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

[JayW]

Hey Bill - as you seem to be just about ready to install the landing gear, please permit me to offer to you some orientation guidelines.  I have seen otherwise wonderfully built Thunderbolt models where the modeler has failed to orient the landing gear properly, spoiling the overall look.  This jewel you have here should not have the same fate:

 

 

One easy way to check to see that the landing gear rake angle is about right (78 deg from fuselage center of thrust, or 78 deg minus 12 deg = 66 deg from ground line) is to make sure the lower edge of the trapezoidal shaped lower landing gear door is parallel with the ground line.  That appears to me how it was designed to be, and makes sense.  Many modelers orient the gear strut too straight up, rather than giving it that generous 66 deg rake.  

 

Also, Thunderbolt landing gear struts had a subtle 3 degree outward splay when looking forward or aft.  If Hasegawa did the lower strut right, its axle will be 3 deg off from the centerline of the strut.  That will allow the tire to be vertical, but the strut to be 3 deg off vertical.

 

Keep it up, and I sure hope that second windshield works out! 

 

[Citadelgrad]

7 hours ago, Archer Fine Transfers said:

 

Trick I learned some time ago is to dispense a drop or two on the bottom of a paint jar (Testors, AK, Mr. Color) and dip your applicator into that instead of into the CA bottle. 

I was trying to do this. I use our daughter's disposable contact lens containers for stuff like paint, CA, etc.  I had one flipped over and was trying to fish out a dollop of extra thick to use, and I got distracted.  I grabbed a bottle and dipped into it, looked at the toothpick, decided I hadn't hit glue yet, so I tipped it.  Boom.  waterfall of CA.  So stupid.  I really hate that stuff.  I've tried to switch to Gator glue, but it doesn't work well often, and in fact had failed on the parts I was trying to use CA on.  

2 hours ago, JayW said:

Hey Bill - as you seem to be just about ready to install the landing gear, please permit me to offer to you some orientation guidelines.  I have seen otherwise wonderfully built Thunderbolt models where the modeler has failed to orient the landing gear properly, spoiling the overall look.  This jewel you have here should not have the same fate:

 

 

One easy way to check to see that the landing gear rake angle is about right (78 deg from fuselage center of thrust, or 78 deg minus 12 deg = 66 deg from ground line) is to make sure the lower edge of the trapezoidal shaped lower landing gear door is parallel with the ground line.  That appears to me how it was designed to be, and makes sense.  Many modelers orient the gear strut too straight up, rather than giving it that generous 66 deg rake.  

 

Also, Thunderbolt landing gear struts had a subtle 3 degree outward splay when looking forward or aft.  If Hasegawa did the lower strut right, its axle will be 3 deg off from the centerline of the strut.  That will allow the tire to be vertical, but the strut to be 3 deg off vertical.

 

Keep it up, and I sure hope that second windshield works out! 

 

I will set the gear legs and see what Hasegawa set up, but I don't know how much modification is possible of the angles.  Thank you for the clear directions, I will check these out tonight.  

[JayW]

37 minutes ago, Citadelgrad said:

I will set the gear legs and see what Hasegawa set up, but I don't know how much modification is possible of the angles.  Thank you for the clear directions, I will check these out tonight.  

 

Check out this pic:

 

 

That's what I mean by the gear door lower edge being parallel with the ground.  If the stub on the hasegawa strut doesn't allow that, then I'd say modify it until it does.  Based on the 1/24 P-47 models I have seen, they got this laughably wrong.  Hopefully Hase 1/32 didn't. 

Edited September 30, 2021 by JayW

[Citadelgrad]

Tonight’s progress was minimal but critical.  First, i put on gloves to deal with canopy 2.0.  Then i carefully masked it, shot it with 2 coats of alclad aluminum, then a coat of gloss in preparation for an oil wash.  I decided to wait overnight for the oil wash to permit a full cure, even though the coat was thin and the area small. 
 

i also touched up the main gear, which prevented checking geometry tonight.  I have the brake lines bent but am pondering the best order of assembly, as i dont want the lines to interfere with the doors and various linkages.  
 

i painted the gunsight frames, but didnt take a photo.  
 

 

here it is next to the old one

I think the second one wins the beauty contest, but theres still the talent portion, how will she look under a pin wash and after the mask comes off?

 

stay tuned.  

[Citadelgrad]

On 9/30/2021 at 10:16 AM, JayW said:

 

Check out this pic:

 

 

That's what I mean by the gear door lower edge being parallel with the ground.  If the stub on the hasegawa strut doesn't allow that, then I'd say modify it until it does.  Based on the 1/24 P-47 models I have seen, they got this laughably wrong.  Hopefully Hase 1/32 didn't. 

Thank you, that is a very clear yardstick. 
 

here is what Hasegawa gives the modeler:

 

i present, for the first time, albeit temporary, the Jug on her feet!

 

That is the smallest square i have blocking the view, but clearly demonstrating that, from the front, there is a definite, and apparently equal on both sides, greater than 90 degree angle to the gear, with the bottom portion splaying slightly from centerline. 
whats more, i noted that the axels are indeed offset to make the wheels perpendicular, 90 degrees, with the ground

 

so far so good, and when i place the gear doors, temporarily, of course, 

Ignore the wonky flat spot in the wrong place, the gear door approximates parallel with the ground.  
 

Trifecta, Haswgawa for the win.  I also noted that the gear doors are “keyed” to the proper landing gear leg, with one having a locating tab at the top, and the other at the bottom, of the contact with the gear leg.  They simply will not fit properly if you get them reversed.  
 

what a great kit.  

i also got the replacement windscreen sorted out.   Here it is in some beauty shots

 

 

and i could not resist popping on the bubble part

 

its starting to look the part after such a long build.

I dry fit the tail wheel, my prediction is this thing is so delicate it must break at some point.  I need to re shoot the zinc chromate doors, they were collateral damage in the CA spill, nothing major but the paint is ruined there.

 

played with the main gears, still looking at what order of assembly to incorporate the brake lines, there are lots of linkages they need to snake around.  

 

this photo highlights that issue.  I want to leave the gear legs their current state of semi gloss, while these doors are way too shiny.  I will clean up the washes and then shoot them with some eggshell. 
 

the punch list shrinks:

seal canopy

install gunsight

install windscreen

main gear placards/transfers

main gear plumbed and installed

wheels installed

paint rear gear doors

install rear gear assembly

gun tubes

wingtip nav lights

iff lights

landing light

centerline tank

install cowl/engine

install prop

light streaking (maybe) around flaps, engine, and ejection ports, still 50/50 on this. 

flaps

fuselage antenna

final touch ups

i think thats all.

 

Then i just need to pick a new project.  

Edited October 3, 2021 by Citadelgrad

[MikeMaben]

Yep that's looking reeeaal good Bill. 

[JayW]

Yup - the LG orientation looks like it is going to be just fine!  As for the splay angle, it looks a tad too much to my eye.  But, the most important thing is to have the tires 90 deg to the ground plane.  Repeat - 90 DEG TO THE GOUND PLANE.  And given the Hasegawa-developed shape of the strut and axle, the splay angle will be pretty much set.  I guess, if there is any wiggle room at all Bill, minimize that angle (get it as close to 3 deg as you can).  I have seen Thunderbolt models where the strut is vertical (no splay angle), and the tires are 3 deg off vertical - which looks like a mistake.  And I have seen Thunderbolt models where the splay angle is overblown - which makes the poor thing look like a bow-legged cowboy.  So you gotta get it just right!

 

On my 1/18 effort a few years ago, I pulled out every trick in the book to try to get the various angles just right on the gear struts.  As the struts were entirely scratch built.  And they still are not perfect (splay angle on the RH side is a bit different from splay angle on LH side). 

 

As for brake line routing, I supply you with the real deal in the form of a Republic Aviation drawing:

 

 

 

Getting deja vu.  I think we have discussed this (and the clamps) already.....

 

A close-up of the lower strut:

 

 

That is a crude attempt by me to show the lower fairing in red.  Note that lower clamp, which provides the union fitting for the flex hose above, and the fixed line below.  In real life on a real aircraft, there is obviously enough room within the fairing inner structure for that stuff to be there.  In your case, in 1/32, no way.  You are going to have to satisfy yourself with somehow stuffing the lower end of the hose in there any way you can.  That is, unless you want to locally modify the fairing innards....Hmmm.  At any rate, you need not worry about the lower fixed line.  It would be 100% hidden by the fairing anyway. 

 

The finish line for this escapade is going to come in view not long from now.  Looking very good. 

Edited October 3, 2021 by JayW

[John1]

Fantastic work.   I agree with JayW, the termination of the brake line into the wheel will be completely invisible once everything is assembled.   I just pushed the line in the general direction and called it a day.   Good luck on the brake lines, they have a pretty complex run down the gear leg.   I struggled with this aspect of the build. 

 

If you are so inclined, I humbly recommend you check out Barracuda's line of resin wheels for the Jug.   They have amazing detail and are very reasonably priced.   

 

Keep up the great work! 

[Woody V]

Well, here I go blaspheming again but I always leave a little slop in the fit between the wheel and axel so I can adjust any "kit fit/alignment" errors.

 

You can set the model on your cutting mat with tail wheel centered over one of the grid lines and use the other grid lines to square everything up, then glue the wheels on using 5-minute epoxy. If you have anything that is square you can fit the wheels up against that so they sit square to the ground. Sounds like a lot of monkey business, but using this along with the grid lines on your cutting mat guarantees your tires will fit square to the ground and the centerline of the aircraft.

[Citadelgrad]

1 hour ago, Archer Fine Transfers said:

Well, here I go blaspheming again but I always leave a little slop in the fit between the wheel and axel so I can adjust any "kit fit/alignment" errors.

 

You can set the model on your cutting mat with tail wheel centered over one of the grid lines and use the other grid lines to square everything up, then glue the wheels on using 5-minute epoxy. If you have anything that is square you can fit the wheels up against that so they sit square to the ground. Sounds like a lot of monkey business, but using this along with the grid lines on your cutting mat guarantees your tires will fit square to the ground and the centerline of the aircraft.

I am using a set of resin wheels for this build.  The molded recess for the axle was far too shallow, so I carefully used a drill with finger pressure to deepen the hole. There is plenty of play to adjust the angle on the axle.  

 

My hesitation at this point is how to rig up a jig that ensures 90 degrees to the ground for long enough to set up the epoxy.  Build something or adapt something?  Hmm

[Woody V]

34 minutes ago, Citadelgrad said:

My hesitation at this point is how to rig up a jig that ensures 90 degrees to the ground for long enough to set up the epoxy. 

 

I'm fortunate enough to still have some tools from my machinist days, but you cannot get anything better than:

1-2-3 BLOCKS 

[Citadelgrad]

11 hours ago, Archer Fine Transfers said:

 

I'm fortunate enough to still have some tools from my machinist days, but you cannot get anything better than:

1-2-3 BLOCKS 

Just the ticket.  Ordered.  Thanks!

[Citadelgrad]

And just a few short days later...

 

First, the packaging leaves a little to be desired

The blocks were loose in the padded envelope, wrapped in an oil soaked tissue paper.  The padding is nice, but you've basically got 2, 2 lb. pieces of steel banging against each other during shipment.

Since I am NOT a machinist, and will use these to square up models and other garage projects, I imagine it will be fine, but wow, the packaging is a joke.

 

 

 

Now to figure out exactly how to use these to square up the wheels to reflect 90 degrees from level surface.  

[Woody V]

13 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

The padding is nice, but you've basically got 2, 2 lb. pieces of steel banging against each other during shipment.

They're hardened tool steel so you should be fine.

You're building a model airplane, not a Formula 1 transmission. 

[MikeMaben]

Yeah don't worry Bill, you could smack those with a ball peen and not hurt them.