Caerbannog Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Phantastic topic Rene 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 It's not often I'm lost for wor...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skids Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 One of my favourite planes, you certainly have my attention. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Beautiful work! I had never thought of using a card model as a template for scratching a plastic one. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engineer66 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Excellent work Peter, very ambitious, but an interesting idea, using a paper kit as a starting point. With regard to the nose gear bay, could you build a 'dummy bay' the same size as the nose gear bay, and then re-cast the lower half as a solid using the 'dummy bay' to create the space for the gear bay by suspending it in the mould same as you did with the master to make the lower nose hollow. (As a bonus this would mean a solid nose giving more weight at the front) Then once the lower nose was fitted and faired in to the main fuselage you could build the 'real' nose gear bay as a separate item off the model and then insert it into the aperture in the new nose? Hope that made sense! Cheers Al 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomjw Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 This is incredible stuff. An absolute pleasure to follow your progress. Cheers, Tom. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 thank you chaps & evening all so the 'cat and I made it to Telford & back unscathed - it was great to meet so many people and talk about what I had been up to on this rollercoaster build.. I picked up a lorry load of supplies - lots of card, brass, rod, resin etc etc and spent way more than I should have so I damn well better finish this one! so, as I left it last I was working out what to do about the nosewheel bay - I decided to detail the interior and then fix the casting for the final shaping work - first step in the process was getting the casting in a fit state to get the layout of the gear doors and internal bulheads sorted.. ..the casting is slightly off centre laterally so first thing was marking out the centreline - i find this easiest by taping cotton to known points and using the Mk. 1 eyeball.. ..all the plans I can find are wrong for the layout of the doors so I measured and scaled from photographs to draw out a paper template... ..after marking out, I rough cut the shape, being careful not to snap the sides as the narrowest point is quite weak... ..I refined the shape and ground out the inside surfaces to thin them to near scale (while wearing a mask...) ..shot a coat of primer to see where I need to even out some divots & bumps... ..the basic form is coming together... still really enjoying myself, and having nearly splurged on a Kinetic 1/24 P47 at Telford to get the engine to make copies of, I came home to a welcome email from a hugely generous LSP member offering me loan of the parts from their kit happy days TTFNPeter 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbeach84 Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Peter, you beast! You are wailing away on it wonderfully. Thanks for sharing your trials & tribulations, mate. I can only imagine the final outcome... Your "little" experiment to solve the 'oil canning' you were experiencing has given me some great ideas - there are several models I'd like to do that I already have in paper kits that could very well carry over to plastic card, or I could simply 'treat' the paper (Ken West's 1/48 scale XB-70 is one in my queue that could benefit from your 'findings'.) Trick I suppose is to determine the right amount of foam for the volume to be filled - but what a great strong structure you have at the end. I've seen others use a 'piercing wire' during the foam's expansion to keep it flowing to the vent. Very nice work on the nose, too. [i'm thinking of using rice to fill the voids as a close measure of volume, and a test pour to see what kind of expansion ratio the foam has so I can match the amounts more precisely.. of course, going into it with the intention of using this method makes it so much easier to address the challenge!] Regards, Robert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 This is an absolutely brilliant thread, you're doing an incredible job, looking forward to seeing more ! I had thought of using card models before for a similar job but never had the guts to start, I'm glad to see someone is doing it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 This just gets better and better. This really is one of the great projects, looking forward to the next instalment Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 That is some truly amazing modeling! Really looking forward to how this one turns out. Karl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 [i'm thinking of using rice to fill the voids as a close measure of volume Robert - thanks for dropping in - that is an inspired tip! I often wondered how to work out the volume of shapes I am casting / working with so I don't needlessly use rubber or resin, I tried all sorts of mathematical calculations allowing for curves & displacement and gave myself quite a headache - now I know that I can just use rice! Brilliant! This is an absolutely brilliant thread, you're doing an incredible job, looking forward to seeing more ! I had thought of using card models before for a similar job but never had the guts to start, I'm glad to see someone is doing it Thanks Giorgio - I say go for it.. the thing with card is there are LOADS of models that just are not available in larger scales - Hampden, Blenheim, Do17, Vulcan (yes Vulcan) and a myriad inbetween.. so, on to another little postette... today was about the nosewheel bay... I have very few clear references for this (hint..plea for help...) but this one gives me an idea of what is needed.. first up, getting a basic roof panel to work on... I put a bit of card in place and drew the outline of the casting that sits on top of it... ..then I drew out the main details on the part - where the wheel retracts there is a pressed aluminium panel with a depression in it - the shape doesn't seem to relate to the wheel / tyre size but nonetheless it's there.. I made a plunge mould (top right) and taped a bit of card sheet to a thicker sheet with a long slot cut out of it (top left) - I held it over the stove and pressed the two together... ..it worked first time which was a bonus - I cut the part shape from the sheet and added some decal rivets... ..fitted the pressing part and started to build up some of the details from card, brass & rivets... ...also routed out a little slot in the nose so it all sits flat on the nose casting - I have some tube/rod on order to start building the noseleg and will set a tube at the right angle at the front where the brass part ends so the leg can just slot into it.. ..and checking it still all fits within the lower casting... ..until next time, thats it for now TTFN Peter 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveCromie Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 This is an absolute masterclass in Modelling (with a capital M) and for one cannot wait to see the next update DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Excellent stuff peter, it was nice to chat to you at Telford, as you were kind enough to give me one of your seconds etch instrument bezels, I like the idea of using Halfords filler primer, may get some of this stuff for my vacs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianthemodeller Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 This is another if those amazing builds that appear now and again. Can't wait to see how you tackle the rest of the build... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Peter.... You are a genius with tenacious character. .. ASTOUNDING work. . your fortitude knows no bounds. .Keep up the amazing work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Wow, Peter, first time i see a cardboard model kit built with plastic cards and resin. You have not chosen the easiest way imho... But you do an impressive work anyway. Congratulations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbeach84 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Peter, the 'dimple' in the nose gear bay roof may be for clearance of some part of the gear other than the wheel, or it may be a 'brake' plate, shaped so it rubs on the tire's sidewalls slightly when the gear is raised to bring the wheel to a stop... without too much 'erosion' of the rubber. Again, really nice! Regards, Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logical Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 These scratch build threads are incredible. I struggle with a pretty fabricated kit. I'd never manage to scratch build one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 thank you chaps - very kind to drop in and leave a note of encouragement so, a little progressI have been very fortunate to have been helped out by Ray Peterson (LSP_Ray) over on LSP who in an act of great kindness sent me the engine parts from his 1/24 Kinetic P47 so I can have a bash at casting a couple of copies to hang on the wings of my Tigercat...these are one-piece mouldings of each cylinder bank and are a perfect basis for what I have planned - I just want to make sure I am very careful so I can return them in flawless condition. I spent a while thinking about how best to do it and decided on open moulds I can pour into and create 'halves' of each bank. The problem with this approach is that there will be seam lines on the very fine cylinder finning detail but to be honest I can't think of another way...so lets see how it went....first bank was set in shallow plasticine......poured that mould & turned it over to capture the back face.....same for the other bank of cylinders....over a couple of days I got the four mould sections completed.....the Sylmasta stuff I use captures detail perfectly.. (I took the precaution of adding locating pins to the mould in case I have to fallback on putting the moulds together and casting the cylinder blocks as a one part casting..).....the first couple of pours looked ok - a few bubbles but its really all about the cylinders & they look fine.....cleaned up the mating faces....now I have to say the jury is out on whether I do it this way - there are seams, and I am not too happy with how they dry fit as it is impossible to get the mating faces the same as the way the parts were split in the mould....maybe I might do it a cylinder at a time, maybe I will try casting half the complete part across it's lateral mid-point - I really don't know....that said, I did say at the start of this build that it was a bit of an experiment so I should not get too hung up on perfection & just press on or I will never get it finished...thats it for now & thanks again to Ray for the parts loan TTFNPeter 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Brilliant work you're doing ​ but would the seams be seen once the cowlings go on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davepb Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Fabulous work Peter.Your resin moulding has been very impressive. I'm working on a smaller scale (1/48), and have a problem. I can't find any reference as to the attachment points of the wing jury struts. Do your plans give any clues? Cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 IMHO the easiest way to deal with the engine would be to cast the cylinders individually. Of course the engine block would need casting separately, as one or two parts. Casting with an open side is always going to create tricky mating surfaces Mind, a lot depends on how much will be visible of the engines ! If you're leaving them in the closed cowlings then I believer you could get away with what you already have... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 IMHO the easiest way to deal with the engine would be to cast the cylinders individually. Of course the engine block would need casting separately, as one or two parts. Casting with an open side is always going to create tricky mating surfaces Mind, a lot depends on how much will be visible of the engines ! If you're leaving them in the closed cowlings then I believer you could get away with what you already have... thats a good point Giorgio ..now I have started to look closely at what a P&W 2800 looks like, I can see that the kit parts from the Kinetic P47 are really only a rough approximation of the real thing.. plus I realised any seams will be well hidden in amongst all the engine gubbins.. bits I have noticed are the cylinder shape is wrong, the real one has a narrow base, the heads are wrong as they are curved when the real one is a sort of lop-sided vee shape, the exhaust ports at the back are a fiction compared to their location on the real thing... so a few things to think about.. I have decided I will use casts of the kit cylinders up the the mid-point and scratch build new heads - basically the part in the yellow box below... ..I am going to try laminating brass sheet and plastic card and then shape it and make new detailed parts for the two housings... then I can just cast all the heads and graft them onto the kit cast cylinders - thats the plan anyway back soon Peter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 May be wrong but I believe the Tigercat used a later version of the R-2800 than the Thunderbolt, this may explain the differences. If you'r scratchbuilding the cylinder head, you may cast one cylinder, add the new head to this and use it as a master for the other cylinders. Same for the engine block, you can modify one and then use the modified part as a master. It's going to be a long and boring exercise but you'll have masters for some future builds of other aircrafts with the same engine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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