airscale

nope... I'm screwed - not enough vent space combined with heat from the chemical reaction means it literally looks like the Michelin Man... back to the drawing board - will get some gory pics up when I can..

Hi Iain - its the Alec tiranti one - Polyurethane 002 it's cooling down and thank god I masked the airframe as its gone everywhere! I see the next hour being more like archaelogy than modelling as I try and chip away the foam to find a Tigercat underneath!

Hmmmm... I may have just killed the cat... Just filling the fuselage with expanding foam and it has got very hot & is sitting there popping & bubbling with stuff oozing from every pore ..fingers crossed - I will give it an hour or two and see if it survived..

Peter - the engine looks astonishingly good - bravo a point of reference for me when I get to try and make a pair of them look something like this on my build.. loving this build Peter

great progress Brian - best of luck sorting the warp out, I am sure you will speaking of which it must be catching as the tailfin I made for the F7F is sooo ****-eyed I swear it would have a 360 degree take off roll if power were applied to the engines! wishing you well with it.. Peter

when I grow up I want to be able to: build like you paint like you photograph like you experiment like you be as good at turning out perfect models like you until then, I guess I will keep stuffing my face with popcorn and periodically drooling all over my bench when I tune in to your builds.... ..stunning... Peter

Wow Brian! Thank you so much for posting these - I remember seeing one at Duxford many moons ago - simply took my breath away, the power and grace of the aircraft is really something special - I think that was when I got hooked! The Tiger cat I saw went back to the US and as far as I know that's where they all are now (sigh...) Thanks Jerry means a lot to me coming from a true model builder... Thanks Rich - go for it!! - with the Fort under your belt and all the scratching you do anyway, it's a small step from there... Thanks all for dropping in - so whats been going on.... ..I have pretty much got the nose master finished - I just haven't got enough Lego to build the box to put it in to get the mould made up - something I need to get sorted... just a bit of mr surfacer and a moulding plinth and it's done... ..I also started on the tail section - this is where the rudder & tailplane spar are skinned, again using the card model template... ..also used the template to cut out a one piece fin/rudder skin and bent it over a kettle... ..you can see how the funny tooth things help align the skins as they come together - I decided not to build up internal framework or more ribs etc, but to just experiment with skinning as is and filling with stabilising foam (thanks for the tip Iain)... ..mind you, it's all a bit 'wobbly' for now - hopefully I can correct any warpage when it is solid inside or by using heat again - at the moment it has some washout I didn't really want... ..the joins are amazing though - a testament to the original card design - I have had worse fits on Japanese kits! ..and the assembly taped to the airframe - I will cut out the rudder, make up the lower rudder skinning and build some internal strengthening but as a test it seems ok.. ..still loads to do - I want to get a primed fuselage with all the 'sagging' fixed in time for Telford (hopefully...) ..thats all for now folks - see you soon... TTFN Peter

evening ladies been a bit frantic with the day job, so the 'cat has taken a back seat for a few weeks... however, it has been in for a 'nose job' - if you remember I made up some card profiles and covered them in household filler - this is what it looked like... ..after rough sanding away until I could see the formers, it looked like this... ..I tacked it to the cockpit section with CA and protected that card construction with insulating tape to fill the nose shape to make the two match up... ..you can see where there are some small steps between the nose and cockpit that need fairing.. ...and after addition of green stuff - I can sand to shape and not worry as the tape protects the cocpit section... ..and after separating the parts and a first coat of primer... ..and it is ready to dry fit... ..the basic shape is starting to come together... ..I will finish this part as a master and cast a copy in resin so I can cut it in half and create the nose gear bay.. ..still got lots to do to get the basic fuselage sorted and the 'sagging' between formers, but feel like I am making a bit of progress... TTFN Peter

Thanks chaps great to have such practical & helpful advice helping me along.... ..got a little bit done - I tried some expanding foam on a test piece but it is not very stable - the bubbles seem to big & uneven and it is still quite 'squishy' (technical term that is...), so I think I will drop LSP member Starfighter a note to see what he uses on his superb builds.. ..I also roughly built up the nose on the 3D card template I made so I can rough sand it and ultimately refine it into a master to cast in resin. It's been a bit of a puzzle as I will need to sort out the nosewheel bay so will likely have to cut the resin nose in half laterally so I can rout out the bay as it should be just the aircraft skin and the bay roof... ..anyways, here it is looking pretty shonky for now... ..also started on the tail section - this framework is all there is in the card model so used it as a template... ...this is the skin part and the one flimsy stabiliser spar - I marked where the spar should be and cut square holes for a brass stub replacement... ..so it will look like this... ..the skin resists being this shape so I taped it up to the formers ready to hold over a steaming kettle - the long brass tailspar is to ensure that the sternpost does not warp while I do it... ..after steaming the part I leave it in the fridge icebox to set the shape... ..now the part is pretty happily 'moulded' to it's final shape & contour.. ..I need to add more internal structure but this is roughly how it will look attached to the fuselage... ..getting there... ..also used my airmiles this weekend to book a trip for Mrs airscale and I to go to Los Angeles in April - she thinks for a nice break in the Hollywood Hills, what she doesn't know is that I plan to drag us around Chino and the Planes of Fame Museum so I can get up close & personal with a real Tigercat hehehe should get all the references I need for detailing... thats it for now.. TTFN Peter

speechless! Rich - that is a detailing masterclass - bravo there is something about reproducing everything you can get reference for that I personally find really rewarding - to see it done this well is setting the bar to aspire to..I love everything about this build ..and it is wonderful you are talking to Spad owners & aircrew to follow it up too for me this is what it is all about... learning, sharing, building and caring.. Peter

wow - that is simply the biggest kit of anything I have ever seen K2... breathtaking... :popcorn: Peter

thanks chaps, glad this is proving of worth to any of you..,. I am certainly having fun and I would say it has not been difficult so far - yes there are some little tricks I have learnt about pre-bending the skins, score & crack parts close to the line not try & sand to shape, use PrittStick and do not hang about for it to dry as the templates start to peel - but that is it genuinely anyone could do this... anyways - this bit is for Brian... ..I start to see a recognisable shape... ..first I decided I might cast the nose in resin, or at least make a solid part as this will be easier to form and more to the point, heavy.. ..so, cut card profiles by tracing from the plan... ..cut out the wheel bay area and slotted one over the other - marked with a sharpie so I can see the profile and CA'd together... ..offered it up and while it was a simple little stage, I feel very differently when I look at it - it looks like a Tigercat... ....thanks for the tips too guys - I think I will try laminating plastic to fill the 'sags' as the idea of scribing & riveting filler worries me (although the fuselage behind the wings are all raised rivets so not so bad), and I will fill it with that crazy foam stuff to hopefully stop any flexing.. anyways, it was a slow Friday afternoon 'working' from home so thought I would drop in... TTFN Peter

wotcha folks Taff - I may bring whatever there is to Telford, but it sure won't be finished! need to talk to Iain & Roy to see if I can get a spot on the 32SIG WIP stand (even though it's 1/24...) ..got another few sections roughed out and the more it comes together, the more I can see while I might have a vague outline, I don't have the smooth, sleek finish the real aircraft has, so I can see I will likely need to go down a car body filler route to fill the sinks between formers. I will also try filling it with that expanding foam stuff or something as I can see the filler cracking as it flexes - funny having a whole load of new problems to solve - if anyone has any experience with either please chime in ..anyways - this is where I am at - I haven't joined this section yet as I might just have the break here & carry on to the nosecone so I can fit out the cockpit in a while.. ..time to pause & do some thinking... need to work out the best way to get a base fuselage that will need a vac form nosecone, add the tail & stub spars for the stabilisers, get a lot of rough shaping work done so the whole thing is the right shape & in primer, but still be able to access the cockpit.. ..back soon TTFN Peter

jeesh Tom - I am so looking forward to seeing this come together - it is going to be amazing watching you at work again seems the month to go BIG on LSP! love it! I am sure Cees will be along soon with some refs - I know he knows some people from the Stirling Project and think I read over on the Key forum that either he or they just had an exchange visit for parts twitching to see the next update... Peter

thanks chaps - very kind of you to drop in with a few words of encouragement ...not that I seem to need it as this is becoming almost a daily blog things are moving so fast - it is pretty straightforward to build up to now, but as I get closer to the tail things are a bit more nebulous.. ...these parts are it... a sternpost for the rudder, a spar and two ribs for the tailplane (which is the span of a small 1/32 fighter) and a strengthener for the tailhook fitting - the rest is just skinning which may work in paper & card but is not going to cut it in plastic a few scales bigger... ..I decided to move to the front while I thought about it and readied the next section which has the second wing spar... ...and that one joined the rest - alignment by eye again so don't be surprised if it turns out one wing low (eh Tim!).. ..and with what little there is of the tail structure to give an idea an aeroplane will eventually emerge... thats it for today folks - see you soon Peter

oh boy Brian you are nailing this - the interior looks amazing even more so given the challenges in working resin kits & all the prep involved - it has certainly paid off big time here ..really looking forward to every update Peter

evening ladies just a quick one today as I only got time to add another section - this is the last one before the tail which is a more complex structure, so I will start on the forward fuselage and the second wing spar. ..same pattern as before - I now have learnt some short cuts so I guess a section takes about half an hour from start to finish.. ..I have glued all these sections together now and can see there are some issues starting to appear. The main one is some bulging where sections join as the skin bows in from the fuselage former until pushed out by the next one - I am not sure how I will cure this yet as it's not as simple as just sanding them down as I will soon go through the skin. I might start laminating some card on the sinkage areas ready for some industrial sanding later on... ..here is where I am at.. ..and here you can see the bulging - the spine also looks a bit wonky but I can straighten this out with some stock later on (he says...) - it's all assembled by eye so I am hoping I am not too way off on alignment... Thanks Peter - it's nice to be enjoying myself! here is a shot next to the Sea Fury - these four fuselage sections are about the same size... Hi Wolf - thanks for stopping by No, it doesn't look much like a Hornet - in fact my Hornet doesn't look much like a Hornet yet either! Hi Cees - it's hard to say how much easier this is than scratchbuilding in the traditional way as I have never done that either - I do know there is a Hampden kit available, and a Blenheim so if it does work out I have the next few decades building planned out! ..thats it for now my friends.. TTFN Peter

..another section added... ..it's started to get so big I had to get a bigger background.. and where we are vs the plan... ..should have the fuselage done from the rear cockpit bulkhead to the start of the tail in the next few days... TTFN Peter

thanks chaps ..I must admit this is good fun and I hope this comes across in my posts - it's nice to be creative and open my mind to something new.. anyways a bit more done.. because paper is so thin, the pattern parts have tabs you would normally use to join them together, but as I am using 0.7mm plastic to skin the 'cat (and there is more than one way...) I need to add internal tabs like this one... ..the first skin went onto the former fine - I slotted it for the new brass spars too... ..I also bulked up the inside faces to give more strength where the wings will meet - I may yet add more... you can see the bottom join is just taped so it would be flexible enough to close in the next section if I get anything wrong in making it - this turned out to be a good idea... ..onto the next section - this one joins at the fuselage spine and is quite a shape transition from the rounded top of the previous one - I also riveted it as I quite like the reference lines it gives and it only takes a minute while the part is flat.. ..one thing I did try was pre-flexing the card. Before I stuck the paper pattern on, I pulled it backwards & forwards down over the edge of my bench - this made it much more flexible and saved messing about with heat & kettles... ..the finished parts - the funny shaped bit is a really clever template for joining the chine atop the fuselage - it allows a straight fold across a curve - hard to explain but maybe understood in a minute... ..assembling the former & skin - I used tape to hold it while spotting with CA - you can see the curved chine where that support part went at the ytop of the assembly.. ..not too shabby, but I ran a section of square stock in the gap & will refine it when I have all the sections together.. so, first two sections complete - actually they are experimental and are really only a few hours work but I must admit I was worried they wouldn't fit together... ..YEY - success - glad I only taped the lower joint on the first section earlier as it helps easing them together to have this loose.. so I have a bit of 1/24 Tigercat fuselage... ..the theory seems to be working so far and I have to say it's an interesting excercise if I think about where I would be if I were planking a set of formers or something - this way sems to give more immediate results, but alignment may be a problem later on as there is no main known 'keel' or profile you build to anyways, thats it for tonight... TTFN Peter

Thanks all, thanks Tomek - this is really helpful information - you are my bridge between worlds as with your card knowledge I hope you keep an eye on things and keep dropping in with these pearls of wisdom I had seen that online build - quite remarkable and inspired me to give this a shot.. so, day 2 and more experimenting.. ..I realised the little plastic stub wing spars on the part I made last night are going to be totally inadequate for two big wings with resin engines, so bulked up with brass square section - these are supposed to be bent forward on the card model to meet angled wing spars, but then I would not be able to slide the smaller square sections into them to mate the wings so have already deviated from the plans I will have to engineer something later.. ..as it is I bent the dihedral and masked up the part to avoid getting glue where I don't want it and epoxied it in place... ..I also went to my LHS for some plastic card as I am going to need quite a bit - unfortunately he only had 0.7mm which is pretty thick and 0.15 which is too thin to skin.. ..I tried with a bit of 0.7mm as I want a solid structure, so forst up was to stick the paper patterns down - the notched part is there to support one fuselage section meeting the next... ..as I was experimenting I decided to use the rivet pattern on the printout to add some & see if it was worthwhile. I also scored the white wing areas which proved to be a mistake as will be seen later... ..got some thin card to make the joiner bit... ..no, it's not a Vulcan Bird of Prey, it's the part on my drafting pencil which seems to have the same radius as the bend I needed at the fuselage spine - I taped it on and tried holding it over a boiling kettle to heat the plastic & make the bend... ..it worked, but I have also been playing about just doing it cold over the edge of my workbench edge so will try that on the next part. I got a round handle and spent 10 mins trying to round the lower sections - thats when the scored wing parts cracked so won't be doing that again... ..it's starting to take it's final form and is very rigid so will take handling, sanding, shaping, scribing & riveting when all the sections come together (he says...)... ..I also checked how it would mate to the next section with a dummy part - learnt it's likely not worth riveting as even as a guide it will be lost in final sanding - the butt joint looks like it will be pretty strong - I just wonder what using such thick skin will do to the pattern parts as they all assume the thickness of paper so stuff is likely to get out of whack from here... ..still - it's good fun, challenging and likely hugely over ambitious - but then I have always been a bit like that... TTFN Peter

Hey Taff - can't wait to see what you do with this... ..especially the cockpit - I am wondering if it is a breach of the trade description act to actually call it that until you work your magic! all the best :popcorn: Peter

wow she is a beauty Peter.. the finish is perfect - I wish I could get even close to that kind of quality tuning into the F4U now for more inspiration! Peter

wow - thanks guys! I hope this lives up to your interest ..so, day one, part number one completed - the first of many I suspect. I am learning stuff already, firstly this is a lot more agricultural than cutting a part off the sprue but then thats what I signed up for.. ..so I got the printing back - I just had it copied in black & white and upscaled 137.5% to get from 1/33 to 1/24 scale - 3 copies of each sheet and the 3-view blown up to full scale cost me £24.50, plus the $30 for the 'kit' so comparable to a low end 1/32 kit (takes cover at this point...) I got these sheets of 1.5mm card at Shoreham Airshow last weekend and thought the main spar structural bulkheads should be this beefy stuff so started there - part 6a. I used a paper glue here in the UK called PrittStick to glue the paper template to the card... ..then I used a scalpel and steel rule to score the straight edges and where these met the curved fuselage section - a pair of pliers were used to bend and crack the plastic and lesson one was learnt where care is needed with such thick card not to have the break of the cut 'eat' into the part you are trying to make... ..ended up with a rough shape - my olfa cutter didn't like cutting through the paper & it tore the template a bit when cutting the circle in the middle, but did enough to leave a score line to work with... ..I used a french curve to score the fuselage shape, but soon realised it was easier to do this freehand & leave a mm around the edge to break away the waste... ..out with the industrial tools - I used a home sander to finish the edges to the profile - noisy work on a Friday night so I only got one part done tonight - I think I will rough cut a bunch of parts and finish with this at a more sociable hour... ..I couldn't break out the circle in the middle so scored it and chain drilled a segment so I could get in with some small pliers & start breaking them out... ..filed & sanded all the edges for a square finish... ..I also scored the centreline of the part before peeling off the template, PrittStick doesn't seem to leave a residue so is ideal for the job... ..and there we have it - one part in about 20 - 25 minutes... only another few hundred days to go... ..so far all is going according to plan (ahem, for now) ..she is a big girl though - here is the plan with a six inch rule & a pot of tamiya paint ...back soon - hopefully with an assembly of some sort.. TTFN Peter

Thanks Tomek - I am going to trust the design and try not to get too hung up on the outline too much - if I see a mistake I will correct it, but on the whole I have decided this is an experiment rather than a foray into 'true scale'. that said, I know what I am like and will probably still go mad on details etc Thanks Brian - I think I am actually building this with you in mind! I know as well as anyone how much you love the 'cat - what I didn't know was you had built such a superb model of one though - any WIP anywhere? I can see I will be coming to you for colour details etc though! Thanks for the offer of plans - I will see how I get on with what I have and will let you know Thanks Mark - when I was at the printer this morning I asked for the 3 view to be blown up to 654.1mm wingspan which matches my refs (15.8m real size) - this compares pretty well with the Airfix Mossie at 688mm span and 522mm Length (vs 654mm & 574mm for the Tigercat) I am just waiting for them to call so i can go get the print outs and the starting gun will go... TTFN Peter