Macchi M-5

[harv]

Such a great build! I'm loving it.....harv 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've been working the last few days on ways to better represent the valve operating gear for this engine, as the kit supplied photo-etch is not very realistic.
After trying converted photo-etch, card and other methods, I decided to go with this.
This is not meant to accurately 'reproduce' the engines valve gear, but more to 'represent' it as the kit engine does not lend itself easily to this modification.

The operating levers are made as two separate levers from 0.5 mm thick plastic card.
The levers are shaped then joined at the centre and secured to their individual operating shafts.
The bottom of the push rods were marked on the engine then drilled with a 0.6 mm diameter drill.
Nickel-Silver rod of 0.4 mm diameter was cut and secured in each drilled hole and against the end of the levers.
Finally a 0.51 mm hexagonal nut (from 'RB Motions' was added to the top of each rod.

Once all of the push rods are done I need to add the pivot lever between each pair of rods.
  
Mike

[Guest DannyVM]

Very nice progress Mike. I love the way you show us all the different way's from research to building the actual part's.

Let's say i'm all eyes and ear's....

Regards

Danny

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Just a quick update for the engine modifications.
The valve operating gear is now done - made from 0.2 mm and 0.5 mm thick plastic card..
The shots below show the dry fit of:

Carburettor and induction manifolds
Ignition lead support tubes
Coolant supply and return pipes.

All that's left now are a couple of external oil pipes and it should be ready to start painting and building the engine.
Other items such as ignition leads, engine placard plates etc can't be added until the engine build is completed,

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all, 
I've added the external oil pipes at the propeller end of the engine.
These made from 0.7 mm and 0.4 mm brass tube,

Mike

[HubertB]

Absolutely outstanding detailing work !

Can I ask a nitpicking, ultimate-rivet-counter, question : shouldn’t the valve rocker arms be at different  angles, reflecting the respective cycles of each cylinder ? (Not that anybody is going to notice, but ...  )

 Hubert

[harv]

This is an awesome model in itself !  Beautiful !......harv 

[krow113]

..

[sandbagger]

On 1/31/2020 at 2:38 PM, HubertB said:

Absolutely outstanding detailing work !

Can I ask a nitpicking, ultimate-rivet-counter, question : shouldn’t the valve rocker arms be at different  angles, reflecting the respective cycles of each cylinder ? (Not that anybody is going to notice, but ...  )

 Hubert

Hi Hubert,

If you look closely you can see some are at angles, although what the actual firing order of the cylinders was I have no idea.

I made some push rods slightly higher/lower than the adjacent push rods to 'represent' the pivoting valve operating levers and their valves at different positions (open/closed).

As I have no information this was done with some 'poetic license',

 

Mike.

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Two pipes were connected to the underside of the coolant return pipe, located at the top of the engine.
The two pipes were routed across to the other side of the engine, between the end and centre cylinder banks.
The purpose for  these two pipes is not clear or to where on the engine they were eventually connected.
As the pipes were connected to the coolant return pipe, it would seem hot coolant from the engine was carried in the pipes.
My only assumption is that these pipes supplied hot coolant to the housings of the two carburettors, thereby ’pre-heating’ both of the carburettors.
This would have helped preventing icing up, which may have been more of a problem for seaplanes more than land based aircraft.  

The pipes were made from 0.8 mm and 0.5 mm diameter tube.

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've gone as far as I can modifying the resin kit engine to better resemble the actual 'Isotta Fraschini V4B’ engine.
The shots below show it primed and dry fitted, including replacement exhaust pipes made from 1.4 mm diameter tube. 
It's the longest engine modification I've undertaken thus far, but hopefully it'll be worth it.

So now, it's time to move onto modifying the cockpit area !!

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The cockpit has been modified to correct and add components not supplied in the kit.

Corrected:
Positioning of both machine guns (rearwards into the cockpit and closer to the cockpit side walls).
Replacement instrument panel support bar (kit part too short).
Control rod for Mixture control and Spark advance levers replaced (too weak).
Tachometer replaced (kit part too large).

Added:
Fuel panel switches (0.3 mm tube).
Mixture control and Spark advance control rods (x2) (0.4 mm tube)..
Starter magneto ('Taurus Models').
Starter magneto safety switch ('Taurus Models').
Replacement Tachometer (from sprue).
Half compression operating lever and control rod (spare photo-etch and 0.4 mm tube).
Cockpit front edge padding ('ANYZ' 0.5 mm braided line). 

After painting I will add:
The fuel contents and oil pressure pipes to the instrument panel.
Wiring for the starter magneto and safety switch.
Tachometer drive shaft.
Instrument decals (not supplied in the kit).
Transparencies for the two 'windows'.
Flight control cables.

The shots below show the primed cockpit components dry fitted (except control column).

Mike

[DocRob]

Molto bene, like the Italians say, the engine and the cockpit look exceptional and I think it will be very visible when finished.

Cheers Rob

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The cockpit is now complete.
As I found with the engine, the cockpit required a lot of modifications and additions to bring it up to looking more like the actual aircraft cockpit. 
Basically, the modifications and additions made were as follows:

Fuselage inner side walls heavily thinned and both assembled machine guns modified to allow the guns to sit in their correct positions in the cockpit.
Forward bulkhead repositioned as the kit instructions were incorrect.
Support bar for the instrument panel and climb indicator replaced with micro-tube (kit part too short).
Cockpit rear padding created from ‘Milliput’ (kit photo-etch part unusable).
Cockpit forward edge padding bead added (not in the kit).
Pilot’s seat – addition holes in the seat back.
Pilot’s seat – slots created for the seat belts.
Pilot’s seat – seat support frame created (not in the kit).
Pilot’s foot board assembly modified to allow the control column to be positioned further away from the pilot’s seat.
Pilot’s seat top attachment to rear bulkhead added.
Panel switches replaced with micro-tube (kit photo-etch unrealistic).
‘Taurus Models’ starter magneto added (not in kit).
‘Taurus Models’ starter magneto safety switch added (not in the kit).
Tachometer ‘scratch’ replaced (kit part too large).
Engine half compression lever and control rod added (not in the kit).
Fuel contents pipe to gauge added – ‘PlusModels’ lead wire.
Oil pressure pipe to gauge added – ‘PlusModels’ lead wire.
Micro-tube used for control rods (Half compression control, Spark advance control, Fuel mixture control).
Cockpit window ports created using clear acetate sheet and in-filled with ‘Krystal Clear’.
Rudder control cables added (0.4 mm Nickel-Silver tube and 0.12 mm mono-filament).
Hole drilled through right side of fuselage (at engine forward right support strut location) – for cockpit controls to engine.
Control column machine gun triggers replaced with micro-tube (kit photo-etch unrealistic).
Machine gun trigger cables added (‘PlusModels’ lead wire).

Other than that, the cockpit was built straight out of the box!!

I forgot to take completion shots of the cockpits internals before closing it up.
However, there is the one shot on the cockpit floor assembly finished.

In the following photographs, the two ‘white discs’ are the cockpit window ports – the ‘Krystal Clear’ was still setting when I took the photographs,

Mike

[harv]

....harv 

[Jeff]

so delicately precise.................. fantastic stuff.................

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The fuselage has now been prepared for application of the decals, which hopefully will be a combination of wood effect decals and kit decals.
If that doesn't work out I'll revert to creating the wood effects using oil paints.
The actual aircraft had a Latin legend along both sides of the fuselage - ‘FRANGAR NON FLECTAR’.
Some translation for this are:
'I am broken, I am not deflected'
’I’ll break but will not bend’
'I will break, not bow'
'I am broken, I am not deflected'
This is not supplied as a decal in the kit, which is not surprising given it's not even shown on the kit colour illustrations!!
As there is no aftermarket for this I have to resort to creating a mask set, which I've done on my 'Cricut Air 2' cutting machine.
Hopefully the mask won't peel off and decals or paint when I remove them, as airbrushing this legend is literally the last job on the fuselage.

I've added the 'dome' in front of the windscreen and what appears to be a rudimentary gun sight. The purpose of this 'dome' is unclear.
I've primed the fuselage in white as the decals are somewhat 'see through', so need a white base under the roundels.
Also the wood effect decals need a white background.
I've added pre-shading along the wood panel nail lines, which I created with a 'Rosie the Riveter' tool.

Mike
 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
An example below of the 'translucent' decals supplied in the kit.
When applied over other decals or paint, the colour below shows through.
This means a white base colour needs to be applied, both under individual decals as well as for the wood effect decals.

I had thought of various way to get around these translucent decals.

Applying the wood decals, then white paint or white decal over the wood decals where the kit decals are to go, then applying the kit decals.
Applying the wood decals then using masks to airbrush on the various kit markings.
Applying the wood effect by oil brushing then airbrushing the kit markings.

Although all of the above are feasible, they all involve either two or more layers, which might leave a 'ridge' around the finished markings.
That would be tricky to eliminate without damaging the markings and surrounding area.

Applying the wood and kit decals separately onto a white base coat is not going to be easy and will be time consuming, but hopefully there won't be any noticeable ridges and it'll all look uniform.
We'll see

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've removed the wood effect decals from the fuselage as they proved to be extremely easily damaged, even after being sealed.
Maybe a bad set of decals, but I've never know decals to chip, tear or lift off the surface after being sealed!!
It's as though the have no adhesion at all.
Anyway I'm reverting back to using oil paint to represent the fuselage wood panels.

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
As I wasn't happy using wood effect decals I stripped off all of the previously applied roundels, stripes and the wood effect decals.
I then sanded the fuselage and re-primed with 'AK Interactive' white (AK759).
Then I applied 'Tamiya' Dark Yellow (XF60).
I masked off the white areas then sponged on 'DecoArt Crafters Acrylic' paint along the fuselage.

Next is to Airbrush 'Tamiya' Chear Orange (XF26) or Yellow (XF24) mixed with a semi-matte sealer ('Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC-311). 
Then add the roundels and fuselage stripes (white decal first).
Add back the nail lines with a 'Rosie the Riveter' (1:32nd - 1 mm).
Apply the final decals.
Finally a weathering wash of 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt or Grime followed by a light sheen sealing coat.

So still a bit to do,

Mike

[GusMac]

Wood grain looks excellent!

[sandbagger]

Thanks - I try.

Hi all,
The fuselage decal are now on.
As the kit supplied decals are translucent and darker colours underneath show through, I had to cut out white decals for the roundels and skulls.
Not easy but at least the darker wood colour doesn't show through,

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I still have weathering, nail lines and the green fuselage stripes (waiting for paint to arrive) to do.

However I have:
Painted the gun ports and rigging panels ('Mr. Colour' Stainless Steel).
Painted the engine support strut mountings ('Mr. Colour' Aluminium).
Fitted gun barrels (0.7 mm diameter tube) painted with 'Mr. Colour' Iron.
Gun Sight (0.3mm and 0.5 mm diameter tube) painted with 'Tamiya' Rubber Black (XF85)..
Compass binnacle (modified sprue with a compass decal and clear 'window').
Windscreen ('Alclad' Duralumin) - clear area treated with 'Pledge' Floor care.   

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The fuselage is progressing with the stripes and Latin legend 'Frangar Non Flectar'.
Just the three metal hatch covers to add and final weathering and finish, including the fuselage nail lines.
Then onto the wings,

Mike

[Clunkmeister]

HOT DIGGETY, Mike!   

This is looking stupendous. 

I love seaplanes

I love resin

I love WW1 biplanes,

so what's not to like on this?