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

1/18 P51C Mustang "Lopes Hope 3rd"


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evening folks

 

as it's a Bank Holiday here, I had a bit more time at the bench..

 

the windshield parts were made up and painted...

 

WIP922_zpsvv1hcujg.jpg

 

..then very carefully assembled - I also added the fixed gunsight and mirror..

 

WIP926_zpstahe9zlq.jpg

 

WIP925_zpsh3zhywvi.jpg

 

WIP927_zpsrhlann6c.jpg

 

..and thankfully the coaming fits nicely - Steve from Model Monkey has kindly 3D printed the gunsight which I think will arrive tomorrow so once I have that I will detail it, fit it and this whole assembly will be added to the airframe..

 

WIP928_zpsh0xo65bd.jpg

 

..I had to find another part to do and as the glazing was going pretty well (hope I don't speak too soon, it's my nemesis), I decided to start on the side windows...

 

..started by making a mould profile to make up the PETG in boiling water, pressing it down on foam to adopt the shape..

 

WIP933_zps4tnbjrmb.jpg

 

..once done, I used the PE frames I made to size the glazing...

 

WIP923_zps5xyaun1j.jpg

 

WIP924_zps3pao1voe.jpg

 

..I also had separate PE frames for the front sliding part of these windows so they were also carefully added..

 

WIP929_zpsrwekidcl.jpg

 

..then the detailing started, there are lots of very small assemblies in each one, and they are subtely different (or will be) as the top canopy part hinges off one side..

 

WIP930_zps1pzlgtxs.jpg

 

WIP931_zpssdreuuij.jpg

 

WIP932_zpsivvzytqy.jpg

 

..another bit I was dreading sorted out, hopefully I can get them all finished without any mistakes like scratches or CA blobs

 

TTFN

Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...

hi folks :)

 

..back again with a bit more done...

 

first the top canopy section was made as a plug and the boiling water process used to form PETG around it - here it is pretty much fully wrapping the mould..

 

WIP939_zpsnphvb6co.jpg

 

..and with framing added inside & out..

 

WIP940_zpsosjfluaa.jpg

 

..Steve at Model Monkey 3D printed the correct gunsight for me from the Don Lopez cockpit photo and it turned out brilliantly - added a few details and good to go..

 

WIP941_zpspfepgizg.jpg

 

..after painting, detailing & making the mount..

 

WIP942_zpsbuhzetiy.jpg

 

..mounted in position on the coaming..

 

WIP943_zps1dicp6e8.jpg

 

..as this was now ready, I stopped working on the canopy and got on with fixing the coaming & windshield so I could start fairing in the sections & skin the fuselage - here the process has started at the front, and now P38 filler added at the back..

 

WIP944_zpsbnrze6mf.jpg

 

..I forgot to take pics of the shaping work, so next up is one of the fuselage skins at the rear.. I made up a template sheet as it has to fit on three edges, and once I had that I could translate the drawing rivet & hatch positions to the sheet..

 

WIP945_zps9dkropmb.jpg

 

..the finished sheet, with a bit of tube fitted at the rear for the mounting where I think a jig fits the fuselage for balancing & gun alignment etc..

 

WIP946_zpsgmfjl6j1.jpg

 

..and the sheet fitted with the hatches & upper skin..

 

WIP947_zpstxxjz0pb.jpg

 

WIP948_zps3mh2e6dv.jpg

 

..as the airframe is now virtually complete in shape terms after 18 months, I couldn't resist an assembly shot to see how things were shaping up..

 

WIP949_zps0jvtbcpe.jpg

 

WIP950_zps1q3ebndk.jpg

 

WIP951_zpsfc2lnigm.jpg

 

WIP952_zpsobtsyp6b.jpg

 

..thats it for now :)

TTFN
Peter

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It’s looking the business, Peter. I’m soaking this up like a sponge, and believe it or not, I’m learning many techniques to transfer to my own bench. 

Along with watching world class models emerge, the schooling itself is utterly priceless.  It will translate into many more Airscale products sold to me as well.  :)   The search for betterment is never ending. 

Im beginning to wonder if stepping up to a smaller scale number might be a good idea. HPH has plenty of decent 1/16 forms to start with. 

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Fantastic work (as always), Peter.

However, can I raise a question ? The photo below leaves me with a strange feeling of a humpback impression ( in my circled area), not quite in line with the smooth flowing lines of the original. It may just be a parallax issue, or the eye being fooled by the change of alignment of the rivet lines, but the impression is bugging me ... 

Hubert

89AFFBEB-83A0-41A0-9079-4ABC377961BA.jpeg

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13 hours ago, Ryan said:

More greatness.

I sent you a PM Peter.

Ryan

Hi Ryan -sorry, I missed that, have replied now :)

 

1 hour ago, HubertB said:

Fantastic work (as always), Peter.

However, can I raise a question ? The photo below leaves me with a strange feeling of a humpback impression ( in my circled area), not quite in line with the smooth flowing lines of the original. It may just be a parallax issue, or the eye being fooled by the change of alignment of the rivet lines, but the impression is bugging me ... 

Hubert

89AFFBEB-83A0-41A0-9079-4ABC377961BA.jpeg

 

Hi Hubert - of course you can raise a question! thats why I post so more knowledgeble folk than I can act as my wingman and keep me from doing silly things :)

 

It's a great spot and point you have there and I can see exactly what you are seeing. I am hoping it's just my crap rivetting as it's being done off the airframe it's sometimes hard to get things right and to line up properly - certainly the base fuselage is a smooth transition, whether proportionally right is questionable, but it is not pronounced like the rivet line would have us believe..

 

here is a profile of the same area..

WIP953_zps9vqwaut1.jpg

 

look any more normal?

 

thanks again for asking :)

Peter

 

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6 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

It’s looking the business, Peter. I’m soaking this up like a sponge, and believe it or not, I’m learning many techniques to transfer to my own bench. 

Along with watching world class models emerge, the schooling itself is utterly priceless.  It will translate into many more Airscale products sold to me as well.  :)   The search for betterment is never ending. 

Im beginning to wonder if stepping up to a smaller scale number might be a good idea. HPH has plenty of decent 1/16 forms to start with. 

Ernie - you’ve mastered 1/32, so 1/16 sounds like a next logical step...

i say do it and have some fun! 

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thanks folks & good evening :)

 

On 9/7/2019 at 8:40 AM, HubertB said:

I’d say the light still shows a bit of an uncanny bulge - à la Trumpeter F6-F - in the center of the area I have circled below ...

Probably just  my old eyes, sorry ...

Hubert

 

I don't think it's your eyes Hubert, but at the same time it is what it is - I can't change it now :) hopefully the pics at the end of this post show it as it is and it still looks like a P51C!

 

..bit more done over the weekend..

 

I was pleased to see the glazing survived under it's protective film, but it was time to take that off and add the frames, these are PE and have been amended from the drawings to allow for the fuselage curvature - the drawings are flat as you look at it side on..

 

..here the frames have been added and a tape template to start to derive the top panel..

 

WIP954_zpsiffizhm4.jpg

 

..with that panel and the lower surround with the grab handle cover done, it was time for another fuselage panel...

 

WIP955_zpsvt2yqmxm.jpg

 

..after both sides were done, I couldn't do the next panel until the exhaust panels were in to set the firewall line..

 

I added the exhaust mounts first..

 

WIP956_zps0ijvlpyt.jpg

 

..then annealed the PE nickel silver panels that surround the exhaust - these have all the fasteners etc etched in, but as you can see discolour badly when annealed - it all sanded out though..

 

WIP958_zpslapwvw9d.jpg

 

..then after much careful measuring & pre-shaping the panels were added..

 

WIP957_zpsjkyqwnvb.jpg

 

..then the main side fuselage panel could be added - here it is finished and a tape hinge added so as the adhesive goes off I can just swing it right into position - you can also see a tube section for the flare pistol and the bottom was annealed to conform to the fuselage as the wing fillets will go over the lower section..

 

WIP959_zpsgpxfdwbh.jpg

 

..too big to really photograph on my bench, so a few shots as the evening sun was going down...

 

WIP960_zpswa4szfop.jpg

 

WIP963_zpsmdxdeofb.jpg

 

WIP964_zpsloyxyon3.jpg

 

WIP961_zpstsyvqfjg.jpg

 

WIP962_zpslgfbtdyh.jpg

 

..all the skinning needs tidying up & finishing, but it is getting there panel by panel..

 

TTFN

Peter

 

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thanks chaps & good evening :)

 

another step forward and in some ways another escape from the devil of modelling- transparencies... they are my nemesis and I am literally on the verge of a cardiac arrest every time I go near them on the model..

 

..not many WIP pics, but here is the original...

 

WIP965_zpsjrz4tjoo.jpg

 

..I started by putting down a false cowling panel so all the panels around the cockpit will butt up against it and I will get a clean sequence of joins.. then added the strip that goes around the rear of the windshield where it meets the canopy windows..

 

..once that was down I added the top framing which was made up from strips of tape on the model and then made up in litho.. the strip was attatched with CA, but all the rest with contact adhesive very, very carefully

 

WIP966_zpstpvveg3c.jpg

 

..the bottom of the frames around the armoured glass is really hard to get right, and I haven't but it is the best I can do - I started with some ali/tin sort of soft metal sheet I have and teased it into position before marking it out...

 

WIP967_zpszyonpnhu.jpg

 

..and then no more WIP pics until I had all the panels down -sorry about that

 

WIP968_zpscfirvspw.jpg

 

WIP969_zpsvtu349rm.jpg

 

WIP970_zpsuvfcnvzx.jpg

 

WIP971_zpsaxdp0anm.jpg

 

WIP972_zpse6ya3bz7.jpg

 

..so I am relieved it is done and will now tape it up to protect it while I sort out the cowling panels..

 

TTFN

Peter

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evening boys & girls

 

..time for a nose job...

 

..this is one of the two detatchable panels that sit on top of the engine..

 

WIP975_zpstutthkt6.jpg

 

..step 1 was to prepare the surface so it's nice & smooth and to mark the centreline..

 

WIP973_zpsa3eg3s2e.jpg

 

..then a sheet of soft aluminium was prepared by adding the row of rivets that go along the seam where the two panels meet and the fastener positions that run along the centreline on each side... then this was taped to the centreline...

 

..you can see rivets along the bottom scrap edge where I ballsed this up once already..

 

WIP974_zpsjf5xgv0x.jpg

 

..then the sheet is burnished down to the cowling with balsa blocks and in some areas around the nose where the curves are most acute, with a ball pein hammer...

 

..masking tape is used to hold the panel taught where it should be as the surface is worked from the straight edge centreline, to the outer curves..

 

WIP976_zps02o4ezij.jpg

 

..soon the panel is roughly done and the borders appear as raised edges..

 

WIP977_zps59zwar33.jpg

 

..the masking tape is removed to see whats what..

 

WIP978_zpsqoombp2q.jpg

 

..the panel is then trimmed & fixed with contact adhesive, using the centreline tape to as a hinge to keep it's relative position and the overlaps start to get filed / sanded away..

 

WIP979_zpsembovaxt.jpg

 

..with both sides done and the surface sanded smooth to remove irregularities (like glue highspots), the rivet detail was gone over again..

 

WIP980_zpsshsis24c.jpg

 

..with the fastener details defining the lateral rivet detail position, tamiya tape was laid out to set out the spacing - interestingly these rows of rivets are perpendicular to the A/C datum, not the cowling which is tilted slightly downwards...

 

...also the hatches had been let into the structure by taping them down and tracing the outline with a new scalpel blade with the waste later removed..

 

WIP981_zpscxnv52hz.jpg

 

..once complete another burnish to get everything nice & recessed and a wire wool clean up..

 

WIP982_zpst9z8p4b8.jpg

 

WIP983_zpspojo4lgw.jpg

 

WIP984_zpsnybklpoy.jpg

 

WIP985_zpshzag6o9f.jpg

 

WIP986_zpsmib37vrz.jpg

 

..lower cowl next...

 

TTFN
Peter

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Damn Pete, your are an Alchemist if ever I seen one! :stirthepot:

Every time I stop in, you just floor me with the shear quality of your craftsmanship and the skills to put it to practice.

Perhaps one day I'll approach your skill level, I hope. ;)

Barry

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hi folks :)

 

having finished the upper cowl panels, it was time to move below, the first one to set down was marked out with 3mm tamiya tape to allow another masking tape template to be made of just the straight rear edge...

 

WIP987_zpsr33wxs90.jpg

 

..once that was done the panel was burnished down to the front defining edge and cut out - her it is once it has been fixed down and some of the fasteners added..

 

WIP988_zpszswjaurc.jpg

 

..then the remaining fasteners & rivets and a hatch was added..

 

WIP989_zpslfv50nld.jpg

 

..I was going to do the panel forward of this one which has the distinctive small air intake panels with lots of holes, but found the PE ones I had made are not scaled correctly as they are too big so PPD are running me up another set - as such I did the panel behind it instead and will complete it when the PE arrives..

 

WIP997_zpsvgnlbr4l.jpg

 

..while waiting for the PE I decided to prepare & paint the wings so I can work on all the wing fillet panels - these had already been etch primed months ago so were cleaned up and sprayed with alclad white aluminium...  I was a bit worried about the fragility of the alclad paint, but after a gentle wire wolling to get rid of the dusty finish, it seems to be ok with some tape tests I have done - I have had it in the past where tape just pulls up or damages the finish..

 

WIP990_zpsjf28mpzw.jpg

 

WIP991_zpsqnxdbpzk.jpg

 

..with that done, the rearmost fillet was planned - it looks like this and is not only a signature shape, but full of compound curves... thankfully it's in two parts - upper & lower and the seam can be seen - it's actually a weld, but I haven't figured out how to represent it..

 

WIP993_zpsasci0tyh.jpg

 

..using drawings I made the upper shape and worked this into shape across the fillet to get the three dimensional shape..

 

WIP992_zpswpm2zukj.jpg

 

..and eventually both upper & lower were added to the model...

 

WIP994_zpslcx9ev57.jpg

 

WIP996_zpsc9rgtet5.jpg

 

WIP995_zpsgrnhtowp.jpg

 

...the fillet right at the front on the leading edge looks really difficult so back when I have worked that out

 

TTFN
Peter

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thank you folks - you are too kind

On 9/24/2019 at 7:09 AM, Wingco57 said:

Wonderful work as always Peter. Have you figured out how to represent the weld on that fillet?

Cheers

Cees

 

Hi Cees - nope, I may just leave it as now I look at it, I don't think it is something I can add afterwards, it should have been part of the structure when I added it :)

 

carrying on with the wing fillets - the borders are laid out with tape to rub soft metal into to get the shapes in 3D after translating the plan profiles..

 

WIP998_zpselp1rd9j.jpg

 

..taped down & burnishing..

 

WIP999_zpsajwsc1tn.jpg

 

..the forwardmost fillet is one piece and very difficult - there was nothing for it but to have a go at bashing some ali into shape - itv soon kinked and creased and took a lot of work to get even half right...

 

WIP1000_zpsetjewdap.jpg

 

..you can see here how the material just wouldn't do what was needed and split in one place - no matter I thought I could let in a piece here - this had any inner creases filed down to give it the best chance of truly flattening out when fixed..

 

WIP1001_zps65azdmk3.jpg

 

..still working it..

 

WIP1002_zps94f2k5zl.jpg

 

..and finished & with fixings.. it's not perfect, but good enough for me..

 

WIP1003_zpsfxzq69ub.jpg

 

..same on the other side..

 

WIP1005_zpssgmn3itx.jpg

 

..the PE arrived for the front vents so I could do this panel too - another tricky one..

 

..first step was to add the vent structure and then make the front seam of the panel meet the nose intake casting... the rest of the panel lines could be dealt with with overlaps being removed..

 

WIP1006_zpsdg1sipjm.jpg

 

..with both panels & the vents added..,. the fasteners are added, but not yet all the riveting..

 

WIP1007_zpskczpuasf.jpg

 

WIP1008_zpstj6ccdmd.jpg

 

WIP1009_zpsdot3bobl.jpg

 

..and the nose is pretty much coming together..

 

WIP1010_zpsbnsdjcn9.jpg

 

WIP1013_zpszne1jvhf.jpg

 

WIP1012_zpsbip1joct.jpg

 

WIP1011_zpsywdeog9h.jpg

 

..still lots to do despite it looking quite complete...

 

TTFN

Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...

thank you my friends :)

 

been away on business a bit so not much done, but I guess enough for an episode..

 

..ailerons...

 

lets take a look - see how there are both raised & indented rivets... there is also what looks like an overlapping panel at the forward half of the aileron (forward of teh trim tab) so I thought I would make a folded metal part with the raised rivets, and add the other panel on top with indented rivets..

 

WIP1014_zpsorhwnhis.jpg

 

..I started by adding both sides of the drawing together to get what it would be if folded out flat and pinpricked where the raised rivets were - also scored the trim tab...

 

WIP1015_zpslnij812u.jpg

 

..then after turning it over and adding the raised rivets, i folded it and folded the leading edges to get the inner (and main) part of the aileron

 

WIP1016_zpsd86kdlxw.jpg

 

..then I made and rivetted the overlapping panel, also folding down the leading edges..

 

WIP1017_zpsscjasuri.jpg

 

..a thick plastic card spar was then added and once I had made both ailerons, they were filled with Alec Tiranti expanding foam - this stuff goes rock hard and was actually a bit of ballache to clean out of the open end where the aileron meets the flaps..

 

WIP1018_zpsjh9zd71z.jpg

 

..with both done, I started removing the trim tabs - these were waste - I made new ones with raised rivets..

 

WIP1019_zpsim3ebza4.jpg

 

..soon both were completed..

 

WIP1021_zpsolrsln2g.jpg

 

WIP1020_zps86w7p48f.jpg

 

..the exposed end seen because the flaps are down was detailed according to pictures & drawings..

 

WIP1022_zpsyhwttwsr.jpg

 

..and with two fixing rods fixed into the leading edges, they were mounted to the wings - I might live to regret this but the wingtip fairings after profiling to neatly fit the ailerons were getting really fragile and will break so hopefully this will protect them..

 

WIP1025_zpshwtpbhhz.jpg

 

WIP1024_zpswvmh0doo.jpg

 

WIP1023_zpsfqxybfku.jpg

 

..Flaps next - they are an interesting, if similar structure..

 

WIP1026_zpsjaejkwfv.jpg

 

TTFN

 

Peter

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