Hi Guys, again, thanks for your comments earlier...
OK. Finished the blast bags using white glue. I think they look reasonable, but I havent painted them and its hard to see the actual shape right now. I will paint them tomorrow and post a picture if they look OK... or I will take it off and try again!
I decided I would start on detailing the funnels. There are several very prominent pipes on the inside of the funnel which are, I think at least, so noticeable in pictures of
Renown that I couldnt be happy with the two very weak looking bits of detail moulded into the funnel casting, with main central pipe represented by a flat disc on the photo etch. I decided I needed to rework the area, despite its small size. I am relatively happy, but they are far from perfect...
This is a picture of the starting point. I cut out the PE funnel grille leaving the 'sprues' in place as I wanted to bend them into the 'stand off' supports. I cut four short bits of 1 mm brass tube to represent the smaller pipes and one 2.5mm brass tube to represent the larger central pipe. You can see the two small little moulded on details (just!) on the original funnel top. The coin is a UK one penny, which is exactly the same size as a US cent.
I then carefully marked out the position of the various pipes from my drawings and drilled the holes. I then cut away the central disc from the funnel grille PE and removed the two tiny moulded on pipes from the top of the resin funnel.
I then glued the pipes in place and sanded them down to the correct height. Luckily, they should all be the same length, so this was relatively easy.
I then fitted the funnel grille over the new funnel top/pipes. This proved to be really difficult. Not only were they so difficult to align because the parts are so small... but the drawings, the PE and the actual funnel, all differed in size. In the end I had to accept a compromise and had to place the grille in such a way that the pipes look OK. Unfortunately the PE Grille isnt really the correct size and I had to put it in a position that looked right according to drawings and photos. This meant the pipes dont show in the correct 'spaces' in the grille... they're all one section further back than they should be... although spaced correctly... Also, in order to get the grille on, I had to cut the central pipe supports back in order to correct the grill position and so I now have a gap where the grilles should all meet and butt up against the central pipe. I will try and get that sorted tomorrow if I can find some spare PE of the right width. Also, one of the grille bars obscures the pipe closest to the central pipe... nothing I can do about that, so I will have to leave it as it is. In the end, its all a bit of a compromise. If I was doing this again I would ignore the drawings, cut and mount the grill and then drill the holes afterwards and place the pipes correctly. It would mean I would need to get the pipes the correct height by drilling down the correct depth for each pipe, but with trial and error it could be done and everything would be in the right place then.... Still... you live and learn!!!
Anyway, here is the funnel top nearly completed. I think it looks OK... and for most people would be acceptable. Not everyone would know where the pipes should be relative to the grille bars... and its pretty close anyway... A quick glance and it looks right... even when you look at the drawings... so that will have to do (I can see Jim B shaking his head in despair...!). The compound curved shape of the grille looks good, although not very clear in the picture, so I am pleased with that and in profile the pipes and the grille look pretty close to photo's and my drawings. I have also dry fitted the funnel back in place on the model and it is amazing how much better this area looks since I modified it. MUCH more complex and 'busy' and the curved profile of the grille looks good too... so I am reasonably pleased. I had thought about hollowing out the funnel a little more with my Dremel, but that would be risky and would have ended up making the alignment of the pipes very tricky. As the whole funnel top will be painted black and then the pipes drybrushed to make the ends stand out, I think hollowing the funnel is unnecessary and wouldn't add much to the end result in this particular case.
Its all a compromise anyway... Just have to keep telling myself that! And I have learnt what to do next time, so thats a plus...
Onwards and upwards... second funnel tomorrow
EDIT: Hmmm... having looked at some photo's of the funnel top I now notice that the pipes are not all the same height and a couple protrude above the grill whereas mine are level with the grille top...However the compound curve I have managed to bend in the PE grille is about right and, as it curves up a fair way, the pipes are clearly noticeable above the level of the funnel top, so they will still look OK...Bugger! Thats just goes to show how its easy to get so focused on drawings which are not always accurate, rather than constant reference to photo's... Nothing I can do about it now. Another lesson learnt...! Still, if anyone is building
Renown in the future and reads this, at least they will be able to correct all the mistakes I have made...