crazypoet

Timely reminder!

I ordered a set of braided lines and spark plugs from ANYZ, so while I’m waiting on them I’m going to do the supercharger assembly. It has some interesting bits and pieces and materials and it’s a great practice space for NMF stuff in a place where I can hide my worst bit of experimentation. The hot side of things is steel and the cool side is aluminum - I’ll have some fun playing with different NMF approaches while waiting for the fiddly bits of the engine to arrive

I am studying every step in this, with a certain amount of awe. not only a master class in scratchbuilding but also in foiling given that I have a NMF B-17 sometime in my future, I’ll need all the help I can get!

Wait.. testing for duds?!?!?! I can see this as part of a "things that didn't end well" diorama...

Loving this! Your detail work seems spot on. Thanks also for showing off the ANYZ stuff - I’m going to pay him a visit for some goodies for the P-47

Been in both - neither was fun, and i’d Have been utterly delighted with a kit to bumble with!

I’d contribute - few things worse than being in the field with nothing to occupy the mind and hands

So I finally have the cockpit wrapped up. Things are resting in place while I sleep on it before gluing the seat and sides permanently in place. i had one oops during the process - my phone rang as I was running the right side rudder cable and I jumped just enough to put some slack in the line between the rudder pedal and pulley. i’ll decide tomorrow whether I want to rip things up and redo it, or if I can snug things up elsewhere. i also have a bit of touch-up to do before moving on to the next step - but either way, the pit will be done tomorrow, leaving me ready to move on to bigger things (or at least bigger *parts* of things!)

Beautiful!!!!

Ok, so I have this problem that, once I see something in the reference library and find that it’s very visibly wrong in the kit, I can never *unsee* it. And while I have zero doubts that there will be uncounted inaccuracies that I miss out of pure ignorance, I do try to fix the ones I find, if it’s something that is visible to even a semi-informed observer. which brings me to today’s installment... First, in the P-47 parts manual, it’s immediately apparent that the control stick has a base mounting flange between the stick mechanism and the cockpit floor. Both Trumpeter and Eduard left this out of their respective sets, so I gritted my teeth and built the flange while also making up the boot (that flap at the rear of the boot will wrap around the control cable connector and be secured with a brass clasp when installed) Next, in every photo i’ve seen of original unrestored examples, the forward Cockpit bulkhead is corrugated. This is a detail that I did my utter damndest to ignore, as there are just a few angles from which it’s visible. But, well, damn. soooo... some .010 card and .015x.030 strip later... instant corrugated sheet! Needs to be primed and painted to match, but I am tons happier...

Those are some nice casts! Question - do you plan to add engine detail, or are you relying on the modeler to source those elsewhere?

Interesting stuff! Ernie - I love your approach to finding topics that are *really* interesting, unusual and challenging. I particularly like that you are looking into civilian applications - much respect on that! I have some wartime stories that I still need to tell, but once I get through those, I will look at your work as inspiration

Completed belts and seat - using the Eduard set (I sent a query to HGW about their set - it seems like they packed a 1/48 set of belts in the 1/32 set package)

That’s a great approach!

Oooooooooooooo.... pretty!

Quick question - what are you using for the rigging lines?

Beautiful! I am enjoying this as it develops

Good to see an update! I love the A7 - great bird that never really got the respect it deserved

Thanks! That’s exactly what I needed i’ve not seen the Tamiya Spitfire kit, so I don’t have a reference, but it looks like Barracuda nailed it. It looks like it still relies on some kit parts for the reflector glass on top of the sight body - can I buy one of the sights from you to go along with the Barracuda set? i love the PE mounting frame Eduard did for the P-47 MKII gunsight, but the sight itself is just...wrong

Gotta love research... found this, which would indicate that perhaps the Eduard set is better... Isn’t it fun when primary, contemporary, and hopefully authoritative sources conflict? soooooo... based on the photo, i’m going with the Eduard PE belts. The HGW set just seems too small - like they put 1/48 parts in their 1/32 package

So based on original tech manual info, it *seems* like the HGW is more correct. But then, these manuals are known to show general shapes rather than precise dimensions for things not the focus of the specific part at-hand still looking - see if I can find some better contemporary photos

Now this is interesting... I have the Eduard PE set for this bird, including seatbelts I’ve heard good things about HGW microfiber seatbelts, so I ordered a set, to do a side by side comparison. insofar as ease of use is concerned, they are both more than a bit fiddly, but the edge goes to the fiber - if only *just* now for the interesting part. Here are the right-side belts from both sets. HGW to the left, Eduard to the right. Both complete, with a light Vallejo wash. Notice anything odd? yeah - me, too... off to the books again to figure out which is correct...

This is utterly awesome!!! Have fun and learn much - I look forward to watching this develop

I’ve been looking around for a better version of this than what I have. Even with the Eduard PE, the MkII gunsight for the P-47 is just not right, and it’s not a simple fix anyone know of any of these being made? i know they were used on a variety of aircraft and I could likely adapt different versions to fit

The one thing I have on my floor that is causing me ongoing tooth-grinding is a tiny sliver of PE for the Brit MkII gunsight in the P-47 i was able to mostly replicate it with thin film, but it doesn’t have the fine print from the original and...sadly there’s no furry felines I can blame - only my own momentary lapse punctuated by the “ping” of PE rapidly departing my tweezers for parts unknown...