David A Collins Posted August 5, 2015 Author Share Posted August 5, 2015 The 100 series Merlin installation in the Hornet had many changes to reduce the frontal area, so I doubt the Aires set would be usable without a great deal of modification. It's been a while since I've perused it, but from memory the RR Heritage Trust book (HS19) on the 100 series Merlins had some useful drawings. http://www.rolls-royce.com/about/our-story/the-rolls-royce-heritage-trust/publications.aspx#historical Regards, Jason Hi Jason, I've got that book, and can thoroughly recommend it to anyone wishing to research this engine. Thanks, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 (edited) Turning now to the wings. The CA kit supplies basic upper and lower halves to each wing, with a simple resin insert for the radiators. There are no separate flaps, ailerons, radiator flaps, or details to show the wing fold. These details will need to be scratch built if desired. The wings themselves need some heavy de-burring of the injection points, but are otherwise free from flash. The panel lines on the underside of the wing are ok for the Sea Hornet, but you will need to remove the landing lamp on the port underside, and score the wing break through the same location but on both sides. In plan form the wing shape is ok, but a few things need correcting: In the top of the photo can be seen the black dashed lines. This is the approximate portion of the underside of the wing that will need to be removed, to represent the full depth of the undercarriage bays properly. The trailing edge tips of the wings should be sanded down to be less prominent. Most of the panel lines on the upper wing surface will need filling and sanding smooth. It is a wooden upper surface covered in doped fabric, so there are no visible joints. I will indicate which ones can be seen by drawing them on the particular part when I get to it. The area of the wing between the engine and fuselage will need changing. These surfaces should slope downwards slightly from the engine nacelle towards the fuselage side. . by hornet project Edited May 30, 2019 by David A Collins 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) In preparation to know which cowlings to remove from the port wing, I have done a little work on the resin engine. Taking the Aries V1650 as a starter, I have added the cabin blower and drive shaft to the RH side of the block, and relocated the generator from the LH side to fit on the end of the cabin blower. . by hornet project The coolant pump remains on the RH side of the block. . by hornet project On the front of the engine I've added the beginnings of the new drive casing. . by hornet project I have removed the intake from the back of the superchargers as the standard Mustang one feeds from underneath. The Hornet intake feeds from above and is more square in section, so I'll have to scratch build this part. . by hornet project With the lower cowling removed, I'll have to make the engine support frame too. . by hornet project Edited May 31, 2019 by David A Collins 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Hi David, Great to catch up last Saturday. Didn't know you was involved with the Stirling as well as your Hornet. I hardly find time to work on a single 1/72 version, yet you're cracking on with two 1/1 aircraft! Hats off to you Cheers Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Hi David, Great to catch up last Saturday. Didn't know you was involved with the Stirling as well as your Hornet. I hardly find time to work on a single 1/72 version, yet you're cracking on with two 1/1 aircraft! Hats off to you Cheers Neil Hi Neil, It was good to meet you and your fellow forum members too. We're glad you enjoyed your visit. For us on the Stirling project, it is a pleasure to share the work with others. Quite often we hear of personal connections with the type that brings a little more to life in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) Next to do is pre-assemble the wings and nacelles. The only work I needed to do to these was to de-burr the parts, and ensure they all fitted together without any gaps or steps. I've cut-out the lower wings to create the full depth undercarriage bays. The cut-out only extends between the front and rear spars, that will have to be made from plastic-card. The chord-wise vertical webs that will fill the resultant gap are ribs 3 and 4. The resin moulded radiators are now glued in place too. I have left out the bulkheads and exhausts so far, as the port side will have the cowlings removed when the glue has dried. . by hornet project Edited May 31, 2019 by David A Collins 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo52 Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 David, I'm enjoying the build. Did the Hornet and Sea Hornet have the same seat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 (edited) David, I'm enjoying the build. Did the Hornet and Sea Hornet have the same seat?Hi Bravo52,As far as I know, yes they have the same pilots seat. There is nothing to indicate otherwise in any of the manuals, drawings or photos. There is a mod to introduce an armrest to the left side of the existing seat for your throttle arm, but it is possible it was never used. Thanks for following. Edited August 20, 2015 by David A Collins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 21, 2015 Author Share Posted August 21, 2015 (edited) Work today has centred on the port wing, as this is being heavily modified to accept the Merlin engine with more of the internal structure visible. First to do was remove the section of wing under-surface from ahead of the main spar. The wing is inverted in this first image. To aid descriptions, I have pencilled-in the centre line of the main spar. It is now possible to see the underside of the top skin removable panel in front of the spar. This area is filled with the carb. intake ducting that leads from the slot in the wing leading edge, turns inboard, and then down into the top of the carburettor. Also interesting to note is that the wing leading edge intake has a rotary barrel shutter that is closed when on the ground, but open in flight. The engine breathes on the ground through rearward facing shutters located in the underside of the wing between these two red arrow heads. The air filter can be found within this ducting too. I have also created a spar that runs all the way to the wing root as the skins were pinched in slightly, so needed separating to align properly with the moulded aerofoil section on the fuselage. The engine cowlings have been removed from the nacelle mouldings, and will be painted and displayed on the diaorama. In the following image, it can be seen that the fit of the engine nacelles is good. Once the engine nacelle modifications have been finished and are secure, I will open up the panel above the main port side radiator, which is located between the engine and fuselage. Under this panel you will be able to see the three support brackets, the radiator and hoses, plus the front spar and wiring. It has now become apparent that the undercarriage doors on these nacelles are too far forward. I will have to glue these in place and cut new front/rear split lines to the main nacelles. This should shift the top of each undercarriage leg rearward. I will have to calculate by how much. Edited August 21, 2015 by David A Collins 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 With the wing secured in place, I have cut-out the top inboard access panel above the port radiator. The reference photo shown is for the starboard side, with the only difference being the black oxygen bottles are not fitted to the port side. I have added the radiator with cross ribbing on its top surface (aluminium colour). Three brackets to support it (matt black coloured castings). The fuel filler pipe (matt dark grey colour). The wiring harness on the front face of the spar plus one of the junction boxes (both satin black), and a small cylindrical actuator (aluminium colour). Front spar is interior green. Insides of removable panels are aluminium. Thanks for following. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidy Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Nice work on the engine and radiators, David, and very informative as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Hi David, I didn't realize that you were working on this one.......makes perfect sense though, great job so far. (Hopefully you should have a reply to your latest email in your in box). Look forward to catching up at Telford... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I am really liking the way this build is filling in gaps in my knowledge of the type as well as the great modelling! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) Thanks Martin, I hope its not too "over the top", but I wanted to highlight some of its engineering details, and hopefully share a little knowledge of the Sea Hornet. My full size Hornet re-construction will take years to complete just a fuselage, so by doing some models as well, other areas can be covered that I may never get to. I will do a second thread, probably next year for an RAF Hornet showing it being re-armed and serviced between missions (belly doors open exposing the four cannon, ammo boxes, added rockets and bombs, and FR4 camera ports, upper nose hatch off to access the oxygen bottles and gun camera). Edited August 24, 2015 by David A Collins 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Excellent work, and some useful tips for correcting the CA kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 No David, its not over the top on the detail front, at least, I would be in a extremely poor position to criticise anybody for that! The main thing is to build your model the way you want to and enjoy it. After all, it is you who has to look at the thing when it is finished, that's how I look at my builds. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 So now to the underside of the engine/undercarriage nacelles. I have carefully measured the engine nacelles, and from the spinner back-plate to the front spar on this kit everything is correct. As I mentioned earlier, it seemed there was something amiss with the undercarriage leg/front of door position. I've made some measurements from my references and have produced this 1/48 scale line drawing shown below. This shows the key points in the undercarriage leg and engine mounting struts, relative to the front spar datum and thrust line. Note the wheel centre is in its uncompressed position. The externally visible part of the leg angle is 14deg from the vertical spar datum (with the tail up!). In this second image you can clearly see that the undercarriage leg assembly and front of the door need moving to the rear to be in their correct locations. Classic Airframes would have you put the top of the leg right through the first compressor stage of the Merlin. You can see how much material I have removed from the under skin to make it correct. Once the engine is in place, you will not be able to see its rear end as a stepped fire wall encloses it up to the spar. I will add this shortly. The kit supplied part is in the wrong location, but can be modified to suit even if you do not fit an engine. With all of these changes, the panel lines on the sides of the nacelles will need filling and re-scoring to be correct. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 Both of the wings are now permanently fitted and the radiator assemblies have received their colours. Adding the false internal wing spars to thicken the wing roots has worked well, as filling will now be minimal. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Thanks Martin, I hope its not too "over the top", but I wanted to highlight some of its engineering details, and hopefully share a little knowledge of the Sea Hornet. My full size Hornet re-construction will take years to complete just a fuselage, so by doing some models as well, other areas can be covered that I may never get to. I will do a second thread, probably next year for an RAF Hornet showing it being re-armed and serviced between missions (belly doors open exposing the four cannon, ammo boxes, added rockets and bombs, and FR4 camera ports, upper nose hatch off to access the oxygen bottles and gun camera). Hi David this is a fascinating and very informative build. The added detail is icing on a great cake to start with. In no way 'over the top' I have both CA and Dynavector kits stashed, and the step by step corrections make doing an accurate build much easier, as I find working out what to do and how the hard bit! I don't know if much or any of this would be of use, but Aires resin do a Mosquito cannon bay set http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AIRE4152 maybe save a little work if the shell feeds are similar. HTH T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Collins Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 Hi David this is a fascinating and very informative build. The added detail is icing on a great cake to start with. In no way 'over the top' I have both CA and Dynavector kits stashed, and the step by step corrections make doing an accurate build much easier, as I find working out what to do and how the hard bit! I don't know if much or any of this would be of use, but Aires resin do a Mosquito cannon bay set http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AIRE4152 maybe save a little work if the shell feeds are similar. HTH T Thanks Troy, I think they are the same, so this will save a lot of work. I will purchase some ahead of the next build. Returning to the undercarriage bays, further measurements have shown that the rear end of the undercarriage doors need moving backwards by 6mm. This allows the wheel/leg to retract, and the panel line would now align with the rear spar as on the original aircraft. To complete these bays I'll add the oil tanks, hydraulic lines, internal skin ribs, electrical boxes/wiring, and the firewalls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Primrose Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 David This build is totally inspirational. I will be looking out for your 1:1 scale machine as well. Are there any Hornet survivors left anywhere in the world? Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Fantastic work, David! The Airfix development team haven't been in touch, have they? regards, Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Fantastic work, David! The Airfix development team haven't been in touch, have they? regards, Martin If they haven't, they should be! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I will be looking out for your 1:1 scale machine as well. Are there any Hornet survivors left anywhere in the world? Keith No, which is why the Hornet project. There are some big 'bits', a wing centre section, some salvaged rear fuselages, and then various smaller parts. see http://users.skynet.be/BAMRS/dh103/survivor.htm http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?15226-DH-Sea-Hornet-a-survivor http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/370441-where-have-all-d-h-103-hornets-gone.html David will be able to give you chapter and verse on this though, the above might save him some typing HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12jaguar Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Excellent update DC, now if only Airfix could do a 1/72 version Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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