Heather Kay
Western Thunderer
Public Health Warning: There is completely non-railway modelling in this thread.
I think WT is a broad enough church to forgive the odd transgression. I know many of us also model outside the confines of permanent way, so I beg an indulgence.
Some time ago, I acquired an Airfix 1/72nd TSR-2 kit. I set about acquiring detailing and modding parts, and ancillary odds and ends, with a longer view of making a diorama based on scenes that can be found in a film about the aircraft.
The idea, simply, is to recreate something akin to the scene at A&AEE Boscombe Down, some time late in 1964. TSR2 prototype XR219 has been towed to the test area, and is being prepared for a test flight. My intention is to model the apron, the aircraft, some vehicles visible in the film, and a few figures working around the plane.
Still waiting for final paint and decals, here's XR219 essentially physically complete.
The cockpits have been detailed with Eduard and Czech Master's resin and etched parts. The canopies and windscreen hail from the same source.
I have been at the airframe in an attempt to replicate the screws and bolts that are quite visible on the real thing.
Airfix appear to have modelled the main gear legs from the preserved airframe at IWM Duxford, which isn't much more than a shell. When you get up close and personal with XR220 at the RAF Museum Cosford, it's obvious the weight of the internal equipment and engines makes the oleos compress, so I've tried to replicate that, along with hydraulic pipes and so on. I've also engineered a working representation of the retraction mechanism, which allows the wheels on the model accommodate uneven surfaces a little better. The resin wheels were from Czech Master.
You'll never see it normally, but I have added extra detail inside the wheel bays. Of course, some aftermarket bods have made complete replacement units for this area now.
BW Models makes kits for many of the vehicles I want in the scene. This is a Sentinel Mk1 tug, mostly complete, attached to a tow bar. I've also got kits for a CO2 crash tender, and enough parts to kit bash the correct form of refueller.
The TSR2 is an imposing aircraft, and the diorama - if it ever gets finished - will be at least four feet on a side. Quite what I'll do with it once I've built it and photographed it to bits is a question I can't answer right now.
The tug needs some more details before it gets painted. I think I'll work on that this coming week, as a break from large railway models.
I think WT is a broad enough church to forgive the odd transgression. I know many of us also model outside the confines of permanent way, so I beg an indulgence.
Some time ago, I acquired an Airfix 1/72nd TSR-2 kit. I set about acquiring detailing and modding parts, and ancillary odds and ends, with a longer view of making a diorama based on scenes that can be found in a film about the aircraft.
The idea, simply, is to recreate something akin to the scene at A&AEE Boscombe Down, some time late in 1964. TSR2 prototype XR219 has been towed to the test area, and is being prepared for a test flight. My intention is to model the apron, the aircraft, some vehicles visible in the film, and a few figures working around the plane.
Still waiting for final paint and decals, here's XR219 essentially physically complete.
The cockpits have been detailed with Eduard and Czech Master's resin and etched parts. The canopies and windscreen hail from the same source.
I have been at the airframe in an attempt to replicate the screws and bolts that are quite visible on the real thing.
Airfix appear to have modelled the main gear legs from the preserved airframe at IWM Duxford, which isn't much more than a shell. When you get up close and personal with XR220 at the RAF Museum Cosford, it's obvious the weight of the internal equipment and engines makes the oleos compress, so I've tried to replicate that, along with hydraulic pipes and so on. I've also engineered a working representation of the retraction mechanism, which allows the wheels on the model accommodate uneven surfaces a little better. The resin wheels were from Czech Master.
You'll never see it normally, but I have added extra detail inside the wheel bays. Of course, some aftermarket bods have made complete replacement units for this area now.
BW Models makes kits for many of the vehicles I want in the scene. This is a Sentinel Mk1 tug, mostly complete, attached to a tow bar. I've also got kits for a CO2 crash tender, and enough parts to kit bash the correct form of refueller.
The TSR2 is an imposing aircraft, and the diorama - if it ever gets finished - will be at least four feet on a side. Quite what I'll do with it once I've built it and photographed it to bits is a question I can't answer right now.
The tug needs some more details before it gets painted. I think I'll work on that this coming week, as a break from large railway models.
