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Once again Dynavector has come up with an excellent kit but this time a model
of a different breed. This is the ill fated TSR.2 which nearly never got off
the ground as it was cancelled by the then minister of defence Dennis
Healey before it went into production and has been a subject of discussion
among air enthusiasts ever since.
The kit, as usual, is of the first order of quality with very crisp mouldings
both in the plastic sheets, the white metal castings and the two sets of
canopies, it is nicely detailed with delicate panel lines (you don’t want
them too obtrusive as this is a clean machine). The break down is simple, done
with modellers rather than engineers in mind and so there are not too many
pieces to cut out, the fuselage is split into four parts, the front half split
vertically and the rear horizontally which makes pretty good sense. The main
wing is a one-piece structure formed from a top and bottom moulding with
stiffeners to give rigidity and the tail surfaces are formed in the standard
method of two halves also. The cockpit bathtubs are simple mouldings, which
just need to be cut from the sheet and all the interior detail is taken care
of with white metal mouldings, which makes life so much easier.
After cutting out all the mouldings I cleaned up the
workbench to rid myself of all the dust and scrapings, then as this is a large
slab sided model there needs to be some stiffeners placed inside the
structures and my first job, as instructed, was to add those to the inside of
the fwd fuselage walls using superglue, these were simply Tamiya 3mm square
rod cut to length. (Photo 1)
While these were curing I cut some 8mm wide reinforcing
beams from 40thou plasticard (you can use the off cuts if you wish), these
were cut to length in pairs to suit the fuselage height required and I dropped
three in each half, cemented them and left them to harden.
Cutting out the cockpit tubs is a simple job and requires
little or no cleaning up as all the details are added later using white metal
parts with raised detailing for the instrumentation. I found that a couple of
nicks filed into the edges of the front “wall” (marked F) to match the
cockpit sills allowed the whole unit to fit a little easier. Once in position
scraps of plastic were cemented on each sidewall below each side console to
stop the tubs from ever moving after construction. The tubs and seats were
painted and detailed with seat straps from wine bottle foil then fitted to one
fuselage half, next the front wheel bay was added with it’s bracing and the
two halves joined before either addition hardened, a couple of small
adjustments were made and the whole piece was taped up and left to harden.
Finally I added a couple of cross braces from 3mm square rod in the back of
this section to give strength where the model will be handled and picked up a
lot.
The rear halves now need attention, the wheel bay
doors area needs to be removed at this stage, drill a few holes and cut the
rest away, don’t worry as you get separate new doors on the sheet. With a
small dab of cement fit one wheel bay in the fuselage and using the main gear
leg check that it will seat properly as it can be a tight fit. Repeat for the
other side and when you are quite sure the bays are correctly positioned
superglue them firmly and brace them as shown on the instructions, you need
this as the finished model is quite heavy.
Beams, as shown on the instructions, were superglued in and
then taken out again as I wanted to put tabs along the seams. The answer was
to cut bits of beam short enough to support the 8mm wide bridges and leave
gaps between the bridges to put tabs in top and bottom to match.
Check the lengths of your bridges to maintain the overall width of the
fuselage, I found it to be a shade less than the 62mm recommended and adjusted
accordingly. (Photo 2)
Exhaust pipes were made up and odd scraps of 40thou
card were cemented to the front end, these supports were gradually sanded from
the bottom until the pipes were level in the fuselage, trial and error here is
best. On the real machine the pipes and the fuselage walls are thin sheets of
metal so the pipes and fuselage halves of the kit had the rear edges thinned
appropriately to simulate this area, before cementing the pipes by the
supports only.
With tabs all in position, both top and bottom of the
fuselage were cemented up and again left to harden, this is essential before
joining the front to the rear end, when this centre joint was cemented I taped
a steel ruler along the underside centre line to make sure the whole structure
stayed level. The white metal part between the exhausts was added supergluing
only the top edge first and the bottom edge was cemented after the top cured
thus ensuring you get the correct depth of fuselage at the rear, it sits very
neatly between those protruding exhausts.
I did a bit of cleaning up of the joints now, adding
just a small amounts of Revell “plasto” filler in a couple of places,
it’s much easier at this stage before the wing is added.
The intakes and splitter plates were next on the list but
before I fixed these I noticed you could see the horizontal join in the rear
fuselage through the intake. I cut a “D” shaped piece of 20thou card
slightly smaller than the rear diameter of the intake and cemented it behind
the shock cone against the rear “wall” this not only gave a clean blank
surface but provided a good location for the intake shell it’s self.
Before assembling the wings you should rescribe the inner
edge of the flaps on the lower surface to match those on the top surface and
thin down the trailing edges as far as possible on the inner surface then sand
a little more on the outer surface after cementing both halves together. Take
heed of the instructions on mounting the wing halves building up the
stiffeners using superglue. I also added a couple of blocks under the front
and rear edges of the fuselage to act as tabs for the top half of the wing to
maintain the smooth line at both joins, all the stiffeners were cut from the
waste plastic around the mouldings. All the remaining
construction work was straightforward and with the addition of tailplanes and
fin complete I added a couple of dabs of filler here and there to keep
everything tidy. The canopy was masked and cemented in position; you get a
spare if you make a mistake, but I found I needed a little fairing in to get a
smooth fit but that may have been my fault.
Before painting the seams
were all checked out by spraying a coat of Halfords primer grey along each to
show any defects and this was also used for the base coat on the rear bare
metal area ready to take a couple of coats of Alclad II steel which was masked
with Tamiya’s masking tape.
I have looked closely at the real machine in
Duxford and decided that Humbrol Hu 130 satin white was a very good match for
the overall colour; and I gave the model two coats after which I sprayed a
coat of Johnson “klear”. Decals are minimal but all were applied
with ease and given a final coat of “klear” to finish off with.
Note the silver areas by the flaps.
The all-metal undercarriage is quite complex here and on
the real machine even more so if you want to add all the hydraulic lines, I
would advise you to mount the nose leg complete with wheels first, add the
main legs next and leave to set.
While making up the swinging arm that mounts the main wheels I found the flat
angled linkage that fits on the rear of the brakes was a little short to sit
nicely so I built a new one from 40thou card making the narrow front length a
bit longer and the angle was increased by 2 degrees a trial and error job
again.
With the arm complete and wheels added, mount
both units on the pinions at the base of the main legs, stand on a flat
surface and check all is level, now add the superglue making sure that the
wheels are also upright, add the damper arms if you decide on “220” put on
the doors and add a pitot tube, I used hypo tubing for mine and there you have
it.
I can’t say that
the real aeroplane ever inspired enthusiasm on my part before but the model is
impressive and easy to make. Most people will not realise that it is a
vacuform kit and at 22 ½ inches long it is bound to be noticed on the show
tables, I have been converted and am now the proud owner of another fine
Dynavector model.
Ted
Visit Ted
Taylor's Modelworks for lots more of
his work
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