jRatz Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 (edited) My entry, fresh from the box some gray parts, some tan parts, some green parts, and some clear parts .... Haven't started yet, have one thing to get off the bench, but that should happen by this weekend. My build plan, if it can be called that, is to work on sub-assemblies while I study the rigging plan and drill the appropriate locating holes .... Then I'll get down to work. BTW, I got this kit because long, long ago (had to be mid-60's), I got an article and plans set from Aeromodeller magazine and fell in love with the aircraft. I lost my collection of Aeromodeller, MAP, MAN, etc plans in a move but still think about the aircraft a couple times a year .... John Edited February 18, 2006 by jRatz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barneydhc82 Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 John...Now wouldn't you love one of those in 1/48????? I built that kit a great many years ago and nearly went blind doing the rigging. As I recall all of the landing and flying wires were doubled and required a lot of drilling. Barney Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old72s Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Super-Marine. Is that like R Lee Ermey on steroids? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 (edited) OK, I picked up a few paints I needed this weekend and late today I finally cleared my priority project off the bench. But, all I got done on the Stranraer was to wash the parts down. Real work starts tomorrow. John Edited October 11, 2005 by jRatz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Wow, cannot wait to see one of these built! A very elegant plane :lol: Good to see the decals are in good order, mine are stuck to the wax paper beyond hope of resurrection! :blink: MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted October 14, 2005 Author Share Posted October 14, 2005 (edited) An update. Essentially I've focused on the sub-assemblies. I am pleased with the kit molds -- very little flash, almost no seams, very few pin marks, and only one tiny sink mark. It has been easy to clean these parts, and once assembled I had few seam issues. The alignment pins aren't quite right, especially on the wings, and I found myself lopping them off to get parts to fit together -- no big deal really. Another approach is to drill the holes a bit bigger. I made one error on the beaching trolley. I thought the two main parts fit poorly and slopped some extra glue on to fill the gap -- in reality, the top could swivel on the bottom. I had to go back & saw/scribe a gap between them. If that's all I do, it'll be fortunate. So, from here I can paint the fuselage interior, finish that assembly, and add the bottom wings, then do the exterior paint job on all that. The kit would have me glue the upper wing center section to the struts & the fuselage, then add the upper wing panels & remaining struts. I am concerned about alignment, fill, and strength of that and think I will assemble/finish the upper wing panels and center section as a unit, then mount the whole thing at once. Of course, I also have to drill the rigging holes, but at least I've been studying the rigging plans, so know what I need to do. I just hate it because I bust a lot of drills. Moving along & really enjoying this. John Edited February 18, 2006 by jRatz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted October 25, 2005 Author Share Posted October 25, 2005 (edited) A bit behind. As the pix show, the fuselage is assembled. I did find some small sink marks while sanding down the seams, but nothing I think needs to be worked on ... I have drilled the rigging holes in the lower wings (24 holes each) and the floats (6 holes each). I still have the top wing outer sections (12 in each) and nacelles (6 in each). I think that totals 96 holes for rigging. So I figure in a few days, I'll have the upper wing & nacelles holes drilled and then assemble the 3 upper wing sections and clean up that. Meanwhile, I can start work on the hull & lower wing paint job ... I'm thinking about minor scratchbuilding to flesh out cockpit & gun positions -- but obviously not much now that hull is together ... Oh, yes -- those are Legos -- I keep a bunch of them to make quick jigs & things ... John Edited February 18, 2006 by jRatz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stuart Porteous Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Looks good so far John, never thought of using Lego for jigs ! I'm doing the same kit for the GB - or at least I will be if I ever get started, things are a little hectic around here at the moment. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Max Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 :) Beautiful work and good idea with the Legos... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted December 19, 2005 Author Share Posted December 19, 2005 (edited) Been a while & just before "the event", I announced a hiatus to rebuild my workshop because my 1500+ book library was a mess -- that message disappeared, but I'll lead off with pix of the new workroom & library -- here are two, the others are in my Spit/Hurr thread ... Northeast corner, I can see the UPS truck arrive thru the window ... Southeast corner, computer, spray booth, etc ... OK, that is out of the way. Progress. Stranraer: I have built the basic assemblies, primed, filled, sanded, etc and they are now ready for paint. I intend to do a Canadian boat in a four-color countershading scheme -- my primary references are the Mushroom models book and "Jericho Beach & the West Coast Flying Boat Stations". Other than that, the build is pure OOB ... The four-color scheme will take some tricky masking & painting and I'm not looking forward to it ... Other than that, all the rigging holes are drilled, etc ... I'm a little behind -- the shelves took longer than planned & I've had some other things get in the way. I think the Strannie will run right up to the deadline because of the paint job & the rigging ... Great build ... this is lots of fun ... I've found a half-dozen other MB kits but they are already being built, so I don't think I'll add 'em in ... John Edited February 18, 2006 by jRatz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted January 6, 2006 Author Share Posted January 6, 2006 Nopix, just a report that the Strannie is in the paint shop -- probably take a week to complete because of 4-color counter-shade scheme. Next erect the struts & top wing & start rigging .... Also getting back to all the little detail parts I forgot, like guns, gear, engine, etc ... John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted February 1, 2006 Author Share Posted February 1, 2006 (edited) Well, tomorrow is the original end of build, I thought I'd give an update, but no pix. The bird is in the paint shop, but things aren't going well. I'm doing the counter-shade scheme & don't like the colors. Also after more study I've decided my aircraft had alum-paint undersides & not MSG, so it looks like once I get the topsides done (two days), I'll have have to repaint the undersides. I have done most the little detail stuff, so that is just waiting an aircraft to be tacked onto. Once I get the paint job in a happy state, it's on to assembly, and then the rigging. I have a traffic jam on the workbench & am having to work in daily small pieces, but I have a plan in place. I'm sure glad we have an extension. John Edited February 1, 2006 by jRatz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
norwaytbird Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Do the lower wings have much dihedreal on them? I thought I'd glue the top wing altogether after getting the bottom wing on and using that for a reference. Best regards Toby :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted February 5, 2006 Author Share Posted February 5, 2006 Do the lower wings have much dihedreal on them? I thought I'd glue the top wing altogether after getting the bottom wing on and using that for a reference. I did the same as you -- I built the top wing and added the lower wings to the fuselage -- all to make painting easier. I measured dihedral from the 3-view in the Mushroom Walrus-Stranraer book & built a jig to hold them in place. Unfortunately I cannot find the measurements I used, nor did I keep the jig. The bottom wing has a bit more than the top but some of that is an illusion because of the slight "gull wing" at the root. The kit wings fit together pretty well, so it wasn't like I had to force them into place, just hold them till the glue set ... I'll find out if I'm right in a week or so ... John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted February 15, 2006 Author Share Posted February 15, 2006 4-colour scheme is on, undersurface repainted back to aluminum. Paint touchup over the next few days, then do decals & dullcoat it. After that, it's verify rigging holes are open & prepare to erect the upper wing, mount the floats & etc, then get down to rigging ... Pix when it is less ugly ... John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted February 18, 2006 Author Share Posted February 18, 2006 Not a great picture, but the big parts are painted, less the wing walk areas which I have to do. Then it's decals, dullcote, and get ready to erect the wing & start rigging. Not happy with the 4-color scheme -- I've got Gunze for 2 colors & MisterKit for 2 and I probably should have done a better job of testing & remixing ... oh well .... Just wanted to show that something was happening ... am still on a pace to complete before 1 April ... John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted February 22, 2006 Author Share Posted February 22, 2006 Paint is done, until another piece of tape pulls something up ... Decaling in progress ... the serial numbers 937 were created from the numbers 987 taken from original decal sheet -- note the stickies to remind me which way to face the decals -- took me two tries to get the stickies right ... Other than the seriels, the national ,markings are XtraDecal ... You'll note fin flashes on inner surfaces -- once they dry I'll do the outer ones ... Next will be dullcote & then erect the wing ... John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted March 6, 2006 Author Share Posted March 6, 2006 (edited) This was supposed to be a happy post .... but after I got the wing up on the center section struts, I dropped than $%^^*&( thing & busted out a couple struts ... I think I have a slight lean to the right in the wing now but there is nothing I can do about it now ... Next couple days I'll add rest of struts, see if I can't align a bit better and do some filling around the base of the struts where damage happened -- suspect I'll have to redrill rigging holes ... John Edited March 6, 2006 by jRatz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 Well, here it is ... My efforts to patch after dropping it created some other issues, like stray glue marks, filled rigging holes, etc -- then I broke both floats off. At that point I decided to skip rigging and just get it done .... Here is the final assembly picture -- great ad for Lego's if nothing else ... and some final pictures - there are more in the formal close-out thread ... I love this aircraft and the kit is really great ... I'll do better next time ... John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Looks great - but also a bit tricky. I've got one in my stash, but it will stay there for a while yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jRatz Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 It really isn't very tricky. Probably only place one can go wrong is to not push the struts all the way into the engine nacelles. If you get that right, the rest falls into place. Even after I dropped it & broke stuff, once I got it back together & let it sit overnite, the upper wing just kind of aligned itself ... or there are some really great elves in my hobby room ... John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Nice job John, My boys have a bucket load of Lego, what a great idea for alignment jigs! I am sure they will not miss a few bricks next time I need to create a jig! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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