Great work so far Andy!
<> **** DONE: 1/48 Fairey Swordfish MkII - WW1 / WW2 over Water.
- Thread starter Crimea_River
- Start date
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
- Thread starter
- #202
Crimea_River
Marshal
Thank Chris and Hugh. Chris, no worries about that touch up as the extension needs to go on yet anyway and there will be work on the seam there.
With all the fuselage decals now on and the trailing edges at the wing roots finish painted, it was time to bite the bullet and get the wings on. After an umpteenth dry fit to confirm everything lines up, I dabbed some thick CA on the attachment seam and slid the wing on, ensuring that the lower one was perfectly flat. The upper wing center section is loosely placed at this point and it would only be glued in place once the main wings have set.
With that done, take a look above at my no-longer-straight rigging. The tiniest flex in the wing to make the joints fit properly has buckled the rear diagonals. Another view of the assembly is shown below.
To me, it was important to get the seams tight and they are - at least on the top.
With the wing set, the "important" landing gear struts could be glued on. For the deployed wing, you need the wing in place to attach the struts as one of the support points is on the outer wing.
The tail wheel is painted and glued in place. Note that I lost my scratch-built towing shackle, which is not a surprise as it was fairly exposed. It's easy to make another so no big deal.
A dry fit of the folded wing revealed a tight fit and, in the process of doing this, I once again popped and buckled some of the rigging.
The wheels and tires painted, washed, and ready to install.
I also started on the prop. Though Tamiya supplies decals for the yellow prop tips, I prefer to paint these myself. After spraying on the yellow, 2mm strips of tape are applied to the tips at the fornt and back and then the black will be applied. That will be for another day.
So the next lesson to pass on is this: if you are doing the PE rigging, leave the straight end free to slip in the slot until everything is assembled, then drop some thin CA in the slot once everything is tight. This was actually a warning given by a reviewer whose link was posted earlier but I did not heed it. If I did this model again, I would go that route.
With all the fuselage decals now on and the trailing edges at the wing roots finish painted, it was time to bite the bullet and get the wings on. After an umpteenth dry fit to confirm everything lines up, I dabbed some thick CA on the attachment seam and slid the wing on, ensuring that the lower one was perfectly flat. The upper wing center section is loosely placed at this point and it would only be glued in place once the main wings have set.
With that done, take a look above at my no-longer-straight rigging. The tiniest flex in the wing to make the joints fit properly has buckled the rear diagonals. Another view of the assembly is shown below.
To me, it was important to get the seams tight and they are - at least on the top.
With the wing set, the "important" landing gear struts could be glued on. For the deployed wing, you need the wing in place to attach the struts as one of the support points is on the outer wing.
The tail wheel is painted and glued in place. Note that I lost my scratch-built towing shackle, which is not a surprise as it was fairly exposed. It's easy to make another so no big deal.
A dry fit of the folded wing revealed a tight fit and, in the process of doing this, I once again popped and buckled some of the rigging.
The wheels and tires painted, washed, and ready to install.
I also started on the prop. Though Tamiya supplies decals for the yellow prop tips, I prefer to paint these myself. After spraying on the yellow, 2mm strips of tape are applied to the tips at the fornt and back and then the black will be applied. That will be for another day.
So the next lesson to pass on is this: if you are doing the PE rigging, leave the straight end free to slip in the slot until everything is assembled, then drop some thin CA in the slot once everything is tight. This was actually a warning given by a reviewer whose link was posted earlier but I did not heed it. If I did this model again, I would go that route.
parsifal
Colonel
you gotta be unhappy with the way that rigging buckled like that. my commisarations
- Thread starter
- #204
Crimea_River
Marshal
I've already started to fix it. There is one end on the PE with a recess in it for bending it to fit vertically into the slot. I just flex it til it breaks then reglue it to the same spot with a slight overlap.
Last edited:
parsifal
Colonel
that's clever
turbo
Staff Sergeant
Nice job Andy, bummer about the rigging. I've got a Swordfish floatplane in the stash so will pay particular attention to this.
Michael Stolting
Airman
Andy,
I'm not sure if you ever watched an American TV program called "Cheers" but one of the actors has the same name as the reviewer of the kit to which you refer.
I did read the part about not attaching the straight ends until the wings were attached but paid little attention until my disaster. I don't have the modeling smarts to save a kit the way I'm sure you're doing as I type this but, for my rebuild, I'll read it with great respect and follow his and your advise.
IPMS Kit Review: Tamiya 1/48 Fairey Swordfish Mk.II
John Ratzenberger - Wikipedia
Mike
I'm not sure if you ever watched an American TV program called "Cheers" but one of the actors has the same name as the reviewer of the kit to which you refer.
I did read the part about not attaching the straight ends until the wings were attached but paid little attention until my disaster. I don't have the modeling smarts to save a kit the way I'm sure you're doing as I type this but, for my rebuild, I'll read it with great respect and follow his and your advise.
IPMS Kit Review: Tamiya 1/48 Fairey Swordfish Mk.II
John Ratzenberger - Wikipedia
Mike
Bummer Andy, but at least you have a backup plan that solves the issue...Good stuff man...
parsifal
Colonel
you guys aren't phased by much...
fubar57
General
Very nice Andy, shame about the rigging. I had the same problem and in the end, popped a bottom joint, carefully cut off a bit of the end and then reattached with a small dab of superglue. I should have held off gluing as you did and corrected
- Thread starter
- #212
Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks guys. I'm pretty confident that, with a bit of fiddling, I will get these straightened out again. It will be tricky on the folded wing though as it can only be accessed from the outside once installed. I might try something different there, seeing if I can dissolve the CA with debonder without ruining the paint too much.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
It's looking good Andy, and I'm glad you can sort out the rigging.
T Bolt
Colonel
Excellent work Andy.
Looks great so far Andy!
- Thread starter
- #216
Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks guys. I tried putting a drop of debonder on the sliding end of one rigging strut and left it for an hour or so. When I came back, the PE was loose and sliding in the slot so it worked. Looks like I have a solution for the droopy rigging - once the wing is put into its final position, I will tighten the PE and add a new drop of CA to the loose ends.
- Thread starter
- #217
Crimea_River
Marshal
Prop is finished painted. May yet add a bit of weathering. The red stripes are decals which were actually a single piece along with the prop tips. These were sliced off and applied individually. I'm not 100% happy with them as I applied them over a semi-gloss finish and you can still see a bit of decal film. I may regloss and reapply a semi gloss.
Before fixing the folded wing, I needed to install the flying wires. A total of 4 emanate from the 3 fairings in the fuselage, two going to the rudder crank. I started by drilling small holes in the fairings and CA gluing one end of the wires, for which I used nylon invisible mending thread. Below you can just make out the wires, since they are, well, invisible. One has already been run to the lower elevator crank.
Here are the finished wires, now painted a dark metal shade so they stand out more:
Other side to follow.
Before fixing the folded wing, I needed to install the flying wires. A total of 4 emanate from the 3 fairings in the fuselage, two going to the rudder crank. I started by drilling small holes in the fairings and CA gluing one end of the wires, for which I used nylon invisible mending thread. Below you can just make out the wires, since they are, well, invisible. One has already been run to the lower elevator crank.
Here are the finished wires, now painted a dark metal shade so they stand out more:
Other side to follow.
Excellent!
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
I agree.
Andy, the invisible thread is also available in a 'smoke' shade, which looks a bit like steel, if you can find some.
If you can't find any, and want some, let me know and I'll send you a reel - there's a supplier just 150 meters away from my house.
Andy, the invisible thread is also available in a 'smoke' shade, which looks a bit like steel, if you can find some.
If you can't find any, and want some, let me know and I'll send you a reel - there's a supplier just 150 meters away from my house.
Users who are viewing this thread
Similar threads
