Ace From Outer Space Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Hi Peter, You've only gone and made me run out of English again! Absolutely speechless at those screws. Incroyable! Viv minus ability to speak 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Imagine if this thing was modified with PT-6s or some other turboprop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 thanks folks - very kind of you to drop in with some inspiration ..so, some bits and bobs done - actually quite an important bit of engineering to start with.. When I put big brass plates & mounts in the wings to take the main undercarriage I had to try and imagineer in three dimensions where a collection of angles would join to put in a mounting point.. ..needless to say I missed and was a bit out... you can see the mount deep in this nacelle ..used card to work out a template as to where the base should be.. ..made the parts in brass and soldered the assembly - more angles to get wrong.. ..after much faffing, measuring and constant reference to photos I ended up with this.. ..it matches my references now (don't trust plans) and has the squat typical of the aircraft when mocked up.. ..another thing to do was the rear of the nacelles - they are sort of rounded at the top and have distinct fairings... ..I rounded off the tops with a file and after the usual tape templates they were done.. ..I need to skin the bottom of both wings so I can start the insides of the nacelles, so I started at the wingtip with the approach light.. ..I made a dish shape from a bit of pewter and polished it up, then reamed the hole out in the wing and cut a recess for a sheet of clear card. I scribed circles on the clear card and put them face down.. I used a sequin and this sort of nail art diamond thing my kids had as a bulb (but forgot to put them in the photo..).. ..hopefully the holographic sort of sequin thing can be seen in the photo - in real life it catches the light and looks cool even if I do say so myself... ..and the wing panel is done.. ..more of those to do until both lower wings are skinned & I can add the nacelle roof detail to where they meet the bottom of the wings.. TTFN Peter 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Yup, amazing. Lovely watching this incredible build progress. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiton Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I think it should be done museum of modeling. And in this museum should be yours tigercat. Because it must be very pleasing to see such a model live. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGA Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Absolutely wonderful once again Peter. Can't wait to see more of her! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomjw Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 It's quite hard to write a comment when you are speechless... There is some incredible modelling going on here, but my favourite yet has to be the 200+ screws you made. Incredible skills. Cheers, Tom. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Perfection! I doubt that anyone, anywhere, has done anything like this. And, as an aside, in the early 50s we lived in Merrimac Park, a navy housing project next to NAS Norfolk, VA. Those of us boys who were besotted with airplanes had a spot where we would gather and watch, across a narrow creek and through the perimeter fence, the airplanes take off and land. I saw them all but the Grumman "cats" were easily my favorites, particularly the Bearcat and Tigercat. The Tigercat, if I remember, was very loud. Every time I look in on your build it stirs up the memory pot. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 (edited) Perfection! I doubt that anyone, anywhere, has done anything like this. And, as an aside, in the early 50s we lived in Merrimac Park, a navy housing project next to NAS Norfolk, VA. Those of us boys who were besotted with airplanes had a spot where we would gather and watch, across a narrow creek and through the perimeter fence, the airplanes take off and land. I saw them all but the Grumman "cats" were easily my favorites, particularly the Bearcat and Tigercat. The Tigercat, if I remember, was very loud. Every time I look in on your build it stirs up the memory pot. Cheers Thank you for such a wonderful note - it is exactly this sort of thing that makes modelling and embedding myself in the history of aircraft so rewarding. What a sight they must have been... ..managed to get a few more hours at the bench, so here goes with some more metal bashing.. ..I set myself goals to move through the stages needed to get a bird like this done - "make the nacelles, so you can skin the wing", "sort the landing gear geometry out so you can detail the nacelles", "skin the lower wings so you can build the nacelle internals" - I have to discipline myself to do these steps so there is some order to the approach and things don't clash with each other.. ..the current goal is to get the lower wings skinned so I can get the nacelle structure built, so I thought as it is the lower wing just go for it in one big sheet.. ..I marked out rivets, panels and use colours to tell myself whether to rivet from the back (so domed rivets) or stop points so I don't rivet through a panel etc.. restoration photos are great for this as you can see panel & rivet details - unfortunately it is much more difficult with a Dark Blue GSB F7F sitting in a hangar which is what most of my reference is - but I think this is near enough... ..then after at least an hour's work the panel is fully detailed - here is the template being peeled off.. ..I also masked and wire woolled the roof of the U/C bay as the litho plate has a sort of coating I am not sure will take paint, so I stripped it down & will metal prime it.. ..I will be cheating as this will need to pretend to be the wing top skin, as I don't want to go chopping the wing about ..and fixed it in place.. ..another little challenge on some of the top wing skinning are some vents in what is the U/C bay roof - they literally are just holes I think to maybe let hot air created by the engine out of the U/C bay.. I cut some thin slits in the panel and tried making a shaped punch to indent them, after experimenting I had to make a female part to stop the vent mishaping or becoming too big - better to find that out on a test part than a panel you just spent time on.. ..they turned out ok though.. ..and thats it - stage complete - the undersides are done and I can start on the U/C bays... ..and to give a sense of scale, here it is with a 1/32 Sea Fury - the only other model I have completed since I re-started in 2010... ahem... TTFN Peter Edited September 19, 2015 by airscale 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 That wing looks absolutely stunning and together with the Sea Fury brings a true sense of scale. Awaiting the next installment with baited breath! Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 ..then after at least an hour's work the panel is fully detailed - here is the template being peeled off.. It took me an hour this afternoon to stick the fuselage of a 1/144 Blackburn Beverley together! Even if I had the skills to do what you are doing (I don't!) I reckon that panel would take me a month!!! Outstanding work again Peter! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Keep on keeping on. Still loving it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookytooth Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Great work Peter, this build still amazes me. Simon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGA Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Peter I am in absolute awe. The wings look stunning all plated up and I really cannot wait to see what you will do next! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Wow, just wow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radleigh Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 I don't look in here for a while..... but then when I do, I see yet another superb update is on here. Being the Fire Bomber fan I am, this is RIGHT up my street.... Going to be trigger happy at SMW with my camera, that's for sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Neat work on the nacells and light fitting. You'll be an very accomplished metal worker by the time you've finished this beast. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Rich Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Peter, Far be it for me to criticise you for only building two models in five years. Look at what you build!!! I haven't even gotten one sub-assembly built of a boxed model for all that time! If memory serves, I followed the build of your Sea Fury on HS. Nothing short of a masterpiece! It is a blessing following this build!! Continuing to watch with anticipation... Cheers, PR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 (edited) hi gang ..thanks for stopping by - I can't seem to stop at the moment and I like the routine of keeping a build log going, hopefully for others enjoyment (and hopefully a few ideas), but also because I like to look back and see how I got here.. so, please forgive the frequency... ..I was looking at what else I need to do to get the main wing structure done before getting into lots of vulnerable detail in the nacelles and noticed the wing tips are not normal on N7654C (or some other Fire bombers it seems) - they have a big angled facet taken out at the front - I guess it helps low level maneuverability? ..I decided to do this today so started to experiment with blocks of perspex acrylic to make the navigation light - I tried drilling a hole and filling with paint and polishing the faces and seeing if I could generally fake the interior structure and not just see glue where it attached. I had done it one before but this was a bigger scale... ..I made up the blocks by drilling a small hole, filling it with paint (wish I had some clear..) using a ball shaped grinder in a dremel to bevel the edge of the hole and then painting that bevel silver to look like the fitting - then giving the faces that will be glued to the wing a good polish... ..two other deceptions were to punch out some black tape discs to give the fitting some definition and added some others to the wing itself to look like holes in the surrounding structure... ..CA'd the blocks in place, and then flooded the join with thicker CA hoping it dries clear... ..more dremel work to rough shape the block.. ..and using finer grade sandpaper until a final polish gives a good finish.. ..started skinning around it in litho and pewter... ..there are complex shapes so lots of dry fitting and minor adjustment until the part is fully tailored to exactly where it will fit... ..and one side is complete.. ..the tape discs are distorted in this pic but are quite effective at looking like holes... ..thats all for today.. TTFN Peter Edited September 20, 2015 by airscale 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Fantastic work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jan_cz Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Peter, no need to apologize for the frequency of posts! The more the merrier . As always, absolutely stunning work, and the nav light turned out very well ! Keep 'em coming...looking forward to them all Jan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Masterful work on the wing tip, thanks for the entertaining build log. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 (edited) After seeing the standard of work here I feel like selling my stash and getting some colouring books.☺awsome stuff.👍 Edited September 21, 2015 by fatalbert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGA Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Your modelling skills make mine look like they were built by a todler with only his feet and a hammer at his disposal. Great work Peter. You sir are an inspiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 What they said - I can't think of anything better to say! Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now