JayW

GULP....WOW!

I have for the better part of the day been studying pictures of cockpits with the Malcolm hood modification.  As you are probably aware by now, the hood travels on rollers that are attached to a rather prominent rail on either side of the fuselage exterior.  To drive the hood back and forth, there are two sets of chains and sprockets in the inside of the cockpit, nested between flanges on the upper longerons.  And driven by a hand crank handle.  Like so:
 

 
What a challenge to properly represent all that clap trap.  Already I have learned that the recongition light switch box must be relocated to clear the handle crank on the RH side.  Now, I have discovered something else very curious.  Take a look at these two pictures.
 
One - 
 
  
 
Those are outlet ducts for the pilots' heating system, right at the pilot's shoulders peaking out from behind teh armor plate (armor plate and seat not in this picture).  They are attached to the upper longerons and the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from the Lope's Hope P-51C resto - which does NOT have a Malcolm hood. 
 
Two -  
 
  
 
This shows the aft end of the Malcolm hood chain drive, with a small sprocket and a connector shaft to the other side and teh other chain.  The support fitting is mounted on the upper longeron, and is directly in front of the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from a resto with a Malcolm hood, and in process.
 
Both items are in the same place!   What gives?  Were these ducts relocated in some fashion?  Anybody know?  Some of my period pictures suggest maybe they were just removed and the holes plugged.   If so - what a penalty.  Cold pilots.     

OK Troy:
 

 

 

 
This is going to be a long journey.  

I have updates.  My plan the last few weeks has been to finish up the "blue noser" painting, out of fear that the paint would degrade over time, and it will take a long amount of time to finish the fuselage to a point where the paint would ordinarily be applied.  To do that, I wanted to finish up the windshield surround and instrument panel assembly prior to painting, in order to minimize handling the (fragile) painted surface. 
 
Last we visited the IP and windshield surround was Feb 1, where I posted this picture:
 
   
 
Now, I have this:
 

 
Added is a bunch of stuff below the IP:
 
Armament switch panel
Pilot's center switch box
Fuel shutoff bracket and handle
Fuel selector panel and handle
Hydraulic pressure gauge and bracket
Landing gear door emergency release handle
 
A close-up:
 

 
 
My stuff is never perfect, like some modelers on this site somehow accomplish, but this is the best I have done so far.  I'm good with it.  All these items should be familiar to the P-51 enthusiast.  All parts (with just a couple of minor exceptions) were 3D printed from the drawings, like usual.  The switch covers, turn knobs, handles and such were done separately and then bonded onto the panels, brackets, and boxes.  And, I will say again because it deserves repeating - Peter Castle is reponsible for the outstanding decals.  It must have taken him months to work it all out and have them printed.
 
Also, there were a couple of items added to the RH windshield frame:
 

 
They are:
 
Type C-5 fluorescent lamp
Recognition light switch box
 
Also 3D printed.  Very difficult and delicate installations with small parts.  I might add - this is the first of my 1/18 scale models where I have decent thumb switches.  Up til this point I have cut off bits of wire to do them, which is OK until you look closely.  Then not so much.  These however are 3D printed.  And as long as I am careful not to break them, they are fine.  MUCH better.  I will also add that upon studying for the upcoming Malcolm hood drive mechanism, I found that part of the field mod was to relocate the recognition light switch box further forward - the very same part that I worked so hard installing!  Grrr.  Wish I had noticed that earlier.  The reason - the box interferes with the opening/closing hand crank for the hood.  This:
 

 
I will have to follow suit and break off and relocate the switch box. 
 
And then, it was time for the blue paint.  Assemble the forward fuselage with engine cowl onto the jig, and mask the critical paint boundary:
 
  
 
Here she is:
 

 

 
The masks for the white crosses are from Thunnus - provided to me quite a while back.  Thanks John!
 
Here is what it is all going to look like:
 
   
 

 

 
I might add a semigloss coat to the new paint.  I think that's what I did with the engine cowl, and it should better the match.  BTW - the paint showed zero signs of degradation.  I guess I didn't have to go out of sequence, but I also would have fretted about it.  Now I don't have to. 
 
Lastly for this update - the Shapeways rear windows came in the mail:
 

 
  "Diamonds in the rough".  And a bit pricey.  They will polish up very nicely I guarantee.  Recall the ones I printed off myself didn't fit very well; these fit perfectly:
 

 
It is going to be a while before you see that crown part of the fuselage in action.  First will be the lower radio floor and fuselage tank, and then the upper radio rack and the SCR-522 radio equipment and the battery.  All in future installments.  
 
I believe the next step should be the Malcolm hood drive mechanism.  It will be all guesswork - whatever I can glean from the photographs I have.  I'm excited about it. And hope to have a great update in a couple weeks.  Take care all, and thanks for tuning in.   
 
 
 
 
  
 

The heater outlets are defined on drawings - they are part of the production airplane.  The Malcolm hood mod however is just that - a mod.  And no drawings are available. 
 
But wait!  I think I have it solved, and the solution was in my pictures all along:
 
 
 

 
LH side, the flex tube is attached to a convenient fuselage frame further forward.  RH side, the flex tube is routed under the map case forward to an empty spot on a radio mounting bracket.  I can do that! 
 
This is from a modern resto, so I am going to have to hope it fairly well represents what was actually done back when.  I am going to declare the mystery solved though.

I have for the better part of the day been studying pictures of cockpits with the Malcolm hood modification.  As you are probably aware by now, the hood travels on rollers that are attached to a rather prominent rail on either side of the fuselage exterior.  To drive the hood back and forth, there are two sets of chains and sprockets in the inside of the cockpit, nested between flanges on the upper longerons.  And driven by a hand crank handle.  Like so:
 

 
What a challenge to properly represent all that clap trap.  Already I have learned that the recongition light switch box must be relocated to clear the handle crank on the RH side.  Now, I have discovered something else very curious.  Take a look at these two pictures.
 
One - 
 
  
 
Those are outlet ducts for the pilots' heating system, right at the pilot's shoulders peaking out from behind teh armor plate (armor plate and seat not in this picture).  They are attached to the upper longerons and the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from the Lope's Hope P-51C resto - which does NOT have a Malcolm hood. 
 
Two -  
 
  
 
This shows the aft end of the Malcolm hood chain drive, with a small sprocket and a connector shaft to the other side and teh other chain.  The support fitting is mounted on the upper longeron, and is directly in front of the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from a resto with a Malcolm hood, and in process.
 
Both items are in the same place!   What gives?  Were these ducts relocated in some fashion?  Anybody know?  Some of my period pictures suggest maybe they were just removed and the holes plugged.   If so - what a penalty.  Cold pilots.     

The heater outlets are defined on drawings - they are part of the production airplane.  The Malcolm hood mod however is just that - a mod.  And no drawings are available. 
 
But wait!  I think I have it solved, and the solution was in my pictures all along:
 
 
 

 
LH side, the flex tube is attached to a convenient fuselage frame further forward.  RH side, the flex tube is routed under the map case forward to an empty spot on a radio mounting bracket.  I can do that! 
 
This is from a modern resto, so I am going to have to hope it fairly well represents what was actually done back when.  I am going to declare the mystery solved though.

The heater outlets are defined on drawings - they are part of the production airplane.  The Malcolm hood mod however is just that - a mod.  And no drawings are available. 
 
But wait!  I think I have it solved, and the solution was in my pictures all along:
 
 
 

 
LH side, the flex tube is attached to a convenient fuselage frame further forward.  RH side, the flex tube is routed under the map case forward to an empty spot on a radio mounting bracket.  I can do that! 
 
This is from a modern resto, so I am going to have to hope it fairly well represents what was actually done back when.  I am going to declare the mystery solved though.

The heater outlets are defined on drawings - they are part of the production airplane.  The Malcolm hood mod however is just that - a mod.  And no drawings are available. 
 
But wait!  I think I have it solved, and the solution was in my pictures all along:
 
 
 

 
LH side, the flex tube is attached to a convenient fuselage frame further forward.  RH side, the flex tube is routed under the map case forward to an empty spot on a radio mounting bracket.  I can do that! 
 
This is from a modern resto, so I am going to have to hope it fairly well represents what was actually done back when.  I am going to declare the mystery solved though.

I have for the better part of the day been studying pictures of cockpits with the Malcolm hood modification.  As you are probably aware by now, the hood travels on rollers that are attached to a rather prominent rail on either side of the fuselage exterior.  To drive the hood back and forth, there are two sets of chains and sprockets in the inside of the cockpit, nested between flanges on the upper longerons.  And driven by a hand crank handle.  Like so:
 

 
What a challenge to properly represent all that clap trap.  Already I have learned that the recongition light switch box must be relocated to clear the handle crank on the RH side.  Now, I have discovered something else very curious.  Take a look at these two pictures.
 
One - 
 
  
 
Those are outlet ducts for the pilots' heating system, right at the pilot's shoulders peaking out from behind teh armor plate (armor plate and seat not in this picture).  They are attached to the upper longerons and the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from the Lope's Hope P-51C resto - which does NOT have a Malcolm hood. 
 
Two -  
 
  
 
This shows the aft end of the Malcolm hood chain drive, with a small sprocket and a connector shaft to the other side and teh other chain.  The support fitting is mounted on the upper longeron, and is directly in front of the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from a resto with a Malcolm hood, and in process.
 
Both items are in the same place!   What gives?  Were these ducts relocated in some fashion?  Anybody know?  Some of my period pictures suggest maybe they were just removed and the holes plugged.   If so - what a penalty.  Cold pilots.     

Excellent work so far Jay! Looks great!
 
Håkan
 

Regarding heating outlets or chain drive, I wonder what do the drawings show?

This is an epic build Jay, love each an every update! What you have done with the clear canopy parts is just incredible!
 
Regards. Andy 

Unbelievable, Jay!
 
Kev

Just magnificent.

Another fantastic update Jay!  The IP section and windscreen look great!  Looking forward to seeing how you polish out those rear windows
 
 
 
Matt 

I have updates.  My plan the last few weeks has been to finish up the "blue noser" painting, out of fear that the paint would degrade over time, and it will take a long amount of time to finish the fuselage to a point where the paint would ordinarily be applied.  To do that, I wanted to finish up the windshield surround and instrument panel assembly prior to painting, in order to minimize handling the (fragile) painted surface. 
 
Last we visited the IP and windshield surround was Feb 1, where I posted this picture:
 
   
 
Now, I have this:
 

 
Added is a bunch of stuff below the IP:
 
Armament switch panel
Pilot's center switch box
Fuel shutoff bracket and handle
Fuel selector panel and handle
Hydraulic pressure gauge and bracket
Landing gear door emergency release handle
 
A close-up:
 

 
 
My stuff is never perfect, like some modelers on this site somehow accomplish, but this is the best I have done so far.  I'm good with it.  All these items should be familiar to the P-51 enthusiast.  All parts (with just a couple of minor exceptions) were 3D printed from the drawings, like usual.  The switch covers, turn knobs, handles and such were done separately and then bonded onto the panels, brackets, and boxes.  And, I will say again because it deserves repeating - Peter Castle is reponsible for the outstanding decals.  It must have taken him months to work it all out and have them printed.
 
Also, there were a couple of items added to the RH windshield frame:
 

 
They are:
 
Type C-5 fluorescent lamp
Recognition light switch box
 
Also 3D printed.  Very difficult and delicate installations with small parts.  I might add - this is the first of my 1/18 scale models where I have decent thumb switches.  Up til this point I have cut off bits of wire to do them, which is OK until you look closely.  Then not so much.  These however are 3D printed.  And as long as I am careful not to break them, they are fine.  MUCH better.  I will also add that upon studying for the upcoming Malcolm hood drive mechanism, I found that part of the field mod was to relocate the recognition light switch box further forward - the very same part that I worked so hard installing!  Grrr.  Wish I had noticed that earlier.  The reason - the box interferes with the opening/closing hand crank for the hood.  This:
 

 
I will have to follow suit and break off and relocate the switch box. 
 
And then, it was time for the blue paint.  Assemble the forward fuselage with engine cowl onto the jig, and mask the critical paint boundary:
 
  
 
Here she is:
 

 

 
The masks for the white crosses are from Thunnus - provided to me quite a while back.  Thanks John!
 
Here is what it is all going to look like:
 
   
 

 

 
I might add a semigloss coat to the new paint.  I think that's what I did with the engine cowl, and it should better the match.  BTW - the paint showed zero signs of degradation.  I guess I didn't have to go out of sequence, but I also would have fretted about it.  Now I don't have to. 
 
Lastly for this update - the Shapeways rear windows came in the mail:
 

 
  "Diamonds in the rough".  And a bit pricey.  They will polish up very nicely I guarantee.  Recall the ones I printed off myself didn't fit very well; these fit perfectly:
 

 
It is going to be a while before you see that crown part of the fuselage in action.  First will be the lower radio floor and fuselage tank, and then the upper radio rack and the SCR-522 radio equipment and the battery.  All in future installments.  
 
I believe the next step should be the Malcolm hood drive mechanism.  It will be all guesswork - whatever I can glean from the photographs I have.  I'm excited about it. And hope to have a great update in a couple weeks.  Take care all, and thanks for tuning in.   
 
 
 
 
  
 

OK Troy:
 

 

 

 
This is going to be a long journey.  

True!!  Every time I see a detonator box it reminds me of a face with bloodshot eyes.  
 
 
Peter - as you of anyone can attest, digital design and 3D printing opens up a new world to heavy lifting modelling where scratch building is used alot (in this case the whole model!).  For this project, the Rhino program allows me to design tooling right along with the actual parts.  I can fit and check clearances, and know that critical points or surfaces of the tool or fixture or jig are spot on relative to the parts or assemblies I want to use them for.  It's so easy - building them is not a big deal.  I used alot of jigs and tools on the Corsair too, as you might recall, and I could only have done it with Rhino or some other digital design program.  Man - to do that R-2800 over again in Rhino and 3D print......maybe one day.   
 
Anyway - yes you have let your angst be known before about matching up complete skinned sub-assemblies.  The concern of course is skin panel gaps at the interface.  I share that concern, but for me I have to weigh that against skinning a much larger model later on, where there are more things to break.  Skinning, after all, especially compound contoured stuff, is a heavy-handed undertaking.  On the Corsair, I broke off landing gear doors umpteen times during that build - most of it due to skinning the wing after the doors were already installed.  What were once beautifully done door hinges are now globs of CA.  And, the landing gear were subjected to terrible risk and I am dam lucky they didn't break off.  Those parts just didn't lend themselves to later installation, so I was left with decisions to make on sequencing of skinning operations.  That's just one example.  That said I will admit right here that skinning the engine cowl early on was less about that and more about being impatient to see what a blue-nose Mustang with "Cripes a Mighty" on the side looked like in the flesh.  Now I live with the consequences.   However, my point about the wonders of digital design and 3D printing - it all improves accuracy to the point where completing a sub-assembly and skinning it has a better chance of matching up well with another sub-assembly.  Not an infinite amount of skill; just the advantages of latest tools.
 
I added a strip of .01 x .03 plastic to the main jig front surface that is common to the aux nose jig.  And that fixed the out-of-flat condition I described last post, after a fashion.   That joint is just a bit flexy, and I hesitate to really torque down the two nuts that hold the two jigs together.  They are plastic after all.  I just have to make sure the two jigs are on a good flat surface as I monkey around with this skin joint.  Anyway, that improved the gap between engine cowl and forward fuselage - take a look:
 
           
 

 
I can sure live with that!  Note I have finished off the skinning of the windshield surround panels.  They now match up pretty darned well with the engine cowl.  Skinning is so rewarding - here is one of the three panels just before bonding:
 
  
 
Lousy picture.....sorry.   So feast your eyes on the fully skinned gleaming natural metal windshield surround - next time you see it, it will be mostly blue:
 

 

 
Now off to do electrical boxes and such.  Then, that blue paint.  Stay tuned.

Let's get up to date!  There have been some issues, at least in my head, that needed to be resolved.  One, the side windows.  I don't like the ones I did myself.  So I await the 3D printed transparencies from Shapeways - due in a week or so.  It is my hope they turn out as nice as the Malcolm hood has.  Two, blue paint that has been sitting for months - I feel I need to finish up the blue painting while the paint is still healthy.  Because if it dries up, I will have great difficulty matching up a new batch.
 
In the mean time, I have been working on the RH side of the cockpit wall where we find the radio gadgetry and some electrical equipment.  Recall in previous posts that radio equipment for US ETO fighters was pretty simple especially for Mustangs with fuselage tanks, where the tank has used up alot of space where radio equipment went.  Hence all they really had was the VHF SCR-522 equipment.  Missing was IFF (identification friend or foe) equipment and low frequency radio equipment (the Detrola).  The VHF SCR-522 consists of the following components:
 
Transmitter-receiver - the big box behind the pilot's armor plate on the upper radio rack (to be done later)
Dynamotor - a slightly smaller box also behind the pilot's armor plate on the upper radio rack (to be done later)
Jack box - a version of this is included in the cockpit RH side stuff
Radio control box - this item is included in the cockpit RH side
Antenna mast  - the familiar nasty looking spike antenna we see on all ETO fighters.  Although this will be replaced by a whip antenna as part of the Malcolm hood modification.  
 
Here is the finished radio and electrical equipment on the cockpit RH sidewall:
 

 
 
 

 
You see there in the forward-most bay the dominant black main switch box, below it the interior green radio junction box, and just aft of the radio junction box the fabric covered connector panel.  The next bay aft has the SCR-522 radio control box with the red buttons, below it the jack box bracket, and below the jack box bracket the detonator box, and aft of the detonator box the silver mic adaptor box.  I attempted to wire this equipment but the drawings are not very good - hope I got it close....  I may or may not include microphone cords.  All this stuff except the fabric covered connector panel, and the red buttons, are 3D printed from my Rhino models, as usual for this build.  You also see radio support brackets (3D printed), at least the one with a blank area where other radio equipment would go (IFF stuff), but is missing on this aircraft.  Lastly another shout-out to Peter for the decals.  They are marvelous. 
 
At this point, the sides of the cockpit area are pretty much complete.  Here they are:
 
   
 
Late additions are the flare gun stowage bag on the LH side (with the two brass buttons), and the map case on the RH side.  The map case is just simple plastic sheet parts.
 
I must mention - for those of you who followed the Corsair build, you may agree when I say the P-51 cockpit is much more simple than the Corsair cockpit.  Mind you, I still have the floor to do, and some other stuff hanging off the IP panel, as well as the pilot's seat and armor plate.  But there just is not nearly the amount of complexity.  The Corsair cockpit was a nightmare!
 
All right - I have been nervous about the blue paint.  So what I have decided to do is to go ahead and paint the remainder of it on the windshield surround part - this:
 
  
 
In order to do that, the rest of the skinning has to be done.  And in order to do that, I have to fit this part to the already completed engine cowl, and tidy up the panel line between them.  In order to do that, I feel I have to tool these parts up to one another.   So I designed and built another jig:
 

 
This new jig is part of a simpler plan than the one I laid out a couple posts ago.  This way, I can still utilize the main jig (minus the firewall bulkhead).   Construction and concept are similar to the main fuselage jig.  That new bulkhead has a post on it that fits into the prop shaft hole in the nose of the engine cowl.  Which will assure a proper orientation of the engine cowl to the forward fuselage both up/down, and sideways.  The bulkhead can slide fore and aft in the center slot (the mounting holes are slotted), similar to the two end bulkheads on the main jig.  This jig, or better an auxiliary jig, will bolt onto the existing fuselage jig that is working so well for me.  Like so:
 
 
 
 
Note that the firewall bulkhead has been removed.  In its place is to be the actual firewall (actually a simplified version of it just for this exercise):
 

 
Two parts - a top and a bottom - 3D printed.  They fit onto or into the aft face of the engine cowl, which has just awakened from a months long winter hibernation.  Note the firewall has the same four longeron posts that the jig bulkhead has.  The beauty of digital design - the locations are identical to the zillionth of an inch.  Much fiddling was required to get the firewall parts to fit perfectly into the big engine cowl part.  Dimensional accuracy on 3D print parts is not quite perfect - parts grow just a bit, such that male and female parts when designed without any gaps often clash a bit with one another.  That was the case here.  
 
Before using this new aux jig, I reloaded the fuselage side panels and windshield surround into the main jig, minus the firewall bulkhead, like so:
 

 
The holes in the longerons are loud and proud in that picture - waiting to mate up with that new firewall.  And here is the new aux jig in action with the engine cowl plus firewall loaded:
 
  
 
 
f
 
The jig is now about 13.5 inches long, and it is unwieldy to jockey around.  Big model.  The concept works great, but I got a bit of a surprise - tapering gaps at the firewall interface:
 
 
 

 
Both sides.  Not bad, but it makes me wonder if something is in error.  
 
I do notice that once the aux jig is clamped up and bolted to the main jig, despite my efforts to get it just right, its forward end has risen up a few hundredths of an inch above the flat desktop.  That would cause that tapered gap, and maybe that's all there is to it.  So I am going to shim between the jig surfaces to eliminate the condition, and hope that tapered gap disappears.  Actually it matters little - when I skin the fuselage side panels, that gap will be hidden, and turn into a normal panel line.  Still, I want that Mustang nose to be spot on relative to the rest of the model.
 
Next steps - I believe I am going to adorn the windshield surround assembly with the electrical equipment that hangs off it - several boxes and a lamp.  I don't want to do that work after I paint on the blue, because there will be alot of handling and that paint is a bit fragile.  After that - then I will put the parts back into the jigs and skin the windshield surround, and then paint!  You will see the results next up.
 
Hope you like that aux jig - I sure do.  Later folks.        
   
 
 
  
   

Back from Straya as of a few days ago.  What a place!  And man am I jet lagged.  I want to sleep during the day, and I wake up about 3 AM ready to go!  Getting better though.
 
So I got the itch to make some more skin panels and see how they look and fit.  This would also make the existing panel assemblies a bit more robust and lessen the chance for breakage.  Here they are fresh out of the machine, and post cured:
 
   
 
Not sure why that side skin on the left looks so ratty, but it sanded out just fine.  The side planks printed up well, not so much for the crown skin panel.  It suffered a similar deformation I got on my first try with the prop spinner last year:
 

 
Hard to tell in that picture, but those slanted water lines are where the deformation is.  Wiggly contour.  That will not do so the part is scrap.  I re-oriented the part to print vertically instead of at an angle, and it turned out beautiful:
 

 
I wish I understood more what goes wrong with some of my prints.  Those parts took all day to print up.
 
It was then time to install the aft side planks, and the Sta 168 and 184 full frames.  I did this on the jig; here are the side panels after CA bonding, freed from the jig:
 
 
 
Yahoo!!  The crown skin panel is going to gather dust for quite a while as I further populate the insides of the cockpit, and fabricate the lower radio floor (with the fuselage tank), the upper radio rack, and the cockpit floor.  These items along with the side panels will make a good robust forward fuselage assembly one day not to too long from now.  Can't wait!
 
But I just had to check out the crown panel in the jig, along with the side panels:
 
 
 
Fit is OK not great - gonna require some massage.  Starting to look alot like a P-51B.  And with the hood:
 

 
I also dry fit the aft glass into the crown panel and got this:
 
 
 
That is a poor fit.  Both sides.  I checked a couple of dimensions on the clear parts and sure enough they are about .04 inch too short.    Reminds me of my Malcolm hood adventures.
 
Well, I was not that impressed by those parts anyway, so I think I am going to pull out my wallet again and have Shapeways make them.  That way I will get a better fit, and a better transparency. 
 
Next post you will see alot of radio equipment and bracketry for the RH side of cockpit.  The Rhino modeling is coming right along. 
 
And BTW - here are two questions for those who purport to be P-51 experts:
 
1.  Did the 8th AF in Europe use the IFF (identification friend or foe) radio equipment in fighters?  I have a source that says no, and if that is true there are a couple of items I will not have to make.  Already I am leaving out the Detrola radio (and the long aerial cable antenna), which I know the 8th AF didn't use in their fighters.  But IFF?
 
2.  P-51B/C aircraft had a busy little area right behind the canopy on the crown - a VHF antenna mast, an insulator, and a navigation light:
 
 
 

 
And the crown skin had penetration holes for all three:
 

 
All three of these items had to be removed for the Malcolm hood modification, to allow the hood to slide aft.  My question is does anyone have any pictures of how these holes were covered up?  I would like to include that once I skin the crown (if I live long enough!).  
 
Later alligators.  Thank you for looking in.

Just a quick post before I visit the land down unda'.
 
I Rhino-designed two important cockpit items over the last few days - the engine quadrant and the oxygen regulator.  They occupy similar regions right behind the instrument panel mounted to the upper longerons - the engine quadrant on the LH side; the O2 regulator on the RH side.  Pictures:
 

 

 

 

 
VERY TINY PARTS!  100% 3D printed.  It shows what a good modern 3D printer can do.  Also, for the umpteenth time, I am so thankful to Peter Castle for the decals.  Just amazing. 
 
I will bond these components on later, to keep them out of harm's way as I continue to populate the cockpit sidewalls with stuff over the coming weeks (months?).  Stick with me.
 
 

I have for the better part of the day been studying pictures of cockpits with the Malcolm hood modification.  As you are probably aware by now, the hood travels on rollers that are attached to a rather prominent rail on either side of the fuselage exterior.  To drive the hood back and forth, there are two sets of chains and sprockets in the inside of the cockpit, nested between flanges on the upper longerons.  And driven by a hand crank handle.  Like so:
 

 
What a challenge to properly represent all that clap trap.  Already I have learned that the recongition light switch box must be relocated to clear the handle crank on the RH side.  Now, I have discovered something else very curious.  Take a look at these two pictures.
 
One - 
 
  
 
Those are outlet ducts for the pilots' heating system, right at the pilot's shoulders peaking out from behind teh armor plate (armor plate and seat not in this picture).  They are attached to the upper longerons and the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from the Lope's Hope P-51C resto - which does NOT have a Malcolm hood. 
 
Two -  
 
  
 
This shows the aft end of the Malcolm hood chain drive, with a small sprocket and a connector shaft to the other side and teh other chain.  The support fitting is mounted on the upper longeron, and is directly in front of the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from a resto with a Malcolm hood, and in process.
 
Both items are in the same place!   What gives?  Were these ducts relocated in some fashion?  Anybody know?  Some of my period pictures suggest maybe they were just removed and the holes plugged.   If so - what a penalty.  Cold pilots.     

I have for the better part of the day been studying pictures of cockpits with the Malcolm hood modification.  As you are probably aware by now, the hood travels on rollers that are attached to a rather prominent rail on either side of the fuselage exterior.  To drive the hood back and forth, there are two sets of chains and sprockets in the inside of the cockpit, nested between flanges on the upper longerons.  And driven by a hand crank handle.  Like so:
 

 
What a challenge to properly represent all that clap trap.  Already I have learned that the recongition light switch box must be relocated to clear the handle crank on the RH side.  Now, I have discovered something else very curious.  Take a look at these two pictures.
 
One - 
 
  
 
Those are outlet ducts for the pilots' heating system, right at the pilot's shoulders peaking out from behind teh armor plate (armor plate and seat not in this picture).  They are attached to the upper longerons and the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from the Lope's Hope P-51C resto - which does NOT have a Malcolm hood. 
 
Two -  
 
  
 
This shows the aft end of the Malcolm hood chain drive, with a small sprocket and a connector shaft to the other side and teh other chain.  The support fitting is mounted on the upper longeron, and is directly in front of the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from a resto with a Malcolm hood, and in process.
 
Both items are in the same place!   What gives?  Were these ducts relocated in some fashion?  Anybody know?  Some of my period pictures suggest maybe they were just removed and the holes plugged.   If so - what a penalty.  Cold pilots.     

I have for the better part of the day been studying pictures of cockpits with the Malcolm hood modification.  As you are probably aware by now, the hood travels on rollers that are attached to a rather prominent rail on either side of the fuselage exterior.  To drive the hood back and forth, there are two sets of chains and sprockets in the inside of the cockpit, nested between flanges on the upper longerons.  And driven by a hand crank handle.  Like so:
 

 
What a challenge to properly represent all that clap trap.  Already I have learned that the recongition light switch box must be relocated to clear the handle crank on the RH side.  Now, I have discovered something else very curious.  Take a look at these two pictures.
 
One - 
 
  
 
Those are outlet ducts for the pilots' heating system, right at the pilot's shoulders peaking out from behind teh armor plate (armor plate and seat not in this picture).  They are attached to the upper longerons and the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from the Lope's Hope P-51C resto - which does NOT have a Malcolm hood. 
 
Two -  
 
  
 
This shows the aft end of the Malcolm hood chain drive, with a small sprocket and a connector shaft to the other side and teh other chain.  The support fitting is mounted on the upper longeron, and is directly in front of the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from a resto with a Malcolm hood, and in process.
 
Both items are in the same place!   What gives?  Were these ducts relocated in some fashion?  Anybody know?  Some of my period pictures suggest maybe they were just removed and the holes plugged.   If so - what a penalty.  Cold pilots.