Bandsaw Steve

Thank you! I would be most interested. Please note though that it might be a very long time before a project eventuates. I’ll PM an e-mail address to you if that’s OK

Less than one month to go NATO fans!

What a great-looking model! 👍👍👍

How different was the Devon from the Dove? Could I use these plans to build a ‘reasonably accurate’ DH Devon? (RNZAF in particular).

Wonderful! I am very pleased you are enjoying all of this nonsense @CH-53D. Since you have worked with wood before I need hardly remind you that it is generally not as challenging a medium as many seem to think.Good luck with your mongoose-powered Irish flying machine! Bandsaw Steve

Excellent photo BTW. My forward UC leg doesn’t look much like this at the moment but once all the structural stuff is done and secure I will add some surface details to make it look at least a bit more convincing.

Change made. Thanks for the input.

‘Wheel Fork’ that sounds promising. That photo very clearly shows just how much work I have to do on this thing!

That is the objective!

My mistake. So does that piece have a correct name? I like to get my terms as correct as my limited knowledge allows.

Undercarriage In each model I make I generally try to do at least one thing that's new and challenging, at least for me. In this model, I'm trying two such new things. The first is to skin the model with aluminum lithoplate and the second is to make an aircraft with extended undercarriage. This post is all about the undercarriage and the associated doors. As you can see the first things I've done is to line the nose wheel bay with brass and to make accurately fitting sheets of lithoplate that fit inside the 'roof' of the main wheel wells. In the photo above the sheets of lithoplate lining the main wheel wells are not glued in place, but are just sitting there so I can be certain that they fit nicely. After taking them out, detailing them is relatively easy. Here I've just added appropriate surface detailing using plastic sheeting stuck on with cyanoacrylate. I've chosen to use brass sheet for wheel well covers as it's stronger than aluminum. I could have used plastic but this would have required thicker plastic sheet and would probably not have looked 'in scale'. The yellow-green stuff on each cover is just masking tape that I've used to accurately transfer the shape of the hole onto the brass sheet. It will be removed in due course. I've done the same thing with the larger, inboard covers over the main wheel wells as shown below. These covers have also been slightly bent to ensure that the conform to the shape of the aircraft's underside when retracted - but don't worry they will of course be extended on the finished model. Now moving to the nosewheel well, there is a distinctive bulkhead with a semi-circular cut out about 2/3 of the way along the length of the well. This is easily made from brass sheet… and fitted as shown. Here's where we are up to so far, excluding the doors which are stored elsewhere. Now for the legs. You might remember this piece from a few posts back. This is my somewhat rudimentary nosewheel strut. The main thing is that this piece be strong. I can add detail later but not strength. As you can see in the photo below I have inserted a U shaped length of brass across into the front of the wheel well and soldered it into place. This is a bit rough at this point but never mind. The point is that the front UC strut now fits beautifully into this recess and will be very firm once fitted in place with two-part epoxy glue. Since I made a mess with the solder I cleaned up the inside wheel well surface with some plastic sheet. The bracing strut behind the main UC leg adds still more strength and rigidity, just like on the real thing. Now for the tricky bit. Adding the little ‘trailing arm’ thing at the front of the UC strut. First I reduced the piece to a single 'unfolded' shape as shown below... Then I folded it up into it's 3-D shape and soldered it into place. It's still a bit crooked in the photo below but I straightened it up later so please do not lose any sleep over this. Here's how things looked at this stage, albeit again with the door wells put to one side. Note that there have also been some retracting hydraulic struts added to the main wheel legs. Here it is showing that even the flimsy bit of brass making the forward ‘trailing arm’ is strong enough to not crush under the considerable weight of the model. Phew Here is a sneak preview with the first of UC door covers blu-tacked in place. Speaking of the UC door covers... they have been given their first internal detailing as shown below. Here's the whole set as they currently appear. There's still heaps of latitude for additional detailing both on the doors and the UC legs but I think I'm making progress towards having items that are securely fitted and capable of taking the weight of the model and the odd unexpected knock. That's about it for this post. Sorry about the very long delay since the last update. I've been spending far too much time on the SS Xantho instead of this jet and promise that for the foreseeable future I will be pushing on with this project instead. Not sure that I'm going to hit that 'end of March' deadline though... Best Regards, Bandsaw Steve

Agreed. ‘Off the shelf and proven’ has an awful lot going for it.

Is it just me or is there a tiny, faint hint of cynicism in this thread? 🤔

Nice! I like Viscounts, they bring back a lot of fond childhood memories. 👍

Nice work! I’ve only got a bench-mounted belt sander. Do you get much use out of the hand-held belt sander? Do you think I should invest in one? Judging by the colour your one is a Proxxon? Correct?

Wicked!!! Reminds me I still have a long way to go with the Xantho… 😳

Sweet Bro! 😎

What a great model!

This is worryingly good. If I look at this too long I might even be tempted to enter the dark tech alternative reality world of 3D printing. May the old gods of solid modelling forgive me… 😳

That’s looking really good! You should be very pleased with that.

Watching with interest. 👍

This is exceptional! Great work.

As I learned during my AE2 build many early submarines had collapsible masts for radio arieal lines and other gear that needed to be elevated when in use. I expect that in this case any mast or derrick or aerial etc would either be collapsible or retractable and would be tucked away before the submarine dives.

Rippa model! I really like that cold grey sea too! Just read through the WIP and have picked up a couple of useful tips. 👍

Great result and a really good thread. 👍