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Time to itch & scratch? F-27


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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

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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

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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. 

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@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!

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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.

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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!

 

gq8UOGJ_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

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!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

 

9CsvsfM_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

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 

 

937.jpg

 

Not sure about modelling all the belts - might just go for cargo version!

 

 

 

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Bit done this weekend - cut the tube down to starting size

 

hgpqDce_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

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.

 

iWiM9bW_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

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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

 

JQ153Ly_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

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!

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  • 1 month later...

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.

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  • 3 months later...

That marked up mk2 fuselage kept on looking at me until I got some time free yesterday.  So out came the drill and Dremel.

 

Iea6q7z_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

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

 

Dm4oc0g_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

Cut out and placed on the end of the tube looks like this

 

t9ncSsP_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

KymJwbN_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

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.

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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.

 

vTNSuTc_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

Ribs will be covered with plasticard strips & then covered with P38 car body filler before smoothing to the desired finish.

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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

 

TweGJZ2_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

G5CEv8f_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

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

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@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

 

ag4WTWE_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

5lQUaYC_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

 

and when finished & painted

 

IQhwck4_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f

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