Planet Models XF5U-1 - FIN!

[ollieholmes]

Looks nice and its almost tempting me to build one now.

[scvrobeson]

 

Cheers,

 

 

Does it look like there are footprints on the fuselage, or are those steps to climb up it? They come right up the middle, and then along the right side of the cockpit.

 

 

I like the progress so far, this will be fun to watch

 

 

Matt

[Lee White]

My car looks like that, but then we have cats in the neighborhood.......

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks again for all the encouragement guys!

 

Im not sure Matt...............they do look like foot prints but who would climb up on a top secret (at the time) X - Craft project not only right on the dent susceptible main panels but with dirty feet too?

 

Not sure on that one. More progress from the long weekend! I had some good quality modeling time w/the pancake, and I can already tell this may be one of if not THE shortest WIP I have ever had, as this one is already coming together.

 

After setting the pit area in white primer to harden off, I started work on the very large spinners. These are just solid chunks of resin, and PM really does NOT give you any way, shape or process to connect them to the resin gear drive ends,The two resin gear drive ends are also chunks of resin, but have molded connecting bolts on their mating faces that go toward the spinners, so anyone who builds this kit will definitely need to figure out some kind of connecting mechanism to attach the props are they are quite large and will be weighty for sure.

 

I have had the best luck using solid brass rod, and a concentrically larger sized piece of brass tubing. I started off by centering a hole in both the gear drive ends and the spinners themselves. This hole was slightly larger than the brass tubing diameter. Then I drilled a center hole through the back of the gear drives, and out the face going about 3/4" / 19mm into the spinners. These are very long, heavy and solid spinners, and figured I could use the extra support for the prop assemblies.

 

I used a tubing cutter to flare 1 end of the tubing, and sank it in the gear drives gluing it in. Then I ran the brass rod through it out to the required distance. You can see the slightly flared end of the brass tube w/the brass rod protruding from the gear drive end here -

 

 

For the backside, I just used a Dremel tool to cut off the excess tubing and rod, after saturating the gap between the two with extra thick CA -

 

 

For the hub/spinners, after I centered a hole in the flat side, I drilled a small pilot hole, followed by a hole to fit the previously mentioned brass tubing (also slightly larger than the tubing itself in order to get room around it to CA it in place as well as maneuver it in perfectly centered position). Here you can see the hub/spinner after sinking the brass tubing in, saturating the surrounding area with thick CA, then cutting the excess and using a flat pin-file to even the backside out flat. Added a bit of Mr Surfacer 500 and then continued the sanding/smoothing process -

 

 

They ended up looking like this -

 

 

Together they made a very nice, solid and spinning mechanism for mounting the large and heavy props + hubs/spinners. One can only imagine how dainty and easily broken the props would have been if you had just tried butt-gluing these parts together -

 

 

 

 

It turns out this is pretty close to the real deal as the 1:1 pancake looks like it had pretty flat and simple back side to the hubs

Next up, was the cleanup/prep work for all the parts I needed next to be able to close up the body, and continue working on the props/hubs. You can see their was a mold defect on the starboard prop master, and all blades needed help at the base of the leading edge. Used thick CA + Micro-balloons for instant sandable filler -

 

 

In between working on the props and letting the primer dry on the pit, I sprayed some gloss black, then white Aluminum Alclad followed by some GZC on the insides of the engine vents (they will be mostly covered by a sea blue body panel, so any defects will be harder see once finished). Im not too sure of the actual colors in these vents since there are no pictures of them (let alone color) , I just took the opportunity to use these colors since they will be a nice contrast to all that dark sea blue -

 

 

MORE..................

[Out2gtcha]

Now it was time to turn my attentions back to the cockpit. The Tam fine white had now hardened off and it was time to add some color to it and the wheel wells. Im keeping things (apparently from photos) simple just like the real thing.................Cant see any real good pics of this models wheel wells but the flying pancake, much like other prototypes combined with knowing how the US military liked to keep things simple on prototypes, made me think the simple box wheel wells could be accurate. At least thats what Im going with. So..............no good (or ANY) pics of the cockpit, nor wheel wells, its down to the builder to guess, and/or use what they like in this situation.

 

For me, I just made a guess, and went with GZC in the wheel wells and cockpit green for the interior because I like the color combo, and thought these two colors (especially the GZC) would bring a nice pop and contrast to all the mass amounts of eventual see blue.

 

The wheel wells did not turn out perfect, as there was some residue that got caught up in the final flat coat, and I know with the wash I added this look is likely NOT realistic for a prototype like this. Its likely there was NO dirt in the wells...............or maybe it was SUPER leaky? Who knows. I know of NO pics available to the public, and unless someone was in the program no one can call me on it, so I added FM wash. I just liked the slight bit of grime look, as without it, the wells looked way to stark and pristine -

 

 

 

 

 

I painted the IP black and used dry-brushing to bring out my mistakes the details, then added some instrument decals from AirScale ( I added some MS Krystal Clear to this later for dial glass) -

 

 

My USN pilot from Master Details is not hear yet, but having fitted this pit to the dimensions of his modern USN counterpart, Im hoping Im going to be able to fit him in post cockpit assembly. I also put a 1/8th" / 3.175 mm extension not quite visible on the cockpit floor..........this moved the base + seat up that far forward, away from the backrest, as I believe the pilot figure will need it, and there is room to spare of front. Bear in mind none of these mods Im doing to the pit here will need to be done of no pilot is going to be added. Again I added a wash for a bit of visual interest, as it probably is not very realistic either, but hey-ho, I like the look much better than the stark, freshly painted more unrealistic looking way it looked without it -

 

 

 

I also got the back/head rest in and painted, along with the roll-over bar and pit side walls. Here I didnt add much but a bit of PE (again just for visual interest only) from the spares box, and a wash to highlight things a bit. Oxygen bottle is not in yet, as I plan on attaching it directly to my pilot via some cool tubing I will get later. Again keeping things simple as most of this will be much harder to see, and some of it will be completely obscured one my pilot arrives on board.

 

Things look way better IRL than under the heinous eye of the macro, but Im still pleased w/how things are progressing -

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will be taking a little time on the Pancake this week..............as much as I can anyway, as this is the week before my brother and I leave for the Reno air-races. Hopin and prayin that things go smooth, but Im having fun no matter what does or doesnt happen.

 

Till next time ladies!

[Guest Jessie_C]

 

Does it look like there are footprints on the fuselage, or are those steps to climb up it? They come right up the middle, and then along the right side of the cockpit.

I'm pretty sure that those footprints were painted on, kind of a "walk here" indication; that's how you got into the beast. For camouflage purposes they may have been flat/nonskid the same colour as the surrounding paint.

[Out2gtcha]

lol -

 

Heres that pit extension I used to make sure my pilot actually fits once I get him on deck -

 

 

Hopefully this works out like I think it will, as you really cant see much once hes in, as things are tight in there even without a pilot

[Kagemusha]

I'd say nice start, but you're probably about halfway through! I bought a few of the MD chaps off ebay recently, they really are very nice, not sure why they cast the heads in metal though.

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks Andy. The MD figgies are real nice. Not sure why they chose to cast the heads in white metal either.

 

BTW, the book showed up today!

 

Thanks again guys and more progress (possibly) soon. But then its a break from everything for 10 days or so, while I attend the Reno Air-races!

[scvrobeson]

Cockpit looks great so far Brian! Seems simple, but complete. Looks like a very nice kit

 

 

 

Matt

[Hubert Boillot]

 

 

Does it look like there are footprints on the fuselage, or are those steps to climb up it? They come right up the middle, and then along the right side of the cockpit.

 

 

I like the progress so far, this will be fun to watch

 

 

Matt

 

These were definitely steps in the top fuselage. Access to the cockpit was via the tail of the aircraft.

 

Hubert

[Out2gtcha]

Very true Hubert, but Im still not sure why there would be visible/muddy prints up on in though. You would think with a project like this and the "secret" nature of it at the time, the crew would at least make sure their feet didnt have visible mud/dirt on them.

 

There are other previous pics showing what looks like "textured" walkway areas, but only the port side seems to lead to the cockpit entry and I dont have a great close up of it. It seems the later stages of the prototype have these textured looking areas removed -

 

 

 

Have an overall clearer shot, but less of the port side is showing -

 

 

Ive really got a good head of stem going on this project, but may need to utilize a lot of time this week prepping to go away for the 8 day Reno trip. Hopefully will get a bit O bench time before I go!

 

Cheers,

[Out2gtcha]

You can see just a little bit of the port walk way on this shot

 

 

At some point during testing and development these were removed, but just not sure exactly when.............

[wrbrdmech]

Because the pit is a bit sparse, and while Im planning some scratched attentions, I WAS thinking going ala Russ style on this one in tribute to Russ's Pancake, and fit in a Master Details Pilot. Not sure if they are out of business or not, but I cant even get to their site.

 

Hi Brian,

 

My LHS has a pretty good stock of most of the pilots from Master Details. If there is one you are looking for and don't have any luck with contacting MD, I'd be happy to get one from my LHS and send it to you.

 

-Shane

[Guest Jessie_C]

Very true Hubert, but Im still not sure why there would be visible/muddy prints up on in though. You would think with a project like this and the "secret" nature of it at the time, the crew would at least make sure their feet didnt have visible mud/dirt on them.

 

There are other previous pics showing what looks like "textured" walkway areas, but only the port side seems to lead to the cockpit entry and I dont have a great close up of it. It seems the later stages of the prototype have these textured looking areas removed -

I think those areas are temporary protective coverings taped on to the aircraft so the techs can work on it without damaging it. Many aircraft have those during construction.