Pete's Skyhawk

[stillp]

you can't go too wrong with these kits

Bet you I can Joe!
Pete

[stillp]

A little more done. Airfix suggest 5gm of nose weight. No idea what this weighs, so I just hope it's enough.

As well as the seat and IP, there's a jet exhaust pipe and the part that combines the two air intakes (I'm sure there's a name for that) also a couple of centre-line aerials (?) that are moulded onto one fuselage half, so I spent a bit of time dry-fitting each interior part separately to make sure of a good join. It seems to have come out well, except for a small gap underneath, behind the wing, that might need a little work.

The splodge of PPP on the top is to fill a hole that's there to locate an extra part - a bulge, maybe a radome - on the Argie version, so not needed here. Other than some large sprue gates, and a couple of awkward ejector pin marks, I'm very impressed with this kit so far. Here's the upper and lower wings being joined - they just clicked into place.

Stay safe!
Pete

[rtfoe]

Hi Pete, looking at the picture I don't think its enough of lead for 5grams. I'd pack it in until the cockpit area.

Cheers,
Richard

[stillp]

Thanks Richard. A bit too late now, but I might be able to get some more in past the IP. Perhaps I should have asked one of our local drug dealers for a loan of their scales - my kitchen scales aren't very accurate at that kind of weight. I'll pack a bit more into the front end of the drop tanks.
Pete

[stillp]

Put some more weight in those tanks:

Also put some paint on - the inside of the leading edge slats, and the wing where they close, are red, and I thought it'd be easier to mask and paint before I fit the wing.

Pity there's no way to pose it with the flaps lowered as that area is red as well!

Pete

[yak face]

That should sort it Pete , it did the trick for me on the Thunderflash , although I had already glued the tanks together !

[colin m]

Nice work Peter. I might need one of these.

[minitnkr]

Coming on strong Peter. I think I've heard these referred to as "Jeeps". A very successful aircraft. PaulE

[Mini Me]

Peter, if you can locate where the main landing gear ride you can find the zero balance point. Then place a thin object transversely at that point and try to balance the wings an fuselage on it if it goes nose down you have enough lead. If not, you know what to do. Hope this helps. Rick H.

[stillp]

Nice work Peter. I might need one of these.

Thanks Colin, I suspect you do, it's really well moulded. Hardly any flash, everything seems to fit, just a couple of small sink marks that'll probably disappear under a coat of paint (but filled just in case!)

Coming on strong Peter. I think I've heard these referred to as "Jeeps". A very successful aircraft. PaulE

Thanks Paul. Aren't they 'scooters'?

Peter, if you can locate where the main landing gear ride you can find the zero balance point. Then place a thin object transversely at that point and try to balance the wings an fuselage on it if it goes nose down you have enough lead. If not, you know what to do. Hope this helps. Rick H.

Thanks Rick, I'll try that but need to fit the tail and the airbrakes.

Cheers
Pete

[minitnkr]

Scooters, Kiddie Cars, Bantam Bombers, & more. PaulE

[Lee Drennen]

Pete. Looks great so far I had one of these one of the older one I lost the canopy never could find it so I tossed it in the trash years later I found the canopy isn’t that the way it goes. They have stepped there game up with this one looks like

[stillp]

They certainly have Lee.

Wing and tail are on, and the balance point seems to be ahead of the main wheels even without the underwing stores, so I should be OK there. The underside and all the inner surfaces, wheel wells, inside of the airbrakes, are white, so I think I'll paint all that while I'm waiting for some Mr Color Light Gull Grey to arrive from John. Canopy will go on first of course.

There are two alternative types of bomb included in the kit - not sure what they are, so I painted them all olive green, and I'll decide later which to use.

I'm never sure how to paint drop tanks - painting them on the plane is tricky, but they're difficult to hold when not mounted. What I'm thinking is to glue them to their mountings but not to the plane, so I can use the gluing surface of the mountings to hold them to coffee stirrers with some double-sided tape. What d'you think chaps?
Whoops! I just realised there's another bomb (27 on that sheet) that I haven't painted! Luckily I have plenty of time at the moment...
EDIT: No there isn't, it's an alternative to the centre line tank (26).

Thanks for watching,
Pete

[yak face]

They certainly have Lee.

Wing and tail are on, and the balance point seems to be ahead of the main wheels even without the underwing stores, so I should be OK there. The underside and all the inner surfaces, wheel wells, inside of the airbrakes, are white, so I think I'll paint all that while I'm waiting for some Mr Color Light Gull Grey to arrive from John. Canopy will go on first of course.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1120470[/ATTACH]
There are two alternative types of bomb included in the kit - not sure what they are, so I painted them all olive green, and I'll decide later which to use.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1120471[/ATTACH]
I'm never sure how to paint drop tanks - painting them on the plane is tricky, but they're difficult to hold when not mounted. What I'm thinking is to glue them to their mountings but not to the plane, so I can use the gluing surface of the mountings to hold them to coffee stirrers with some double-sided tape. What d'you think chaps?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1120472[/ATTACH] Whoops! I just realised there's another bomb (27 on that sheet) that I haven't painted! Luckily I have plenty of time at the moment...
EDIT: No there isn't, it's an alternative to the centre line tank (26).

Thanks for watching,
Pete

You could glue the drop tank to the pylon Pete then drill a small hole in the top mating face and stick a cocktail stick in to hold it with . This can be stuck into a piece of polystyrene , foam etc while being painted. Once fitted the hole will be unseen . Cheers tony

[stillp]

Thanks Tony, yes, ' was the word I was groping for 'pylon'. Airfix have kindly provided locating pins that I can hold in a pair of locking forceps. Unfortunately stupid here forgot to drill the holes in the wing before gluing the upper and lower wing together... :loudly-crying:
I might be able to work out where the holes should be and drill them from the outside. There's a slight change in the surface finish where the plastic is thinner so I can use that as a guide. My excuse is that the bit of the instructions that tells you to drill the holes has a large box showing where to drill the holes for the stand, which isn't included, so while ignoring that box I ignored the other drilling instructions!
Pete