Another Hasegawa T bolt Bubbletop, my first LSP. November 12, 2022, It is DONE at last!!!!!!!!

[Citadelgrad]

5 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

Huh !!  OK, I take back everything I said 

What do you mean, Mike?   Your input is always appreciated. 
 

EDIT, oh, the glass elbows?  Those blew my mind.   I never would have guessed, but now that it clicked, i see the glass in all the photos.  Its weird how the brain works.   

Edited April 29, 2022 by Citadelgrad

[Citadelgrad]

More work, but not a lot more work. Lots of thinking about how to do thus plumbing

 

 

im a lot happier with the scale of the rubber parts, not so happy with the evils of macro photography.  I will fix this, but this is probably what its going to look like.
 

[LSP_Kevin]

I like it, Bill! Macro photography can be a real mojo killer, but it helps to return the part to a more normal viewing distance so you can reset your perspective.

 

Kev

[JayW]

10 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

not so happy with the evils of macro photography.

 

Boy I hear you there!  I agree with Kevin - don't forget to stand back a foot or two and look!  Gonna look great!!  And, this is on the bottom!

[Ayovan]

Happy B-day Bill

[Citadelgrad]

7 hours ago, MARU5137 said:

 Bill,

Very Good work.

 

 

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sir.

Thanks, Maru!

2 hours ago, Ayovan said:

Happy B-day Bill

Thank you, Andy!

[Citadelgrad]

Thinking about this build a lot, but not much progress.  After weeks of fretting about how the fiddly fuel lines i scratch built and how there is so little space with the tank in place, versus not knowing where the pieces need to end up with the tsnk out of the way, i decided to permanently affix the fuselage end of the fuel line to the stub i epoxied to the belly to give a good attachment point.  Then i will addd the air line fuselage end, add the tank for the last time, then figure out the tank end of the lines.   At least the ‘rubber’ junctions are flexible and i can fudge a little bit. 

 

i touched up the rubber paint while the clear it is safely elsewhere.  
 

then i tried to get the front, unused fuel line set up, we will see how this works out

The tape flag is to prevent total loss of the part if the epoxy doesnt set up.  I will paint this rubber and add a fitting at the end, not hooked to anything.  
 

i also reshot the gun tubes, the first go around left me with some darker areas that looks splotchy rather than used

 

 

apologies for the low light phone pics.  Weekday bench time is brief.  
 

thanks for looking!

 

Bill

[Citadelgrad]

On 5/29/2022 at 3:02 PM, Ayovan said:

Happy B-day Bill

Thank you, sir, i missed this what with the parties and festivities, and the fact that i havent worked on this much!

[Thunnus]

I feel ya, Bill.  Sometimes you just have to plant your flag in the ground to keep the build moving forward. With the fuel lines positioned on the fuselage, you've removed some variables from the equation and it should be easier to figure out where things go now.

[Citadelgrad]

Well, several months of way too hot in the garage and a “cool” spell later, i decided to press on a bit.

 

I was having a lot of trouble with the drop tank plumbing, specifically, the glass elbows made me think i needed to have two joins where the metal tubing meets the breakaway elbows. Thats what thinking inside the box gets me.  Couple this with the very narrow space to work to make sure it all lines up, and i hit the wall on this one.

 

then it hit me, why not make the lines, or most of it, out of a clear part and just paint the “metal” parts?  Stretched sprue hates me, so i grabbed some clear rod in the the thinnest diameter i could find, introduced a touch of heat, and bam, entire lower fuel line in one easy to wrestle piece.   No photos of construction, but i wrapped a piece of tape to simulate the rubber, masked the part that will stay clear, and done. 
 

now its sitting there, i am holding my breath that the epoxy sets up well, but danged if it doesnt look good to my eye.  Maybe its the multi year build wearing on me, but i am really happy with this addition.  I will snap some more photos after im not afraid to invert it, but here it is.  I will add the air line when i get this one set, then the braces, and i can be done with the hard stuff, after that its just add the guns, pitot, fix the flaps, gear doors, and off to the shelf. 

 

 

pulled the windscreen masks, too.  

[Citadelgrad]

The epoxy held and i made some more progress

 

[MikeMaben]

Turned out great Bill 

[Woody V]

Glad to see you're back on this.

[scvrobeson]

That came out great!  Awesome problem solving on this.

 

 

Matt 

[TAG]

Bravo, awesome solution, and totally looks the part! It's these little details that make all the difference, good on ya, Bill