airfix dh 88 comet 1/72

[yak face]

There's nothing more satisfying than a bit of scratchbuilding and even better when you can adapt a scrap of some household object. You're really putting some effort into this one and producing a very nicely built model.

Cheers richard , you should see what i can knock up with a washing up liquid bottle and some sticky back plastic!!LOL , cheers tony

 

[yak face]

Latest progress - one word , AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

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[wanna_be_aviator]

I've been missing these updates, good to see your progress! Though I have to say you reached the part on the build that I don't get so excited about. Filling gaps and sanding is definitely the part I would like to skip. But hey, how rewarding is the labour of patience! I take it for certain that this model will look stunning in the end.

 

[yak face]

Ji marcos, yes the filling is going to be a bit of a drag- the kit has some serious gaps! Luckily for me the actual aircraft was very smooth, mostly being plywood skinned (in fact experience with this aircraft was instrumental in the development of another plywood de havilland aircraft -the mosquito) so i dont have to worry about sanding off any detail , if there was any!!, cheers tony

 

[spanner570]

Yo Mucker, I do like the grass effect.....Gunna be a dio featuring one belly landing D.H. Comet? lol

Cheers mate,

Ron

 

[yak face]

Nice isnt it ron, i suspect im going to be quite green fingered soon and itll be nowt to do with gardening!!, cheers tony:grumpy:

 

[Dave W]

the pilot heads moulded to the fuselage halves brought back memories of building a Frog Fairy Gannet when I was a teenager in the seventies.I see Revell do a 1/72 Gannet.I bet it's the same kit,fuselage with moulded heads still.Has anyone built one?

 

[yak face]

Hi dave , it couldnt be farther from the truth!! The new revell gannet is a fantastically detailed piece of kit,ive got one in the stash,featuring a very detailed cockpit and interior.Some poeple say its better than the trumpeter kit ,its certainly better value -costing about £10-£12, cheers tony

 

[Bunkerbarge]

Wow! You seem to be single handedly keeping filler manufacturers in business! That's going to take a bit of rubbing down.

 

[yak face]

Thankfully the squadron green stuff sands down very easily with a wet sanding stick!!!! Ive still got the top joints and tailplanes yet though , so there may shortly be a national shortage of green stuff filler!!!!cheers tony

 

[yak face]

Hi all,this ones not been moving that fast due to the cold weather (my sheds freezing!) but ive managed to get a bit done today. The filler on the wing joints has been sanded ,phew!, and the tailplanes are on but yet to be filled. The flaps have been scribed on the underside of the wing/fuselage, but thats about it for any external details- the actual craft was very smooth , being mainly plywood skinned , and devoid of panel lines/rivets etc. I have crash moulded a canopy as the airfix one was pretty thick and not very clear. I used the kit canopy to mould the new one from a piece of clear acetate (actually a piece of bubble bath bottle - deep heat!) by heating the acetate while clamped to a piece of MDF with a hole just bigger than the canopy ,and pushing the kit canopy through on a piece of dowel, then hold for a second or two till its cool and there we have a canopy . The shape and simplicity of this canopy made the job easy , if youve got a canopy with a return curve (ie. curves back in at the bottom) then you wont be able to use this method. Once its cut out and glued on it should be ok,although i might mask it up before fixing as it will be a bit delicate ,only having a very thin edge for the glue to fix. Heres the pics , hope this makes it a bit clearer (ha ha, clearer, yes? no? ok ill get me coat!!) cheers tony

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[colin m]

I know it's not been easy, but I really like the nice clean lines of the built model. Obviously a lot of work has gone into it, well done. Nice idea with the canopy ! Is a normal hot air gun enough to get the plastic soft ?

Regards

Colin M.........

 

[stona]

Great stuff Tony,it's looking good.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Bari]

Nice details, am learning a lot. I have tried the canopy moulding technique but all I've achieved is bits of melted plastic. I think I am getting it too hot as it goes a milky colour very quickly.

If anyone is old enough to remember, there used to be a full size one of these in front of a pub/hotel on the A1 somewhere around Hatfield.

 

[Sky Raider]

Looking good Tony.

Andy

 

[Dave W]

The place Bari is referring to was called The Comet Hotel.It was near Panshanger aerodrome to the east of Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City.I lived in Welham green in the sixties as young boy and remember going past it in my dads car many times.

 

[wanna_be_aviator]

Tony that canopy forming idea is brilliant! I always wanted to give a shot at vacuforming at home but felt lazy about the whole setup. But your method is simple and really effective! Nice.

Cheers

 

[yak face]

Thanks everyone!, Colin , a hot air gun is ideal for softening the plastic, get some old bottles cut up and have a bash! I recommend deep heat bubble bath bottles or wilkinsons economy

screenwash !! Its quite difficult to get it just right, -use stuff thats too thin or push the canopy former too far and it can end up very thin and floppy, not far enough and you dont get the full canopy shape , the advantage is that clear bits of plastic like this are everywhere so it doesnt cost anything to experiment. cheers tony

 

[yak face]

Here is the almost completed crash moulded canopy. The slight drawback with this method is that there are no frame lines ,so masking can be very difficult especially if the frame is quite thin. What i decided to do is use very thin strips of electrical tape sprayed black, and an added pain is that the canopy on this aircraft has an internal frame and sliding windows which i had to put on the inside from even thinner strips of tape . Anyway once it was all sealed in with a couple of coats of klear it looks ok, and ready to be put on the aircraft. The frame round the canopy edge will be put on after fitting .One thing is for certain , its definitely clearer and less distorted than the kit item, heres the pics, cheers tony

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[stona]

Very nice work Tony. It's a vast improvement.

Cheers

Steve