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Aeromarine 75/Curtiss F-5-L (Finished)


kkarlsen

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  • 2 weeks later...

A giant leap forward with the Aeromarine.

 

After painting the fuselage with several thin layers of white and sealing it off with future, it was time to start the masking process..

 

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I decided not to use a complete black paint, rather a rubber like tone.

 

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The bottom of the hull.

 

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Masking for a second time for the windows.

 

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Finally the tape is off.

 

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It's beginning to look like an Aeromarine...

 

Cheers: Kent

 

 

 

 

 

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I'd better get working on the wings to get from 'Submarine' to 'Aeromarine' ;)

 

After many sessions of measurements and considerations, I finally took the 'plunge' cutting up some of the wing parts...

 

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After cutting up the parts for the upper and lower middle  wings, I've been spending some time sanding the assembled wings trying to eliminate any evidence of

the wing surgery... I've added some cutouts for a brass rod, to add some stability to the lower wing.

 

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The leftover parts from the wing surgery...

 

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Base color down (Lifecolor Dirty Black). Notice the cutaway at the back of the lower wing, a little detail that makes the chord of the wider wings fit the fuselage.

 

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After taping off the ribs, a layer of 'Deep Cockpit' + shadows with some Tamiya smoke...

If you take a closer look, It's not perfect, but I can live with it...

 

Cheers: Kent

 

 

 

 

Edited by kkarlsen
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Slowly working on the part for the Cockpit.

As I do not have any drawings or photos of the Aeromarine cockpit, I have to use what is available of the Curtiss F-5-L, and the rest is some sort of 'freestyling'.

 

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The cockpit of the Curtiss F-5-L at NASM, the instrument panel has a different layout alltogether. The dual control steering wheels.

 

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The seats with the upholstered cushions.

 

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The basic parts have come together... Seats, instrument panel, steering wheels.

 

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The seats fitted to the frame...

 

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The seats were plywood attached to a steel construction.

 

Thanks for watching: Cheers Kent

 

 

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Thanks Ian. Yeah the photos from NASM are a great help.

The one thing that bothers me though, is how the pilots moved around 'suspended' in mid air, on top of the fuel tanks.

 

I've made a little mosaic of some of the cockpit photos with a pilot present.

 

vCJvNMM.jpg

 

In the first three photos, it's clear the pilots were sitting very low in the cockpit.

But in the last photo, it looks like the pilot is standing up in the cockpit, by the left seat, maneuvering the plane at slow speed in a harbor.

Then there is a description in the conversion notes, mentioning an entrance to the rear passenger cabin, in the exact same place...

 

Sorry but I'm just trying to get my head around this, I do not expect anyone to have an answer ;-)

 

I'll have a look at this with a fresh pair of eyes in the morning, cheers: Kent

 

Edited by kkarlsen
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So, I've been digging around in the papers I got from The Smithsonian Archives..

 

Among them is a damming report from the Department of Commerce, dated 30th September 1929.

This rapport (Att: G.G. Budwig - Assistent Director of Aeronautics) describes very vividly the sorry state of one

converted Navy F-5-L Seaplane (NC-79-M) after it has been inspected by the Department of Commerce.

 

Well, I wasn't even aware that any of the Aeromarine's were still around in 1929. AnyWho, if there were others,

at this point in time, they probably wouldn't be flying anywhere...

 

In the inspection papers, there is a very detailed description of the access to the passenger cabins, revealing some of the rather

elaborate way for the passengers to access the rear cabin...

 

qoTyqXi.jpg

 

I think you get the tone of the report ;-)..

 

But there is an interesting part, the one with the pilot's seat being fixed in position...

 

There are photos available from the construction of the Curtiss F-5-L's, showing exactly this feature...

 

vY31pdp.jpg

 

I thought that it was photo's of the cockpit in it's final stages..

 

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Then it dawned on me, that this was a way for the pilot's, to get to the rear of the fuselage during flight.

Because of the cramped cockpit, there really is no other way for them to do this...

 

Now with this information, I will have to take another look at the access to the rear cabin, the removable ladder and the latched door...

 

Cheers: Kent

 

Edited by kkarlsen
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Still working on parts for the cockpit...

 

LEjqjgj.jpg

 

I decided to start over with the control yokes. The different photos of F-5-L cockpits clearly show a revolution of the design going on.

I guess the first F-5-L's had wooden controls of different designs. And I suspect the type with metal yokes would have been of a later design and probable the ones

the Aeromarines would have been equipped with, being fitted around 1920.

 

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Additional detailing of the seat with armrests and montage brackets.

The seat cushions has been made from Milliput. Then silicone molds were made and cushion cast with resin. The curve was created bending the mold, while the

resin was still soft...

 

Cheers: Kent

 

 

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