crazypoet

So - I suspect that this topic has been covered *somewhere*, but I'm having a senior moment and can't find a good reference. I tracked down a Trumpeter 1/32 P-47 Razorback kit, and I know the version that I want to build: "Shorty" Rankin's 42-74622 "Wicked Wacker Weegie" (Nick King profile pinned on https://www.pinterest.com/pin/504473595730096675/ ). Why this one? Just a fun thought - Shorty made Ace on a mission on May 12th - my birthday, and I love the squadron color scheme. There are some other AC from the same squadron with very interesting art and histories, but this one just grabbed me. I found a decal set for this AC in 1/48, but sadly the decal selection for the 1/32 P-47 Razorback is razor-thin. Given the cost of the kit and add-ons from Eduard, settling for someone else's idea of which AC to build just doesn't sit right. I wish I had the skill to do the nose art lettering myself - the rest of the paint job is fairly straightforward. A good custom mask set might do the trick, but it seems that Ad Astra Masks is out of business? Any suggestions? I'm drawing a complete blank.

I love this! beautiful job on the steel body in particular

A very quick update - I found the solution to my puzzlement on the gun elevation mechanism (and some future puzzles with the steam plant as well!). The good folk at http://www.scalehardware.com/ have a fairly amazing supply of screws, nuts, bolts, threaded rod and such, in sizes that are useful at the scales we build. When my order arrives, I'll finish the gun mount and post it up

Wellllll.... I've taken the plunge and started planking the hull. I've also got most of the work done on the gun carriage, which is essentially a separate kit unto itself. The gun carriage is a modular design that allows the crew to pivot the gun to fire forward, port or starboard depending on which of three anchor points they use. The carriage has a friction slide to which the gun mounts, which is secured to the main carriage by two large compression screws. This arrangement absorbs the recoil of the gun without requiring run-out as was required for larger guns. So here's the process to-date: The basic components - slide and carriage, formed from basswood and brass, with individually-formed rivets: Slide Carriage (rivets set but not yet blackened): One of the rivets, before setting: Set, blackened: Aligning: Pivot pin - these are built up out of aluminum tubing, brass wire and epoxy, then blacked with colloidal graphite: Before blacking: ...and after: The (almost) current state of the carriage (I'm working through some puzzles on the elevation mechanism at the moment - not yet ready for their close-up!): And, finally, as advertised, the first run of hull planks: The gun itself is almost done - it's a white metal casting that took a boatload of cleanup, plus PE brass components, and some airbrushing - it, along with the elevation mechanisms, will be in the next update.

Extraordinary work on this! Where did the plans come from, or is it all your own research?

Well, I finally got the hinged doors done. I'm delighted to be through with this part of the build. Now, I can get on to planking the hull... Here's how the coal bin doors look, open and closed: and - part of why this was just a bit tedious. This is one of the nails: So...! On to the hull planking. The Sheer Strake is the top-most plank, and in this model the only plank that goes the full length of the hull. I also started working on the gun carriage, but that's a whole project unto itself - PE Brass, White metal and wood. I'll post the updates to that later on.

So I've been stumbling along on this, as I get bench time. The coal bunkers are the current challenge, now that the main decking is done. as-designed in the kit, these were solid/unopenable, with laser-cut handle openings, out-of-scale fake PE hinges that would have made the hatches open the wrong direction and parting lines that made no sense whatsoever, given the framing of the hull. After much head-scratching, I decided to re-do the hatch covers from scratch, using 1/32" basswood stock. Here's the new covers, front and back and placed for final fitting before adding hinges and such The empty coal scuttles, with framing: I added a step for the gunners I'm finishing hinges and doing final detailing on these at the moment - more to come!

Ya know, after coming back to this, I realized what an ass I was being when I posted the above comment. This thread has truly amazing techniques for rendering a difficult surface effect, and I completely devalued that in my n00b-ish post. My apologies. I was an idiot.

I'm adding a hearty "AMEN" to this! I love the A-20 family

I truly wish I had the space for some of these monsters at home! As it is, I'm going to have to wall-mount some of my upcoming projects. Keep this up - I'm living vicariously through your work...

Does anyone know if they are still in business? Their web page seems to be down, and I've not seen any posts about them in a while. I love the service they provide - I very much hope that they're still alive and kicking. And if not - what other companies might have the same types of services available? I can always try to make my own, but prefer to have a professional touch, if available

I've always loved the A7! I look forward to watching this come together

I was laid up with pneumonia over the holiday, so I didn't get nearly as much bench time as I'd planned. Ick. That said, I did manage to do a couple of things. First, I was terribly sneaky, and built part of Mrs Poet's Christmas present under her nose. I used some spare 1/32" basswood stock to make her a box for the vintage necklace I gave her... I told her that I was making parts for the picket boat, and did the final assembly one day while she was out with friends. I still need to add hinges (the ones I wanted weren't available at my LHS), but here's the current state of things, as presented to her on Christmas morning: Meanwhile, on the boat itself, I did make *some* progress. I figured out my approach to seat bracing, and made the braces from 1/32x1/16" brass strip: I also got a good start on the main deck and coal bunkers. They're nowhere near ready, but you can at least see where I'm going. Deck and bunker dry-fit and weathering: More to come - watch this space!

Nice!!! I love this sort of work!

Happy almost-Christmas to all! Bits and pieces of progress, and two minor milestones... I finished framing and decking the bow compartment interior (yippee!) along with the decking and seats for the cockpit. I still have to fabricate seat supports for a portion of the cockpit area, which is requiring more research than I'd anticipated so as to avoid doing something utterly anachronistic. I'm happy with the bow compartment structure at this point. There's a lot more I could do with it, but the only way anyone would ever see additional details is with multiple mirrors and a really good flashlight or a fiber-optic camera so I'll stop before I descend into utter madness. The planking inside the compartment will be cut to match the curve of the hull planks later; I can't cut it just yet because it would leave some plank ends unsupported. I'm also happy with the latch design and function for the two hatches - there's always room for improvement, but they look right and function correctly. Bow compartment framed and planked: The view from the rear of the compartment Cockpit decking I'll do another update after I finish the seat supports for the cockpit, later in the week. After that, I'm completely re-working the main deck and coal bunkers - the kit design for the bunkers makes no sense whatsoever from a functional standpoint (it's obvious that the designer never once had to actually shovel coal!). So that will be a fun challenge. And of course this also means adding a proper coal shovel to the "odds & ends" list, along with the gun gear, ammo chests and whatnot.

Minor update on this. I got the latches completed and built, and the bulkhead attached. I can now get to work finishing out the bow compartment interior decking and the last of the framing details. The latches were a royal pain - making flush-mount rivets in thin stock from brass pins when I don't have a small enough setter to fit. I had to use the end of a needle-file handle as a setter, and tap it smartly with a 6 oz. hammer while hoping that the file wouldn't chip. It all worked, though, and I have a pair of functional latches for the doors. The next step is the decking and seats in the cockpit. The kit specifies "drawing lines with a #2 pencil to simulate planks". Right. I'm having too much fun doing the real thing. I'll also fabricate seat supports from wood and brass, as these are completely lacking in the kit. Decking in progress: More to come later.

This looks fun! I've always liked the looks of this aircraft - it has that sort of awkward not-quite-biplane-not-quite-monoplane look Very cool - I look forward to following the build!

Nice work on filling/correcting those intakes! I look forward to seeing this come together

Still no photo-ready progress on this, but I've finally had a chance to test and validate my approach to the rough surfaces on the engine castings. I had to use a leveling primer on some of the parts, which changes my painting approach rather dramatically. I'm also changing the push-rod design to better reflect the original. I'm gong to fabricate my own frame connectors from sheet and strip steel stock, based on documented full-sized plans. The kit-supplied connectors look *adequate* from a distance, but simply don't hold up well to close examination. The one other thing I'd like to find is a better set of guns. Cleaning the castings for these is doable, but will take a LOT of time.

I'm truly looking forward to following this build. It's an epic challenge!

I just saw this - my god that's a big kit, and it's one that I want to tackle myself someday. *after* the Camel, B-17, Grumman Goose and USN Picket Boat I already have on the bench. Keep us posted - I love this aircraft (I've always wanted to own a real one (the ULTIMATE Camper/RV! ). This kit is as close as I'm ever likely to come, absent a Lotto win. Have fun!

I've been muddling along on this, developing an approach to period details in hardware, and researching the best way to adapt the model expo hull to documentation by John Dahlgren for use of the Dahlgren Boat Howitzer on small craft. I also realized that my old reliable mk1 human eyeball was no longer sufficient for precise part fabrication, so I broke down and ordered a drill-press mount for my dremel tools. So I've made progress, but not much. Head-scratching, reading and sketching do not a model make! That said, there's been at least a modicum of progress. I've cut out and built up portions of the bow compartment to emulate the heavy timber framing specified by Dahlgren ("A System of Boat Armament in the United States Navy" 1852) and developed a functional compartment latch based on period designs. I'm making the latches from soldered and chemically-blackened brass strip. The latches are still very much in-progress (I'm picking up the drill press today so I can finish them this week). So here's the current state of things: Latch components: Some of the internal framing and decking for the bow compartment: I hope to have the door latches completed and installed this week, so I can move forward with the next phase - coal bunkers, decking and getting the hull planking underway. Opening up the bow compartment and making it both functional and period-appropriate were priorities for this build. The compartment would have been used to store supplies and gear for both the gun and the steam plant (though I suspect that it would *NOT* have been used for ammo/powder storage, being the location most exposed to incoming fire). I'm planning to slightly modify one of the coal bunkers to accommodate regulation USN ammo cases for the howitzer, and I'll build a case of canister, as that is what this boat is known to have carried and used on its mission against the CSS Albemarle.

That rifle shows part of what I love about building in wood and metal - you get the true feel of the original, even in the smallest of scales. There's nothing that feels or looks like wood except wood... Ditto for metal and cloth. This is why foiling a NMF model aircraft works so well - nothing looks like bare aluminum so much as, well, bare aluminum... With wood there's one other benefit - if I screw up and break a part (or decide to change the design in mid-stream), I can just carve a new one. That's a difficult thing when the part in question came off a sprue. All that said, It's a challenge to get to anything like the level of detail possible with the current generation of plastic and resign kits - but that's part of the challenge. And I'm not *about* to attempt to scratch-build a B-17 from aluminum sheets...

Wow! I look forward to following your progress on this - you've set yourself an amazing challenge, and I hope to learn from your progress as I share my own. I've just started the Model Airways kit, and I share some of your concerns - the metal castings *are* rough, and there are some key parts that I'll still need to fabricate from scratch. Out-of-box, there are some trade-offs that I'm not happy with (especially the turnbuckles and frame connectors), but it does give me a good starting canvas. I'll be sharing my joys and frustrations as I go along...

Nice! This is on my long-term wish list - I look forward to seeing her come together