1/48 Wellington Mk. III of 425 Squadron - "Starting to Finish"

[Crimea_River]

Thanks again. Today, I continued with the starboard wing, thinking that I might as well glue it all together. The aileron details provided by Trumpeter are kinda nifty and replicate the actual hinge points nicely. These are made to move and yet don't have that loose and floppy look often seen with parts like that. It will remain to be seen if they droop on their own and if they'll need a drop of glue.

One of the wing halves seemed to have a bit of a warp and so I made sure to glue the halves together with a stout dowel holding things straight. Hopefully that will take care of it.

As noted elsewhere, "you can never have too many clamps" and so I put some of mine to good use.

Thanks again for watching.

 

[Wurger]

 

[BertUS]

You got more progressie in a few days then I am in 2weeks,impressiev work

 

[Donivanp]

Moving right along there. Good info.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. Bert, I think I have a little more to work with. You are making magic from nothing.

 

[Crimea_River]

Good day all. Work on the wheel wells nears completion. With the port side complete using the kit-supplied parts, modified slightly to move the struts forward, I was able to measure the corresponding location of the main struts on the starboard side and glue in the remaining components.

The white metal main struts were located using square tube plastic shelves and the height was adjusted using shims until it matched the port side. Once the proper height was achieved, more square tube and CA was added to firmly secure the main struts in place.

The jacking frame was then slid into place, glued, and then everything was shot in Tamiya Nato Black. After the paint dried, I added the jack oleo using a piece of solder. With so much going on in here, there were some areas that didn't see paint and so I'll need to go over these again.

And that's how she looks as we speak. The next step will see some brake lines added and the lower portions of the struts painted aluminum. Thanks again for looking.

 

[Wurger]

 

[le_steph40]

Great job and great details Andy

 

[fubar57]

Beautiful work Andy. I bet you'll be glad to see the back end of this

 

[Totalize]

Liking this effort Andy. Good stuff.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. Not quite sick of this build yet but we'll see once I get into the bomb bay. I've also discovered that the wing attachment details as provided by Trumpeter are VERY problematic and I may need to tear these off. More on that later when I look into it further.

 

[Donivanp]

Looking very nice Andy. don't get sick till she's done.

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far Andy!

 

[rochie]

fantastic modifications Andy

 

[nuuumannn]

Kind words Grant, thanks.

You're welcome and entirely justified, as this build testifies. It's interesting that the kit supplied parts are very different to the modified parts based on photographs, but I guess the kit maker's research people didn't have access to such things.

 

[Crimea_River]

Grant, true but I suspect that it was a matter of keeping things simple whilst providing the strongest join for the undercarriage.

That said, the wing attachments are far from simple. As mentioned above, it seems Trumpeter botched the attachment detail and this was mentioned in at least one other review that I read. A box is provided to secure the wing and the box slides into a corresponding opening in the wing. A springy clip on top of the box is supposed to engage a lip inside the wing to pull things tight. Great in theory....

Here's the box attached to the fuselage. Take good note of the angle that the box makes with the outline of the fairing for the wing.

Looks odd, doesn't it? Well, that's because it is! The box is placed at a distinct angle to the wing chord and there is no way that the box can be incorrectly placed as locating pins are provided and the right and left boxes are identical parts. Below is the corresponding opening in the wing that the box fits into. The lip for the spring clip can be seen on the inner surface of the upper wing half. Note how the opening pretty much parallels the wing chord.

A dry fit reveals that the fit of the box into the opening is extremely sloppy and that the spring clip doesn't engage with the lip on the wing. This make the box almost entirely irrelevant. In the following pic, note how the wing contour, as expected, doesn't even come close to following the fairing outlined on the fuselage. And this is despite the fact that, with the 3-4mm up and down slop at the leading edge, I've come as close as I could to the fairing contour.

Very, very naughty Mr. Trumpeter. Off to the corner with you! I will now need to investigate which is correct: the fairing outline on the fuselage, or the wing as placed over the box. The two little square patches on the fuselage at the trailing, which represent external access points to first aid boxes stowed inside the fuselage, might provide a guide clue.

In other news, the starboard wing halves have been brought together:

This will enable me to finish off the last few details in the wheel well that could only be done with the halves mated. I've also begun addressing the fuselage seam which displays some minor imperfections that need attention. On the underside, the bulky beam approach antenna (I think) will be removed to allow access to the seam.

That's all for today. Back when I have either more progress or some epiphanies.

 

[Crimea_River]

Found this pic from Terry that will help me locate the wing trailing edge. The fairings can be seen by the yellow arrows and extrapolating these lines should give me an indication of where I should be.

 

[fubar57]

The spar must have been a Friday/Monday job at Trumpeter. I'm having issues with the B-29 spars as well; they want to thrust the wing about a ½" forward. Hopefully you'll get yours sorted out shortly. Check back in a week

 

[Wurger]

 

[nuuumannn]

Looks odd, doesn't it? Well, that's because it is!

Oh dear. I saw the problem as soon as I saw your picture of the box and the fuselage outline...

Some images of the leading and trailing edges from the Loch Ness Wellington. Note the wee slots in the inboard leading edges.

DSC_1239

DSC_1240

DSC_1268

DSC_1293

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