Guest Peterpools Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Torben Awesome work and redo on the float ... never a dull moment for sure. Keep 'em comin Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 My references say the float was designed with a one foot extension behind the step, but I trust your research has yielded more accurate data. BTW, this lengthened float only applied to N219, the other two reverted to equal length floats, which is why some drawings may create some confusion ... Finally, on the float subject, the starboard float was 6 inches further outboard from the centerline compared to the port one ... Mitchell's last trick to offset the torque of the Napier Lion engine, with the lengthened float containing the fuel tanks. Hubert Good call Hubert - yup the other 2 were had even lengths. I too had that same 1 foot after the rear step reference but I think this one is as definitive for the period I'm looking at. Aerotech seem to have accurately represented the offsetting of 6 inches away from the centre line, certainly the starboard leg is longer than the port - my next big task is to look at thinning the legs. Eek! Torben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 Do you ever feel like it might have been easier to start with a piece of balsa wood? Richard Yes but no but yes!! But no... Torben Awesome work and redo on the float ... never a dull moment for sure. Keep 'em comin Peter Oh there's plenty of them my end Peter believe me.. fill, sand repeat, fill, sand repeat... Torben RLWP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 A small update... I was to portray this plane with the windshield hood hinged open forward - don't ask me why, I must be some sort of masochist This means there is no escape adding a liitle depth and detail around teh hing area. The front cockpit bulkhead on the kit is flat and featureless. I say flat but it ain't totally flat, i also need to push it back a bit so I could add frame/coving, so first out came the razor saw I then glued a thin off-cut of plastic card to bring back some of the thickness but have a nice smooth back plate - then over cutting the shape back so that the coving could be faired in neatly and have something to grip on to. As you will see above and below, at this point I also removed almost all of the raised ridges and bumps around the exhaust outlets as further comparison with period photos showed that these where much too heavy and prominent. I intend to sculpt more subtle replacements once I've added in the PE exhaust covers. I then carefully hand cut a sheet of thin brass to the correct shape aided by first creating a paper template. After which it was carefully bent onto the trimmed out ‘shelf' and secured with CA. Once set - Milliput and Mr Surfacer and yet more sanding helped blend everything in, at the same time fractionally lowering the central engine cover.. I also added a tiny, subtle raised lip around the headrest area, again evident on close up period images. Even though this is subtle I may reduce this lip back a fraction more. Scale thickness is something I always strive for so pretty happy so far with this important refining tweak. Although it all looks a bit rough close up all will be refined under some sanded coats of primer...once I finally finish up with the main external work (before re-riveting ) Thanks for looking Torben mark31, BradG, RLWP and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alain Gadbois Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Great work Torben! I appreciate the effort you give for scale thickness, as it certainly gives an extra plus to the finished model. Alain TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark31 Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 nice work you are showing here i think you still have a lot off work ahaed Mark TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 (edited) Great work Torben! I appreciate the effort you give for scale thickness, as it certainly gives an extra plus to the finished model. Alain Thanks Alain - something I always try to add as it makes such a difference to my eye. nice work you are showing here i think you still have a lot off work ahaed Mark Cheers Mark - yup, I'm to my usual tricks . I find it hard not to try and capture everything just-so - the trick is knowing when to stop... Onwards... Between throwing my back out last week and catching a dose of man-flu I've not had much time over the last week or so. I've also had one of those periods where everything I tried got fouled up some how and had to be redone - in the case of the instrument panel many, many times before I got something I could use. In my infinite wisdom I decided I'd try and create my own dials, based on what I could find through reference books and the internet - Thanks also to those who answered my questions in the general interest section. The biggest influence for these 1920s/30s dials came from two images of the S6B. Having carefully measured, cut and test fitted a blank instrument panel (20 thou) to the new widened cockpit I drew up a template and started looking some suitable dials. I thought long and hard about whether or not to simply go with the wonderful Airscale decal dials which had a few that could well be suitable or close enough but in the end I thought I'd have a quick go myself to create something as close as possible to what I was seeing on these interwar seaplane references. I'm a graphic designer by day so used my trusty Adobe CS Illustrator to get something knocked together. Please don't look too close at the detail as these where to be reproduced so small that I needed only to capture the visual essence of the main dials: Airspeed, Engine Speed, Oil Pressure/Temp. There's also a large repeater compass (thx Richard) temporarily added to the racing machines to help with accurate steering between bouys as there is absolutely no forward vision. Once arranged and suitably scaled down, I flipped the design and printed them onto copier ready acetate in my home studio. The b/w old toner machine version won through. The side with the print on then got a coat of white primer backing. By doing it this way the dials now appear right reading behind a protective acetate lens when viewed from the flip side of the acetate. Above shows one of my experiments of punching trough 5thou card for an overlay but a combination of too tight positional tolerances and too much added scale thickness put that one to bed. You'll see I also experimented with AK PE etching fluid on the Airscale bezels to try and reduce the amount of accurate masking I'd have to do when painting. In the end I settled on applying the bezels directly too the reverse of my printed acetate using Quick Shine, a floor varnish similar to Future. Between the carpet monster, my club-like fingers and wonky eyes the above took me 7-17 attempts (I lost count... ) to get everything lined up correctly and cleaned up - the hazing outside the bezels is from micro sanding to give a better paint adhesion later. One of the main delays was that with such tight spacing every time I tickled one lens surround into exactly the right position it somehow nudged the neighbouring one out and visa versa! If left a fraction to long excess varnish hardened into tiny ridges that stopped accurate positioning/repositioning. All this was not helped by a streaming nose setting off every time I bent over this assembly Ok - you can put the violins away now I finally got the right process by applying them one at a time, each time carefully checking squareness and cleaning any excess Quick Shine from outside the bezel as it was semi-set before moving on to the next dial. Hopefully all will have enough adhesion to stay stuck this time Phew! Goodness me if I c**k up the cutting out of this panel I hate to think what may happen to this whole venture. I've got to find a better way to work with PE!!!! Thanks for stopping by - hopefully a bit more later this weekend Torben Edited January 20, 2018 by TorbenD LSP_Kevin, BradG, Alain Gadbois and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpjack Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Have you come across Gator's Grip thin and thick acrylic glues? Supposedly specially formulated to deal with PE and so far giving me and my fat fingers good results. TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLWP Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 I'm a graphic designer by day.. Torben By night he's.... Looking good Richard TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Terrific work, Torben! I don't envy you trying to deal with all those conflicting elements. I'd second jumpjack's recommendation of Gators Grip, though. Kev TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 really taking this to the next level, well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 (edited) Have you come across Gator's Grip thin and thick acrylic glues? Supposedly specially formulated to deal with PE and so far giving me and my fat fingers good results. Terrific work, Torben! I don't envy you trying to deal with all those conflicting elements. I'd second jumpjack's recommendation of Gators Grip, though. Kev Thx Guys, I'll have to check out Gator's Grip. really taking this to the next level, well done Cheers for dropping by Shawn, that's the plan! By night he's.... Looking good Richard Falling asleep in front of the footy... Just a small update - very little bench time as I'm working away during the week at the moment. When dry fitting the PE exhaust shrouds it became clear that I needed to prepare the framework around the holes as is was uneven in both shape and surface. The first job was to deepen and even the grooves to accept some C frame plastic Evergreen sections which where carefully positioned to act as an accurate framework for the PE shrouds. These were then carefully fared in with Milliput and Mr Surfacer Once everything had fully cured, I painted the inner trench matt black and then carefully attached the PE shrouds with some thin CA. I took great care in the final positioning - the boxed engine covers are a complex of angles and near square shapes so from certain angles nothing looks totally square. In the end I chose too use the top edge of the cowls l as the datum points and made the shrouds run parallel to this. It looks a bit messy now but I've started raising the level around each shroud with a few thick coats of Mr Surfacer 500 which will then be sanded down to the level of the PE The other small job nearly completed is changing the shape of the main seat cushion. I used Milliput to bulk out the shape so that it will now conform better to the much widened cockpit. Torben Edited January 29, 2018 by TorbenD Alain Gadbois, RLWP, BradG and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trak-Tor Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Very nice work! Juraj TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 (edited) Very nice Torben ! Just a small comment. IIRC, the valve covers of the engine were exposed directly in the airstream, to aid cooling of the Napier Lion. The fairings of the engine, between the filled-in panel lines, are thus in fact the actual valve covers of each row of cylnders. Therefore, considering the design of the Lion, their sides should be absolutely parallel, with no sign of taper.. whereas the left cylinder bank seems to show some taper towards the front... Nothing that an expert use of Milliput can't cure, though . Hubert Edited January 30, 2018 by MostlyRacers TorbenD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Torben Holy Cow ... fantastic progress and the IP, way beyond anything I could do. Keep 'em comin Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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