Short Stirling & RAF Bomber Command Forum

Hi All

Not finished by far but on Hols soon so thought you might like to see the FN25 so far. Excuse P.O. Prune, he's a big ugly at the moment but you need to have someone in the turret to get an Idea of perspective.

I'm fairly certain that the scale is right - he's about 5' 8" - as you look at it does it make you feel claustrophobic? I would not fancy 6 or so hours in it.


James

Good grief, what a horrible confined place to go to war in!

Getting there......

The video below represents about a weeks work on the ammo belts - it's really quite easy to draw and animate most of the model but the bullets are a pig to animate in my 4D program, so here it is! It also means that I can now relax and model much faster!

https://youtu.be/OfHjDMIvRTQ



James

In the fuselage - moody lighting

Great work there James, keep it going, mate.
John

Thanks John

There is no stopping it now! I anticipate three more years of work but eventually N6012 (virtual version) will take off again!


James

Hi All

I've never seen a really good picture of the underside of a Stirling but modelling it is revealing what may have been there.

Here is a comparison of the best MkI underside pic I have and a comparison with the model. The tail or fin is quite distinct and a common sight, the two black dots could be where the spent cartridges fall out - might be the gun barrel ends? The bottom of the footwell is less distinct but you can sort of imagine it.

The black crescent defining the far section of the turret apeture is quite deep and shows that the turret was not 'flush' - the original photo must have been lit from below to produce this effect - that probably wasn't a common lighting arrangement I wouldn't have thought.

James

So this is what it looks like close up (with the turret out a little) - possibly the gaps were plated over but it would have been a complex piece of work. Unlike other dustbin turrets the FN25 doesn't have a big flange to act as a cover

The turret drops through a circular 'I-girder' and so the oddly eccentric positioning must have been how it was. The shadow on the photo shows that the plating wasn't flush which seems to be asking for 'drag'. However, the girder seems to actually be two similar girders, one on top of the other so there would have been somewhere to put some plating and have a recess.

Taking votes on the plating - or not!

James

Hi James - it continues to come to life with every addition! The FN25 seems such a Heath-Robinson affair, even by WW2 standards. I wonder how many gunners actually used it in anger?

Great work, thanks for sharing,

Richard