TBM-3 Avenger Conversion to TBF-1C. On to the Cockpit

[georgeusa]

Not much of an update today. Was working some on the plug wire harness when life got in the way. Seems the bull decided to wander over to the neighbor's horse pasture. That's not a big deal. However, the 150 feet of fencing he reconfigured, that's an issue. Spent most of the day driving T-posts and 3" pipes into the ground, plus welding some new H-braces. Did I mention I hate welding. It's like the grownup version of soldering, which I also do not do well. Tomorrow there will be no modeling as will have to run 6 strands of barbed wire on the new fencing. It will be bloody as I always hook myself. The Avenger engine is laughing at me, smug in the belief I will fail to complete it. Little does it know...

[Pete in Lincs]

Things to do....

1/ Buy old radial engine

2/Chain bull to said engine

3/Carry on modelling

[georgeusa]

1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Things to do....

1/ Buy old radial engine

2/Chain bull to said engine

3/Carry on modelling

The problem is the bull would just drag it around like a necklace. He is a big boy. I would estimate he is tipping the scales close to a ton. I have seen him bend and crumple 3" pipe fencing. It's a good thing he is somewhat gentle. 

 

 

He adores SWMBO, but this gives you an idea of his size. And the pipe fencing separating them, that is what he can bend and break through at will. 

[Biggles87]

There are some cows in the field next to our horses at the moment, and yesterday the bull came over and had a stand off with one of them. They looked at other for a minute then the bull made a lot of noise and backed off, and the horse continued grazing.

The Corsair engine was one of my " let's start this one next" ideas and didn't get any further. SWMBO says I have the attention span oF a dead rabbit!

 

John

 

PS I do like radial engines but they are so time consuming ( and tedious ) to build that I often build the engine long before I complete the rest of the kit. 

Edited April 30, 2017 by Biggles87

[georgeusa]

1 minute ago, Biggles87 said:

There are some cows in the field next to our horses at the moment, and yesterday the bull came over and had a stand off with one of them. They looked at fact other for a minute then the bull made a lot of noise and backed off, and the horse continued grazing.

The Corsair engine was one of my " let's start this one next" ideas and didn't get any further. SWMBO says I have the attention span oF a dead rabbit!

 

John

i wish Misfit (the bull, every bull has a name ya know) would just back off.  I don't really think he cares whether there are horses or not, he just likes to go for a walk sometimes and fences just don't really bother him.  His theme song "Don't Fence Me In"!

[Pete in Lincs]

Should have called him Bubba!

 

(And now I can't remember what film that came from!)

[georgeusa]

It is a sad little, puppy of an update.  I am still working on the engine plug wires, but am nowhere near completing.  I am having trouble making all the leads meet up with the ring in some resemblance my engine reference.  But, I have succeeded in pinging off another cylinder head.

 

 

At least this one, I found in record time and was able to quickly reinstall it.  

I got the cowl sorted out with removal of the bottom air inlet. 

 

 

I know the picture makes it look like there is a big chunk that still needs filling, but it is where the filler, primer and plastic insert all meet to create the illusion of a divot.  All that is left is to modify the cowl openings and do a bit of rescribing and I think I will have a TBF 1-C cowl.

On a different note, probably the most frustrating thing for me right now is how frequently I drop parts, tools, etc. because I can’t tell how tight I am griping the item in my hand.  I may have hit upon a solution.  Since I can’t feel how tight I am griping something, maybe I can see how tight the grip is.  Okay, two pictures of some grubby hands;

Picture 1

 

 

Picture 2

 

 

The color of my fingers change to a sort of jaundice, yellow tint the harder I squeeze something.  The harder I squeeze, the more the finger color goes from normal to the jaundice yellow.  That is something I can measure with my eyes and get a feel (bad pun on myself, I know) for how tight I am holding something.  Maybe using this, I can reduce how often I drop a part to a normal, non-punch the wall level.  And that, sadly, is my entire update.  As always, all comments are welcome.

[Pete in Lincs]

George,

Good job you're not colour (color) blind then.

Also the flesh/skin distorts the tighten you grip.

Getting old/ill sucks doesn't it?

Nice cowling and wires.

I actually got a tiny bit of model sanding & planning done yesterday!

[georgeusa]

4 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

 

I actually got a tiny bit of model sanding & planning done yesterday!

Thanks for the kind words Pete. So, what are you working on right now and do you have a thread started?  I know you do some sci-fi and things other than with propellers; places I usually don't go. 

[Pete in Lincs]

No thread started, it would take forever to get it finished at this rate!

I'll do an RFI eventually with some mid build pics, probably.

I'm doing yet another maschinen kreiger Falke variant,

(I just love the design of this thing)

but this time in the 'proper' scale of 1/20th by using 1/32nd P-38

booms and a 1/24th car. In this case a Porsche 911 speedster.

All parts are secondhand and therefore cheap and a challenge.

So I'm (when I get the chance) enjoying myself.

I do have a genuine Hasegawa Falke kit which I'm using for reference

but it would be too easy to just build that. And have you seen the prices?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hasegawa-1-20-Ma-K-Pkf-85-Falke-Antigravity-Armored-Raider-64001-MK01-/231607994242?hash=item35ece98782:g:NCMAAOSwzLlXhyxL

I cut my modeling teeth on seventies Airfix prices and to pay more than

say, $30 on a kit makes me hesitate to say the least!

Okay, so I'm cheap, but I enjoy what I do and that's the main thing.

Besides, we now have 1.6 Granddaughters so guess where the money goes?

Regards

Pete

[LDSModeller]

Hi George,

 

Glad you were able to get something done and post as well. Good save on the engine, and I'm

sure your ignition harness will work out well for you. When I started my Trumpy TBF-1c, I cracked

my ignotion harness, and then tried to drill holes to take the leads, and that ended up more crooked

than a winding road.......

This is where I ended up (the Balsa carving is to mold a "Dishpan") and will stay until I catch up

on some other builds

 

Kudos to you, continuing to build with your illness, I'm sure we all here at Britmodeller, admire your

perserverance in this, and being honest I looked through the WIP section this morning (NZ Time) hoping

to see an update, waited a bit longer and finally here it is

 

Looking forward to your next installment.

 

Best regards

 

Alan

[georgeusa]

Well, Pete, I would like to see some pics,of what you are building. I am always amazed at people who can create representations out of seemingly disparate parts and items; like P-38 booms and Porsche parts!  Is the price of the model in the link typical of what the kits cost?  I don't think I have ever paid that much for any Hasegawa plane kit in my life and that includes more than a few 1/32 kits. 

Kids and grand kids, gotta love them. They have the inherent ability to spend 1 1/2 times the amount you can afford at any given moment!

[georgeusa]

8 minutes ago, LDSModeller said:

Hi George,

 

Glad you were able to get something done and post as well. Good save on the engine, and I'm

sure your ignition harness will work out well for you. When I started my Trumpy TBF-1c, I cracked

my ignotion harness, and then tried to drill holes to take the leads, and that ended up more crooked

than a winding road.......

This is where I ended up (the Balsa carving is to mold a "Dishpan") and will stay until I catch up

on some other builds

 

Kudos to you, continuing to build with your illness, I'm sure we all here at Britmodeller, admire your

perserverance in this, and being honest I looked through the WIP section this morning (NZ Time) hoping

to see an update, waited a bit longer and finally here it is

 

Looking forward to your next installment.

 

Best regards

 

Alan

Thanks for the kind words Alan. Somewhere in my modeling room, I have a "spare" ignition harness that you are more than welcome to once I find the blasted thing.  Your engine looks great.  I am just frustrated by having so little time to model and I know the wiring thing will take a big chunk of time to do properly; time that I don't have right now. I'm hoping next week will open up with some free time to get this build back on track. 

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

Hey George

 

Great work as ever mate - I can't imagine not be able to feel how feel, but you are over coming the problem brilliantly, great idea on looking at the colour of your finger tips as an indication of strength / grip. The engine is coming along very nicely too and I know what you about the limited modelling time some of us get. I have several builds on the go at the moment and I'm not able to get any work done on them due to other commitments and when I do get time I don't fancy doing any modelling!

 

All the best mate and I'm looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labour.

 

Iain (in a very wet Cornwall)

[Pete in Lincs]

10 hours ago, georgeusa said:

Well, Pete, I would like to see some pics,of what you are building

I'll try to get around to that at a later date,

In the meantime, here's one I built earlier.

Kreiger normally centres around WW2 German markings but this one was inspired by WW2 USN Pacific aircraft.

The P-38 booms are 1/48th, the car was an Airfix 1/32nd Aston Martin DBR9, so you can get some idea of the size.

(The 'radar dish' on the front was a magnetic button from a message board). I think there was a WIP for it on BM at one time.

 

[georgeusa]

Not really an update, just some promised pictures.  But first, Pete that is a really neat scratch built sci-fi vehicle.  Not really sure what to call it other than one of them new fangled, super secret flying machines.  It looks really cool.  Alright, I am trying to get a block of a couple of hours to do nothing but figure out the plug wires.  Life keeps getting in the way.  But, I finally found some pictures I took of a TBM-3 in 2011.  Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy.  I should be able to get back to this kit around Wednesday.  Then progress photos.  As always, all comments are welcome.

[Pete in Lincs]

You've been quiet for a week, George, so this may bring you back.

You asked for a WIP photo on the Falke variant and I've finally found

the time to sort out uploads and the like.

This is just a rough assembly to show you what's going on (I hope).

You have that previous link picture I posted to help though.

The car body has been narrowed and the P-38 canopy will be

altered but gives a rough idea. I have yet to add the anti-gravity

domes under the booms and the 'fuselage' rear.

(The anti-gravity domes being half table tennis balls. Obviously).

On the closest boom is a Porsche 917 engine part and the 'airbrake'

is part of an Airfix 1/24th Typhoon engine cowling.

 

This model is now on hold though as I've been asked to build up

a resin Fireball XL-5 so I'll need to find time to do that!

Cheers

Pete

[georgeusa]

On 5/20/2017 at 1:27 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

You've been quiet for a week, George, so this may bring you back.

You asked for a WIP photo on the Falke variant and I've finally found

the time to sort out uploads and the like.

This is just a rough assembly to show you what's going on (I hope).

You have that previous link picture I posted to help though.

The car body has been narrowed and the P-38 canopy will be

altered but gives a rough idea. I have yet to add the anti-gravity

domes under the booms and the 'fuselage' rear.

(The anti-gravity domes being half table tennis balls. Obviously).

On the closest boom is a Porsche 917 engine part and the 'airbrake'

is part of an Airfix 1/24th Typhoon engine cowling.

 

This model is now on hold though as I've been asked to build up

a resin Fireball XL-5 so I'll need to find time to do that!

Cheers

Pete

Sorry for the lack of updates Pete.  I have been busy with another project that has taken up most of my time.  It's a bit bigger than the Avenger even.  For the last couple of weeks this has been on the forefront of building.

 

 

It's a 58 foot cattle chute for loading steers and yearlings into trailers.  The grey panels are prefab as is the head gate.  Everything else, including the redo of the fence was home constructed.  Did I mention I'm not a big fan of welding?  Anyway, that has taken up most of my spare time.  I have had some snippets of time for modeling, but those mainly went to the 109 group build project.  (And I'm also still on that engine too!)  However, next week looks like it might open up a couple of hours of straight modeling time to get the wiring done and the Avenger back on track.

 

Now for your project above, all I can say is I'm in awe of how you are taking such diverse things that shouldn't go together, then you make them go together and the end project is really a nifty sci-fi build.  You are a pretty creative fellow there to come up with this stuff.  Also, please post some pictures of the Fireball.  (That reminds me, I have a Ryan Fireball in the stash that needs to be built.)

[Biggles87]

Very impressive, what scale is it?

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Welding? That's one up on Nigels soldering skills then.

Nice work indeed. See, I wouldn't be able to do that.

Then again I've never even tried welding.

Riveting aeroplanes together, now that I can do.

The maschinen kreiger stuff originates from Japan in

the eighties and I'm just following the general theme

of it, using whatever I have available. That's partly what

I like about it, you don't have to slavishly copy the

historic prototype, as in model aircraft or tanks for instance.

 

The Fireball can be seen in the Sci fi WIP thread.

I know Gerry Anderson stuff got to the States but

I'm not so sure about Fireball XL5.

It wasn't in colour for a start!

[georgeusa]

On 5/22/2017 at 1:38 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

Welding? That's one up on Nigels soldering skills then.

Nice work indeed. See, I wouldn't be able to do that.

Then again I've never even tried welding.

Riveting aeroplanes together, now that I can do.

The maschinen kreiger stuff originates from Japan in

the eighties and I'm just following the general theme

of it, using whatever I have available. That's partly what

I like about it, you don't have to slavishly copy the

historic prototype, as in model aircraft or tanks for instance.

 

The Fireball can be seen in the Sci fi WIP thread.

I know Gerry Anderson stuff got to the States but

I'm not so sure about Fireball XL5.

It wasn't in colour for a start!

This isn't pretty welding with a fine finish that is paint ready.  This is cattle fence welding where the weld seams are thick, bulky and strong.  Nigel's soldering skills are absolutely fantastic.  I have attempted to do the things he does and I cannot understand, nor emulate his soldering feats.  I like your put together sci-fi kreiger builds.  They look neat.  Now, you are a funny boy and all.  I like the comment "It wasn't in colour for a start!"  Pete, I didn't see my first color TV program until i went to college.  And I do remember FIreball XL5 as it came on every Saturday morning when I was a kid.  Stay tuned an update will appear within the next 24 hours!

[georgeusa]

I know I promised an update, but the camera gods were not nice.  I did some work on the kit for the 109 group build and actually cut and placed ignition wires where they should be on this engine.  I just have no pictures to show for it due to battery issues with my camera and Iphone.  So pictures to follow and I might even move to the cockpit on this plane!

[georgeusa]

What’s this, is it an actual update with pictures even?  Yes, it is!   Granted it is a very small update, but at least it is progress.  I have finally finished the ignition wire harness and all the wires are tucked safely where they should be.

 

 

Now, much as I would like to leave the copper wire unpainted to add color, every picture I have seen of this engine has the spark plug wires black.  So, out comes a fine tip paint brush and all the wires are treated with a coat of Nato Black.

 

 

From the photo, it looks as I have a few places to touch up.  Also, I need to add the silver connection points.  Finally, there is a large tube that runs from the front of the gear housing to the back of the engine that is not provided in the kit.  After that, I need to build up the panels that were cut and come up with the connection strips.  Then, maybe, I can actually move on to another part of the airframe!  As always, all comments are welcome.

[Pete in Lincs]

Welcome back to the sweatshop, George.

[georgeusa]

Engine update, lost count of how many!  According to this engine reference photo . . .

 

 

There is a large tube running from the bottom of the engine case cover that curves from the front of the engine to the back of the engine.  Trumpeter does not reference this part.  I think, “No problem, I’ll just bend a section of wire to represent the tube.”  Easy, right?  Except the bottom of my engine case cover does not have a section that extends far enough for the pipe to attach.

 

 

What to do know?  Then I notice that on the top of the engine case cover, there is a slot that is missing a part.  I look back through the instructions regarding the engine steps (1-3) to see if I have missed anything.  Nope, all parts accounted for.  So, I am now resolved to scratch parts for both the top and bottom of the engine case cover.  But, before I do that, maybe there is a step or two for the engine later in the instructions.  Lo and behold, in step 23, these 3 parts are added to the finished engine.

 

 

The round circular thingy along with the more detailed larger part are attached to the top of the engine case cover, the other larger part is attached to the bottom of the engine case cover and will give enough length where I can attach my missing pipe.  Why these parts wait until step 23 to be added to the engine is beyond me.  Seems as if they could have easily been included in the early engine build steps 1-3.  I can find no rhyme or reason for these parts to be left off until step 23.  But, I am glad to not have to scratch them; or will I have to scratch them?  Within seconds of cutting these parts off the sprue, I ping the bottom part off into never, never land.  The next 30 minutes is spent trying to find this miniscule missing part, but eventually it is located. 

 

 

Probably could have built another part to use in only 10 minutes!  Have you ever wondered how much of your life is wasted looking for missing model parts?  Kinda staggers the imagination, huh?

The bottom part has one of the sided drilled out to accept the tubing that will run to the back of the engine.  I find a piece of insulated wire that will fit the bill nicely.  It is bent into shape and the insulation is removed so the wire can be attached in the hole drilled in the bottom part.

 

 

The two-piece top part is installed

 

 

And the bottom part is installed as only a butt joint.

 

 

The top and bottom parts are painted, along with the tubing.  Then the tubing is placed where it should go, but is not attached to the bottom part as the joint needs to harden a bit more.

 

 

I still have some more blending to do to make the newly added parts seem like they were painted along with the rest of the engine at the same time.  Next up, the engine will be attached to the engine bulk head and I hate to say it, some scratch building of more pipes and tubing need to be run from the engine bulk head to the cockpit firewall.  Until then, as always, all comments are welcome.