jeroen_R90S Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 wow, that looks fantastic -the photographs look great too! (not surprising I guess, but still nice to look at!) Jeroen STM and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borsos Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 Absolutely amazing work. Your scratch building is very impressive! Andreas Martinnfb and STM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alain Gadbois Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 Excellent scratch building on the cockpit! Impressive! Alain Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted September 6, 2022 Author Share Posted September 6, 2022 With the addition of the radio controllers, the right side of the cockpit is complete. I also opened up the access panel on the right side, I will scratch build the radio gear and avionics eventually. The styrene thickness of the fuselage is way out of scale for the edges of the opening so I thinned the area around the opening to near paper thin thickness. Now it is on to the instrument panel and the cockpit will finally be done. I will probably do the radio gear next. Martinnfb, Landrotten Highlander, Kagemusha and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted September 6, 2022 Author Share Posted September 6, 2022 (edited) Because the left side of the cockpit will be visible from the access hatch, I decided to replicate the formers and stringers. The formers are constructed of 0.060" wide U-Channel and the stringers 0.010" x 0.040" strip. I used the rivet lines on the outside of the fuselage as a guide where to put the strips and U-Channel. Next will be to fabricate the radio and avionics boxes. I also put a solid bulkhead to have something that I could route all control cables, etc into. When I looked at the kit tailwheel, it looks very fragile to me. I may just scratch build another one out of soldered brass rod. I can then just mount it to the bulkhead. I had initially decided that I would use the kit piece and trace it onto 0.040" styrene sheet but thought, why not just use the kit piece and grind off all the detail, it should fi......... Oh wait, this is Trumpeter, NEVER assume something "will fit". And I was not disappointed. I do, however, think I know what happened here. When Stevens told Trumpeter to fix the profile gaffes or they would not distribute the kit in the US, Trumpeter, to their credit, did indeed go back to the drawing board and re-tool the fuselage. However they forgot to re-tool the firewall, resulting in big gaps on the top and side. Apparently they did not re-tool the instrument panel either. I built up the top with some strips of .030" x .040" styrene strip until I got it to fit snugly. Granted, the glare shield on the Wildcat is pretty deep and the gap would probably not even be visible, but I just cannot let stuff like this slide. The small notches at the bottom outside edges of the instrument panel are necessary to clear the 0.005 pieces of styrene I used to cover the recesses at the wing toots. Edited September 6, 2022 by STM Fanes, TAG, Kagemusha and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted September 9, 2022 Author Share Posted September 9, 2022 The instrument panel is finally completely. True to scale, the instrument openings on the main panel are beveled. The main instrument panel and side panels are held in place with some two sided tape to check fit and photography. Waldron instruments will be added after painting and assembly. mc65, Alain Gadbois, Rockie Yarwood and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted September 12, 2022 Author Share Posted September 12, 2022 The supports for the avionics platforms, pneumatic accumulator, aux fuel tank and rudder/elevator cables are in. The cables will be pulled taught when all is said and done. Alain Gadbois, Landrotten Highlander, Woody V and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockie Yarwood Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 Nice progress, Scott! STM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dpgsbody55 Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 You're making good progress on this. I like your scratch building here and giving me ideas for mine, when I eventually take it out of the stash. Cheers, Michael STM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted September 15, 2022 Author Share Posted September 15, 2022 (edited) The avionics are complete, an entire day's work. Most of the boxes are constructed of 0.010" sheet styrene. I used a "Hold and Fold" to bend the sides and closed it up using a piece of 0.100x0.100 styrene strip. A couple of the smaller ones are cut from strip stock. They will be painted along with the interior of the fuselage and installed then. To give some idea of scale, the small, cube-shaped box all the way to the left is about 0.25" (6.35mm). Even in 1/32 scale, some things can still be very small. Edited September 15, 2022 by STM Fanes, Kagemusha, Rockie Yarwood and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted September 18, 2022 Author Share Posted September 18, 2022 Finally the firewall is complete. The difference between the kit piece and rebuild is like night and day. On to the engine. Fanes, Woody V, patricksparks and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 Excellent work, Scott! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanes Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 Great work Scott! Since you're already rebuilding the firewall: Do you plan to correct the openings of the wheel wells? Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbaldguy Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 Love your firewall! What a difference!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockie Yarwood Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 On 9/18/2022 at 3:12 AM, STM said: Finally the firewall is complete. Great work Scott! Looking forward to see how you tackle the chains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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