Silver Wings Gauntlet II

[mozart]

Thank you RB, that’s very good of you to say so. Much appreciated.  Isn't this a great picture (with thanks to Christopher):

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2022 by mozart

[mozart]

Before too long I will be fitting the cabane struts to the forward fuselage then the mid-wing upper section but before that can happen I have to fit the gunsight and windshield.  The latter is cast from resin and whilst being clear, is rather thick and doesn't fit very easily snuggling up against the oil cooler. So back to the Silhouette to design and cut a new windshield, quite a lot of trial and error involved with measurements and angles but I finally arrived at an acceptable windshield.

 

 

So I used the "empty" outline to cut a piece of thin clear plastic and the one with frames to cut some vinyl (self adhesive of course), which I then pressed onto the clear shape.  It works:

 

 

It will fit well when glued in place.  I'm going to paint the vinyl silver before cutting it to avoid the fiddly job of freehand painting or trying to mask it.  Job done! 

Edited December 23, 2022 by mozart

[LSP_Kevin]

Nice work, Max! You really do use the Silhouette cutter to its full potential.

 

Kev

[MikeMaben]

Wow that turned out great Max.  Nice work

 

I did a similar thing for my Hurricane (current project) pilot's sun visor.

 

 

I cut about 8 of them for future use. The pilot figure is from Tamiya's Spitfire.

I ran about 4 cuts on a light depth and I was surprised at how well they turned out.

[dutik]

19 hours ago, mozart said:

Before too long I will be fitting the cabane struts to the forward fuselage then the mid-wing upper section but before that can happen I have to fit the gunsight and windshield.  The latter is cast from resin and whilst being clear, is rather thick and doesn't fit very easily snuggling up against the radiator.  So back to the Silhouette to design and cut a new windshield, quite a lot of trial and error involved with measurements and angles but I finally arrived at an acceptable windshield.

 

 

So I used the "empty" outline to cut a piece of thin clear plastic and the one with frames to cut some vinyl (self adhesive of course), which I then pressed onto the clear shape.  It works:

 

 

It will fit well when glued in place.  I'm going to paint the vinyl silver before cutting it to avoid the fiddly job of freehand painting or trying to mask it.  Job done! 

 

It's some kind of magic. Indeed!

 

Regards

- dutik

[jbrennan]

I have been following this facinating build with great interest Mozart. What material will you use for rigging, EZ line maybe or something a little more esoteric ?

Regards

Jon

[mozart]

Thanks for your comments Kev, Mike and Dutik, they are very much appreciated as ever, and Yes, the Silhouette is a wonderful tool which with a bit of imagination and experimentation has many further uses.  

 

Jon, my preferred rigging material is Prym (knitting in elastic).  Its advantages over EZ line is that its shape is more uniform, none of those nasty little bits sticking out, and it's white so can be coloured easily with a spirit-based marker pen.  It's worth noting though that if you stretch it too thin when rigging it can be susceptible to breaking after a few months due to the effects of light/warmth.....I have to re-rig my Gladiator due to this happening! 

 

I've been carrying out an experiment to try to determine the best finish for the Gauntlet's metal fuselage, representing an anodized finish.  So the following picture is self-explanatory:

 

 

and each section against the fabric rear fuselage:

 

 

I'm leaning towards the finish with the MRP anodized aluminium applied, but not sure whether matt or not?  Thoughts chaps?

 

 

 

 

[dutik]

BMF+anodized aluminium paint looks like the deal.

 

Regards

- dutik

[mozart]

You could well be right Dutik!  Think I'll spray the whole front end with a light covering of MRP Anodized Aluminium initially then take it from there.

 

I've been looking in more detail at the Aldis gunsight and windshield arrangement clearly shown here:

 

 

 

but inevitably further questions arise about the associated circular sights, AP1487 shows me which way round the sighting barrel goes and that the forward sight is a bead one:

 

 

So I need to start off by cutting a hole through the windshield, getting that in place then sorting the gunsight.   something like this:

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by mozart

[jbrennan]

1 hour ago, mozart said:

Thanks for your comments Kev, Mike and Dutik, they are very much appreciated as ever, and Yes, the Silhouette is a wonderful tool which with a bit of imagination and experimentation has many further uses.  

 

Jon, my preferred rigging material is Prym (knitting in elastic).  Its advantages over EZ line is that its shape is more uniform, none of those nasty little bits sticking out, and it's white so can be coloured easily with a spirit-based marker pen.  It's worth noting though that if you stretch it too thin when rigging it can be susceptible to breaking after a few months due to the effects of light/warmth.....I have to re-rig my Gladiator due to this happening! 

 

I've been carrying out an experiment to try to determine the best finish for the Gauntlet's metal fuselage, representing an anodized finish.  So the following picture is self-explanatory:

 

 

and each section against the fabric rear fuselage:

 

 

I'm leaning towards the finish with the MRP anodized aluminium applied, but not sure whether matt or not?  Thoughts chaps?

 

 

 

 

Now thats a really interesting comparison Mozart. And yes I know what you mean about the inconsistancy of EZ, I have to chose my battles with it but alas have been pleased with the results.

Regards

Jon

[europapete]

I agree Max, the anodised finish, no matt. Regards, Pete in RI

[europapete]

Well, you just had to do it didn't you Max.  I nipped in to my LHS today for some Alclad and they had a few sheets of Bare Metal Foil. So guess what ended up in my checkout pile. 

[mozart]

You won’t regret it Pete, it has many uses not least as the shiny bits on undercarriage legs, adds that extra little attention to detail and realism. 

[mozart]

So plain anodized paint it is, no matt.  It looked a bit uniform so I've added a haze of smoke/graphite around the panel lines, not sure if I've overdone it in places, could need knocking back a bit.  The windshield is on so next is the Aldis sight (the bead sight won't be fitted till the very final build stages) followed by the cabane struts and wing centre section.  Still waiting for the missing struts from Silver wings.....

 

 

I have to add as a postscript, it looks absolutely gorgeous sitting on the bench in front of me right now!!

Edited September 23, 2022 by mozart

[mozart]

Not glued but just placed for trial fit:

 

 

In order to get the gap that exists on the real Gauntlet:

 

 

but get some sturdiness in the tailplane structure I drilled through the forward securing point and inserted brass tube, ditto for the elevator pivot rod: