JeroenPeters

Lots of tiny parts. A real gem. I hope 😬

Just visited Cees Broere and was treated to a few great reference books. Almost ready to go full speed on this build. Which is snail pace in my world.

The signed photo arrived. Now to think of a base to hold this.

Engine bearers now properly alligned.

Started with the engine bearers. You need to be very careful in lining these up properly

More serious clamping going on..

A whole lot of fitting. Took some sanding and elbow grease to fit the nose guns. And took some more persuasion to fit the first gondola!

Cleaned up all the parts for the first few steps. Then i discovered some misaligned casting on the engine block. Wrote and email to Special Hobby. They replied swiftly and sent me a replacement straight away. Great customer service!

In the order of things i should first polish, rescribe and re-rivet the wings before i install the gondola’s.

Fitted the firewalls. The new 3D prints are perfect.

Wasn’t happy with the firewalls. The shape is perfect, but they were just too pronounced and thick. Just printed some new ones. Curing in UV light now. IMG_7237.mov

Fit looks fine. I’ll sand the spar thinner, but not too thin, since it will carry the weight of the engine

First test print

Working on the spar that holds the engine mounts. This will close up the front in this area.

Started cleaning up the first parts. Very time consuming and delicate work. The firewall already has 16 parts attached to it. This will take some time!

First part is cleaned. Beware: if you’re planning on using the nose fuel tank set AND the engine set. Be sure to use the firewall from the nose fuel set and not the one provided in the engine set. The latter only has detail on the front.

So i spent an afternoon searching the net for Leonard H Bartlett’s plane but couldn’t make sense of it. Serial number P7111, but i saw this plane was either 137th squadron’s SF-E or belonged to 263 squadron. Asked Gunnar and both are correct. Just found this profile in a book i have explaining it. So. This will be the plane I’m making. Bartlett’s plane, along with his signed photograph.

Got more goodies. almost ready to start!

Thnx Gunnar, in the meantime i’ve moved on to the wingtip lights. Drilled a hole on the inside and filled it woth Alclad transparent red. Added a shim to make sure the light is not flush with the leading edge. This is because it was flush with the closed slat. Since i have my slats extruded, the light should protrude.

Getting there. The instrument panel is now in. The rear of the hispano guns appear to be too long at the back, making them stick against the instrument panel. Might have to shorten these, but they won’t be visible anyway. Also the firewall behind the guns appears to be a little too wide. We’ll see

This nose section is intricate, delicate, tight fitting and precise. Just came from the cinema and sushi with one wine too many. Not a good idea to proceed.

Needed a distraction so i started on guns.

Done. The spine seam is as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Time to reapply some rivets and deepen a few panellines.

Just got this: WW2 RAF HAWKER TEMPEST A5 SELF ADHESIVE BOOKPLATE BOOKPLATE HAS BEEN SIGNED 9 HAWKER TEMPEST PILOTS RON POTTINGER 3 SQD KEN REEVE 247 SQD KEN KNEEN 41-26 SQDS DEREK TAPSON 197 SQD JOHN BYRNE 197 SQD JOHN THORBURN 80 SQD JACK HODGES 174 SQD DAVID INCE 193-257 SQDS FRANK WHEELER 174 SQD

At the moment still collecting books, reference and some more upgrades. Thnx!