TorbenD

Finally, I painted the whole thing with light brown Arcyl paint to imitate wood.
Despite the filigree structure, the skeleton is surprisingly stable. Of course - it is a HURRICANE ! 
Until next time! Thomas

Great stuff Jim! The future has arrived! 
 
Torben

Shaping up very nicely Peter! Beautiful work as ever.
 
Torben

My rendition of Spitfire QV-K is now complete. Since the last update, I applied another gloss coat over the decals, applied an oil panel line wash, did some weathering to match the photos as best as possible and finalized assembly. Here are a few teaser photos.
 
Here's the link the to RFI page: 
 
 
Thanks again for the comments and for following along.
 

 

 

hi folks
 
 
 
100% correct GW - as in you are 100% correct and the instrument is canted the wrong way Oh well, it's staying like that now..
 
I kept thinking I will stop in a minute and take a picture of what I am doing, but then I would think, I will just finish this bit... well before I knew it the engine cowling was done.. it is a complicated structure, but shouts early aviation..
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
can start the fuselage proper now..
 
TTFN
 
Peter

Hi folks, Happy New Year
 
 
 
Thanks Jay - there is no real secret other than making sure the compound panels are super tight to the form as most times the distortion is because there is still some 'give' in the metal/glue layer - really heavy burnishing will prevent this. The other thing is the pressure applied to make the rivet is 1/10th of the pressure on the hard sheet
 
cockpit is pretty much done..
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
all the best for 2024
 
TTFN
Peter

So much to admire here Thomas - you clearly have the time and skill to bring this off with aplomb! 
 
Thanks for those reference portal links - I think I’ve got a version of that dvd - the Warbirds might have to wait until I’m feeling a bit richer! 
 
I will certainly PM you about those fuselage formers!! Thank you for your kind offer
 
Best, Torben

Goodness me.... I must drop in more often.... My very favourite aircraft being being given some seriously skilful scratch work - what is not to absolutely adore!!!   A fantastic start Thomas , so much to admire.
 
I assume you’ve checked out this scratch-built beaut in 1/48? I know it’s not LSP but boy is it good...
https://pwm.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=79416&sid=d69b4efa313e5778c274f8e182238166
 
I must have nearly every book on the Hurricane somewhere in my collection along with Bentley’s wonderful plans but never been able to get any plans or profiles of all the wooden formers, both top of the fuselage and sides - May I ask where you got such drawings that you pantographed those sections from? - I would pretty much give my eye teeth to have a set, whatever scale.
 
Very much looking forward to seeing the next post,
Torben

Slightly speechless...
 
a combination of one too many Christmas sherries and looking at your top drawer work - clever, clever stuff Brian
 
Torben

Gathering up a heck of a head of steam there Peter.... inspirational work as ever.
 
Torben

..and some spare brackets...

hey chaps thanks for dropping in
 
 
hey OBG the dark grey bits?, they are just 3D parts - there were tanks in the floats but they were much smaller
 
 
Ah Torben, this is all your fault yes, the S6 has different length floats to offset torque, but not the S6A or B thankfully 
 
..because the foam and filler part of the build is very messy. I kind of wanted to confine it to one long session. To that end it meant I need all four corners of the airframe completed, so up next wings & tailplane..
 
..the wing starts with a 0.16mm sheet brass trailing edge - here the outline is stuck to the sheet and later cut out with a dremel & slitting disc on a bit of balsa to stop it bending..
 

 
..with it cut out is is pinned to a balsa backed plan with a small wodden strip lifting the TE off the plan. Then the ribs are threaded on the tube spars and spaced out - I made more ribs than there are lines on the plan so they don't line up and all are set in place with a set square & CA.. a slot in each rib captures the TE...
 

 
..the LE is made of brass rod - the use of brass for LE & TE is to ensure clean hard lines i can fill & sand to..
 
..here a block of aluminium is used to set a nice square leading edge (a block that will hopefully later be carved / bashed / smashed into a propeller..)
 

 
..the other wing is built off the first so everything lines up and is square..
 
..fill in plates have been added to give torsional strength and stop twisting, all of it being washed with old tamiya liquid cement to bond it all together...
 

 
..the tailplanes are of similar construction, but without the brass..
 

 
,,and that is enough of the airframe complete to start building it up from here...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
having a blast
 
TTFN
Peter
 

Lovely stuff! Having those printed parts to lock in the geometry is a very clever idea.

Often not caught by scale models of the S5 is that one of the floats was a bit longer than the other (I think to counteract torque from the prop (?)) - is it the same here with the S6B?
 
Torben

Lovely stuff! Having those printed parts to lock in the geometry is a very clever idea.

Often not caught by scale models of the S5 is that one of the floats was a bit longer than the other (I think to counteract torque from the prop (?)) - is it the same here with the S6B?
 
Torben

Lovely stuff! Having those printed parts to lock in the geometry is a very clever idea.

Often not caught by scale models of the S5 is that one of the floats was a bit longer than the other (I think to counteract torque from the prop (?)) - is it the same here with the S6B?
 
Torben

have you ever had it where you go to bed at night and think about what you are going to do on your build the next day?
 
I know when I am really into my build when I feel like it's Christmas Eve and I can't wait to get up... so at my bench at 8am on a Sunday and I have S6B floats now
 
..started by adding a 'T' section to the bottom of the cores - this really should have been brass, but I haven't got enough so plastic it is.. then each former one by one with the plan view stiffner in between..
 
..having made the parts already, it took shape quickly..
 

 
..soon front and rear sections had one side of the profiles..
 

 
...soon all the formers were added and integrated with the 3D top part that the struts mount to..
 

 
..then all the components were cemented together )x2)
 
 

 
..with the floats made up, it was time for a test fit..
 

 
..the 3D parts really help lock everything in and get the geometry right..
 

 

 

 
..happy with that for a day's work
 
TTFN
Peter
 

aww thanks chaps - so nice of you to welcome this build so enthusiastically
 
I am really looking forward to it and so far all seems to be going well - I got a bit more done today adding more strength to the fuselage in a jig to keep the spine straight until it's all set..
 
..also chopped out the cockpit area and thankfully the brass bracing structure that mirrors the real one (the lower beams are a bit overscale thickness for strength) seem to have worked and it is all quite rigid..
 

 

 
 
 
..even put a mock up IP in it, though the real one is sloped slightly..
 

 
having fun
 

 
TTFN
Peter

Oh my goodness - me and my big mouth! 
 
Crikey you move fast Peter! 

Great choice - The S5 has very little ref, if any for it’s cockpit - with the S6B, I think having access to the real thing will really help you nail this one.
 
So looking forward to seeing you bring this one to life.... 
 
Torben 
 
 

Oh my goodness - me and my big mouth! 
 
Crikey you move fast Peter! 

Great choice - The S5 has very little ref, if any for it’s cockpit - with the S6B, I think having access to the real thing will really help you nail this one.
 
So looking forward to seeing you bring this one to life.... 
 
Torben 
 
 

Oh my goodness - me and my big mouth! 
 
Crikey you move fast Peter! 

Great choice - The S5 has very little ref, if any for it’s cockpit - with the S6B, I think having access to the real thing will really help you nail this one.
 
So looking forward to seeing you bring this one to life.... 
 
Torben 
 
 

Oh my goodness - me and my big mouth! 
 
Crikey you move fast Peter! 

Great choice - The S5 has very little ref, if any for it’s cockpit - with the S6B, I think having access to the real thing will really help you nail this one.
 
So looking forward to seeing you bring this one to life.... 
 
Torben 
 
 

With apologies to my P39, it is time to nail something new together...
 
I was inspired by the exquisite models on show at Telford to go back to old school model making. My P39 started as an experiment that proved I could make a whole airfame in 3D, but after a long break from any modelmaking as I focused on airscale I found it hard to pick it back up..
 
Add to that a chance conversation with my friend Torben at SMW about subjects that could inspire me, he mentioned early racers and a bulb in my head went off :). Both he and I like ther S5, but the S6B has so many attributes that suit me - one being it is all metal rather than fabric winged and the other being that the real one is accessible at the Science Museum in London...
 
So here we are... S1595..
 

 

 
..a beautiful machine..
 
..with inspiration in place and many hours of trawling the internet for images, I set off for London to get reference pics - unfortunately it is really badly lit, but 457 pics later I had enough with the disparate plans I found to start drawing out shapes...
 
..the rear of a float for example..
 

 
..and this aeroplane is covered in a LOT of rivets, especially the wings as the surface doubles as the radiators (which were removed from the slipstream for streamlining)..
 
typical is the float again...
 

 
..though where I have been doing complex cockpits in previous models, this one is pretty simple..
 

 
..still room for 3D though, this will become the fuel tank under the instrument panel..
 

 
..with drawings created, I made lots and lots of parts from 1mm card & 2mm cores... I also designed a 3D printed matrix with the bottom of the fuselage and the top of the floats to set the angle and give strength to the struts..
 

 

 
..the cockpit is going to be tricky as there is just skin and very small thin formers so for now it is part of the core and with brass 'U' channel running down the sides where the real one has a strengthener I hope to cut it all away later
 
..the 3D core in the fuselage includes holes for the wing spars and you can see on the forward end one of the holes for 3mm brass rod for the strut cores (the other is just visible under the back of the wing)..
 

 
..Same for the float tops, though the scars from me getting the angles wrong on the first pass are visible here..  there is also a slot running around it to centre the cores...
 

 
 
..and assembly has started, the fuselage is super slim, literally the size of the engine cross section - the shape will be created by filling the gaps with hard sculpting foam and a skim of P38 filler before skinning.. for now there are just placeholders for the engine blisters as I need to refine the drawings - they are a complex shape..
 

 

 
 
so that's it - underway with a new project and I am glad to be back at the bench
 
TTFN
Peter

well,
 
I had a thought one night about how 3D might evolve so things that don't exist, might one day exist
 
This may go nowhere, but is a bit of interesting fun for me. I am going to try and make a whole airframe and do it in such a way that it could be printed as a kit of parts. I will say this though - don''t get excited it may take years and may not work, but it's good practice for me and is a fun side project. I have the Airfix 1/72 kit on it's way for reference, but for now, I just started playing around...
 

 

 

 
,,and tried printing it out
 

 

 

 
much to learn, not least of which is part thickness & orientation and making it so it can be assembled. Mega challenges like the transparencies I will have to figure out along the way and also things like structural strength in areas that matter, so as I say, little chance of going anywhere, but thought it may be of interest
 
TTFN
 
Peter

Total respect! What a stunning model - love it!
 
Torben

Lovin’ the love you’re giving this Peter - super stuff

Torben