Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[Guest]

Barry,

These restored models look amazing for thier age and must be now extremely rare examples of thier kind. These pictures will then preserve them for evermore and must give you a tremendous pleasure and satisfaction to record them in such a way.

You must have enough made and unmade kits to do justice to a museum exibition!!

Do you think sometimes the aircraft could be banking for the final approach so that we can see the upper surfaces as well?

[wonwinglo]

Yes Richard I do enjoy setting them up in realistic poses,I may just take a few models along to the local airfield at Wellesbourne and film them in a different setting,unfortunately if I bank them too much the angles look unrealistic at the height above my garden fence ! I may do some airfield scenes looking down on the upper surface,when the skies outside are unsuitable in the winter months.

It is a great way to record the models,and see them as many live stored in boxes if not on display rotation.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-If you are patient then something appears & the price of progress.

20-08-2006 COVENTRY



WKI63/G-BVWC English Electric Canberra taxies in at Coventry 20-08-2006

Hours of boredom waiting to see something interesting at airfields,can sometimes be rewarded with a gem,I visit and support my local airfields,lets face it without them we would be the worse off,probably more houses instead of open spaces,in America they are beginning to realise that a few aircraft flying over is better than over building,simply because airfields mean more green open spaces,well almost green if you discount the concrete !

A lot of this noise paranoia is in the mind,we live near a busy by-pass and also right under the flight path to BHX Birmingham airport,give me the jets anytime as the constant hum drum of motor traffic gets on your nerves,especially when the wind is blowing this way,once more attempts to shield the noise with a long wooden fence have made things far worse.

As you have probably read in the press Coventry airport has made planning history,by being the longest running court case of its kind, the reason for this is to get a proper airport terminal as opposed to some portakabins.

It has been proven that the very people who complain about the noise from aircraft,are the very ones that utilise the cheap holiday flights,this is verified from their post codes.

And once more it is not the jets that make the most noise,helicopters make the most racket and unlike jets you can hear the noise miles away,so it is all relative,motorway,aircraft,industry,take your choice ?

One thing that always surprises me is that people may own their own houses,but they do not own the view,sky or roads outside ! and once more choose to live where they do.

But I love machines,noisy ones as well,and do not mind living right under a major flight path,it adds interest to my day.

It is still a marvel to me,that something so large as an Airbus can achieve sustained flight and fly across continents,it is such a thrill to watch them.

[Guest]

Barry! if you photo models on the ground just get a bit of white card a4 size is fine and use it as a reflector to get rid of any sharp shadows try it its brilliant

[wonwinglo]

***Yes it does work well Nigel,just given it a try and you are right.

Barry! if you photo models on the ground just get a bit of white card a4 size is fine and use it as a reflector to get rid of any sharp shadows try it its brilliant

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-More airfield walkabouts-Wellesbourne 19-08-2006

WELLESBOURNE 19-08-2006

Today was the ideal opportunity to photograph some close up engine detail on the Robinson R.44,also you can see the well designed mast assembly on the high inertia head,this gives the helicopter excellent auto-rotational stability,the sales for this type speak for themselves she is a fine machine,the pilots just love them.





G-LAID R.44 II with taped on registration,serial 11377 almost ready for another lucky owner,if you are wondering why most of them are painted black it is because this is the most visible colour,every colour looks black at a distance,this is why the R.A.F trainers are so painted,sounds odd I know but it is true.





EI-DKI R.22 of Goldcrest Aviation,Dublin with boom removed on maintenance.The boom works very hard and contains self aligning bushes.



G-CDJZ R.44 II of JTS Aviation,Ware



G-ILET R.44 II belonging to the Lear Group,Stourbridge



Engine detail on G-ILET,everything is very tidy and compact.



Boom detail on G-ILET,note the boom attachment lugs.



Masthead detail on G-ILET,showing the collective rods.



G-VNUS Hughes 269 still at Wellesbourne,this helicopter defies its age being 33 years old,a real gem of a machine.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The Grumman Martlet ( F4F Wildcat )

Grumman Martlet ( F4F Wildcat )



The U.S Navy's requirement for a new carrier based fighter in 1936 resulted in the Brewster Aeronautical corporation receiving an order for a prototype of its Model 39 under the designation XF2A-1.This became the U.S Navys first monoplane fighter in squadron service,but so tentative was the U.S Navy in its decision to order this aircraft that it also ordered a prototype of Grummans competing biplane design under the designation XF4F-1.However a more careful study of the performance potential of Brewsters design ,plus the fact that Grumman's earlier F3F biplane was beginning to demonstrate good performance ,brought second thoughts.This led to cancellation of the biplane prototype and the initiation of an alternative G-18 monoplane design.Following the evaluation of this new proposal,the U.S Navy ordered a single prototype under the designation XF4F-2.



Flown for the first time during September 1937,the XF4F-2 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-66 Twin Wasp engine of 1,050 hp,the aircraft had a max speed of 290 mph and was of all metal construction,it had a cantilever wing set at a mid position on the fuselage.After a brief period the prototype displayed hidden potential noted by the U.S Navy and was returned to Grumman in 1938 together with a new contract to develop the machine further.The G-36 became the XF4F-3 being fitted with a more powerful Twin Wasp which had a two stage supercharger,increased wing span and tail area,plus a modified machine gun installation.After moving the tailplane further up the fin the aircraft had improved handling characteristics and then the Navy ordered 78 of the production F4F-3 during 1939.With war imminent in Europe,Grumman offered the new G-36A design to France and Greece,the French Navy examples were not delivered instead were diverted to the UK for use by the Fleet Air Arm as the Grumman Martlet Mk.1.







The rugged little Grumman F4F seen here in a bank, was popular with its pilots,and ideal for carrier operations.







The undercarriage folded neatly into the fuselage sides,this layout gave the undercarriage a fairly narrow track.







The model was restored from two scrap Frog models that had seen better days.

[Guest]

Barry for a real nice model of a wildcat now , have a look at the trumpeter 1/32 one it captures the landing gear and internals so well its almost a model in itself

[wonwinglo]

***Nigel,it may surprise you that I have never seen or built a Trumpeter kit,but have heard they are very good.

Barry for a real nice model of a wildcat now ' date=' have a look at the trumpeter 1/32 one it captures the landing gear and internals so well its almost a model in itself[/quote']

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-ASDA Price's biggest shopping trolley yet.

ASDA Price Advertising Boeing 747.



ASDA Stores giant has been quick to realise the potential of a redundant giant Boeing 747 airliner,during August the aircraft which is parked up at Bruntingthorpe airfield in Leicestershire became the subject of much attention in a giant store advertising campaign,armed with paint rollers and hundreds of gallons of green and white paint,the aircraft was transformed into what you see here by an army of painters working from computerised patterns.The registration properly belonds to a Beech Queenair but who cares she will never fly again.

Previously this former Olympic Airways machine was used for simulated anti-terrorist attack training,and in fact is the second Boeing 747 to be parked up at Bruntingthorpe,the first one was blown to pieces in controlled sequences for the CAA.

Thanks to the kindness of the Wallmart Group for supplying Scale-Models with the photograph.

[Guest]

Barry if you would like the kit il get it for you (just as a thanks for all that you have helped me with) dont be embarresed and say no !!!!! its just a thanks from me

[wonwinglo]

***Nigel,no need,just to see you come home from a busy hectic day at Argos and then contribute here is thanks enough,you are the epitomy of the caring sharing Scale-Models community.

Barry if you would like the kit il get it for you (just as a thanks for all that you have helped me with) dont be embarresed and say no !!!!! its just a thanks from me

[Guest]

Sod it il get it anyway !!!! see you at cosford mate and thanks from both me and char

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Currently on the workbench.

Workbench shots.

Well it is pouring down with rain here,and there are no nice blue skies to take photographs of a subject for today,so lets go inside and see what current activity there is on the workbench,well it has been quite busy for the past twelve months when a start was made in restoring about 160 early models that badly needed renovation,some arrived in a big box from Leeds smashed to pieces in the journey,they had been stored hung from the ceiling and covered in nicotine,grease,grime and thick with dust,in the bottom of the box was hundreds of small parts that needed sorting out,so the first job was to soak the models in automotive Gunk overnight to soften the grease and nicotine,you should have seen the colour of the water ! then the models were removed and washed down under running water with a tea strainer in the sink to catch any small bits,nearly all of the props and undercarriage units were smashed and were scratch built on the restorations,the same with props,the tiny parts were cleaned and placed into a plastic bag and sorted through as needed,out of all the models only four were consigned to the spares box as deemed beyond economical repair.

The next job was to strip the paint,a long dirty,tedious,smelly job,Nigels tip for using car brake fluid was taken up,I filled a galvanised pail with a few gallons of the stuff ( it is not cheap but you can use it again and again if decantered ) three models at a time dangled from a wire coat hanger into the fluid,sometimes stubbon paint needs soaking longer but it did the job,the next thing was to remove all traces of the fluid with another soak in white spirit,then a wash in lukewarm soapy water using a stiff bristled brush,every trace has to be removed otherwise the new paint will not stick.

After leaving to settle for a few weeks the models were then broken down into major parts in order to do any necessary repairs and tidy them up,all of the models had been badly assembled with no rubbing down of flash etc,so I needed to bring them up to standard,the best tool for dis-assembly was found to be an ordinary kitchen knife,by laying the model down onto a pad made from several layers of carpet underlay I gently but firmly prised open fuselage joints,removed wings,tails and most important saved any tiny bits for assembly later,I should have mentioned that the most difficult task for me at least was removing the clear canopies without undue damage,this was done before the major dunk otherwise they could possibly have crazed over,each canopy was cleaned and polished with toothpaste,the framing added and then a dunk in Johnsons Klear to seal everything,dont forget these models were 35-40 years old and the nicotine had stained everything in sight,some were so bad that you could hardly see the transfers !

The next important job was to re-assemble and repair the models,I used simple balsa wood jigs etc to get things in line,any new parts were made up such as undercarriages which were made from brass tube,wheels were sourced from my spares box,propellers were sometimes made up,or found as spares,or made from celluloid discs,the latter is good especially for photography.

The big job of priming with Holts white universal primer was done outside on a sunny day,one can usually is sufficent to do several models,then the model colourscheme was researched and painted in stages,the final job of soucing decals for roundals etc also had to be done,was the results and effort worth it ? well I say yes because many of the models were long since obsolete and filled important gaps in my collection,literally hundreds of hours of work has given me some pristine models,and above all I enjoyed every minute of the experience.

Here are the last batch of models now receiving final treatment on my workbench,working in batches has its benefits because you can have continuity when waiting for paint and adhesive to dry.







Busy restoration workshop.

[Guest]

i love seeing pictures of peoples work benches, knowing mine is always untidier ! :-)