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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

1:24 Grumman F7F Tigercat N7654C


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I can recommend MIG or AMMO enamel wash. It stays kind of greasy. Just smear on. Let set for an hour and smear away.

 

hehe - funny you should say that Jeroen...

 

I started weathering with a MiG Dark Wash - this went horribly wrong when I knocked the pot over my bench and into my lap. One pair of jeans ruined and I now have a fine wash bringing out wrinkles where I didn't even know I had them...

 

..the photo's aren't so good for showing the effects after weathering, but it looks ok to me...

 

WIP297_zpsa2470c4e.jpg

 

WIP296_zpsbc1248c6.jpg

 

..I then fixed the whole assembly to the nose and added the part I made to house the top of the nose leg...

 

WIP298_zps3c20b967.jpg

 

WIP299_zpsba2e1256.jpg

 

..then added a small control rod that is part of the retract mechanism..

 

WIP300_zps67dfb2e0.jpg

 

..finally, it was time to close it all in and add the lower nose casting - I had a gap on the lower edge so used some dark plastruct to close it and not be seen too well from the inside - lots of CA bonded it strongly..

 

WIP301_zps674c83b9.jpg

 

..to get nice clean straight edges to the rear nose door aperture I added some brass 'L' section - I can also use this to fill and sand up to without fear of rounding it as it's pretty tough stuff..

 

WIP302_zpsba584f5d.jpg

 

..and a view of the finished structure...

 

WIP303_zps637a00e9.jpg

 

..finally I started cleaning up the joins and have since added a bit of green stuff which can go off overnight...

 

feels good to be through this bit and can now focus on getting the fuselage ship shape - might do the cockpit next ninja.gif

 

TTFN

Peter

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Peter,

Looks like your painting skills are rapidly matching your building skills. Fascinating to see you going all the way to detailing

The nosegearbay. Then again it must be a huge satisfaction to see it evolve.

Modelling porn if you ask me.

Cheers

Cees

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evening ladies smile.png

 

thanks for all your kind comments - it keeps me going when things get tough!

 

so a few more dolly steps forward towards my bench being well and truly dominated by this monster - I keep dinging the fuselage on tools, lamps, my bench edges etc - I think I will need a bigger bench by the time the wings get on..

 

..last time I had added the lower nose casting so I set about sorting this out with filler, CA & primer - it took a lot of messing about actually as the join kept opening up so it took quite a bit of re-work and so many layers of primer I need to let it go off for a few days to settle down...

 

WIP304_zps6762d9a3.jpg

 

WIP305_zps94c98218.jpg

 

WIP306_zps013bd773.jpg

 

..I needed to find something else to do so I started looking at the cockpit area - this is the start of my favourite part of building models and I have a totally blank canvas...

 

..first I looked at getting the shape of the opening right - after lots of looking at photo's and measuring and an hour or two of playing around with 1mm tape to define the shape, I suddenly realised I was building from a card model so should have a template canopy part...

 

..I cut it out and got the Airfix Typhoon pilot that came with my test shot and soon got my bearings - it may also proove useful when making the canopy itself..

 

WIP307_zpsadc24550.jpg

 

WIP308_zpsad5d3115.jpg

 

..something wasn't quite right as things weren't symmetrical and after lots of head scratching I realised one of the cockpit sills was lower than the other, so i had to sort that and reinstate some of the fuselage I had cut away..

 

WIP310_zpsd7c7fa4a.jpg

 

..one of the main challenges is going to be building a cockpit into a hole - I figured out the only way will be to make assemblies I can insert - a floor, sides etc..

 

..the floor won't fit in one piece, so I split it along a break in the real thing's floor at the bottom of the instrument panel..to help figure this out I mocked up a panel shape...

 

WIP309_zpsc213ee24.jpg

 

..soon I had the basic inserts for the floor and the sides - this is the start point for a fair bit of work ninja.gif

 

WIP311_zpsd1e981a0.jpg

 

..and how in principle lining the cockpit will work...

 

WIP312_zps58c3f5a2.jpg

 

..thats it for now, thanks for stopping by...

 

TTFN

Peter

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awesome work and progress Peter.

 

What did you use for the "ribbed" hose?

 

 

thanks Rick :)

 

I use Model car parts quite a bit for details - the hose is from Tuner Model Manufactory available from HLJ - they do some great stuff..

 

 

Fantastic work but difficult. Similar to painting the hall through the letterbox from the outside.

Cees

 

haha Cees, very true - it's going to take double the planning to get stuff made that will slot in and not conflict with each other.

 

I have been a busy bee, but not in a traditional way - I decided to get some bespoke PE made up for the cockpit so have been busy designing it..

 

..I don't know how to drive the layered graphics program needed (Illustrator or Coreldraw) so I just do it in Powerpoint and give the designs to my very clever graphic artist who will do what's needed before I can get them off to my PE supplier PPD in Scotland for a one off job.

 

It's not cheap, but worth it for the effect and the work it will save me.

 

I am very fortunate to have a few period shots of N7654C's cockpit so have designed against this... it seems like it had a new panel fitted after military service as it is subtly different from the other reference I have - that said, much of the rest of the cockpit is common so pretty straightforward to get better reference shots to work from..

 

anyways, here she is in 1980...

 

WIP316_zps1b7b0aca.jpg

 

..and here is the artwork..

 

WIP313_zps9d648d09.jpg

 

WIP314_zpsecb96b3a.jpg

 

..I printed negative paper copies to get the sizing right...

 

WIP315_zpsfa3166e2.jpg

 

..onwards & upwards...

 

TTFN

Peter

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evening all..

 

I got a little more done - just started making up the cockpit sidewalls with plastic stock and some brass bits...

 

WIP322_zps07d8f913.jpg

 

.,.also added the canopy slide rails - they are folded brass into a tiny 'U' shape though you can't really see it here...

 

WIP323_zps802d6475.jpg

 

..also started on the seat - I redrew the pattern and made it from one peice of plastic card, bending & folding to form it. I used steam from the kettle to help it keep its shape and added a brass section to strengthen it across the bottom edge...

 

WIP317_zps4451c666.jpg

 

...added some brass rivets where I could see them on references and made a paper template to work out the shape of the lower insert...

 

WIP318_zps3c40947b.jpg

 

...scored the shape onto some brass shim and punched out the radiused corners - I always struggle to get them square when doing this...

 

WIP319_zpse18b2227.jpg

 

..finished working the part and embossed some details..

 

WIP320_zps73a1f314.jpg

 

..and the seat is getting there - I am hoping it is a stock seat found in other Grumman aircraft as I have no details on the mount or in fact anything other than the seat shape itself... time to get on to google..

 

WIP321_zpsbcec2603.jpg

 

..thats it for now folks - thanks for stopping by

 

TTFN

Peter

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Hi Peter,

 

How did you make the brass rivets on the back of the seat?

 

Remco

 

Hi Remco - thanks for stopping by. The rivets are from Scale Hardware - they do amazing tiny brass nuts/bolts/rivets etc

 

todays little update..

 

..I was looking for reference for the seat mount and bulkhead the seat is fitted to (and still looking... hint coolio.gif ) and while looking at one of the amazing period shots of N7654C at Sequoia in the 70's I noticed the fuselage is actually canted backwards from the cockpit sill - I put a couple of lines on the picture to show what I mean..

 

..the red line is 90 degrees to the cockpit sill and is the angle the front and rear canopies meet - the bit I spotted is in front of the yellow dashed line which is the fuselage canted back at an angle - its not shown on any plan normally as the canopy is shown closed... I checked on a Grumman drawing in one of my books and there it is for the F7F-3P..

 

WIP326_zps8b331307.jpg

 

..I drew the outline on the model and toyed with leaving it as is (for about 10 seconds..) as it's a bit of work and I thought it might destroy the structural integrity of the area if I started hacking away...

 

WIP325_zps26265365.jpg

 

..so I started sawing it off....

 

WIP327_zps359e7091.jpg

 

..the foam filler is really stiff and well bonded to the plastic so it kept it's shape during surgery...

 

WIP328_zps4351bf14.jpg

 

...much happier with the angle now...

 

WIP329_zps76a0e614.jpg

 

..I used the pattern from the card kit as a template to make the lining bulkhead for the area...

 

WIP324_zpsb5addb5c.jpg

 

..I modified it to fit and changed the floor and sides to make it all fit to the new angled bulkead...

 

WIP330_zps10f826e7.jpg

 

..starting to get some of the basic structure together now...

 

WIP331_zps16a8f39f.jpg

 

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..having a ball with this one - the only frustration is a lack of detailed references on the seat mount & bulkhead details - all the restored Tigercats I can find pics of had a second cockpit so the whole area is different...

 

..back to google... and please if you have any details drop them into this thread coolio.gif

 

TTFN

Peter

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thanks Cees - yes it really helps and it seems on the whole to be pretty accurate..

 

so, on to what little progress made since last time...

 

while I was looking at the few pics I have of the seat back & rear bulkhead I noticed there are cut-outs in the fuselage that the canopy fittings seem to slide into. It took a bit of figuring out as there appear to be sliding cover panels on the outside skin that cover these when the canopy is closed. You can see below on the left photo the two triangle shapes either side of the seat back, and on the right photo the sliding cover panels..

 

WIP333_zpsieybkbx4.jpg

 

..I started by cutting the fuselage about and lining the area with card. They do not extend all the way back like they should, but they don't need to - it's just the view from the cockpit that needs depth...

 

WIP334_zpshguilird.jpg

 

..and after a bit of finishing they were done...

 

WIP335_zps9h4q3mz6.jpg

 

..I then started to prepare the bulkhead parts - there are also two small brass 'wing' fittings that are something to do with the canopy mechanism I think so added these too..

 

WIP336_zpse8xjvlh2.jpg

 

..also wanted to make the bar that goes across the back so started messing around trying to shape a thick bit of copper wire - the advantages of this is that the ends can be flattened to form the mounts and it doesn't kink like tube does... it took a few goes and trying different tools before I was happy..

 

WIP337_zpslrwaecqi.jpg

 

..squared and filed the fitting ends and drilled them to accept a micro-bolt...

 

WIP339_zpsibckntoz.jpg

 

..also added some more to the seat - there are two pressed depressions in the back I had to make a punch tool to make, and added the square mounting point plates either side of them. Lastly added a bit of brass sheet and a bolt as per references to the bottom of the seat...

 

WIP338_zpsjwzgcawq.jpg

 

..ultimately every part I make needs to be removable, and to be able to be fitted from the top through the cockpit opening - the order I have arrived at is first the floor, then the back, then sides, then instrument panel, then drop the seat in and lastly the control column and a few levers etc that would otherwise foul things as they go in...

 

..this is where I am at and all this will need to be built & left until the wings are on and then dropped in after (I think anyway..)

 

it's like a mental 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle..

 

WIP340_zpsj1c1fsof.jpg

 

thats it for now - back soon..

 

Peter

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I agree with Jeroen.

 

You really should do a few tutorials for us.

 

I just can't believe this anymore...

 

I wholeheartedly agree with the two esteemed gentlemen above!  

 

Peter, I honestly believe your scratch building borders on the phenomenal and are, without doubt, inspiring to the many of us mere mortals BUT more than that, your work is so neat and so "clinically" clean which is an aspect I find equally amazing!    I'd definitely buy your tutorial DVD or Book in an instant if they were available; Arrow Wolf would happily stock them too! 

 

When I look at your work it's no wonder to me as to why Airscale products are so good!

 

Grant

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I agree with Jeroen.

 

You really should do a few tutorials for us.

 

 

happy to :)

 

what would you like to see? I would love to share what little I know... :D

 

thanks too Grant - very kind - I just do my thang and hope it's worth tuning in - I enjoy myself so one of us is happy!

 

anyways, another few small steps on the tigercat...

 

..I started making the seat mount - the key here is the seat needs to be dropped in after the cockpit is together, so I made a mount and pin for it to slide onto from above when the time comes...

 

used heat shrink tube to make the extraneous bits of the frame and airscale PE bits for the bits & bobs around the mountings..

 

WIP342_zpst2b7xzn9.jpg

 

..then added the upper mounts to the frame - these are just card & brass bits..

 

WIP343_zpszqso8ymw.jpg

 

..added some small bracing rods above the seat and soon had most of the rear bulkhead complete...

 

WIP344_zpssdemuoor.jpg

 

WIP345_zpsc1mdmxro.jpg

 

started on the mounting bracket for the head armour that was removed from N7654C - marked it out on some brass sheet and drilled the holes first... after the holes I scored the shape and 'wobbled' the bits I wanted to break off - doing this with brass means no cutting, just carefully score and break...

 

..I always hold parts in the bending tool while I work them - here the lower mounting point has been filed/worked and the upper one is still raw..

 

WIP346_zpsxikiikno.jpg

 

..and the part added.. I think this is what it looked like, but with no clear photos I am taking an educated guess...

 

WIP347_zps6mzufg28.jpg

 

..I know, another shot of the 'pit but hopefully it shows how it all hangs together...

 

WIP348_zps9ytppbht.jpg

 

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.. every single part of a model is a model - my thing is to treat each little bit as if it were up for some grand champion award - the first attempt at it might work, but if it doesn't, by the second it has taught me enough to do it properly (or the third, fourth etc etc)

 

TTFN

Peter

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thanks chaps :)

 

...on to todays bits and bobs..

 

..the control column.. I got a few pics to work from and picked up on a few things.. the column itself is wider at the base with a sort of gradual flare, it is also quite curved and the grip itself has a fine ribbed texture that might be a bit challenging to reproduce.. the pic on the left is actually the column from N7654C..

 

WIP351_zpsj0fk6ete.jpg

 

..to make the column itself I sketched a scale version so I knew the size / shape to work to and bent some rod over a flame to get the basic shape. Then I drizzled CA over the end to bulk out the bottom and then shaped it as near as I could to the true shape...

 

WIP352_zpsoo3mzulf.jpg

 

...for the pistol grip I set a bit of guitar string into another bit of rod and shaped & added detail - this was the only way I could think of to get regular even spacing...

 

WIP353_zpsrghh6xly.jpg

 

...I gave it a little wash to try and show how it looks...

 

WIP354_zpsmot8njet.jpg

 

...added the linkage detail from brass etc and the main torque tube that goes under the seat...

 

WIP355_zpsiksvfksq.jpg

 

..and assembled...

 

WIP356_zpsb33chsu1.jpg

 

WIP357_zpsqyc4xacf.jpg

 

..and checked it all slots together as it needs to be assembled in situ through the cockpit aperture..

 

WIP359_zpsqdrdeoap.jpg

 

WIP360_zpsdzzjsmhz.jpg

 

..and in place...

 

WIP358_zpss8ikhes6.jpg

 

..thats it for now - back soon

 

TTFN

Peter

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