Richard Thornton 2
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That’s good news, thanks for information as this part of the build isa great unknown. I know most scale models land up being tail heavy and I hope that once the wings are finally covered and assembled, I can put it all back together and get a feel for where the CofG is.
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I have attached some photos of the steps I took to make the Slat brackets. I mentioned before that this was the third attempt but I received a lot of inspiration from the owner of the aircraft not to give up and crack on. I seems only fair to pass this enthusiasm on. Hopefully the pictures explain everything, A to C are the various stages of the brackets. D and E are templates to ensure everything evolves into a similar shape.
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You are very kind Manish. I think I took the same view as you and thought, what a faff, it’s a scale bit that unless you know they are there, they seem almost invisible. Talking of which, when I took the photos of the underside of the lower wings, I noticed that the E in the call sign is different from that on the sides of the fuselage. When I asked the pilot (politely as I didn’t really know him that well at the time) why they were different his response was, I have never noticed, I sit in the back seat and you can’t see the underside from there. Another thing, the call sign is not marked on the upper wing surfaces, they simply didn’t get around to doing it! But I have found out where the first aid box is stowed, and yes, it’s going to be fitted to the model
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Very good point to both you and Manish. Due to the shape of the cowl, which is really skinny and the upper positioning of the prop shaft, the motor is currently inverted within the engine bay. (I have read some horror stories of starting and running these lumps but I intend to run it in in the upright position, out of the model, and then turn it over and re run it a few times in the inverted position prior to plumping it back in) By way of compensation for the cooling issue, the cowl was a fully contained one piece fibre glass thing, very scale like but I worried about access to the engine, electrical stuff and most importantly, cooling. So like all good modellers, I cut it into 4 pieces, which I hope will resolve the cooling issue. (my wife asked why I took a perfectly formed cowl and cut it into tiny bits that then had to be jointed with a long piano hing that I had to source…. I am sure she still doesn’t get it) On the full size, the cowls don’t always marry up which is fine as putting a hinge down both sides for access, when those ‘doors’ are shut, there is now a bit of a gap both fwd and aft where they bulge past the fuselage. Underside of the cowl has also been modified having a 15mm gap between where the cowl passes over the firewall. I am hopping that this all helps promote good airflow through the cowl both by direct airflow going in and Venturi dragging the air going out. Do you think this is enough?
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Now there was an opportunity lost, I should have thought about popping a light in but realised that I would only be flying during the day. 😏 Leg pulling back! I attached a photo of the head of the light as it’s a knurled knob, but for gloved fingers and you twist the the barrel to let the light shine. It was easier to make once I had worked out the geometry and had several goes drilling the plastic which is from a number plate. No I am not a womble but I hate waste!
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The other instrument panel fittings are from Mick Reeves Models and they are fantastic, but have had to renew the dial decals as they have faded, due to being in the sun in my conservatory… well my wife’s conservatory aka my workshop
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Some extra weight added to the cockpit. The aircraft I am modelling has a lovely RAM satellite navigation system holder and an RAF instrument light, which took some initial head scratching as to what it actually was. Fortunately the owner is more than happy to help and you can still purchase the light on eBay but it’s 4 x to big for the model 😈
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When I started the build, I was sure that electric was the way to go. After several disasters at electric flying I went back to the old faithful, fossil fuels. With that in mind I bought an NGH GF38 and have plumbed that in. Thought behind that was it’s a 4 stroke but petrol not that horrid glow fuel that all my other IC models have used. It always leaves a coating of gunk and varnish which gets everywhere. That has issues all of its own though as the model club I used to fly at has been shut down and houses are now being built on the land. Other clubs now have a low tolerance to IC flying, not to mention that it’s quite a lump and I can’t find an exhaust to fit within the cowl. My silver soldering is much improved so that is actually going to be fun to resolve I hope
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Do you know if anyone has not used them from their Falcon kit build or are they easy to make?
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I think the drain grommets might be a step to far for me, they are on the underside of the wings but the kit didn’t come with those and I know from your builds there are loads of them? What do you think?
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So I turned some scrap aluminium from a skip and bits and bobs lying about into…..
- 60 replies
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- 4
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- tiger moth
- 1/4 scale
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So here are some of the bits that I used to add some original detail to the rear cockpit. The hand pump is used to pump fuel from the spare tank located over the front passengers feet in the forward cockpit. Apparently putting the handle at 90° it opens the valve and fuel can then be pumped into the upper tank, all of which sounds fantastic until you realise this is all done in flight! The grey board on the second photo is just a guide or mockup of the cockpit to ensure everything fitted in without having to remake the rear seat and to line everything up with the models pillars which are slightly off scale but this has helped, plumbing it all in place. The transponder was a fiddle to build but the information on the internet regarding the size and shape and workings are all still available. One thing that I do need to finish off though is the decals. All the writing is white and tiny wee. I have reproduced them all in Autocad but I can’t print ‘white’ on my printer. Any suggestions? The radio in the central has similar issues (on the black surfaces) but the writing on the green surfaces are in black so I am hoping to try my luck at making some decal transfers but that is an area of exploration and yet to be resolved.
- 60 replies
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- 2
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- tiger moth
- 1/4 scale
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Thanks to you Peter and Manish, I got the bug again through both of your build logs.
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There are 3 or 4 types of covers. a/ just a simple dollar shaped supplied by Mick Reeves Models, ironed directly onto the fabric. b/ a very thin disc is cutout and stuck to the fabric first with the ‘dollar shape’ iron on top of that. I found that card was too thick and simply used some 30gsm paper to make the rings, any thicker and the look TOO pronounced. c/ the sort that have the domes fitted are as per option b/ above but they are glued to the fabric via the protruding rivets and the tiny screw, which allows the thing to flex. I think glueing it all the way round would work too but there is always the issue of the glue seeping out, just where you don’t want it. d/ this Tigermoth has another type fitted to the tail. They have an outer ring with an internal ring also. It sort of makes it look like a target. I have attached a photo but the one on the right is option d/ but in balsa which didn’t work out at all. Several points to consider. To stick the paper disc to the fabric I used Cover Grip and then used the cutout from the sheet to place the ‘dollar’ in exactly the right place. If you iron it from the centre of the dollar outwards, the inner edge is much neater and you don’t land up trapping air within the inner ring.
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Funny how things happen. I painted my models cockpits with ‘cockpit green’ which was Matt and every tin seemed to have a slightly different colour tone to it. Taking photos of the cockpits of the aircraft I am modelling I noticed the colour was a lot lighter than I had used and also glossy. DAMN. I read an article which suggested Vauxhall Reed Green, which is easier to find, finish is amazing and the colour tics all the boxes. But how do I paint the inside surface of the cockpit now, specially once the covering is applied. Do I spray it first where it is visible from the outside? Any suggestions?