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Piper Cherokee 140 conversion from an Airfix Piper Arrow - Detailing


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I've replaced the milliput nose with the master and temporarily fitted the cowling to the fuselage with PVA so I can get the final profile prior to casting a copy to use on the final model.

Panel lines were scribed and catches made from aluminium tape. I'll give it a coat of gloss to seal everything in and give a nice smooth finish for making a mould tomorrow.

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Master for the main gear spats is done and have also started the one for the nose wheel but its about 0.7mm too short on not quite the right shape underneath. Think ill start it again!

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Final post before I press the pause button on this to go on holiday.

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Only a little progress, just making moulds really. I've separated the nose master from the rest of the fuselage and made an RTV mould for it, I have no resin at the moment so to check the mould i've made a first cast from candle wax, looks good all the detail seems to be there with no bubbles. Just before I return i'll order some resin. Thinking of getting this stuff

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EasyFlo-60-500ML-Fast-Cast-Polyurethane-Liquid-Plastic-Kit-USE-WITH-MOULDS-/370782273452?pt=UK_Crafts_Other_Crafts_EH&hash=item5654587fac

never used it before has anyone got experience of it good or bad?

I've been banned from any 'plane stuff' while I'm away so I going to suffering withdrawal, Any good museums near Sydney that I can accidently stumble across?

until then, thanks for looking

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I've used EasyFlo 60 a lot and it's excellent resin, very low viscosity so it gets into all the corners and the bubbles come out easily. Turns white as it cures which looks nice and doesn't smell horrible like some resins.

Any chance of getting a couple of castings from you at some point? I've got some a few Cherokees of various types on the list to do.

The hard work is paying off as it looks very good so far. Hope you have a good trip to Sydney.

Steve

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  • 1 month later...

Bit more progress on this, been having a bash at home brew photo etch after many trial and error artwork re-designs etc I've managed to produce this

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A few parts here the instrument panel and rudder pedals are one part with fold lines, control yolks, down the left are torque links for the main gear & nose, down the right are the tail tie down point, a new underwing pitot head, and the grab handle that is above the rear right window, along the bottom are 6 flap hinges for under the wing, above the rudder pedals are 2 fuel filler caps.

Also included is a DV window outline the intention being to make the side windows using the resin filling method.

One I have devised a reliable process for this ill do an article in tools n tips but for the moment making a good PE is still a bit hit and miss and good(ish) copies are still requiring an element of luck.

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Control yolks were fitted using short lengths of 0.25mm rod and then sprayed satin black, the instruments were filled from behind using humbrol gloss clear. I'm going to try to mount it to a background to give some instrument face detail before fitting.

Discarded the kit seats as they are too posh for a 1968 model and replaced with scratch built ones, think the red is too bright so might repaint the seats, tamiya tape seat belts!

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Need to do some more work on the side windows as I've discovered that just blocking up the rear window is not enough for a Cherokee 140, the frames are a bit different too.

Thanks for looking

Mark

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Your brass looks good, I know how difficult it is to get right as I've done the artwork for quite a few frets. Commercially etched though so I haven't had the home brew experience! What did you use for the resist?

Cockpit is looking really good but I do agree about the red.....

Steve

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Been trying to work out how to get the Cherokee badge on the nose, etching was probably the only way to make the letter but fitting it was always an issue, tried etching the individual components but was too fiddly to, tried a name plate sort of rectangle but looked too much like it should be on the side of a railway locomotive.

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I couldnt feather the brass into the nose with out damaging the wording it just looked like a railway name plate, then I had an Idea make the whole panel from brass....

I got the shape by making an impression on a small piece of kitchen foil pushing it into the scribed panel markings. the foil was then opened up on a flat surface and scanned into the computer. From this I made the artwork for the PE.

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Cowling fasteners were include too.

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I carefully aligned the edge of the PE with the top scribe line and glued it in place bit by bit round the curve with thin CA.

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In other news I've made a template to get the window cut outs correct, the artwork was made from L&R side photo scaled to size.

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I'm starting to get the hang of making PE now so ill try to get a 'how to' on the forum soon.

Going to be away with work for a couple of days so while im away I have an RTV mould of the new nose setting on the work bench, should be ready for a cast or two when I get back.

Thanks for looking

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Perdu, Kev thanks for the comments

The PE is done with stuff available on ebay.

Artwork is printed on inkjet OHP film, Dry film etch resist is applied with a laminator & exposed between 2 sheets of tesco 50p photo frame glass clamped together, using a UV lamp intended for curing gel nail varnish, then developed with sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), etching is done with sodium persulphate. resist is then remove by soaking in acetone. To get where I have has been the result of many attempts that failed at various stages. But I think I now have a winning formula of techniques, timings and solution strengths etc. So when I can I'll get some pictures together and write a post for it.

Mark

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