Ripaman

Peter The pilot is made by Tamiya from the 1/32 Mosquito so got my wife to measure my back as I was sitting down and I came in at 26.5" she was 23" so took the 1/32 chap and filed a bit more of the bum because it came with the parachute he now sits at 51/64" x 32 = 25.5" so it does confirm the seat is to small for 1/32 In the drawing they have drawn a guy but has his shoulders up from the backrest so I have doctored the HKM seat around the drawing Here are the two side by side, did let the guy know that his seat was not to scale and did ask him if he could reprint one to 1/32 scale, but he returned the payment which was good of him. If you can get a lot of dimensions that would be very helpful Peter do hope I am not bothering you to much just trying to get the cockpit to look right. Regards Richard

Hi Peter, Went back to the A.V Roe drawing and rescaled it to the new dimensions as below. 43.5" Floor to Canopy Rail 25.5" from Plinth to Canopy Rail So floor to Plinth is now 18" Now the rescale has come out spot on and the Plinth floor came out 52" as well (1:32 scale 1.625") Also got a dimension of 17" (or could be 16.5" ) from front of plinth floor to front of engine control column then did the 29" from there back to the back of plinth and guess what it leaves 6" to the back so your eyes saying it looks like was 45 deg is correct, redrew the plinth again and this is what it looks like scale 1 1/2" = 1'-0" so not sure were 10" goes? Bought one of those resin seats on ebay and it came couple of days ago, put a 1/32 scale figure from a 1/32 Mosquito in the seat hope I can get some dimensions of the seat Peter could you measure the center to center length way of the mounting posts as well. Regards Richard

Thanks Peter Regards Richard

Peter Just added what the dimension would be if the angle is as per my scaled drawing with your dimensions, we know the width is 31" so one way will be 6" (if it was 45 deg the corner would have been 8 1/2" instead of 10") so measuring the other length it came to 8" (which makes it 10") so could you put a straight edge on the back of plinth and measure to the corner to confirm Did cut some plastic last night and made plinth floor to the drawings Regards Richard

Hi Peter using your dimensions I have drawn to a scale of 11/2" = 1'-0" You did say you did not know the angle on the back RHS where you have 10" I think with it drawn to a scale I come up with approx 53.5 deg so if this is wrong it will move either way the 29" to to engine controls., do have a couple of ? on drawing but I think this is a lot better than the model not sure how they could have got this so wrong I would like to say again a big thank you for getting this information and will be back with more dimension needed for the engine control head where all the levers are Regards Richard

Hi Peter I was just wondering about that I was drawing the plinth to scale and it was not working, just wondering with a picture I saw is the front of plinth have about 5 or 6" of being square before it angles to the engines controls ? Regards Richard

Hi Peter took your sketch and revise the model plinth to fit your dimensions, except for the one I have asked in the sketch marked in red which is the hole for the control column just wondering if the column is center to the seat, could you provide the other dimension where I have put a question mark. Regards Richard

Thanks very much Peter I will check my dimensions against your sketch and will be back to ask for more if that is ok with you. I have eight A.V Roe & Co Ltd drawings of the canopy would you like to see them, I bought the Lancaster set from www.fighter-plane blueprints -plans.co.uk they are not the greatest just looked and see that they sent two of the drawings which are the same so now six drawings of canopy. Do you have a clearer drawing of this ? From your dimension I am hoping to get this right Regards Richard

Hi Peter, It would be nice if there was a good drawing to look at with some dimensions on it of the whole cockpit do you have any thing like that? Will be looking forward to the dimension of control column and also think it is to forward going by the drawing above. Could you give a dimension from the front of seat to panel face that would be nice Couple of picture to show what I think the engine control should look like, if you have any dimension on this that would really help Regards Richard

Hi Peter just found your 1:1 build of a Lancaster and I have found these pictures excellent thanks for sharing. Will be asking a few question here and there but one I would like to ask now is how high is the control column from pilots seat floor I did read from your posts that that the pilot seat floor is 18.75" from the main floor. I do have this drawing and scale it down to 1/32 scale and figured the floor height was 15mm which is (18.89" in real 1 :1 scale) so I was close, so the drawing I measured the column to be 27mm (34" in real 1 :1 scale) just wondering if you can confirm this height because the kit part I feel is wrong Regards Richard

It is not 16mm, its 8 mm I have highlighted the area and you can see it quite clearly also you can see the steering column is high up. If you have the Haynes manual on page 60 it shows all the control details there are two shaft systems inside the cover. You ask, did I ever finish the AEC Coles crane and Typhoon still waiting for my undivided attention. Regards Richard

Hi Andy sorry missed your post man another year gone bye have done a couple of small things to the engine but got to find some time to start painting Hope all is well with you and staying safe, are you still working on the Mosquito Regards Richard

Happy belated New year to all hope everyone is staying safe been slacking with posting progress on the Bluenose, bit late but thanks Kev (yes a nutter I am ), John and Chris for your posts, have done quite a bit more will post an update in the next couple of days. Regards Richard

Hi Ian sorry to see the broken fuse, hope you work out a solution, will be looking forward to your updates Been playing about with my HK Lancaster as well and found a couple more items to fix, Have worked out the height of the pilot platform to be 15mm 1) Change the Throttles/Constant speed unit controls column diameter where levers go, the kit diameter part is way off and I have figured the angle out to be 11.5 deg +/- 2) Control column is short by 5.5mm Hope this helps Regards Richard

Next part of the build was to redo some of the items I had made a long time ago, and it all started by looking at some pictures and then looking at the hoisting engine cover box, jumbo jib boom crutch etc so first pic is the drawing supplied, next two picture show what I made will use some of the pieces the rest will be binned. What caught my eye was the black mounting frame under the white engine hoist box, it looked to me (I could be wrong) that this was sloping so that the engine was seating parallel to the stations. (Pictures are to help with my build if not allowed please delete) So remade the box but this time made it with round corners as per pic's, cut some 1/16" wide planks out of boxwood and made the base to the curvature of the deck, also made it have the pull out to get at engine. Found out what engine went on the Bluenose so found a picture which looked like the drawing and thought why not add (Pictures are to help with my build if not allowed please delete) Here is my take on the engine still have to add parts but did make the sprockets on the flywheels wrong made them with eight spooks instead of six Made the body as per pic and drawing Then added the water tank and exhaust pipe And it fit nice inside the box, will make the top cover with working hinges. Carrying on with the redo parts all gears for the winch gear came in the kit were made of white metal and not very good looking so made my own, this is what came with the kit Started by making the bearings four in total, then made two 12 tooth gears one to go under winch gear and the other to go on counter shaft stand Next was to make the big winch gear, turned on lathe and then cut teeth on milling machine used .030" and .020" ball mills to get what I wanted did cut the right amount of spooks . Then made the end bell shape winches Next were the sprockets for chain drive three in total one was an 8 tooth and the other two were 13 tooth, last two gears were made for the pawl, at the same time this was happening I noticed I had made the Boom crutch to high and also had the gears to low so I made a new boom crutch out of box wood so this is how it came out, all brass was blackened with casy black Did not like the supplied Pawl's so made two of them The last part for this area was the counter shaft stand again sides were made from white metal all sides were box shape but should have been angle so made as per drawing Kit supplied sides Will use a 1:12 motor bike chain for the drive, couldn't find anything else. Until next time Regards Richard

Thanks for the comment Beefy the buffer came out as I had planed, have been working on her the last 4 months but have not been updating progress but rectifying that now here is a picture of the main buffer so you will see it. Thanks very much Steve Thanks to you as well Kev. You are right about time and yes having a lot of fun building this great schooner, thanks very much. Thanks for looking in Stuart Regards Richard

Wow that was a lot to catch up on Steve, this is an absolutely brilliant model love all your metal work Regards Richard

Kev this is going to be a fantastic diorama again do like the look of your seascape Regards Richard

Bit late but very nice Beefy Regards Richard

Hi Kev its been awhile again and yes should get back to updating my blog, man can't believe its been close to two years in retirement and also 5 1/2 months of Covid hope you all staying safe. Have done quite a bit to the Bluenose so will start with the small grate which goes by the steering wheel made from boxwood 1/32" x 1/32" Then made the stern Skylight all from Boxwood Next was to build the forward companionway made it so that I could have the top slide same as the main cabin companionway also made it so that the doors lift out. Did notice that I made the coaming the wrong size so remove re-cut hole and made new one out of boxwood, made the sides from strips of boxwood and glued together then sanded to shape making sure planks were 90 deg to stanchions. Milled slots in front for slide out doors and machined for the siding canopy. Made the slide part a little different and found it way better Once I looked at them both on the model I thought I should remove the other coaming on the skylight and make out of boxwood,so they matched better, so removed and remade coaming but also remade the skylight this time using same size planks as the companionway and set them to sit 90 deg to stanchions same as companionway then machined the two port holes, I think these now look good. Then looked at the center Boom Buffer and was not happy with the kit supplied part made one the same but then I looked at the drawing and thought Well had to make it eh used some ebony for the rubber parts The Galley stack came whitemetal too so remade it out of brass Until next time stay safe and wash your hands Regards Richard

Brilliantly done Kev Regards Richard

Thanks very much everyone for you kind comments and likes do appreciate them, I very much enjoying working on this great Schooner. After the wheel was completed (except for painting) I starting making the steering linkage system, I pinned and glued a piece of rod to the rudder then drilled a hole through the deck, then cut it down to size as per drawing provided. Made a jig so that I could build the linkage off the model, made the same size rod and glued it to the same angle Started with the bracket which went on the rudder shaft, machined the collar then machined two half circles 180 deg apart so that I could solder two small tubes for the connection arms Did not use the first shaft I made because the nuts were to big so threaded some brass with a 1/16"-60 Whit die (got these from my Dad a long time ago), threaded both parts but I know one needed to be a left hand thread and I didn't have one. Then made the top shaft connection bracket, started with a 1" long piece of round brass, then taking another piece of the same size brass machined one of the side connection with the step, filed so that it would fit the round brass, for the other side I drilled a hole and inserted a piece of brass rod then soldered both parts, put it in the lathe and drilled and then taped with the same size 1/16"-60 Whit after that I saw cut to the size as per drawing. Arms for the lower part were up next used .010" brass sheared to size, drill holes then made a spacer and soldered together then carefully bent them to shape, made the bottom shaft connection same as top except there are two step side pieces and also I did not tap. Last thing was to make the top link arm using .010" brass, shear to size, drill and filing to shape and the back bracket So now to put all pieces together on the jig As you know I like to see how parts work and then build them in miniature, it was a lot of fun to make will be painting all parts before I install onto the rudder shaft. Regards Richard

Well time for another update, carrying on with the cabin I was looking at the drawing to see what smoke stack to use and I noticed it said the bent pipe may have been used when Bluenose was racing, so I look at another book I have bought which is for the Bluenose 11 by LB Jenson (great book) and in it there is a page for the original Bluenose which shows it with a Liverpool Head. I scale the drawing approx and here is my take on a Liverpool Head, started with smoke pipe and made connection plate to top of cabin Then took a piece of tube three sizes bigger and machined four slots in the 0, 90, 180 and 270 deg then cut two small piece to fit inside the part I machined then two more to fit inside the small pieces to get the size all these parts were soldered together. Got the gap I was looking for from the slot to the inside pipe Then machined the head and cut two more thin pieces of tube to go on the outside of smoke stack and soldered all parts together Will paint it sliver Wheel house was next, followed the drawings provided also found a picture on the web and in a book I bought showing the same as the drawing provided, date of pictures where of the Bluenose when she was sold in 1946, again made all parts from Boxwood, pictures are to help with my build if not allowed please remove thanks.. Cut the four sides but before putting together machined a .030" ball for the groove should have done two small grooves but did not have a .10" mill, then I made the lid , it is made so that it would fit without gluing Made the coaming for the bottom and as the picture rounded the edge on the top, also put the chamfer on the front edges Cut the slot for the wheel shaft and beveled the edges front and back to the lid, got to make those small hold clips the groove is a little to close the the coaming but I will leave it as is. Here is a picture of the steering wheel which came with the kit, it didn't look the greatest so looking at the drawing supplied I decided to machine my own, drawing scale was 3/8" = 1'-0" and it gave a nice drawing of the shaft and linkage I thought why not have a go making all parts. found another picture on the web (of Bluenose 11) which gave me another view on how it went together. Started by machining the rim (which in the real world was cast) in the lathe and machine the first face leaving some material so that once I parted off I could turn it around and machine the other side, then it was in the mill so that I could drill the holes for the spokes, drilled the holes bigger than the spoke so I could add tubing two times the size of the spoke, then parted it of in the mill with the table/chuck laying down The largest tubes I soldered to the rim Machined the hub and drilled 8 holes, cut some small tube which will go on the hub, then made a jig so that I could solder all parts together without it moving, picture does not show the small tube by hub Did make the shaft using small bolts and tube Here it is after soldering needs to be cleaned up Next up was to make the handles out of boxwood, I took a 1/4" tool steel and ground the shape Now it is cleaned up and also made the unidentified round object, made that out of apple, made the lid to go on top Until next time Regards Richard

Another very nice build coming along Kev Regards Richard

Just catching up Steve lots of likes I like working with metal too, very nice updates Regards Richard