JayW

Yahoo!!! Awesome flaps my friend. Will you actually make a flap hinge? I did, and it was more trouble than it was worth IMO. But it did assure the flap was oriented correctly in the hole. Also, I am very interested in what you want to do at the fillet fairing. Flap actuation on the real airplane is accomplished by a hydraulic actuator in the fuselage under the floor (or under the radio racks). IT drives a torque tube (104-52608) that has an arm on either side which engages the flap drive fitting (which you have created so beautifully) via a push rod (either side). See 102-52001. This push rod (73-52622) is visible under the fillet fairing. I did a lousy job with that push rod on Miss Velma. But at least it is represented. Wondering what your plan is.

Corsair. Mmmmmmm. I'll be watching. I am doing a -1A in 1/18 scale, will be done sometime this century.

Peter - I did not see any pics of the underside of the aileron. Did you do the tab control rod and associated bracketry? Control rod is 102-52577, next higher assembly wing install 102-10001.

Wonderful Ailerons Peter. Nothing like Aircorps Library, huh? That plus some amazing skills on your part result in shrink ray modeling! Looking forward to seeing the flaps soon. Will you show them full down? It is my understanding that a P-51's hydraulic system was such that if left alone for a while, flaps would naturally sink down even if left flaps up initially. Looks like flaps full down is 47 deg per general arrangement drawing 106-10001. That is for P-51D, but the flap is the same for B, C, D, K, so I am pretty sure flap travel is the same. I seem to recall I could not find a B-model general arrangement drawing. But there may be one.

thought I replied, but I don't see it. Oh well - uh Peter, have not done much. I get some time, and it slips away. But it is nagging at me more and more, so it is just about time. Especially if I know there are expectant colleagues! Thanks for checking in.

I echo the statement that like all airplane accidents we must find out why. And maybe we can make some improvements. I am not for eliminating rides on vintage aircraft. I flew on Aluminum Overcast some years ago, and I would hate to rob others of such an awesome experience.

When you began this, I didn't realize that you intended to completely skin this thing. What a challenge - but you have turned it into an artform. Well done my friend.

Peter - the aft wing/body fillet panel looks fantabulous! If you are planning to display your flaps in a deployed position, the flap actuator and its attachment to the flap itself is situated just inboard of that fillet panel and visible, and must be modeled right. Finding the right drawings so as to lay it all out, I seem to recall, is a bit of a chore. I can help if you wish, as I kept paper copies of practically every drawing I used for Miss Velma. It is important to make the cutout in the panel and fuselage skin right, so now is the time to check. And it is important to make the inboard end of the flap accurate (something rarely done in the world of P-51 modeling). It is not simple, and it was an especially interesting part of the Miss Velma build years ago. Here was my attempt (it turned out just fine):

You have captured the look of the B-model windshield/canopy perfectly far as I can tell. That is no small feat! Congrats.

A fine job on those exhaust slot cowling panels (an understatement). I have many questions (exhaust stacks, wing/fuselage fillet fairings), but I think I am just going to wait and see. I have faith in you Peter.

Oh how right you are Peter. You no doubt realize what I am up against. Ah yes resin molding. I still have my alumilite kit from the P-47 effort. You may recall I resin molded a prop blade with good results (after a second try, the first being a failure), and some complete cylinders - none of the cylinders for that effort came out very well, and those that I used were on the back row of the R-2800, where they could not be as well seen. It could be that limiting the mold to the cylinder head instead of the entire cylinder would be a step in the right direction. Minimum thickness is 0.01 inch for the cyl. head, whereas the lower cylinder minimum thickness is 0.005 for the cooling fins. That thin, and the molding process just breaks down, especially with multiple use of the mold. The tiny reverse cooling fins on the mold tend to tear off during demolding. At least that is what I experienced on the P-47. Perhaps a 2-part mold of the cylinder head only could solve some of the material flow issues, but I doubt it would solve the mold durability issue. Asking a rubber mold to make 8 parts with 0.01 inch fin gages is alot to ask. Perhaps it is worth a try. Thank you for suggesting it. And, perhaps the kit you linked to is actually better than the one I got from Hobby Lobby! But at a minimum, I am going to build another master. I think I can improve on the one you see. And maybe I try using it as a master for a mold.

Yeah Peter - this model in addition to the jaw dropping detail looks like it's going to capture the look and feel of the B-model. Not all great modelling efforts end up looking right from 20 feet away.

Craig - this looks like the most extensive project I've ever seen. You should guesstimate part count sometime! See if it's more than my P-38 with the LG door scissor hinges.

Got a kick out of this post. Yeah that's a problem! I have a couple of 1/32 scales displayed in the living room above the TV on open shelves in the entertainment center hutch. They are not intrusive or ugly, and kinda add to the decor of the den. My wife even likes them (some). But these monsters? I don't want to sell or give to a museum - I want to keep them forever. But even the smallest (the Mustang) is huge compared to the largest 1/32 model. I had some quarter circle shelves built for two corners of my office, which almost do the trick: Even then the wings protrude a bit, and I dread the day when someone (not me) comes in the office and accidentally knocks one off the shelf. I could re-position the shelves higher I suppose. But the cockpits are a treat at this scale, and would not be visible. Then again, if higher the wheel bays would be more visible. It's the P-38 that is the real problem. Even with one of the wings removed at the tail boom, it is still larger than either the P-51 or P-47, mostly due to its length and the twin tails. It currently resides on top of a big shelf unit, not well seen, and gathering dust. Not good. The Corsair is going to be easier, because it is about the same length as the Mustang, and the wings can be folded.

I want to establish the baseline for this R-2800 build - which is the R-2800 build I did for my P-47D. So I include some pics of the finished product: The Corsair R-2800 will also have the aft part of the engine including the carburetor. The exhaust stacks will look completely different from the P-47's, and the ignition system will be completely different, making the front end look different. The rest will be identical except with corrected errors. The original was a huge adventure, this one will be "huger" still!

Wow! The summer is just about gone! I have been doing alot - just not modelling. Not much anyway. So the first major Corsair project is going to be the R-2800. It will be a massive scratch build project, even larger than the one I did for the P-47 a couple years ago that some of you are aware of. That engine turned out pretty good, but it had some errors that I intend to address this time around. I intend for this Corsair to have a fully displayed engine right from the start so it has to be good, with corrected errors. Some of the errors centered around the cylinder heads and rocker arm covers, which are very visible with cowlings off. So I did alot of picture studying, learned some things, and went to work developing a front row cylinder head with improvements over the P-47 effort. First a typical R-2800 picture: If you look closely you will see that the intake side of the cylinder head doesn't look quite like the exhaust side. It's different on the back side too. Here is the first of 9 front row cylinder heads, basically complete: There are so many parts here - it's just remarkable. So daunting to think I have 8 more to go, but I will do it on and off again. The back row cylinders are a little different - there will be 9 of them also. Of note - the spark plug depressions on each side, the bolt-on rocker arm covers, the rocker arm shaft hardware, and the intake/exhaust openings on the aft side. The basic cylinder head is made mostly from 0.01 thick plastic sheet. Of course, these cylinder heads mount on top of the basic cylinders - which are build-ups of 0.005 inch thick plastic round sheet. I know what many of you will say! 3D print! But I have to purchase and learn a CAD program, and frankly I am not sure if this shape will do well 3D printed. Will the fin edges do OK? I'd love to tell you another update comes soon. We'll see. Happy modelling! And thanks for looking in.

Great footage from Oshkosh! I once saw something similar in person in Arlington WA - Paul Allen's FHC Mustang and Spit. Those aircraft can buzz the field with the best of them.

Modelling at a level unseen by my eyes! What fun watching!

Yahooo!!!! What an effort on the windshield and coaming Peter! Shrink ray!

The windshield looks to be a major challenge. It was a shortcoming of sorts on my 1/18 P-51D which has an entirely different windshield. And I overcame it by completely scratch building the wind shield. It was entirely single curvature (or nearly so) - which allowed me to simply roll form the "glass" from thin gage clear plastic, as opposed to a vac form. The periphery trim being the biggest challenge - to mate it to the existing shape on the fuselage, and the posts and frame. Also, I took that opportunity to make the posts and aft frame in such a way that they would accept the "glass", and look like the separate parts that they truly are. This also allowed me to use thick gage clear plastic for the bullet-proof flat screen. With the exception of the small upper compound-curved segment (which would require a vac form), you could do the same thing if you wanted. Oh what a project it would be - but with your mad skills anything is possible! However I have no doubt you will make it look totally real no matter what method you choose.

The seat belts are just a big double-take. Your effort so far is the most realistic model I've ever seen. Keep it up. Oh, and the wheel/tire combo 3d Cad model is amazing.

You are no doubt your own worst critic Peter. To me it looks like a picture of the real thing. Way to go! It's hard to get the texture of a wrinkly cushion - that's about the best effort I have seen.

Superb looking IP! On Miss Velma (1/18 D-model) I worked like the devil on the cockpit digitally modelling it so as to prevent mistakes. But for reasons of file size, I split the cockpit and fuselage tank areas into two, creating two separate CAD models, with the boundary somewhere around the front of the pilot seat. That, combined with inherent inaccuracies with the fuselage, gave me about a .06 inch length error and resulted in a clash between the fuel selector panel and control lock mechanism in front of the stick. I just screwed up, that's all. But it forced me to have to scramble! That's a tight clearance even without the error. Make sure you have that all correct!

Oh yeah GIANT thumbs up on the rudder pedals. How did you create the printing? And BTW - you will have to be satisfied that they are there - they are all but invisible in my Miss Velma!

Lathe? Can you show us some pictures of your lathe?