Ironwing Posted November 11, 2009 Author Posted November 11, 2009 Greetings All, Theres been a bit more progress on the fuselage. I had to put the dog house down for a bit. It was making me nuts. The card air intake grills have been finished off along with the tail fillets. The mold plugs were cleaned up and made ready for pouring. Pics to follow... The carb air intake grill. The perforated brass sheet, shown in the last post worked out pretty well. They were first cut from the sheet, shaped and then tacked in place with gap filling CA. Miliput finished the edges. Looks like the holes need a little cleaning. Having the perforated brass sheet took the headache out of this job Martinnfb 1
Ironwing Posted November 11, 2009 Author Posted November 11, 2009 I wasnt crazy about the tail fillets as supplied by Airfix so I thought I would replace them. New vacform copies were made after reworking the shape. The pieces vacformed were made from pieces cut from another fuselage. This way, they just snap over the ones on the existing fuselage. Most of the original fillet is sanded off prior to appliction of the new fillet. This isnt yet fixed permanently in place. Martinnfb 1
Ironwing Posted November 11, 2009 Author Posted November 11, 2009 The fillet in place on the fuselage. These were made using an old mattel vac form machine. It takes some time to sand away the back surface that articulates with the fuselage but the outcome is IMHO worth the effort. The tail planes can now be added, blended at the join line, then the fillet can be added after by sliding it over the tail structure. Fifteen thousanths (.015) card stock was used to draw the part leaving a wall thickness on the part of about .006". Martinnfb 1
Ironwing Posted November 11, 2009 Author Posted November 11, 2009 This is the fillet for the wing. Im hoping to use the same process for it that was used on the tail fillet. Reworking the fuselage destroyed most of the fillet detail as the filling build up had to go all the way back to almost the back end of the pit. Martinnfb 1
Ironwing Posted November 11, 2009 Author Posted November 11, 2009 Started work on the tire and rim assemblies. These are both available from JR. Martinnfb 1
Ironwing Posted November 11, 2009 Author Posted November 11, 2009 The big work on the fuselage is complete. The tail is next on the block for rework. This doesnt require alot of reshaping. It's mostly sanding and detailing. Ill post as work goes forward...I should note that the main canopy section does not stay in the position its in. The back end of the canopy should sit on the top surface of the fuselage. It's sitting up in the air now because of the way the plug is made. Thats it for this trip.Hope everyone is well. Cheers, Geoff Martinnfb 1
JRutman Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 I was going to write a longer post filled with admiration but I was drooling so much that it shorted out my keyboard! JR Martinnfb 1
Ironwing Posted November 11, 2009 Author Posted November 11, 2009 I was going to write a longer post filled with admiration but I was drooling so much that it shorted out my keyboard!JR Youre crazy...where the heck is that scoop in the tunnel you mentioned in an earlier post? I cant find it. Martinnfb 1
JRutman Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 Youre crazy...where the heck is that scoop in the tunnel you mentioned in an earlier post? I cant find it. I will have to dig through the ten pounds of pix I downloaded from the SIG but I know I saw it. I copied the pic as it struck me as something I had not seen before. Wonder if it was the usual problem with research in that it was a post war addition? That big 51 is honkin' nice dude. JR Martinnfb 1
JRutman Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 Forgot,if you are not happy with your vac you are welcome to use mine. It is a little bigger than the Mattel. Hehe J Martinnfb 1
Ironwing Posted November 12, 2009 Author Posted November 12, 2009 H JR, Thanks for lookin in. I might take you up on that offer to use your vac form if I cant get mine to work well enough. Of course, my daughter borrowed the shop vac that I need to pull parts. God knows how long it will take to get it back. Anyway, Im glad you like the Mustang thus far. It was a couple of pounds of work, but I think I have the fuselage all sorted out. I'll give ya a holla lata... Best, Geoff Martinnfb 1
K'Tesh Posted December 17, 2009 Posted December 17, 2009 I still think that you're working on a real plane... Probably got it hid in the same Hanger that they used when they faked the moon landing Really Though, This is beautiful work! If I was only half as good as you, I'd be winning awards. Merry Christmas! K'Tesh Martinnfb 1
Kostucha Posted December 17, 2009 Posted December 17, 2009 Absolutely BEAUTIFUL work. I had to read this one from start to finish so far, and wow good Sir! An excellent bit of work. Thank you for sharing this one. Martinnfb 1
rafju Posted December 17, 2009 Posted December 17, 2009 Ironwing As a member of the group of P-51D' fanatics, I would have like to say that's a great and perfect job! Thanks a lot for sharing, that's a ton of idea for inspiration Merry Christmas Raphael Martinnfb 1
bcauchi Posted December 17, 2009 Posted December 17, 2009 Jeez Geoff, that looks great. i was dying to see some more work of yours, the fuselage looks really great. Martinnfb 1
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