to put together and more of it painted. This is offset by the complexity of the colour scheme and the number of colours involved one of which I will have to mix from two different colours.

Closely following the Hurricane is my F-4M. Most of the fuselage is buttoned up just requiring the wings and the new nose to be added to complete the major assembly.

My He111 is starting to look as if it will not take too long to build either, however I am worried about the canopy masking even though I bought an Eduard masking set to use with the kit. It will be the first time that I have used a set so I am rather nervous about the attempt which may well hold me back.

The Battle of Britain Spitfire is effectively on hold even though it should be easy to finish off.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Very little progress recently due to a lot going on at work, should have an update on that tomorrow. The F-4M is progressing, its nose should be on and filler applied by the end of the night and the G91 needs some filler applied too.

Gondor