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White Knight - Short Crusader


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Thanks Rene, all encouragement most appreciated.  This is fun :D

 

Well the deed is done - wings cut!  Not without some nervousness. Remembering the mantra 'measure twice cut once' I first traced the wing outline, roughly teased apart with the requisite split, like so:

 

Crusader_17.5.5_1

 

This gave me enough confidence to think the end outcome will better match references.

 

So, a jig.  First, pin down the patient with incision line marked with tape:

 

Crusader_17.5.5_1

 

... then fix one straight edge guide:

 

Crusader_17.5.5_1

 

... then another, with a gap sized to fit the saw:

 

Crusader_17.5.5_1

 

... then gently, gently saw ... until there you have it. Split:

 

Crusader_17.5.5_1

 

And repeat.

 

Here the resultant bits laid out in position - and again with the requisite separation - next to a reference plan (not to scale):

 

Crusader_17.5.5_1

 

As noted by Dave in his IPMS 'Bent Throttles' article, the kit plan profile to both the leading edge & most of the trailing edge is actually pretty good.  So with just a splice inserted, & a bit of 'pinch' nearing the trailing wing root junction, the wings should look the part.

 

That's my day done, time to clean up the mess.

 

g.

 
Edited by greggles.w
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Spliced the split wings back together this evening:

 

Crusader_17.5.6_1

 

Laminated 4x7mm bars of styrene CA glued in sandwich between the split resin.  I've made a start at sanding down to shape ... seems it's going to take time ...

Edited by greggles.w
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Two evenings sanding & a bit of filler and we have one new 'spar' blended in ... one to go:

 

Crusader_17.5.8_2

 

In other developments, I've ordered a few white metal 1930's racing driver / motorcyclist figures as candidates for piloting this machine in an in-flight display.  All are Phoenix Figures by S&D models.  1/43 scale, but hopefully that won't be noticeable with a figure.  It was hard to get good imagery, so it's a bit of a gamble.  This one with goggles down & requisite basic leather helmet (no radio, no oxygen mask) seems promising:

 

image_zpsipvydaqk

 

... if if not that one, then maybe this one, with some surgery:

 

image_zpsglxb7xzn

 

... or finally this one, though I would prefer the goggles to be down:

 

image_zpsaz9qdwxu

 

We shall see in about a week.  That should be just enough time to finish sanding the other wing.

 

 

 

Edited by greggles.w
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Great work so far! I was wondering about the 1/72nd kit also, which has been on my radar for some time. If the same error exists, I might have to take a pass, or see if my old Dekno kit has better wings, and then kitbash the two.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

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On 8 May 2017 at 8:58 PM, JamesP said:

Grrr, I suspect the 1/72 kit also suffers from this glaring error. I will have to check it against the alternative plans I have too.

 

..I hope not.  I'm glad I'm not taking this on at 1/72!

 

On 9 May 2017 at 2:44 AM, Learstang said:

Great work so far! I was wondering about the 1/72nd kit also, which has been on my radar for some time. If the same error exists, I might have to take a pass, or see if my old Dekno kit has better wings, and then kitbash the two.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

 

Feel free to post your findings here re the Dekno kit Jason.

 

Well I didn't fancy diving straight in for yet more dreary sanding on the other wing just yet, so today I tackled the first wing root instead.  Here below is the planning, traced around the kit wing onto a removable adhesive label:

 

Crusader_17.5.10_1

 

.. the hatched red bit to be removed from the wing, followed by re-profiling of the airfoil.  That was relatively easy part, as shown below:

 

Crusader_17.5.10_1

 

Then onto the wing root, with its lovely curved fillet, started above from 1mm sheet.  As I predicted the fillet might be quite fragile I elected to cut a slot into the fuselage so the piece I was handling could be larger & also be more thoroughly secured.  So some drilling, cutting, scraping, & filing later and I had a 1mm letterbox slot in the fuselage:

 

Crusader_17.5.10_1

 

 ... allowing for fixing like so:

 

Crusader_17.5.10_1

 

.. of the filleted piece, shown here with some additional laminated sheet to fill out the airfoil profile (and drilled holes to assist with the gluing of the wings later):

 

Crusader_17.5.10_1

 

... to arrive at:

 

Crusader_17.5.10_1

 

Crusader_17.5.10_1

 

There will need to be a round of putty & finishing, but that will take place after assembly.

 

Pretty happy with that, it's been occupying my mind for some days.  That's me done .. off to collect the kids!

Edited by greggles.w
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I took a couple of photo of the 1/72 Karaya kit against the plans in Ralph Pegram's excellent tome.

 

The wings are a too narrow but due to lack of curvature on the trailing edge. They are correct at the root. Far too long though. I think if I align the aileron and reshape it will be satisfactory.YMMV

The tailplanes are also too deep in chord.

 

ShortsCrusader-00.jpg

 

The floats are long, but the fuselage is way too long and is very noticeable compared to photos. I think cutting a section out from behind the (round not square ) cockpit is the best solution. The tail and rudder are spot on.

 

ShortsCrusader-01.jpg

 

I've built a couple of Karaya's kits and have found them beautifully produced, the SeaLion had tiny holes in the tailplanes for control cables to pass through, but I suspect they suffer from the lack of good references for many if these aircraft. Unfortunately they all pre-date Pegrams's book and his meticulous plans.

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7 hours ago, roadrunner said:

Hello,

Impressive work on the wings.   :goodjob:

 

 

Thanks! If only it were wings, but it can't be avoided .. I'm going to have to repeat all that work on the other wing 🙂

 

1 hour ago, JamesP said:

I took a couple of photo of the 1/72 Karaya kit against the plans in Ralph Pegram's excellent tome.

 

Fascinating findings thanks James.

 

1 hour ago, JamesP said:

the fuselage is way too long and is very noticeable compared to photos

 

Your photos show that clearly.  Interestingly, just eyeballing it, the proportions also seem elongated relative to this, their own 1/48 version.

 

1 hour ago, JamesP said:

I've built a couple of Karaya's kits and have found them beautifully produced,

 

I agree. It's a nice kit. I'm enjoying working with it! Hope you have an opportunity to do the same with your smaller version sometime soon.

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Tonight another diversion to avoid facing the other wing: the spinner.

 

Happily it's a simple conical form:

 

Crusader_17.5.11_1

 

If, as The Baron has said in his earlier post, that cowl is almost like a piece of medieval armour, then this spinner looks like the mean end of a medieval battering ram!!

 

The front half is a spinner proper, while the back half is actually integral with the fixed pitch propellor, much as a WWI wooden prop would be.  The metal prop was machined from one piece of alloy by Fairey Reed.  This sad post-mortem image shows the prop with the pointy spinner squashed:

 

Crusader_17.5.11_2

 

Unsurprisingly as I've replaced the kit cowl with my own, the kit propellor now doesn't fit.

 

Here a jig to capture the necessary shape:

 

Crusader_17.5.11_3

 

And here confirming the difference from the kit part, which is much larger than needed, a different angle, and actually slightly curved rather than a pure straight-sided cone:

 

Crusader_17.5.11_3

 

So, to make a replacement..

 

Happily not only is this part a nice simple conical form, the widest diameter of the cone where it meets the cowl is just under 10mm, which happens to be the maximum bit (dowel) size for this make-do lathe!

 

Crusader_17.5.11_3

 

.. confirming the angle is correct:

 

Crusader_17.5.11_3

 

Then out with the vacformer again.  I made two: one from quite thin sheet (0.25mm); and one thicker (0.75mm).  The thinner sheet allows for maximum achievable  pointyness to the spinner tip.  However after stretching over the buck it was exceptionally thin & fragile.  Certainly too thin for scribing the panel joint between the spinner tip & propellor hub.  Hence the second thicker (& blunter) version which was sleeved inside.  Before I did so I snipped the blunt tip off to allow me to fill the thin tip with CA glue before I damaged it.

 

After that, it was yet another jig to scribe:

 

Crusader_17.5.11_3

 

And here, finally, done & test fitted in place up front:

 

Crusader_17.5.11_3

 

I'm stopping here with this part as at the moment I'm fairly certain I will model this machine in flight, perhaps with the prop spinner only - no blades - as these fine machines do:

 

 

&

 

 

(Though I do reserve the right to change my mind!)

 

 

 

 

Edited by greggles.w
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Only a little progress to report today: the second wing root is now slotted & fixed in place on the left below.

 

Crusader_17.5.19_1

 

The wing on the left is still a work in progress.  I'm still standing away at the splice  at intervals, and I'm yet to re-profile the trailing edge to match the root.

 

I'm getting impatient to close up the fuselage & bring these subassemblies together.  But waiting on the pilot figure(s) ... nothing in the mailbox yet ...

 

 

Edited by greggles.w
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Look what the postman delivered today :D

 

Crusader_17.5.22_1

 

He certainly looks the part (better than photographed here & much better than their photo online) with lovely crisply detailed helmet & goggles, and he scales right - so he's got the job! If opportunity presents later this evening I'll get the head free and test fit him into the cockpit.

Edited by greggles.w
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Hello all,

 

While I wait for coats of paint to dry on the pilot I've made a start on the floats.

 

The floats are actually Short's principal design input.  The impetus for the aircraft came from Bristol, to market the benefits of their radial engines, with the design undertaken by a private aviation consultant, a Mr Bristow.  Then came the issue of who should construct it.  Short got the job as they were the contemporary specialist in float design, with their relevant experience including being subcontracted to supply the floats for earlier British Schneider Trophy entrants: Gloster I & III, IV and apparently also the Supermarine S4 (though these apparently weren't ever fitted).

 

In addition to being low-drag - thanks to design modelling in a specially constructed tank - the Short's floats were notable at the time for being fabricated out of duralumin.  Therefore good quality images of the Crusader show distinct panel lines, rivets and a few raised & lapped panel joints, hatches and strut & bracing junction fairings.  The floats were developed on Shorts test craft - the Mussel I - and there's a few close-up photos of that in references which confirm that while innovative, these floats did not have flush riveting or puttied joints.  The metalwork is somewhat more agricultural!

 

So in all I think there's an interesting contrast to be had here between these floats and the smooth skin of the fuselage & wings.

 

The overall form of the kit floats are beautifully sculpted, but limited in detail & with exceptionally tentative - near invisible - panel lines.

 

So I set off & straight up, well, how's this for a school boy error:

 

Crusader_17.5.30_1

 

I superglued the two outer halves to each other (top of photo) & the two inner halves together!! <_< Luckily each float is symmetrical down its central axis, and the only detail which differs is the raised fairing over the strut & bracing junction!!  So that committed me to re-doing those!!

 

:oops:

 

Here's one, rescribed & a few lapped panel & trim details laminated on:

 

Crusader_17.5.30_1

 

Close to done.  Just a few more raised access panels along the spine, a mooring eyelet at the front and some discrete riveting..

 

... when time allows...

Edited by greggles.w
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Tonight's effort: access hatch covers & riveting done to the top half on the first float, like so:

 

Crusader_17.6.1_1

 

To give some uniformity to the access hatches I made them by layering up 10 x thin sheets with double-sided tape between each layer, then cut the shape & rounded the corners of all ten together.  I then peeled each hatch off the block as needed to fix in place ... it sort of worked.  I remind myself that the real floats were hand-crafted items & so the variation in my result is true to the original!

 

Just rivets to add along the bottom half before it's ready for a coat of primer, which should make it all much more subtle.  Then onto the other float...

Edited by greggles.w
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Hello, I'm pleased to introduce our painted pilot, Bert:

 

Crusader_17.6.3_1

 

I've yet to apply a gloss top coat to the leather helmet & jacket, but otherwise I'm going to call it done as I am getting the warning signs of too much touch up tinkering ..

 

Crusader_17.6.3_1

 

my first figure painting in 20+ years, lots of fun!!  Probably an over investment as not much more than the head can be seen in the cramped cockpit.  That said, when I did a pre-paint test fit it was possible to see down the jacket front to the hands & knees ..

 

Crusader_17.6.3_1

 

In the end this is a pose assembled from an amalgam of the two 1930's racing car driver figures: the head & arms from one, fixed to the decapitated & drilled out torso of the other!  The hands so posed mask the lack of a control stick!! Of course one deficiency of these otherwise quite charming figures is that they lack a Sutton harness .. hopefully I can add one without it looking too contrived.

 

oh, and why Bert? Well three compelling reasons for this household's vote:

 

- the first test pilot was a civilian (which got me off the hook with the figure not being in RAF uniform) by the name of Bert Hinkler, an Australian;

- it's a tribute to a retired toolmaker somewhere, whose name, Bert, is engraved on the vernier callipers I got off eBay; &

- because there's a character in my kids current bedtime book called Granny Bert.

 

With this fella done, soon I can fit him in & things can get going again on the fuselage!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by greggles.w
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I admire your use of jigs to get the best cuts and form. It really does make a difference. Cracking work with this and it will be great to see it finished. 

 

Colin 

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19 hours ago, Colin W said:

I admire your use of jigs to get the best cuts and form. It really does make a difference

 

Thanks Colin, timely & encouraging commentary!  I have started mulling over a final 'mother of all jigs' to bring all the subassemblies together.  It's going to be quite a task to setup the support for the float struts to hold them fixed in the correct geometry..

 

19 hours ago, Colin W said:

Cracking work with this and it will be great to see it finished

 

Thanks again!  I'm close enough now that I too am anticipating the finish.  Hope to have some more progress to show soon ...

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On 7 June 2017 at 4:40 PM, CliffB said:

I'm coming late to this one Greg, but I'm very pleased to be here now.  Exceptional work!

 

Cliff

 

Thanks & welcome Cliff ... though I'm the one who ought to be described as late with this drawn out build!

 

There's been some progress, shown here for you Colin, with work commenced on the 'mother of all jigs'.  This will first aid trimming the float struts to the required length & geometry and then hopefully will assist again with final assembly:

 

Crusader_17.6.8_2

 

I've switched material, from plastic to 'box board' & PVA.  The yellow is masking tape protection for a piece of clear acrylic.  You may be able to make out two subtle 'V's notched into the top edge - these are shaped to support the underside of the floats immediately behind their step, like so:

 

Crusader_17.6.8_2

 

The jig is by no means finished, it's merely reached the point where the floats can be aligned parallel at the correct spacing & set at their -1 degree forward tilt (which gave the fuselage a slight tail down attitude when on the water).  Now comes the trickier bit of setting up support for the struts which lean in and lean back, at differing angles front & back ... :hmmm:

 

The eagle-eyed among you might notice evidence of a setback: the access hatches along the top of the first float were bugging me with their irregularities.  I made the mistake of thinking I could fiddle with them to fix, but of course this made things worse. So then I made the call to sand them off & in so doing my resin dust supression - wet sanding - lifted all those tediously placed rivets!!  I'll hold off reapplying rivets until I'm done with handling the floats, while those hatches may be scribed ... or quietly be forgotten!

 

Back to it ...

Edited by greggles.w
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After writing the above I couldn't let those hatches be ... made myself a template from clear styrene with a centreline scribed on it & have made a start:

 

Crusader_17.6.8_1

 

... thats all I have time for today, about half the hatches done.  Looking much, much better than previous attempt.

 

Does anyone have a clever trick for getting the scribing & sanding dust out of the scribed lines? I've seen it done with liquid cement on styrene kits - but is there are similar technique to suit resin??

Edited by greggles.w
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A wooden toothpick ( cocktail stick )  with the tip smoothed will remove the sanding dust as well as gently burnish the scribed line....Works equally well on resin or plastic.Looking very good!

 

Paul

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Use a tooth brush and give it a scrub. If its resin dust do it under water with a bit of washing up liquid in it.

 

Shame about the floats I really liked your first attempt with all the rivets. I hope the 2nd version is as good.

 

Colin

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On 10 June 2017 at 1:17 AM, Madgepetto said:

A wooden toothpick ( cocktail stick )  with the tip smoothed will remove the sanding dust as well as gently burnish the scribed line....Works equally well on resin or plastic

 

On 10 June 2017 at 1:18 AM, Colin W said:

Use a tooth brush and give it a scrub. If its resin dust do it under water with a bit of washing up liquid in it.

 

Thanks Paul & Colin, both tips were applied successfully, at least as new techniques for me, but unfortunately they couldn't rescue me from the debacle of my own making with these hatches.  My attempt to improve on them by scribing resulted in even more irregularity!  Use of a template made them more regular in shape but despite my best efforts to string them out aligned in close succession along the top of the float they were all over the place.  So in the end your techniques were useful largely to flush out my scribed lines before I filled them with putty!!

 

On 10 June 2017 at 1:18 AM, Colin W said:

Shame about the floats I really liked your first attempt with all the rivets. I hope the 2nd version is as good.

 

So, Colin, no it wasn't!  

 

But I've come something like full circle, by combining my two approaches: I used the scribing template but to cut out repeated new hatches from thin sheet, then used a lattice of masking tape guides to place them in alignment.  So in the end they return to being depicted raised, as per the original, which I'm happy about.  Done, like so:

 

Crusader_17.6.12_1

 

So it's third time, call it good! Rivets to go back on later, for now I need to switch back to working on the jig for the float struts ...

Edited by greggles.w
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