HK B-17...C 28/12 Running the (wire) gauntlet

[brahman104]

13 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

Great to see this one back on the bench. Keep up the awesome work on this big conversion

 

 

Matt 

Thanks Matt! Always appreciate you stopping by!

 

[brahman104]

7 hours ago, mconnelley said:

Is there a way you can disguise the wires as the brake hydraulic lines...sort of a 'hidden in plain sight' kind of approach?

 

Mike

 

Thanks for looking in Mike. Not sure yet, I'll have to have another look at references. I was thinking about drilling out the spindle that the wheel mounts to as well so I could run everything internally, but the bend radius was going to be too tight. I'll keep playing around with them, but all things considered, I think they'll be pretty unobtrusive for the small amount you'll see.

 

Cheers,

 

Craig

[Dadeo911]

Hi Craig,

As Mike suggested, you could run one wire down each leg, posing as a brake line, into the brake itself into the tire and then out the bottom of the tire.  They can then be run (under the mounting board) to the power supply. It's easier to drill a small hole into the bottom of each tire and run the wire through than to drill a larger hole to jam both into giving you less contact space to secure the model down with.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z2QPtxo2Xwt1WTvpXotjACxz7OuBPcjr/view?usp=sharing (Sorry I don't have a photo sharing account any longer.)

 

I have done something similar with a ship model using the conductive properties of the brass stand to connect to the wires (one for each of the brass stands) to the slot in the underside of the board. Being wood it doesn't conduct the charge. 

[brahman104]

Hi mate,

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I did have a look at your attached photo and it looks good, however when I was closing up the fuselage I had to run both wires down and out one side only (which is the left). To run them as brake lines would also mean running them through the brake booster on the front of the strut, which would also mean drilling into something even smaller!

 

It was my poor forward planning, so I'm stuck with it now. Both wires will have to run down the left leg. I think I should be able to hide them pretty well though. Time will tell!

 

Cheers,

 

Craig

[brahman104]

And you guys thought I'd given up......

 

Nope, she's still going. Getting towards the end on one entire wing, top and bottom! It's been a slog and there's a whole other wing to do yet, but the optimist in me says that I'm halfway. 

 

At least now I'm doing the leading edge I can finally start doing some recessed rivets.....These are like a dream compared to the 8 gazillion raised ones I've done so far. A tricky challenge on the latest point has been trying to shape a single piece of skin to fit in between the two nacelles, as there's a whole heap of different geometry going on there. I got it close, but the saving grace will be the strips running around the edges of the nacelles which will (hopefully) hide any gaps. Overall I'm pretty chuffed; just trying to get a panel done, whenever I can.

 

On the flip side, I've still got a long way to go before I really have to think about where to put it once it's done! 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Martinnfb]

So bloody cool! Joy to follow.

Cheers

Martin

[JayW]

Wow - it's been a minute Guy.  That wing, when you pan back a bit, looks like a real wing.  It's just spectacular.  You have a gigantic project going here, glad to see you are back in business!

[Sasha As]

Great job !!!

[LSP_Kevin]

It lives! Welcome back, Craig. Great to see an update on this one again. It looks amazing!

 

Kev

[scvrobeson]

So happy to see this one back. True craftsmanship in metal on the Fort

 

 

Matt 

[KiwiZac]

Welcome back Craig, it does my heart good to see a new post from you on this.

[brahman104]

On 7/11/2025 at 10:49 PM, Martinnfb said:

So bloody cool! Joy to follow.

Cheers

Martin

Thanks Martin!  

[brahman104]

On 7/12/2025 at 1:57 AM, JayW said:

Wow - it's been a minute Guy.  That wing, when you pan back a bit, looks like a real wing.  It's just spectacular.  You have a gigantic project going here, glad to see you are back in business!

Sure has been Jay! Not really much in the way of "exciting and different" updates, just a lot of blank canvas that needs covering. At least I'll now how all the patterns I need for the second wing, so (apart from time available at the bench) it should go a bit quicker. 

[brahman104]

On 7/12/2025 at 2:51 AM, Sasha As said:

Great job !!!

Thanks mate!

 

[brahman104]

On 7/12/2025 at 8:30 AM, LSP_Kevin said:

It lives! Welcome back, Craig. Great to see an update on this one again. It looks amazing!

 

Kev

Thanks Kev! It's slow going, but I'm getting closer to imagining the theoretical light at the end of the tunnel