1917 Sopwith Camel by Model Airways

[Bil]

I am not sure of the size of the turnbuckles that Sopwith used... I do know they came in varying sizes dependent on function.  The main German turnbuckles had a barrel (the center brass part) that was 50mm long.. that would be about 3mm in 1/16th scale.  I would double check the sizes used before committing to your current plan.. which looks awesome by the way.

 

This page has a lot of information on turnbuckles:  WW1 Aircraft Rigging

 

Bil

Edited January 17, 2019 by Bil

[Garage21]

Bill - THANK YOU for this treasure trove of photographs.  Now I better understand the safety wire schematics as well as the overall design of the buckle.

 

I know you are correct that the TB's on the Camel came in different sizes, but I'm not sure I can make them any smaller.  Simply put, my fingers can't work with pieces that tiny. I'm going to get as close to scale as possible but I may have to add a few mm here and there.  The ones I photographed at the museum were about 9 inches in length so at 1:16 scale that would put them at just about one-half inch from end-to-end.  That's about what I'm going for.  At the very least, the ones I'm fabricating will be an improvement over the pot metal pieces that came in the kit.

 

Thanks again for directly me to those photos.  That's a HUGE help.

 

Andy.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Garage21

[Out2gtcha]

 

If your "close to scale as possible" is reminiscent at ALL of any of your previous work, we are all in for a treat.   

[Garage21]

1 minute ago, Out2gtcha said:

 

If your "close to scale as possible" is reminiscent at ALL of any of your previous work, we are all in for a treat.   

Thank you Out2.  That's kind of you to say.   I usually can get within a few millimeters of actual.  I used to be able to handle smaller pieces and parts but my fingers and hands just don't work the way they used to.  But...  as they say...  I'd rather be looking down at the dirt than up at it.

[Out2gtcha]

1 minute ago, Garage21 said:

But...  as they say...  I'd rather be looking down at the dirt than up at it.

 

 

True story

[Garage21]

OK - I think I've figured out how these 100+ turnbuckles and turnbuckle/clevis components are going to be fabricated.  Solder is definitely superior to super glue and the copper safety wire looks great against the brass buckle.

 

I was also concerned that the final piece wasn't cleaning up as well as I liked but as I look at these photos, I kinda like the "grimy" look.  I just realized however that I forgot to add the hex nuts at each end to allow the turnbuckle to be tightened.  Hopefully the third time will be a charm.

 

I think the safety wire in this picture may be a few millimeters too thick, but it's all I had in the shop tonight.  I'll go with a slightly skinnier garage and I think we'll be right there.  I almost cheated today when I was at the hobby store and discovered a set of Proctor Turnbuckles.  But in the end, I think this looks better.  Now I just have to figure out how to fabricate 100 of these given the fact that this ONE took about an hour!

 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by Garage21
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[LSP_Ray]

Nice project and attention to detail! Will be following!

[Wolf Buddee]

A hundred more eh? That should be fun. Those turnbuckles will be great for the internal bracing wires and control surface wires but the flying wires were British flat wire which used a completely different attachment style at each end. You can see those in the fourth picture down in the link that Bil sent you. Those should be equally fun to make.

 

Cheers,

Wolf

[Garage21]

Wolf - 

 

I think those flat wires should be a little easier.  I haven't decided yet if I'm going to turn down square rod or flatten round rod, but the end attachment shouldn't be too complicated.  These little clevises though with the eyebolts at each end are more complicated only because there are so many individual parts in such a small assembly.

 

Stay tuned.

 

 

[Garage21]

Preparing to build the wings this weekend.

[Garage21]

First coat of stain on the first three sets of wing ribs.  Went with English Walnut - wanted something just a little dark so that the brass and aluminum work will pop.

 

 

[Garage21]

While the first coat of stain gasses out on the wooden spars, I'm getting to work on the turnbuckles.  The first step was to pre-drill each center jacket for the safety wire.  This was much easier to do before sectioning off each individual piece.  I very small end mill made drilling out the hole pretty simple.  The jackets will be filed and cleaned up and the first two-dozen turnbuckles should be done tonight.

 

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ryan]

Stop making enlarged pennies!

[Ryan]

Excellent set up for making the holes.

[Garage21]

I cut the inner jackets, soldered the pieces, drilled out the safety wire holes and starting attaching the eye bolt ends.  I'll finish the first two dozen tomorrow and then get started on the next group.  I figure if I can do 24 per night, i'll have the 100 required for the wings done by the weekend.  This first set will have eye bolts at each end as per the reference photo  below.