¼ scale Hurricane tailwheel

[kenking-King Design]

contd.

For the wheel discs my thoughts turned to spinning as potentially being a simple means of producing a purely cosmetic shell without generating yet more swarf. The discs will be attached to the hubs with adhesive, and have a clearance hole for the spacer, so carry no load. I decided to experiment a little so had a rummage for material and inspiration. In the event it turned out to be ridiculously easy and so I show it here in case others are looking for a means of making similar pieces of dressage.

Firstly, I turned a former of the desired convex shape and diameter, seen here in the lathe, where of course it would be tried outI drilled a fairly large centre hole in the hope that trapping the blank into it with a rotating centre in the tailstock would impart sufficient drive, and in the event, it did. The blank was cut oversize with scissors and centre popped for location. The tailstock was advanced to pierce and trap the blank, and at modest revs I tentatively pushed on the aluminium with a piece of silver steel rod. To my amazement the blank obligingly followed the curve of the former, the outside edge crinkling in space. The surface was badly scored too, so the next blank was trimmed to size and a dab of graphite grease applied. I also replaced the pushing tool with a piece of flat bar, tapered to an edge so I could reach right into the clamping area. The next attempt gave me a super little disc with a neat edge return. To say I was pleasantly surprised by the success of the trial puts it too mildly. There was no springing back from the former profile, the centre point pierced the blank evenly and centrally, and the drive never slipped. I made four the same and the total weight is 2 grammes, almost nothing at all. I'm going to have another trial after modifying the former to see if I can include a groove to represent the gap between the fixed part of the Hurricane hub and the outer rotating wheel rim. I hope this technique can be of use to some of you, it works so well, and litho plate would seem to be a perfect material to use too. Hmmm … I've got some of that somewhere ...

[reg shaw]

Stunning stuff, thanks for posting!! Those last spun bits look like the bottoms of drinks cans

Ian.

[kenking-King Design]

Hello Ian, yes I can see what you mean, but these are just 1.25 " diameter. Now that you mention it, drinks cans could be a useful source of thin alloy for small parts, and the material is obviously suitable for extensive forming. Thanks for the suggestion,

Ken.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Ken,

I sent you a PM on 31/01/14 which is still unread in your inbox. In fact it is now one of three PM's from me in your inbox, all of which are unread! Could you please read the one dated 31/01/14 and act on its contents as soon as possible. If you are in anyway unsure about what I am asking you to do then obviously feel free to PM me and I'll explain further.

BEB

[kenking-King Design]

cont'd.

Well, I got a little more done this afternoon, quite nice weather too, but whilst I was working it suddenly became dark with an intense flurry of little snow pellets. Being a chivalrous sort of chap I immediately broke off and went to rescue the wife's washing from the rotary airer. which is located under our very tall Eucalyptus tree. The sky was split by a flash of lightning followed by a roll of thunder, and it occurred to me that being under a tall tree and soundly connected to a metal framework by an armful of wet washing was less than desirable, so beat a hasty retreat.

Back in the shed, I made up the two rearward extensions from the wheel axle ends which are attachment points for the ground handling .. errr .. handle, for want of a better word. Very light assemblies of .010" brass shim and .080" brass wire, soldered together and pinned through the fork arms. They are noticeable features if you ever look closely at a Hurricane's rear end, so I thought they deserved to be included.

There's just a little surface finishing to complete, also making and silver-soldering two mounting brackets to the outer tube, and then attaching the steering arm, so I hope to finish the unit in the next day or so. More pictures will follow soon.

[kenking-King Design]

Cont'd.

Another flurry, this time of shed activity, in a drive to finish the unit today. Mounting brackets were needed on the outer tube, for attachment to the bulkhead. I wanted them to be stiff, with a flanged edge, and I managed to avoid any metal bashing in the vice by slitting a piece of steel channel obtained from B&Q, thus a 2" length provided two 2" brackets.

These were mounted on an accurately drilled piece of L.A. sheet to maintain squareness and desired centres, then silver-soldered to the outer tube. Of course, the heat destroyed the Loctite bond holding the end bearings, so after cleaning up they were bonded in again. That's one of the problems with making things up as you go along, sometimes it's one step forward and two back. Then it was the turn of the steering arm, which required some unique clamping arrangements on the mill in order to present the spring cap to the slot drill, but it worked out alright and the arm is a snug fit in its slot.I've mentioned the ground-handling lugs which attach behind the wheel axle ends, and here are examples of the component parts, .010" brass and .080" rod.A bit fiddly to assemble with fingers like mine, the two shim parts are soldered together and then locate on the axle screw and a pin fitted through the fork leg, so they are firmly held in placeHere's another view. You can also see here the revised spun wheel discs, with the simulated demarcation between fixed hub and rotating rim. I ran a little matt black paint into the groove and when it was nearly dry, scraped off the excess.

That pretty well wrapped up the construction. I'm just waiting for the chosen spring to arrive and then I can deliver the tailwheel unit to the client. I must say. I've enjoyed making it and, as usual, have learned some useful things along the way, such as the benefits of using modern engineering adhesives in this sort of assembly, and the ease of making light spun components, not to mention 'weathering' tyres.

I'll leave you with three views of the finished item. Thanks for viewing, I hope you've enjoyed it all,

Regards, Ken.

[Ian101]

One word......absolutely superb. (Well 2 words actually!!)

Regards Ian

[reg shaw]

Fabulous thread, many thanks for sharing, I only hope the rest of the model is worthy of being held off the ground by this masterpiece! Any pics of the model per chance? On my list of future builds is a quarter scale Hurricane, but a MkI, I have the main undercarriage which follows the full size in its complications, so I'd love to see any details on the model.

Ian.

[Martian]

Stunning work it's been an absolute pleasure to follow

[kenking-King Design]

Thanks for all your kind words, much appreciated. My client sent me some photos of the build yesterday. He is progressing at a rate of knots since receiving the laser cut parts he'd ordered from Slec, and he also now has his new engine, a superb in-line twin from Germany, name unknown to me at present. I'll try to persuade hime to post a thread, or at least some photos for publication here. With his permission, I'll pass on any information given,

Regards,

Ken.

[Mike Etheridge 1]

If only I had been trained in lathe work! However I have attached a couple of photos taken last week at Brooklands of their Hurricane engine installation:

MJE

[kenking-King Design]

Thank you for the engine photos Mike. You didn't happen to take any of the other end I suppose ?

Well. I've been in touch with my client Paul, whose tailwheel unit I've been privileged to make, and he has kindly agreed to share information on his ¼ scale Hurricane project as it progresses. I'll list here the information I have at present, for those following this thread, but then it will appear in a new thread titled '¼ scale Hurricane build'. Although it will appear under my name I must stress that I am only the messenger, and that all the design work and the actual build are Paul's and Paul's alone.

O.K. firstly the engine, which is a Kolm 135 1L, in-line twin, made in Germany. It looks exquisite. Servos will be Savox, ten in all, running off a Power Box Evolution system with two off 4000 Lipo batteries. Main retracts are from Mick Reeves with alterations to bring them to ¼ scale. Paul will give more details of the control system (rotary control system from America) at a later date. The fuselage structure has gone together quickly, just as Paul designed it. It will be covered in part in fabric, and the rest in Proskin from Mick Reeves. Paul reckons the fast part is over and that the rest of the build will be slower as he will be making parts as he goes along, and the 'fiddly bits and detail' take a long time.

I'm going to try to transfer photos from Paul's email to my albums section and thence to here, and the new thread. If it possible it will take me some time so please be patient.

Regards,

Ken.

[Mike Etheridge 1]

Ken,

I did not take any photos of the other end of the Brooklands Hurricane, but here are some other photos taken about a year ago, two from Duxford and five from Tangmere:

Mike

[kenking-King Design]

Thanks for those Mike. Now here are some of Paul's Hurricane. The first shows the fin and rudder.The method of construction is quite clear and looks very strong. The next is also at the tail end and shows the tailplane resting on top of the fuselage longerons.A similar method to that employed in the previous item, a central core with lightening holes, half-ribs, and ply sheet leading edge.

Now a view of the fuselage around the cockpit area. Formers appear to be threaded over side frames.Finally the underwing cannon pods are under construction, one barrel finished, and very deadly it looks too.

There were a few more photos in Paul's email but they were presented differently and I haven't been able to pick them up or do anything with them, however, in the dedicated build thread, which I hope to start tomorrow, there will be more complete coverage, more notes, and most certainly a picture of that beautiful engine. That's all I'm doing on this thread,so please transfer you affections to the new one when it appears. Thanks for joining me,

Regards,

Ken.

[Mike Etheridge 1]

Ken,

We returned to Brooklands yesterday to have a further look at the exhibits so I took the opportunity to take some more photographs of the Hurricane they are working on to enable it to taxi only. I may have over done it this time with the quantity of photographs? I was most impressed with the pictures of the 1/4 build project.

MJE