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


airscale

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I for one am currently re evaluating my modelling skills. 

 

This work is sublime and is in fact miniature engineering on a level waaaaay above my own sticking together of plastic.......

 

I look forward to seeing it in the flesh and taking time to admire the details. 

 

Stunning, Keep up the wonderful work Pete 

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howdy chaps :)

 

Thank you so much for all your positive comments, I really appreciate them and in fact it is you all I try so hard to please which in itself has raised my own standards so it is a win win :)

 

On 3/11/2020 at 3:29 PM, JayW said:

 I'd like to see a side view (not oblique) from ground level in which to further assess the "sit" of the undercarraige.  Can you provide?    At this point, other than the superlatives, I suspect the main gear doors are a tad too far from the gear legs.  At least to my eye based on the pics you have provided.  I say this only because I have studied untold pictures of wartime Mustangs, and today's warbird projects and that is what I see.  The doors are a little closer to the tires.

 

I know what you went through rigging those gear doors - a very challenging task.  

 

Hi Jay, again thank you so much for chiming in - I really value having an experienced wingman keeping an eye on what I am doing and asking all the right questions of me..

 

I have tried to compare some pics to get a feel for how the two compare - a real wheel / door and the model. The braces that hold them were made from drawings, but the banjo fitting at one end may be ever so slightly longer than the real one, but I felt the difference was negligable..

 

here is a real set vs the model

 

WIP1192_zps46mtxqte.jpg

 

..I can now see the angle of the link is a bit off, but the gap seems to look comparable, or at least good enough for government work?

 

..the side view seems to show mine has lighter loading ie it is higher, but I guess I can get away with this as I assume the travel changes depending on aircraft weight, so again while I can see differences I don't think it is worth trying to correct it - the geometry is what it is and would be quite some task to change..

 

WIP1191_zpsjuzgyzni.jpg

 

 

 

On 3/11/2020 at 3:43 PM, JayW said:

Peter I have a question for you - Hose clamps.  You have done a great job modeling these little details.  My R-2800 has alot of hose clamps and I would like to do better.  How did you do yours?

 

always a problem these - I wish RB Motion or Hiroboy would just make some (for cars) - the ones on the gear legs are just slivers of albion alloys tube which is then wrapped with a thin strip of aluminium plumbers tape..

 

 

On 3/12/2020 at 3:30 AM, Antonio Argudo said:

mu honor Peter,  no words for your sublime  build :)

 

not sure if you've seen these  also, cheers

 

59489009-10216158947980631-9144931129277

 

 

 

Wow Antinio, again you give me gold - Don Lopez was quite a guy and here seeing him with a black tailed, dorsal finned P51C (note the flat antenna mount too on the fuselage spine) means all the assumptions I made turned out to be valid :)

 

that is priceless stuff to me thank you

 

 

21 hours ago, Phartycr0c said:

I for one am currently re evaluating my modelling skills. 

 

This work is sublime and is in fact miniature engineering on a level waaaaay above my own sticking together of plastic.......

 

 

Dave, that there is one comment I am going to ignore on the basis it is utter bo!!ocks... :)

 

TTFN

 

Peter

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Plumbers tape!!!!  Hell yeah!  Thanks.

 

OMG - Imgur is giving me problems, so I will just have to describe in words.  No pictures.

 

Alright - I see a couple of things.  First, it appears you have the gear door upper edge slammed up (or nearly so) against the lower surface of the wing.  Ignoring the little tab that fits inside the wing contour, you should have a gap of about .025 inch (that is 1/18 scale).  If you are able to reposition as described, that will contribute towards improving the mis-orientation of the links that you have described.  And if you think about it, in real life if the door edge were slammed up against the wing skin, it would bind as the door closed.  Needs clearance....

 

And, it appears to me that the aft lower corner of the gear door, in a side view, is approximately coincident with the outer diameter of the tire, maybe even a tad aft?  

 

  WIP1191_zpsjuzgyzni.jpg

That corner needs to be INSIDE the tire outer diameter by about 0.09 inch (1/18 scale), measured perpendicular to the strut.  You can fiddle around with 102-33001 and you will see what I mean (side view zone 9).  Like the picture on the left of the real thing - you can see exposed tire aft of the door; not so on the picture on the right.  In other words, the door needs to swing forward a bit.  That might be hard to do - the links want to place the door where they want to place it, if their lengths have been fixed.  I seem to recall I had the same problem on Miss Velma and I lengthened one link and shortened the other (my rod ends were telescoping until the very end) which has the effect of swinging the door forward or aft some if there is any clearance between the links and the strut.   If you can do it, then just eyeball that .09 inch dimension.  Peter - I think that will fully resolve that little issue a couple of us see with the gear door orientation.  I think I agree that per your rear view, the gap between the tire and the door is OK, so altering the length of the links for that purpose is unnecessary.  And yeah - oleo extension had everything to do with the gross weight of the aircraft.  You can just say she is fresh back from a mission with low fuel.  It's fine.

 

I hope my words-only description is self-explanatory.  Man I feel vulnerable giving constructive criticism to the guy who is poised to blow away the modeling world with Lope's Hope.  But IMO it's important. 

 

 

 

Edited by JayW
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May I suggest the gear door fits may well have varied from aircraft to aircraft and have been adjustable to fit the particular airframe? (wheels up test etc).

 

I have dealt with enough refits (not aircraft) to demonstrate stuff as made only approximately fits a drawing and even more rarely matches a stablemate to the nth degree.

 

Otherwise my hat's off to North American for perfection.

 

Les

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1 hour ago, jumpjack said:

May I suggest the gear door fits may well have varied from aircraft to aircraft and have been adjustable to fit the particular airframe? (wheels up test etc).

 

I have dealt with enough refits (not aircraft) to demonstrate stuff as made only approximately fits a drawing and even more rarely matches a stablemate to the nth degree.

 

Otherwise my hat's off to North American for perfection.

 

Les

Good observation.  A reminder though that when you multiply the numbers here (.025 inch, .09 inch) by 18, they become large.  Large enough to consider doing something about it.  Landing gear hard points are very exactly tooled to the wing structure on aircraft.  I am sure that was the case with the P-51.  I am also quite sure the gear door cutout on the lower wing skins was tooled up well.  Variation on the order of +/- .10 or so could be accommodated with the length adjustments of the door links.  You could adjust for fair and gaps (wheels up), and you got what you got wheels down.   It could be the doors themselves had a trim allowance although I have not seen in in the drawings.    

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13 hours ago, airscale said:

 

Dave, that there is one comment I am going to ignore on the basis it is utter bo!!ocks... :)

 

TTFN

 

Peter

 

not quite so.... What I was getting at is that this build is engineering in miniature which I honestly believe is more difficult than the real thing. what with calculations and all.

 

What I do is assemble pre engineered plastic parts in a set order.There is a huge difference. 

 

I consider myself fortunate to be competent at it but to do your level of stuff, I seriously wouldn't know where to start.

 

I honestly cannot scratch build for toffee which I why I will never attempt a vac form. 

 

I enjoy what I do and I am proud that some of my builds have provided a spark of inspiration for others, In a similar fashion there are many builds on this site that are incredible, which is why I appreciate the time effort and above all skill that goes into producing beautiful representations of the original. This is one such build. hence the re evaluation... an attempt to improve if you will! 

 

keep up the inspiration

  

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

evening all :)

 

I trust I find you all well in these difficult times and if anything it gives you a chance to either do some modelling or if not, enjoy the work of others who do

 

I find myself confined to quarters, not through illness, but through trying to stay safe - I am fortunate I can work from home and just do emails and conference calls for my day job rather than sweat it into London..

 

On 3/13/2020 at 6:07 PM, JayW said:

And, it appears to me that the aft lower corner of the gear door, in a side view, is approximately coincident with the outer diameter of the tire, maybe even a tad aft? 

 

 

 

I think you are right Chuck - I have had a go at better alignment and am now in limits of whats possible so will leave as is now - pics next time :)

 

So, where were we - elevators...

 

always seem to be the last thing I do, don't know why :)

 

here is a nice shot of Lopes Hope which shows there is more to them than meets the eye

 

notice the rib tapes, the visible structure underneath, the many eyelet sort of 'polo mint' fixings and the four mounts for the mass balance weights..

 

WIP1194_zpssdj8y0do.jpg

 

..I started with a brass sheet blank, cut from scaled plans and scribed with all the internal structure (also making most of the cuts for the trim tabs so they can be broken out later) - from there plastic strip was used to bulk it out and coffee stirrer sticks for the ribs. I use these as they are wood and the solartex RC covering sticks well to it..

 

WIP1193_zpsuhahoi22.jpg

 

..soon both elevators were done top and bottom... there is a double wall where the trim tabs are

 

WIP1195_zpsmfgoyja1.jpg

 

..then the bulk of the structural additions were dremelled off and sanded to final profile - once complete the trim tabs were removed..

 

WIP1196_zpsrp9miewa.jpg

 

..after covering with solartex and wicking CA on the edges, the eyelet things were added - these are tiny brass washers, the bigger ones punched out of litho..

 

WIP1197_zpspmyeqa2y.jpg

 

..these were then covered with the rib tapes again scaled from plans - the tapes are made from foil plumbers tape (like bare metal foil just cheaper) with a riveter run along a straight edge and a scalpel cut along the holes to get pinked edges..

 

..they cover all the eyelets well - although in this shot there is still a big panel of tape to go over the trim tab area..

 

WIP1198_zpstdxpvalf.jpg

 

..a shot of primer show the fabric effect I was after..

 

WIP1199_zpszawizndq.jpg

 

WIP1200_zps58py1nha.jpg

 

..trim tabs made from litho with the core from the original structure..

 

WIP1201_zpsvegckngy.jpg

 

WIP1202_zpsqjhtlxog.jpg

 

..then the mass balance weights were made from left over resin casting blocks..

 

WIP1203_zpscpzx1p4m.jpg

 

..and shot with MRP super matt black - also added the trim tab actuating rods to elevators & rudder and gave them all a dusting of MIG powders..

 

WIP1204_zpsysatkvvr.jpg

 

WIP1205_zpsng9ee96q.jpg

 

..all the tailfeather surfaces were attached with hinge rods and are now complete..

 

WIP1207_zpseljk5wdy.jpg

 

..and a last shot in the evening sun so you can see the contrasts...

 

WIP1206_zpswsv398rw.jpg

 

..thats it for now - more bits and bobs to go including the Drop Tanks that Steve at Model Monkey has kindly enlarged from his 1/32 set and 3D printed in 1/18 for me

 

stay safe everyone and see you next time :)

 

TTFN

Peter

 

 

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As usual Peter, crazy good!  Unbelievable skills and craftsmanship to make something from scratch that looks identical to the real deal.  While most of build models with maybe as high as 10% scratch built parts, this model is 90% scratch built parts- and all of them look better than what a kit part would look like!

 

Cheers,

Chuck

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