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1/18 SBD-5 Dauntless - update 18/11/16 - FINISHED!!


richdlc

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Rich,

 

I'm duely impressed and just love what you done with the metal. Beautiful job Bud...

 

Geoff

 

thanks a lot Geoff. TBH after reading your latest update I was concerned that my rivets were too small / close together. However, they seem to check out when compared to the recessed kit originals - unless Merit have also messed up...oh well, too late now.

 

Ah Rich, IF ONLY we were ALL as inadequate! Great stuff!

 

Regards,

 

 

many thanks :-)

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thanks a lot Geoff. TBH after reading your latest update I was concerned that my rivets were too small / close together. However, they seem to check out when compared to the recessed kit originals - unless Merit have also messed up...oh well, too late now.

 

 

 

 

many thanks :-)

Rich,

 

There are times when having access to Mustangs Engineering Drawings is a blessing and a curse.

 

I've failed miserably trying to reproduce the rivet pattern on the horizontal stabs. I almost wish I didn't know what the prototype actually looked like.

 

Spacing and size isn't an issue, making it all line up has been a nightmare. Something is always off and intersections are the worst. This is especially frustrating when I get half or three quarters the way done, find a mismatch, or misplace a rivet and have to bin hours of effort. I think I need a better way...

 

Keep up the great work...

 

Cheers

 

Geoff

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  • 3 weeks later...

**update 17/4/16**

 

Hi everyone - I feel it is time for one of my periodic updates, so here goes…

 

In recent weeks I have been concentrating almost exclusively on the dive brakes. These are a very distinctive feature of the SBD, and as they are painted bright red, provide a welcome splash of colour.

You may recall that I got mine custom made in brass, at great expense. Although generally I avoid brass as I don't like working with it (and feel that it offeres limited detailing possibilities as everything is flat), in this case I don't think that I could have made the main flaps in any other way - at least not to the same standard and consistency. There are dozens of holes in the dive flaps that need to be exactly the same size - a difficult proposition if scratchbuilding the entire thing..

 

I started by making the outer flaps. The first step was to glue everything together and add some rudimentary details in the form of strengthening spars from plastic strip of the appropriate diameter.

I mentioned earlier how I cut out the dive flap sections from the wings to make it easier to build them, and I'm glad I did as they require constant handling.

 

IMG_2416_zpsntmc53vv.jpg

 

 

The kit parts are designed to be moveable - the plastic parts are held in place by little brass flanges hidden within the wing halves, and these are in turn held in place by screws. I modified the aforementioned brass flanges and screwed them in place, then reinforced them with the strongest two-part epoxy I could find. Onto the flanges I then soldered the dive flaps. Believe me, I hated every minute!  I'm rubbish at soldering, but eventually even my ham-fisted attempts produced a strong enough join. This means that the dive flaps are now held open at the correct angle. The soldered joins take the weight. Once I add the opening/closing mechanism, there will be some additional strength.  It's not rock-solid, but anything less than a direct hit on the dive flaps shouldn't do any lasting damage…

 

IMG_2417_zpstkjtxpii.jpg

 

 

Unfortunately I was now left with an unsightly mess, so….I cheated and covered up all evidence of soldering with plastic rod, pewter sheet etc.  This does mean that things are slightly overscale, and that if scaled up to real life size the whole mechanism would be fouled by the oversize framing, but that's not really a major issue for me. I had to compromise and I think the result looks OK.

 

IMG_2776_zpsmwwbvben.jpg

 

 

Now for some photos of the real thing - they should show the complexity of the main feature of the dive flaps, which is the actuating mechanism:

 

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-14%20at%2014.58.

 

 

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-12%20at%2015.24.

 

 

Screen%20Shot%202016-02-12%20at%2015.34.

 

 

Screen%20Shot%202014-12-09%20at%2014.33.

 

 

Each flap has six actuating arms arranged in equal spacing along a couple of tubes.  I gradually made mine from plastic sheet, strip and rod, plus some resin nuts and bolts, adding layers of detail. There is a little artistic licence here and there. I would estimate that each actuating system, plus associated flaps have over 200 pieces in them. Everything was done in batches of 6, repeated ad nauseum…

 

IMG_2754_zpssfwuwszu.jpg

 

 

IMG_2755_zpsdjbeanp5.jpg

 

 

In place on the right hand dive flap - the final ends of the actuating arms can only be cut to shape and added once the assembly is glued into place…

 

IMG_2772_zpsgsfo8nlv.jpg

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IMG_2771_zpswc1wau40.jpg

 

This end (the end closest to the fuselage) is subtly different as the entire mechanism joins onto the mechanism for the under-fuselage dive flap

 

IMG_2770_zpskmfbcn3l.jpg

 

IMG_2769_zpsyv1ije8s.jpg

 

Observe the left hand side of the bottom flap in the last photo - notice the notch cut out of its edge. Unfortunately this isn't strictly accurate - a mistake during the design process meant that the bottom flaps were made as simple copies of the top ones. The top ones DO have a notch cut out of the edge closest to the fuselage, but the bottom ones do not, as you can just about ascertain from this photo:

 

IMG_1435_zps8vtkninz.jpg

 

I'm not too bothered by this. Eagle-eyed viewers (and no doubt real Dauntless owners and pilots) will probably pull me up on it, but TBH it would take longer to fix it than not. And that's the least of my problems!  This one flap has probably taken 30 hours to make, and I have the other one to do, plus the center flap!

 

Until next time, any feedback and comments / queries welcomed.

 

 

Rich

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cheers Kev. I actually enjoyed doing it as scratching is what I love to do. Could I have done it by making resin copies? Yes, probably. But like my skill with brass/soldering, my skill and experience with casting in resin is minimal... 

 

whether or not I'll be in such a good mood after repeating the process, and doing the centre flap, is questionable..

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Richard,

 

THAT...is just a gorgeous piece of work. Rgardless of the brass flaps, your actuator mechanism is just spectacular. Just over the top. Keep it going Bud...

 

Geoff

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Well that looks pretty fantastic to me!

 

If I may - and I hope grandmothers and eggs don't spring to mind - I always use a gel type flux when soldering, even if the solder claims to have a flux core.

When heated, it lowers the surface tension of the solder and makes it behave like thin cyano. That is, it's subject to capillary action, and prevents 'blobbing'.

 

Nevertheless you've created fine replicas of the flaps and their mechanism.

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