scvrobeson Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 You might need to fill up the radio room with weight as well. Matt patricksparks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 One of my ROTC instructors in the late 60s early 70s was a Navigator on the B-24 during the war. He said the B-24 was a triple threat bomber, they would seek out the enemy, bombed them then fall on them! Barry patricksparks, Derek B and MicroShket 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 That! is outstanding. Sincerely, Mark Anthony in NZ, patricksparks, scvrobeson and 4 others 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricksparks Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 (edited) Finally got around to closing up the fuselage, hope I remembered to put everything in.... Did another dry fit with the main components, wings, tail planes, turrets. Still have to finish cleaning up the new lower nose and the ERCO turret, everything is fitting well though. I decided to do some markings on the vertical stabs, I am using Woodland Scenes 45 degree dry-transfers for the letters and numbers. I had to remember to set them parallel to the top of the fuselage, not squared up to the vertical stab. Still have to shade the rudders before I finish painting them. Edited August 11, 2020 by patricksparks leoasman, GMK, easixpedro and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 Great job on the nose turret Pat! I totally would have made the mistake of lining up the decals with the vertical stab..... good advice Really coming together now. Craig patricksparks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 Wow, that looks impressive. patricksparks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 On 6/18/2020 at 4:01 PM, patricksparks said: Wanted to make the sea-search radar dome that replaces the ball turret on PB4Y-1s, I had to find a way to make it with no lathe, I had no dowels no urethane foam board, all at work, there I have an industrial shop with everything.... But I did make sure I bought a $99 dolllar vacuum form machine off Ebay a couple months ago when the CO-19 hit. I searched around the house this morning and to my surprise I came across the ice cream scoop, it has a cap on the handle that is the perfect size for the radome, I popped it off sucked a shot over it,put the cap back on and threw back into the drawer !!! I had to fill in the hole for the ball turret and it's barrels as the turret is a bigger diameter than the radome, I am happy with the results so far, I also made up a faux plywood deck to cover the ball turret opening in the cabin and added a contrived mast and bracing for the radar installation. How does that vac machine work, would you recommenr for small jobs? scvrobeson and leoasman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricksparks Posted August 12, 2020 Author Share Posted August 12, 2020 (edited) 16 hours ago, Ryan said: Yes, I would recommend this machine for small formings, for the price I think this machine works very well, I picked this up on ebay for $99.00 with shipping. The machine has a 4" X 4" forming area, it comes with a bag of steel balls that you pour into the tray(the area with all the holes) this creates a bed for the pattern to sit on and allows the vacuum to pull through it. I don't really like the steel balls due to the fact that the pattern can roll a bit when you pull a shot over it and it creates a really bad ,irregular surface around your pattern in the forming. That's why on my first shot when I made my radome forming I put the pattern directly onto the tray's perforated surface, the only downfalls of this is that the holes in the tray are pretty large, so you end up with large concave dimples in your forming right up next and all around you forming, also the tray is about 3/4" deep, witch tends to thin your material that you are forming a bit more than you need. So that being said I decided to do a little mod on the forming area, I cut a piece of perforated metal sheet 4 1/8" X 4 1/8" ( that's what will just fit into the tray) I put the steel balls back in the tray and placed the perforated metal on top of it. The perforated metal plate has smaller holes than the bottom of the machine's tray and the plate won't allow your pattern to "roll" while pulling a forming. The perf's smaller holes gives a cleaner forming near your pattern's edges and placing the plate on top of the steel balls gets rid of the deep draw down into the 3/4" deep tray of the machine this way your material won't thin out as much. You have to experiment with the height of the perforated plate, it can't be flush to the top edge of the machine's tray, it needs to be a little down below the top edge of the tray so your heated material you are forming will "shut off" onto the top edge of the tray to create your vacuum seal. Hope this helps, Ryan Pat Edited August 12, 2020 by patricksparks LSP_Kevin, Landrotten Highlander, Uncarina and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 The plug is what threw me in pics I have seen, I guess they supply an adapter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.B. Andrus Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 Synthetic Ordnance Works will be introducing a beefed-up* set of l/g for the B-24 in the the next couple of weeks, if you'd like to give them a try give me a shout. * Stainless steel tubing, music wire and p/u resin. Cheers, Damian LSP_Kevin, scvrobeson, patricksparks and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricksparks Posted August 12, 2020 Author Share Posted August 12, 2020 3 hours ago, Ryan said: The plug is what threw me in pics I have seen, I guess they supply an adapter? Yes, I seem to remember seeing the same photo with the different plug when I was searching ebay, when I finally chose the seller I made sure it was somewhere in the United States so that it wouldn't take forever to ship and when it arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see it with regular plug. I think if you buy from someone in the U.S. it will have the plug that you are looking for, just look at all the offerings out there !!! Ryan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 Thanks very much Patrick. patricksparks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 Like seeing the primer work on it. Almost ready for painting and coming to life. Matt patricksparks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flarpen Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 I have that vaccum machine to, for use with 220V and euoropean standard plug. Works really well. but as you say, it can draw the material a bit thin, so I think your mod is something I'll copy. /Johan Ryan and patricksparks 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricksparks Posted August 16, 2020 Author Share Posted August 16, 2020 I finished the vertical stabilizers and rudders, applied some Flory wash to them, the horizontal stab and elevators are painted as well. Spent some time cleaning up the upper fuselage seam, put some gray paint down to check it. Put the side windows into the new lower nose, have to make some clear parts for it. Started working on the ERCO turret, painted the interior, added some HK models B-17 gun support frames into the turret and I'll use Eduard B-17 50 cal.s with the solinoids to make up the armament. scvrobeson, MikeMaben, Dennis7423 and 10 others 12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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