A Canadian What-if that isn't an Arrow... Wait, what?!

[Leading Observer]

Very Gerry Anderson... I like. 

I agree - straight out of Stingray or Thunderbirds

[su27rules]

  

[scautomoton]

So you may remember I said this was the final iteration of parts. Well, I may have presumed a tad too much there. A few fit issues appeared once paint was involved, so some adjustments were made, but for the purposes of this build I've just sucked it up like a good Buttercup.

Some sub-assembly and painting of fiddly things has been this week's ordeal. First up were the engine nacelles. I swiftly decided not to worry about weathering the inside of the jet pipe where the diverter flaps are since it'll be impossible to see the effect. So with that in mind, having already painted the tubines, I started assembly of the jet pipes.

After painting the red lip on the inlet mouth the compressor/bullet was fitted.

And the whole thing assembled, minus the diverter flaps since they can slot in later. I also masked the red lip and the exhaust lip.

Then it was time to paint the nacelles and all the fiddly bits I hadn't done previously (flaps, doors, diverter bodies, etc). Everything thats white is just undercoat, the metal bits are finished (ignoring washes etc).

Next up will be continued juggling of bits for paint. I also need to vacform a canopy so I can button up the cockpit ahead of applying the Gull Grey. Which means I need to polish several canopy moulds, joy....

[PR19_Kit]

Cooer, VERY smart! 

[Rick Lowe]

 

[scautomoton]

Steady progress these last couple of days, grabbing time here and there. I assembled the fuselage and nacelles rather than continue messing about. The interior is done. Somewhat handily, I had an ejector seat already painted and ready to go. The instrument panel has been decorated with gauge decals (mikegrantdecals.com if anyone is interested, very handy) and a wash applied. I designed the panel such that it can be painted separately and then just dropped in. In this image you can also see the recesses for the vacformed canopy to sit in. Also visible is one of the holes for the AoA probes. This kit will come with Master F-16 pitot and AoA probes.

 

 

I've also made two batches of canopies. The first highlighted the layers lines from the moulds too readily, so I gave the moulds a quick sand with 2000. I also needed to remove a sharpish ridge on them, so need to revisit the design and reprint. Nevertheless, I formed the second batch (which had a slightly cloudy finish due to the sanding) so I could assess the fit. I trimmed one of the parts, and during handling it polished up beautifully. So for the purposes of this demo build its fine. 

 

 

A couple of the joins need a little filler, and then I will give the underside its final coat of white before attacking the upper surfaces.

[Thorvic]

Coming along nicely, going to look very different in USN markings

[DogfighterZen]

Can't say they're my favorite type of subjects but your builds are always interesting.   

[scautomoton]

Painting, painting, painting.... has been mostly occurring this week. Oh, and snapping engine nacelles off and then re-gluing them badly. But that's another story.




The bulk of it is now done. I need to paint the door & flap edges red, as well as the reverse of the airbrakes. Plus I annoyingly got grey paint onto the sides of the flap recesses, so will need to mask and paint white again. Very annoying.

Nevertheless, I'm quite happy thus far. The Gunze Gull Gray looks a tad dark to my eye, but I think I can give it a sunbleached look with some white weathering powder later.

I also assembled the weapons bay, and my decision to just model the tips of the missiles was well justified. You can see 3/5 of sod all inside. I also still need to paint the struts.





Next will be the various annoying fiddly paint touch ups I mentioned, plus doing the ends of the flaps etc red. Then I can think about glossing it and getting the decals on. I'm going to steal the identity of an F-8A from VF-211 in 1963 aboard the USS Hancock since 1) this is the right sort of time frame and 2) I like the colours! 

[Rick Lowe]

 

[scautomoton]

Lots of progress the last couple of days. Gloss has been applied, and most of the decals too! Weathering is also in progress, but I'm not going too heavy with it.



There won't be anything over the next week since I'll be on holiday in Montenegro. Once I'm back it should be a short hop across the finish line ahead of heading up to Perth.

[Thorvic]

Looking good and certainly different 

[scautomoton]

Right, we're done!

So if more proof were ever needed that 1950's Aerospace Engineers worldwide were all drinking the same water, this is it. Not just a sleek, 1950s pointy jet, but Mach 2, VTOL, and 4 podded engines to boot! It doesn't even have wheels.... Again, the variety in designs and how outlandish they were back then is staggering. Good on them!

This is definitely one for those with steady fingers. Initial attempts at keeping things to scale were laughably naive, so almost everything needed to be made thicker, or slightly more chunky, and its still very fiddly to build. So patience is that thing poking you in the eye your friend here. On the assumption it would have entered service in the early 1960s I've dressed her in Light Gull Grey over White. Let's imagine VF-211 used these instead of Crusaders in 1963 when on deployment from USS Hancock. Mainly because the decals were easy to come by, but also because I like the scheme. I also weathered it heavily since most period photos I found showed Skyhawks in serious need of a bath. Plus I need to work on those skills.

 

And yes, I'm aware I put the USAF roundel upside down on the upper wing surface..... I also chipped the rear right flap, which is annoying.... I'm a tit.

 

Kit - Machina Models 013 Avro TS.140 VTOL Interceptor

Primer - Mr Surfacer Grey 500 and 1000, Mr Base White 1000

Paint - Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black, X-10 Gunmetal, X-11 Chrome Silver, X-32 Titanium Silver, XF-69 NATO Black; Mr Gunze Aqeous 3 Red, 8 Silver, 51 Light Gull Gray, 77 Tyre Black, 80 Khaki Green, 316 White; Mr Color Super Metallic SM204 Super Stainless; Molotow Liquid Chrome

Weathering - Tamiya Weathering Master Snow, Oil Stain, Soot, Burnt Blue, Burnt Red; Oil Sludge wash; AK ABT Oils Burnt Umber

Varnish/Finish - Tamiya XF-86 Matt Clear; AK Intermediate Gauzy Agent

Decals - Various SuperScale and MicroScale A-4B Skyhawk and F-8 Crusader; red chequer from the spares drawer

 

Anyway, enough noise, wine! I mean photos!

 

[Rick Lowe]

That came out really nicely. 

I can just see that in some Gerry Anderson show - as a W.A.S.P. interceptor, maybe.

[NARSES2]

A stunner   

With the added bonus of no wheels/tyres to mask and paint