Citadelgrad Posted April 25, 2022 Author Share Posted April 25, 2022 I put it off long enough. Time to plumb the belly tank. The area of the top of the tank and the bottom of the fuselage are devoid of any clue about where anything should go. There are a handful of not great photos, including one thats above of this very plane. Theres something there, but exactly what and exactly where it goes on the tank or where it enters the fuselage is open to some interpretation. i had ordered a bunch of assorted model car fittings for times like this. I selected a 90 elbow and drilled it to accept a length of brass rod so i am not left with a weak butt joint. then i sleeved some not terribly out of scale brass tube over the rod, and got this. compared to the photo, its ok in overall shape, but there is a thicker portion before it bends down to enter the tank. . I brainstormed a bit and settled on some aluminum tape. It might be a bit too much, i would like your thoughts, i can always remove some. ill ponder it a while and see if anyone weighs in on the thickness of that upper part. thanks for looking. Bill LSP_Kevin, Landrotten Highlander and Sasha As 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citadelgrad Posted April 25, 2022 Author Share Posted April 25, 2022 I decided the step was too extreme. I carefully peeled off a layer of the aluminum tape, and i think this will do. Its of course not painted yet. LSP_Kevin, Sasha As, Vince Blackburn and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 JayW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayW Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 (edited) I conducted a limited search of the drawings on Aircorps Library and could find nothing on external tank installation. Seems like it must be there, I just couldn't find it. I could have found exactly where the fuselage penetration is, but I sure will not do it now! You are too far along. Wham Bam thank you m'aam. What a picture. BTW - totally unrelated - stars and bars on the underside of the LH wing? Edited April 25, 2022 by JayW Citadelgrad and Ayovan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citadelgrad Posted April 25, 2022 Author Share Posted April 25, 2022 50 minutes ago, JayW said: I conducted a limited search of the drawings on Aircorps Library and could find nothing on external tank installation. Seems like it must be there, I just couldn't find it. I could have found exactly where the fuselage penetration is, but I sure will not do it now! You are too far along. Wham Bam thank you m'aam. What a picture. BTW - totally unrelated - stars and bars on the underside of the LH wing? Gabby got a twofer at the paint shop Gerhard, Fanes, JayW and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAG Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 6 hours ago, JayW said: I conducted a limited search of the drawings on Aircorps Library and could find nothing on external tank installation. Seems like it must be there, I just couldn't find it. I could have found exactly where the fuselage penetration is, but I sure will not do it now! You are too far along. Wham Bam thank you m'aam. What a picture. BTW - totally unrelated - stars and bars on the underside of the LH wing? Hi, Jay We had a thread a couple months back discussing this, here's the link: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/92155-anyone-have-any-decent-photos-of-p47-flat-belly-tank-plumbing Re: the second underside star-and-bars, that was for ground recognition purposes, as lots of AA gunners were mistaking P-47's for Focke Wulf 190's in the heat of combat, so they added a second national marking to help avoid any friendly fire incidents. JayW, Ayovan and Troy Molitor 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citadelgrad Posted April 25, 2022 Author Share Posted April 25, 2022 12 hours ago, MikeMaben said: The top photo, Karen Lee, the blast tubes look to be blocked by something, maybe tape to keep debris out? I know some British fighters had doped fabric placed over the gun ports. Anyone know anything about what this is, why, and how widely it was used? Thanks, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citadelgrad Posted April 26, 2022 Author Share Posted April 26, 2022 Also, are we thinking this plumbing is metal, rubber, or both? Some photos appear to show the bottom portion as metal. I have assumed the upper part is rubber but I can't tell at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citadelgrad Posted April 28, 2022 Author Share Posted April 28, 2022 Tonight, armed with a new understanding of what the plumbing is, specifically, a metal line at the tank end, connected to a glass elbow with a rubber clamp, then, at the fuselage side, another rubber clamp and a metal line into the fuselage, i mocked this up. the tubing is, well, tubing, the glass is stretched, formed clear sprue (my arch nemesis), and standing in for rubber clamps is aluminum tape. i plan to paint the brass with alclad aluminum, the aluminum tape will get a rubber color, then more aluminum tape for the hose clamps, and the clear will hopefully stay clear. i will stretch some more sprue and try to get a slightly thicker diameter, my problems here are legion, for they are many. I cant stretch sprue to save my life. I need both a smooth gradual elbow and an appropriate diameter, easier written than done. lastly for tonight, i intentionally drilled a hole in the belly to glue a brass rod so i have a positive attachment point for the tube. yes, i will trim it once the epoxy dries. I needed to tape it to keep it vertical. chugging along. JayW, TAG, Landrotten Highlander and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayW Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 (edited) Bill - I would love to "check your work", however I am in unfamiliar territory. My big jug has nothing hanging from its belly, so I did no thorough research. MOF, I fouled up what I did, which was to install the four braces on the outside of the belly fairing, rather than through it, attaching to firm sub-structure like it is supposed to (not sure how I would have done that....) Anyway I like what you are doing though! Edited April 28, 2022 by JayW MikeC and Citadelgrad 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Wow... great detective work on the belly tank connection! I'm sure it will look that much more authentic as a result! Citadelgrad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayW Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 (edited) Looky what I found. There is a drawing 93X10101 "General Arrangement Combat Fuel Tanks and Bombs", whihc shows two kinds of belly tanks - the common 75 gallon and the British 108 gallon "paper tank". Unfortunately it doesn't show the tank you have, but it appears the installation of the British tank looks similar: That shows two glass tubes, but the forward one isn't glass according to its drawing. The tube drawings: The aft tube (glass) is 1.0 inch OD. The forward tube (alum) is .5 inch OD. There is also a drawing 93F65228 "Permanent Installation Fuel & Pressurized System External Tanks" which shows the belly penetrations. Some pictures: Hope the station values mean something to you. I just happened on this info while looking for those gun plugs (unsuccessfully). Do with it what you will.... Edited April 28, 2022 by JayW Citadelgrad, Iain and TAG 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayW Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Correction - that forward tube is indeed glass; i flipped the numbers around. Sorry. TAG, Ayovan, MikeMaben and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citadelgrad Posted April 29, 2022 Author Share Posted April 29, 2022 Im going to try a change, instead of metal tape, i think tamiya masking tape will take the “rubber” paint better, and i will keep it to one or two turns to try to keep a scale appearance. Then i can hit it with impossibly thin strips of aluminum tape for the clamps. thats the plan, anyway. Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Huh !! OK, I take back everything I said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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