crazypoet

I have a subscription for AirCorps, but not even their references and manuals (so far) have shown this in detail i agree that it’s a bit of a snug fit between the wheel, gear covers, and strut - but it would be just my luck to have this in a contest and find that I got it wrong 😂

Beautiful work, start to finish!

So I’m getting ready to start putting these together. I have a pretty good feel for where they connect in the wheel well. There’s not a line already molded in the kit plastic, but that’s not a problem here - I can just add that as a part of the strut and glue it down when I install it so that part will be fairly straightforward so here’s the tricky thing. This line feeds the brake cylinders on the inside wall of the wheel hub. What isn’t clear is whether the line terminates into the axel (and then internally to the brake cylinders) or connects at some point to the brake cylinders more directly. I’ve found two pics that *sort* of show this end, but neither show that level of detail. so a question to those who’ve trod this path before me - brake line into the axel, or to a point on the inner edge of the wheel, where the brake cylinders are actuated? my instinct (and some excellent YouTube vids on how aircraft brakes actually work) tells me that this line will connect to the plate holding the cylinders - but that’s still not entirely clear from the photos I’ve been able to find im using the excellent resin main wheels from BarracudaCast for this, which include a bit of detail on the brake cylinder side of things, but not enough the make it easy to identify a connection point for the brake line here are the two pics I have that sort of show this. Neither one is taken from an angle that really lets me look at that final connection point, so I’m wide open to suggestions 🙏

Thank you! These lines are pretty visible, if one cares to look - and the line that feeds the brakes is even more so. I couldn’t let these go unfinished and feel good about it 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

For my next trick - planning a *little* bit ahead this time 🤣🤦‍♂️ - I’m going to work on the hydraulic line that snakes down each of the main gear legs the challenge here is in properly locating the end points - where it connects both at the top end and down near the wheels photos of restored examples show a variety of routings in between, from which I can extrapolate how it’s routed along the struts pretty well. Unfortunately, they’re kinda missing the points of connection top and bottom The only photo I’ve found that shows the whole length is from a pair of gear struts that look to be salvages from a wreck, and it’s a bit fuzzy thus should be fun!

a bit more on this topic, as I had time to do a bit more research this weekend It took a bit of digging, since there were three different iterations of the Paddleblade prop for the P47 - two from Curtis Electric and one from Hamilton Standard. the best info I’ve been able to find is that is was the Curtis Electric C542S-A114 wide-blade symmetrical prop which was first distributed in the field and retrofitted to earlier versions of the Jug, starting in Spring of ‘43 the Hamilton Standard paddleblade was introduced later, and was also used as a field mod, but given the timing of things, I’m going with the Curtis Symmetrical prop for this build Curtis also did an asymmetric paddleblade even later, which was *also* retrofitted to some jugs this makes things more than a bit confusing when building to a specific point in time 😂

I’m looking forward to seeing you take this to the next level, as always 🙏

I just spent a very happy hour or so catching up with this build - it is beyond amazing. 🤩 Your scratch building and CAD/3D printing skillz are off the charts! I am so grateful for the chance to look over your shoulder while at the same time learning at your feet 🙏

Beautiful work on this! The cockpit is a work of art unto itself 🙏 looking forward to this coming together

This is brilliant work! I love your attention to detail and getting things *right* 🙏🙏 you’re teaching all of us useful tricks - I love that about this group

Ok, both sides done and a bit of cleanup accomplished. I need to do a light rub of Uschi’s iron powder to bring back the finish on the cylinder ends, and then dust things up to make it all look a bit lived-in its not quite as nice as it would have been had I done this before joining the wing halves - I simply didn’t think ahead (I was thinking more about the gun bays, truth be told) ah well, lesson learned for next time

It’s been probably 50 years since I did a car kit, but I have the ancient AMT 1/16 ‘57 Chevy Nomad kit waiting patiently in the stash your build is giving me some great ideas about ways to spruce up my kit i love watching over your shoulder! 🙏🙏

This is simply… gorgeous 🙏 and I love your approach to cleaning the metal parts - much *much* easier than my wire brush approach 😂 now I have to see if I can find one of those tumblers in Phnom Penh 🤣🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

So with much cursing, a couple of drinks, and managing to break *both* of the tiny actuator arms for the inner landing gear doors (these things survived two years of storage and handling, only to fall prey to my using a bit of extra force with a pair of needle-nose pliers while fitting these lines. Gawds 🤦‍♂️ Fortunately, I have the correct size wire stock and drill bits to replace them later) the first set of lines are in and the glue is drying (micro crystal clear, since I needed it to dry slowly). I have a bit of cleanup to do, but I’m happy with the results My version, followed by a photo of a restored original (they used the same materials as the original, excepting the bright blue cap on the fittings 😂) I stand ready for your ridicule

So. In today’s episode of “why the hell didn’t I think of this *before* glueing something in place…” Each of the two hydraulic cylinders that raise and lower the main gear needs two fiddly little holes drilled to attach the hydraulic lines. plus, I need to drill a hole in the side of each gear well to accept one of the lines (the other tucks neatly underneath and out of sight) this would have been *so* much easier if I’d considered it either before gluing the cylinder in place or before joining the wing halves 7-P process in full display here 😂 at any rate, I’ve figured out the shapes and curves of the lines, I know where I have to drill, and just need to put a finish on the lines themselves. After much head-scratching and testing of different materials, I decided to go with some brass wire I had laying about to form the lines. with a small bending brake, I can set the correct angle for the connection to the cylinder, and the way it creates the bend gives me the look of a proper hydraulic fitting at the point of the bend. For the lines past the fitting, I’ll dip the wire in some black primer to give the proper OD for the hoses, then add a bit of texture to make them look like braided lines (yah, I have two sizes of scale braided lines, but the .5mm is too small and the .8mm ended up being a bit large after stretching over the brass wire…) wheeee!

That’s the only 1/32 Betty I’ve seen mentioned anywhere i would love to do a build of the white-painted Betty being escorted to the surrender conference by a B25 strafer i have the decals and details for the B25 in question, and the kit is waiting in my bench thing is… I want the other half! anyone? beuller? haaaalp!

They do! Add in a bit of aftermarket and it gets even better. in this case I’m building a specific aircraft, which is why I had to “back-rev” the kit to a D-5 fortunately, it’s pretty straightforward to do this

I love your approach to all of this - and I’m filing the casting mark tips away for whenever I get around to building anything with large cast pieces 😎💯🙏

I also finished up the squared-off cowl flaps for the D-5, and I like the way they’re fitting. Still need to be re-primed and may do a touch-up on the rivets, but I’m happy so far

So, I’m finally sort of caught up with where I left off with this thing 🤣 when last we met, I was starting to g to work on the hydraulic lines in the landing gear bays. I have those half-finished (one large cylinder in each bay), and I’m working on the other cylinder now. i wasn’t *entirely* happy with the look of the first lines, but they’ll do. The second set will take a slightly different approach anyway, due to the way they fit both at the cylinder and the routing out of the bay. soooo…. I’m working with a couple different materials to see which will work best (brass wire, thin telecom wire unstripped, and thin telecom wire stripped out. ill let y’all know how it works out

Ahhh…. So it does still work. I think I was trying to upload too large of a pic earlier. at any rate, this is me with the new-edition Ms Poet - we did a “coming out as a couple” traditional photoshoot last month. Traditions and customs are a bit different here - you need approval from family and friends to date publicly, and it has to be “announced” within the community her name is Thea, she’s a doctor, and thoroughly amazing

…now I just have to figure out how to upload photos over my VPN connection 🤷‍♂️🤣🤦‍♂️

Sooooo…. After a long work-related break, followed by retirement and a move out of country (I’m now living the Expat life in Phnom Penh, Cambodia - very long story 😂), and *also* finally receiving all my stuff shipped from the US (it took four months, y’all!)… I'm finally baaaack i dusted things off, washed it all with hsome dish soap, figured out where I’d left things and this is back on the worktable

Loving this! It’s a joy to see a master at work 💯

I’ve been wanting a 1:32 A-20 for *years* to go alongside the B-25 strafer I have in the queue I am looking very very much forward to this!!!