airscale Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Thanks for looking in and all your kind comments Seeing that beautiful engine in situ begs the question...why don't you cast it and offer it for sale? Nice suggestion but actually it would be beyond me - it can't be cast in one piece as I could never get it out of a mould (the rubber would get in all the gaps and lock it in). I think to make masters for components like an engine you need to start out knowing you are making a master and make it so it is modular. Thats not to say I am not thinking about how airscale could expand into resin On to todays update... The kit fuselage has mouldings that sort of represent the bulges either side of the engine but they are too wide and squared off - on the real aircraft they start square and soon fair into the wingroot. Started by sanding away the width and routing off the square edges... Then masked up with insulating tape (to take the curves) and ran a fingertip of Green Stuff along the fairing... Repeated a few times and soon had both halves done - will leave these for a few days to go off properly... Now on to the Tailwheel... well I think that is what this part is supposed to be. Note the lop-sided balloon tyre, extra deep hub and the fictional strut assembly. It is also undersized. Oh well, another challenge is laid down and as this is OOB I can't do much except go with it... Was scratching my head wondering what to do when I noticed these parts in the kit - they are rings that go around the end of the bombs and are exactly the right diameter as the tailwheel should be Stay with me..... I realised I could make up half a wheel using this, cast two halves from resin and hey presto I get a wheel! I routed out the middle of the old wheel with a Dremel and made a disc of card to make up the parts I will need for the master... I reckon I can work with this... thanks for dropping by and until the next fun packed installment.. TTFN Peter Landrotten Highlander 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Terrific work as always Peter. This will be far-and-away the best model ever made from a Hobbycraft Sea Fury! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaffyMan Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Hi Peter - That engine looks amazing and realistic Yeah I have had a look at the wheel as well – not the best, I didn’t realize it was under sized, but I will worry about that another day! You are setting that bar very high and can’t wait to see where this goes next. Happy Days - Taff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Clever problem-solving. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 evening folks back again with today's progress... Finished up the master for the tailwheel, will cast two halves in resin. I must say I am so glad I tried using it as the applications are endless, it's pretty simple to do provided the ingredients are measured correctly (I use little 5mm syringes) and some basic rules are followed (I just watched a few youtube videos). This is a simple pour mold so no messing about, once it sets, take the part out and pour in a little resin & later sand away what you don't want... I tried to add some tread detail and a marker for where to sand to.. Then started on the tailwheel fork. I made up a false wheel for size reference as the real one is sat in the mould. Used a bit of square plastic stock and a drill chuck as the former and 5 seconds over a lighter flame bent the stock to the U shape needed.. The part was cut and roughly shaped with a sanding stick - detail pictures of the real tailwheel leg and fork structure were essential reference.. Lugs were cut and shaped from card and offcuts of Plastruct. I like Plastruct as it is a hard plastic and takes being worked well. For pairs of lugs like these start with the holes then shape the parts - when nearly finished put them on a rod and shape them so they line up.. A blast of Mr Surfacer and the first part of the assembly is complete... tomorrow I can cast a wheel and see if it all fits... thanks for stopping by... Peter Landrotten Highlander 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninaustria Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Very nice work mate!! Cheers Alan Ps... I love scratching landing gear!!! I think you have just done an excellent job on mastering the techniques to get a good result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Just no end to your resourcefulness Peter, nor to how much I'm learning from this thread. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Buddee Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 Wow Peter, that's just awesome. Just goes to show how a little imagination goes a long way when it comes to makin' stuff from scratch! Absolutely love what you're doin' here Peter! Cheers, Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Wolf Grant Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 I'm running out if superlatives .. I'm fascinated about how you go about creating these bits and bobs from scratch. Brilliant. Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Peter Brilliant scratch building. Just figuring out how to do it is mind blogging let alone actually getting it done. ACES! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeroenpeters Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Truly a candy to the eye this is. In detail this is the other end of the galaxy compared to what Hobbycraft offers out of the box. I'm following along! Cheers, Jeroen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C460 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Hi all for my first post to this forum. Peter, I'm very impressed by your build. I was thinking of making the same G-AKRY aircraft in 1/48, and this is how I found your thread. About the drop tanks in your first picture of the aircraft, are these the 45 gal or 90 gal variety? I would say the latter, but I have a hard time telling between them. Do you plan to include these in your build, and are they in the Hobbycraft box? Adrien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 Hi all, Welcome Adrien and thanks all for your comments and encouragement ! About the drop tanks in your first picture of the aircraft, are these the 45 gal or 90 gal variety? I would say the latter, but I have a hard time telling between them. Do you plan to include these in your build, and are they in the Hobbycraft box? Adrien I don't know which size they are, but they are in the kit thankfully and are the right size as the ones in the photo of G-AKRY, and yep, I will be using them in the build Good luck with yours! So, on to todays update... I ended up rebuilding the tailwheel fork as the one I made was overscale as I soon realised once I had the tailwheel made up in resin to offer it up against, plus it would have not fitted in the tailwheel well in a quite obvious way.... That will teach me for being impatient... I also found that as this aircraft was the Sea Fury prototype it had a non standard tailwheel fit - there are no doors! It looks like there is just an open recess. Good in some ways as no doors to make, but more work in making up the opening later on. Also I have no chance of references for this one-off mod (though I did think I might look up what a Tempest / Typoon looks like... anyone got any ideas?) so will have to try and make what I can see First up, I had to try and make the strut housing - a complicated shape so I started with a thick piece of scrap - in this case a 1/24 Mosquito seat cushion. I always start with drilling the hole and making the shape, I find it easier than trying to do it afterwards... Some savage work with a sanding stick and working them as a pair and soon had two halves to work with.. some scrap card to join together and I had the basic shape to embelish... The fork was re-worked to be smaller, though I should have narrowed the gap between the prongs by cutting it in half and re-joining as they are slightly too wide for the wheel.. (doh) Using bits of ali tube of different diameters to make the strut, I soon had all the bits needed to make up the tailwheel assembly... a dry fit and all seems ok - as far as I can tell the compression when the real one is on the ground is not far off the one being rebuilt I used as reference - it's adjustable until I cyano it so will see if I can find a clear pic.. thats all for now, hope this build is not too pic heavy! Peter Landrotten Highlander 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Starling Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 That scratchbult tailwheel assembly just leaves speechless. superior craftsmanship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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