Mick Reeves 1/3rd Scale Pup

[Tony Bennett]

been a work of art so far sir, well beyond my level at the moment.

i do like a nice bipe though.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

no negatives here Jez

its fantastic, lots of tips to pick up here

beautiful job, love the eyelets

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

Jez it's a great read, keep it coming

[Danny Fenton]

Looking good Jez, don?t know how you have remembered it all
I would like to try a MR WW1 kit one day looks a shed load of work, but the build looks very satisfying.
Cheers
Danny

[Jez Harris 1]

Thanks Danny.

This is my first Mick Reeves build and you're right..Its an absolute pleasure.

The basic building is really straightforward - like any any other really well done laser cut kit.

All the metalwork develops new skills and really stretches the ability.

 

Anyway - got a few more hours in today - in fact I've been on it for about 10 hours! - This includes a quick trip to B&Q cos my Dremmel finally blew up..Over the last couple of weeks the sliding switch which usually gives a smooth transition from slow to 30,ooo rpm stopped working and became "ON" or "OFF".

I got through quite a lot of sanding drums as they exploded at full revs..

Today the enevitable happened and the motor let the magic smoke out..Still its about 4 yrs old and has been abused. B&Q have them on offet too so not too bad.

 

Anyway it was time to clad the undercarriage.

The cladding is shown on the plans as balsa, but the kit came with spruce so it took ages to sand them to the right profile using the homemade leccy bench sander.

The spruce seemed to be a weird composite of wood and metal - proper hard it was!

When finished the cladding was epoxied in place.

When dry, the groove where the metal legs lie, were filled with car body filler then sanding as smooth as possible.

The Pup undercarriage is made from profiled metal tubing, so I need to get the wood as smooth as possible. I could have used glasscloth and resin, but I wanted to try something else first.

I cracked open a tin of sanding sealer and applied 3 coats - sanding down with 600 grit in between coats. I was left with a very smooth, glasslike surface so went ahead with a coat of primer. Looks great!

The sanding of the spruce earlier created a lovely pile of sawdust - This will be saved as later in the build I have to cut grooves into the 4 main struts to allow the fitting of the attachment brackets- the sawdust will be mixed with glue to use as a filler.

Whilst waiting for various glues and paints to dry I also knocked this up today - This bar goes across th efus just in front of the cockpit and allows for the fitting of the Vickers gun. I just used brass tubing and brass sheet silver soldered together.

 

The final job was to remove the centre section ready for covering, and to prepare the central struts ready for staining/varnishing.

Edited By Jez Harris 1 on 09/02/2014 20:08:26

Edited By Jez Harris 1 on 09/02/2014 20:10:45

[Tim Hooper]

Not only an excellent piece of craftsmanship, but a superb build thread too!

tim

[reg shaw]

Coming on superbly Jez, Mick Reeves kits are a pleasure aint they!!

Ian.

[Jez Harris 1]

OK - as I get further in, some things need doing in order to work out exactly where other things need to be placed..

For example - I made the mount for the rear of the vickers gun. I now need to know exactly where I need to cut holes in various panels for the bullet feed etc.

So I need to build the gun.

The kit comes with a gun, which like the dummy engine and wheels are mainly nade from vac formed plastic...This is what you get.

Now it looks ok, but needs to be cut out carefully - I trimmed the bits to within a comfortable distance then used a flat sanding board to remove the rest.

Next up you make a little frame that these bits glue onto

After much swearing, fiddling and coercing I arrived at this.

I hate it...Its flimsy, its bent, and it looks terrible! You can just about make out how the barrel gets narower in the middle..

Arizona models do some gun kits, but they are quite dear and only sold n pairs. So stuff it, I'll make my own.

Step one - remove the wooden frame from the old gun.

Step 2 - find a suitable tube - I tried kitchen roll tubes, the tube from the middle of solartex - all too narrow. I eventually found this one..Spot on!!

Do you know how chuffin hard it is to roll cling film from one tube to another - especially when its a jumbo roll?

Mrs H isnt going to be happy.....

[Jez Harris 1]

So - first thing was to wrap a sheet of plain paper round the cardboard to cover the spiral pattern otherwise it will be very visible or require filling with err..filler!

Next a couple of discs were cut for each end - only rough as they will be sanded to final shape when fitted to the tube.

Next I drew round the end of the tube and marked 16 points - one for each flute on the barrel.

These were then transfered to the barrel

The front end cap has cut outs and the end of the barrel protudes from it - the thick part of the barrel is the cooling jacket.

I managed to find a couple of washers to act as templates

i could then mark out the bits needing removing.

I then spent a few mins cuting some balsa strips to identical lengths.

[Jez Harris 1]

These were then glued to the barrel using the pre-marked points to locate them. I left a gap at either end which will become the ends of the barrel

When all dry I sanded the barrel round first of all, then ran a round file between each pair of balsa strips to round then inside edges down a bit.

Next off I cut a few strips of paper...

these are wrapped around each end to gradually build up to the level of the strips.

When done, I gave the paper a liberal soaking with thin cyano to harden it.

You can see here that I have also cut the pieces out of the end caps to simulate a proper barrel/jacket.

Then a quick rummage to find a narrow diameter tube for the actual barrel the bullets come out of.. I find a length of rubber tubing that will do... a small washer also adds some detail.

[Jez Harris 1]

A quick piece of plasticard with some cut outs..

wrapped aroung the barrel..

 

i think its looking grand - just need to think of a way to do the cooling vents...I might dabble with some lithoplate in the future..

 

 

Edited By Jez Harris 1 on 10/02/2014 22:19:51

[Jez Harris 1]

Apologies for some of the typos in this thread only getting 2-3 hrs building - THEN doing this build log means I'm rushing!

Is there a way of uploading more than 5 images at a time into your album - I think I uploaded 40 just for this gun build and it takes a while..

Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

 

 

 

So now to the other end of the gun..

 

Im going to use a bit of this - cardboard from folders..

First off I used the woodwork I sa;vaged from the original gun as its the right size. I clad it first of all in liteply then built the top up with some balsa.

Then I cut a couple of card laminates out - I'm using this so I dont end up having any wood grain showing - its also very easy to work with.

Then a couple of detail bits - some trim..

A small piece of brass tubing with 2 grooves in to simulate a hinge.

Some of the detail on the end plate - you can also see where I have made the overhang that allows pilots to lift thetop plate and clear blockages etc.

A side view of where I have got to so far..

And a quick put-together shot..

What do you think so far? - this is about 4 hours work - quicker and cheaper than ordering a new one!

 

 

 

Edited By Jez Harris 1 on 10/02/2014 22:45:10

[Tim Hooper]

Jez,

That looks great! When I built the BUSA Nieuport I sheeled out for a pair of their Vickers kits, which are almost identical to your home made item - so great minds think alike!

tim

[Jez Harris 1]

Thanks Tim,

Yeah - I've used both the BUSA kits and the AZM ones before - both with decent results.

I hope this shows that you dont have to spend £24 - £50 plus postage to do the same with bits from your scrap box..

Still got to add all the mechanisms and in this case the padded windscreen which also forms part of the gun.

Need to order some more buttons and leatherette ...unless I can find an old shirt and maybe an overly generous cow?..

Jez

[Terry Walters]

Well done Jez - very impressive!

Terry

[Jez Harris 1]

Work got in the way this week so not to much more done -

 

Firstly the gun..

I need to make a couple of bits of the mechanism - I'll start with the end of the handle - This is a photo of the computer screen as I use it for reference..

First off - a piece of dowel in the drill..

Just a couple of minutes with a file..

Gets me to this stage..

Chopped off..

Back to the mechanism - I simply used plastic pieces, a few dressmaking pins and some small screws..

A quick coat of matt black..

Then its out with a weathering kit..

these are relatively cheap sets of stuff that resembles make up - I've had this for a few years as they dont get much use..In this kit you get a rust powder, a graphite powder that turns flat black into gun metal and a silver.

A quick dusting, rubbing and buffing and you end up with this..

Edited By Jez Harris 1 on 15/02/2014 12:27:19

[Devcon1]

A masterpeice !!

Thanks for sharing this there's some great techniques.

John

[Jez Harris 1]

Next a bit of work on the cabane struts.

THe process of installing the metalwork involves cutting a slit right through the top and bottom of each strut and glueing the metalwork in place. This leaves a slit in each strut end..

I had earlier saved the sawdust from sanding some other spruce..

I mixed some of this with wood glue and pressed it into the cuts.

When sanded down you get a surface that will accept stains/varnish with much less colour change than just using filler.

 

Edited By Jez Harris 1 on 15/02/2014 12:55:59

[Andrew Price 2]

Wonderful build. Great thread. Subscribed. Andy.

[Jez Harris 1]

Time for a bit of covering - the centre section.

First off stick Bob and Zara under the workbench out the way..

Heater on - check - iron on ....check...off we go..

I absolutely love covering models - woodwork turns into recognisable bit of aircraft..I love using solartex too...so satisfying

There is quite an undercamber on these wings so I had to go easy with the heat..

Out with the needle and thread again..

To make the rib tapes I alwaysjust tear the solartex - it goes a slightly rough edge - cutting it leaves too straight an edge.

Burnt fingers time! To get the best result I find it necessary to heat the rib tapes bit at a time and really work it down using my fingers.

Finally all stitches and rib tapes in place. This actually took about almost 5 hrs to do - I think the wings are going to take a good 3-4 weeks of tinkering time to complete!

 

 

 

Edited By Jez Harris 1 on 16/02/2014 20:26:30

[Jez Harris 1]

Next up I want to re-create the aileron linkage window, The full size looked like this.

So a quick rummage in the recycling box found a lemonade bottle. - perfect source of clear acetate type material.

In goes one of the lithoplate surrounds I made earlier, and in slides a bit of the clear plastic..

So, barring paint, the centre section is done.

While I had the iron out, I took the opportunity to re-cover the rudder.

Its a couple of things ticked off the list, but the list is getting bigger and bigger!

Jez

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

magic Jez

guns fantastic

bonnie looking dog as well

[Jez Harris 1]

Cheers John..

Zara is a cross between an old english sheepdog and a border collie..

Bob is a lab/collie cross....They are absolute best mates..

thanks for the kind comments.

Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

Blimey - Cant believe its been over a week since I last updated the thread.

I've been doing a fair bit - I usually manage 2hours a night plus a good chunk of Sunday - however the stuff I have been doing hasnt ben major items worth documenting.

Here's a quick rundown of bits completed..

First off I made the rear mount for the guns and painted it.

Next up - the ammo feed chute - this is simply made from off cuts of 1/16th birch lite ply. The edges are again done with strips of paper and the rivets are glue dots.

then it was time to make some of the bracing wires for the tailplane.

In the kit you get 2 types of fork end - a threaded one and a non-threaded one - you solder one of each to the end of the rigging wire - you can then actually rotate the rigging wire to tighten it.

The wire is silver soldered to the end of the screw and then ground to profile.

The only downside is you only get about 7-8mm of adjustment so you need to be pretty accurate when cutting the rigging wire.

the tailplane needs 8 wires.