Fozzy

THE FIXED TAIL WHEEL Like I said I was going to go the whole way with this build and the next couple of photos shows you that I started to lose the plot a bit I cut the access panel out from around the Tail Wheel and placed in the weights for the correction of the C of G!!!.... ...and then I went one step further into the mouth of madness and did this!.......... The Rudder control cable pulley!....jeeeeeeeez

Moving further back you can see the Tail Wheel shock absorber......by the way the most boring part of this build was constructing the sides of the Fuselage with all that ribbing!!! and another shot.................

This is a shot of behind the radio working backwards.....the control wires you see are made from small guage fishing wire.... THE REAR OF THE FUSELAGE Working back towards the tail you see in this pic a piece of equipment used to guide the controll lines.....

The problems that I had trying to find references for the actual installation guide for the TR9D Radio was terrible.In the end I contacted Duxford museum for info and they kindly gave me pictures of the Radio itself which I had already...so nobody but nobody knew how it fitted ...or they wern't gonna tell me?!!!! Any how Artistic Licence prevailed once again and here is my interpretation of the Radio Installation......not that you can see it very well! Here is a close up looking into the Radio hatch which I cut out of the Fuselage and made some hinges like I did on the pilots access door with fuse wire..

This is the same sort of area showing you some of the Radio Equipment installed.......well its not really its just bits of plastic TR9D RADIO ISTALLATION The first thing that I had to do was scratch build the TR9D Radio which I made out of plastic card.......here it is...

Well being on my own at the moment due to the wife being in UK I seem to hav lots of time on my hands....no house work so to that end I guess I can continue with showing you more of the manyphotos I have. Once these have been shown I will be up to date with the build and I can then get back to the workbench and try to finish this! AREA BEHIND THE PILOTS SEAT I found an old photo I had taken about 2 to 3 years ago of the area behind the pilots seat before I stuck the Port Fuselage half together. This pic shows you some of the detail I have put into this area....... ....and this next photo shows the same area but this time with the Port Fuselage half on ....

Cheers Nobby........been out of UK for some time...whats this ALI Model...Hendon Museum?......should I know what that is?

Well thankyou Campbell....what was it I was saying about washing with Oil Paints?

Thanks for trying Steve...will let you know if I need help. Cheers Fozzy

WING FILLETS Considering I said right from the start that I was going to put as much detail in this model as I can....I went bloody crazy and cut away the Wing Fillets to show the detail! This included the hatch opened for the access to the Electrical connection!! This is the final Photo in this session and is of a shot looking down onto the detail of the Sutton Harness behind the Pilots seat....... The next time I post I'll continue showing you the photos of the Fuselage starting with just behind the Pilots seat. Please feel free to comment on any things I might have left out so far...detail wise......I might be just crazy enough to do it... Untill the next day or so Cheers . Fozzy

This is a photo looking back at the Pilots head rest....... Here is the Pilots access door.I made a couple of hinges out of fuse wire so that the door could open and close and the other parts out of scrap wire.To the right of the door is the Oxygen Cylinders.

Kev if it was easy nobody including yourself would bother making models......thats why we love it sooo much Thankyou very much.....I appreciate it Fozzy

The Throttle Quadrant can be seen here along with the Elevator Trimming Wheel.......... Now we have a shot of looking down into the Cockpit towards the Instrument Panel.......and yes I know I havn't placed the Reflector Gunsight yet....will be scratch building that at a later time.

another shot of the Starboard wall focusing on the landing gear control...... Now the Port side wall complete with Pilots access door.........

Heres a shot looking directly down onto the floor of the Cockpit....minus the seat of course!! In this photo you can see that I have finished building the second half of the Starboard side wall with the detail in place.........

I hope every one is keeping up with this...I will be asking questions later THE COCKPIT So moving towards the rear we come to the Cockpit. The side walls of the Cockpit had to be built in 2 halfs because of the shape of the Fuselage.This was done using plastic sheet. Then the detail could be added.I scratch built each piece of equipment and then placed into position. Here is a photo of the floor and Port side wall half built....... This is a shot looking through the Pilots seat frame towards the Instrument Panel......

I wanted to construct the Fuel Cells in such a way that you can iether take the top cell out showing the bottom cells detail,or have them both out showing the Compartment detail......Christ did I make some work for my self when I was trying to make it fit!!! ...but eventually it worked and here is the end result......just the bottom Cell in place..... .......and with the Top Cell in place............ See what I mean about the spacing between the Fuel Cell fire wall and the rear of the Instrument Panel?

...nice one Kev.........

Here is a photo of the top 48 gallon Tank which I scratch built............. The top tank is then placed (not glued) onto the bottom tank like so...............

.......below the Instrument Panel looking down into the Fuel Cell Compartment you can see the rear of the Rudder Pedals,the fuel pumps and a mass of fuel and oil pipes...or in this case wire insulation THE FUEL CELLS I had to scratch build 2 Fuel Cells. I made them from thin guage plastic card glued around a makeshift framework of the shape of the tank. This first photo shows you the bottom 37 gallon Tank, complete with connection lines and breather pipes,fixed into the frame work which will later be placed down into the Fuel Cell Compartment....photos to follow.

THE REAR OF THE INSTRUMENT PANEL Its only when you start a project like this do you realise for example how cramped it was inside the Spitfire.Take this next picture for example...you can see how close the rear of the Instrument Panel will be to the Fuel Cells..... Here is a rather dark and gloomy photo of the rear of the Instrument Panel.........

So the Merlin was put to bed in a card board box ( still there) and it was time to try to figure out how to do the Fuselage.I started at the front of the aircraft and worked back towards the Tail. THE FUEL COMPARTMENT AND FUEL CELLS Each section I scratch built took me months.The first photo shows a shot of looking directly down into the empty fuel cell compartment.I have tried to replicate exactly how it looks on the real Aircraft........ This next photo shows you another angle of the Fuel Cell Compartment looking down on the fuel pumps....wire and plastic were used to achieve this...

....so here is the last shot of the Merlin that I have. Most of the Scratch Building was done using my favourite ( CHEAP) materials....insulation cable and wire!......

.........Heres another shot of the Starboard side of the Merlin...... ....Looking back towards the Fire Wall from the Starboard side..........

Thanks Dan...yes I guess I will have to finish this once and for all and yes I have plenty of pics Fozzy I'll tell you what Brian ...I can't wait to see the end result.!!!