Cap'n Wannabe

Awesome job Tim! I'm too scared to start mine!

If the translation is "fuel saving device" then I suspect it would be mixture control rather than pitch control. The mixture controls how much fuel is getting to the engine. Typically the higher you fly, the leaner the mixture, ie the less fuel the engine needs due to the less dense air at altitude.

Just a comment on the fit or otherwise of the nose.... On the real deal, no two are alike. There are gaps of all shapes and sizes around the cowl, some fitting almost perfectly, others (mine, for example) with massive gaps!

You can get airfoil types from here. The P-51 B/C/D used the exact same airfoil, ie the NAA/NACA 45-100, other Mustangs such as the V and VI used the NACA 66-(1.8)15.5 at the root and the NACA 66-(1.8)12 at the tip. What those numbers mean is beyond me except that they're something to do with chord vs max thickness.

That is incredible.

If he did his initial training at 11 EFTS, he may well have flown mine. It was built in 1943, A17-423.

I done bought myself a 1:1 Tiger Moth! Actually, I bought a business that comes with a Tiger Moth. I'm now the very proud owner of Tiger Moth Joy Flights Yarra Valley!

Definitely following this one!

Thanks for the step-by-step! I've got two of these kits in the stash (as well as the Silver Wings offering, one Matchbox and two Revell kits....I think I'm developing some kind of sickness!) I've also got access to at least three Tigermoths on the airfield where I work. Plus a Waco, and I think a Stearman (although one rarely sees it these days..)

Yep, that's right. Essentially the same wing as the 172.

Hell yes! Not enough civvie birds on the market.

G'day all.. So I recently moved into mother's place. All of my modelling tools, kits, paints, etc. are in storage until I can get another place of my own. I'm getting rather bored, with only my computer and a bed in my room, and want something to pass the time when I'm not working. I have mentally played around with kit-bashing a 1/48 Cessna Bird Dog and a 1/48 Cessna 172 to get a 1/48 Cessna 170B, by modifying the 172 fuselage (it needs to be like a straight-tail) and adding the Bird Dog's tail surfaces, but what I'm really wanting is something bigger. Like 1/20 scale or so.. With that in mind, I have searched for some 3-views of the 170B. The only drawings of any note are the Guillow's R/C plans, and one other set...there ain't much out there! So, firstly, how accurate are Guillow's plans in general? What is the best (free!) software to use to get a 3D model suitable for 3D printing? What is a good method of creating the model? I have my own copy of Autodesk Inventor 2019, however I have found that surface modelling and lofting shapes leaves a bit to be desired. Ideally I'd like my model to be parametric so I can scale it up or down, however that's not necessary.

In 2003, the soldiers' seats in the M113 were replaced (I think - may not have got out of prototype stage..) with storage lockers topped by cushions. I believe this to be a uniquely Australian mod....I did the drawings, and I just happen to have a set lying around. I also have a set of drawings for support stands used for maintenance, and a set of the commander's seat from 2004. Let me know if you're interested..

Last Friday I received some unwelcome news. Seems the owner(s) of my house want to move back in, and I've been given until October 5th to find a new place. So no more updates for a while as I pack everything away..

Last Friday I received some unwelcome news. Seems the owner(s) of my house want to move back in, and I've been given until October 5th to find a new place. So no more updates for a while as I pack everything away..

That's why my personal licence is still 2013. I only got it because a company I was contracting to at the time bought it then gave it to me for half price!

Count the windows on the decal sheet...I hear the Roden kit has too many!

It's ACAD 2019. I had it installed when I was working from home for an engineering company. My personal licence is 2013, which I still use occasionally..

Once again, I spoke with my mate TOR and talked about how best to tackle the cheatline issue. In the end, I decided to paint the airframe burgundy (actually, SMS Wine Red), then mask the cheatlines and paint the other colours. But I needed to make masks...enter AutoCAD again With a little measuring and tweaking, and plenty of printouts onto paper I came up with masks that are *almost* the right size. I say "almost" because I need to extend the curved area by about 0.75mm. Which I've now done...just need to cut them on my Cameo cutter..(I've been through almost a metre of Oramask today, playing around and getting things just right! These are the first "useful" masks cut on the Cameo.. Here's a set applied to the model. I applied Tamiya tape along the masks to hold everything together while I transferred them to the model. Once it was in position, the Tamiya tape came off, as did the middle section of the mask. And that's where I'm at so far... Edit: Almost forgot, a huge thanks to you, LSP_Kev, for your advice regarding the Cameo!

Oh yeah, the stuff up.. I tried masking the cheatlines with Tamiya tape, using cutouts from a photocopy of the decal sheet as a guide. However, I had positioned the cutout too high, so the tape ended up in the wrong place. The position of the lower cheatline doesn't allow for making a decent tape mask over the wing root, so I had to come up with a different idea. The next two pics are masking attempt #1.. And masking attempt #2. On this attempt, I laid tape along the fuselage with the idea that I'd trace along the bottom of the cheatline with a #11 blade. Kinda didn't really work...

Here's where I stuffed up. The lower section of the aircraft is white, and the top section is gold. It has burgundy cheat lines, tailfin and nose. So initially I was going to paint the white, then do the burgundy, then the gold. However, the lower cheatline proved too difficult to mask properly, so a different approach was required. The other issue is the doorframes. They have alternating burgundy/gold (gold over the cheatline, burgundy over the gold), BUT the decal sheet only has the burgundy sections. So I would have to do some very fiddly painting to get the gold part.....unless, of course, one's been a draftsman for 25 years and has one's own CAD software... Initial drawing of the door surrounds, which will be made into decals..

G'day all.. Here's another project I've been slowly working on - Roden's 1/144 Boeing 720 "Starship One". This will be in the gold/burgundy scheme, and more than likely will wear Deep Purple on the sides. I could have gone with Led Zeppelin, but I have another kit for that. The fuselage assembled, after I'd removed and repositioned the cockpit glass.. And the aforementioned cockpit glass.. On the advice of a mate (thanks TOR!) I filled in the windows along the sides, going with decals instead. I had heard - but not verified - that the kit has too many windows, so opted for decals. Which brings it's own issues, but more on that later. Here she is after a second round of filler. A few of the windows didn't fill properly initially.. All primed now. I cut a piece of sheet plastic to allow me to hold the fuselage when painting - didn't want the wings on at the moment. Initially I glued it in with white glue, but I've found it has a nice friction fit, so I can put it in and out at will..

Today I finished sanding the upper corners of the door frames. The doors fit a treat now! So out to the paint shop for a coat of primer. I'm not sure whether to give it a light sanding or not - the striations are not very visible..

Actually, it *is* available in rattle can...(but I just checked - it was actually 1000 I used!)

Over primer. Mr Surfacer 500, to be precise..