Fuji FA-200, 1/20 Nichimo

[mozart 12,611]

Lovely work Peter. 

[mgbooyv8 918]

Thanks guys!

Happy new year to everybody!

 

Work continued, only interrupted by the festivities.

The front seats have a four point harness.

The shoulder belts have a reel, which is bolted onto the spar, just behind each front seat.

The belts pass a frame on top of the seat back:

Note that apparently the seats of PH-MBK have been recovered fairly recently in nice red leather.

The seats have always been red, but whether originally it was leather, fabric, or a combination of both, I don't know.

The side panels seem to be original, and apparently, they were covered in black fabric.

 

Both seat backs got a scratch frame on top. It was made from wire and plastic strip:

 

The glare shield and the instrument panel got a coat of Humbrol 85 Coal Black, the side panels got a coat of Revell 9 Anthracite:

 

The floor also got a coat of Humbrol Coal black and the separate carpets got Revell Anthracite.

The separate rails of the forward seats were painted aluminium. 

 

Next, the floor was assembled:

 

The seat parts got a primer coat of Revell 75 and then I turned my attention to the engine.

 

The kit depicts a Fuji with a 180 HP Lycoming O-360, however PH-MBK has an O-320 of 160 HP.

From the outside, they look similar, but the capacity is different as is indicated by the type number (capacity in cubic Inches).

The accessories mounted on the engine types can be different too.

I can expect some modifications on the kit parts.

 

One of the funny things of this kit is the way the cooling fins of the cylinders are represented. They are made of small die-cut metal plates of several sizes.

When alternate sizes are stacked over a plasic core, the illusion of cooling fins is created.

Here are the required parts:

 

The crank case and sump have already been assembled.

Each cylinder was assembled fron this set of plates:

 

Would I have enough metal plates?

No, I needed to make one smaller rectangular one from plastic card:

 

With four cylinders assembled, there were two round plates left, and the cylinders were glued to the crank case:

 

Somehow, the metal plates were a bit springy, probably caused by little raised edges from the die-cut process.

When pushed-in, the cylinders came slightly back.

To give the possibility of small adjustments, I didn't want to use superglue and I couldn't clamp them properly while the glue hardened.

As a result, each cylinder is about 1mm taller than it should be, but then, so be it.

Without rocker covers, the engine fitted comfortably between the cowling panels.

 

The pushrod tubes and the rocker covers were fitted:

 

I hope the engine will still fit within the cowling.

An initial check indicates it will tight!

 

There was only one intake tube that fitted:

 

The other three intake tubes had to be lengthened with a piece of rod, as had the exhaust stacks.

But that is for the next post!

 

I want to assemble all engine parts which will have the same colour.

The standard finish of Lycoming engines is "Lycoming Gray", a dark blue-grey colour.

A search on the internet yielded links to touch-up sprays but no guidance to a colour code or an equivalent modelling paint colour.

Sooo, I will have to match something to pictures and to my memory! 

 

To be continued...

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[LSP_Kevin 32,001]

Wow - super progress, Peter!

 

Kev

[Out2gtcha 35,824]

Indeed, great update! 

[Alain Gadbois 2,167]

The cylinders in stacked plates is a great way to avoid cleaning up mold lines!

Very interesting update! Such a different model to what we are used to.

 

Alain

[mgbooyv8 918]

Thanks guys!

Alain, indeed those stacked plates avoid cleaning up mould lines of cylinder fins.

In hindsight, I think I should have run the backside of all those little plates over a piece of sanding paper, to get rid of the die-cut ridges to lose the springy-ness of the stack and making the cylinders just that mm narrower.

But that would be too much work.

 

I fitted the rocker covers and the pushrod tubes. The latter were just long enough:

 

 

Note that the round hole in the middle of the ridge of the crank case has been removed.

It was supposed for a fuel injection valve and lines.

But the engine I am making has no fuel injection so this had to go.

 

Anybody who has been flying behind a Lycoming will notice immediately that something is missing: the oil filler pipe and cap (with dipstick) behind the rear cylinder at the right side.

This is not in the kit and will be added!

 

The inlet and exhaust pipes were lenghtened with a piece of rod. To keep track of the right part numbers I labelled them and taped them on a small piece of wood:

 

Here the inlet pipes are fitted:

 

Now, all kit parts of the engine that will be grey are fitted.

The engine is now ready for its primer coat.

 

5 hours ago, Alain Gadbois said:

Such a different model to what we are used to.

 

Indeed it is, that's why i decided to do a WIP to show what it is like.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

[MARU5137 15,900]

SUPER work  and updates.

I like what you did and the red leather  seats looks mighty fine. abd your photos are sharp too!

MY favorite in all builds is the Engine,  and yours is

impressive. 

 

         

[mgbooyv8 918]

Thanks Maru!

I painted a lot of small parts today, including the engine.

An update will follow on one of the next days.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[mozart 12,611]

That’s a great looking engine Peter, something like that which is so realistic just has to be displayed on the model. 

[mgbooyv8 918]

Thanks, Max!

 

The last days were spent with painting many small parts, constantly checking references etc.

The engine is painted, I had a nice blue-grey colour in my collection of paints which matched pictures and memory:

Xtracolour X157, FS16176 "Grey F-15 Mod Eagle" (!)

 

The kit parts were installed on the engine with the exception of the exhaust pipes:

 

The engine is clicked on its firewall temporarily for handling.

Here are other views:

 

 

Things to add to the engine: exhaust pipes, wiring and additional scratch things like oil filter, oil filler cap and baffle plates.

 

The instrument panel was also given attention.

The kit has decals for the instruments:

 

Annoyingly, they were printed on one contiuous film within the surrounding line, so they had to be cut out individually.

They settled nice in the instrument recesses with help of DACO Strong (red cap) decal solution.

Glass was simulated with drops of Klear.

 

Some additional placards were required on the lefthand side of the panel.

Fortunately, I have an old Mike Grant instrument and placard decal set which yielded suitable placards:

 

And here is the instrument panel in all its glory:

 

The kit instrument panel is faithful to an old factory picture which can be found on internet, most probably from the version which the kit portrays.

For PH-MBK, some modifications were necessary:

 

Pedestal:

- remove propeller pitch control lever,

- move throttle handle to the right,

- mount it higher than intended by the plastic and by the instructions.

 

The pull levers on the right side of the pedestal got small handles (you can put your fingers behind them).

Headset connectors were added on the lower lefthand and righthand corners of the panel.

 

The slot below the pedestal is for a microphone and the small hole on the left of it is for its cable. 

These items will be added much later in the build.

In the sixties and seventies, it was quite normal to fly without a headset.

The noise level is very high in a small plane, for the simple reason that sufficient insulation material adds too much weight to the small plane.

It's unthinkable now to fly without a headset, and rightly so!

A nose cancelling headset has been the best investment I ever made for flying.

 

The control yokes also will be added much later in the build.

 

Remember that I showed a picture of the amount of lead required to let the Fuji stand on its nose wheel?

I was able to put a lot of it in the cabin floor part.

Below the centre console:

 

And in the recesses below the front seats:

 

This is about half the amount of lead needed.

The rest will have to be put behind the instrument panel.

I hope the space is sufficient!

 

To be continued.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[RLWP 3,445]

What fun!

 

Richard

[LSP_Kevin 32,001]

This is looking most excellent, Peter!

 

Kev

[mgbooyv8 918]

Thanks, guys!

Fun it is indeed!

 

Today I prepared small stuff to go on the cabin floor.

Glued small instrument panel illumination lights into the edge of the glare shield,

and glued the whole assembly into the surrounding nose/windscreen edge part.

 

After hardening of the glue, I could fill the area behind the instrument panel with pieces of lead sheet, cut to shape with scissors.

They were fixed with double sided tape and secured with pieces of sprue, glued to the instrument panel and the forward edge of the nose/windscreen part.

 

A lot of lead sheet was needed:

 

...to ensure that the Fuji will stand positively on its nose wheel:

 

To be continued.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[Alain Gadbois 2,167]

Coming together beautifully!

 

Alain

[mgbooyv8 918]

Thanks, Alain!