Trak-Tor Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Are you a wizard, or....? Great progress. I think I'll need to dive into this PE stuff soon... Already looking forward to your next update. airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted October 10, 2017 Author Share Posted October 10, 2017 (edited) evening ladies so, some plastic has been cut and finally this build gets started... I have been thinking about how to build out the fuselage and knew I would use a keel & formers - because it is so big, I can't really vacform over the shape (even in sections), so the fuselage I make is the one that will be skinned I toyed with what to use and settled for 2mm acrylic - in the UK it is called Perspex. The advantage I thought was it is pretty flat, pretty strong and in what might be genius or folly it is clear so I could just put it over the plan and scribe the outline... like so.....here the sheet is taped over the plan... ..its hard to photograph on my bench, but I ended up with the main outline and former positions marked up.. ..it works quite well so far... ..then in a very dusty session with a dremel cutting disc I cut out the outline - some sense of size can be seen from the pot of Tamiya... ..I cut out the areas for the pilot and observers position so this forms the boundaries of those areas. I intend to add thick card formers and fill in between with balsa block. Balsa is really easy to shape and if coated with wood hardener (sold in DIY shops to treat rotten timber) it goes pretty hard at the end of the process. That way once I have shaped the whole thing I should be able to remove these whole sections so I can slot in the detailed cockpits as 'pods' like I did on my Spitfire and skin over the sides of them. I am kind of making this up as I go in case you hadn't noticed... ..for the formers themselves, I transferred them into coreldraw so I could scale them just undersize and remove 2mm from the middle of each to allow for the keel... ..these are then printed true size and will be cut from 1.5mm plastic card.. ..lastly, after weeks of work, the PE has gone off to PPD for etching - its about £50 - £60 for a bespoke A4 sized job but considering I have virtually every component visible in the cockpit it saves months of work, and is way more accurate..you should try it.. first all the internal parts - bulkheads, switchgear, the IP, radiators etc and a second sheet with all the external panels, hatches, parts of the U/C doors, seatbelt fittings, winch brackets and the curved things are internal fuselage formers - I think I can bend these into a Z shape and they should save a lot of difficult fabrication... ..so thats it - I feel like I am underway now and actually making up the fuselage shouldn't take too long TTFN Peter Edited October 10, 2017 by airscale Guyman1, KiwiZac, Kagemusha and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 What kind of black magic is this? Kev airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 Play with that Acrylic a little bit before getting to far on this. It doesn't usually like most glues or cements, you may find it very difficult to use. airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kike_gt Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Great to know you're back in the saddle! I'm gladly gonna follow!!! airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 I do think there is some acrylic/perspex specific glues out there. I had a couple of custom-made covers made for models and that is what they used. Problem will be when you try gluing styrene to acrylic! airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 BURN THE WITCH! airscale, daHeld and DougN 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Wow! One of my favorites! The sleek nose Firefly! Beautiful start! airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Barry Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Great approach. Thanks for documenting. My Bearcat cockpit is a pod. Though I used hi density foam to fill in the bearcat fuselage, I'd probably stick with balsa (109 style) in the long run. Foam does have some advantages though. airscale and daHeld 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guyman1 Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Very interesting I have been looking a a similar approach to my 1/20 scratch Spitfire having two halves make slightly undersized formers and go from there this is beautiful stuff Peter a joy to see unfold. Guy airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ungoliat Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Hi. Well, another show... Please, let me get comfortable, cry and drink something to drown my sorrows airscale, Lothar and daHeld 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted October 11, 2017 Author Share Posted October 11, 2017 evening folks I just had either a major brain fart that means I am slightly potty, or a stroke of genius ..before we get to that, I spent today making all the fuselage formers... used the printouts to score and break out the shapes, removed the 2mm strip from the centre and then balanced each one with each other by clamping together in a vice and shaping as one... ..soon had them all done... ..now about that idea... I have two challenges - 1) the perspex keel is actually quite flexible along its length and I was a bit worried that even balsa packing & glue won't make it 100% rigid and true as it is when it lies on my bench. For this reason I would have to make up one side with formers & balsa and then flip it over to do the other side once it had stabilised.. 2) if I do want to put this in the Telford comp one day it needs to be predominately plastic - the rules do say something about that so a plastic keel with balsa, skinned with metal is not really compliant... ..then the brain fart... what about this... ..Lego ... it will make it super rigid, it is plastic, and all I need to do is contour the surface with P40 automotive filler ..for now I think it is bloody clever, but am going to sleep on it before I commit.. just thought I would mention it hehe Play with that Acrylic a little bit before getting to far on this. It doesn't usually like most glues or cements, you may find it very difficult to use. Good thinking Ron - I did some tests with Gorilla CA and it worked out fine so thankfully got over that one TTFN Peter Kagemusha, sandokan, Derek B and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClumsyDude Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 The Lego idea is just terrific Peter ... as always it's a sheer pleasure to watch you solving problems. Jim Shaka HI and airscale 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLWP Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 And... you could enter it into Lego competitions too! Richard airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony C Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 ..now about that idea... ..Lego ... it will make it super rigid, it is plastic, and all I need to do is contour the surface with P40 automotive filler Bloody genius, I say, assuming that the Lego fits nicely between the formers! If not a tight fit, would the fuselage still flex? As for entering the IPMS competition, surely the fact that the formers are plastic, would allow it to be entered but failing that, is there a IMMS society airscale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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