The dragon with the girl tattoo

[The Wooksta!]

""

The next Wyvern project, the jet version. Or two, as there were two with differing u/c set ups.

This, using a Sign kit I got well over 30 years ago, is going to be the tail dragger version. I can't get any further until I have the drawings blown up and more P.38, but I know how to tackle it, with the Clyde one showing the way.

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The airframe parts.  An interesting shade of green.

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The tail after I hacked off the tailplanes.  No dihedral on them according to the drawings.  On reflection, that may have been a mistake.

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The fin did get cut and sanded down to the older profile.  This shows the fuselage mocked up against the plan, albeit the nose gear version.  A meteor engine intake again, some plastic card spacers and more P38 should see it done.

[The Wooksta!]

"See?...God! Mike's floating! How's that done, then?"


After a bit of a false start, I managed to get the plans for the tail dragger version of the Jet Wyvern blown up.

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And taped up, the length is pretty much there.  I've a work around so I don't have to worry about plastic card spacers to get the nose right.

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This is the cowling around the Python engine in the actual Wyvern.  In the Frog and Sign kits, that lip fits into that nice groove, but I'm pulling it forward to sit in front.  That 2mm is key, because the Meteor cowling fits over the front by about 2mm.

The plan also shows what appears to be the front of the Avon too, so I've dug out some inherited moulds that have some Canberra engine fronts.  Once cast, one should drop inside nicely.  Might not be accurate, but it's a representation of the engine and that's good enough for me.

There's also a great deal of sanding and reworking to do on the fuselage before I can get it together and it's easier to do at this stage.  There's some little intakes either side of the wing roots that need to come off - I can leave them there on the nose gear version as they can be extended for guns - and I'll need to rework the exhausts. I've some nice plastic tubing to go in there, but I think I'll have to sand the fronts off first before I can backfill with P38 to mount them.

[The Wooksta!]

"It's a fish, Mike."

Of the two Canberra engine front moulds, I have, one is slightly more detailed than the other, so that got chosen.  Both fitted inside the Meteor cowling, but the better detail one fitted a tad too far back, so after some sanding it now fits roughly where it should be.

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Think that looks rather nifty.

Next task should be to sort out the ailerons on the wings.  Going off the drawing, they look to take up much of the outer wing span.  Some superglue should sort that out.

[The Wooksta!]

"Is this some sort of sick joke? Why isn't supper ready? You haven't done a bloody thing, have you, Neil?!"

That's not true, I have actually done something.

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Firstly, those intakes are now gone.  That resin is odd, sometimes it chips, other times it carves away nicely and it now looks relatively smooth.  Undoubtedly, it'll show up more work needing done once I get a coat of primer on.  Last night, I also filled in the control surfaces as they change on the early jet.  The drawings of the later one show the wing to be virtually identical to the standard Wyvern S4 wing, although the leading edge at the wing root is extended to house the revised u/c.  Less work, but perhaps more.  However, that's for another thread in the future.  Moving on...

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The gaping hole where the exhaust was.  To get the new jet pipes to fit, I had to make them a tad bigger.  The black marks are pencil to show where the panel lines are, as the back of the jet pipe nicely lines up with that vertical one near the back of the canopy.

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Cut down plastic tubing, 6mm diameter. 

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And in place.  This is just a friction fit for now.  The black marks on the wing are the filled control surfaces.

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I had one, but I needed two.  The second one was far easier to do.  THere's a fair bit of superglue at the back holding them in place and I may add more and dump some baking soda in there.  I need to sand them flush with the fuselage - the later version had actual sticking out jet pipes.  I'll have to do something about the gap at the back too, probably some scrap plastic card backed with either sg/bs or P38.

Next task, once the jet pipes are sorted out is to get the control surfaces rescribed and then put the cockpit in.

This is taking a lot longer than it did when I first built it, a cloudy Sunday, July 21st 1991.  It was together and painted in a day.  How can I be so precise with the date?  It was my birthday the day before.

[kitbasher]

Cracking work, Lee.  Another one of my 'I must build one of those, I have all the bits' projects that's been in the pending tray for years.  My cunning plan is for a tricycle u/c W.36.

[The Wooksta!]

Cracking work, Lee.  Another one of my 'I must build one of those, I have all the bits' projects that's been in the pending tray for years.  My cunning plan is for a tricycle u/c W.36.

I think Meteor u/c is likely closest to the drawings.  Matchbox?  That's what I'm planning on using.  The wing only needs the u/c bay enlarging slightly at the outboard end, squaring it off to allow clearance, plus the leading edge needs extending.  Those intakes at the wing root need extending forward too - sprue?  I'm wondering if any production version would get the dihedral tailplanes to clear the exhaust gases.  Still, that's for a more dedicated thread.  Parallel build later in the year?

BTW, I've added some Cranberry engine fronts into the growing box of bits for you.

[The Wooksta!]

"There's those girls!"

Done some more work with the exhausts.  The rear has been filled with plastic card, superglue and baking soda.

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Trimmed back flush.  Filler time!

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Filled.  Now it's a waiting game...

[kitbasher]

Cracking work, Lee.  Another one of my 'I must build one of those, I have all the bits' projects that's been in the pending tray for years.  My cunning plan is for a tricycle u/c W.36.

I think Meteor u/c is likely closest to the drawings.  Matchbox?  That's what I'm planning on using.  The wing only needs the u/c bay enlarging slightly at the outboard end, squaring it off to allow clearance, plus the leading edge needs extending.  Those intakes at the wing root need extending forward too - sprue?  I'm wondering if any production version would get the dihedral tailplanes to clear the exhaust gases.  Still, that's for a more dedicated thread.  Parallel build later in the year?

BTW, I've added some Cranberry engine fronts into the growing box of bits for you.

Good call regarding the u/c, Lee.  My build is a way off still, hadn't even begun to think about detail such as that.

And tvm for the Red Cross Parcell additions.   

[The Wooksta!]

"Right! Here we go!"

Having got the exhausts about as clean as I could get them prior to a squirt of primer, it was time to sort out the cockpit.  I added a bulkhead at the back, trimmed it to fit the fuselage and glued it in place.  The instrument panel needed some trimming to get the fuselage to close.

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It's a bit black in there.

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Bit of highlighting with a quilting pencil for some chips and dings.  You may have noticed the plastic card spacers, which I said I wasn't bothering with due to fitting the mount further forward.  Tuns out that wasn't a good idea as the alignment was somewhat vague, so it got glued in where it was meant to go and some spacers applied.

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All together now.  The fit isn't the best, with a lot of gaps.  It fits where it touches and IIRC (and we're going back 35 years here...) it didn't fit too well when I first assembled it either.  `Having largely flood various areas with superglue, I added baking soda, but knowing I was going to be deploying the P38, only in a few areas. 

P38 is a great filler, but it absolutely stinks, so it's off to the shed.

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Not pretty.  You can see where I've applied it elsewhere.  There's quite a bit underneath.  So it got left in the shed to cure whilst I had a cuppa. 

Not looking forward to the sanding...

[The Wooksta!]

"I hope this isn't a dud!"

The bulk of the sanding is now done. An hour solid...

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But on having checked it against the plan, I'll need to do a lot more on the green resin between the cockpit and the P38 area - the fuselage there is a lot thinner as the Avon isn't as portly as a Python. Think it needs to be at least a mm either side, but I'm not sure how thick that resin is.  When I get round to the nose gear version, I'll back the inside of the Frog fuselage with plastic card or P38 before assembling it, but having checked the plan, it's not as slim as the tailwheel one, so less sanding.  Yay!

Still, that's for the future.  The light's failing and it's getting colder, not to mention the rain.  I keep the door of the shed open whilst I'm working with P38 for ventilation. But I'm on the right lines and it's looking rather cool as it is.  I had hoped to perhaps get the tailplanes on too - I'd sorted out the roots yesterday - but with a lot more heavy sanding to do, I'll leave that until later in the week

[Gondor]

A question about the P38. How long does it take to cure, and yes, I do realise it will all depend on how thick it's applied. Say 1mm thick, rough time please.

[The Wooksta!]

"Well, it's a long story....."

It depends on how much catalyst you add.  More catalyst, less time.  I've never actually timed it, but you've generally got about 5 minutes to apply it and about another 10-15 before you can start sanding.  Even if you had to wait an hour, it's still quicker than Milliput, where you have to wait an entire day.

If you time it right whilst it's curing, you can cut it like cheese. Even when it's cured, it can feel a little tacky - apparently, the outer coat never fully cures according to the mate who put me onto it.

And given the fumes, it's best mixed, applied and sanded outside or in a well ventilated area.

[PR19_Kit]

That's looking pretty good there Lee, and still looks 'Wyvern-ish' too. 

[The Wooksta!]

"I still tend to think that the whole outfit is somethat on the snug side."

After another hour of sanding, the whole front end is somewhat slimmer.  I don't think it's enough, but it's certainly better than it was before and I dare not sand any further was the resin is very thin in some areas.  I did think about pouring some resin inside, but the heat of it curing could warp the front end and I'd rather not risk it.

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Having looked at it against the drawing, it did look a bit overweight, but not too much.  Given that I'll be going with the single upper surface colour with the low demarcation, it could hide it, although I am minded towards the two tone uppers to disguise the discrepancy.  Were I to do another one - and I'd likely start with either a Frog or Novo injection one - I'd back the inside with extra plastic card.  I also did some more sanding around the nosecone to slim it down a little. 

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Now with added tailplanes.  Need to do some filling at the roots.  I'll give it a blast with some primer tomorrow to see what else needs fixing.  Really pleased with it so far.

Final load out is likely to be a centreline torpedo and underwing drop tanks.  The nosegear one will probably get rockets and a centreline drop tank

[Rick Lowe]