Vickers Bullet with skis - 1/48 kit bash

[IanB]

Another useful tip comes out! Lovely engine, and an interesting build.

Ian

[Dirigible-Al]

hello Ian, Rick, Martin, L.M., Terri, Ermeio, George and Des. Thanks for your kind comments.

I managed to put a little more time into this. Engine cowl is now thinned and has the two 'cut outs' cut out. I took the propeller from the old SE.5 as I had already done a pretty good job on that the first time round, the only thing letting it down was a rather poor wood grain effect.After a little trimming to shape I painted over white then with watercolour pencils drew red lines. I then brushed on several coats of brown tinted varnish to get the proper effect of British Props which tend to be dark red/brown and brown/brown stiped.

For the rear I cut off the Camel's arse and the poorly scalloped section on the top. It nearly matches the Bullets rear end but to get it perfect I glued a couple of bits of plastic card to the sides and drew it across sandpaper until it matched. Because the Bullet's rear end is curved two ways I cannot simply skin this so I made a little jig in the shape of the profile curve, slotted a piece of insulating foam in it and ran a blade across the top. I then placed the Bullet's rear end against its underside and cut that way. I shaped it with a curved piece of sandpaper, drawing lines across it to make it easier to see if the curve is correct. There are 11 ribs running the length of it and these were made from copper wire stretched and spun in a drill chuck to made them dead straight. When they were superglued to the foam the foam absorbed the glue and the thing is rock hard now. I painted over the whole thing with thick gluppy paint and saned it down to get a scalloped effect although the wire is still a little too prowd. This does not bother me as I will just put some runny paint in the troughs later and this will give the same effect.

I have now done the back and the front, I just now have to figure out how to do the middle so they can all be joined together.

Thanks for looking in, Alan

[radio]

Great conversation now.
Martin

[Pgtaylorart]

Nicely painted prop!

George

[lone modeller]

Great to see somebody making a conversion. I really like the way in which you have used wire and foam to get a rib effect too - so difficult on fuselages. Great ideas here to put into the memory cell for later use.

[LukasTheLight]

Wow...

Lukas

[Dirigible-Al]

Thank you martin, George, L.M. and Lukas for your kind comments.

I have at last been able to put a little more time into this. I used Harry Woodman's method to mould the centre part of the fuselage except I tried insulating foam instead of balsa because it is far cheeper and easier to work with being so soft. First couple of attempts were diasters but I figured it out in the end. This is how I did it:
 Carve the block out to the correct shape, slice into two halves. Paste loads of super glue over it, this will absorb into the mould and make the foam hard. The next step will avoid a disaster, a sturdy 'T' shape of plastic card was glued along the inside length of the mould. When I did this without the 'T' strip the foam warped in the heat and came out banana shape along with the moulded plastic. The rest is no different to Harry's method, I got a thin sheet of wood and drew around the mould, then cut the shape out. Plastic card was then placed over the hole and pinned in each corner. This was then placed under the grill until the plastic sagged and the mould was pushed thru the hole holding the 'T'. Keeping the moulds in the plastic I cut off the surplas then ran it a few times over sandpaper glued to a glass surface. I had more pictures of this but I must have deleted them by mistake.
 I have started to detail the interior now. Dials were made by hand drawing the faces then shrinking them down on a photocopier. they were then cut out and white glued on the panel. I tightly wrapped thin wire around a nail, slid it off and sliced down it to produce lots of metal rings, these I white glued around the dials. The wooden strips on the side walls are copper wire straightened in a drill chuck. The floor hatch looks a bit crap but I will leave it as I do not think it will be seen.

Thanks for looking in, Alan.

[RAGIII]

Outstanding work! The model is really taking shape and beginning to look the part! Your interior is coming along very nicely!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

Excellent modelling. The extra cockpit detail is impressive and I especially like your idea for the instrument dials.

Great to see someone else making their own push moulds. I can honestly say that they are easier that they may appear by reading about them. I use balsa and do not cut the moulds in half - I think that that is unnecessary and in any event the halves can be trimmed and matched when they are cut out. The advantage of wood is that it is heat resistant and therefore does not bend when pushed against the hot plastic.

Please keep us posted with more information when it is ready.

[Dirigible-Al]

Cheers Rick
Hi L.M. Balsa is probably the best material for push moulds but being perfectly honest I have a garage half full of dense foam and a measerly stock of balsa, now almost gone. I was as much trying to find a use for my massive stash of dense foam as anything and this will be better for bigger moulds purley for economic reasons. When I was a kid the model shop sold balsa for peanuts but it is quite deer now for what it is. It did not occur to me to simply push the whole thing thru without splitting it in two, this would have negated the need to put a strengthening 'T' strip along the inside edge. Whichever way it is done I certainly agree it is easier to do push moulding than it would appear to be when described.
Cheers, Alan

[radio]

Very great work, Alan.
Martin

[Des]

All the work you are doing is certainly paying off, the model is looking excellent.

Des.

[coyotemagic]

She's really shaping up beautifully, Al.  As always, I'm inspired by your work.
Cheers,
Bud

[Dirigible-Al]

Thanks for your comments Bud, Martin and Des.
I always love it when the two fuselage halves are closed, it feels like a major part of the build is done. I made the wicker seat by scoring plastic card with a large needle vertically then lightly drew a sharp blade across horizontally in as tight a lines as I could manage. I then put a thin coat of tan over it so it would appear darker in the crevasses. One day I will weave a wicker seat but I am behind on this and this method is very quick, the hardest and most time consuming part was putting the edge around it which I made from three thin copper wires twisted together in a drill chuck. Seat belt was made from masking tape. The pedals and joystick were all plastic card or sprue. There will be a few more bits I will sneak in there later.
Thanks for looking in, Alan

[radio]

Superb detailing of the cockpit.
Martin