dodgem37 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 'IT WORKED!!!!' Never had a doubt. Very nice work, Peter. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuildAero Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Peter, the "lift em off the plate" technique works well, but would be better still for the bottom contours if you make the lifter like a plinth that is smaller than the pattern in plan view. Yes the forming will tuck under and trap the pattern, but since you cut out on the pattern (wisest way) you won't mind the undercut. My son found this on his vac-former (home made) then found just the same on a big old professional one he got hold of. It should also stop the webbing problem. That is because the plastic has nowhere to go. He found that a fence between the pieces gives it somewhere to go and stops webbing. The moulded fences also make great slot race track borders! Waste nothing. Lovely work with the brass, my favourite material. Martin Edited to say the lifters only need to be about 1/8th" thick. Edited August 31, 2013 by GuildAero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Tony Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Hiya Peter, This is coming along fantastically and is light years ahead of my own build(s-I`m making two!) of the Hobbycraft Sea Fury kit! For those of us who cannot vacuform, would you please consider releasing your vacuformed canopy for sale? Keep up the brilliant work and all the best wishes, Tony O`Toole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepard Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Hi Peter.... great job..... love the results so far shep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted September 4, 2013 Author Share Posted September 4, 2013 wow, thanks chaps I will try those tips as I will need to pull another copy as I am not happy about the clarity of this one - I need to find some better quality clear sheet Hiya Peter,For those of us who cannot vacuform, would you please consider releasing your vacuformed canopy for sale?Tony O`Toole Hi Tony - thanks for dropping in - unlikely I will sell any of the parts I make under airscale as I would want them of retailable quality and quantity and i doubt the return is there for the time & effort involved. Also, I had never vac-formed until last week so I was one of 'those who cannot vacform'! About £20 got me the bits to make one and a bit (a lot) of trial and error and you could be doing it too - having said that PM me your address and I can pop you a spare I cut down the canopy as it was too tall - my measurements were off somewhere. This one will serve as a template / learning experience until I find the right PETG material to do another... I think the shape is better now.. ..also fixed the tailplanes and started working on the fairings - these are thankfully not riveted so green stuff would do the trick. I masked with electrical tape and got the rough shapes.. ..I left the tape on to file & sand down to, to preserve the distinct panel separation.. ..next up - ailerons.. ..I used tamiya tape to allow a 'rubbing' to be made of the exact shape - this then gets peeled off and stuck on card stock to get the internal dimensions - the external wing outline shape is the same process but from the plan... ..made up a sheet brass insert to get a sharp trailing edge and soon had the outline shapes together... ..added a solid leading edge and a lot of shaping later I had an aileron... ..primed & riveted.. ..still lots of detail & fittings to add, but a reasonable dry fit... ..thanks for dropping by ..it's late, so until next time.. TTFN Peter Derek B, Landrotten Highlander and red baron 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Peter, I have to say I'm getting rather fed up with you constantly smacking my gob and dropping my jaw like this. I've been happy to live with the pain so far, but this is getting too much! Too much inspiration that is. Kev Daywalker, D.B. Andrus and Thomas Lund 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poopstack69 Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 This project is so tasty. Words fail me. I think I love you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Peter, you make things happened effortlessly. it feels like a well tuned and directed orchestra playing it's favorite piece.In matter of fact this topic is my favorite piece. Thanks Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 (edited) wow, thanks chaps I will try those tips as I will need to pull another copy as I am not happy about the clarity of this one - I need to find some better quality clear sheet ... TTFN Peter Outstanding work Peter. I have long run out of superlatives to qualify what you're doing .... If you're looking for a good transparency material, then Perspex (PMMA) is a very good material (and as close to the original as one can dream of). It can be thermoformed beautifully. Be aware though that it contains water that forms bubbles when heating up the perspex. The cure to that is to dehydrate the sheet by leaving it into the oven at 60° C for two hours. Then heat it for vacforming. I have also been told that slow heating prevented the bubbles. The temperature at which it becomes malleable is higher than that of ordinary styrene sheet. Some also has some success dipping the sheet in boiling oil (yes like fries ...) to heat it up. Hubert Good luck with your experiments Edited September 4, 2013 by MostlyRacers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Tony Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 WOW,........ Ditto to what everybody else has said,....I`m gobsmacked!! Cheers Tony O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted September 6, 2013 Author Share Posted September 6, 2013 thanks everyone Hubert I will see if I can find some of that PMMA perspex - so far have only found down to 1.5mm which is too thick, it needs to be 0.7 or less - thanks for the tip ..a bit more small stuff going on - needed to make & detail both ailerons.. ..first up the trim tab - I folded tamiya tape over the aperture to 'rub' down the shape by edging it and the fold with a pencil and then taped this to brass sheet to cut out... ...folded it & riveted it and stuck a small card spar in the fold to get the right thickness.. ..also added the hinge strengthening plate and the tops were complete.. ..the bottoms needed a tab actuator - I made these 2mm long with a modified part from our airscale PE cockpit detail set and some fine tube - the sheath is foil brass bent around a pin and snipping the corner off.. ...times two... ...and dry fitted - they will line up better when fixed and I need to make up another pair of actuators for them... ..glad I did those as the old bird is starting to look more like a Fury... ..until next time.. TTFN Peter Out2gtcha, red baron and Landrotten Highlander 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Brilliant Peter! Really inspirational. I'm hoping to start using some of your techniques in some of my upcoming builds. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Always a pleasure to drop by. Masterfully done, Peter. Good show! Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Outstanding Peter Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted September 8, 2013 Author Share Posted September 8, 2013 evening ladies.. everyone here was out all day so got a good stint at the bench ..it seems to have been a week of control surfaces - today was the rudder.. G-AKRY has a one-off rudder as it preceded the Sea Fury it had no tailhook so was more streamlined... ..I have been here before - way back in the build I chopped the tail down as that was how this aircraft started out, but thankfully it was pointed out along the way this was wrong - so I did a swap with an LSP'er - airscale bits for a spare rudder... ..made a sheet brass core to get nice thin sharp trailing edges and sanded the inside of the rudder halves as this was going to need a lot of thinning - the kit parts scale to about a foot thick... ..made the core with the curved bottom shape needed later on.. ...a long time later I had a finished structure - this is almost a day's work! ...primed & ready for detailing... ..also made up the other elevator - this was a similar process but skinned in brass as these have raised rivets... ..now had a pair.. ..and a dry fit... ..thats it for now - thanks for stopping by.. TTFN Peter Landrotten Highlander 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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