airscale

hi gang ..thanks for stopping by - I can't seem to stop at the moment and I like the routine of keeping a build log going, hopefully for others enjoyment (and hopefully a few ideas), but also because I like to look back and see how I got here.. so, please forgive the frequency... ..I was looking at what else I need to do to get the main wing structure done before getting into lots of vulnerable detail in the nacelles and noticed the wing tips are not normal on N7654C (or some other Fire bombers it seems) - they have a big angled facet taken out at the front - I guess it helps low level maneuverability? ..I decided to do this today so started to experiment with blocks of perspex acrylic to make the navigation light - I tried drilling a hole and filling with paint and polishing the faces and seeing if I could generally fake the interior structure and not just see glue where it attached. I had done it one before but this was a bigger scale... ..I made up the blocks by drilling a small hole, filling it with paint (wish I had some clear..) using a ball shaped grinder in a dremel to bevel the edge of the hole and then painting that bevel silver to look like the fitting - then giving the faces that will be glued to the wing a good polish... ..two other deceptions were to punch out some black tape discs to give the fitting some definition and added some others to the wing itself to look like holes in the surrounding structure... ..CA'd the blocks in place, and then flooded the join with thicker CA hoping it dries clear... ..more dremel work to rough shape the block.. ..and using finer grade sandpaper until a final polish gives a good finish.. ..started skinning around it in litho and pewter... ..there are complex shapes so lots of dry fitting and minor adjustment until the part is fully tailored to exactly where it will fit... ..and one side is complete.. ..the tape discs are distorted in this pic but are quite effective at looking like holes... ..thats all for today.. TTFN Peter

Thank you for such a wonderful note - it is exactly this sort of thing that makes modelling and embedding myself in the history of aircraft so rewarding. What a sight they must have been... ..managed to get a few more hours at the bench, so here goes with some more metal bashing.. ..I set myself goals to move through the stages needed to get a bird like this done - "make the nacelles, so you can skin the wing", "sort the landing gear geometry out so you can detail the nacelles", "skin the lower wings so you can build the nacelle internals" - I have to discipline myself to do these steps so there is some order to the approach and things don't clash with each other.. ..the current goal is to get the lower wings skinned so I can get the nacelle structure built, so I thought as it is the lower wing just go for it in one big sheet.. ..I marked out rivets, panels and use colours to tell myself whether to rivet from the back (so domed rivets) or stop points so I don't rivet through a panel etc.. restoration photos are great for this as you can see panel & rivet details - unfortunately it is much more difficult with a Dark Blue GSB F7F sitting in a hangar which is what most of my reference is - but I think this is near enough... ..then after at least an hour's work the panel is fully detailed - here is the template being peeled off.. ..I also masked and wire woolled the roof of the U/C bay as the litho plate has a sort of coating I am not sure will take paint, so I stripped it down & will metal prime it.. ..I will be cheating as this will need to pretend to be the wing top skin, as I don't want to go chopping the wing about ..and fixed it in place.. ..another little challenge on some of the top wing skinning are some vents in what is the U/C bay roof - they literally are just holes I think to maybe let hot air created by the engine out of the U/C bay.. I cut some thin slits in the panel and tried making a shaped punch to indent them, after experimenting I had to make a female part to stop the vent mishaping or becoming too big - better to find that out on a test part than a panel you just spent time on.. ..they turned out ok though.. ..and thats it - stage complete - the undersides are done and I can start on the U/C bays... ..and to give a sense of scale, here it is with a 1/32 Sea Fury - the only other model I have completed since I re-started in 2010... ahem... TTFN Peter

thanks folks - very kind of you to drop in with some inspiration ..so, some bits and bobs done - actually quite an important bit of engineering to start with.. When I put big brass plates & mounts in the wings to take the main undercarriage I had to try and imagineer in three dimensions where a collection of angles would join to put in a mounting point.. ..needless to say I missed and was a bit out... you can see the mount deep in this nacelle ..used card to work out a template as to where the base should be.. ..made the parts in brass and soldered the assembly - more angles to get wrong.. ..after much faffing, measuring and constant reference to photos I ended up with this.. ..it matches my references now (don't trust plans) and has the squat typical of the aircraft when mocked up.. ..another thing to do was the rear of the nacelles - they are sort of rounded at the top and have distinct fairings... ..I rounded off the tops with a file and after the usual tape templates they were done.. ..I need to skin the bottom of both wings so I can start the insides of the nacelles, so I started at the wingtip with the approach light.. ..I made a dish shape from a bit of pewter and polished it up, then reamed the hole out in the wing and cut a recess for a sheet of clear card. I scribed circles on the clear card and put them face down.. I used a sequin and this sort of nail art diamond thing my kids had as a bulb (but forgot to put them in the photo..).. ..hopefully the holographic sort of sequin thing can be seen in the photo - in real life it catches the light and looks cool even if I do say so myself... ..and the wing panel is done.. ..more of those to do until both lower wings are skinned & I can add the nacelle roof detail to where they meet the bottom of the wings.. TTFN Peter

aww thanks folks - I really do appreciate your kind words.. I should call tonight's episode 'a screw loose' as thats what I think I have... ..take a look at this picture of the exhaust panel.... ..did you notice the fasteners all the way around each one? well so did I, and I thought thats easy just use your jewelers punch and make a circular impression and maybe add the slot with a blade tip... ..trouble is I have to use pewter for this panel which is very, very soft and try as I might if the pressure I put on the punch was anything but perfect, all i did was punch a little hole in the panel.. ..then the madness happened... ..as I walked the dog with Mrs A, I mentally calculated there were 126 screws for both nacelles I decided to make each screw... (and I later found out there are in fact 242 fasteners.....) ..started by sticking down the pewter and shaping it - i marked out the fasteners beforehand.. ..I got some 1mm copper wire and filed a flat, then a slot and then cut off the tip 3-4mm at a time to make the screws and soon got in a routine.. ..they stood a bit proud so later on I sanded & wire woolled them more flush.. ..also carefully cut out the opening for the main gear - I will keep this to make the doors later... ..don't know what I will do about the inside, will have to see if I can grind them down a bit without getting it too hot... ..and one side is finished... ..in fact this nacelle exterior is nearly finished.. ..just the other one to do now (think I better make an appointment at the nuthouse...) TTFN Peter

oh man I love this build Iain - it looks superb and the cockpit is something else! fab stuff - hopefully see it at Telford too Peter

back again I started skinning the nacelles as I thought it would give them some strength while I detail the wheel wells etc will let the pics do the talking.. first panel marked out hopefully this is what you mean Mike.. sorry to be a relentless poster every day but I am having a ball TTFN Peter

evening ladies... Hi Trevor - yes it is pretty hefty - must be a few Kg already..hopefully the gear legs will take it or I am in trouble! just a little more daily blogging.. ..I wanted to mark out datum lines throughout so a tip is to use a bit of cotton and some tape and it is easy to do.. ..also it can be seen the top of the nacelle where it meets the wing is pretty flakey so that needs sorting too ..I taped the nacelles down in position and stuck some triangle plastic stock as a fillet between the wing & the nacelle wall - then I dremelled out the body of the triangle to make a radiused join.. ..much better and a firm fit now.. ..both are done - also marked out the gear doors but think I will detail the insides and maybe skin them before cutting them out.. ..speaking of the insides, this is a main bulkhead that is level with the front of the gear doors.. ..I just printed copies of the picture until it matched the size of the model part and marked it out on a pair of discs cut with an olfa cutter.. (everything must be done in pairs now & I am careful not to race ahead on one nacelle without catching up on the other..) ..and after drilling & reaming the holes and a clean up.. ..and they sorta go here.. ..back soon no doubt... TTFN

Hi Viv - of course.. the vacform rig is a bit Heath-Robinson as I just knocked it up in an hour in my garden - here are some pics I hope explain it.. TTFN Peter

Hi Rich - I am not sure - I think they are out there on the net - it is simply a box with a plumbing fitting that fits most hoover pipes - there are some videos on youtube that might help so, on to todays bits and bobs.. I took the vacformed nacelles and cut away any malformed or incomplete parts, for example the vertical flat rear parts did not fully form so these were replaced with new sides - I also built up the rear tips from solid to give some rigidity and so I can work pewter over it.. ..another problem that I had thought about was how to represent the fairings around the exhausts - I decided not to make them part of the master shape as I wasn't convinced they would form properly - you can see it is quite a cut-out & shaped depression in this pic I took at Chino.. ..I measured it up and made a mould section from balsa soused with CA to give it strength - I tried to plunge mould them first - the intention being to 'let' these into the main nacelle.. ..in the end I vac-formed them as I found plunge moulding didn't get the full depth properly formed - it's funny, they look like a row of bonnets for some little model cars.. ..I marked out where they would go and added the first three to the main front engine disc.. ..then marked out and cut the nacelle to allow the moulded parts to integrate.. ..and after shimming from the inside and some fettling I had the first three installed.. I don't know if there was an easier way to get the same result, but I am happy with it.. ..and with a fake cowl to show how it might look later on.. ..thats it for now my friends.. TTFN Peter

it is a pleasure to watch you build and correct this kit David - a very useful thread for all those interested in this enigma of an aircraft, thank you for unraveling it's mysteries looking forward to every post Peter

evening folks ..some progress - in fact a big step forward on something I have been quietly worrying about on this build... ..but I get ahead of myself, lets start at the beginning.. ..when I left it last I had made up a master form of an engine nacelle - they are basically the same on both wings so one form will cover both engines.. I had a fair bit of filling & sanding to do to get a reasonable surface. It doesn't have to be pristine as it is just a shape to work from - the surface will be skinned in litho again.. ..in the end, I had a nice shape - I forgot to reduce the profile by the amount of the sheet that will cover it so it will be slightly over-scale but I can live with that.. ..I marked out the gear doors and and a centreline for reference and scribed some thick lines into it hoping that when I vac-form over it, the lines will show where I need to cut.. ..now for the leap forward!! I tried to vacform on my little homebuilt rig with the first bit of 1mm card and the first try I got THIS>>>> ..I was ecstatic as I thought it would never work at that thickness and with such a large part on the little vacform plate.. ...I cut the part from the sheet and it looked ok... ..so I tried it again and made another - they are pretty rigid and will definitely work as the basis for the nacelles once I build out the internal structures... ..I am pleased that worked out as with the exception of the engines and cowlings themselves that was the remaining major construction hurdle TTFN Peter

evening folks - thanks for stopping by haha Kev - it won't be 1/48, if I do it, it will be 1/32 and a lot of fun - dropped in on your VC10 - beautiful - fantastic work, I hope I can see it at Telford? Hi Mike - yep - the light has gone today as I need to do that on my kitchen table as it is getting pretty big now, but will drop a few in here tomorrow... Hi Guy - no, there won't be a belly tank - personally I think it ruins the sleek & purposeful lines of the airframe so for me I prefer it as she was created by Grumman.. ..so, on to tonights episode... I kinda needed to change tack a bit as I could happily have skinned the wings and found I damaged it or needed to rework parts of it trying to make and fit the engine nacelles. ..I tried using the card kit plans and actually started making a nacelle, but it soon dawned on me that it would just be too weak once I chopped the middle of it out for the main gear wells (and too much work to do twice), so gave up on that idea.. ..I thought I could try vacforming them... (well, I would try first, probably make a hash of it and then ask a professional...) - so for that I needed a master.. ..from the plans I traced out a profile and a plan view and put them on 3mm plastic card.. ..fronted it with a disc of the right diameter and started blacking the lines so I can see it later when sanding.. ..to get a neat fit to the wing, a little trick it to cover it in abrasive paper so it sands exactly the profile you want... ..I used some of the card kit parts for bulkhead shapes where they helped define it, and again black edged all the edges.. ..and then stuck lots of balsa in all the gaps - I used the same sheet with the grain all running the same way for even sanding.. ..10 minutes with my home sander and I have a master form taking shape... ..still got quite a bit to do to refine it and actually it really needs to be in two halves to be vacformed properly - maybe top/bottom, maybe left/right - don't know yet... ..thoughts welcome? TTFN Peter

well, a bit of both hopefully - the airframe I want to model - N7654C is partly painted as you can see here in these great reference pics.. beautiful... so, a little more progress - I have made and binned a few more panels as they were not right so things are taking time.. ..I added some of the access doors for various bits and bobs - I put some litho in bleach to discolour it and made up the discs with their different pattern of attachment fittings.. they can be seen in the reference pics above too.. ..moving out to the outer panels - again a template to mark & work out panel lines, rivets and access doors.. ..the wing fold hinges are still present on the firebomber, though I suspect the mechanism was disabled - I bent the ends of a thin strip of roughly sanded litho sort of like a staple shape and glued them in place.. ..I was going to start the panels behind the wing spars but I think I need to think about starting the engine nacelles so I don't risk damage or re-working the area... much to ponder on organising next steps TTFN Peter

evening folks so there I was making up the wingtips with some balsa fillets - i sloshed some super-thin CA around to make the balsa a bit more solid.. ..ummm, big problem... being the class A dimwit that I am I managed to get thin CA all over the leading edge panels. It just ran straight from the tip, down the leading edge and literally dripped on the floor - I tried to recover them but it was no good. I will spare the gory details and a picture of the dent in the other wing as I threw some tools around my bench in a fit of frustration, but suffice to say they all had to come off... for good... ..had a break and started again. It's all done now so we move on.. ..the leading edge of the outer wings are a nice straight panel so added these - actually this one went to waste too as I wasn't happy with the leading edge rivets as on the wing they tapered out a bit.. ..thats the thing about scratchbuilding - if you aren't happy with something, just make another - the other little thing I learned with this panel is that when I scribe access panels etc through the masking tape template, I can peel the bit of tape where the panels is off and sand it very lightly through the gap to give the access panel a little contrast - hopefully as can be seen here.. ..and the second panel added - you can see the shaped balsa wingtip here too and a cover on the leading edge where there used to be a landing light.. ..the main panel between the spars next - used the template method again and added rivets & some more access panels - I drilled two out as they are very different metal on the real one so will replace them.. ..after riveting I broke away the scored waste parts - I use a folding tool as a vise as it avoids kinking the panels ..and this is what it looks like when the tape template is removed.. it would be pretty hard to stick this down to the wing so it gets burnished flat after this.. ..and the panel taped in place as there is more work to do on this bit and I need to make the little round access doors fit so it will be easier to change the size of the hole than the disc that will go in it.. ..getting there slowly - especially when I have to do things twice... ..back soon TTFN Peter

Pastor RIch - thank you for your kind words, I greatly appreciate what you said, thank you. I am sure Tom took comfort from them too Thank you Bill - now I know what they are! I have nearly finished them now (until I need to make the doors, much, much later....) Thanks Radleigh I know I will have it on the 32SIG stand at Telford this year as I can transport it, after that and once it's finished it may be a bit difficult to move.. ..so, to wrap up the oil cooler exhaust vents on the wing (thanks Bill...), I masked the innards and gave them a coat of interior green - I also added a layer of very thin brass sheet that will act as the rebate that the door sits in when I skin this part of the wing... ..added a scrap of litho skin so you can see what I mean.. ..then it was on to start the skinning - I wanted to get the fiddly bits done at the leading edge so I can move onto bigger panels (though they will take time to get the detail right).. I started between the intakes - the engine nacelle will hang here but no matter it's probably easier to do it now anyway as it's low-slung so the top of the wing is flat.. ..I taped down an edge along the spar line where all the leading edge panels need to run up to - I learned it is better to do it this way that just work to a line on the wing as they can soon become uneven.. the panel has been cut, riveted and annealed to make it malleable.. ..and stuck down with contact adhesive, have also learned to dilute it with cleaner so it brushes on like paint... paid very careful attention to all the edges so there are no gaps.. ..making up panels - the same way as before with tape rubbed down as a template to get a good fit.. ..masking each one so the glue doesn't go everywhere.. ..and after a while the leading edge is done... ..after a longer while, both leading edges were done ..and a quick dry fit as an airframe.. ..thats all for now - need to sort the wingtips out so I can skin the outer wings.. TTFN Peter

evening folks I am not sure what to say or how to write an opening today. I was at Shoreham and saw the terrible crash and I still can't believe what happened, the tragedy and loss or it's effect on my local community. I am sure you join me in thoughts and prayers for the families and loved ones lost, and all who have been touched by this tragic event. It feels churlish to add what I have been doing to todays update, but I guess in every sense we must move on I started with trying to make the metal skinning of the air intakes.. ..firstly taping some thin pewter to the wing and folding it gently over the intake aperture.. ..then using rounded scissor handles to burnish the intake opening, cocktail sticks to roll and shape the pewter, and finally a sharp blade to carefully cut out the middle... ..I carefully removed the part and cleaned up the inner intake opening and eventually cut it to the right size for the real panel.. http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=52370&page=62 ..I airbrushed the inner intake interior green and then used contact adhesive to add the panel to the wing, followed by a final burnish to get good close gaps.. ..the intention is to get the fiddly bits done so I can skin the wing quite quickly - the next fiddly bit are these vents on the wing - I will need to look up what they do, but this is what they look like - note the glimpse of a pipe at the back.. ..I marked out where on the wing they should go.. ..cut out the balsa and started to make up (literally 'make up') some internal structure.. I let in a bit of brass tube to the wing... ..and skinned the area in litho... ..the top skin will sit flush and I will make the door later... ..I also made up the inner intake fairing, so getting closer to skinning the wings... ..thats it for now - modelling is mentally uplifting that much I can say.. Peter

evening folks thanks for stopping by... ..I tried to sort the intakes by sticking some bits of aerosol lid around the vacformed parts - much of this proved ovekill for the size of the fairing I needed and I spent ages sanding & grinding it off again.. ..after much playing about this is an outboard intake.. ..inboard is slightly chunkier.. ..and a coat of primer to see the shapes properly - I will skin the outside of these in pewter (he says...) ..I have now moved to the control surfaces - first trying to mark them out.. ..I marked them slightly bigger in chord as the litho skin will run over the edges for scale skin appearance.. ..and seeing if I can line the trailing edge with pressed litho to match the aerofoil shape of the flap leading edge.. ..seems to work, so I refined it by adding slots for dummy hinges to be added later, and the holes for brass tube so I can slide mount the control surfaces.. ..removed the aileron from the wing and shaped the recess to fit the liner.. ..and it seems to work ok.. ..have cut and lined them all now on this wing.. ..just got to finish the other one - then its on to the skinning.. TTFN Peter

thanks folks Hiya - yes the wings will be covered in litho plate and pewter for the double curvature - thats the plan anyway! ..time for a bit more mayhem.. more wing work this evening.. ..first I had to get a neat fit to the fuselage - pinched Paul Budzik's trick of using bare metal foil as the barrier as CA won't stick to it and making up the fillet... ..first a bit of foil where the wing meets the fuselage.. ..then adding CA (being very careful not to let it bleed into the sliding spar arrangement).. ..let it all go off, repeated for the other side and sanded flat to the wing's profile.. ..after that, next up was starting to figure out the air intakes in the wing root - I need to do these first so I can litho skin the wings from the leading edge.. ..checked references and learned a bit about them - they are not just holes in the wing like I first thought ....started by making a master of the air scoop so I could plunge mould seamless intakes (on the right) - I used some brass tube as the base and balsa and CA to get the shape I wanted.. clamped a bit of card to a female shape cut into some scrap balsa and used my soldering torch to heat the sheet up.. ..result, a fairing I can let into the wing - made five so had a spare.. ..for the intake door pressing - I modified the brass tube master and pressed it into some thin pewter on a balsa block - it took the moulding quite well.. ..glued the door to the intake and tried it out.. ..marked & dremelled out the holes in the wings.. ...and have the insides sorted... ..next up will be the pesky fairings... TTFN Peter

thanks Hacker - that is a very useful diagram ..don't know if it's the Red Bull, but we have wings....! ..finalised the cores and spent ages fettling to get the dihedral & positioning right.. ..made up the first balsa panel with bits let into it to allow for the spars etc - I also added ribs to the cores but at the bottom decided only to add half a rib so I could rely on the strength of the one piece balsa part to stop the tips drooping.. ..made sure the balsa did not foul any part - especially the spars where it slides onto the fuselage.. ..adding more & more balsa.. ..until both wings were solid structures - even though the flaps had been removed, I left the ailerons etc and will remove them later so I can get the shape right of the entire wing.. ..after 30 minutes in my garden with a household sander I had the rough profiles... ..to get the correct profile I stuck four sheets of coarse sandpaper to an old floor tile and set about them.. ..and now waiting for the sanding sealer to dry... ..until next time my friends.. TTFN Peter

evening folks ..thanks for stopping by.. so, it's engineering time - some serious structural work to sort out wing spars and mountings for the main undercarriage.. first I thought about how to mount the U/C in the wings - the answer was a chunky brass plate that also could be used to tie in the wing spars as one unit and allow me to slide them in and out of the stub spars while I build the wings.. ..I clamped it all up and fearful of burning the whole thing to the ground soldered together with a torch - I put some metal clamps on the spars before they go inside the airframe as I hoped they would act as a heat sink and not cause any disturbance to the fuselage... ..cleaned up the joints and it is rock solid.. ..made up the other side.. ..the main gear leg is perpendicular to the spar, but is canted at an angle to the wing chord...it is also a solid leg until it gets in the nacelle then it is a mass of rods & arms. I can't model it like that, I need a rigid mounting so will have a mounting tube to slide the leg into... ..the geometry is complicated so I mocked up a nacelle and the gear door openings (the cut-out at the front) with an old spray can lid so I could work out where to put the mount.. ..I also don't trust my eye as the whole airframe has been built away from jigs or any kind of traditional keel so I hung the plan over my kitchen table and worked out where on the mounting plates the fittings should be by working from the wing leading edge so they are correctly positioned... ..and with some careful setting up was able to solder on the mounting lugs... ..the structure seems to look ok and equal, and importantly if I balance it where the gear will be it is not a tail sitter (by quite some way) so the resin nose & lead weight worked... ..the 3mm card wing cores sit above these and have cutouts for the air intakes - I also made a wing root rib which along with a few more half ribs along the wing will be the points to sand the balsa down to to get the core right... ..lots more to go, but it's a start... TTFN Peter

evening folks thanks for all your kind comments and for stopping by big step today - we have wings... ..I proved to myself a plasticard core with a balsa sandwich was workable when I made the stabilisers, so this is the plan for the wings too... ..for those that remember in the mists of time this started out as an experiment in blowing up the parts from a 1:33 card model, well I used one of the wing parts to well,... start making a wing.. ..I have cut most of the lower half off (it is a one piece wrap around) - the leading edge is where the two white ovals are (LE air intakes).. ..stuck it down and cut it out - soon found out it doesn't quite work like that as the paper part has all the surface area of the whole wing as it wraps around the leading edge so needed modifying once I compared to plans... ..you can see the tip and LE have been marked out to reduce the size, also marked out and scored the control surfaces and flaps.. ..and 11 months after starting, I have what could loosely be described as an airframe... excuse the fake engine... ..I need a bigger bench... TTFN Peter

Hi Kev - it would be a ridiculous 1/32 scale - I need it to be big to get the detail I like haha - I make a hash of lots of bits - it took me three attempts to make the 'U' shaped part in the quick few pics of tonights efforts... ..basically added the gubbins to the retraction arm which must be part of the actuator - there is also a little junction box like thing that has a pipe coming out of it that runs along the arm and back up into the bay via the noseleg.. ..added the actuator arm and taped up a spacer to protect it.. ..calling this done.. TTFN Peter

thank you thankfully the nose wheel well is already complete and buttoned up never to be seen again! Hi Keith - I will do a Hastings at some point - my father flew them in 70 Squadron so I will pick one from his logbook - better that than the Belfasts he flew in 53 Sqn!

..thanks all for stopping by thank you - I just use regular tools - a scalpel, steel rule, rivet wheel, scissors, pin vise, sanding stuff, needle files and lately a dremel with a grinding disc for messing about with brass. I don't think I have anything that isn't on most peoples bench Thanks Bill - no, certainly not a professional just a regular modeller that I guess is a bit slow and retentive about doing things to the best of my ability every time I sit down - i just repeat things until I am happy with them ..so, a retraction arm - it is the structure here with the remove before flight tag hanging off it - noted a few things about it.. ..it is actually two arms that break in the middle with a sort of saddle bracket and an angled lug with a chuffing great bolt through it.. ..it also has some big weld beads that are a sort of scalloped shaped strengthening of larger diameter than the arm itself ... ..where it meets the leg the arm is rounded & bull-nosed ant has a big welded 'T' section that strengthens its connection to the mounting lug.. ..first the lower arm - I got a bit of rod and rounded it - I also got a bit of chunky bar stock and bent it around the rod - I marked the shape of the saddle bracket with a sharpie and it's hard to see here but I drilled a hole through it before grinding it to shape... ..finished the bracket and cut some tube to make the 'scalloped' strengthener part - then soldered it all together - also soldered the mounting lug to the rounded arm where it will join to the leg.. ..for the upper arm I soldered two bits of rod (one pre-drilled) together at an angle and again ground it to the shape of the lug... ..I joined the two arms together with CA and bolts as I thought if I soldered it, it would all heat up and break apart - also added some bolts I could see in the reference pictures.. ..and here is the completed assembly - I still need to add some more fixtures to the saddle bracket that is part of the locking mechanism.. ..and dry fitted in the airframe.. ..enjoyed that - it will be a whole new ball game doing the main gear legs TTFN Peter

thanks everyone - very kind of you to stop by ..so, torque links.. the rusted to hell bits on the right in this pic from Chino - note they seem handed so not just two simple triangles, plus they have a flat centre with sides so are likely a casting, and have lightening holes... ..so where to start... measured off my plans and marked out some sheet - always drill any holes etc first it is much easier when you have something to hold on to rather than do it afterwards when it is a fiddly little bit... ..worked up the parts and scored and bent off a very thin strip for the sides... ..added some tube to each end and started to add the walls from strip.. all this is CA'd together - I was too scared to try soldering it.. ..used tiny bolts to assemble them and the main parts are nearly complete - just the retraction arm to go... ..thats it for now.. TTFN Peter