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1/24 scale Grumman F7F Tigercat N7654C


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Hi folks :)

..just a little update with some more skinning done..

..I have been doing the rear fuselage slightly differently to the other side - I have been adding a few raised rivets and have been alternating the metal grain to get a contrasting panel effect. I also added in some new panels that I only found when I got up close to the F7F in Chino, so each side is different but I can live with that..

..I added a bottom panel where the tail hook once was - this has pretty chunky rivets on the real thing...

..its the bottom panel here..

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..the made up panel..

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..and in place..

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..also wanted to add the chine that runs along the top of the rear fuselage so bent up a test part and learnt enough to make the real part..

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..masked the top fuselage to add the adhesive..

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..and the part in place.. there is a fairing at the front I still need to make..

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..you can see the panel contrast and the chine better in natural light...

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..and this is where I am at - should have the final panels done soon...

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..back soon

TTFN

Peter

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Peter,

This is a truly exceptional build, and I don't use the term lightly given the abundance of talent on Britmodeller. I don't think the cockpit could possibly be more realistic!

A pleasure to watch, thank you!

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I read through this entire build thread (again) tonight as I wanted to check some of the reference pictures and also just because it is so informative and such great work to look at. I also checked out the Airscale website a little while ago, there are some lovely products on there - I might have to get the 1/24th Ju 87 instrument panel for my Airfix kit (to be built someday). Any news on the wings??

Cheers,

Nigel

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evening folks smile.png

..back with a little more Tigercat mayhem..

so, last time I had to finish up the plating at the rear of the fuselage - this is done now except for the final tailpiece which I will leave as I keep whacking it on the bench...

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..next was the rudder - I had made a spar and end profiles from card and rod and although it is fabric covered, I made the body from litho plate too..

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..I built some internal structure to mount the trim tab and did the usual tape template to make up the tab itself...

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..this part is riveted rather than fabric, so did that before folding along it's spine and adding the supporting structure..

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..now I have been thinking about how to replicate linen and tried paper, tissue and tape but eventually settled on some stuff used for R/C models called Solartex. It is a sort of synthetic fabric that is used to cover a balsa framework. It has an adhesive backing that is activated by heat from an iron, and a bit more heat will cause it to shrink and give a strong (and fuelproof) skin for R/C aircraft..

..I closed my eyes and tried it...

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..after trimming with a brand new blade and working the edges with the iron I was quite happy with the result - it is a bit overscale but I can live with that..

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..I still need to fettle the assembly to get the trim tab to fit properly and then try experimenting with rib tapes...

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..thats it for now, but it was quite a fun crossover experiment and hopefully with paint it will look ok..

TTFN

Peter

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:o I've just spent so long with my mouth open catching up on this topic that my tongue has dried up! :Tasty: That really is another level Peter. Something we can only aspire to :worthy::clap2:
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This is brilliant. I'm just building a 1/48 version and stumbled upon this thread. The ambition of your project is more than matched by your skill in achieving it. :clap2:

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What a stunning study and blow-by-blow for this Master Class Build! Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us!! Most inspirational and eye-opening!!!

Cheers,

PR

Edited by Pastor Rich
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evening folks... :)

so another day and another step...

..been trying to figure out how to do the rib tapes on the rudder - they should look like this which is linen doped over fixing screws that fix the sheet fabric to the rudder frame....

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..I used the 'mule' to try a few things out - on the right, a strip of PE rivets covered with tamiya tape, on the left micro mark resin rivets covered with the same stuff (I did try Solartex but it was a devil to stick down so gave up...)...

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..having done that and primered it, the tape looked a bit heavy with a thick demarcation line, so I tried something thinner - some decal laid over the top (3rd from left) and some fineline masking (far left)

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..I liked the decal best as it took the texture of the solartex and had a nice thin profile..

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..so I laid out the rivets on the rudder & used micro-sol to set them..

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..cut some decal strips from an old Airfix Fw190 (nice & thick..)...

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..and laid them down - again using micro-sol - I also futured the whole thing when finished to 'lock' it all together...

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..FAIL....after primer I wasn't happy - the decals settled too well and didn't give the effect I wanted, there were also creases & bubbles I didn't want...

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..so after 10 seconds thinking time, I stripped it all off...

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..back to the drawing board...the moral of the story I guess (if there is one..) is don't be afraid to experiment and if it doesn't work out just try something else...

..after some great suggestions over on LSP, I tried baremetal foil and cigarette paper and in fact both had the same problem with giving too much definition to the rivets beneath, but were perfect for the subtlety needed in terms of the weight of the material..

..in the end I tried the fineline tape again as it was thick enough to give the 'overlay' result I was after, and was already the right (and uniform) width so was easy to try (plus I was getting slightly bored by then...)..

..I laid out the tape and burnished it down..

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..and after a light coat of primer I could see it was still a bit too heavy for my liking, but was better than the last attempt..

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..I may well give it another coat and just see if it grows on me...

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I want to do the stabilisers next so might revisit this when it comes time to do the elevators...

Coming along nicely Peter, how are you going to tackle the wings

Thanks Kev - I plan to try this out with the stabilisers - basically a thick plastic card core (with brass spars) sandwiched with balsa sanded to shape, sealed and then skinned with litho plate - we will see how that turns out but I expect there will be some steep learning on the way :whistle:

TTFN
Peter

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Fantastic work as always, Peter. Your mention of Chino reminded me of a cautionary tip from long ago (well, within my life-span anyway...) regarding "restored" airframes being used for detailed reference. Unless we are speaking of the National Air & Space Museum or Hendon (or similar), aircraft that are restored / cared for by warbird & other 'get 'em flying' organizations should be taken with a 'grain o' salt'. But this has always been the case, hasn't it? ;^)

Your experiments with different materials highlights a process all experienced modelers should have 'in their toolbelts' - e.g., 'try it'! It made me think about what thin paper, such as tissue, would provide, or even very thin styrene sheet (such as found in disposable plastic cup lids & other similar packaging products.) The advantage to using plastic sheet is you could emboss the 'stitching' into the strips and then apply, same as with the skinning. Now, if you could only find micro franking shears....

Regards, Robert

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  • 3 weeks later...

thanks for stopping by folks :)

..still finessing the rudder, but I wanted to test a theory for building the wings by doing it in smaller scale on the horizontal tail so have been playing about at that today..

..first I traced the tailplane outline from the plan onto greaseproof paper and stuck that to some 3mm plastic card - then I cut out two profiles of the tailplane without the elevators...

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..I put a square tube spar through the one in the fuselage and started to understand the geometry - the spar wasn't straight in either dimension which made things tricky. I used a square to get the profiles in the right position in planform and tacked the tips to the spar with CA so I could mark out the spar position underneath..

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..once marked out you can see how off the spar would be if I used the stub I embedded in the fuselage..

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..I cut out a slot for a mini spar and slotted the end of it to slide onto the tailplane part..

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..and checked again the geometry was right..

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..then on a trip into the unknown I prepared some balsa sheet with a scored groove to accept the spar and made up a sandwich to give the tailplane some bulk I can shape later..

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..I ended up with two tailplanes to work with..

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..I will soak the leading edges and tips in thin CA and shape them to the aerofoil profile in the next few days - the plan then is to soak the whole thing in sanding sealer or something to harden up the balsa and skin in litho...

..in theory it will work, but we will see - if it does then the same process hopefully will be used for the wings...

TTFN

Peter

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I am out of superlatives - but the value of patience, not being afraid to experiment (or to admit that some attempts fail) and imagination could not be better illustrated. Riveting. [Do you see what I did there?]

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Running out of superlatives....................... This is absolutely stunning work as always looking forward to the next installment!

Roger

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