brahman104 Posted September 13, 2021 Author Posted September 13, 2021 On 9/12/2021 at 9:01 AM, harv said: .......harv Thanks Harv! 13 hours ago, Peterpools said: Craig Right with Harv x2 Looking absolutely brilliant. Keep 'em comin Peter Thanks Peter! I'm really stoked with how it's coming along now. Can't wait to start laying some metal panels down Craig 2
brahman104 Posted September 13, 2021 Author Posted September 13, 2021 9 hours ago, GazzaS said: Excellent stuff, Craig! Thanks Gazza! 2
Kaireckstadt Posted September 14, 2021 Posted September 14, 2021 Incredible Craig! Beautiful details! 3
brahman104 Posted September 18, 2021 Author Posted September 18, 2021 Thanks Kai! The fuselage is finally together permanently! Still got a huuuuuuuge amount of work to do though! Tail surfaces are just sitting in position at the moment. Still a long way off joining them on for good! More to come soon! Craig 12
Kaireckstadt Posted September 18, 2021 Posted September 18, 2021 Awesome as usual Craig! The bare metal surfaces look stunning! 4
brahman104 Posted September 18, 2021 Author Posted September 18, 2021 Thanks Kai. Should look even better once the whole thing is covered in metal! Craig 4
GazzaS Posted September 18, 2021 Posted September 18, 2021 1 hour ago, brahman104 said: Thanks Kai. Should look even better once the whole thing is covered in metal! Craig That's what I'm looking forward to. 2
Peterpools Posted September 19, 2021 Posted September 19, 2021 Craig Congrats on buttoning up the fuselage - a milestone for sure. She is looking mighty good and can't wait to see the Fortress with all the metal skin on. Keep 'em comin Peter 1
brahman104 Posted September 28, 2021 Author Posted September 28, 2021 And on it goes. After a seam-sanding marathon, I had all the joins pretty much smooth enough to start drawing out the panel lines on the exterior, reading for the skinning process to begin. Here's how the skin panel diagram looks: The length of the panels is easy to work out, as they start and end at fuselage stations. The width of the panels is a little harder, as they're not only not straight, they also start and end a different circumferential points..... This was an in progress photo with many mistakes I made in interpreting the above diagram.... I also permanently added the bathtub! Some of the nose panel marking out in progress. The panels start from the bottom rear, and then work their way forward and up, with each panel overlapping the previous one. I also did some work on the tail fairings, but I'm ready to make a long awaited start on the skin panels! Very excited to be getting to the business end of the build finally! Craig 8 1
Peterpools Posted September 28, 2021 Posted September 28, 2021 Craig Unreal - the panel prep work and layout - simply amazing and precision work. I'm shaking just thinkg about what needs to be done. Keep 'em comin Peter 2
Kaireckstadt Posted September 29, 2021 Posted September 29, 2021 What can I say Craig? Your work is simply awesome and stunning. 4
brahman104 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Posted October 3, 2021 Thanks Kai and Peter, Just realized I haven't posted any pictures of the start of the skinning process. Each panel has to be traced out in masking tape, then traced again onto a reverse image to give me the rivet and panel locations. Once each rivet is "wheeled" out it is then deepened with a beading tool and finally the metal is pushed back down around the outside of each rivet to make them really sharp, and to reduce surface distortion. Some panels can take upwards of an hour or more to make, and there's a lot of panels to cover the fuselage, but I'm really enjoying the process so hopefully I'll have more to show you soon! Cheers, Craig 6 3
harv Posted October 3, 2021 Posted October 3, 2021 Thanks for showing us mortals ! Your work is just unreal.....harv 3
Kaireckstadt Posted October 3, 2021 Posted October 3, 2021 Exceptional unreal I would say. Amazing work! 4
Peterpools Posted October 4, 2021 Posted October 4, 2021 Craig WOW, nerves of steel and patience of a saint. Looking absolutely fantastic Keep 'em comin Peter 2
Bomber_County Posted October 13, 2021 Posted October 13, 2021 Holy mackerel this is insane and beautiful……. 4
brahman104 Posted October 16, 2021 Author Posted October 16, 2021 Thanks guys! Working steadily away at it.... lots done with lots more to do. Slowly making my way up the LH side of the fuselage! Cheers, Craig 8 1
Peterpools Posted October 16, 2021 Posted October 16, 2021 Craig Fantastic progress - Brilliant work as always. Keep ‘em comin Peter 2
GazzaS Posted October 16, 2021 Posted October 16, 2021 That's beautiful skinning, Craig. Love seeing it come together. It's been a long build. 3
Kaireckstadt Posted October 17, 2021 Posted October 17, 2021 I would have gone mad if I had to do this. Crazy but simply stunning Craig! 2
brahman104 Posted November 9, 2021 Author Posted November 9, 2021 Thanks Gents! I realise it's been a while since I posted here, but work is progressing.... I've been working my way forward along the underside of the fuselage as that's the way the panels overlap. I'll let the photos do the talking though shall I? Slowly but surely she's getting some clothes on! Thanks for looking. Craig 4 2
GazzaS Posted November 9, 2021 Posted November 9, 2021 That is some impressive work, Craig! Hope you have a big tube of aluminum polish for later. 3 2
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now