Pastor Rich Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Peter, A masterpiece! Thank you so much for illustrating more of the process as that helps toward greater understanding of your technique. Finished parts are fabulous to view; but the process is awesome to see and learn from. Brilliant!!! PR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 evening folks thanks for stopping by No in progress pics, but I did make a P8 compass.. ..the glass is only temporary - I have a cunning plan for that and the dial detail itself... TTFN Peter 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 29, 2016 Author Share Posted March 29, 2016 yey the kit arrived!! a big box... and something I wasn't expecting - a complete Spitfire - it is a one piece beautifully moulded form complete with very fine surface detail. Other bits in the box include 3 smaller boxes of resin components, two vacformed canopies, a CD of pics of the completed model, a mask set for roundels etc, some 2 component resin glue and some HpH leaflets.. ..the surface detail is very, very good - in terms of scale - I checked the Seafire FR47 span and it was 36' 11" which is 11,252mm - so in 1/18 it scales to 625mm - the kit span is 630mm so good enough for me. I need a few more datapoints to know exactly what dimensions to scale the PE to.. lovely surface.. ..so what is in the smaller boxes.. the first has the elevators, tyres, prop blades and radiator scoops.. ..again, nice surface detail - shame it will all be covered in lithoplate ..the next box has the rudder, wheelbays, spinner & gear doors.. ..and the final box the cockpit parts and exhaust stubs.. ..couldn't resist a comparison...all this will be rebuilt.. ..so, we are litterally 'off to the races' - the race at Tinnerman in 1949 to be exact.. I have no idea yet how to deal with the one-piece fuselage - I expect I will just cut away a large section of it around the cockpit - I did think about sectioning the whole thing into two halves, and cutting the wings off, but actually that all seems a bit drastic when all I want to do is get access to the 'pit... ..thoughts on an approach would be most welcome as I expect it is obvious to all exept me TTFNPeter 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Their column does look a little chunky. Nice of them to provide a set of resin templates for your scratchbuilt parts... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Rich Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Peter, Being the "glass half-full" kinda guy I am; at least you don't have to fill the fuse with foam as you did the Firecat! You're gonna be cutting blisters from wings and building structure as you did on the F7F - so I imagine the same here for both wings and fuselage. I really wouldn't worry on how you're going to do it; inspiration favors you it seems - something that has made these chronicles the best pick online! (IMHO) Cheers! PR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 ..thoughts on an approach would be most welcome as I expect it is obvious to all exept me Ooh, I know- use the solid kit as a mold to form the skin, then make the structure to go underneath! If you were a dentist I'd say just open it up through the part that WOULD be open, but the slightly more practical (?) idea that came to mind was to just cut a chunk out of one side, something like a slice of cake- say the port, since there'll be a door there- then you can reach what you need to reach pretty easily with a minimum of reassembly required. Or, now that I think of it, a fusion of both the ridiculous and the sublime- cut the cake chunk out, then reconstruct just that section with structure and skin, since the inside (cockpit) would be directly visible, and you'll inevitably be building a bunch of structure and gubbins to hang on it anyway? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F4u Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Hi Peter, Lovely work on the control column knocks spots off the kit one. With the cockpit what about from the side like gingerbob says and above as well ? Guy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomoshenko Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Sublime sir. I love this sort of thing. And if I may be so bold to offer a suggestion (says he in a trembling voice full of trepidation and humility), but I think gingerbob's modus operan di is a goer - use the kit mould to form a skin. Then you can add the internals at leisure. Oh yeh one final thing, any chance of an F4 Hunter next :-) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 30, 2016 Author Share Posted March 30, 2016 (edited) Ooh, I know- use the solid kit as a mold to form the skin, then make the structure to go underneath! If you were a dentist I'd say just open it up through the part that WOULD be open, but the slightly more practical (?) idea that came to mind was to just cut a chunk out of one side, something like a slice of cake- say the port, since there'll be a door there- then you can reach what you need to reach pretty easily with a minimum of reassembly required. Or, now that I think of it, a fusion of both the ridiculous and the sublime- cut the cake chunk out, then reconstruct just that section with structure and skin, since the inside (cockpit) would be directly visible, and you'll inevitably be building a bunch of structure and gubbins to hang on it anyway? ahh - good thinking - I think I have sort of settled on cutting from in front of the instrument panel to behind the seat, and laterally all the way down to the top of the wing fillet. The fibreglass is so thick it will take some quite drastic surgery as you will see in a minute.. Sublime sir. I love this sort of thing. And if I may be so bold to offer a suggestion (says he in a trembling voice full of trepidation and humility), but I think gingerbob's modus operan di is a goer - use the kit mould to form a skin. Then you can add the internals at leisure. Oh yeh one final thing, any chance of an F4 Hunter next :-) thank you I always welcome suggestions and no need for any reticence in my build threads thats for sure! I may struggle with the Hunter though - if it hasn't got at least one prop, I have very little interest in it (sorry to all you jet guys:)) so, on to whats been going on.. I got the Cooke plans scaled to the model from spinner backplate to rudder sternpost @ 482mm, it may or may not be 1/18 I don't really care,, the important thing is the plans really help getting a feel for how near to the accepted shape the airframe really is. In this case HpH are to be highly commended - I have checked dozens of measurements from the Montforton book and from the Cooke plans and it is pretty spot on all over. Everything falls right where it should be as far as station points and key dimensions. I made load of card templates to check fuselage cross sections etc and only found one minor issue in just shaping the rear fuselage top to be a bit more pointed.. ..I grew some kahunas and started about my big expensive kit with a big home sander.. ..it felt refreshing to go from fiddling about making a Compass the size of a pea, to doing some man-sized ultra-violence... ..speaking of which, the one thing I wanted to do before I go much further and start chopping out the cockpit is to sort the nose and get rid of the chin radiator scoop - more violence and I sanded a great big hole in it - I put a spinner sized disc on for reference.. even taking this much off wasn't getting the lower cowl right.. ..Graham at Iconair had sent me the manufacturer drawing for the Griffon cowl so I scaled this (again to the model) to make some templates... ..it didn't take long to make up all the profiles and hang them on a keel.. ..got the dremel out and ground / cut / slotted / guessed (a lot) to integrate the lower cowl into the airframe.. ..and this is where I am at - hopefully looking like a Spitfire... I might use fibreglass resin to bond it in - not really sure I have thought that far ahead yet TTFN Peter Edited March 31, 2016 by airscale 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) (EDIT: since corrected.) Umm, Peter, you might need to edit your post- you seem to be doing all the work twice. Nice looking chin! bob Edited March 31, 2016 by gingerbob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Umm, Peter, you might need to edit your post- you seem to be doing all the work twice. Nice looking chin! bob Yes - but it is also twice the fun reading it ;-) René 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 Umm, Peter, you might need to edit your post- you seem to be doing all the work twice. Nice looking chin! bob ha! thanks have cleaned it up now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Air-to-Air Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Thanks for taking the time to share your art with us. Inspirational stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 calling Spitfire gurus.. Does anyone know if the air scoop fitted to a Griffon Mk XIV is the same as fitted to a Mk IX or earlier Merlin Marks? I have fabulous drawings of it in the Monforton book, but it is labeled against Melin versions - would it be the same on a Griffon one? Otherwise I need to find some other drawings TIA Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 It has to be different. Apart from the fact that it has to flow a lot more air, the surface it conforms to is different. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjames68 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Completely different sadlly, the intake hole as has been rightly pointed out is much larger and a different shape 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miggers Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 calling Spitfire gurus.. Does anyone know if the air scoop fitted to a Griffon Mk XIV is the same as fitted to a Mk IX or earlier Merlin Marks? I have fabulous drawings of it in the Monforton book, but it is labeled against Melin versions - would it be the same on a Griffon one? Otherwise I need to find some other drawings TIA Peter Jumpei Temma's drawings are your friend again here Peter. Somewhere on his site are drawings of the Spitfire XIX and also the 22. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Absolutely phenomenal modelling! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 Jumpei Temma's drawings are your friend again here Peter. Somewhere on his site are drawings of the Spitfire XIX and also the 22. thanks chaps I have started to look for pics - unfortunately plans and sectional diagrams are real thin in the ground, though thanks for the jog about Jun's plans I had forgotten about that one.... this is a good one, and there are a few more of this XIV.. ..also the PE just arrived - I am pleased with how it has come out and is in nickel silver so should chip nicely if needed.. this is one of the bulkheads - i part etched the edges of the lightening holes in the hope I can push from the other side and give a 'stamped out' effect.. ..about 10 parts in the throttle & pitch control... front and back of IP and lots of little bits - there must be 300 parts on here... the IP is a revision of the 1/24 one I will be bringing out soon.. ..PPD are just fabulous - turned this around in 3 days from getting the artwork back soon TTFN Peter 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Seems to me you have most of a complete new kit in the making. Some well done vac-form parts from a collaborator to provide the main airframe components and it would be a highly saleable proposition. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 That's awesome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miggers Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 (edited) thanks chaps I have started to look for pics - unfortunately plans and sectional diagrams are real thin in the ground, though thanks for the jog about Jun's plans I had forgotten about that one.... this is a good one, and there are a few more of this XIV.. TTFN Peter To be honest Peter,with the exception of the 47(and you already know why),the two-stage Griffon engined airframes (XIV,XVIII,XIX,21,22 and 24,plus Seafire 45&46)would have pretty much shared the same carb.intake. Not sure about the "short" Griffon'ed Seafire XV&XVII,that engine only being a single-stage so would use less air. Edited April 1, 2016 by Miggers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjames68 Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Dam that etch looks good, what would that sheet cost for those of us that also build the big hph kits? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 thanks chaps Dam that etch looks good, what would that sheet cost for those of us that also build the big hph kits? why thank you - I only had one made so it is more expensive than a batch run - this one was about 50quid but worth every penny for an A4 sized fret and all the work it will save me - if anyone wanted one they can PM me... so onto the butchery seminar... ..as the nose was cut wide open, I thought I better open out the exhaust areas and fix something to mount the exhaust pipes to later. There will be no engine so this is a bit of fakery.. I folded up some litho and slotted it to represent the framework that surrounds the pipes - the slots are not where the pipes will go, but rather a structural feature below them... the flat mounting areas are at the angle of the Griffon cylinder banks.. ..then I could fix the lower cowl shape matrix thingy into place as a basis for forming the new nose.. lots of CA and bits of shim to lock it in tight.. ..then sprayed it all black so as to hide the lack of engine... --I needed some thick plastic to fill the gaps and my inner hoarder paid off... I had saved a bit of a roller blind I threw out - it's a plastic weight that holds the blind in shape and as it was a sort of aerofoil shape I thought I would keep it about 3 years ago.. well it made for some nice thick and best of all curved sheet panels.. ..lots of them fitted in all the gaps... ..and sanded to the black lines of the shape structure below... ..with a quick shot of primer, I think I am getting there - good job I don't need a flawless surface as this will all be covered in metal.. ..having a ball with this one as you can probably tell... TTFNPeter 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Rich Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 [the audience gasps as Peter takes his saw to the beautiful and bare airframe of this virgin HPH kit] Oh the drama! I do have to say that you have awoken the inner hoarder in me too. I'm starting to keep all types of packaging and interesting bits that look like they may be used to make something cool. I am going to mediate that (of course) as my wife doesn't exactly get that ideology. Standing applause from the peanut gallery! PR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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