airscale

well good evening everyone it's been a while, but having got Xmas, a vacation in Thailand and a shoulder injury out of the way, I finally got back to the bench... so where were we... Tailwheel... for some reason I have been putting this off, but it is finally time to make myself do it. I expect it's because it's a complex bunch of assemblies - predominately this one - this is the main bracket the tailwheel fork goes into - here nicely rendered by someone in 3D (I did try that, but it would have taken less time to make it ).. ..there are no drawings of the fork actually holding the wheel, but there are these for this assembly so I scaled them and coloured the main features to help me start a replica.. ..I started with the two spigot parts from bits of tube and the 'Y' shaped bit in plastic card.. ..this was then assembled and P40 filler added to block it out a bit.. ..some shaping .. ..and a coat of primer - it's a long way from being right, but it's a start... ..also Tim Perry kindly prined the 3D wheel design I did.. ..in other news, the model has a name now - I painted the nose art using a mask Radu Brinzan prepped for me.. .and Don Lopez's name & kill markings added under the windshield.. ..and the fuselage stars n bars - this is the second attempt after the first peeled while unmasking.. ..it is getting harder to work with on my increasingly messy bench... ..hope everyone is well TTFN Peter

evening boys & girls the time finally arrived to add paint... I am not a fan of the process and find it difficult (which is why I like NMF birds..), but I can't get away with it anymore so after getting the custom masks from Radu I thought I would try the MRP paint range (I used enamels on the Spit). I did some test runs to see how the paint adapts to going on unprimed aluminium and the results with the black for the tail was positive - it goes on really smooth and taked wire wooling without a problem so a start was made.. ..not too many in progress pics, but here is one of the insignia on the wings... ..I put a different black on the lower tail as there are painted over serials here that can still be made out, the idea being I put one black down, then mask the numbers and then the main black for the tail so there is a subtle difference in colour - also set out the rear stripe by setting down equal bits of tape to follow the line with more flexible tamiya white tape.. ..the MRP 'super matt black' is a wonderful colour and I am really happy with how it turned out - bit of a problem where some paintv lifted when lifting the serial masks, but I think I might leave it.. ..wire wooling the surface gives a really realistic sheen and naturally fills panel lines & rivets with lighter dust which makes for a nice weathered effect.. ..the rest are just glamour shots - the fuselage insignia had to be stripped off as the white lifted when I removed the masks, so Radu is doing me another set and I will do these with enamels - I also scaled the nose art name incorrectly so that is being done again too stuff like the prop, the gear and the 'sit' are not right as it's just jerry rigged for the photo's, but the finish line is edging closer... TTFN Peter

howdy folks ..at the moment, it's all about getting ready for paint and getting details that need the model to be handled done, before I can flip it over and start mounting the gear, doors and finally start the tailwheel (been putting that off, don't know why...) Radu Brinzan is kindly doing some masks, and Torben did the nose art font for me many moons ago so I am grateful to him too so I should get paint on next time I post.. ...for now, I had to finish all the tailfeathers - mainly adding the tips to the stabilisers and fin and rivetting all the fillets. I did get some PE fasteners done for this, but there are about 60 to do and they are freakin tiny so I chose the lazy way out.. ..I cheated a bit as these are under paint and didn't do them in one piece, I used annealed metal for the fronts, but hte back of the tips where it is profiled to the stabiliser I just bent plain litho to keep the stiffness and maintain the shape.. ..I also painted the prop blades & exhausts - Steve at Model Monkey scaled up his amazing hollow 1/24 set for me and all I did was add weld beads from PVA.. ..the blades are not fixed yet, so excuse pitch or whatever please ..the last bit of airframe work was adding the MN20 loop fitting (I got some great help from the forums on identifying & getting drawings for this ) ..I started by laying down bare metal foil so I can work and things don't stick to the fuselage.. ..then I CA'd a disc of litho and the profile of the bottom mounting plate.. ..some P38 filler built up the shape and the whole thing was popped off and cleaned up.. you can also see here a sheet of annealed litho 'hinged' off the fuselage so I can start covering the shape to make the mounting plinth.. ..done, rivetted and drilled to accept the loop mounting plate.. ..the loop fitting itself was made from profiles & filler and a 1mm brass rod bent around a 10mm punch.. ..I think it's bronze green, so I went with that - it's not fixed yet, and nor are the bolts that hold it in place added.. ..thats all for now TTFN Peter

fine, fine work Mr Peters

evening folks Ah - no, not this time, it will be there next year when it is finished though I am taking my Spitfire - that will be on the LSP / 32SIG stand landing gear then... ..I started with the lower castings as these are probably the hardest part - made a spigot for the wheel, the bent fork and the collar that is at the bottom of the strut from brass on my lathe.. ,,these were soldered as they carry all the weight and the main legs turned from brass... the compression strut was a polished steel rod I got on ebay.. ..then all the mountings for the torsion links and other bits and bobs were added - the strut assembly was glued with epoxy adhesive, the rest of the bits with CA.. ..the torsion links were made upfrom brass tube, an inner litho shape (I wish I had photo-etched earlier) and plastic card for the casting sides.. ..the ends were glued while on a quick jig from rod so there are no surprises later... ..using pins to align the torsion links so I can add the mounts to the upper strut - I don't want them fitted until after painting.. ..then both struts were prepared for a shot of a silver/white enamel mix... I didn't have the right alclad to hand so I must get some at Telford next weekend ..once painted & assembled I added the brake line, but there are two much finer rigid lines that run up the leg and down the fork that I will have to add once the gear is in place as one goes in the wheel hub (I think) and the other up into the U/C bay.. ..the 3D printed wheels were cleaned up, painted & dirtied a bit.. (thanks Tim) ..and a dry fit.. ..and for the first time it is on it's wheels.. ...outer doors next... TTFN Peter

drool.... I am in love with this build Cees - it's going to look so different from anything else See you at Telford my friend Peter

evening ladies well that is a very kind offer, thank you - I can't say I will take you up on it, but if I do start vlogging, you will be the first to know! so, it's been raining all day here, so what better excuse that to spend the day at the bench here is the task - something else I have been quietly dreading as it's so distinctive... ..the B/C doors are very different to the D, so this pic of Lopes Hope is super valuable reference.. I started by getting the PE templates I had made a while back along with lots of other bits & bobs after scaling the drawings - once I had these I made up laminates of sheet stock until I had the thickness right and dremmeled out the wheel disc and started to prepare the indentations... ..further refining the shapes and a quick test to see how the skin responds to the plastic core shapes.. seems ok so we press on... ..once the core is finished and has cutouts for the retraction arm etc added, it was lightly CA'd to a perspex sheet to start the skinning process... ..after one try where I split the sheet, I CA'd the core to the PE door template and then CA'd that to the perspex - after working it some details start to be added.. ..the sheet was then removed from the core so the raised rivets can be added.. ..the outer skins were made up.. ,,and after making the covering strip & painting it, the doors were assembled & detailed with brackets etc.. ..this side has a strut mount in a semi-circualr indent.. ,,and this side has the retraction strut mount.. ,and in place will look something like this.. ..thats it for now, lets hope it rains again tomorrow TTFN Peter

hello again Why thank you Umm I have thought about it, but I thought it would just suck up a lot of time in getting that sort of thing done - and that is not something I have the luxury of having a lot of... anyways - my bench is an absolute disgrace and not for public consumption... I need to check on those aileron fittings, as I haven't done them yet and I mustn't forget! As to the moulding - the PETG I use is about 1mm thick and I put it in boiling water until soft, once pliable I put the PETG on 1.5" foam and push the plug hard down - as long as you can apply constant & equal pressure all over the shape (and it is not too compound) then the foam resists enough to act as the female of the mould - for a turret the side walls (assuming they rae flat curves would probably be simple and could be quite large - any three dimensional curved panels forna top panel may be able to be done in parts if it is a number of glazing parts, but it would probably not work for a one-piece dome for example.. so, while I can't fit them yet, I wanted to get the flaps built up.. I used the same principle as the ailerons in that an inner core with raised rivets was made and then skinned with panels with normal rivets - you can see the raised rivets on the trailing edge in this shot... ..the first thing was to get the drawings into the overall 'folded out' shape along with the rivet markings - the raised ones are in threes along the trailing edge. there are also cutouts & shapes along the leading edge which curves under the wing trailing edge.. ..I always work in pairs if twothings need doing, so I don't do one and get bored doing the other, so bothe were made and folded.. ..the drawings actually had me confused as they show the lines of lateral rivets in paired rows, but all the pics I have show just one row so that was what I went with - here are an upper & lower pair for the panels with recessed rivets - the bottom one has just been done, the top one already burnished out to get rid of the 'pillowing' effect of the rivetting process.. ..the structures were strengthened with thick card and an inner core made up to define the profile and stop sagging.. ..details added and taped up ready to paint YZC where needed.. ..then the rivetted panels were added - here tape acts as a hinge at the top, and is masking where the impact cement goes at the bottom.. ..after painting the details showed quite well - I also noticed the curved edge that goes under the wing is normally seen quite glossy, I guess it doesn't get as much exposure as the rest of the structure, so I polished this area.. ..I also worked up and fettled the wing & fuselage so they fit and painted the recess YZC ..the aileron detail can still be seen.. ..not at the right angle or fixed yet, but you get the idea.. ..and that is the flaps nearly done - I will finish the fittings when I fit them .. ..I have the 3D printed wheels & hubs I designed from Tim Perry now, so they are next to take a look at TTFN Peter

thank you my friends been away on business a bit so not much done, but I guess enough for an episode.. ..ailerons... lets take a look - see how there are both raised & indented rivets... there is also what looks like an overlapping panel at the forward half of the aileron (forward of teh trim tab) so I thought I would make a folded metal part with the raised rivets, and add the other panel on top with indented rivets.. ..I started by adding both sides of the drawing together to get what it would be if folded out flat and pinpricked where the raised rivets were - also scored the trim tab... ..then after turning it over and adding the raised rivets, i folded it and folded the leading edges to get the inner (and main) part of the aileron ..then I made and rivetted the overlapping panel, also folding down the leading edges.. ..a thick plastic card spar was then added and once I had made both ailerons, they were filled with Alec Tiranti expanding foam - this stuff goes rock hard and was actually a bit of ballache to clean out of the open end where the aileron meets the flaps.. ..with both done, I started removing the trim tabs - these were waste - I made new ones with raised rivets.. ..soon both were completed.. ..the exposed end seen because the flaps are down was detailed according to pictures & drawings.. ..and with two fixing rods fixed into the leading edges, they were mounted to the wings - I might live to regret this but the wingtip fairings after profiling to neatly fit the ailerons were getting really fragile and will break so hopefully this will protect them.. ..Flaps next - they are an interesting, if similar structure.. TTFN Peter

hubba hubba - I love the look of this

thank you folks - you are too kind Hi Cees - nope, I may just leave it as now I look at it, I don't think it is something I can add afterwards, it should have been part of the structure when I added it carrying on with the wing fillets - the borders are laid out with tape to rub soft metal into to get the shapes in 3D after translating the plan profiles.. ..taped down & burnishing.. ..the forwardmost fillet is one piece and very difficult - there was nothing for it but to have a go at bashing some ali into shape - itv soon kinked and creased and took a lot of work to get even half right... ..you can see here how the material just wouldn't do what was needed and split in one place - no matter I thought I could let in a piece here - this had any inner creases filed down to give it the best chance of truly flattening out when fixed.. ..still working it.. ..and finished & with fixings.. it's not perfect, but good enough for me.. ..same on the other side.. ..the PE arrived for the front vents so I could do this panel too - another tricky one.. ..first step was to add the vent structure and then make the front seam of the panel meet the nose intake casting... the rest of the panel lines could be dealt with with overlaps being removed.. ..with both panels & the vents added..,. the fasteners are added, but not yet all the riveting.. ..and the nose is pretty much coming together.. ..still lots to do despite it looking quite complete... TTFN Peter

ok I give up... which one is which? I assume the bottom one is real and I can only have any degree of confidence by looking at the background of the picture, not the turret itself that is a mark of how good this is... Peter

hi folks having finished the upper cowl panels, it was time to move below, the first one to set down was marked out with 3mm tamiya tape to allow another masking tape template to be made of just the straight rear edge... ..once that was done the panel was burnished down to the front defining edge and cut out - her it is once it has been fixed down and some of the fasteners added.. ..then the remaining fasteners & rivets and a hatch was added.. ..I was going to do the panel forward of this one which has the distinctive small air intake panels with lots of holes, but found the PE ones I had made are not scaled correctly as they are too big so PPD are running me up another set - as such I did the panel behind it instead and will complete it when the PE arrives.. ..while waiting for the PE I decided to prepare & paint the wings so I can work on all the wing fillet panels - these had already been etch primed months ago so were cleaned up and sprayed with alclad white aluminium... I was a bit worried about the fragility of the alclad paint, but after a gentle wire wolling to get rid of the dusty finish, it seems to be ok with some tape tests I have done - I have had it in the past where tape just pulls up or damages the finish.. ..with that done, the rearmost fillet was planned - it looks like this and is not only a signature shape, but full of compound curves... thankfully it's in two parts - upper & lower and the seam can be seen - it's actually a weld, but I haven't figured out how to represent it.. ..using drawings I made the upper shape and worked this into shape across the fillet to get the three dimensional shape.. ..and eventually both upper & lower were added to the model... ...the fillet right at the front on the leading edge looks really difficult so back when I have worked that out TTFN Peter

fascinating so you do intend on building an entire Wellington and not only that, following the geodetic design principle, and after doing that, commiting it to actual flight? ..and I thought I needed a check-up from the neck up... can't wait to see more Peter

evening boys & girls ..time for a nose job... ..this is one of the two detatchable panels that sit on top of the engine.. ..step 1 was to prepare the surface so it's nice & smooth and to mark the centreline.. ..then a sheet of soft aluminium was prepared by adding the row of rivets that go along the seam where the two panels meet and the fastener positions that run along the centreline on each side... then this was taped to the centreline... ..you can see rivets along the bottom scrap edge where I ballsed this up once already.. ..then the sheet is burnished down to the cowling with balsa blocks and in some areas around the nose where the curves are most acute, with a ball pein hammer... ..masking tape is used to hold the panel taught where it should be as the surface is worked from the straight edge centreline, to the outer curves.. ..soon the panel is roughly done and the borders appear as raised edges.. ..the masking tape is removed to see whats what.. ..the panel is then trimmed & fixed with contact adhesive, using the centreline tape to as a hinge to keep it's relative position and the overlaps start to get filed / sanded away.. ..with both sides done and the surface sanded smooth to remove irregularities (like glue highspots), the rivet detail was gone over again.. ..with the fastener details defining the lateral rivet detail position, tamiya tape was laid out to set out the spacing - interestingly these rows of rivets are perpendicular to the A/C datum, not the cowling which is tilted slightly downwards... ...also the hatches had been let into the structure by taping them down and tracing the outline with a new scalpel blade with the waste later removed.. ..once complete another burnish to get everything nice & recessed and a wire wool clean up.. ..lower cowl next... TTFN Peter

bloody hell.... I thought this thread was a question about turrets in the wrong bit of the forum... what I stumbled on is absolutely exquisite - you do what I try and do which is replicate every single bit, bob and doodad in an aeroplane structure, only you do actually do it! bravo ...(oh and please don't ever put it in a model that actually leaves the ground...) Peter

thanks chaps & good evening another step forward and in some ways another escape from the devil of modelling- transparencies... they are my nemesis and I am literally on the verge of a cardiac arrest every time I go near them on the model.. ..not many WIP pics, but here is the original... ..I started by putting down a false cowling panel so all the panels around the cockpit will butt up against it and I will get a clean sequence of joins.. then added the strip that goes around the rear of the windshield where it meets the canopy windows.. ..once that was down I added the top framing which was made up from strips of tape on the model and then made up in litho.. the strip was attatched with CA, but all the rest with contact adhesive very, very carefully ..the bottom of the frames around the armoured glass is really hard to get right, and I haven't but it is the best I can do - I started with some ali/tin sort of soft metal sheet I have and teased it into position before marking it out... ..and then no more WIP pics until I had all the panels down -sorry about that ..so I am relieved it is done and will now tape it up to protect it while I sort out the cowling panels.. TTFN Peter

thanks folks & good evening I don't think it's your eyes Hubert, but at the same time it is what it is - I can't change it now hopefully the pics at the end of this post show it as it is and it still looks like a P51C! ..bit more done over the weekend.. I was pleased to see the glazing survived under it's protective film, but it was time to take that off and add the frames, these are PE and have been amended from the drawings to allow for the fuselage curvature - the drawings are flat as you look at it side on.. ..here the frames have been added and a tape template to start to derive the top panel.. ..with that panel and the lower surround with the grab handle cover done, it was time for another fuselage panel... ..after both sides were done, I couldn't do the next panel until the exhaust panels were in to set the firewall line.. I added the exhaust mounts first.. ..then annealed the PE nickel silver panels that surround the exhaust - these have all the fasteners etc etched in, but as you can see discolour badly when annealed - it all sanded out though.. ..then after much careful measuring & pre-shaping the panels were added.. ..then the main side fuselage panel could be added - here it is finished and a tape hinge added so as the adhesive goes off I can just swing it right into position - you can also see a tube section for the flare pistol and the bottom was annealed to conform to the fuselage as the wing fillets will go over the lower section.. ..too big to really photograph on my bench, so a few shots as the evening sun was going down... ..all the skinning needs tidying up & finishing, but it is getting there panel by panel.. TTFN Peter

Hi Ryan -sorry, I missed that, have replied now Hi Hubert - of course you can raise a question! thats why I post so more knowledgeble folk than I can act as my wingman and keep me from doing silly things It's a great spot and point you have there and I can see exactly what you are seeing. I am hoping it's just my crap rivetting as it's being done off the airframe it's sometimes hard to get things right and to line up properly - certainly the base fuselage is a smooth transition, whether proportionally right is questionable, but it is not pronounced like the rivet line would have us believe.. here is a profile of the same area.. look any more normal? thanks again for asking Peter

absolutely fabulous Cees this is going to be a unique model and I do hope to get to see it (at Telford?) one day Peter

hi folks ..back again with a bit more done... first the top canopy section was made as a plug and the boiling water process used to form PETG around it - here it is pretty much fully wrapping the mould.. ..and with framing added inside & out.. ..Steve at Model Monkey 3D printed the correct gunsight for me from the Don Lopez cockpit photo and it turned out brilliantly - added a few details and good to go.. ..after painting, detailing & making the mount.. ..mounted in position on the coaming.. ..as this was now ready, I stopped working on the canopy and got on with fixing the coaming & windshield so I could start fairing in the sections & skin the fuselage - here the process has started at the front, and now P38 filler added at the back.. ..I forgot to take pics of the shaping work, so next up is one of the fuselage skins at the rear.. I made up a template sheet as it has to fit on three edges, and once I had that I could translate the drawing rivet & hatch positions to the sheet.. ..the finished sheet, with a bit of tube fitted at the rear for the mounting where I think a jig fits the fuselage for balancing & gun alignment etc.. ..and the sheet fitted with the hatches & upper skin.. ..as the airframe is now virtually complete in shape terms after 18 months, I couldn't resist an assembly shot to see how things were shaping up.. ..thats it for now TTFN Peter

evening folks as it's a Bank Holiday here, I had a bit more time at the bench.. the windshield parts were made up and painted... ..then very carefully assembled - I also added the fixed gunsight and mirror.. ..and thankfully the coaming fits nicely - Steve from Model Monkey has kindly 3D printed the gunsight which I think will arrive tomorrow so once I have that I will detail it, fit it and this whole assembly will be added to the airframe.. ..I had to find another part to do and as the glazing was going pretty well (hope I don't speak too soon, it's my nemesis), I decided to start on the side windows... ..started by making a mould profile to make up the PETG in boiling water, pressing it down on foam to adopt the shape.. ..once done, I used the PE frames I made to size the glazing... ..I also had separate PE frames for the front sliding part of these windows so they were also carefully added.. ..then the detailing started, there are lots of very small assemblies in each one, and they are subtely different (or will be) as the top canopy part hinges off one side.. ..another bit I was dreading sorted out, hopefully I can get them all finished without any mistakes like scratches or CA blobs TTFN Peter

Ho Lee Sheet thats a big mother... I thought I built big models - I would need a bigger house One mammoth project thats for sure and thrilled I am gonna get to be along for the ride Peter

pffff - get out of Dodge - that would be you Oliver -hands down had a few days off so here we go again... so, the Instrument Panel coaming - something looking so simple is anything but... - lets take a look.. complex shape that forms to an angular shape around the IP, see those air vents - there are 4 - two at the sides for the side windows, two at the front for the windshield - also there are two handholds, and a big rubber tube / impact strip along the front edge to protect the pilot... ..more on those vents & hand holds.. ..this is version 4 of my vacfrom mould - it needs to fit the IP and fit in the windshield glazing almost touching at all points so has taken a while to get right.. ..I pulled a copy in black plastic for no other reason than it was all I had in the right thickness... all the bits & bobs were fashioned from plastic from the drawings - the vents from card with a strip of litho & rod fittings, the hand holds, plunge moulded... at the back are two holes for a landing gear down light and a reset button.. ..painted bronze green & detailed - the rubber is heat shrink tube, slit, kinked to get a flat and coaxed into shape, the gunsight mount is PE and the two holes have been filled with their bits from my box of watch spares.. ..and dry fitted ..I also made up all the innards for the windshield, including the armoured glass mount (it will be two bits of glass laminated but hopefully will work..) and some inner framing I will cut to fit - the Xtracolour enamel I used is still drying - seems to be 12+ hours so I don't know if it's the levelling thinner I used or what, but I will have to wait until tomorrow to carry on TTFN Peter

inspired idea I love this lens you bring to modelling Jeroen - makes me think I need to think wider than just building an aeroplane.. can't wait to see this one Peter