Starfighter Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 haha - sorry about that - which one are you going for? I asked about assembly and Ondrej said cut the nose off but I think I will go my own way... Asked about the Tomcat and the Hornet. The Tomcat is not available as the mould set does not seem to be complete, the Hornet is 700€. It's what I have expected and certainly worth it, but way beyond what I can afford. Maybe one day... in the meantime, I'll watch your progress! The section you have marked red is exactly what I would cut out. I'd try to avoid cutting through surface detail as much as possible as I have no idea how well that resin/glass fibre stuff can be scribed. airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironwing Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 (edited) Peter, Your idea for opening the fuselage is a solid one. I would make the cuts further fore and aft however. The larger area will give you more room to work and probably make the cuts easier. Best Geoff Edited March 30, 2016 by Ironwing airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 'oh, and as for instructions - that's simple - there aren't any.' What's on the CD? If you're going to cut, you'll need to cut so the cut line won't be seen from the inside. You'll be able to finish anything exterior-wise. The problem will be how to finish any cut lines observable from the interior. Using your illustration, the front cuts look good. The back not as much. I would move the back forward to just behind the bulkhead. I don't know the strength of the material, but what I see from your illustration, the remaining material from your proposed cut looks weak. It would be a drag if the back fuselage broke off at that point. If you retain the rear cut location, I would cut halfway down then rounded intersection angle forward to meet the bottom. If you make the intersection between back and bottom cut curved, or rounded, rather than square, the curve will strengthen that location. The bottom cuts may need to be lower and on the return side of the fillet, where the fillet flares outward and meets the wing. They may need to angle down, from front to back, minimizing being seen. In addition, you will need to locate strip along the inside edge of the fuselage so the cut-out aligns properly. I would say that cutting out the cockpit as a block is preferable to cutting out the cockpit as two side panels. Alignment of two side panels would be a chore. Others mileage may vary. Good luck. Sincerely, Mark airscale and Out2gtcha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 30, 2016 Author Share Posted March 30, 2016 (edited) evening folks Peter,such a daunting problem. Does HPH give any clues on the disc?Good luck.Cees Hi Cees - unfortunately not, the disc is just 15 or so close ups of a finished model - the one on their website.. Hi Peter,My first thought was to follow panel lines and cut away a large area but then it occured to me that you are going to skin this bird so using existing panel lines would n't matter as much. This is going to be a superb build. I feel it in my water. Do you think you could finish it by the end of April? If so, perhaps you'd consider joining the Edgar Brooks tribute group build.... No? No, probably not. But this will indeed be a fitting reminder of Edgar's favourite aircraft and will honour his memory by it's very existence. Loving the work you've accomplished so far. The comparison between your scratch built (can we use the term "scratch built" with something this remarkale I wonder?) joystick and the kit part shows the difference beautifully. I suspect HPH may be commisioning you to build there museum pieces in the future. Cheers P.s, maybe you could intersperse the fabrication if these Spitfire parts with an occasional Tigercat component. Before you know it that one would be complete..... thanks GD - I hope this is a good one - it struck me today how little assembly there is - I already have an airframe, I just need to detail it and skin it- job done! will be back to the F7F in no time.. The section you have marked red is exactly what I would cut out. I'd try to avoid cutting through surface detail as much as possible as I have no idea how well that resin/glass fibre stuff can be scribed. thanks Ben - it's a pretty hard surface if it was going to be scribed - I am lucky I can commit untold sins all over the surface and not worry - the whole thing is just a base for skinning in metal sheet Peter,Your idea for opening the fuselage is a solid one. I would make the cuts further fore and aft however. The larger area will give you more room to work and probably make the cuts easier.BestGeoff thats a good shout Geoff - the fibreglass is so thick it is pretty self-supporting so I will probably take a hefty section out of the fuselage from in front of the instrument panel to the bulkhesd behind the seat - there is a big open area with a fuel tank that sits there & will need making.. 'oh, and as for instructions - that's simple - there aren't any.'What's on the CD? If you're going to cut, you'll need to cut so the cut line won't be seen from the inside. You'll be able to finish anything exterior-wise. The problem will be how to finish any cut lines observable from the interior. Using your illustration, the front cuts look good. The back not as much. I would move the back forward to just behind the bulkhead. I don't know the strength of the material, but what I see from your illustration, the remaining material from your proposed cut looks weak. It would be a drag if the back fuselage broke off at that point. If you retain the rear cut location, I would cut halfway down then rounded intersection angle forward to meet the bottom. If you make the intersection between back and bottom cut curved, or rounded, rather than square, the curve will strengthen that location. The bottom cuts may need to be lower and on the return side of the fillet, where the fillet flares outward and meets the wing. They may need to angle down, from front to back, minimizing being seen. In addition, you will need to locate strip along the inside edge of the fuselage so the cut-out aligns properly. I would say that cutting out the cockpit as a block is preferable to cutting out the cockpit as two side panels. Alignment of two side panels would be a chore. Others mileage may vary.Good luck.Sincerely,Mark thanks Mark for such a considered reply - I think you are right - one section with radiused corners just above the wing fillet line sounds about right, its also a good point about hiding the cuts on the inside - I expect I will have to line the walls or something.. thanks all for your help so, on to whats been going on.. I got the Cooke plans scaled to the model from spinner backplate to rudder sternpost @ 482mm, it may or may not be 1/18 I don't really care,, the important thing is the plans really help getting a feel for how near to the accepted shape the airframe really is. In this case HpH are to be highly commended - I have checked dozens of measurements from the Montforton book and from the Cooke plans and it is pretty spot on all over. Everything falls right where it should be as far as station points and key dimensions. I made load of card templates to check fuselage cross sections etc and only found one minor issue in just shaping the rear fuselage top to be a bit more pointed.. ..I grew some kahunas and started about my big expensive kit with a big home sander.. ..it felt refreshing to go from fiddling about making a Compass the size of a pea, to doing some man-sized ultra-violence... ..speaking of which, the one thing I wanted to do before I go much further and start chopping out the cockpit is to sort the nose and get rid of the chin radiator scoop - more violence and I sanded a great big hole in it - I put a spinner sized disc on for reference.. even taking this much off wasn't getting the lower cowl right.. ..Graham at Iconair had sent me the manufacturer drawing for the Griffon cowl so I scaled this (again to the model) to make some templates... ..it didn't take long to make up all the profiles and hang them on a keel.. ..got the dremel out and ground / cut / slotted / guessed (a lot) to integrate the lower cowl into the airframe.. ..and this is where I am at - hopefully looking like a Spitfire... I might use fibreglass resin to bond it in - not really sure I have thought that far ahead yet TTFNPeter Edited March 30, 2016 by airscale Starfighter, Fooesboy, David66 and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Fantastic work, Peter! Courage beyond reckoning, skills beyond measure. Kev airscale, Chris Wimmer and Fooesboy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radders Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 You know, that's like buying a Ferrari and taking an angle grinder to it.. I bought the Modelsvit IL-86 last year, wasn't cheap at £250... and I'm still thinking whether to build it or not! Let alone taking a sander to a £450+ kit, still you are going to do a proper job, and I'm rather excited to see the end result. I'll PM you soon too Peter, lots on at the moment. airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Good show. Nicely solved. Sincerely, Mark airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 calling Spitfire gurus.. Does anyone know if the air scoop fitted to a Griffon Mk XIV is the same as fitted to a Mk IX or earlier Merlin Marks? I have fabulous drawings of it in the Monforton book, but it is labeled against Melin versions - would it be the same on a Griffon one? Otherwise I need to find some other drawings TIA Peter David66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Peter, The Mk 22 drawings by Robinson from Scale Models c. 1979 show the intake both shorter when viewed from top and much deeper in profile than the drawing you posted. Hth Hans airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Note: the intake is identical to the one in the Cooke drawings.. airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironwing Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 You're mad... airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 I'm no Spitfire eggspurt, but this is what I found for a Mk IX: Sincerely, Mark airscale and David66 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 you're unstoppable, thats gonna be great! airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Nope the intake is different on the Griffon versions. Cees airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) Ummm, what????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, I go away for two weeks and this happens! My god Peter, I don't think the real ones were even built this good. While I am having withdrawals about your F7F on hold, this is fitting the bill quite nicely as far as projects go showcasing skills that are far beyond my capabilities!!!! Loving it so far mate, and I do have to go back and re-read it from the start. Good luck! Craig Edited March 31, 2016 by brahman104 airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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