JayW

Wow - it's been a minute Guy.  That wing, when you pan back a bit, looks like a real wing.  It's just spectacular.  You have a gigantic project going here, glad to see you are back in business!

And you guys thought I'd given up......
 
Nope, she's still going. Getting towards the end on one entire wing, top and bottom! It's been a slog and there's a whole other wing to do yet, but the optimist in me says that I'm halfway. 
 
At least now I'm doing the leading edge I can finally start doing some recessed rivets.....These are like a dream compared to the 8 gazillion raised ones I've done so far. A tricky challenge on the latest point has been trying to shape a single piece of skin to fit in between the two nacelles, as there's a whole heap of different geometry going on there. I got it close, but the saving grace will be the strips running around the edges of the nacelles which will (hopefully) hide any gaps. Overall I'm pretty chuffed; just trying to get a panel done, whenever I can.
 
On the flip side, I've still got a long way to go before I really have to think about where to put it once it's done! 
 
Cheers
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Barracuda wheels turned out well:
 

 
And I had to check out the Tiffies in my new (not yet fully assembled) IKEA Rudsta cabinet:
 



 
The wheels look in proportion.  

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

Thanks Peter for the tip. Yes, I agree with you. I have been struggling with this problem since the beginning of my project, at the latest when I realized that there are small discrepancies between A. Bentley's and original drawings. I also check with the dimensions - just as you mention. Unfortunately, the dimensions on some of the drawings are illegible, so I can only guess and compare.
regards
Thomas
 

fantastic work, truly superb
 
I am sure you do this already, but I learned the hard way so will share with others - when you have original drawings like this, ALWAYS, and I mean always check both the lateral and vertical dimensions where stated are what they are. Just an example of each will do. So if it says 15 inches, is that still 15 inches when relative to a vertical measurement. I learned the hard way that digital repro's of these sorts of drawings get all sorts of distortions. For example I am working with Typhoon drawings and every single one is squashed laterally no matter where I got it...
 
Peter

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

Here in western TN, USA, I have the opposite going on.  In the heat of the day, everyone who is sane, or who doesn't have to, stays indoors.  So I get some of my best modeling time during the summer.  😁

Since it's been a couple of months since my last post, I thought I'd give an "update" of sorts if anybody cares, to confirm that this build is still alive, but with warm weather finally here, my modeling has ground to a halt like it always does during our short Canadian summers.  When I model I want to be totally focused on the task at hand, which probably won't happen until at least October when indoor activities are more attractive than chilly outdoor ones.   🥶
 
In the meantime, thanks for your continued interest as I plod along.
 

 

 
Cheers,
Chuck

The seat has yet to be installed, used the Eduard PE set as well as some ANYZ to dress up the cockpit.  
Still have some work to go on the bottom.

Almost done with this one, couple of shots as finishing is in the final stages.

I’m very relieved to announce  that she’s finally up on her legs, not terribly elegant looking right now but all seems well:
 

 

 


Still a long way to go and still a dilemma about the wheel covers, but one step at a time! 
 
I'm watching, and very tempted by, another MDC Typhoon on eBay, I have made a silly offer and if accepted another Tiffy will be added to the stable!

A bit more, hopefully correct, progress.  The length of the main oleo is a bit of an imponderable, Peter's 3D printed ones are understandably overlength so I needed to adapt them to the MDC kit seating shape and depth within the wing.  This latter aspect concerned me the most, but when thinking around it I concluded that its (most likely ) length would be determined by the other parts of the mechanism, most of which aren’t easily seen.  Hopefully this pic illustrates it:
 

 
If location points 1 and 2, then 3 and 4 which are moulded in the wing are right, then 5 (the MDC/Airscale interface) must be right?  And this then determines how the oleo sits. 
 



 
I haven't really tested its strength yet......
 
A few pics culled and cropped from some on Ebay today:
 





 
Armourers getting some 1000lbers ready for an op., 193 Squadron MN982.  Two points strike me; firstly how the D obscures the middle digit of the serial number in the first photo, and in the second the port squadron codes are painted the other way round to the norm, so X-DP rather than DP-X.  These codes were applied at squadron level so 193 had their own method!
 

Thanks once again Dennis and Alan, much appreciated. Found this useful reference pic last night:
 

 
and whilst I had the Tiffy upside down in the jig I thought I’d test the fit of the lower parts of the Sabre. The aft end of the scoop couldn’t fit because I hadn’t cut enough of the fuselage underside away  so it was out with a sharp knife and razor saw for some delicate surgery. Needs a lot of tidying up, as do the wing roots, but it’s now more promising:
 

 

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

Those racks are very Art Deco.  Right in there with the Cord automobile and the Chrysler Building.  

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

So y'all didn't think I was finished did you?  
 
The bomb racks and the 75 gallon tanks have been occupying me lately.  I realized fairly quickly that if I am to make removable 75 gallon tanks a reality, then I have to integrate the design of both.  So I have begun the design of the bomb racks from scratch - a Rhino adventure extraordinaire, what with the teardrop shaped sway brace cross-sections and ends, and their faired connection to the rack housing.  And also the tanks from scratch - easier.  Some guesswork on the tanks; no guesswork on the racks.  Here is what I have so far:
 

 
Parts will be printed up in the next few days I think.  Will report out soon as I can.  Then it will be RFI.

Something curious has come up WRT the bomb rack sway braces.  Here is a picture from the installation drawing 97-63001, which shows the threaded sway brace bolts:
 
 
 
The bolts are merely 4 1/2 inch long fully threaded bolts with a spherical head on them, 3/8 inch diameter.  They look perfectly suitable for carrying bombs, which have hard thick casings.  And these bomb racks were designed for bombs, not drop tanks.  Even though we all know that as the war progressed, they were used primarily for drop tanks for long escort missions.
 
Now look at this picture of Lope's Hope:
 
  
 
Note the more familiar (at least to me) large diameter swiveling pads instead of the small diameter spherical bolt heads.  More suitable, it seems to me, for the combat drop tanks which no doubt had thinner walls that might not do well with the small diameter spherical bolt heads. 
 
I cannot find anything in the P-51 drawing system that defines these sway brace bolts with the large pads.   However I am all but certain they replaced the spherical bolt head type at some point.
 
Can anyone help?  

OBG,  gave up static scenes awhile ago. The creative juices are always cooking up another idea. Some get built, some get doodled, some die on the vine.

I don’t have enough space to display it all for certain.This is my main display case-thinking about making a bigger one to help contain it all.

If they don’t fit there, this is kind of the junkyard area (and why I need a bigger cabinet) (that’s the Airfix Hellcat for perspective)

Lately, I’ve started making wall mounted displays. These 2 are 1/48th and are part of my I love me wall. 

 
And @John1, it’ll be gray and white with a tail hook…we were discussing it a few pages back.
More once that front soonest, as construction has already commenced!
-Peter