Jez Harris 1 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Another simple but time consuming job was painting the undercariage. The u/c is fully sprung - You get some bungee, form a loop at each end and tie them securely... The end is attached over one of the bobbins welded to the u/c earlier, wrapped in a figure of 8 and secured with the other loop over the other bobbin. Next up was the tailskid - a simple piece of birch, cut to shape with a metal collar around the attachment point. Another piece of metal and a bit of shaping with a dremel - this forms the protective plate to stop the skid being worn away..Its amazing how tarmac eats wood..The runways at Barkston Heath are evil and men with wooden legs have been known to lose 6" just walking to retrieve planes. screw it all together and ready for a coat of stain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 The skid is suspended with more bungee cord from a ring attached to the fin post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Walters Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I don't know about the tail skid getting worn away - I'm worn down just following this Jez! Brilliant and very informative too. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Thx Terry.. The next bit is to try and replicate the top decking.. Here is what the full size looks like.. lots of cut outs and holes and access panels. So - start with a fresh bit of medium weight lithoplate. Cut the holes required using a sharp blade and a burr tool in a dremel - these are just done roughly to begin with A small access panel from brass sheet. It is actually straight but the camera angle has made it look quite deformed! I quickly heated the area the panel will locate to anneal it, then used the panel to press a recess into the litho. The dimples will buff out easily later. So - polished up a bit and taped in place to check - I think it looks fine. To create the effect of the oil filler/fuel filler reinforcement rings shown here.... I took a quick trip to poundland and bought a plumbing repair kit for..errrr £1.. In it were loads of different plastic and fibre washers.. They need a couple of coats of brass paint, but they will do the trick.... And thats me up to date again!! i need some suggestions for making the ammo belt....Any suggestions greatfully recieved! Jez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 love it Jez ammo box, superb fibre washers, genius and best of all, cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Got to hand to you mister - lovely! I like your common sense approach to detailing too. Let's face it; this Pup is going to have to work hard for a living, and not just get wheeled out a couple of times a year for competitions. tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reg shaw Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Brilliant stuff Jez, it'll look stunning on the flightline Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Jones 2 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Posted by Tim Hooper on 24/02/2014 21:04:46: Got to hand to you mister - lovely! I like your common sense approach to detailing too. Let's face it; this Pup is going to have to work hard for a living, and not just get wheeled out a couple of times a year for competitions. tim What does this mean- that it could be more detailed? and Where is the full-size that the reference photos show? and This is a fantastic model! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Posted by Rob Jones 2 on 25/02/2014 10:15:21: What does this mean- that it could be more detailed? and Where is the full-size that the reference photos show? and This is a fantastic model! I'll be the first to admit this is far from a proper competition scale model - it could indeed be more scale, however there are limits to what time I have available.. To see what can be achieved by real modelling pros, check out some of the builds on the RCScalebuilder site The full size I'm getting the details from is The Vintage Aviator Ltd one (TVAL) website..**LINK** Thanks again for the positive feedback - it keeps the motivation going! Jez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Posted by Tim Hooper on 24/02/2014 21:04:46: Got to hand to you mister - lovely! I like your common sense approach to detailing too. Let's face it; this Pup is going to have to work hard for a living, and not just get wheeled out a couple of times a year for competitions. tim Thanks Tim - I think scale modelling falls into 2 categories - The first is those people with the skills, machinary and time to jump on a lathe and machine up miniature versions of real aircraft pieces - There is a build on another site of a 1/3rd scale Sopwith Triplane that is absolutely amazing - its so precise and a real tribute to the skills of the builder. I would be to terrified to fly a plane that I have invested 1000's and 1000's of hours and several years in. And then there is the "Smoke and Mirrors" approach - taking things and making them look the part - Those fibre washers will never look like the real brass inserts - but you will have to look to tell the difference hopefully! I remember once looking at the hinge detail on a fellow Dawn Patrol member's Albatross and wondering how on earth he had produced such exquisite metalwork that actually formed a working hinge. When I asked him how - he just said - "Look again its just a standard robart pin hinge pushed through some cardboard"...... And you are right about the hard life - this wont be a hanger queen - it will be chucked in and out of an estate car or the horsebox modelling transporter - It will get caught in the rain. It will get flown weekend after weekend at shows and get scuffed and knocked about, and at some point it may get broken - I know which category is easier to mend and it isnt the first one! But this is the beauty of the hobby - you can enjoy it at whatever level you want - If you want quick results then ARTF is the route - I've got a shed full of them. If you want to build from a kit reasonably quick then you can do that too - or spend a few 100 hours building a model like mine - or commit real mental self harm and spend years making a replica instead of just a 'model. Each to their own. 'Tis Ace!! Jez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Well said that man Looking really nice jez Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I'm firmly in the Smoke'n'Mirrors brigade, so you know where I'm coming from! tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Brilliant Jez. It's a labour of love Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 And today I got to play with my favourite tool again.. The good 'ole razor plane. Anyone for Hamster bedding? A coupe of hours of this left me with the four interplane struts at a basic shape...I was quite surprised at just how much wood had to come off - MR supplies the struts at about 1/2" thick - you plane about 2/3rds of this off! Then its back to silver-soldering a bit of metal work - these will fit into each end of the struts - the flag bit will take the flying wire whilst the pin will locate through the spars. There is no bolt or other fitment - the only thing holding the struts in place is the tension in the flying wires..Making the wires structural solves having unsightly fixings visible, prevents the need for non-scale wing tubes, but does occasional result in dramatic sudden deceleration trauma when one lets go in flight.... And finally sanded to final shape and ends tapered and cut. I have since epoxied the pins in place. If I had room in the workshop I could finally put it all together... Just need to finish off that top decking first. Jez Edited By Jez Harris 1 on 27/02/2014 20:55:59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 Hiya, Just for my own amusement, I have just done a rough calculation of how much time I have spent working on this since I began on Dec 21st 2013.. Sundays, I get about 8-10 hours in the workshop. Most weekdays I do approx 2-3 hours after work. I've used a few days off from work and half-days here and there.. So I reckon at the most approx -250 - 280 hours! At £625 for the kit, plus probably another £150- £200 on consumables such as silver solder, new tools, blades, drill bits (got through loads of these on the Stainless Steel!) etc. Including about £80 worth of various glues and spray paint. Total so far of about £800. In my mind this would equate to 800 divided by 280 ....so about £2.80 for each hour of entertainment. There cant be many hobbies that give such a great return! Jez (Am I a bit sad working this out - or is work just a bit sloooooow??) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masher Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Jez As I said early on, this is very cheap entertainment because many of us are getting it for free by enjoying your thread. This is a good way of thinking about it because the alternative (lost opportunity cost of, say, 280 hours at £10/hr + £800) looks like a big number which could be in the bank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Err - hello again.. Sorry its been a while but a new job got in the way of building and I have been doing a bit of flying too. I have been chipping away at little bits as and when I had time. I also hit a few little snags that caused delays and affected the old building mojo too.. Anyway - update time.. The undercarriage needed finishing off - there is a bracing cable that runs accross the front of the axle fairing - It has whipped ends that attach to a turnbuckle. I created this by simply creating a loop in the cable and winding it with garden wire to simulate the whipping. With both ends fitted I think it looks okay. Next up - a quick slot together to remind me what I'm working towards... The rigging is temporary - just multi strand wire (bicycle gear cable inners) substituted for the flat rigging wire supplied in the kit. I havent properley rigged it so excuse it looking a bit lopsided! No elevators or ailerons fitted as I hadnt yet sorted out the hinges - the kit is supplied with split pins which I want to use as they look quite scale when done. - Simple to do as you only need to drill a hole, insert the pin, spread the legs and then add solder to stop them closing again. I'm going belt and braces and adding a tiny washer to the rear of the pin to give added strength. I have done the same to the trailing edge of the horizontal stab - only with 2 pins with a gap to take the pin on the elvator, and inserted a single piece of piano wire through all the hinge pins in one go (To make removing the moving surfaces easy to repair/service) I think they look great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 The whole horizontal stab will be removeable - the flying wires play a part in holding it on, but I have added a couple of threaded inserts so I can bolt the tailplane to the fus from underneath. Little touches include the addition of supports around the control horns - without this there is nothing to iron the covering to. I have also added a couple of layers of thin ply (left overs from the spar webbing) to the control horns - this will allow me give the horns the required streamlined shape. Then I covered the ailerons and had the first disappointment. The leading edges of the ailerons are made from dowling - its about 8mm diameter. The process of shrinking the covering simply bent them - they bowed in almost 5mm in the centre making it impossible to marry up to the stab. This gave me the hump and I went flying instead of building - I really enjoyed being back in the field with good mates and having a chuckle - so I kept going! Eventually I decided to have a rethink and spent ages replacing all the dowels with carbon tube - this meant redoing all the hinges etc but resulted in a really stiff leading edge with no weight penalty. The process is a bit different when it comes to covering the elevators because of the wire trailing edges - quite simply I found it impossible to get a decent level of grip ironing the covering to metal - presumably because its not porous so the glue cant grip. I resorted to cutting the covering a tiny teeny bit oversize - just enough to go round the wire and back to the inside of the covering - I didnt want this to be visible so it really was the smallest amount of overlap posible. Finally I completed the other side and addied rib tapes, edge tapes etc. Another job ticked off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 The stabiliser recieved the same treatment - its amazing how much covering you get through when you start adding rib tapes and edge tapes! I'm pleased with the detail I have achieved this far - using real stitching is very time consuming but looks ace! At this point I decided I wasnt happy enough with the metal panelling I produced earlier so I spent a few days making some more - these look much nicer and have been prepared using a zinc primer designed to use on aluminium. I also fashioned the breather tubes for the carb - Its amazing what you can do with old aluminium wing tubes! Jez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Nice work, Jez! It'll be good to see this one on the show circuit. Soon I hope? tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Another important bit for scale models is a decent dummy engine - luckily the kit includes the basis of a really pleasing engine. The kit is supplied with a Le Rhone rotary and Mick now does a Clerget Kit but as its another £40 I went with the supplied item. It consists of a thin plastic moulding where the whole body of the engine is in one piece. There are then a couple of reinforcing rings, several lengths of pushrod and some copper tube. There are also lots of nuts and bolts. First of all get hold of a fibreglassing kit from Halfords and chop some matting to line the rear of the cylinders. The process of fibreglassing with these kits stinks - so do it somewhere outside! One layer of cloth is enough and you also glass the reinforcement rings into place. When cured you have a really tough unit. I chose a steel wheel paint to give an authentic base coat to the engine. The supplied pushrods are bent to shape and shortened. the length of brass tubing is cut into 18 pieces - these will become the cam followers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Harris 1 Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Next its out with the drill - when you count the pilot holes followed by opening them up to size..you end up drilling an incredible 156 holes!!! In these holes you insert bolts and copper nuts.. The bent push rods have the copper tube piece slid onto them - these slide down into bigger holes and give an impression of cam followers. This really makes the unit start to look like an engine.... Only one problem...Its too bloomin clean! - these engines were a "total loss oil system".i.e. oil flowed through the engine to lubricate the moving parts - unlike modern engines which use a sump of oil which circulates round the engine, is cleaned by a filter and circulates again. Pilots were constantly sprayed with oil - hence the goggles and scarves which were used to wipe oil away. They had really regular bowels thanks to a healthy diet of castor! To simulate the look of a well used rotary, I first hung the engine up - this is to allow me to create the look of an engine that has been used and allowed to simply drip dry time and time again. I'm trying for a well used glow engine look - but with 9 cylinders! Lots of layers of well thinned antique pine varnish were applied.. I'm pleased with the finished effect - the varnish has pooled nicely around nuts and joints creating a well used patina. Thats all for now - I promise I wont leave it too long before the next installment! Jez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexJ Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 That antique pine varnish has created a very convincing appearance, it's great. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Antique pine eh Jez excellent really looks great Look forward to getting some snaps of this one when it's done Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Beautiful Jez Antique pine...you scale lads know some stuff John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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