The P.1121 get's it's feet wet

[Rick Lowe]

Parts glued together! And Paint!!   

[Gondor]

Parts glued together! And Paint!!   

No paint added since I started the project. There will be more paint once I start working on blending the parts of the intake together with the nose undercarriage bay. What you are seeing is the primer I sprayed the sheet of parts with before I separated the parts from the backing, so I could see where the edges were, as they would remain white.

[NARSES2]

There is simply too much for me to get done with my build speed for it to be complete this year. I am thinking of taking it with me as far as I get it to show off what I have done to anyone who is interested.

Gondor

There'd be a fair few interested I'm sure

[Gondor]

A bit more glueing and fettling yesterday.

After removing excess plastic from the nose wheel bay opening, I fitted the nose undercarriage bay and the main frame inside the fuselage. Then I glued the nose undercarriage bay in place. That way, when the glue dried, I knew that I could slide the main frame back onto the undercarriage bay.



I then trimmed the ring I put around the engine intake, which I am hoping will give something for the intake trunking to glue onto.



A trial fit of the main frame to the glued nose undercarriage bay



And finally, the intake trunking was fitted in place. It still needs to be shaped to fit, but the idea can be seen in the picture.



Gondor

[Spino]

Looking like some real progress now!

[Gondor]

While test-fitting the parts, I found that it was very difficult to get the intake trunking out of the fuselage; nothing to hold onto. So let's get that sorted!



A couple of minutes with a piece of brass left over from making the intake duct and a pair of pliers, and we have a handle to get hold of.

I also started blending in the nose undercarriage bay with the rest of the intake.



Which, after some judicious cutting and filing, leaves this.





Now the next big question is, why do I always become more productive after my late evening meal and just before my bedtime? 

Gondor

[Rick Lowe]

A variant on the 'I'll read just one more chapter before I head off to bed' syndrome... 

I tried working in the evening, and after one too many instances of disassembling the last thing I'd glued up the night before, I stopped.

[PR19_Kit]

I find I actually do my best modelling work during the small hours, inspiration seems to strike between 1-3 am for me.

[Rick Lowe]

Having to get up for work in the morning tends to put the kaibosh on that for me...

[Gondor]

I have not had much mojo for any modelling recently, but this evening I picked up this and had a look at the intake trunking again and found a problem. The rear of the trunking, where it is next to the rear of the nose wheel bay, has a gap! So I now have to decide, do I add extra metal to fill the gap, or do I make a new intake?
One of the problems is that the missing area will be somewhat visible when viewed from the intake, as it is on a direct line of sight to the engine face.
Thinking while I am typing this out has made me decide to add more metal. I will start by roughly adding a piece of brass under the intake, and then adding another piece on top of that so it is flush with the existing brass.

Gondor

[Gondor]

I changed my mind. I realised that it would be far easier to make a new piece rather than trying to add about 1.5mm of shim to both sides of the nose wheel bay. One advantage of making a second intake trunking is that I have already done it once, so the second time is easier and quicker, which it was.



I used the nose undercarriage bay from another P.1121 that I have slated to become an interceptor as a guide to help align the two ends of the shim when making it into a tube.



The above picture shows two sides having just been joined together. The tweezers are holding the parts as the solder cools.



A handle was added to help remove the trunking when necessary; otherwise, there is nothing to get hold of!



No, this is not a close-up of a family pet's nose.



Now it has a bit of a lopsided grin. The two pictures above show the trunking, with the engine behind it, no light leakage and a reasonable fit at the intake end. The second picture shows the intake fitted. Unfortunately, not very well, as the selotape would not hold it. It gives the idea, though.

There is still some fettling to do, but for the intake, that is it until after Telford. I shall do more work on it in the meantime, but other areas, such as the cockpit and wings.

Gondor

[Rick Lowe]

Coming right along. 
Yeah, sometimes it's better to start again, rather than fettle with trying to alter an existing part to do what you want it to.

[Gondor]

Coming right along. 
Yeah, sometimes it's better to start again, rather than fettle with trying to alter an existing part to do what you want it to.

I will be taking the old part with the rest of the build to Telford. so that it can be seen outside the fuselage.

[Gondor]

I keep wanting to do bits and pieces to the model. I think this is probably a good thing, but as I intend to show it as part-built, maybe not.

So, I painted the inside of the intake trunking and the outside of the nose undercarriage bay.





This showed that I need to add filler to the intake area where the plastic meets the side of the resin undercarriage bay. There also needs to be some kind of structure added between the roof of the plastic at the front or the intake area, and the upper part of the brass intake duct.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Continuing with my sporadic building of this aircraft, I have finished blending in the plastic around the front of the resin nose wheel bay.





I have also glued the cockpit from the donor Xtrakit T.7 Hunter together.



Yes, the cockpit looks a mess at the moment, but as the top of the combing was wanting to bend outwards rather than meet up, I am calling it a win for now. Next, I intend to glue the intake trunking into place and hopefully finish that off prior to Telford. That reminds me, I should get the engine face painted.

Gondor