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Miles M-20


spacewolf

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ambitious ... that's one word for it !... First thing was to cut the fuse vertically

 

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I'm going to be splitting the part horizonrally too so using a shape finder I made bulkheads to support the soon to be upper and lower parts.

 

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The area where the horizontal stab was had to be filled in with sheet and the fairing carved and sanded smooth. Thank heavens for good old 1960's thick plastic ! Even after carving away the fairing there was still a good amount of plastic to work with.

 

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Next I carved away the wing root

 

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The bulkhead was then glued in and the wing root opening filled with strips of sheet. This was then sanded and filed to shape. Once I was satisfied I cut the hull and inserted a spacer at the front and support tabs on the inside of the fuse at several points.

 

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A strip of sheet was cut to fill the hole and glued in.

 

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The tail cone needed to be shaped so I carved a bit of scrap to fill the area. Glued in it acts as a a doubler so as I sand away the original skin I am still sanding plastic...little or no filler needed.

 

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After putty and some sanding it looks like it'll work. There is a bit of a shallow area around the stab so I'll be building that up.

 

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Thats it for tonight. Gonna relax and read my new Enemy Ace book. All the comics in one book..who could ask for more !

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Great work Vaughn! I'd never even thought of making a bulkhead first, so that you could get your new height sorted out up front. Good thinking!

 

Kev

 

Thanks Kev

 

I've done enough scratch building to know that when you are dealing with long flexible parts you need to support as much as you can. Even with the bulkhead a slight warp got into the mix..not enough to worry about but I'd hate to try and do an operation like this without supporting the parts. The more ribs or bulkheads there are the better the result. It takes time and work but the end result is much better than just winging it and being frustrated when your efforts turn into a bag 'o worms ! (been there/done that !)

 

Cheers

 

Vaughn

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Seriously impressive work Vaughn...I'm certain that Russ would have approved. I shall watch this develop with interest :)

 

Derek

 

Thanks Derek

 

I know he'd be on board with this and I very much miss his over the top input. Any time I get bogged down I think "what would Russ do ?" and the solution comes.... although I've wanted to do this build sense I first saw the Aeroplane Monthly magazine when I was 17, 34 years later it is being done as much or more for him than for me.

 

Cheers

 

Vaughn

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I'm not gonna get much done today (gotta go to work) but I got the engine drawings sized. Looking at the Spit imposed over them I'm thinking using it as a basis would be more difficult than either a build up or carving a master and vacu forming...gotta think on this a spell.

 

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it is being done as much or more for him than for me.

Vaughn

 

I feel exactly the same Vaughn, which I why I am now making the Welkin for Russ, not me. The Miles M.20 is such an unusual subject, and it is great that you are making one (even 34 years after the initial spark of inspiration). It is an aircraft subject that is very seldom modelled in any scale, so i am certain that it will be really appreciated by everyone, not least Russ :)

 

Derek

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Thanks Håkan

 

After thinking things through I decided to go with a build up using the Lancaster cowling drawings I have. I cut out the vertical shape, then the side outline and started cutting formers.

 

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Once all the formers were in place I checked it against the fuselage.

 

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There is quite a step between the cowing and the fuselage side profile but checking the references and the drawings this is a minor fix.

 

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I glued the nose to the 110 hull lining things up as carefully as possible.

 

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The drawings I'm using make the nose longer by about 1/16th in. but being that the drawings of the cowling are more accurate than the magazine drawings I'll go with that. The side profile shows the curve behind the engine and with some tapered strips it'll be easy to fair this into the 110 fuselage.

 

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