**** DONE: 1/72 Fairey Firefly AS5 - Your Favourite Aircraft of All Time GB

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It has been some days since i made my last entry. i have made some progress, and am most grateful to andy for his gift to me of some decal sheets. thankyou andy for your generosity, and whilst i could not use the actual sheets you gave me, (because of yellowing) i did use them as templates to make new stripes of my own for the wings, as wel as the roundels.

i have just about completed the decals, though there is some work left to do in tidying up. ive started the final phases of construction....the undercart, under wing stores arrester hook etc. i have also started final fitting of the canopies. The shots you see do not have the canopies glued into place as yet....they arent even painted yet.

still the thing is taking shape....
 

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Guys i have a question. What, if any is the best way to rig a mast from the mid section of the aircraft to its tailfin. i have the aerial post as part of the kit, but no aerial. Would it be similar to stringing a biplane. This would be something I have neve attempted, but would be really cool if it can be done.
i was thinking of using nylon thread from a stocking, which should be approximately the right gauge. I was simply going to superglue one end to the tail , draw the other end to the aerial post, draw taught and superglue that other end a well.

Any advice or opinions is appreciated....including "are you mad????"
 

It depends on what a kind of "antenna wire" you are going to use. Usually the kind of rigging should done before painting of a model is started. But when all is almost finished you have to be very careful of that. First of all a glue... the CA one ( Superglue e.g.) has to be used. It has to be applied with a thin needle that will allow you to apply a very small dose of the glue. Secondly .. the "wire"... I use threads ripped from tights. But you can make an attempt and try to stretch with a warm , a piece of a sprue frame. It is easy to do and the thread you can obtain can be really very thin. Then cutting and gluing of it is a piece of cake.
 
Surgers thread. You can find it in any grocery or drug store here in the states. A small spool will last you a lifetime. Glues just fine too and is strong as hell (makes biplane rigging actually work structurally in your favor!). Scale is perfect for 1/72nd. Just don't paint it black like I did. Makes it look too bold. I would go for a grey metallic color. The thread is almost invisible otherwise.

Looking great by the way!
 
If you use stretched sprue, I suggest using the clear parts sprue as the plastic is usually tougher and it's also less visible. To me, antenna wires often appear too heavy for the scales invovled. I now almost always use nylon invisible mending thread, at Terry's suggestion, and am pleased with the results. It's just 0.1mm thick and can be bought in a clear or smokey finish. Agree with Wojtek on the CA glue. I start at the tail and glue the thread on. Once set, pass it over the post and glue it there. The trick is to keep it perfectly still when you do this and what I've often done is to leave the thread long and clamp an aligator clip to it as weight. I then tilt the model in a universal clamp so the weighted thread hangs down and adjust the angle until it just touches the post. Once everything is stable, I then dab the CA over the thread onto the post then, once set, cut it with a VERY sharp blade.
 
Here you go - a couple of pictures from my SE5 build, showing the reel of thread (cost £1), and how fine it is, the wing being a 1/48th scale SE5A.
The 'SPT' brand seems to be international, as is the 'Coats' brand name.
 

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thanks airframes, and everyone. i will try and source out that stuff if possible. in the meantime, i spent tonite fabricating 2 x 500lb bombs for the underwing stores (scratchbuilt which came okay, but read on below....i finished up sourcing better finished ordnance from another Kit) and getting the ASH nacelles ready to fit. i also fitted the PE flash guards to the underwings, and prpared and painted the tiny rails for the rockets. also finished off the detail for the undercarriege. its coming along nicely.

I have a criticism of this kit, however. Special Hobby have gone to a lot of trouble getting the underwing details right, in particaular the ECT bomb racks and even the locking lugs for the bombs. they provide launch rails for the rockets. but they dont supply any bombs or rockets of any kind to hang off that detail. i think thats a mistake. AFAIK you cannot get Brit WWII or Korean war vintage ordinance in 1/72 scale. In the finish I managed to scrounge 2 x 500 lb bombs from the Airfix kit that I have (good on ya airfix!!...I will finish the airfix bird as a wings folded model at some stage). But no luck with the underwing rockets. it will be difficult to scratch build these rockets but once I have some good details, i might give it a go. I would like to finish this bird fully armed. On that basis, or starting point, better to have something instead of nothing....The bombs came up great
 
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I have actually found aftermarket 1/72 kit for 60 lb HVAR napalm rockets. not quite HE rockets, but still okay. i am quite certain that of the 8000 or so of rockets fired by the RAAF and RAN during the Korean war, at least some of these would have been napalm.

Here is the link to the site that sells these 1/72 scale bombs and rockets. Its a pity that the HE rockets are out of stock at the moment. At least i will have some rockets....

Conversions :: RedRoo Models

Any ideas on how I should paint these rockets. USN "masher" rockets were painted green or grey warheads, light sea grey body and bare metal fins. Ive seen RN rockets painted an overall black or maybe dark blue. Ive read that napalm rockets in the RN were painted black with either a white or red warhead, but I have not seen that. I have seen one photo of a Firefly with rockets still attached, that appears to have the warheads white (or at least a light colour, and the body and tail a dark blue or grey.

Any ideas guys?
 
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