Doug's 1/48 Airfix Sea King

[Waspie]

Scrapped a few minutes today. (I think it's called grovelling!!!!).
Anyway, found a part that needed detail removed so a cold trip to the garage and put that right. It was the upper sonar console that held the bathythermograph box, HF radio and other odds and sods.

Assembled the remainder of the seats, (a whole two) back seaters!!!. Started on the ancillary equipment that I want to prime first. Only managed to complete the sonar gear. I have deliberately left the actual sonar transducer, that's the bit that actually bangs out the sound and receives the incoming sonar returns. We called it the SU or Submersible Unit as that's the bit that was 'dunked' in the water. Then the returning noise was heterodyned and the result was or should be a submarine or whale or school of fish. One chap even found a crashed Tornado!! Funny what you find under the waves!!!
Anyway, I left the SU out, partly to make painting and aftermarket part fitting and also to modify the base. I plan on drilling a small hole where sat the temperature sensor, you can't see it but that's where it was found.
Also, the 'T' handle for raising and lowering the SU was moved and turned through 90 degrees. The position on the kit is incorrect for a sonar in the raised position. (See Image).

Here is todays work.

[Guest]

Always good to see corrections to a model by someone who actually knows what’s what

[Waspie]

Made some progress today after a family day yesterday. Pics later!
In the mean time, a pic that shows the position of the cabin hand holds that operators in the cabin doorway would use when standing in the doorway working, winching, rapid roping and such. Rick (rickoshea52 ) and myself were discussing it as the kit shows the position of an external hand rail as used on the HAR and HU versions but not the HAS Marks of the Sea King.It's been bugging me for ages and about four o clock this morning it struck me.
Upper cabin door, fore and aft, sat at 45 degrees in the upper corners.
Pic showing their position. Now!! As the kit doesn't supply these handles - I will!!

(Image of 704 at St Kilda, conducting Tigerfish recovery ops for the lads in the long black tubes!! The 'shuttlecock' arrangement in the background is part of the torpedo recovery kit!)

[Waspie]

Back to today's progress.
Completed the assembly of the Observers radar console. Also assembled the rack assembly for the ASW box's of magic. Which has created another problem for me. The rack sits just inside the port side forward entrance. The rack is currently empty!! In the real world, there would sit a tower of black box's for the sonar, receivers transmitters, a box for the heterodyning etc etc!! Now!! How will I fill them, I have an idea about the cabling at the back but how to construct tiny black box's will give me something to think about in the mean time!!
Dry fitted them to ensure they all fit but will leave them separate at the moment until they are primed and painted separately

Dry fitted 1


All in the right place!


Hopefully the working end will look better once the aftermarket detail is in place on the radar and sonar panels,


Going to be having a look at the sea tray next so maybe no more assembly for a few days.

[Guest]

Tiny black boxes? Are these all clearly separate boxes, or a big block of boxes stacked tightly together?

If it’s all separate, then you can probably make them from bits of plastic card and/or strip, laminated together if necessary to get the right thickness, then cut and/or filed to the right size.

For one big block, build the basic shape out of plastic card and add details from more bits of card, strip, and what have you, and perhaps by scribing it.

If you’ve got a photo of it, I can probably be more specific about how I would go about making it myself, which may or may not be helpful to your efforts

[Waspie]

Tiny black boxes? Are these all clearly separate boxes, or a big block of boxes stacked tightly together?

If it’s all separate, then you can probably make them from bits of plastic card and/or strip, laminated together if necessary to get the right thickness, then cut and/or filed to the right size.

For one big block, build the basic shape out of plastic card and add details from more bits of card, strip, and what have you, and perhaps by scribing it.

If you’ve got a photo of it, I can probably be more specific about how I would go about making it myself, which may or may not be helpful to your efforts

Thank you Jacko, no pics of the box's sadly. There was a mish-mash of different size black box's sat on anti-vibration mounts. All connected by cabling to each other on the inner section by the sonar well. I have a plan to make a few from pieces of thicker sprues with some cabling attached to the cack ends. also going to run a section of cables along the sonar cradle spars up to the rear of the displays!

[stillp]

Anything useful here Doug? [MEDIA=pinterest]176836722860627660[/MEDIA]
Pete

[Waspie]

Anything useful here Doug? [MEDIA=pinterest]176836722860627660[/MEDIA]
Pete

Sadl no Pete, That's pretty much like what I remember of the troop seats but the tower of black boxes are on the port side!!!
But appreciate the find.
It has a good shot of the winch handle and Aux Hover Control!!!!

[rickoshea52]

Dry fitted 1
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1216386[/ATTACH]

All in the right place!

Do you know Doug, I have seen at least two builds where the troop seats along the starboard have been fitted incorrectly so that they extend into the cargo door aperture! Don’t fancy being on that seat with the door open.

[rickoshea52]

Anything useful here Doug? [MEDIA=pinterest]176836722860627660[/MEDIA]
Pete

Looks like an RAF HAR3/3A.

[Mickc1440]

Fashionably late Doug, great progress

[Waspie]

Fashionably late Doug, great progress

Welcome Mick, nice to have you along. Unlike 'Andy T the speedy one' this will be a bit of a trawl. Much experimenting, (for me) to see if I can do justice to an old squadron A/C.

[Waspie]

Only a little progress today. (SWIMBO - shopping = Me taxi driver and dog walker!)
No work on the plastic at all. BUT!! It was out digital calibers and measuring the storage cabinet that stores the avionics boxes. Works out, H 5.4mm, Depth 8.8mm and Width 7.0mm. So looking to source something that size or that I can reduce in size!! That's for another day.
Today was measuring and makings templates for the rear cabin sea tray. The flexible waterproof tray that covers the deck area to avoid the corrosive sea water from coming into contact with the Aluminium and Magnesium alloys of the airframe.
Initially it was measuring the actual area, then tracing out the area and transferring that onto a basic size template. After that it was making a second template that would take into account the additional section that went a few inches over the bulkheads. A long metal plate secured the tray over the cabin door entrance that would allow the sliding door to close. Not finished yet but have reached the stage where I have the basic shape and so the Mk1 sea tray is in prototype mode.
Now I don my apron and become duty chef!!

Progress in pics!
Initial tracing for final template!


Rough as Moses and in need of refining but I think the material and size are there!! (The actual sea trays was never pretty so not too bothered about aesthetics, I just hope the foil takes paint!! (Cross that bridge later).


Edited to add pic from another angle.


Comments good bad always welcome, new to this improvising malarky!!!!! I am no Mike or Scottie!!!

[scottie3158]

Doug,

I'm in mate

[Waspie]

More experimentation today. Sea tray version 2 or Prototype 2.
(I'm thinking of attempting to place a cover of blue roll over version 1, coating/dabbing PVA and allowing to dry and see how that turns out.)
Still a way away from actually installing the sea tray into the actual build.
This time, using the templates made yesterday I cut the shape of the cabin deck area onto a firm piece of cardboard. The intention being to place that on top of another section of thick tin foil then bend the edges over to form the upper portion of the sea tray. I achieved a better result than yesterday I think.

A tidier effort with a more realistic lip or vertical bit!! No raised section adjacent tot eh cabin doorway!!


Next were the black boxes. (The electronic boxes for the sonar.) After a rummage in the garage I found some neoprene type material which were deep enough and cutting them down to size may fit the bill. One of the smaller black shapes was cut in half, (width), and glued on top of a larger section to form a stepped effect. Just to change the shape. That was fitted in the centre space on the shelf.
I figured it may be easier to attach a few wires to the inner side to replicate the cabling from the boxes to the sonar display.
What do you think about the size/look etc. (Only fitted in dry at the moment!)

Black boxes pre fitting!


Black boxes in situ!!


That's it for today, SWMBO's tasks to sort before peace descends one more on Fraggle Rock!