299 Squadron Stirling Build - Arnhem

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GuyMassey
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling markings - Arnhem

Post by GuyMassey »

The fuselage modifications.
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F4.jpg
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F2.jpg
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F1.jpg
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Last edited by GuyMassey on Wed May 20, 2020 4:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!" anon.
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GuyMassey
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling markings - Arnhem

Post by GuyMassey »

The resin fuselage part dry fitted.
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F6.jpg
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Last edited by GuyMassey on Wed May 20, 2020 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!" anon.
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GuyMassey
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling markings - Arnhem

Post by GuyMassey »

THE OFFICE
This is a very small area which in real life is crammed full of small detail. When the canopy is in place very little can be seen, so huge amounts of time can be expended enhancing something that only you will ever be aware of. My solution to this problem has been to take a few areas and exaggerate the detail, in the same way as a cartoonist draws a large head on a small body. The result is pleasing and not hugely time consuming and it gives a feeling of a busy, complex area. This is obviously not an answer for the purists, but it makes detailing effective and much easier for older fingers!

The instruments are a laser-printed scale reduction from a photograph, the straps are paper, pedals & column boxing cut from spru.
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FR4.jpg
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FR3.jpg
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FR2.jpg
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Last edited by GuyMassey on Wed May 20, 2020 4:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!" anon.
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GuyMassey
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling markings - Arnhem

Post by GuyMassey »

A slightly different view from behind the bulkhead, concludes the work to date.
"The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!" anon.
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GuyMassey
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling Build - Arnhem

Post by GuyMassey »

Another week gone by and the fuselage halves are now joined and filled. I used the glazing supplied as a backing to the filler where windows needed blocking out. I have also flatted back the rivets and panel detail. Some of this I will scribe later, but most will be be left almost invisible. The wings have also been lightly sanded all over to reduce the detail and sink holes filled. The flaps on the Stirling were Gouge type which retracted into the wing. The detail in the Airfix kit shows a huge crevice where these would have been. I have filled these and will scribe them back in a more "aerodynamic" fashion before assembly.
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W3.jpg
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Last edited by GuyMassey on Wed May 20, 2020 6:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!" anon.
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GuyMassey
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling Build - Arnhem

Post by GuyMassey »

An interesting detail photograph showing the flaps extended on a Stirling III. (I can't now find it after it vanished from this post.... I'll keep looking!)
Last edited by GuyMassey on Wed May 20, 2020 6:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!" anon.
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K4KittyCrew
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling Build - Arnhem

Post by K4KittyCrew »

It is looking very good Guy, even in these early stages. Press on regardless ole chap!
John
K for Kitty Crew - Winthorpe, 1661 HCU's - stirlingaircraftsoc.raf38group.org/
630 Squadron - East Kirkby
" There is nothing glorious about war with the exception of those who served us so valiantly"
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GuyMassey
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling Build - Arnhem

Post by GuyMassey »

Well, another week and a bit gone by, the bit caused by a winter flu bug! The next series of pics cover my attempts to improve the fuselage, rear turret and undercarriage.
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The surviving fuselage section from a 299 sdn MkIV
The surviving fuselage section from a 299 sdn MkIV
foto6 (1).jpg (78.95 KiB) Viewed 107832 times
Using a needle vice to detail the thin plastic disk patch.
Using a needle vice to detail the thin plastic disk patch.
F7.jpg (35.37 KiB) Viewed 107832 times
Detail on the patch coming together
Detail on the patch coming together
F8.jpg (40.21 KiB) Viewed 107832 times
Last edited by GuyMassey on Wed May 20, 2020 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!" anon.
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GuyMassey
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling Build - Arnhem

Post by GuyMassey »

I have never attempted to do anything with a turret before, but I have always been aware that the gun barrels on the Airfix Stirling are incorrectly aligned. So this time I decided to rectify this and at the same time do something different. Firslly I cut the gunner away from the mount (sorry dad), then removed and realigned the barrels so that the inner pair were lower than the outer. whilst at it I cut up and stuck bits of an old credit card to form a semblance of gun mount. A bent piece of paperclip as framework completed my play. I decided to paint the mount and interior cockpit green in order to highlight the guns, although this is not strictly correct. The result isn't great, but with the glazing in place it looks better to me than Airfix's lump of plastic!
"The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!" anon.
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GuyMassey
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Re: 299 Squadron Stirling Build - Arnhem

Post by GuyMassey »

I have always loved the Stirling undercarriage, though in real life it led to many tears being shed. Having assembled it, I painted the whole thing matt black. When dry the frame was gloss, and all panels satin varnished. Wire was used for brake lines and these were wire locked into place. The tyres were painted flat black and dry brushed with dark grey. When dry they were revolved against a dry brush with dark earth. If you want you could heat and flatten the bottoms, but this can cause the seam to split and therefore extra work, it also looks odd if the aircraft is hung from the ceiling!
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Wheels painted matt black and dry brushed dark grey. Hubs satin black with dark grey bolt holes
Wheels painted matt black and dry brushed dark grey. Hubs satin black with dark grey bolt holes
UC01.jpg (64.3 KiB) Viewed 107832 times
Dry brushing the faces of the tyres using a mini drill and matchstick axle
Dry brushing the faces of the tyres using a mini drill and matchstick axle
UC02.jpg (43.34 KiB) Viewed 107832 times
The whole assembly air brushed matt black
The whole assembly air brushed matt black
UC03.jpg (50.52 KiB) Viewed 107832 times
Last edited by GuyMassey on Wed May 20, 2020 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to Slide in Sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!" anon.
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