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1/18 Curtiss P40C - Finished :)


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I love watching this come together Peter! Clever of you to create the rings to slip down to the appropriate point on the strut, rather than trying to turn them all together in one piece. Fantastic problem solving and gives a nice square shoulder to each of them. Very nice indeed!

 

You're getting pretty darn good with your milling skills too. If you do any more machining during the build, would you be able to include some photos of your setup? Particularly how you hold such small parts while you work them :)

 

Brilliant as always!

 

Craig

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Peter - you know this landing gear work is right in my wheel house.  What a magnificent job you are doing on it!  And I fully understand the decision making process you have gone through as to how to fabricate the parts.  I did not know you had a mini-lathe!  Cannot wait to see more. 

 

But more importantly - have a great time in Tuscany and congratulations on getting a son-in-law (soon).  I  just got a daughter-in-law a couple weeks ago.  

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What model-making/engineering wizardry is this??? Amazing work as always and always a challenge to me. I am struggling to get a coat of paint on the tailplane of my current build. Taken me two weeks of "nah, can't be arsed" in which time you have created sheer beauty.

 

One question - are the tie down rings rotatable? I think you have them 90 degrees out from the photo of the real thing. Of course, the photo could show the wrong orientation...

 

How was Tuscany?

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  • 2 weeks later...

evening all :)

 

Firstly, thanks for all your kind comments :)

 

On 6/9/2022 at 3:56 AM, SwissFighters said:

Outstanding work, Peter. I wonder, though, if the orientation of the model tie down isn't 90 degrees off relative to your reference picture? It should end up being "vertical" relative to the ground, which makes sense when I think about the loads being transferred.

If I'm wrong. silly me, if I'm right, you have a chance to correct. 
Also, I have just received the airscale 1/32 seatbelts and engine placards and they are outstanding. Thank you! Tony

 

Hi Tony, thanks for stopping by - the truth is, they moved while i soldered them and once done, i didn't really want to try and 'unsolder them' ! That said, I have seen both vertical & horizontal orientation - I don't know which is right, in fact I think I saw some at a jaunty angle so maybe they are screw in lol...

 

mine are both in different positions, and neither are either vertical or horizontal so I guess i just have to live with it :)

 

 

On 6/9/2022 at 7:04 AM, brahman104 said:

You're getting pretty darn good with your milling skills too. If you do any more machining during the build, would you be able to include some photos of your setup? Particularly how you hold such small parts while you work them :)

 

Brilliant as always!

 

Craig

 

Hey Craig - been lovin on your B17, what a job you are doing :) So I have a mini lathe, and a Proxxon micromot baby milling machine. Both are a bit crap for ultra precision work if I am honest (as are my skills..) the lathe isn't too bad actually but the Proxxon has a dodgy vertical adjustment so when milling a half turn is about as much as you can take off, but some half turns do nothing and others dig in and break bits - it's like the screw thread thing has play in it. I should probably look at it as I know there are adjustable things that can adjust play but its not lateral its vertical..

 

..anyways this is 'machine corner' with a little sanding thing I got yesterday but haven't used yet - as for holding little things the proxxon vice sitting on the bed does pretty well

 

dGp7Cr.jpg

 

On 6/9/2022 at 9:48 AM, Nighthawk Calling 1 said:

Hi Peter

Have you been able to get to TFC at DX to see her in person yet.

 

 

Hi Nighthawk - no, and thats a very good reminder for me to drop them a line again :) thanks

 

 

On 6/9/2022 at 5:09 PM, chukw said:

As ever, sheer wonder-work! Congratulations to the happy couple, and have a lovely trip!

 

Awww thanks Chuck, very kind - it was such a fantastic trip, wonderful wedding day, beautiful location & weather - I couldn't be happier :)

 

 

On 6/9/2022 at 6:19 PM, KUROK said:

Hi,  Awesome work.

 

One comment:  The wheel well walls are not round cylinders like a spitfire.  It's more a of a rectangular space under the round hole.

 

 

 

 

hi Kurok - yes, of course you are right. I will be lining the wells with the canvas covers which will hide the actual bay so really the circular bits in the model are just my reference point for now before I set out the bays - I may need to add bits of wall for any gaps in the covers - thanks for the callout though :)

 

 

So, looking at the upper gear legs, there is a collar that holds the retraction struts and another arm that goes inwards towards the fuselage..

 

...there are also pinion gears which I have done in 3D but not printed yet..

 

UiA3IU.jpg

 

..the collars are quite hard to make - I started by getting a short length of tube, drilled it to accept the retraction strut mounts and soldered a tube through those holes. Once done, I cut slits and soldered a sheet to represent the jointing plates - here it's about half way through..

 

LIihoD.jpg

 

...after working those parts and grinding away the inner parts of the plate & tubes, I added the remaining details & cleaned the parts up..

 

..also added a fillet of filler to the lower ring the collar sits on..

 

43xq5L.jpg

 

..the retraction struts are laminates of PE and brass, with tube ends..

 

M3RfAs.jpg

 

..and the assembly dry fitted - it is only held together with wire so lacks all the assembly nuts & bolts..

 

ZRet5B.jpg

 

WQasmr.jpg

 

8XhUbY.jpg

 

WQasmr.jpg

 

..the other wing was finished, the mounting blocks & struts fitted and first pass at the angles looks good enough - there is a little play to get them truly vertical..

 

sf1Iiv.jpg

 

PbzuXe.jpg

 

..looks a bit more like an aeroplane now :)

 

XvVPl6.jpg

 

4QsJEA.jpg

 

TTFN

 

Peter

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