Mike Robinson Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 (edited) The rest of my turnbuckles arrived so it's back to rigging in earnest. I hope to have this monster done by the end of the week. This shows that the Gaspatch turnbuckles can indeed take a bend, in this case, 90 degrees on the single end turnbuckles. I'm using two of these per PE triangle to make my aileron control cable balancers. I did the same procedure for the elevators. Two of them per PE part, kept in parallel. I made 8 of these so that I can get the ailerons rigged over the next couple of days. Next will be the skid plates on the top wing, a few details to add here and there and I can call it done. I have some serious catching up to do get in Guys and Simmon's league of Finished Felixstow's Cheers Mike Edited May 25, 2015 by Mike Robinson Vandy 1 VX 4, Verbeek and geedubelyer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Robinson Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 Here's a few phone camera shots of my finished Felix. The aircraft is done, just have to paint the beaching dolly and outer support trestles, make a base and call this one finished. I had a blast building it, learned a few things along the way for the next one, and hope I was some assistance to those of you that have one in the stash. I'll take some better pictures once I find a backdrop big enough. Jeez Louise this thing is big. Thank you all for following along, your comments have been most helpful and sometimes motivating. I have another in the stash to do as an H-16, but I think I might do something a little smaller in between . Cheers Mike Vitali, geedubelyer, Wolf Buddee and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 MIke Absolutely a brilliant build and what a build it was. Gorgeous work and the finish is outstanding. :clap2: :clap2: Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Um, wow... Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark64 Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Oh boy, Isn't that something.... This is amazing. I love it. Oliver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 (edited) Spectacular build Mike. Your precision and skill is breath taking. That is a beautiful model by any standards and will look superb in a glass case as a centre piece to your display. I have a question if I may? How do you attach your rigging wire to the Gaspatch turnbuckle please? Do you simply glue it to the end of the turnbuckle or have you managed to drill out the metal part? I used a couple in the footwell of my current build as an experiment and used a hollow, tubular sleeve over the bottom of the turnbuckle to poke the end of the wire into but that did n't look very good. I'm interested to learn the required technique. Congrats on another clean, exemplary build buddy. Cheers. Edit:typo Edited May 28, 2015 by geedubelyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Robinson Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Peter, Oliver, Kevin and Maru thank you so much for the comments. I really appreciate them and for you following along. I hope to have some decent pictures with an uncluttered background later this week. Hi Guy. Because I used EZ Line (mistake) it was easy peasy. First I secured the anchor end and the turnbuckle ends. I rigged the underside of the top wing before installing it, and to attach the lines I inserted the line into the eye of the anchor, looped it around and passed it through a second time. A small touch of CA on the end of a pin secured the line to the anchor. Then using cross action tweezers, I pulled the extra really tight back on itself, and used a sharp #11 blade to slice through close to the fitting. This allowed for virtually no left over "nub" of line hanging off the fitting, and being passed through twice helps ensure it won't pull out. I'm thinking monofilament would work the same way. The ones I used required no drilling. The eyes were big enough to pass the lines through twice without any problems. Hope this helps Guy. Cheers Mike geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Buddee Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Freakin' awesome Mike! That looks so incredible and equally incredibly hard to move from the work bench to the display case let alone to any competition table! Wow!............... Cheers, Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Hi Mike, thanks for the explanation. I can see what you did now. The wires on your Felixstowe connect differently to those on the rudder controls in the Spitfire's footwell. I'm trying to find a suitable way of attaching a wire to the other end of the turnbuckle (the end that you bent to 90degrees in your photo at the top of the page). I am eager to see the finished pics of this mighty bi-plane. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Mighty !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Robinson Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 (edited) Thank you Loic and for following along. equally incredibly hard to move from the work bench to the display case let alone to any competition table! Wow!............... Thanks for the kind words Wolf. Actually it's not that bad. The hardest part is picking it up somewhere where I won't snag a rigging line. I'm building a storage/transport box out of 1/2" Baltic Birch ply that will also serve transportation needs and as a home when I rotate my displays. Are you coming to Columbus for the US Nats by any chance? I'm trying to find a suitable way of attaching a wire to the other end of the turnbuckle (the end that you bent to 90degrees in your photo at the top of the page). Oh I see what you are saying Guy. You must be using the double ended turnbuckles with an eye on each end correct? What kind of attachment do you have on your Spitfire rudder peddle? What if you stripped some fine stranded copper wire and used a strand to loop through the turnbuckle and mounting point a few times, drawing it tight each time? They also make a Turnbuckle with an eye on one end and a flat on the other you could simply CA to your Rudder pedal. Or, and this would be experimental because I've never tried it, split one of the eyes with a fine pair of cutters and spread them to form an ersatz clevis? I know I'm probably reaching on that one but it may work. Cheers Mike Edited May 30, 2015 by Mike Robinson geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Hi Mike, thanks for the quick response and the use of cutters idea. That might work if I can find a way to cut through the end of the turnbuckle. It does seem to be quite strong material. I'll have to have a practice. I attempted to recreate this: http://spitfiresite.com/2010/07/anatomy-of-spitfire-cockpit.html/03_side_wall_001 (the two parallel wires at the bottom of the photo.) Where I struggled was at the aft end of the arrangement. In order to get the correct look I would have needed to use a but t joint right on the end of the turnbuckle. An almost impossible feat as it turned out. Glueing the wire to the side of the turnbuckle looked odd so I ended up glueing a short length of tube over the end of the turnbuckle then sliding the wire into that. Ideally we would need the end of the turnbuckle to be hollow allowing the wire to be poked into the end and glued. Drilling a hole into the end of the metallic material would be a huge ask, especially with the 1/48th scale turnbuckles that I was experimenting with. It's a bit of a conundrum/challenge. If anyone else has any ideas I'd be very interested in hearing alternative techniques. So, now that this goliath Felixstowe is complete, what do you plan on treating us with next? Cheers. Vandy 1 VX 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandy 1 VX 4 Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Hi Guy try these out Wire Stretchers & Controlhorns 1/48 48406 also in 1/32 http://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/Wire-Stretchers-Controlhorns-1-48.html?cur=2 Cheers geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gisbod Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Well done Mike! Looks topper I'm still struggling on where to put mine.. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Robinson Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 (edited) Thanks Guy, I appreciate the comments especially from you and Sean as you both have "been there". I'm still struggling on where to put mine.. Fortunately I don't have that problem. When I built my display cases I purposely made them big as I knew "someday" I'd need the room. Here it sits next to the W29 for size reference. It'll be the second one I'm going to have to struggle with. CheersMike Edited May 31, 2015 by Mike Robinson geedubelyer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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