tomprobert Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 This is brilliant! Are you sure this is your first scratch-built project? You look like a seasoned pro to me Will follow along with much interest, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Sorry, did you say you lack experience in these matters?? Well, you could have fooled me! Stunning project! I'll be following this one closely! I might have the encouragement I need right here to try this route with a Fiat G.42 and a Pilatus P2. Regards;Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabster Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 Honest to God that I've never built anything from scratch before, LOL but thanks a lot for the good vibe!! Here's a little more progress from the weekend. This time I spent a few hours measuring, tracing and creating the nose landing gear well. For now this is just the basic, empty box which will have to be spiced up with structural detail, piping and wiring to more or less make it look the part but .......that will be a challenge for another time! Again, I didnt have scale drawings of the bottom of the plane so I had to kind of eye-ball it with some not so sharp pictures of the in-flight aircraft showing up its belly. Interestingly enough (for me, at least!) was the fact that, when i created the cockpit layout I didnt even think about how it would "interact" with the wheel well. Of course, when I tried to fit everything into my test fuselage I realized those two components overlap. I made a square hole, hoping it would do the job and to my surprise, the thing fit so well as if I had planned it, hahaha.. Rookie's luck I guess! So many pictures for such a little achievement, huh? Sorry about that! FAB Lars Befring and Derek B 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 This really is brilliant - there's no feeling like it when a good plan comes together! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabster Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 TALE OF TWO TAILS - PART ONE When I tried my first take at the empennage, it ended in failure. I layered 3 or 4 sheets of plasticard for the horizontal stabilizer and elevator and started sanding them to shape. First mistake! I used the wrong glue (Tenax) so there wasn't a strong bond between the layers. As i sanded away, the top layers started flaking. As wise as I thought I was I said, no problem, and covered them with thin styrene, glued on with 2-part epoxy. In a way, the trick worked but i ended with very thick components. Not too happy at all. Take #2. Many many moons later, I gave the thing a second thought. I cut the shape of the horizontal tail as a single piece of thicker plasticard and added a basic skeleton of square strip styrene, thicker in the middle, thinner towards the leading and trailing edges. Then filled it in with Milliput and after it dried, sanded it to shape. A couple of extra passes with bondo and I got a smooth surface. After that, I used the old trick again and covered them up, this time with .010" styrene sheet and again glued it with 2-part epoxy. Once completely cured overnight I trimmed the excess sheeting off, leveled with fine sanding and finally I got my new tail, all smooth, better proportionated and ready for scribing panel lines, rivetting and detailing sometime in the (hopefully) near future. Here's some images of the adventure. Fabian Attempt #1 Attempt #2 And finally, a comparison between the old tail and the new tail: Thanks for watching! Lars Befring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikkel Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 sooooo when are you making copies good work pal! Can't wait to see more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Thanks for watching! And thanks for sharing! Marvellous stuff. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 That tail section is brilliant - trial and error always wins in the end! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Absolutely incredible ... just amazing work. keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Most beautifull work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabster Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 (edited) Thanks a lot, guys! It feels good to know you find my rookie attempts at scratchbuilding interesting and worth of following. i'll keep trying my best not to disappoint! Fab Edited February 23, 2014 by Fabster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabster Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 That tail section is brilliant - trial and error always wins in the end! Tom TALE OF TWO TAILS - PART TWO ....or, as TOM pointed out, Trial and Error always wins in the end! LOL So I ran into a similar situation with the Vertical fin. In my rookie obsession for making this an all-plastic model and following the way injections kits are given to us, I tried to replicate the process. Well, it may work for injection but not always or not necessarily it has to be the same with an scratch project, I concluded. My first all-plastic fin was not successful (as it was the norm) more to my lack of vision or experience than anything else. I got 'smart" and decided to carve it in balsa wood instead, then use the "combat-proven" trick of covering it in .010" styrene sheet. Much much better results and I still have a nice surface I can sand, scribe and rivet! The Original thing: ...and the new Rendition: Not too bad for my current standards, I hope! haha Fabian Lars Befring and Lee White 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Fabulous Fabian! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafju Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Fabian Great job! I'm in for a copy!!! raf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Noice! real noice............... Great work! One of these days Ill tackle a vac, as I have my 32nd F7F staring at me. For now Ill watch your fantastic effort!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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