brahman104

Hahaha, you can rest assured Tom. I'll refrain from subjecting you to any more torture Keep up the awesome work! Craig

That is nails man! (sorry couldn't help it!). In all seriousness though Tom, great idea and as always, well executed. Love it! Craig

Did I ever mention I hate sanding? Despite my best efforts to mask any gap up, inevitably dust still got inside. Hopefully there's not too much and I can still remove most it at a later date.... Anyway, with most of the seams more or less level (doesn't have to be super smooth as it getting covered) I proceeded to install the bathtub. I didn't take too many in progress photos of the side windows, but they were cut down and filed/polished from a 6mm thick acrylic disc. Why 6mm? I had some laser cut material left over that was exactly the right diameter, so I cut the piece in two and made two windows. I'm sure there was a quicker/easier way, but that's me to a tee! With a skin panel diagram of all the fuselage panels, I set about marking out by eye mostly the locations for each panel. I got it wrong a few times so that's the lines you see scribbled out. Even though the diagram is good, it still pays to check back and forth between photos too. But it's a pretty good guide to work off; even though it doesn't have dimensions, you can sort of work it out based on how many segments there are, and of course thy run between fuselage stations, so that bit's easy! I've also been sorting out the tail fairings. These will need to be made larger in time, but for now it's good enough to the underlying panels to go on. I believe next post we will finally see some skin panels being applied! Yay! Cheers, Craig

Looking good Brian! Craig

Awesome thread! Loving the descriptions and photos so far. Cheers, Craig

I've always had an idea that if you could make a special nozzle to put on the end of a filament 3D printer that had the cross section of a wire bundle (i think you would have to EDM it due to its size, and have several nozzles for different wire bundle sizes) then you simply extrude miles of them as ABS/PLA (much like a never ending piping bag for a cake). They would be flexible enough to go around curves etc too. I've always wanted to try it, but couldn't figure out a way to make a custom nozzle for my 3D printer. Craig

Hey Jay, thanks so much! I certainly hope I can turn the mess into a Gem! There's quite a lot riding on the exterior finish to achieve the overall look, but I'm certainly excited to at last be able to get to grips with it. Yeah it's crazy to think what has happened in that time! You are absolutely correct; lucky you and I are not in the business of commission modelling..... we'd either be broke or very rich!!! Many thanks Kev!!! You were the very first person to comment on this build thanks for sticking by me all these years!!! I'm working on the installing the bathtub now, hopefully more pics to follow soon! Craig

Hey Geoff, Not sure if I've done this right, but this is how I am currently doing my raised rivets on my B-17. I step through how I do it, which is basically an extension of what you've thinking, but once the metal surrounding the rivet is pushed back down around it, it becomes much sharper and clearer than just simply pushing it through from the back. Hope this helps! Craig

Thanks Maru!!!!! Craig

Great work on the figures! Craig

That is super cool Jay! The canvas came out perfectly I've gotta say I've been there with parts like that Web.... real chicken and egg stuff! You continually amaze/impress Jay. Those decals are ace too!!!! Craig

Hi Geoff, Similar to Derek's suggestion above, instead of using solder beads, use small lengths of 0.3mm solder inserted into drilled holes and then trimmed to uniform length by using a piece of PE (or similar thickness) as a guide. I've seen a guy of FB achieve some amazing results this way over the top of foiled finishes. While I haven't tried it myself, I will be in the near future. Note: These are not my photos, so I hope the owner won't be upset. Merely sharing these to illustrate the technique..... 0.3mm solder lengths. Holes drilled in rivet locations Solder glued into holes with super glue And trimmed with a razor blade using the PE as a height guage Can be applied to all areas Results speak for themselves! Up to you but this is what I would do in your shoes. Best technique I've seen to date! Hope this helps, Craig

Thanks so much Mark! Absolutely Matt! Thanks for being part of the journey so far! Hahaha! I wish Tom, but while it's definitely a lot closer, there a lot more to go yet! Absolutely Terry! There was certainly more than a few moments of "what have I missed?" going on before the last close up. As you said, there will definitely be parts where I'll see something I've missed, but a project like this could go on forever; it's important to tie it off somewhere and stick to the game plan . I've made extra checks on the wiring to ensure that the interior is well lit, and spending an entire day cleaning the windows has certainly paid off now. Just gotta keep that dust out! Thank you Maru! I certainly appreciate the support and encouragement you've given to me over the years. I definitely owe us all a finished fort!! Cheers guys, Craig

Love the weathering! Craig

Absolutely marvelous Tom! The floats look bang on, as does the tube sections for the struts. You really make vac forms look easy! Craig