Giorgio N Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Looking good on this and thanks for explaining the nozzles positioning as I wasn`t quite sure why that happened. It's a quite complicated story and is the result of a number of factors: - the nozzles open when the afterburners engage and each is controlled by the hydraulic system... but when the aircraft is on the ground they are also open to prevent excessive thrust. This is commanded by an electrical switch on the landing gear. - the nozzles when in flight have a safety system that will close them in case of loss of electric power. In this way the thrust is maximised regardless of the fuel settings Now when the aircraft lands, both nozzles are open since it's on the ground. The right engine is shut down first. The switch keeps the nozzles open and in the meantime pressure bleeds on that engine. The nozzle remains open. The left engine is shut down last. As soon as the engine is shut down, electric power is stopped... now the switch can't control the nozzle anymore and the hydraulic system tends to close the nozzles as it receives a signal of loss of electric power. The hydraulic circuit at that point still has some pressure, enough to close the nozzle. As a result, the nozzle remains closed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Nice work in the internal parts of the nozzles. I too always have one nozzle open and the other shut when making a Tomcat these days. I don't know which way round I do it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Great work Giorgio. That's a scary amount of knowledge you've got there, I'm feeling bad that my build won't have the nozzles in the correct position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) Great work Giorgio. That's a scary amount of knowledge you've got there, I'm feeling bad that my build won't have the nozzles in the correct position. Neal, as you'll be doing a Tomcat on the catapult, here the nozzles usually are fully open for launch, so no need to go in the two different positions. Edited May 21, 2014 by Giorgio N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Good progress Giorgio, The nozzles look good, as does the kit in general. I bet you're glad to have the fuselage together and the inlets on. I know what you mean about the time spent cleaning up; the Hasegawa kits in particular need a lot of attention and so have dragged this stage (pre-painting) right out. cheers, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Neal, as you'll be doing a Tomcat on the catapult, here the nozzles usually are fully open for launch, so no need to go in the two different positions. Correct, but the kit parts are closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Good work mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) The nice weekend we've had meant that there's been very little progress on this model...things like sailing on the lake have taken precedence, but something has moved... The tails are on. It took a while to sort these because guess what ? They did not fit well at all ! Strange as nothing seems to fit in this kit and yet other Fujimi tomcats fit quite well... maybe it's just the modeller ??? Some work has also been done in the cockpit area and this is now ready to accept the windscreen and canopy, meaning that the time to paint the fuselage is near ! I'm really looking forward to this, and next weekend will be a long one as June 2nd is national holiday. I might be able to have at least a couple of colours on by the end of that day. Edited May 28, 2014 by Giorgio N 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Lovely work Giorgio. Dermot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 A small but important update: the lower surfaces colours have been spraied on and the model is now ready to be masked for the uppersurface colours: The radome, the tips of the fins and a band on one of the fins have also been painted white. Lower surface colours are grey FS 36495 and FS 36440. The picture also shows that I like to use cling film for masking as this can be applied over large areas and it's cheap... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Nice work mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Great work Giorgio, coming together nicely now and that's neat way of masking that you have got there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Coming together nicely, and I like the unusual use of cling film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Nice progress, Giorgio. I'm keen to see how this unfolds; such an elaborate scheme (well, for me anyway) will look really good. My experience with the Fightertown decals thus far has been very good and I may just have to have a go at a few more of the jets on that Adversary Tomcat sheet - possibly even this one. I'm sure you'll find the decals to your liking when it comes time and you're not that far away now. cheers, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 Yes, it's an elaborate scheme and for this reason I'm afraid I should better start moving faster... No picture yet for one unusual and annoying reason: I seem to have lost the battery charger of my camera ! Tried with the mobile phone, but I don't seem to take decent pictures... anyway, the model has now received its top coat of light blue FS 35450. This is a nice colour that however is close to what people in Italy would call "toilet blue" as in the early '70s it was quite common to decorate bathrooms with similar colours. I have to say that a Tomcat with such a colours on the top looks very curious... fortunately the splinter scheme will make this look again like the mean fighting machine that it was ! The plan for the top surfaces scheme is to print masks on an A-4 adhesive paper sheet. To do so, I will first have to scan the instruction sheet. From this I can draw the masks on my PC, compensating for any inaccuracy of the kit. The masks will printed and then cut using a sharp knife. Being a splinter scheme this should be easy enough, all lines are straight ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Great plan to make your masks - hope to see more of the process and the results! To that end, hope you find the charger. cheers, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagledocf15 Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Any updates!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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