Bristol Superfreighter

[RangerNeil]

Whilst I seek a suitable subject for the Pacific Theatre build and wait for the replacement Stolly parts I pulled a box at random from the stash to keep busy with. We're approaching the time of year the grip on sanity becomes tenous to say the least so busy = safe. Might be regretting this in the near future though but....
The random yank from the pile gave the Airfix release of the Bristol Superfreighter.


Looking it up on Scalemates the box art suggests this is the 1967 release...
So in the box we have:


All still bagged so hopefully all the parts are present - not something guaranteed with auction buys!

The Instructions








The Decals


They are rather more yellowed than the photo suggests and, honestly, I don't like the feel of them. I'll be surprised if they come off the backing paper so I might have a look for some aftermarket ones.

The Sprues

[RangerNeil]

First stages of the build was to add all the cabin windows. Before doing this I had a quick look at how much fuselage was visible internally with the doors open - the short answer is a LOT!
So its obvious some sort of internal detailing will need to be added.

I started fitting the windows and immediately noticed they are a VERY loose fit in the apertures - not sure what, if anything, can be done:




There were also some very nasty ejector marks on the inside that would have been highly noticeable so these were sanded and filled. Oddly on one side they wre raised plugs and on the other recesses with a wall of flash around them.




Once happy with the insides I started on the cockpit. Colours are the nearest match to photos I found of cockpits on the web.




Instrument panel was a print on the instruction sheet that had to be cut out and stuck on. Needs a little tidying still.
Lastly the fuselage halves were taped together to make sure the paint on the cockpit areas linedup. It did.


Plan now is to cut some ribs from 0.5mm sheet and add them to the sides as ribs and as the flight crews access ladder then lengths of 0.5mm dia rod between them as stringers. That then leaves me with trying to add a floor and ceiling.

[cor]

Cool old subject, and quite the challenge by the looks of that fit.

[digger303]

Another challenge, but a very interesting subject.

[RangerNeil]

Finished assembling the kits cockpit today then started on the additions to it. First off were the fore and aft extension pieces cut from 1mm plastic card:


The aft peice was parallel sided so no problem. The fore piece had to be contoured to fit into the nose. Took a fair bit of sanding, offering up, marking and then sanding again but we got there in the end. This was followed by the aft bulkhead, also from 1mm plastic card. The completed assembly then test fitted:




Once the TET had set it was given a first coat of paint - and the two pilots dry fit to make sure everything was OK:


The completed sub assembly was then dry fit into one fuselage half and the other side added to makes sure the two halves would close.




Whilst the fuselage was taped up I decided to test fit the canopy as I've heard a few horror stories about how bad it is. Lucky it's not THAT bad - but will still need a bit of shimming to be acceptable though...

[RangerNeil]

Another challenge, but a very interesting subject.

This is starting to get eerily reminiscent of the Mil Mi-V-12 build......

Tonight got the underside of the cockpit floor seal with a piece of 0.25mm sheet to hide all the holes and indents.




The rear bulkead was fixed in place and a cabin floor made from 1mm sheet.


Its sitting high one side because the tapes holding it in place on the low side are tensioning it.

So at end of play today rear bulkhead is in and painted the closest Grey I can get to photos of the interior of the cabin on the web.
Rear access doors painted Dark Grey and tomorrow will be fixed to the rear bulkhead together with the access ladder for the rear door (currently under construction) which also hangs on the rear bulhead.

[digger303]

Another challenge, but a very interesting subject.

This is starting to get eerily reminiscent of the Mil Mi-V-12 build......

I did think so , but decided not to say anything.

[RangerNeil]

Another challenge, but a very interesting subject.

This is starting to get eerily reminiscent of the Mil Mi-V-12 build......

I did think so , but decided not to say anything.

The Mil was a lot easier, it was just a sheet for the lining that got slid in. This is going to have to be done a bit at a time. We left it last night with the floor sorted - today it was the turn of the cabin roof. As with the floor I drew on the old days at Ford and drew a set of "ten-lines" with line 0 being the front face of the fuselage then spaced every 20mm until the readings changed and then every 10mm. To get the readings I ran a length of tape inside the fuselage where I thought the roof line should be then placed a 6" steel rule across the fuselage half on every ten-line, used a trusty set of digital vernier calipers, and noted the reading. Once completed I measured the thickness of the steelrule and deducted that from every measurement. I then set the calipers to the revised dimension and used them to mark each side of the centre line of the roof material, joined the rusulting dots then cut the excess off and sanded it to shape.


Spot where I goofed!!
First person to say " he measure the wrong side of the marking tape can award themselves brownie points.

So out it came again and the curvature at the rear got reduced in width till it fitted


(Its dropped one side slightly due to the weight)
Test-fitted the other half of the fuselage just to make sure and it joined nicely the entire length.


Now I need to work out make the ribs and stringers. Whilst I ponder that the engine nacelles were assembled ). When I joined the two haleves of the nacelles the edges made a Vee rather than a flush finish so out came the filler. This is drying overnight.

[digger303]

I have heard of guys adding a retainer to the inside of the fuselage that can't be seen from the outside. In order to prevent the windows popping out resulting in a problem ya don't need.

[RangerNeil]

I have heard of guys adding a retainer to the inside of the fuselage that can't be seen from the outside. In order to prevent the windows popping out resulting in a problem ya don't need.

Hopefully - he says with literally everything crossed - that shouldn't be a problem as the side windows went in with TET and had weights on them as it set......

Back to the build:
* The cabin roof is in and awaiting painting.
* The floor has had a second coat of Black as have the prop blades.
* The engine cowls have had the front face done in Gunmetal - I couldn't see any way of improving them without a degree of major surgery far beyond my paltry skill level.
* The two undercarriage legs are clamped up and setting.
* The two main undercarriage wheels are assembled, where they join there is a groove again so thats been filled and awaiting sanding.
* The engine nacelles have been sanded and are fitted to their respective wings. Airfix made sure they couldn't be mixed by using a different spacing on the locating pins
I've also added the hinges for the bow doors.


I'm still puzzling over how to do the interior fitments. At the moment I'm think of cutting some 1mm wide atrips of 0.5mm plastic card and working them back as far as the start of window #5 or #6 and then using 0.5mm dia rod for the stringers. Still very much a "what if" situation though.

[digger303]

I'm sure you will work it out.

[RangerNeil]

I'm sure you will work it out.

You have more faith in me than I do!!!

So - at close of play tonight the interior has a first coal of Light Grey. Under carriage legs are sanded as are the tyres which have had a first coat of Rubber Black. All 4 prop blades have had 2 coats of Matt Black and the centre sctions a coat of Flat Aluminium.


I've marked the approx position of the ribs on the pink papers.


But the issue I'm finding now is as I cut a strip off the sheet to make them the strip is curling up! Got to find another way of cutting other than a ruler and sharp knife.

[digger303]

Dang it.

[RangerNeil]

Had a go at the ribs - I used 2mm wide strips of 0.75mm plastic sheet. Any thinner on either dimension and cutting a strip resulted in a corkscrew mess!!


Ribs all done and painted. The yellow uprights are the sides of the crews access ladder to the flightdeck. I'll add the rungs tomorrow once the uprights are set. White circles up front are the manual cranks for opening the doors if the hydraulics go fubar.


Just leaves the stringers running fore and aft between the ribs now. I can't make up whats left of my mimd which looks better - the 1mm rod on the left or the 0.5mm rod on the right.....

[digger303]

I like the 0.5mm rod

[RangerNeil]

I like the 0.5mm rod

Thanks Digger I was inclined to that size as well so went for it. Taken 2 complete lengths to do whats in the photos, I honestly don't think its worth going further back as it cannot really be seen.
This is the stringers in:


And painted:


And with the rest of the major sub-assemblies:


Next step now is joining the fuselage halves together. I think this will have to be done in sections so as to take out the worst of the alignment issues. Sanding will have to be done VERY carefully as the stripes on the fuselage etc. have to be painted, no decals are suppliefld for them and the guidelines are very fait indeed!

[digger303]

[RangerNeil]

Fuselage halves are joined. As usual with a lot of clamps.... Mainly because it needed a lot of finessing to get the seams to line up. Pretty much got there too.




So a start has been made on the Bow Doors:


Still a bit to do on these!

[digger303]

[RangerNeil]

Clamps came off tonight, apart from one area its not too bad.






Theres a tiny little area at the very rear of the fuselage that didn't close despite the clamps and will need a dab of filler.


Regrettably the riveting is all raised so I'm going to have a strip down the top of the fuselage, maybe 5mmm wide thats going to be smooth. I might try sinking the lost ones but its a worry it will look odd so a decision for another day.

Now - problem areas. Firstly the tail fin is wider/thicker at the rear than the raised step on the fuselage:








No ideas how to resolve this yet - filler is out as there is a lot of rivet detail on both fuselage and fin. Same goes for sanding the fin down.

Other area of concern is the "hump" of the wing centre section. One side was higher then the other with the cockpit and fuselage seams aligned.
.



I've got the seam sanded smooth but there is a noticeable "ramp" on the thicker side. If I sand that area out then, again, a lot of rivet detail will be lost

[digger303]

That is a awful dilemma, I don't know there is a fix apart from forcing the high side lower. Of course that's going to mess up the interior.
The long road is sand them off and reinstate the rivets as recessed plus re-scribing not a happy thought for me to even attempt that.

[DRUMS01]

It's a neat model of a time gone by, but those issues are going to be tough to correct. If it was me, I would thin the tail fin or rudder to match the fuselage as it appears far too thick for the scale. Do I also see some mold dimpling on both the rudder and fuselage?

Perhaps it isn't too late to add some clear acrylic to the external recesses areas around the windows. Once dried, you can polish them to be near flush with the fuselage. My concern there would be polishing off the raised details around them.

For the wing root on the fuselage, I would carefully shave down the high area, add putty, and scribe the panel lines and rivets again, as it is a major area when looking at the kit. I know that is not very enjoyable, but your will be happy you did when the build is done.

Thats my input, that you didn't ask for (smile). I'm sure whatever you choose to do will be just fine.

Ben

[RangerNeil]

Inputs always welcome Ben - especially in cases like this one
The big problem, being an old Airfix kit, is all the surface detail is raised. Any sanding wipes that out and I've found in the past re-adding lost raised rivets with sunken ones doesn't look good. Only option really is to sand the whole thing smooth and spend a week rescribing every panel line and redoing the rivets as recessed.
Just thinking of having to do that makes me want to cry! Whats annoying is knowing if I'd done a dry run on the fin before assembling it I could have thinned the insides down to fit. However - there is a bit of good news. Before I fitted the fin I used a rotary sander along the seam line on both the fin and fuselage, effectively "grooving" both and the fin sits a LOT better. I think it was sitting on the seam lines and sliding side to side. I also remembered I had some AK plastic putty so I smeared the join surfaces with it then fitted the fin, wiping off what got squished out with a wet cotton bud. Seems to have worked nicely.
For now - the cabin windows are covered in masking fluid and the cockpit has been done with masking tape (but I think I may redo this)








Tailplanes and wings are on as well. Once fully dried the joints need inspecting after a coat of primer goes on. They look good and pass the thumbnail test but paint is always the great revealer!!




Next job though is adding the main undercarriage legs - going to do the same thing with the plastic putty between the leg and the nacelle. Fingers crossed!!

*** EDIT ***
Main undercarriage legs are on. Braces are in position but dry fit to help locate them and support them whilst drying.

[cor]

Looking like its getting there. I like the rivet detail all over the outside surfaces.

[digger303]

One day I'm going to bit the bullet and go and re-scribe and re-rivet a whole plane.....won't be this or next year I can assure you. However reinstating raised rivets in this scale seems daunting.

[RangerNeil]

One day I'm going to bit the bullet and go and re-scribe and re-rivet a whole plane.....won't be this or next year I can assure you. However reinstating raised rivets in this scale seems daunting.

After long and (semi-)sober reflection I've decided I'm not going down that route this time either. So the primer went on today and I was right - it DOES show all the problems:
Air intakes




Nose seam - and sinkages


Tail fin




Underbody seam




Upper wing seams and problem area body seam


Trailing edge of Aimerons

[digger303]

Whoo boy, where's that bin
That's a lot of detail to fix. There are 3d rivet decals available if you decide to push ahead or a rivet maker to be purchased. It sounds painful even just suggesting it, but I know you don't like to give up.

[RangerNeil]

The problem areas have been masked then filled to keep the level of filler to the minimum. I'm going to leave it at least 24 hours before starting to sand. Surprisingly theres not a lot on top and on the underside I've tried keeping it between parralel runs of rivets fore and aft.

[RangerNeil]

Thought I'd better update this thread too.
Gloss white is on the top of the fuselage, bow doors and fin,alsojust beenapplied to the bands on the engine cowlings.
Lght Grey has just been applied to the undersides of the wings, fuselage and tail planes. This leaves the silver on the fuselage and upper wings then the blue line across the fin and fuselage sides

[cor]

One day I'm going to bit the bullet and go and re-scribe and re-rivet a whole plane.....won't be this or next year I can assure you. However reinstating raised rivets in this scale seems daunting.

I suggest using a rivet guide, ruler with indentation, to give an even result. Hasegawa make a nice set of 4 rulers that I used on the big tomcat. It's surprisingly calming just plodding along and doesn't take that long.

[cor]

Plane is looking good. Primer certainly does show how much you need to fix after you think you've done a good job.

[RangerNeil]

Plane is looking good. Primer certainly does show how much you need to fix after you think you've done a good job.

Indeed - it can be annoying and frustrating in equal measures. Unlike thefather of our unloved PM I really WAS a Toolmaker and one of the base skills is the "thumb nail test" - scraping a surface with the thumb nail to pick up defects/irregularities. So when you do this, it feels smooth, add primer and suddenly its not smooth any more... Grrrrr

Anyways - bit more progress - the bow doors are now on!!

[RangerNeil]

This is rapidly turning into a mojo sapper....
First the bow doors won't close properly and it seems the issue is the hinges...
And now I've just unmasked the Blue stripes- and the amount of bleed under is CHRONIC!
I went over the rape with a cotton bud and toothpick to work it sown onto the surface over all the raised rivets and still got Blue bleeding through. Silvers not so bad as it will cover but the White will need doung multiple timesas for some reason acrylic white is virtually translucent. Other option is to wait a couple days for the Blue to dry thoroughly then remask the entire aircraftand give it a waft of Tamiya aerosol gloss white.... Either way its a pain in the proverbial.......

[digger303]

[RangerNeil]

Decals are on. Had them in the window since starting the build but we've had so little sun (and so much rain) they still had a degree of yellowing.
Cockpit glazing is currently dry- fit only till the gloss clear coat goes over the decals.

[cor]

It's looking good now with the decals on. Front cargo doors are great

[digger303]

Looks much better today. Cargo doors look good in the open position.

[RangerNeil]

I'm calling this one done now. It started out well but turned ito a real mojo sapper towards the end. Last straw was it took hours to get the masking fluid off the cabin windows as it had seeped into the joins between the glazing and the fuselage sides... Next problem will be trying to find somewhere to display it.

[digger303]

The first and third pic really shows the aircraft nicely. Love the weathering on the wing top the silvering looks very creditable and very well all know bare metal finishes can be a pain.

[RangerNeil]

The first and third pic really shows the aircraft nicely. Love the weathering on the wing top the silvering looks very creditable and very all know bare metal finishes can be a pain.

Thanks Digger Kind words are much appreciated, the last stages of this really did sap the mojo.

[cor]

Looks like a tricky one to finish well. At least you didn't shelve it and it still looks great. Well done.