Shane Sunday

Hey Trevor. Sorry I've taken so long to get back. Each flag is W=14mm H=9. I've been trying to work on the cockpit and a couple other things but life seems to get in the way. I've been under the weather and I thought I'd just be able to crack on but no energy. I've been searching the web for ideas though. I'd come across the topflite 1/7 vacformed kit but A: it's pretty dear and B: it looks nothing like the Corsair cockpit. I'm also thinking of building it from depron so nice and light. SUre we will see. Back to it soon

Man thats looking sweet. Looking forward to the maiden flight

N here’s the experiment contact glued in place

Trevor you are a genius. Although I tried a little experiment on the theme. I took a regular peice of paper and dusted it with clear coat then ran it through the printer twice then allowed it to dry and hit it again with the clear. Now to cut it out and paste it to the fuselage

Hey guys I've been putting my little cutter to work. I started out making paint masks from vinyle transfer tape but they didn't work great and anything more tacky than that starts to pull the paint off. So I actually did what I always do and just cut white vinyl for the insignia. I like the look. Now I'm a bit confused how to go forward. I need to make 6 rising sun markers and I don't think at the size they need to be that the knife won't just chew the hell out of the vinyl. I could always try to source some decals from the net but at 62 inch wingspan is she 1/8 scale? I know I could actually try to hand paint them. AAAAARGH! Anyhow heres a couple pics photos are from my phone and it's kind of old so they are a bit blurry. sorry guys. I can aford new models but not a new phone. Hahaha

Hey Trevor like you I too get very impatient at this point and yes I went straight into paint. I was unsure what I wanted to paint her but I knew I didn't wan the same as the big one I have still in the box upstairs. So I searched and searched and finally I think I've decided on either #530 0r #13 both have checkered cowl but 530 has a checkered rudder as well. I do like that #13 has NAVY lettering on her too so still undecided.   When I'm doing a built up structure like this I like to use west systems epoxy and I use 45grm cloth on the bottom with 25grm cloth on the top. I've used PolyC on lots of foam models but I feel this needs the trength and durability epoxy affords. While I have airbrushes for the details nothing beats a rattle can from the automotive shop for shear coverage. I had thought about getting the laser but I'm waiting for something just a bit more powerful for the machine. A 2watt laser will go through 3mm balsa in about 5 passes and just forget ply. It would be great on depron but I have the hotwire cutting attachment for that and it's sweet. Not to mention a hell of a lot cheaper. here's a shot of how the corsair sits for now. There's lots more to do but sure it'll get there soon enough. Maybe she'll be up and flying by january when it's balmy and warm here. Edited By Shane Sunday on 26/11/2017 19:15:30

Hey Trevor it's good to learn and try new stuff. On the topic of redrawing plans, I use Illustrator. The pen tool is your friend. I'll scan the plans in photoshop, this takes many scans but can be done with excellent results. I line them back up in photoshop and once I'm happy I'll flatten the image and just click and drag it into illustrator. I lock the layer the plan is on and create a new layer to draw upon. I'll use a different colour so I can see what the hell I'm doing. Tip: replicating any part of the drawing is as simple as click hold ALT and drag. Tip: Curved edges, using the pen tool click and drag and release when you're happy with the shape. All programs that are new to us are daunting to start but just hold the mouse over a particular tool and a pop up will tell you what it is. Then just play with it see how it goes. Tip: Command or CTRL Z. Your best friend. Just undo your mistakes then try again. Really the pen tool in any drawing program is the main tool. Learn it and there will be no plan you can't recreate. Boy. What a day! I thought I was going to start painting today as I had it off work but nooooooo! In order to complete the stickers to any form of satisfaction I had to level the bed on my stepcraft machine. I knew it was off a touch but after taking it apart I found that the factory had botched up the bed. It was like a rolling ocean! Anyway I got that done then went back to cutting alluminium foil tape. This was tricky as I needed much wider foil than I had so I used Vinyl transfer tape to stick 2 pieces of foil tape side by side to gain the width needed. Also it seems the best way to affix this to the bed is UHU por or some sticky glue. Otherwise it just snags and ruins your work. Like 6 or seven time before you smarten up and do it right. Then you need to use a knife to pick all the stuff you don't want off the cut. Finally use more Vinyl transfer tape to lift your stickers off the bed and place them onto your model. It's not perfect but it's better than nothing on there. And it'll show up through the paint. And this one This has been so much work BuT I think I've got it down to a science now. A few more things to cut out and add before paint don't plan on going crazy though.

You were able to cut aluminium with a stanley? Wow that is dedication or is it pig headedness. Haha. I built my BT mustang using mostly depron. It flies really well. Electriflier on these forums has some great ideas for building with depron. What he does with the stuff is like magic. I had considered rebuilding the corsair from depron but I'm a bit pigheaded and don't like to throw stuff away. Regarding the drag knife. I wrapped some thin piano wire around a drill bit to make my spring. I think I could cut a turn or two off of it in order to allow the knife a little more give. So far I've found cutting "ducting tape" the depth is best at .12 to .15. Cutting speed reduced to 10. WHat controller are you using? I've got UCCNC. Best of luck with it. Takes a bit of fiddling but it does work. Next I'm gonna try cutting some solar film. that stuff is thin!

heres a rough drawing of the drag knife. I hope it helps

Depron built wings are great. Ive built 4 maybe five wings using depron ribs and sheeted with depron then glassed. They are all brilliant. Lessons learnt though... you're going to need some ply ribs if you're going to have undercaraige. Otherwise build the same as a built up structure. So yeah I plan on building more and more models this way. Also im just a beginner on the lathe too. I'll get you a drawing and you'll see just how simple it really is.

Hey There Trevor. I can see there are people watching but the odd comment helps to keep interest. So thank you good sir. The drag knife is pretty simple but needed the use of a lathe. Rather than ue the main hole on the stepcraft machine I built the knife to fit the smaller hole on the caraige. I can draw up a sketch and post it here soon. The trickiest part has been getting the cutting depth set just right. I use depron as a sacrifice layer and tape my material down to it. This helps to keep the blade sharpe. I also slow the machine down to 20%. I'm still working on it little by little but each new invention takes time from actually building and doing. Aw well once this tool is sorted it'll help with all future builds. Thanks for looking in