HubertB Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 +1 for rechristening LSM to LSK ... (K for Knitters, in case you had not heard of my adhesion to this new club) Hubert PS : oh, and yes, Peter, fantastic work, as usual ... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GusMac Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 I'm not even sure knitting captures the difference in skill-set here between Peter and the ham-fisted like myself. Maybe Large Scale Finger-painters might be close! Just stunning work again Peter. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Peter. Brilliant work as always and after your last few updates, I'm giving up modeling and joining the LSM Knitting Group (LSMKG). Keep 'em comin Peter 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 haha you guys make me laugh - I want to learn how to knit! had a bit of time this weekend, so lets press on... ..first up some landing gear torque assembly fittings - seen here, it's the green bracket & bellcranks and a torque tube.. these seem to sit the deepest under the fuel selector so had to be done next.. ..first I made the housings from plastic card... ..then made up all the belcranks and any bits that go in either bay - primed white as I have run out of mr surfacer... .. ..then all these were painted.. ..and assembled, including tiny banjo fittings where small rods come off the cranks to various bits... ..and added to the airframe - the lower roof height in the model is making placing & spacing some of this stuff challenging... ..next this bit - the fuel shut-off valve - it's quite a distinctive and complicated little assembly... ..no build pics for this bit, but here it is completed... ..also added the hydraulic accumulator.... and then spent many hours plumbing the fuel selector valve - there is still one pipe to go between it and the fuel shut off valve, but there are some gubbins I need to add before doing that... ..still lots of bits to do, but feel like its a bit of progress to get that done.. TTFN Peter 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Sweet! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 hi folks so, I am really glad this week is over - just look at all this piping... I got some 0/6 and 0.8 solder from Amazon which was all I could think would be silver, but flexible enough to be able to bend.. the inherent problem in this is that is also easy to bend by accident, so I would roll it flat using a sheet of balsa and a book (so as not to scar it), slide a brass tube along it to where I wanted to bend it and then bend as needed. This works but for stringing it through holes, through or behind fittings it was an extremely tiring, demanding and frustrating job.. one I could really only do for 30 mins (or a pipe) at a time.. I made loads of fittings and parts the pipes connect to and while I don't have in progress pics, now I have done the bulk of it, and added the door retraction jacks, I took a bunch of photos of where it is at... ..and in detail.. ..so thats it - my eyes hurt onto the uplocks & all the big pipes in the big hole at the front next... TTFN Peter 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HubertB Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 What can I say ... besides that I had to look twice at your pics to make sure I was looking at a kit Hubert 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrankyCrafstman Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I just found this build. HOLY S#^T!!! This is absolutely frickin awesome. I'm definitely going to be following this one. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SapperSix Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Soooooo...I ordered some nice knitting needles and a few colors of yarn. Anyone interested in making some socks? This has to be the most amazing thing I have seen in regards to modeling. Wonderful to watch....... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GusMac Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 As Hubert says it get harder to tell which are the pics of the real thing! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Peter Nothing more needs to be said. Now where did I put those knitting needles Keep ‘em comin Peter 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 crikey thanks guys - I am very grateful for your kind compliments and it is you guys I consider my primary judges who I must do my best to please not much of an update, but it is still a fair few hours work.. I added the main pipes that go in the front of the weel bay roof - these are aluminium tube with insulating tape for the black bits and foil tape for the clamps.. I also made up the uplocks which are tiny parts made from scaled plans and also the gear door sequencing assemblies that are another set of tiny parts with connecting rods.. they are the bits in and around the square holes in the bay roof.. ..and the other side.. ..it may be difficult to grasp the size of these parts so here it is with a 5 amp fuse.. ..starting to look busy.. electrical wiring next, then I think most of what I wanted to do here is done and I can close it all up and protect it and start work on the fuselage structure around the back of the canopy which is entirely absent at the moment... TTFN Peter 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Work of art Peter as I said many times before MUSEUM QUALITY !!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Once again, I'm out of words. Stunning! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harv Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 5 hours ago, Martinnfb said: Work of art Peter as I said many times before MUSEUM QUALITY !!! Second that !!.......harv 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GusMac Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Once you've seen it to scale with the fuse it's just even more astonishing! I'm not sure I could see parts that small never mind manufacture them. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Peter Gorgeous, simple gorgeous work, Keep ‘em comin Peter 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 well hello folks can't believe a month has passed since I last posted an update... I have not been idle though - I have done a lot of 3D modelling for the tailwheel, main wheels (for which I am getting help!) and the spinner (of which more later..), in between I have also released an airscale instrument panel set for the Hobbyboss 1/32 B24 Liberator and also worked with Airfix to master this airscale cockpit set for the new and mind blowing Airfix 1/24 F6F Hellcat - the decals for all the instruments & placards are in production, but the PE is done.. ..as for the P51, when I had the Hellcat PE test shot done, I also added a load of extra P51 stuff to the fret so I make the most of one-shot production, Part of that was the stainless steel side panels that surround the exhaust ports, and I also made a fold up box structure that is the structure that surrrounds and supports the exhausts themselves.. ..Also seen here are the 3D printed exhausts from Model Monkey - huge shout out for these as they are exceptional quality and amazingly are hollow so are ultra realistic.. ..these were folded and the details added before the boxes were added to the outer panels - the exhausts are not yet fitted so they can be painted & added at the end.. ..and so onto the spinner - this is one of those things that has sat in the back of my mind as a niggle since I started this build - it is unfortunately unpainted on the real aircraft so had to be made in metal - a bit like skinning a tennis ball in sheet aluminium - very tricky.. ..I actually bought the HpH 1/18 Merlin engine model hoping to cheat and get a good basis for the prop & spinner from that, but it is very crude - the spinner is a solid with four peg holes in it to take the blades - there is no reference to the cutouts on the real thing, so that was a 70 euro write off (though I think I can use the blades so may not be dead money...) I restarted my Rhino 3D programme trial and got to work modelling the Spinner... ..when I went to get it printed at Shapeways, I noticed you could choose polished Aluminium so I thought well that would be brilliant as it would save lots of messing around with skinning as I could just polish the part - so at great expense (150 euros) I ordered it with the hub done in plastic.. ..two disappointments... one - it's not polished at all, it is more like a carbide burr in texture, and two, somehow I got the hole cutouts wrong as two were in the right pitch for the blades and two were in the opposite pitch.. ..that said - it is aluminium, and after filing & polishing is just like a cast part - don't know how they do it, but it's bloody clever.. ..as the cutouts were wrong, I knew I had to skin it, so I made a tape mask and started with the lower section... ..with this skin added, I taped it to the top part to mark another tape template with where the cut-out holes were on the next bit of skinning (there are 3 - bottom, lower of the top cone, and the tip) ..this skin needed rows of 3 rivets adding so I made up a jig I could do this accurately with.. ..I was hoping after adding this I could get away with the spinner tip being the base aluminium part, but there is a lip that can just be seen.. ..in doing the tip, I nearly gave up as turning one sheet into a fully compound curve sheath without a visible seam proved very difficult - I don't have any in progress pics, but at this point the bulk of the shaping has been done and the skin runs up over the lower part - I was hoping I could just sand & file this away for a nice close fit (I should have started with the tip & made the lower panel fit it, not the other way around..) ..once it was all sanded away, I was really happy with the result.. ..the prop hub was painted and added to the base.. ..and it is a perfect fit.. ..it feels great having got that done - everything else is easy by comparison I also have the right sheet aluminium that Brian (Out2gtcha) kindly shipped from the US on my behalf so can now start skinning the airframe.. ..a milestone I think, and hopefully the start of more regular updates.. TTFN Peter 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GusMac Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Great result Peter. I think the 3D printed aluminium stuff is actually sintered rather than printed. Took my daughter to an open day at Strathclyde University a few years back, as she was thinking of doing their Design & Manufacture course, and they had a whole variety of 3D printers. One of them was a joint venture with Rolls-Royce and they were looking at 3D printing turbine blades for their new generation engines. It was extremely cool but she decided against the course in the end - I was a little disappointed just 'cos I wanted to see more of the kit they had! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Peter, That's just amazing! Did you turn the spinner, or did you beat it into shape with a hammer? A few years back I tried to make a B-29 nose in 1/48 using a hammer and stakes. I could get close, but after about 30 tries, I decided there was no way it was going to be good enough. I would start as if making a bowl from a 125mm disc of aluminum, shrinking it, then annealing it time and again. But in the end, what I wanted just escaped me. Gaz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 On 3/17/2019 at 4:53 AM, GazzaS said: Peter, That's just amazing! Did you turn the spinner, or did you beat it into shape with a hammer? Gaz Hi Gaz - I had the part 3D printed in Ali, but I then needed to skin it so it was twice the work! I have made up a master prop blade which took tons of research and shaping, but I have no pics and now it is encased in rubber to make a mould so we better move on.. now I have the aluminium to skin the airframe I have been thinking about where to start.. I looked at the wings and thought I could do those before working towards the fuselage and the major outstanding work which is all the cockpit integration & frear canopy area.. ..with that I chose this panel with the formation lights... - this is a useful pic as it shows rivets / panels and areas I will need to cover.. ..as soon as I started looking at it, I realised I had masses of shaping work yet to do on the wings - a bit of a pain given there is a lot of fine detail in the wheel wells to be careful with and which would have to withstand some pretty rough handling ..the aileron housings at the tip were 9mm high instead of 3.2mm which shows how wide the rear face of the wing was - I had to get the household sander out and take loads off - all the way down to the internal foam in places.. I also found the wingtip was the wrong shape so I made a brass core the right shape.. ..this was let into a slit I made in the wing.. I have already removed lots of the rear part of the tip - the original had a big thick and wide trailing edge to the fine point at the aileron edge.. ..once the rear of the wing had been thinned, I decided to replace the aileron housings as they had pretty much been sanded off.. I took some 'L' shaped brass and added it - here the top one has been added, and a sheet is taped to the wing to get the sit of the trailing edge of the 'L' at where it will meet the wing skin.. ..so they look like this... ..finally after 2 solid days of effort, filling, sanding, adding, taking away, I could start on the lights.. Here I have drilled out where the lamps go and have rebated the skin to take coloured perspex blanks that have been cut & polished from thicker sheet.. ..made the lamps by putting soft ali over a hole on a chunk of brass and resting the ball of a tiny ball pein hammer over the hole and whacking it with another hammer - viola, a domed punched disc.. added a bulb from clear stretched sprue held up to a flame so it rolls back on itself into a round.. ..the blanks are then CAd to seal them in (so no dust can get in) and sanded / polished to the wing surface, plus the tips are finally shaped.. ..I also added a thin false panel along the leading edge (which you might just be able to see) so I can align all the wing panels to it and stuck some discs on the formation lamp centres so I can put tape over it and burnish & mark the outline of the skin panel that will go there.. ..then I timed out, so the first skin panel to go down will be in the next post - once that starts I am hoping to really get stuck into it so by May / June I have most of the skinning laid down TTFN Peter 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 evening Mustang fans so, since the last update I have been trying to work out what is going on with a P51 wing skin surface - I know there have been useful threads on the forum but I can't seem to find them so am asking for any advice to be offered right here if you know about this stuff here is what I know - I know filler is applied to certainly the front of the wings, I know on the Oshkosh Grand Champion resto of Lopes Hope (and they are as nuts about detail & accuracy as we are..) the wings were also painted silver all over apart from the gear doors, and the lower skins over the wing fuel tanks this pic shows how they did it.. ..and another.. ..on a couple of upper surface ones I can definately see a few panel lines on the leading edge near the wing root, but curiously on the bottom it looks completely smooth.. I toyed with not skinning the wing and just doing it smooth, but then I saw this pic of Lopes Hope wing being done.. ..all Aircorps Aviation WIP pics only show the leading edge being filled to about a thrid of the chord, so my current working theory is that I will skin the whole wing with aluminium, fill to the line I can see they are doing and then paint the whole wing apart from the panels they also leave NM.. ..now then - this is where I need a spot of help - does that sound right? hopefully someone knows a lot more about this than me and can give me some pointers while I get on with the skinning.. ..speaking of which I had better post some actual work.. ..I stitched together multiple factory drawings to try and get the layout of ribs, stiffners and access panels - printed these to scale and stuck them to the model with pritt-stick paper glue.. ..then I cut along every line with a scalpel so I could draw it out on the wing - after doing so I brush water on the paper & strip it all off.. I started the skinning with the Nav Light panel - taking a template from the model & blending it with drawings to get the shapes and lines of rivets - the holes were dremmelled out with a wide based triangle burr.. ..after rivetting it needs washing in thinners as the awl I use for rivets actually punches out a tiny disc of tape & these can come free and mark the metal as I burnish the part on a hard surface to flatten out all the detailing.. ..the light lens bracket was one of the extra bits of PE I did when I did the 1/24 airscale Hellcat cockpit set.. ..added that panel & moved onto the next - this one has a tricky oval access panel and sets the position of the panels above & below it as it sits below the wing spar - here I am using tamiya tape to hold it in position so I can just fold it back, add the contact cement and fold it into position - the masking tape stops me getting glue everywhere I don't want it.. ..then the other panels were added and the area cleaned up.. ..I always work synchronosly so that I don't get bored repeating an action later on, so the same panels are made at the same time for the other wing... this side has a big lens in the leading edge for a landing light so I haven't got to that yet.. ..in other news, i made castings of my prop blade master, cleaned them up a bit and shot a coat of mr. surfacer.. ..they still need more sorting out, but they do fit the prop hub... ..and I think starts to give that unmistakeable P51 character to the nose.. ..so yes, I do intend to skin the wings and then cover it in filler.... I must be mad.. TTFN Peter 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Incredible work Peter. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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