Jim Barry

Sadly the cat fell victim of a bad plan and too much ambition. I really like the 3D stuff but then lost interest in the more conventional modeling which is considerable in this project. In over my head!

Great work, Jay.

Looking great!

I'm late too. (I do not read the GB threads, my fault). Being a scratch builder I certainly cheer you on and see a lot of talent here for sure! I love the subject!

Lots of great progress. Congrats on fitting the engine in. Getting very real here.

Had a good day but not a lot of time. Sanding fuselage nose now and while I like the work, I hate wearing goggles and a respirator. I've been evaluating the props and going back and forth on them, but today I rejected them and decided to edit the 3D file, correct the flaws and reprint. I had just a bit too much twist at the tip and a pitch angle that was probably below the minimum though I'm not entirely certain what the minimum is exactly. Also needed to give a little more airfoil shape to it. My penalty for my inaccuracy: $28. I kind of knew it was a hasty first effort and while no one could ever tell, really, I just learned way too much about prop design this week to let it go. It's rather amazing in Fusion how you can go back in time, fix just the one blade's core design and after accepting the changes it then propagates the changes in time (for instance making copy around the axis and then making the mirrored prop). No need to fix 6 blades. While some filler was drying I decided to start a black wash on the engine. Good start. More to come!

Schweet!

Some really great scratch reports going on out there from classic forum contributors . Loving the early dev of Peter's P-51C interior and Martin's B-17 ball turret. It's helping my motivation to keep working and learning. Also reading Kevin's digital publication of Peter's #80 Spitfire project and enjoying that quite a bit when not mumbling to myself "I'm not worthy" The props came back today. Feeling like a little Grumman factory here. They cheered me up on an otherwise very busy day at work that made me very grumpy.

Cool products in Model Monkey's shop especially if you like ship models . I just found it last week. Wow!

And now back to 3D. The cowls just arrived in the mail. I like them. I like them a lot.

Nice work on the engine!

Progress on making the fuselage and much of the plane is emerging. I have made a cut out for the cockpit. I think I'll likely sculpt this part with big lump of sculpey and vacuform the fuselage walls from that mold . This is kind of what I did with the Fury. With the Bearcat, I made the fuselage cockpit walls with 3D parts but it was a lot of work for what it was worth. Just a little history tidbit. The plane first flew in Feb 1941 and was permanently destroyed 3 months later in a crash. A mayfly of an aircraft, really. I'm very happy with my choice to model this. I just feel so damn sorry for it.

Beautiful. Well done. Love the Grumman stuff!

Nice to see photobucket has "returned" my content to our threads. I hated to see my early journey into scratch building so lost without those pictures.

All good! The end point/detail level is always up to the builder. I think many of us have learned some things from this super high quality effort and appreciate the story. What next ??

Whew! We will not have to wait 4 years to see the end! Show us the pain though, too. We like to share our misery here.

Great progress, Jay. Those interior fasteners/screws are a treat and really draw attention, you are right.

I think it's a good idea to walk away. Sounds superstitious but some projects I've had do get "possessed' and suck up all my good energy. My simple explanation (to me) is there is something I actually do not love about the project and work to advance it is simply low mojo and then low quality. I once build a quarter scale horse and knight and it was really fun but the horse's anatomy was flawed, the rider sat on it funny then the suit of armor detail work just started to degrade and degrade. I had to toss pride aside and do the SOD thing. I never take success for granted. It's almost a gift.

Great to see another scratch project bloom here. I learn so much from others. Glad to see some reference libraries get a good home. I'd imagine a lot of them just gather dust in the attics of disinterested heirs (or worse!).

Thanks Mark, (and I get your forum name now. I was thinking Dodgem like Dodgem cars (bumper cars) but I get it. Dodge M37...your little treasure. Tonight was a bit of toil throwing 3D work into the trashcan kind of thing, but in the end I think I got just what I wanted: Two counter rotating Curtiss Electric props. To feather the prop there's an electric motor in the small hub at the tip and large reduction gears in the large hub. Power is supplied by brushs that contact slip rings on other side of the blades. More here with a nice vintage guide http://www.enginehistory.org/Propellers/Curtiss/curtissprop.shtml . If you are curious and want to know more, well the starboard side has the "handed" propeller. Handed means it turns clockwise (from the pilots perspective). The port side has a "counter-handed" propeller .

I like your vacuform design and will be modifying my DIY box and frame like this. Metal clips seem so much easier than the bolts and wingnuts I've been using. I too love sandpaper on rulers. Just a little flex is nice.

Congrats Ben and family. I actually got a fair bit of modeling done with our 2 babies, but only at night. The do retire early thank goodness!

Ok, Back to our previously scheduled programming... Tonight was cowl night on the computer. The work doing this with the Bearcat was rather trying as I did not know how to do this in 3D. Much trial and error. Now I do so, it's actually pretty easy. I like the photo I had to attach within Fusion for a test/validation of the cowling opening size against the real thing. I ordered two tonight.

Glad I got the book!. PE is next on my skills list.

Great Start! I build my stuff from scratch and have the best time. If they are good looking, that's a bonus. Your background looks strong and the clever slicing rig shows that you have what it takes. Watching for sure! Nice scale choice for this beauty.