Jump to content

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


airscale

Recommended Posts

Hi Peter!

Will you have to mask the wings with tape?
If so, first I would try a new primer on a piece of aluminum foil, stick masking tape and check if the primer does not break away from the surface, and only then I would paint wings.

I had this problem with my Boeing, so I used metal primer first, I can't remember Gunze or Tamiya, then primer and final paint. 

Will Alclads not react with this new primer? I heard that they can with some.

Good luck, nice work.

Tomasz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

evening folks - regular Sunday installment...

 

On 5/5/2019 at 11:29 PM, brahman104 said:

The primer looks great and the wingtips came out perfectly. Did you use pewter sheet for them? They look a little shinier than the rest.

 

That lip for the front of the gear bay is very nice too... As always Peter, highly inspirational!

 

Cheers,

 

Craig

 

Hi Craig - it is ali, but it's this strange almost thick foil like stuff - someone in the US sent me some they use in a lab for something or other & it's perfect for compound curves - I don't know what I will do when I run out of it...

 

I want to get the tailfeathers skinned next, so I used the usual process and scaled a factory drawing to get the rivet pattern - this is the first step after sticking the drawing on litho and scoring & adding rivets..

 

WIP742_zpsc2oply3s.jpg

 

..after it has been burnished flat, there is an access hatch in each surface, upper and lower so I had already had these made in PE and I use a brand new scalpel blade to go around it, then drill the corners, make a hole in the middle & score into this so I can break away the waste..

 

WIP744_zpsmlsol8p5.jpg

 

..then the rest of the waste around the panel is broken away and it's taped in position..

 

WIP743_zpspe0yhgud.jpg

 

..stuck down with the hatch added..

 

WIP745_zpsovrkctxi.jpg

 

..upper & lower..

 

WIP746_zps6gb8pruh.jpg

 

..the leading edge is done is softer, thick foil like ali that is taped down to a butting straight edge and worked over the leading edge - where it meets the panel on the other side it is pushed hard so there is a step where it laps over it and then stuck down & the step sanded away resulting in a perfect join..

 

WIP747_zpskbbqvwcx.jpg

 

..guide tape is used to follow the rivet lines from the main tailplane panels to allow LE rivets to be added...

 

WIP748_zpsdiivr0yi.jpg

 

..same process for the fin - here you can see the leading edge folded back on itself ready for fixing and some rubber pipe protecting the trailing edges of the tailplanes..

 

WIP749_zpsdfdq9owd.jpg

 

..and where the LE panel meets the main panel you can see the step that gets sanded away..

 

..I actually later taped scaled drawings to the LE panel to get the rivet pattern right

 

WIP750_zpsa4ge9o2d.jpg

 

..one of the two lower fuselage panels - this has a number of hatch cutouts in it and will set the datum for all panels to follow so needs to be right...

 

WIP751_zpsgjmv6mct.jpg

 

..with the hatches added - the bigger one with holes in needs domed rivets adding one by one when I can be bothered to drill all the holes..

 

WIP752_zpsxab9ww9o.jpg

 

WIP753_zpsfanpsa99.jpg

 

WIP759_zpsnldajved.jpg

 

and the rear is starting to take shape - unfortunately, again all this will be painted - in this case the whole empennage will be matt black...

 

WIP760_zps9oeexocd.jpg

 

..away for the week on business but hopefully have something done next weekend :)

 

TTFN

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking great Peter!

 

I wonder if the foil you're using is something similar to this?

 

https://www.hobbytools.com.au/nutter-set-extra-foil-6-x-6/

 

It's very soft and cuts easily. If it is then it is readily accessible so you don't have to worry about running out of it!

 

Great idea about overlapping the leading edges then sanding back...... I'd never thought of if, but it makes perfect sense and the results speak for themselves :) As Mark said, it'll still look ace under paint!

 

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

howdy folks :)

 

..just a little update as not had much time this week..

 

you can see here that where the skin panels on the fin & stabilisers end, it drops down to the bare fuselage shape - this is a problem for adding all the fillets around this area as when you burnish soft metal to get the complex shapes of the fillets, if it stayed like this, the fillets would distort where the existing skin ends and would form ridges...

 

WIP760_zps9oeexocd.jpg

 

..that means all that area needs to be filled so the surface onto which the fillets are added is perfectly flat - even a seam line can show through..

 

..the first step is to get a tape template of the missing area and cut a sheet of plain annealed litho to go there..  here this bit covers that area and the side of the tail fillet...

 

WIP765_zps6vbxvs9o.jpg

 

..then it is stuck & burnished and all the seams filled so it is one contiguous surface..

 

WIP766_zpszrpxfilo.jpg

 

WIP768_zpshztcsjuf.jpg

 

...I also skinned underneath by the tailwheel well..

 

WIP767_zpspgcicdz9.jpg

 

..the fillets will come next and be quite involved - I only have drawings for the early P51B version without a tail fillet..

 

WIP764_zps1piuawbe.jpg

 

..you can see how they sit on top of the aircraft skin..

 

WIP763_zpspgwudhr1.jpg

 

..and I have some good photo's of the fin fillet to work from.. - just need to unpick the order they go down - this fillet will be added later as it goes over panels I won't add until the cockpit is in place and the rear canopy are is built up..

 

WIP762_zpsd4f99loh.jpg

 

..back soon with more..

 

TTFN

Peter

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...