Hamden Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 May be a bit late now but have you looked at how airscale constructed the fuselage, wings etc on his Firefly and Tiger Cat builds. I realise that he builds in bigger scales but I'm sure the same systems of building could be used in your project Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share Posted March 7, 2018 8 hours ago, S5 modeller said: Have you thought of painting over the card with fiber glass resin? It would soak in and make it much stronger. Matt Sounds like a good idea. I want to give the vacformer a go this time as I have access to one & I haven’t used one since school days. Plus it’s at materials only cost, but I think you idea will be one to keep & use another time. I like trying out different approaches on each build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S5 modeller Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 If you want to keep the costs to a minimum, you could use pva glue to paint over the cardboard. It should still harden it up, or maybe a coat or two of varnish, clear lacquer or future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 @Hamden that looks a good build. Not sure it would work quite so well for a transport aircraft where the body will be hollow with an open cargo hold. I borrowed most of the build methods for my last scratch from @tomprobert Shakelton build, so having a go at a different approach this theme. @S5 modeller have given the back section a coat of pva tonight & it seems a lot tougher. Will see how it holds up to the pressure of the vacformer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 Hi, I would suggest you have a look at @Karl on the sci-fi pages. He does some great work with plastic card and car filler. Ideal for vacform work I should think. See his Space 1999 Hawk. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 9, 2018 Author Share Posted March 9, 2018 11 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said: Hi, I would suggest you have a look at @Karl on the sci-fi pages. He does some great work with plastic card and car filler. Ideal for vacform work I should think. See his Space 1999 Hawk. Nice work with Hawk from @Karl - very nice & neat. Think though I should have tried some wood whittling for my vac form attempt. It was good fun and a learning experience. However it was also a total bust! You may be able to see from the above photo that the pressure of the vac former squashed the card! I was surprised how much it did squash it - even the curved section. Now I think a rethink is in order. No regrets - glad I tried it & think I will be back at the vacformer another time. But for now if I get a strong enough tube for vacforming, I might as well use it for the body. And plasticard built tail with P38 is back on the cards. Rather than using a clear Perspex tube like I did for the Dominie I will go for a standard 50mm plastic tube. Reason being is the windows are domed and not flat. So holes through the side & some crash moulded windows to stick through. One side effect is that I now have a load of blue plastic going spare to build with! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 See Barside - a Bandsaw and some chisels aren’t such a bad option! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 So had a pause before I could get some materials to move on again. I have decided to go for plastic tube for the main fuselage, so had to get hold of some 50mm pipe. Managed to find some small diameter guttering down pipe that fits the bill. I can afford to mess up the first go as it came in a 2m length! So temptation is to do from behind the cockpit to the tail in one length, and where it tapers in, cut a v-section out of the end & see if it will shape in towards a plasticard tail section. The clear tube next to it is the off cut from the Dominie. Don’t need flat clear windows as the F-27 has domed out windows. The plan is to cut the apertures and form some windows by crash moulding them from clear plastic (probably a coke bottle or similar) and push them through. Which poses its own question - try to keep the tube together or cut it down its length in half? Cutting it would be easier to work with, but if I can get the windows in without cutting it then I could slide in a basic interior. Something like this Not sure about modelling all the belts - might just go for cargo version! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 25, 2018 Author Share Posted March 25, 2018 Bit done this weekend - cut the tube down to starting size Now I wondered if I could cut the tube to pull it in towards the tail. I think I will cut a disc to the size I want it to be and cut the tube until it comes in to roughly the shape. Then lots of filler for the gaps and to blend in the leading section of the tail. The main tail can then fit on to the back and shape up the final tail section. Will try to drill out the windows soon & have cut a section out of the top for the wings to fit in to. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 That’s an original approach. 👍 Am watching with interest. The Dominie tube-fuselage worked a treat, so I am hoping this will too. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 Well messed about with it & messed it up today. Marked out & drilled the windows down one side of the fuselage. Used my printed out template and all looked good They looked good - round & need to be opened up in to ovals with the dremel. Then I checked the reference photos and realised that I have used the commercial template and the military version has less windows & I have too many holes. Don’t think the tapered in end will work like this either, so time for a tube Mk2. I think the Dominie got to tube 3 before it was right. Good job the tube came in 2 metre lengths! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Any news on this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Hear hear! I'd love to see your recent progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Nice work so far! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 I’d love to as well..... got somewhat sidetracked by building a watch tower / control tower for the diorama & now started another kit. The marked up mk2 fuselage is in the garage waiting for me to start drilling again. Too many things on at once! Not forgotten though and will carry on with this soon. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 That marked up mk2 fuselage kept on looking at me until I got some time free yesterday. So out came the drill and Dremel. The windows rows are now right for the military version. After the aborted vacforming approach I am back to a platicard and P38 back end. So time to cut some plasticard Cut out and placed on the end of the tube looks like this Next up will be some discs of diminishing size to make the ribs that the strips if card will sit on before the filler. The two main things that scare me are the props and the wheels. Now, I had an idea about the props - what about adapting a pair of B-29 props? Hamilton standard 4 blade might adapt to not look too far out. Might post in the wanted section & see what is about. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 Good to see this back on the pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share Posted September 1, 2018 Cheers @Bandsaw Steve - been checking in on the 504 progress. Was going to try some wooden wings on this one. Thankfully no visible wing spars or much else & pretty much flat & straight 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted September 2, 2018 Author Share Posted September 2, 2018 Been building some ribs on the tail today to get an idea of how the shape will build up. Seem simple enough to work out the shape but seeing it lets you know what lines up & it’s now clear that the back end of the tube is a bit high - need to file it down a bit to taper in to the back section and in to the base of the fin. Ribs will be covered with plasticard strips & then covered with P38 car body filler before smoothing to the desired finish. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted September 4, 2018 Author Share Posted September 4, 2018 Building up the strips of plastic to make the shape of the rear end. Bottom half done easy for some car body filler 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Tried out my new filler on the planking, only to discover I had ordered patching fibreglass rather than filler. So gave it a go to knot the planks together. Set nice & hard though & should give a good surface to fill on to so I let it set for a couple of days & put the planking on the top half. That gets fibreglass next & then I can start building up the tail 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Looks good. I Am interested in learning about fibreglass so am watching intently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Wow this is very interesting and great work. I have to really admire you guys that scratch build like this. I hope it all comes out right for you. This will be flippin amazing and will follow with interest. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted September 9, 2018 Author Share Posted September 9, 2018 @Bandsaw Steve usually you use fibre glass to reinforce behind & hold broken bits together as it doesn’t on its own give a good surface. Unless you push it in to a prepared moulding negative. But I am using it to bond together the strips and provide a firm base to fill on to. Might be an unnecessary step but we will see @bigbadbadge thanks. Second time in to scratch building & I am using the same approach. This is how my Dominie looked to start with and when finished & painted 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Wow , great Dominie that looks amazing and a first attempt at Scratcbuilding. I am in Awe fella . Great work will definitely be watching this Friendship. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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