I fell into the trap of running with an idea and then getting bogged down.
I'm hoping participation in this GB (my first) will help me past the finishing line.
I still haven't decided what the colour scheme will be, am erring toward Coastal Command with torpedo.
So here is the retrospective progress so far (its a long story, apologies):
A diabetes needle...
Just happened to make me think of the Hercules engine.
And so the madness began.
Back of needle assembly was filled with Milliput then sawn and filed to a seven-sided prism.
Then cut the prism in half (see the black line) and offset for the rear set of cylinders.
Also used razor saw teeth to create cylinder head grooves on sprue.
Did this by putting sprue in a mini drill on slow speed and offering up the razor saw teeth.
Finally the cylinder heads were attached
Then needed to remove the moulded cylinders in the cowlings and thin and reshape to accommodate the engines.
Here is a comparison with the scale drawings and a 5p piece
And, with the kit prop temporarily attached, looked like this
At this stage I should have been happy and maybe should have stopped, but oh no...
What about the exhaust system?
Out comes wire and soldering iron
Exhausts stuck in cylinder heads and bent to shape
Then some attempt to add some details and paint
Not spectacular but better than what was there, and a learning experience.
I had bought an Airwaves etch set for this, but didn't read the bit that said 'for Matchbox'
So I could only use some of it.
Or choose not to, as was the case for the myriad of individual cooling flaps for the rear of the cowlings.
My superglue skills were not up to that and so it was time for...Wine Foil!
..a medium that I am keen to ensure I have a regular supply of and you will see used frequently in my builds
Note that I now had to fill and reshape the front collector ring to line up with the foil.
The second is still a work in progress
So that's the engine status.
Cockpit and fuselage interior are a combination of scratch build and etch.
Main tub is mainly the Airwaves etch
as is the main instrument panel
But the radio operators panel is scratch built. A punch and wine foil being used to create the dials
The crew entry area is sprue and card
and the rear compartment is etch (seat and stand) and card (floor and ammo boxes)
The interior walls are a combination of etch, plastic strip and wire
A bit overscale in places, but I was having fun.
Note that I've removed the area where the rear cupola will sit.
I decided (as an afterthought) to display with this open.
..but I'm not sure how to do that bit yet
Eventually this wire will form the prominent hose that ran from the cockpit through to the rear
and this fire extinguisher will find a home
Sanded down all the raised detail on fuselage exterior and marked out panel lines.
Tried to rescribe but found it difficult and made a mess of it.
Will live with it for now..
Started to work on the landing lights
..made from wine foil..
and carved out the navigation lights and fitted with clear sprue filed to shape.
Again, one is done the other is awaiting attention
Undercarriage bays have received some attention
as have the bay doors
I was hoping to make the wheels
a bit more accurate by adding some hub detail (again with wine foil)
I also had bought some Falcon vacform canopies.
But soon discovered how difficult it is to cut them to a decent shape.
So both were rendered useless. Which meant I had to plunge mould from the original.
I had not done this before (and I will edit this thread later with pictures when I find them)
Example of some attempts before and after trimming are below
So thanks for bearing with me thus far.
There will now be a break of two weeks or so whilst I have to get on with other non-modelling stuff.
I'm hoping that putting this up here will embarrass me into getting stuck in on my return.
