Jump to content
The Great LSM Twins Group Build ends July 3, 2024 ×

HpH de Havilland Hornet – Sea Hornet F Mk22 TT202


Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...

evening all :)

 

been pretty frantic lately so first time at the bench for a while and thought I would drop in with a little postette...

 

..been working on the rear cockpit parts for the Hornet - first up a bulkhead that closes the cockpit from the rear fuselage and carries the fuel filler pipe from the filling point behind the canopy back into the fuselage (& I assume wing) tanks..

 

..the card shape took ages to get right as I couldn't get access and the pipe itself is a bit of rubber pipe with a wire core...

 

WIP239_zps885fc315.jpg

 

..dressed with some brass rivet detail and fitted...  next up will be applying a pressed aluminium face to the curved main spar cover you can see at the bottom of this pic...

 

WIP240_zps4b43eee6.jpg

 

...first a sheet of thin brass shim cut to shape with a bit of tracing paper stuck to it to mark out on...

 

WIP241_zps19621565.jpg

 

..next I punched out the radiuses and shaped the apertures, followed by 'flaring' the edges to give the impression of a stamped aluminium sheet part. This was done very carefully with an assortment of tools and actually took quite a while...

 

..I gave up trying to do the centre aperture and ended up covering it with a bit of card...

 

WIP242_zpsd0f2cdc5.jpg

 

...the real thing has some embossed strengthening strakes so I tried putting tape on a bit of perspex, taping the part to it and scribing the back with a pin in a pin vise - I tried all these things on a scrap bit of brass before committing...

 

WIP243_zps769e7c40.jpg

 

..then I had to bend it, so taped it to a punch of the right diameter and carefully worked it around it...

 

WIP244_zps5ad0f470.jpg

 

...fitted it with CA and added a rear spacer panel to dress the whole area...

 

WIP245_zpse2f2fff4.jpg

 

..dry fitted it in the fuselage and while a fair bit of work it worked out ok...

 

WIP246_zps0500fed3.jpg

 

...much of the top deck can't be seen with the ammo bins in place, but hey, I build a lot of stuff that can't be seen....

 

WIP247_zpsd55e09a4.jpg

 

..good to be back in the groove again..until next time folks..

 

TTFN

 

Peter

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks Cees :D

 

 

so, a bit more done...

 

the pilot's seat-back armour plate needs to sort of hang in mid-air - it is mounted to the cockpit sides just under the rails, and has a coupe of braces holding the base to just above the wing spar. The picture below shows David Collins' rebuild of the only surviving cockpit section, but the bulkhead the armour plate is mounted to is a false one to just close off the cockpit area...

 

WIP249_zpsaf43c656.jpg

 

...first thing was to tape a bar to the back of it to set the height... then I glued a vertical brace to hold it in place while I attach the braces to the rear...

 

WIP248_zps74ab87d9.jpg

 

..you can see the mounting points to the canopy rails sticking out the sides - I will need to remove the brace at some point but am sure it will not be strong enough without it so will need to come up with something at some point...

 

WIP250_zps8782c8fd.jpg

 

..I started to make up the rear brackets from airscale parts, RB Motion banjo fittings, scale hardware bolts and a bit of tube as a spacer - these micro parts are not cheap but there is no substitute...

 

WIP251_zps68ee54c7.jpg

 

WIP252_zps11ea9a0d.jpg

 

..used more modified airscale parts to make the mounting brackets that go on the fuselage sides - I only have one forward view drawing of this area so this is my best interpretation...

 

WIP253_zps64d9275a.jpg

 

WIP254_zps69cb1d11.jpg

 

..the rear area is starting to form...

 

WIP255_zps1fce694a.jpg

 

..and again, it can't really be seen but it is how I have my fun...

 

WIP256_zpsd65a5465.jpg

 

WIP257_zpsccb80dac.jpg

 

..the seat will mount to the floor and with braces to the armour panel, for now it's on a blob of white tack..

 

..until next time - and if anyone has any photo's or drawings of this area please feel free to post them!

 

TTFN

 

Peter

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

why thank you chaps, very kind to drop in with some kind words smile.png

 

so, tonight is a mixed bag - first, after I spoke to David Collins by email it seems I got the armour plate mountings wrong - the struts don't go backwards but out laterally from the bottom of the armour plate to the fuselage sides. I have no problem changing them, but it does mean the whole assembly (with the seat attached) needs to be dropped in from the top after the fuselage is closed so a complete rethink is needed (and trust me I spent long enough figuring out what to do to fit it in the way I did!). I am glad really as the brace I put in to hold it in 'mid-air' would have been a nightmare to remove later on, and I also realised all the detailing on the armour plate for the seat belt tensioners, headrest, and stowed boarding ladder would have been much more difficult to do with it mounted to the cockpit floor.

 

so, anyways, a bit of brute force and ignorance and it's history - I can keep the fittings to use later..

 

..as I had the armour plate in hand again I thought about detailing it - it has two pretty hefty tensioning springs running down the back of it so I made these from old guitar string. I also made some micro brass parts for the fittings at either end - these few parts are about three hours work...

 

WIP258_zpsc2e2072b.jpg

 

WIP259_zps16bcfeac.jpg

 

WIP261_zps762477cf.jpg

 

WIP260_zpsc00e8dcd.jpg

 

..nothing like a screw-up to make things better second time around I find and I have to thank David for his help in keeping this build accurate, as there are enough myths wrapped in enigmas about this aeroplane already without me adding to them coolio.gif

 

TTFN

 

Peter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

evening ladies...

 

pfffff - sometimes stuff just feels like it's fighting me all the way on this build and today is one of those days...

 

..started by scaling a drawing to understand the internal layout of the cockpit...

 

WIP263_zpsb07598b0.jpg

 

marked out where the armour plate, trim wheel and instrument panel will go and put the panel I made earlier in place...

 

WIP262_zpse660e4a6.jpg

 

...added the floor to make sure I had the stepped area right - I didn't, it needs moving back a bit but that's not difficult...

 

WIP264_zps70860e9e.jpg

 

..held up the other fuselage side to close it in and realised the panel is too wide - you can see the gap at the nose...

 

WIP265_zps8c8fea3f.jpg

 

WIP266_zps560c5c3c.jpg

 

..I have stared at it, sworn at it, rubbed my chin a lot and still can't work out why or how it happened. I know I skinned the fuselage walls so thats added some thickness, I think I made the panel from a scale drawing with reference to the kits dimesions so must have just ballsed something up dammit

 

..time to down tools, chill out and work out how to work around it as much as I love building instrument panels I really don't want to do the whole bloody thing again  doh.gif

 

feels like this one is getting frustrating...

 

TTFN

Peter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...