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Jackie Cochran's P-51C "Thunderbird" Air Racer


bdthoresen

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Houston, we have a problem....... :doh:

Remember how I said that I acquired this kit second hand, and that I suspected that the previous owner had started modifying the lower wing to fit an Aires wheel bay? I was not sure of the extent of modification, until I cemented the center wheel bay into the lower wing, fitted the uppers and noticed this.....

qQ3oiMv.jpg

It appears that Trumpeter split the "Main Spar" area of the wheel bay between the upper and lower wing parts. Being that the Uppers are intact, the missing parts of the lower has left this huge gap. At this point, I am not sure how I will tackle this......

Off to ruminate......

THOR   :ninja:

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Thor, the wing halves haven't been glued yet have they? If not I think simple strip can be added to it. If they are glued, you could slip small sections of strip in.Just a thought buddy.....Harv

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Thanks Harv. That was my initial thinking. The geometry is a bit wonky, but it will be possible to do. It probably will take more time to measure and draw out than it will be to install the repair. Just one more bump in the road to build Thunderbird...we shall see what shakes out.

 

THOR

Edited by bdthoresen
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Guest Peterpools

Thor

Terrific progress on Thunderbird and some very nice work on filling in the zillion and one rivets on the wings.AM sets are surely going to help raise the detail level and ouch, the wheel bay ... nasty surprise but from your conversation with Harv and Kev, you have a workable plan,

Keep 'em comin

Peter

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thor

Terrific progress on Thunderbird and some very nice work on filling in the zillion and one rivets on the wings.AM sets are surely going to help raise the detail level and ouch, the wheel bay ... nasty surprise but from your conversation with Harv and Kev, you have a workable plan,

Keep 'em comin

Peter

Thanks Peter for the kind words. It took a bit of thinking, but I think I have found a simple workaround......

 

J2Tc5bp.jpg

 

Here is the initial repair I made for the missing half of the rear well wall. I ended up bonding in a new spar section from .030" styrene, measured and cut to replace the missing parts; This will be used as a bit of a "backer", of which I will then fabricate some thin styrene "tiles" to cover the seams. I am not sure if I will add a bit of detail in this area, as a secondary way to hide my repair. Still looking for a bit more definitive pics of what might have been there.

 

I also took the time to stretch some sprue rod and made some conical plugs to fill the gun openings. I also bonded in the light lens to use as a base to fill it up, as it was not present on "Thunderbird"....

 

fp5GOvQ.jpg

 

I will let this dry overnight, and sand it up tomorrow evening. I then can go ahead and do some final seam filling and polishing, so that the wing assembly is done.

 

Small update, but more to follow....

 

Later gents-

 

THOR    :ninja:

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Thanks Jon and Torben- slowly plugging away at it- Spent some time filling seams on the wing assembly. I have also filed down the conical plugs that I had made to remove the gun openings in the leading edges. I am still tidying up a few things, and then I will fabricate the "tiles" to cover the rear spar area in the wells. I will add a few details to help hide the mess, but otherwise I am going to keep it simple.

After the wings and horizontal stabs are finished up today, I am going to assemble the core engine and mount assembly. Absolutely none of it will be seen, so I will probably just spray the whole thing black. That will then just leave the cockpit. Moving right along- I am hoping to have the main airframe assembled by the end of next weekend.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by- Appreciate it.

THOR      :ninja:

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks for the prod, gents. Yes, there has been progress on the wheel well repairs, but nothing photo-worthy yet. A lot going on around the house- My youngest is getting ready to graduate and leave home, and I also recently changed jobs. I am going to keep at it when I can, hopefully I can make the deadline-

More to follow-

THOR    :ninja:

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  • 1 year later...

It is still alive.... Work continues on the wheel well repair. The panels were cut from .010” styrene, and bonded in with Tamiya Extra Thin. A coat of Mr. Surfacer 500 was applied and sanded out with a custom “paddle sander”. I believe the wheel well was painted dark blue like the rest of the airframe; I also plan to depict the aircraft immediately after a race, with inner gear doors closed, and elevators drooped. So, once I paint this area, at least half of it will never be seen. Looks ok!

 

hZ3SEwd.jpg

Edited by bdthoresen
Post modification-
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