Meteor NF.12, 46 Sqn, RAF, 1/48th scale.

[rochie]

Not attempting to hijack the thread but I have heard the term "Dogsbody" several times and we even have a member that uses that as a handle. What does it mean?

Robert.

Dogsbody was Douglas Bader's callsign .
Terry once said to me that due to his arthritis problems it might be better to have wheels fitted at his ankles and i said if he did that i would call him Dogsbody after Bader and it has stuck as his nickname

 

[Airframes]

Well, when Karl uses it to refer to me, it's because, being knackered with Rheumatoid Arthritis these days, and with bent legs, he reckons I walk like Douglas Bader, and his radio call-sign was 'Dogsbody',
The name was 'created' as a p*ss take by W/Cdr Woodall ('Woody'), the Duxford sector controller, based on Bader's initials (DB), which, when he was promoted, replaced the squadron code letters on his aircraft.
Consequently, Karl is 'Red Two', and Gary (Geedee) is 'Red Three'.
We also started a 'Biggles Speak' thing a few years back (hence all the 'Old boy', and such like, now seen here on the forums), and various Biggles characters names were allocated to Karl, myself, Jan and a couple of others who meet up now an d then, but that's another story .......

Back to the Meteor, and I decided to let the 'Milliput' on the fin have some more time to fully set as, being fairly thin, I don't want it to crack when being carved and sanded. Also, as insurance, I had to re-cement the upper fuselage joint, as I dropped the bloody thing after being caught off-guard with the weight in the nose - fortunately, it landed half on carpet, and half on a folded polishing cloth !
So, whilst waiting, the center section mess was cleaned up, and those gaps and poor joints have been filled, using stretched sprue set into the gaps, melted and pressed down, using Tamiya extra thin cement (Textcem), and then sanded flush.
The pics show the stages in the process, and a shot of how the assembly looks so far.
There's still some final sanding and polishing to do, and the very small gaps, 'pinholes', and areas where I enlarged the curved cut-outs in the intake nacelles, have yet to be filled with either 'superglue', or my talc and varnish 'Porridge'.
Those larger gaps at the intake nacelle joints aren't perfect, a there's a slight 'step', but they should pass once painted, as they're on the line of an actual cowling panel joint, and can be detailed as such, and considering the mess the whole thing was in before, I'm fairly pleased with the result so far.

As I've worked almost non-stop since yesterday evening, I'm now going to have a night off, go for a couple of pain-killing pints, then have an early night and sleep for England !
Thanks again for the interest, and I'll be back sometime tomorrow.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Wojtek - I'll have a pint of Storm Brewery 'Bosley Cloud' for you !

 

[Wurger]

Thank you Pal.

 

[Robert Porter]

Great progress! And thanks for the explanation! Makes sense now!

 

[Lucky13]

Smashing job old chap, pour yourself a large brandy what!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks awfully old chap. Perhaps one might partake of a small snifter, and a jolly decent Armagnac would be spiffing, don't you know. Because we're ...................

 

[Crimea_River]

.....just such tipplers are we not!

Lots of slogging here Terry but its definitely coming together.

 

[Lucky13]

Thanks awfully old chap. Perhaps one might partake of a small snifter, and a jolly decent Armagnac would be spiffing, don't you know. Because we're ...................

....absolutely fabulous!
Just bought a new one, help yourself to a test shot old boy! Chin chin!

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Looks good so far Terry!

 

[Airframes]

I say old chap, that looks more like a bottle of tart's perfume - does one drink it, or wear it ?!

Thanks chaps, still slogging on with the sanding of the nacelles and the fin. Had a late start today, after doing the weekly domestic chores, as I slept for 14 hours - didn't get up until mid-day !
Should have more to show sometime tomorrow, and maybe even get to the painting stage, although that might be pushing my luck !

 

[Wayne Little]

Doing good there Terry.

 

[turbo]

Nice work Terry. 14 hrs! You must have partaken...

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Wayne.

Made a lot more progress, with the fin fillets done, tail-planes cleaned-up, pinned and fitted, and the center section finished (apart from some final sanding after primer) and fitted.


PIC 1. The fin fillets have been built-up with 'Millipit' and sanded to shape, and that sink mark has been filled. After clean-up and polishing, the fillets will be given a rough, brush-applied primer coat, to check for any flaws, and then corrected as required, before a further light sanding. Note that the curved edges at the rear of each fillet are intentional, simulating the curves of the sheet alloy of the real fillets, and will be improved once the fial sanding has been completed.
PIC 2. The plain ends of the tail-planes needed to have the moulding seam and the remains of the sprue attachment removed before sanding flat. As they are intended for a butt joint only, and the joining surface on the fin is slightly concave, the joint would not be very positive, and certainly not very strong, so the ends will be drilled to accept metal pins, to help support and strengthen the joint.
PIC 3. Two holes were drilled in each tail-plane, and pins cut from a paper clip were inserted and fixed with CA adhesive.
PIC 4. The root faces on the fin were first sanded, and then drilled to accept the pins. The holes were reamed slightly, to make them more oval, to allow for any slight adjustment of the 'planes when fitted.
PIC 5. The tail-planes were cemented along the root faces, with the addition of CA on the pins as reinforcement, and held in place as they set, to maintain alignment. When fully set, the gaps at the root, caused by the slightly concave fin root faces, will be filled and sanded flush.
PIC 6. With the main sanding of the filled gaps on the nacelle joints completed, the center section was cemented in place.
PICS 7 and 8. Fit of the center section was reasonably good overall, being quite tight, with the fore and aft fuselage joints being flush, although some sanding along the wing roots was needed to allow them to 'snap' into place. The gap on the port wing root can easily be filled, but it looks like the starboard side root has a slight 'step', and will probably need a thin bead of 'Milliput' to blend it into the root fillet - this will be checked and corrected as required, once the first filler has been applied and primer applied to check the surface.

Next stage, after completing the corrections mentioned above, is to tackle the outer wing panels, and I think this is going to be somewhat tricky, due to the method of joining them to the center section, which will be shown in the next post.
Got to nip into town to do a bit of shopping and post some letters, but should be back soon with pics of the next stages.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Kirby - I was still composing the last post as you posted.
The reason for the very long sleep was because I'd been at the bench for so long, and had been awake for around 34 hours after going for a couple of pints, and then having an early night on Friday !
A bit silly really, but at least the aches and pains have been worth it, as I've now 'broken the back' of this build, and getting close to the first stage of painting - that's IF I don't have major problems and delays fitting the outer wings, the preparation of which will be shown next.

 

[Crimea_River]

Good progress!

 

[Lucky13]

I say old boy, she'll definitely stand out like a dog's balls, when finished....very cat's pyjamas what! Smashing job old boot....snifter?

 

[Wurger]