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1/32 Wirraway


DerekB

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Here's a picture of Tom's plane, most likely when it was serving with 12 Squadron on coastal patrols out of Darwin:

 

41974341435_16401e375a_z.jpg

A20-545 03 SLSAcrop by Derek Buckmaster, on Flickr

 

It was only with 2OTU for less than a month, so it probably still looked like this when Tom was flying it. Most likely with "45" repeated on the fuselage sides in 48" yellow letters...

Edited by DerekB
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OK, a few accessories have arrived.

 

Two Vickers K guns (upper left) and two Vickers Hyland Type B guns (right) from Gaspatch Models. These look very nice, with excellent detail.

 

The Hyland Type B guns will have their water-cooled barrels removed and replaced with air-cooled barrels to replicate the Vickers Mark V guns used on the Wirraway. Japanese Type 97 barrels from Sprue Brothers (bottom) will make this happen.

 

42178402724_1c818cf98b_z.jpg

 

Edited by DerekB
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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Progress is slow, as work is busy. But I've been looking at how this will work, and the news is mostly good.

 

Here's a quick view of the start of work on the seats. Original T-6 seat on the left, Wirraway seat on the right. The back of the seat should really be gently curved as well (not flat), but I don't think that will be too obvious. Edges to be rounded smooth and then the second seat will be modified as well.

 

41086489470_7c7535b1c1_z.jpg

 

Edited by DerekB
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The Wirraway is fitted with a 3-bladed prop, using a Hamilton Standard 3D40 hub and 6101A blades. The blades in the Kittyhawk Texan kit will work (and I have 2 kits, so I have 4 blades) but I need to modify the 2-bladed 2D40 hub from the kit. Here are some pics showing how this is done...

 

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First, cut the hubs in half and trim them to fit in a 120 degree pattern:

41996416755_85fb76d13d_z.jpg

 

Then a simple jig to hold the 3 "halves" in place while I glue them back together:

28027883687_b601576f68_z.jpg

 

Edited by DerekB
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Here's the plan for converting the Texan wing into a Wirraway wing...
 
The centre-section just needs cosmetic work and correct detailing of the wheel wells, so that will be relatively easy. For the outer wings, a thin wedge will be trimmed off the inboard edge to get the correct straight trailing edge, as shown in the sketch below. Luckily the sweep of the leading edge will then be correct (North American didn't change the wing geometry much  :) ) and I'll just need to do some surgery to round the tips and correct the ailerons and flaps...
 

41086564710_f852fff6b2_z.jpg

Edited by DerekB
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Derek,

   I'll be following your build to it's conclusion for sure, especially since it will be a major conversion.  Your modified side frame matches the plans perfectly. Well done.

 

Joel

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