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1/18 P51C Mustang "Lopes Hope the 3rd"


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Way to go on the smiley face Peter.  That is a detail that is very difficult to get right, especially if there are scale issues with the surrounding stuff.  It appears just about right by my eye.  There is actually a NAA drawing that has the loft lines for the fuselage (B/C/D/K), which I searched vainly for.  However the casting drawing was most helpful - 104-310262.  Do not look at it, unless you already have.  No sense trying to find out if you have something wrong.  It already looks great!  BTW, there is a loft drawing for the wing:  106-00006, available in Aircorps Library, if you feel you need it later.

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Also, when I did Miss Velma, I entirely scratch-built the engine cowling area around the exhaust stacks.  Make extensive use of the drawings in order to get the right cutout, and the sheet metal supports for the stacks themselves, unless you will have shrouds on the stacks,  in which case it would be hidden.  But there is an excellent drawing of the exhaust stack shroud too.  

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afternoon ladies :)

 

On 12/24/2018 at 6:19 PM, JayW said:

Way to go on the smiley face Peter.  That is a detail that is very difficult to get right, especially if there are scale issues with the surrounding stuff.  It appears just about right by my eye.  There is actually a NAA drawing that has the loft lines for the fuselage (B/C/D/K), which I searched vainly for.  However the casting drawing was most helpful - 104-310262.  Do not look at it, unless you already have.  No sense trying to find out if you have something wrong.  It already looks great!  BTW, there is a loft drawing for the wing:  106-00006, available in Aircorps Library, if you feel you need it later.

 

Many thanks Jay - I think it still needs a bit of fettling but it is better than the wonky version there before - I too could not find the loft drawing David Glen used on his 1/5 scale one so I used the one you mention and a whole load of photo's

 

On 12/24/2018 at 6:25 PM, JayW said:

Also, when I did Miss Velma, I entirely scratch-built the engine cowling area around the exhaust stacks.  Make extensive use of the drawings in order to get the right cutout, and the sheet metal supports for the stacks themselves, unless you will have shrouds on the stacks,  in which case it would be hidden.  But there is an excellent drawing of the exhaust stack shroud too.  

 

 

I have a cunning plan for that actually - I have some 3D printed exhausts on the way from model monkey, have scaled the structure inside the cowlings from drawings and for the exterior panels (that define the aperture shape) I will likely create etched panels for the skins - two reasons - 1) they will be factory spec in terms of outline & 2) they will be a different tone to the rest of the panels which seems common on P51's, I guess they used a different metal / thickness on the real one...

 

so, the Xmas break meant some time at the bench and I am powering on with big structural stuff - it makes a nice change from all the tiny details in the cockpit..

 

..first up, I traced the gear doors from drawings to create a template, cut thisfrom card and used it to create the area to cut out for the main gear bays - this whole process took a day before I was happy with the position as it was at variance with the outline HpH had on the surface so I questioned what I was seeing and doing repeatedly...

 

..you can see the template and the two big holes below..

 

WIP442_zps1yy0atwh.jpg

 

..then it was time to add leg mounts - I did what I did for the Spitfire by braze soldering some brass tube onto brass plates to act as spigots to add lathe turned gear later on..

 

..these were then epoxied into place.. the perspective makes them look a bit out, but even if they are, they will be cut down to stubs just to act as positioning for the MLG later

 

WIP443_zpsb52r5cpg.jpg

 

WIP444_zpsusovcv24.jpg

 

..for the roof of the well, I cut out some black card blanks that fitted, and matched these to drawings of all the stringer & rib positions so I could scribe what goes where onto litho to actually line them..

 

WIP445_zpswkipmtaw.jpg

 

WIP446_zpslfbfhlxs.jpg

 

,,before I could fix the roof position I had to check something...

 

..in the cockpit, the floor where the control stick goes is actually the top of the wing, so I had to make sure the cockpit pod with the floor did not foul the bay roof. To do this I had to get the pod into the fuselage and into position... I had never done this before, so it could all have gone horribly wrong...

 

..thankfully and a few fist pumps later it all fitted fine...  it's tight, but it fits :)

 

WIP447_zpscakiqpfc.jpg

 

WIP448_zpsiebpkt5u.jpg

 

...now I could fix the gear bay roof and you can see how the scribed lines will help position all the structure to go in here (and there is tons of stuff...)

 

WIP451_zpsvnqewws1.jpg

 

WIP450_zpsbmxnygzi.jpg

 

..will probably add the walls then look at other big bits like stabilisers and the air scoop under the wing..

 

feels good to have some wind in the sails and who knows, I may make Telford next year :)

 

TTFN

 

Peter

 

 

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"I will likely create etched panels for the skins - two reasons - 1) they will be factory spec in terms of outline & 2) they will be a different tone to the rest of the panels which seems common on P51's, I guess they used a different metal / thickness on the real one..."

 

Ah ha!!  Yes you are right Peter.  The reason for the color or tint difference with the panels around and behind the exhaust stack slot is that they are steel.  All the rest of the panels are aluminum.   The steel panels are defined on drawing 102-31071, which has some variable config depending on serial number.  I think the proper engine cowl installation drawing is 104-31511 if you have not gathered that already.   

 

Man your build is bringing back some major deja-vu moments for me.  Am particularly interested in your landing gear and gear bay work once it really commences.  Nothing spoils a good Mustang build like getting the landing gear rake angle wrong (Tamiya got it wrong BTW - a little too upright).  Charlie Neely's drawings have it spot on, of course.  And study the NAA drawings enough and you will find it too.  The general arrangement drawing 102-00001 shows this clearly.  The gear strut is supposed to be 11 deg from horizontal, horizontal being a fuselage water line or the wing ref line (not the CL thrust which is not on a water line - it is 1.75 deg off).  From your pictures the strut orientation looks pretty good, but hard to tell.  How did you do that? 

 

BTW - here is an example of the proper gear rake angle (Miss Velma):

 

   Ed1bUpe.jpg

 

Messed up alot of stuff on Miss Velma - but NOT the LG.

Edited by JayW
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