Gary's Brian Taylor P-47 build

[Nick Somerville]

Thanks James. Cut outs for the oil cooling shutters, note I lined out inside with Litho and plan to split the exhaust from the Laser 180 and pipe it out through the shutters on both sides.

[Nick Somerville]

And as the sun is shining a chance to have a trial fit of the wing now the belly pan is

[Gary Clark 1]

Hi Nick,

Sorry i missed your previous message, must have missed the notification.

For the cowl, i like to use the method of attaching brackets inside the cowl that screw onto the firewall or something around that area. I find it is easy to put a couple of screws in through the cowl to attach it in place initially then mark the brackets position inside, epoxy them in place then fill the holes where the temporary screws were. It means it is all hidden. Either that or put the screws somewhere that would have something similar on the fullsize.

The detailing is coming along great and makes a huge difference to the overall look. Thats when the model starts to feel like a proper P-47.

Keep up the great work.

Gary

[Nick Somerville]

Been carving and glassing some Celotex foam again, this time for the pylons. I know Garry has been busy working on a 3D printed cockpit interior for me and once that has been painted and installed I can focus on the canopy frame and then start painting.

[Nick Somerville]

Garry came up trumps with a fantastic 3d printed cockpit interior which arrived mid week. The file I had found on Thingiverse Was scaled for a Hangar 9 P47 so Garry crunched the numbers and altered it to suit our Brian Taylor scaled Jugs. I had already set the floor level, which has the receiver mounted on the underside cross bearers, so I had to fettle the side panels a little to get them to fit; though with the balsa floor painted black once the pilot has been fitted I don’t suppose anyone would notice. The instruments were cut from a photo printed off the net and at this scale were at the limit of my cutting skills. Garry also printed a scale dummy engine which I think I can adapt to work as a baffle plate as well to direct engine cooling.

[Gary Clark 1]

It is great to see it all painted up Nick, great job you've done there. Also a minor miracle that it fits, i'm pretty sure i used luck rather than judgement!

I understand why some of the top end builders out there aren't a fan of 3d printed parts but for us club level modellers the results can be excellent and save a load of and and money! Competition builders probably wouldn't get away with them but it certainly makes my models at the club look significantly better!

Gary

[Nick Somerville]

Been working on the front end while I await a pilot and can then start the canopy frame. Engine installed, 3 cowl fixing brackets glassed to inside of cowl and dummy engine mounted to a baffle plate. Behind the plate/engine aperture there is a thin aluminium housing to ensure the cool air passes all the way back close to the fins.

I have been worrying about access to the fixings but found a solution that I hope will make it easy enough. One fixing is at the bottom and the Allen bolt can be tightened from the wing front seating former. I needed to have the bolt that way around as the exhaust splitter position blocks access from the front. The other two bolts are at about 2.00clock and 10 o'clock and instead of fixing to F3 the brackets bolt to the firewall. With some suitable tubes fitted between the back of the baffle plate and the brackets, the bolts will be easy to access even though unseen. You can see the access holes in the photo but with the tubes in place they should disappear from a few feet if I paint the inside black.

I put the old prop on as I thought it would improve the picture but now I can see it on a screen it really does look better suited to my Stampe from where it came.

[Nick Somerville]

Worked on the split exhaust system today and finalised the throttle linkage. Jon tells me the 180's exhaust is around 300 degrees C so I am hoping this tubing that is rated for 350 degrees will take the heat. Fitted together its light and flexible, so it shouldn't pose any stress to the engine where the exhaust is fixed to the cylinder head.

Also took the scales out to the workshop and weighed all the component parts, including the three batteries. Only items missing were the pilot, canopy, canopy frame, paint finish and any ballast required to achieve a correct C of G. With the wings off and the tail surfaces in place the C of G is spot on so I am hopeful that no ballast will be needed once fully assembled. So the totalwieght so far is 15 1/2 lbs. So with a fair wind and light coats of paint 16 1/2 lbs is likely to be the AUW. Pretty much the same as my Stampe that despite all of its drag, a Laser 180 hauls it around with ease. I am encouraged. If anyone can tell me what amount of weight I might expect to add for painting a model of this size I would be pleased to know. I will be using a thinned cellulose base coat, Klasscote for the main areas and then after the markings are done a final light coat of Satin Klasscote.

[Jon H]

Looks really good Nick.

The exhaust is a concern as my thermal gadget tops out at 300c and it reads overload when i pointed it at the muffler body. The EGT is likely to be higher. I recommend you install a shield of some kind between the exhaust tubes and the tank as any break will blast hot gasses on the tank. It wont take long to burn a hole through the tank and that could be a bad day!

I had an exhaust break on my 360v once and the exhaust gasses burnt through the fibreglass fuse and half way through the 3/8 ply firewall in under 5 minutes.

I dont want to be a harbinger of doom but i would not be confident about its long term survival. I could be wrong, and hope i am as it looks cool, but i would keep a really close eye on it.

[Nick Somerville]

Thanks for the advice Jon. With it in mind I think I shall make a mock up of the exhaust ports exactly as they have been constructed and poke the exhaust pipes into those instead of the actual ones and then run the engine for a good session through those and see what happens. I can certainly create a heat barrier between the pipes and the tank base and lower front portion to mitigate against it melting from an exhaust leak.

[Gary Clark 1]

Quick work again Nick! You have really smashed through this project and done a great job. The 3d printed engine looks the business in there and the Laser blends in perfectly! I would agree with the advice from Jon but i am sure you have sorted that by now.

Out of curiosity, have you had a check of CG yet? I am wondering how it is working out at this stage.

I have pretty much finished the Sig Kougar refurb and have just the centre section to sheet of the moth minor then that is ready for paint. This means that the P-47 is almost back on the bench and i am really looking forward to it. I bought some chemiwood to carve some forks for the undercarriage so that should be good fun. I reckon i am putting it off a bit because i can't be bothered sorting the retract mount in the left wing. I hate fitting retracts for some reason!!

Keep up the good work Nick, looks like there will be paint out soon!

Gary

[Nick Somerville]

Thanks Garry. Pilot arrived today from Ebay (£6.50 posted), a 3d printed guy who is 1/6 scale. Pretty decent looking fella but too big, so took a saw to his feet and backside and then a blowtorch to shrink him back from behind. Will post picture tomorrow as he is all hidden by tape that is holding the canopy in place while glue sets. Hiven the price if some pilots on offer am well pleased.

[Nick Somerville]

Re the c of g The brackets for the cowl fixing along with the dummy engine has added some forward weight so with some preliminary estimates I think the c of g will be very close without forward ballast. I have a pair of 2200ma Life batteries, so hoping their weight will fine tune accordingly to their placement.

[Gary Clark 1]

Good to know the CG isn't far off Nick, I don't like having to add lead so always happy when the batteries do the balancing for me.

I just 3d printed a pilot and seat for the Kougar, needs a tidy up and a paint but probably cost about 50p of plastic to print! Such a handy peice of equipment

[Nick Somerville]

Yes, it really is something worth getting my head around. Been a bit slow on the uptake as have never much enjoyed cad work. Did you source the file for the pilot off thingiverse?Here’s my fella.

[Gary Clark 1]

Yes, got him from thingiverse. Seemed to be quite a few options on there too.

What's your plan for frame? Just painting it? I'm planning on painting the inside of the frame the putting flitemetal from mick reeves around the frame before painting. Means I can chip back bits for weathering.

I've had a quiet afternoon whilst my little boy had a nap so managed to get the center section of the moth minor almost finished so it's nearly ready for glassing which means the P-47 is nearly the only project on the go!

Gary

[Nick Somerville]

Made a start on the frame today and about half way through. Using litho, which is such a great material to work with. The sheets I am using have a green coating on one side so no need to paint the inside. Paper templates first for each piece and then a combination of scoring cuts and scissors on the litho. Combination of cyano and canopy glue seems to be working so far for fixing. Really looking forward to following your progress when back on your P47, I hope I can encourage you as you have myself.

[Gary Clark 1]

Thanks Nick, it makes a huge difference having someone following along. Gives you a bit more motivation on the days where you can't quite be bothered!

I have seen loads of people use litho plate for the frame but not used it for this myself. Could you post some photos of he process so i can have a look?

[Nick Somerville]

A few tiny gaps but a bit of putty should hide before priming. As you mentioned it will be good to scratch back to the litho for a weathered look after painting. Will do the same on the various panels. The one in this shot is the access for the power switch. I have another on the lower right side of the cowl to access the carb for finger priming and needle adjustments ( 0.5mm litho). Some more too to add but these will be in the thinest litho I have (0.15mm if my digital calliper has it correct).

[Danny Fenton]

I can assure you many are following along, its just they dont often comment. I know this because I often wonder why I bother.

But you only have to write down the page hit count and check again 24 hours later to see we are watching

A thankless task blogging these builds, but keep going i am enjoying following along

I think .15 is the thinnest I have found. I do use alloy foil as well, on the smaller scale even litho can appear thick. Try sanding the litho with a foam sanding pad, just knocks the edges down and softens them

Cheers

Danny

[Gary Clark 1]

That looks really smart Nick, might give litho a go to see how it looks then.

I definitely agree Danny, I often look at the number of views and can't understand why people don't comment or chip in with ideas but then I think about how many threads I follow and look at and don't comment on many of them. I personally have learned so much from forums like this and RCSB over the years, especially from people like Danny who takes time to show his techniques for many different elements within a build. That is why I try and post as often as I can during a build in the hope someone might see something they can copy or even learn something new.

These threads are worth their weight in gold in my opinion.

Gary

[Martian]

yes it can be a bit disheartening getting no feedback but just to say I am enjoying your build

[Nick Somerville]

Well I finished the canopy frame, though I am bit disappointed with the positioning of the cross bar at the front below the rearview mirror location. Think I have it too high at the front so the angles look a bit weird from some views. Not sure about trying to pry it off and redo it lower as there will be glue residue behind. Will have to see how much it bugs me.

The second image is the interior of the cowl. It's rather agricultural in there but I wanted to show one of the cowl fixings. The brackets are steel jobs from a mixed Aldi hardware pack and are glassed to the side with some wing joining type tape. A T-nut is epoxied to the front face of the bracket and the Allen bolt inserted with a Norlock washer. Once in place I fitted a short length of alloy tubing and then thick drinking straw between the T-nut and the back of the baffle. The key here is that the Allen bolt cannot escape and as it protrudes just the right amount when it sits back in the alloy tube it makes lining up the cowl and tightening the two fixings from the front with a long handled hex driver a doddle.

Also visible is the carburettor access hatch. Hatch hinges aren't that expensive until you factor in postage so, I fretted these out from epoxy board and glued them together with cyano. A short length of piano wire and brass tube held with hardwood at each end for the pivot. I epoxied the hinges in place before cutting the hatch with a Dremel disc and then added the slightly oversize litho cover on the outside. The ply plate was to stiffen the area as once cut out there was more flex in the area that I liked. A little button magnet on the inside of the hatch and the hardwood lug ensure it stay closed.

[Nick Somerville]

Apologies, posted the wrong photo. Should have been this one

[Nick Somerville]

Added all the key access panels using the nice thin litho I have, so just as soon as we get a nice dry day I shall prime the fuselage and tail feathers. As it will be a first using the recently purchased panel spotting gun. I figure it will be easier to work on these parts individually before gluing up and I can touch up the fillet area later when spraying around the panel lines. For the size and positions I used a combination of some excellent line drawings sourced on the net and a 1/72 Revell kit I have of the P47. Hopefully about right.