N.A. / Sud Aviation T-28S 'Fennec', 1/48th scale. (1 Viewer)

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Great to hear you're fighting the good fight and are back at the bench. I'm sure that this will turn out to your usual high standards.

Slainte (Your good health)

Gerry
 
The 'perforations' in the speed brake have been filled, using a combination of putty, which tends to crumble when sanded in such shallow recesses, and 'superglue'. The first application will be filed and sanded when hard, and then repeated until a smooth surface is achieved.
The engine detailing is underway, with the ignition harness, made from copper wire, and lead wire for the plug leads. When done, the excess glue (and drilling swarf!) will be cleaned off, and the cylinders, crank case and details painted, as well as adding the auxiliary intakes, when lead foil will be folded to shape and attached with dabs of 'superglue'.
Thanks again for looking in, and I'll post more soon(ish).
 

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My Terry I nearly missed this one, how slack of me. First up it's truly great to see you back having a go at chewing the plastic and from what your showing us, you have not lost your touch. There is some of your old flare showing through with this build and it's so nice to see.

Keep it coming mate, it's like nectar to us modelling nutters.
 
Thanks very much for the kind words and encouragement chaps!
As you can see, there are a number of ejector pin marks on this kit, fortunately in 'hidden' areas, and I've only made a token effort to remove them, as they're difficult to access, and my hands and wrists won't allow it!
Most will either not be seen anyway, unless the model is detached from the base it'll be stuck to, or covered by paint, wires, plumbing or actuator rods etc.
I've almost finished work on the engine, and the next step is to attach this to the fuselage, aligning the two intakes accurately, and then fabricate the cockpit air intake, on top of the cowling. Might have some pics later.
 
The engine has been painted, the nose packed with lead and 'Plasticine' and fitted to the fuselage.
PIC 1. It took a lot of lead, held in place with 'Plasticine', to balance the nose, due to the weight of the resin cockpit, behind the C of G. I just kept packing it in, checking the balance by finger tips under the wing tips, until the nose dropped noticeably. A notch has been cut into the white plastic fitted above the nose wheel well, to accept the lug of the nose gear leg when fitted later.

PIC 2 The prop shaft has been held in place, inside, with a short strip of masking tape, and on the outside with a spot of PVA, to prevent it falling inside, and then the engine cowling was fitted to the nose, which has been crimped in with clamps, to equalize the spread caused by the cockpit tub. The engine looks worse than it is, due to the lighting, but it does need some re-touching, as a result of bl**dy awful Humbrol paint - and this is the 'new' stuff, supposedly!
This will be done after the engine cowling joint has been filled and sanded, to minimise damage to the paint work, and then the whole lot will be carefully masked, for the same reason.
PIC 3. Next step, is to create the extra intake, unique to the T-28S, as seen on one of the Duxford examples.
PIC 4. This will be done (I hope!) by using the section of a Spitfire tropical intake, indicated by the black lines in the photo.
With a bit of luck, I might have this done by tomorrow night - pics then.
 

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Thanks guys. I'll be happier when the nose joint is tidied up and cleaned, and the engine re-painted on the cylinders and ignition leads - not enough contrast.
Despite my precautions with tape and PVA, the darned prop shaft keeps falling back inside. I've rescued it, by poking a cocktail stick through the gap in the wheel well, but I think I might have to glue it.
Hopefully, I should have the clean-up and re-paint done by tonight, and might be able to make a start on the air scoop.
 
Thanks Hugh.
I haven't bothered re-painting the engine yet, as there's going to be a lot more sanding dust flying around. But, it's getting there, and I finally feel as if I'm making some progress.
PICS 1 and 2. As I suspected, the cowling didn't bed down fully, and the joint needed filing and sanding, especially around the oil cooler intake. Also, there shouldn't be a joint line around the entire cowling at this point, so the whole lot has been sanded, and awaits polishing.
PIC 3. The attempt at making the cockpit air intake from the Spitfire tropical intake failed, due to the thickness of the internal mouldings, shown arrowed. So it was on to 'Plan B', with the redundant rear seat from the kit being cut down and filed to shape.
PIC 4. This was the result, and the intention was to fit this in place, and then build it up with 'Milliput' and sand to shape. But I was far from happy, especially as the overall width was just a touch too narrow, even allowing for the putty. So, on to 'Plan C' which, so far, seems to be working.
PICS 5 to 7. A hunt through the spares box found the tropical intake, left over from the ICM kit of the Me109F. This was separated from the lower cowling section and then cut down the main body, at the same time removing about 3mm of plastic from one side. Unfortunately, the part split when the cowling section was removed, hence the off-center joint, but it went together well enough for me to trim and sand the mating surfaces roughly to shape, and then glue it in position.
There's quite a mess of glue around the edges, but as the part has yet to be sanded, and the edges and joint blended in, this is not a major concern, especially considering the amount of polishing that needs to be done over the entire model!
Once the part has fully set, it will be supported internally with a scrap of plastic, and then the sanding, contouring and blending will be done, before moving on to the next stage, polishing overall, and re-scribing where needed. Then it'll be time to prepare the under-wing stores, in order to check clearance for the drooped flaps, which will be fabricated using the separated kit parts, together with plastic rod and strip.
Thanks again for your kind comments, and I hope to post another up-date soon.
 

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Thanks Andy and Vic.
The intake has now been filed to shape and blended in, all sanding marks polished, and the applique armour added around the pilot's cockpit, with the wing tips also fitted.
PIC 1. The intake, rounded on the edges, filed to shape, blended and polished, and all scratches and sanding marks polished out. There is still some polish residue around the upper intake and in some panel lines, but the model will be washed before the painting stage.
PIC 2. The applique armour, four separate panels on each side, was added from thin plastic card, with the bolt holes made with the point of a compass, and the breather hole on the starboard side drilled out.
PICS 3 and 4. What the model looks like so far. The wing tip fairings have been fitted, after sanding down the blisters representing the nav lamps. These will be painted and glazed with PVA after painting the model. The front of the fin fillet has also been cut, leaving a vertical forward face, as seen on the real aircraft.
PIC 5. Next step is to make the gun pods, in order to check clearance and positioning beneath the wing, ensuring they are clear of the drooped flaps. This is the French adaptation of the U.S. pod, fitted with two, 12.7mm (.50cal) machine guns.
PIC 6. A pair of long range tanks complete with pylons, from a Hurricane, were found in the spares box, and these will be adapted to resemble the French gun pods. The areas marked in red will be removed, to shorten the overall length, with the nose and tail of the tank then joined to the main body, and the bands (Arrowed 'A') will also be removed. The nose area will be filed down on the upper surface, to create the sloping angle, and holes drilled and then filed, into which .50 cal barrel jackets, from a F-86 Sabre kit, will be inserted. The ejector ports will be drilled-out and shaped, and the 'blister' moulded in 'Milliput'.
The pods won't be 100% accurate, but a blind man on a galloping horse probably wouldn't notice!
Thanks once again for your continued interest, kind words and encouragement, and I'll try to post another up-date in the next day or two, hands permitting.
 

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