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1/24 scale Grumman F7F Tigercat N7654C


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My thoughts too Mike - not often the nacelles dwarf the fuselage!

But the fuselage is so skinny! I think this might be the same plane as in the photo that Mike posted:

1801416.jpg

Cheers,

Bill

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Peter,

Question: Where did you get the plans to build your vac plate?

You said it was homebuilt, just wondering as I would like to look at taking a whack at building one myself...

Thank you for the inspiration!

PR

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Once again great job Peter. The first thing I thought too was that the nacelles would be waaaay too big. Seeing them on the fuselage makes it all come together and I now see that my first thought was very wrong. I don't know how you do all this but please keep doing it, this is fantastic!

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Fantastic peter, The fuselage is very narrow and once sat in the cockpit there is not a lot of room to move the body only the head and there is no view to the rear.

Guy

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Peter,

Question: Where did you get the plans to build your vac plate?

You said it was homebuilt, just wondering as I would like to look at taking a whack at building one myself...

Thank you for the inspiration!

PR

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..

WIP903_zpsbvvgmlms.jpg

..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..

WIP904_zpsj6zjbrp5.jpg

..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..

WIP905_zpsyxbkumvy.jpg

..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..

WIP906_zpsxmeudwfg.jpg

..I marked out where they would go and added the first three to the main front engine disc..

WIP907_zps1sat9tek.jpg

..then marked out and cut the nacelle to allow the moulded parts to integrate..

WIP908_zpssu4dompu.jpg

..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..

WIP909_zpsi4wgxwfk.jpg

WIP911_zpsmdqpkrxm.jpg

..and with a fake cowl to show how it might look later on..

WIP910_zpsshc7nxr0.jpg

..thats it for now my friends..

TTFN

Peter

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Hi Peter, just superb! May I ask a favour please? Could you post a picture of your vacforming rig, I am really interested in seeing how you made it?

The nacelles are great!

Cheers

Viv

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..

WIP912_zpsif9lqqtp.jpg

WIP913_zpst7sj2svz.jpg

WIP914_zpsdvfad7xm.jpg

WIP915_zpswrtvgykm.jpg

TTFN

Peter

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evening ladies... :)

As all have said, stunning. I am in awe.

I bet it weighs a fair bit?

Trevor

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

WIP916_zpsrclhpnzx.jpg

..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..

WIP917_zpsppdyin2t.jpg

..much better and a firm fit now..

WIP922_zps6cl2hbqf.jpg

..both are done - also marked out the gear doors but think I will detail the insides and maybe skin them before cutting them out..

WIP923_zps2hkoteko.jpg

..speaking of the insides, this is a main bulkhead that is level with the front of the gear doors..

WIP918_zpsybflw8dk.jpg

..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..)

WIP919_zpst3jgpgit.jpg

..and after drilling & reaming the holes and a clean up..

WIP920_zpsrxzjpwvf.jpg

..and they sorta go here..

WIP921_zpsqnpmob0p.jpg

..back soon no doubt...whistle.gif

TTFN

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Thanks for posting the photos of your vac kit Peter! Will study it further with an eye on building one as I have a couple of 1:10 scale Fairchild K-17 cameras to build for a project. (One of which will be a "working" model w/an embedded CCD camera)

Great update!

Exciting stuff and hanging on every posting here!!

Cheers............PR

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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..

Loving the progress on those nacelles! She's going to look superb once metal plated.

Looking at your vacuum system, I'm wondering if a vacuum bag process would be simpler? The perforated board would be useful with this process.

Boatbuilders are common users of this process, especially with carbon/glass fibre layup of parts. Almost as good as the infusion process.

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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..

WIP912_zpsif9lqqtp.jpg

WIP913_zpst7sj2svz.jpg

WIP914_zpsdvfad7xm.jpg

WIP915_zpswrtvgykm.jpg

TTFN

Peter

Hi Peter,

Thank you, that looks fantastic and we've all seen the effectiveness of your set up in this thread. More inspiring stuff, thank you!

Cheers

Viv

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