RLWP Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Well back at it again tonight guys. Once again I find myself having a lot of fun doing this. Well just Stop It. This is a hobby, you're not supposed to be enjoying it! Richard Harold, Martinnfb and Out2gtcha 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Brian Great to see the mojo kicking in and you're rolling. Awesome work on the nose gear Keep ‘em comin Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCRATCH BUILDER Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 I thought there was a fragile gear issue with this kit? If so looks like your getting it fixed! Martinnfb and Out2gtcha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 20, 2017 Author Share Posted December 20, 2017 Thanks guys, one and all for the generous comments. I thought there was a fragile gear issue with this kit? If so looks like your getting it fixed! No, its really not a matter of strength I dont think. I think people may be confusing (including maybe even HpH themselves) the issues with the F7F gear. There really is no strength issue that I can see. I dont believe there really ever was. HpH put out their picture of the Tigercat with two 1Kg weights on each side of the fuselage on the wings, also giving me the impression that they too think people/customers think there was a strength issue with the gear: Honestly, for me, any and all changes to the gear have nothing to do with strength (or lack there of) of the gear. My problem is two fold: - The horribly ugly and completely unacceptable (IMHO anyway) system HpH came up with to support the F7Fs extremely cantilever nose gear - a brass pin directly through the nose gear and into the top of the tire. I will be fixing this with my brass lower replacement section for the nose gear. - The 1.5mm wire that is supposed to be embedding inside the gear, is sticking out from the middle (oleo section unfortunately) of my MLG as well as the bottom section. I really have no doubt that HpHs system as made OOB, would support the model. It just looks really bad in situ, and is not the solution to have on a high end kit IMHO. This is all moot, as I plan on rectifying both of those issues. The nose gear is coming along, and Ill be able to adjust the height by extending or shortening the oleo strut in the nose gear. As for the MLG, Im hoping I hear back from Jiri @ HpH on a replacement set, but Im not counting on it. With this in mind, I am planning on cutting each of the MGL right at the top of the oleo strut, then pulling the internal wire out of the top and bottom sections, then plan on drilling a suitably sized hole to accept the large stainless steel needle section I will be inserting to simulate the oleo. I can polish it up to a high chrome-like shine, and as it will be a separate piece, I can use the new oleo sections to adjust the final height/sit of the model as well to correct the super ugly nose high attitude the F7F can have sometimes parked. The large diameter stainless steel hypodermic tube Ill be using for the MLG oleos is quite strong, and should act as a replacement for the wire I will pull out of the MLG, and at the same time will gain me a much more realistic looking oleo strut, and will give me the ability to change the final stance of the aircraft as well. I will likely leave the top portion of the MLG wire in place for extra support. No bench time happened yesterday, as the house was filled with the GFs family (usually a weekly occurrence ) so I will be trying to get back tonight in full force, as I feel like I have some significant momentum going on the big kitty. Cheers till next time! sandokan, Gazzas, Harold and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCRATCH BUILDER Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Well with all that said and the little issues, still great work Brian! I love redoing my gear in brass. Martinnfb and Out2gtcha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Brian INCREDIBLE, absolutely incredible. Maybe the folks at HpH should stop staying "no they won't and no they can't" and listen to what we are saying and asking. Our objection regarding the gear from day one has not been strength but as you said it so eloquently: "The horribly ugly and completely unacceptable (IMHO anyway) system HpH came up with to support the F7Fs extremely cantilever nose gear - a brass pin directly through the nose gear and into the top of the tire" The only way the gear wouldn't fail if the UGLY and unacceptable wire didn't run though the gear and into the tire, is to cast is it in brass or bronze. Without the wire, it wouln't last at all. So by casting the gear, the scale appearance issue is solved and the gear would also be that much stronger. We also objected to the main gear being cast so badly after seeing how badly yours was. For a kit of over $320 and for the record, SB has it for $375, this is completely unacceptable. If the gear was fixed correctly, I would be back on the bandwagon to buy the Tigercat but until them, not a chance. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monthebiff Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Brilliant work on solving the foward gear issue's and such neat scratch building. Keep going..... Regards. Andy Out2gtcha and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 The large diameter stainless steel hypodermic tube Ill be using for the MLG oleos is quite strong Good grief !! You live next door to a horse doctor ??? Out2gtcha and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 21, 2017 Author Share Posted December 21, 2017 Good grief !! You live next door to a horse doctor ??? LOL! Funny, they are actually from about 3 or 4 Thanksgivings ago...............found them when I decided to fry a Turkey and inject it with some flavor (comes with an injector and a roughly 1/8" injector needle): MikeMaben, Martinnfb and Greg W 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Smitty44 Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 Just because it's a dream kit doesn't mean it's ok to start using narcotics to get it done(Could you send me some please?). You should have seen the parade of Marine Corps warbirds they had at El Toro shows back in the 80's. Nice work my friend... Vandy 1 VX 4, Out2gtcha and Harold 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkis Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 Nice work! Question about your nose gear bay detail: that compressed air bottle - where did you get that valve? Did you make it? If so, from what. That looks elegant. Enjoying the show - keep at it! Clark Out2gtcha and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 21, 2017 Author Share Posted December 21, 2017 John, Clark thanks for the kind words. Nice work! Question about your nose gear bay detail: that compressed air bottle - where did you get that valve? Did you make it? If so, from what. That looks elegant. John, do you mean this? If so, This is the OOB HpH tank, together with some watch parts, some brass 1mm and .0-8mm brass nuts from ScaleHardware, now modelmotorcars.com and some lead wire. Greg W, Vandy 1 VX 4, Shawn M and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 Merry Christmas to all! Well its onward and upward over the past few days leading up to Christmas, although yesterday and today are taken up with family stuff, I managed to put some touch-up paint on the fuselage sides, as well as finishing the remaining part of the nose gear, which was the hydraulic actuator piston, and the torque rod. Things finally ended up fitting nicely albeit a very tight in the end, and I had to decrease the diameter of the actuator piston to fit it all in. None of this is purely accurate, but it looks like it could be (IMHO). Here is how the torque rod and actuating piston look in their complete, but raw form. Later I will sand and prime/paint these: The final position of these is indeed tight, but a bit easier to see how they actually fit outside of the well pack: In situation: You can see here my final mod to the main gear. I was (and still I am) planning on drilling a hole through the tabs on each side of the OOB nose gear, that would accept a pin to hold the folding nose gear brace. I wanted to have this for extra overall strength, and to help tie all the nose gear parts together. However, I noticed that the OOB resin parts were easily broken, and would not support this arrangement without a lot of adhesive, and I did not want to clog that area with glue, so I could retain the scale look of the separate parts. I basically cut a piece of appropriately sized brass tube equal to that of the main nose gear, and brazed on two tabs, that I then cut out and shaped. The hardened steel rod will be cut off at the bottom of the resin base for the oleo strut, after I finalize how much of it needs to be retained (as well as how long of a aluminum tube I need for the oleo). This will be determined by the stance of the model after assembly, as well as by how much stainless steel tube I need to add to the MLG to compensate : I had not up to this point, actually assembled all the nose gear parts at once, so I wanted to make sure of how things fit prior to any paint on the gear or weathering on the well or gear. I'm going to keep the overall weathering on this one light. I decided to see if I could see what the gear would look like assembled, but only dry fit it together. This seemed to work out ok in the end and gave me a really good idea of where I stood. Turns out I think Im right where I need to be....................................... Greg W, Harold, Martinnfb and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 So these are some pics of what the nose gear assembly looks like, in its finished but raw state. I still have a lot of finish/prime/paint work left to do here. Im going to glue in everything you see here prior to the fuselage being cleaned up, up to but not including the oleo strut parts, like the aluminum tubing for the oleo area itself, the resin base part that receives the 1/2 fork assembly, and the fork assembly itself. Im leaving all the last parts off so I can use a longer or shorter aluminum oleo tube piece to make sure the model sets level like I want. All this will be finish sanded, primed, painted then installed except the above mentioned parts. Again this is all just setting in here loose: You can also see here some of the smaller detail work, like the concave ends to the nose gear fork: The aluminum oleo tube will later be polished and cut down to size, or replaced with a longer one to make sure the model sets right:Well, Thats in for today, as its off to my sisters house for some Christmas cheer, food and drink.Cheers till the next installment!! Martinnfb, MikeMaben, Greg W and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandy 1 VX 4 Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 Looking awesome Brian Merry Christmas to you and your family Out2gtcha and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now