lampie Posted February 4, 2009 Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) I wanted this kit even when I just built 1:72nd, and after a few 1:48th builds Ive bypassed (for now) the 1:32nd kits in my stash and dived straight in at the deep end. Heres my progress so far. Cockpits finished. I'll probably give the seatbelts a wash to blend them in a bit but thats about it. After this its onto the engine! Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/ Edited August 10, 2010 by lampie
jussie202 Posted February 4, 2009 Posted February 4, 2009 Very nice work, your weathering is tip top!! Always been a fan of the old P 47 so interested to see how this one works out. I'll be a big old beast!
Alan Kelley Posted February 5, 2009 Posted February 5, 2009 Nice looking cockpit. Going to be keeping an eye on this build.
Paddy Posted February 5, 2009 Posted February 5, 2009 Oh dear.....I think i need one of these !! Keep posting :-)
avro683 Posted February 5, 2009 Posted February 5, 2009 Really good work so far Paddie, looking forward to seeing more. Tony
lampie Posted February 7, 2009 Author Posted February 7, 2009 I didnt realise Paddie was building this?,,, Onto the engine. Heres page 1 of the engine assembly instructions. Starting with the top section, (section 2), this deals with assembling the two banks of cylinders. I noticed during a dry run, that with the cylinders in their normal position,( looking straight on at the engine and counting clockwise, cylinder #5 should be straight down) the mounting ring didnt line up, and was sitting with the left side lower than the right. So, I did some more dry fitting,,,,,,,,,a lot more dry fitting.................. and got the basic engine assembly to this stage. What Ive found is that to have everything assembled so it will fit the mounting ring and consequently the cowling, the cylinders are off by about half a cylinders width. In other words, the whole bank of cylinders is turned to the right. I checked on a built example and that had the same issue. This is a photo of the engine from a link Ted Taylor put in another thread. Ted built the SAM Magazine example last year. The bottom cylinder should be pointing straight down. So, Im pretty satisfied that its not just something I've done wrong and that its actually an issue with the kit, I can take the dry run apart and start working on it. To fix it would probably mean cutting both front and back mounting rings. It might be something doable. but I think I'm going to live with it as I have no plans to display this with any of the cowling panels removed. It just shows how important it is to dry run and test fit! I couldnt resist seeing how it would look like in situ. The cowling in front is 1:48th Hmmm,,,I think I'm going to have to have a big tidy up of the bench before I get to the wings stage Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/
avro683 Posted February 7, 2009 Posted February 7, 2009 Sorry Nige, don't know whre I got that from. That engine looks superb, by the way. Tony
AndyL Posted February 7, 2009 Posted February 7, 2009 Nice work Nigel - it certainly is a monster when built. Saw one made up at the Sutton Coldfield show last year, and you cannot fail to be impressed when you actaully see one in the flesh.
gunpowder17 Posted February 7, 2009 Posted February 7, 2009 Looking good. I had the same problem with the engine. Look out for the rear fuselage/spine too. The fit is a bit iffy there too. I may have to restart mine now too!
lampie Posted February 7, 2009 Author Posted February 7, 2009 Thanks guys Its certainly a beastie! Thanks for the heads up on the fusalage fillet. I imagine its a similar issue to the Tamiya fillets. A real shame about the cylinder alignment cause the engines a work of art.( Well,,it was until I got hold of it,,lol ) I have a Group Build running throughout 2009 on my P-47 site, and there are FOUR of the VFS kits being built for it!! A shame they aren't all in the UK cause they would make a great display somewhere! Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/
thx6667 Posted February 7, 2009 Posted February 7, 2009 The cowling in front is 1:48th For a moment there I was thinking, "wow that cowl in a tad undersized,,,"
lampie Posted February 8, 2009 Author Posted February 8, 2009 Now Im happy that the offset cylinders isnt something Im doing wrong I've made a start on building the engine up. So far I've wired the first bank of cylinders. I'll do the other half tomorrow inbetween working on a 1:48th P-47 which is coming up to completion. I was starting to get my wires crossed,( lots of pun intended) after a couple of hours working on this! Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/
gunpowder17 Posted February 8, 2009 Posted February 8, 2009 Now Im happy that the offset cylinders isnt something Im doing wrong I've made a start on building the engine up.So far I've wired the first bank of cylinders. I'll do the other half tomorrow inbetween working on a 1:48th P-47 which is coming up to completion. I was starting to get my wires crossed,( lots of pun intended) after a couple of hours working on this! Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/ Nice...what did you use for the wiring?
lampie Posted February 8, 2009 Author Posted February 8, 2009 Thanks. Its just copper wire from some cable I've had lying around for ages. I passed it through the gas flame on the cooker to make it a bit easier to work with and it turned that lovely "ignition harness" colour. Finished the wiring harness this morning. Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/
Paddy Posted February 8, 2009 Posted February 8, 2009 Looking good Nige ! I took this at Duxford last year, might help at some point I am building another one of these engines from Aires in 1:48 for a Hellcat. the chances of getting the exhaust to fit are Nil !!! Worse than the Jug !!Currently making my own out of solder :-))....Should be ok if i dont start it up.....lol
lampie Posted February 8, 2009 Author Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) Hi Paddy. Yes, that exhaust tubing is going to be an interesting day or two,,lol. Luckily I have no plans to display the Jug with the cowling panels off, but I want to get it right Thanks for the photo. I made a trip to Duxford a few weeks ago to photograph the P-47's. The American museum was shut for maintenance,,( air turned blue). but I got some great photos of the Razorback. The cowling panels were on but I was allowed to take some cockpit photos. There are over 80 photos of the P-47G here http://gallery.kitmaker.net/showgallery.php/cat/23797 Before anybody chimes up I know its a "G" and didnt see service in the ETO etc, Curtiss built not Republic and all that Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/ Edited February 8, 2009 by lampie
lampie Posted February 10, 2009 Author Posted February 10, 2009 A little more progress and a lot more dryfitting! I cant emphasise the importance of dry fitting on this enough. Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/
_H_ Posted February 10, 2009 Posted February 10, 2009 What-ho Nigel Your latest Jug is looking awesome mate. I look forward to the next installment. Howard P.S If you can't think who I am I'm pretty sure you'll remember this "The Al-F**in-mighty"
lampie Posted February 10, 2009 Author Posted February 10, 2009 (edited) Hi Howard! Thanks mate Its not quite my latest Jug. That ones in the repair shop at the moment...oops. Long story. This ones certainly a challenge!!! Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/ Edited February 10, 2009 by lampie
lampie Posted February 16, 2009 Author Posted February 16, 2009 Time for an update! The back of the engine is now finished. From the rear mounting ring back this wont be seen. Ive started working on the oil tanks/firewall area. Because I'm not going to cut any of the fusalage away this wont be seen and its purpose will be more structural than anything else, so I havent been too precise in cleaning up the parts. Soon be time to join up the fusalage. The instructions call for you to join the fusalage fillet together and then place it on top of the fusalage section. On a dry run I found that assembling it like this would have resulted in a step down each side of the fusalage. To combat this I glued each part of the fillet to its respective side first. I did this in stages, starting at the cockpit area and over a couple of days gradually glued along until I got to the fin area. The fit will still require a small amount of filling and cleaning up to finish it off but at least theres no step to deal with. Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/
AnonymousDFB1 Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 Good work Nige, she looks like a nice kit.
lampie Posted February 24, 2009 Author Posted February 24, 2009 Some more progress. I rasied the cockpit up by about 2mm and sits a lot better now.. Its easy to do and it works really well. Fusalage halves are joined and Ive been working on cleaning up the seams. No filler required here. But Im using Mr Surfacer around the fillet. Horizontal stabilisers are together and Im working on dry fitting the wings. Two points to watch out for here. I had to do some work on the leading edge/fusalage join in order to eliminate the pronounced step.Nothing major but its made the fit a lot better. A lot more work will be required on the flaps though. These are assembled in the same way as a Tamiya kit. The instructions show the flaps in the raised position but the flap actuators supplied are for the down position. This is ok as its how I want to have them on the model, but the actuators will need a lot of work in order for them to fit. I've sanded one down, and from the photo you can see how much I've had to remove from the kit part in order for it to fit into the wing. Plenty more dry fitting for me this week! Nige http://p47.kitmaker.net/
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