Fly Models - Hunting Percival/BAC Jet Provost T.4 1/48th

[Bigkev]

Well, continuing the Training theme, I have decided to make another Provost.
This time, it is a T.4 to go with my Provost T.1, and my Jet Provost T.3, again in 1/48th.
I will be making this one as a an RAF machine based at RAF Brawdy, in a two tone Grey scheme with some Yellow splashes of colour.
The kit is moulded in a caramel coloured plastic with Clear parts for the canopies/lights. In addition there are some nice Resin parts for the cockpit. Note, that I have already 'raided' the decal sheet for the roundels/insignia for the T.1, but it doesn't matter as this one will be using pale blue/pink roundels on this machine.
Some pictures of the kit follow, building will start as soon as I've added the final bits to the Provost T.1 elsewhere on here.
Thanks for looking:-
Kevin

[chriswil42]

Plenty on the go there Kevin.

[Bigkev]

Hi All,
Well back to this one after a little break.
I have thinned the wing trailing edges by scraping them with a knife blade, and then sanding them. As supplied, they are quite thick. Added the resin wheel well walls, but got a bit carried away on rubbing down on one of them so I had to add a bit of plasticard to repair. Also I removed the locating hole for the main undercarriage as it didn't line up correctly with the opening. A new locating point was made from some sliced plastic tube.
Cockpit base and bulkhead joined together. To get correct angle, I used some plasticard to support the bulkhead and retain the angle. On the port side of the fuselage, I have added a strip of plastic card to support the floor on that side. Note I have drawn the floor and bulkhead positions on the fuselage sides in readiness for the resin detail parts later in the build.
As this is a short run moulding, it lacks locating pins, so strips of plastic sprue were added to the starboard sides to support the fuselage joint later on. Nose lights:- These are provided on the clear sprue, and are intended to fit into recesses that you make in the nose. From previous experience I noted the openings were not entirely circular, nor the parts. I therefore decided to drill two holes to insert some clear sprue later in the build. These will then be cut and sanded to shape with the fuselage exterior, and the actual shape of the glazing seen determined by careful painting and masking of the lights.
Similarly, the wing tip lights are provided moulded into the tip tanks or as clear moulded items. I decided to cut off the tip of each wingtip tank, and used the glazed offering. Fly models have provided these with a convenient dimple on the rear face of the glazed part, which I painted Tamiya Clear Green and Red, which will show once assembled and polished.   
The Rudder has a moulded trim tab actuator, as do the tailplane elevators. In order to portray these more realistically, I have cut away the moulded actuators to be replaced by scratch built items near the end of the build. I made my own narrow sanding stick from a cut down coffee stirrer to fit between the reinforcing ribs moulded on the rudder/elevators.
Some pictures of the above follow:-
Thanks for looking, until next time.
Kevin

[chriswil42]

Looks like a fair bit of work.

[Bigkev]

Thanks Chris,
Well moving on, I have now sorted the fuselage and done a test fit to see how it lines up. The resin cockpit side walls have been test fitted, together with the instrument panel and coaming.
The clear fuselage lights inserts have been sanded down from two pieces of clear sprue and are now awaiting inserting and glueing into into place before cutting to shape and polishing. Also have filled and sanded the Fin/Rudder and elevators where the moulded actuators have been removed. The wingtip tanks have had the glazed fronts attached Green to Starboard, Red to Port. These are now ready to attach to the wings once assembled.
Wings:- these have had a quick blast of Tamiya Gloss Black as a base coat for the Aluminium interiors.
Some pictures of progress to date:-
Thanks for looking,
Kevin 

[chriswil42]

Nice detail Kevin.

[zak]

Great attention to detail.

[Bigkev]

Thanks Chaps,
Well moving on, today I have painted the wheel well interiors, the clear sprue inserts for the nose lights. Wings stuck together, tailplanes drilled and plastic pins fitted to aid assembly.
The resin cockpit sides have been fitted as have the resin intakes. Some Milliput was made up and applied to the resin intakes to fill some slight gaps (mainly from my lack of accuracy cutting). Any spare unused Milliput has been put inside the nose as a start to create nose weight, waste not.
Tomorrow looks like a rubbing down session. Some pictures follow:-
Thanks for looking,
Kevin

[zak]

Lots of fettling no doubt, looking good.

[chriswil42]

Good progress.

[Bigkev]

Thanks guys.
Well today I have managed to get the intakes rubbed down, wings together, and the tip tanks in place.
To aid alignment of the tip tanks I have added two plastic pegs at the wing edge. To do this I placed the wing and the tank in place a drew two marks across the join line. This gave me a guide where to drill. Once drilled a peg is inserted into each hole in the wing and offering the tank into place. I like to use Tamiya Green liquid Poly as this is a little thicker. I apply some glue to each surface then press together. This creates a slight ooze, once happy properly align, then apply Tamiya Light Green (Quick Setting) along the join and leave to dry.
The nose light clear sprues were superglued in place, and reinforced inside using Rocket Powder (which is like ground up glass) it sets rock hard, so I should be able to cut off the excess sprues tomorrow.
Some pictures follow, thanks for looking
Kevin 

[MSea]

How accurate it all look, very well done -- its something that never happens with my models - hohhohoho

[chriswil42]

Very good Kevin.

[Bigkev]

Thanks chaps, most appreciated.
Well today after the nose light sprues have fully set hard, I cut off the excess sprue. I trimmed by scalpel as much of the sprue as I could, then I took some sanding files of differing grades and sanded back the remaining sprue standing proud of the nose contours. Once satisfied that they were as close as I could expect, I took a Polishing sanding stick and did a final sand down before I then used the polishing side (White) to restore the clarity of the exposed clear part.
The result is a clear light cover with a hint of silver inside.
Next job, work on the cockpit.
Thanks for looking,
Kevin