Hi Guys,
I'm back from our break, batteries recharged and ready for action. Unfortunately the weather wasn't particularly kind for our week away, locally. Two storms blew in during that week - anyone living here or in the UK will know exactly what I'm talking about. However, a change is as good as a rest, so here I am again.
Thanks to Andy, Geo, Wurger, Terry, Karl and Gnomey for looking in since my previous post and Snautzer, welcome to the build. Honoured you took the time to go through the entire thread.
So to business. All that was left of the turret build was the canopy and I managed to get back to the bench a few days after we got back.
The turret arrived in two parts, split horizontally for some reason. I thought this may be to allow for the gun barrels being positioned but in the instructions, the barrels are installed after the canopy is assembled.
Anyhow, after masking and painting I thought that this would probably be helpful as I had already positioned the barrels. It also gave me the idea to keep the top dome removable. To this purpose I built some metal spring clips into the lower section. These are disguised on the exterior by the canopy frame (see above). I can rest the dome in position without it moving out of position, provided I don't twist it too hard.
Here is the lower section attached to the turret carcass with the gun barrels carefully lined up with the apertures at the front. I've a slight concern with the thickness of the Perspex.
Next the dome was clipped on and here is a walk around the completed turret.
The thick perspex tends to distort the interior a little, unfortunately .
Finally the completed turret is dry-fitted into the mid-upper fairing.
Whilst the turret can rotate within the fairing, there is no groove or guide rail to help it rotate smoothly. This caused pressure on the canopy to knock the dome out of position every time I rotated it.
I then had a look at seeing the benefit of showing it without the dome and I must admit it didn't do anything for me. I will attach the dome permanently. I think it will cause less bother.
So, that's the end of the mid-upper turret sub-build. I also had some time, while waiting for things to dry, to tackle the props and spinners.
These are all cast metal. The small masking is just to keep those surfaces free for gluing. These are designed to rotate on the prop shaft. The tiny brass ring attaches to the tip of the prop shaft when all the other elements are in place, allowing them to spin freely. A dry-fit suggests that in one or two cases, this fit will be very tight , so we may have to adjust as we fit.
The blades and spinners were primed and the yellow tips over sprayed for the yellow tips. The areas above the pencil lines were masked, then all were given a coat of black.
That completes everything that I've done to date. There are only two more sub-builds to complete now – the rear turret and the exposed starboard outer engine. There are problems to be solved on both of these but I'll cover those when I get going on them.
For now, keep well.
Gerry