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Mitsubishi SM-1 AZ model K3M Pine kit conversion


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Oh my, oh my...

Here a view of the struttery and landing gear elements on the kit. NOTICE SOMETHING??:

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Yeap, there are two left fore struts (and no, there not two right fore struts):

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How would I like that some manufactures would build their own kits, just to try them, I mean, to see if thinks work, just saying....

Sigh....

Now I will have to brake one of them and re-position the part in the opposite angle. No big deal, agreed, but it happens to be on an area that will carry a lot of stress, plus the additional weight of the resin floats, plus the additional struts associated with the floats.

Hey, aftermarket entrepreneurs, stuff your pockets with money fabricating the "other" strut. Lotsa kitsa outa there.

P/S: thought of modifying just the faired joint, chopping and reversing its nose and cone, didn't yah? no can't do, the narrower strut will need to be re-positioned anyway, since it is sided, aligned with the leading edge of the main strut.

 

 

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The floats are being rigged, and the strut issue is corrected by separating the main strut from the faired hub, metal-pin it, and re-inserting at the proper angle. Still, there are two dimples, one in the fairing and other in the smaller strut that need re-doing (as they went to the other side):

40585797251_94368a394f_b.jpg

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Stop Press!!!!

Looking at photos I realized that the struts have no bend at all!

They are straight, unlike the kit´s parts!

I decided to take matters into my own hands and just make the from scratch.

First, a suitable diameter piece of sprue (yes, you know one day they might be useful, and we keep them, in case an intergalactic race comes to visit and happen to have sprue leftovers as currency!) is given the shape of the tail of the teardrop fairing:

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Then that part is cut off, and the head, roundish bit is sanded and in turn also cut off:

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Then front and end are glued together, and the struts prepared (hey, someone wants to get rid of those Contrail airfoiled struts? I really use them!):

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Alternatively, you could look in your spares bin for two identical balloon antennas (unlikely):

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Smaller teardrop fairings can be made from styrene rod stock, using the same procedure:

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Bigger strut attached to fairing (notice "bent" kit's strut, incorrect):

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Smaller struts attached:

39889929814_ebb828b3b5_b.jpg

 

But you can just crack just a tad the kit struts and make them flat, and re-glue and reinforce perhaps with a coat of cyano glue and accelerator.

 

The tail is glued to the fuselage. Notice that I have added two sets of louvers (Archer printed resin transfers) not depicted in the kit:

40601031351_18e19b814a_b.jpg

 

Edited by Moa
to correct typo
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The "fixed (straighten out)" kit struts and the home-made ones (with tiny metal pins at their ends).

Both would now work:

39915020584_54218fdeab_b.jpg

 

In order to get the complex floats' struttery right, I need first to assemble the fuselage and wing, with wing struts included, therefore they will be painted beforehand. Here the black base for the aluminium color. The cowl will have a more metallic tone, whilst the doped fabric will be more like white aluminium.

Before painting started, all holes for Pitot probes (two), control leads, and fuel tank conduits were drilled:

40643857531_649832455d_b.jpg

 

 

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The wings and struts are on, now the floats can be rigged. As they come, the kit's struts will produce an exaggerated dihedral, seen in some plans, but absent on all photos. There is some dihedral of course, but not nearly as much as the kit will produce if the struts are not slightly shortened.

The whole process of setting the wings and struts is really not functional, at all. Do yourself a favor and engineer another solution, like cutting the puny pegs on the wings and installing longer (if thinner) ones made of metal, and drill a bit deeper the holes on the fuselage where they go, to obtain a positive lock. The kit fails here in producing a solid joint, and the wings will keep detaching themselves as you try to align them and glue the struts:

40741270231_e2b3ed1d51_b.jpg

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Now with this section built, as said the float arrangement can be worked separately:

40732490212_e31fa4e52d_b.jpg

 

39879540315_a1d8794db6_b.jpg

 

Meanwhile, a little bit of attention to details. The plane had the tail control cables coming on the back of the fuselage approximately up to where the wing roots are. The cables were guided by sections of tube.

I will use very thin sections of nickel/silver tube for that:

39879540445_5d90ca27ba_b.jpg

 

Perhaps a little thicker, though (still will be to scale) since 0.1 mm is very difficult to thread, and the tube's end gets slightly crimped as you roll-cut it.

Edited by Moa
to correct typo
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Nice work. I had the same problem with the wings on my AZmodel Morane 'G' kit. I removed the lugs (which were in the wrong location anyway) and drilled holes for some short lengths of stuff wire. It seemed to work just fine.

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More struttery thingies are added. The short reinforcements go only on the aft wing struts (the kit ignores them).

Also installed are the ones that go from the teardrop to the wing root.

All this is good, since the kit's wings are unnecessarily heavy (kind of chunky molds) and also the heavy resin floats are going to be connected to this array, so the more reinforcements the better:

39914920465_ca93935d67_b.jpg

 

This seaplane had two Pitots, one aiming downwards on the right wing, and another aiming up and ahead on the left wing:

39914920275_75ceef2126_b.jpg

 

Note: if you are building the kit's normal, land version, have a look at diagram 11. Part 25 doesn't seem to exist in photos, but some times part 24 (the bit going to the nose area from the teardrop) will in photos give the impression of being in the position shown in the diagram for part 25 (quite confusing, by the way). Something to check if you are building this kit.

 

 

Edited by Moa
to correct typo
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To confer rigidity to the float assembly, the two aft struts that connect floats and fuselage are measured, made, tried, trimmed, and glued to the floats.

Once the float assembly is painted like the rest of the model, then it can be secured to the fuselage stably with four attaching points, leaving the front connecting struts in turn to be measured, made, tried and glued on.

To navigate uncharted waters is not only challenging for seaplanes! No kit parts here, you make them as you go!

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This seaplane version did not have the oil radiator in the usual positions seen in photos of the land plane, i.e. under the chin or on the left side, but on the right side of the nose.

It is clear that it's not the same radiator seen in the land plane photos, but I can't quite make its shape from the few photos I have, so I am experiment a bit here to decide what to eventually glue on:

39973330555_1d4a7a5fa3_b.jpg

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