Mike Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 Been doing a little reading, and it appears that the 262's nose gear was apt to shear off if towed just using the bar, so there were usually two additional cable attached to the main gear, which seem to sprout from thet centre disc on the bar. You can see two eyes there, so I'm going to guess that's where the cables hooked on, and that they went taut before the bulk of the drag was placed on the nose gear, perhaps just using that connection to steer the aircraft rather than drag it. Unfortunately, with the online photos being a bit grainy, it's difficult to see the cables and even harder to find details of their attachment points Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 56 minutes ago, Mike said: Been doing a little reading, and it appears that the 262's nose gear was apt to shear off if towed just using the bar, so there were usually two additional cable attached to the main gear, which seem to sprout from thet centre disc on the bar. You can see two eyes there, so I'm going to guess that's where the cables hooked on, and that they went taut before the bulk of the drag was placed on the nose gear, perhaps just using that connection to steer the aircraft rather than drag it. Unfortunately, with the online photos being a bit grainy, it's difficult to see the cables and even harder to find details of their attachment points Mike you're 100% correct with this. I've just been looking in Vol 3 of the Smith & Creek and there is a section on the U/c and it's weakness. On the front nose wheel door there is a maintenance note to ground crew not to tow the aircraft by the nose wheel alone. They attach a bridle setup to each of the main wheels which is then attached to the front of the towing rod. I'll take a couple of photo's of the revenant part of the page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 ok these photos are just for illustration and reference purpose only. ground crew info attachment point tow bridal and super cool shorts....must get me a pair for next summer! note eyelet on RHS of nose wheel, I think thats the head of the pin that goes through the nose wheel hub to secure the towing rod. drawing of towing rod and bridal Hopefully this helps, the drawings should be enough to be able to reproduce a towing rod. If you have access to the book then this info is on pg. 655 (volume 3) 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 You beauty Rich! I'm half way through building a towing arm for it now, and have got the major assemblies (extended A-frame and tube) pretty much roughed in. The hooks for the axle need trimming, as does the hook for the vehicle end, but I'm leaving that until the glue is fully cured, as they're tiny parts that would break easily at this stage. Meantime I'm washing the panels of the P-63 & thinking about what needs doing next to the 262. More detail painting I think, plus a bit of chipping & weathering of the cockpit interior. Looks a bit pristine at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 Just so you don't all think I've been sitting on my duff doing nada, here's the state of play as of now. I've painted, shaded, washed, scuffed and decaled the cockpit, with a coat of matt varnish on top to protect it all, and have also done all the gear bay doors, the fuselage interior (although I've not weathered the BA compartment walls yet), and wired up the main gear. I'm waiting for the Molotow Liquid Chrome to set up fully before I mask over it to matt down the gear legs, which will be the end of them, and off-screen, I've also painted up the wheels in their black and rubber shades. I'm now waiting for the HGW Luftwaffe seatbelts to arrive so I can finish off the cockpit and glue all the sub-assemblies together, then think about closing up the fuselage, which will be nice. I'm not bothering with the radio & other gear in the rear fuselage, as they won't be seen, and they all add weight aft of the CoG, which is a bad thing for a tricycle geared aircraft with limited additional space for nose weight. I'm hoping the metal BA position will be enough, as afterall HB provided it, but I may be able to slot a bit between the BA and pilot's stations, however I've not yet looked at that, so I might be talking I've also just noticed that I need to paint the straps on the tanks in the main wheel wells, as well as those I made on the gear legs, plus a little dot of colour on the tensioners too. I've also not yet painted the rear of the instrument panel, or added any wiring, which I fully intended to do, but must have forgotten 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 gosh for someone who said they're a slow builder you're making quick progress!! What you've done so far in that photo looks great, some really lovely paint work going on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 52 minutes ago, trickyrich said: gosh for someone who said they're a slow builder you're making quick progress!! I am? Maybe it's the huge gaps in productivity that's the problem then? Doing a bit of small part adding to the at the KingCobra moment, and might build up the truck chassis if I get time so I know where to start with the scratch-built tanker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Looking forward to seeing this one done, it's going to be an unusual model. Looks like a great start so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 17, 2018 Author Share Posted May 17, 2018 Cheers chap While I'm waiting for the belts, I've built up the chassis for the Tamiya 3-ton truck, which was a bit disappointing in places. There were 3 instances where parts snapped because of what I call wave-fronts of styrene that have been too cool to join and properly merge, leaving a weakness in the parts. It usually happens in the narrow bits, and this was the case with the exhaust, the steering links, and the two cross-members on the chassis. There are also some really inconweenient ejector pin marks on the interior too, so I'm waiting for those remedies to set up before I can obliterate them. I managed to get the the rear bulkhead and floor pan of the cab in place on the chassis, and with the wheels just perched on, I've done some basic calculations and proportions for the tank so I could cut some balsa chunks to make the tank from. My thickest part was a bit shallow, so I've laminiated it with a piece of 3.3mm stuff and smelt balsa glue for the first time in around 40 years. It still smells about the same as I remember That's now clamped up setting, so there's not a whole heap of other things I can do whilst purposely ignoring the state of the workshop and all the DIY chores that I can't manage at the moment Once the glue has gone off enough to de-clamp it I'll take a pic of it perched on the chassis, and then start sanding it to shape. I'm going to turn the piece into a long part that's the same shape throughout its length, then add the boxed-in sections on the ends to complete the shape, as all sections have the same roof contour, so it makes sense. I'm not sure whether I'll wrap the balsa core in styrene or sheet metal as yet, but that brings up the issue of making the joins neat & tidy, which I'll address as I go along. I specialise in winging it I might actually glue up the engine nacelles whilst I'm waiting, thinking of it. I've also got the truck wheels to paint up, so I'm not as devoid of modelling tasks as I initially thought, and I still have the aerial to glue onto the KingCobra before I can finish off by adding the cab doors and call if done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 17, 2018 Author Share Posted May 17, 2018 Now is this the most realistic T-Stoff tanker model you've ever seen? No, me neither, but it can only get better 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 18, 2018 Share Posted May 18, 2018 Mike, might it be worth a post on the Missing Lynx 1/48 forum, see if you can dodge the scratch work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 18, 2018 Author Share Posted May 18, 2018 10 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Mike, might it be worth a post on the Missing Lynx 1/48 forum, see if you can dodge the scratch work? I'm not a member chap - whyfore? Will someone scratch it for me? Exprain prease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 18, 2018 Author Share Posted May 18, 2018 I spent an hour or so sanding away at my block of balsa before realising that I'd got the profile wrong due to using a 1:35 set's pictures as reference. I'd profiled it to an oval, when in fact the sides of the tank are fairly square, then roll sharply onto the roof which is curved smoothly over the top to the other side. I had a go at replicating this with the same piece of balsa, but I wasn't happy with the wobbles, and the potential for endless sanding to get it nice & smooth. There was also the issue to adding the end fairings to balsa, so I slept on it. This is where I was last night. I decided to have another go using styrene sheet for the framework, as I felt I could make a better fist of flat surfaces, and use thin styrene (or metal) sheet to create the curved roof and tank underside parts. Using the measurements I'd roughed out last night I made two end-cap profiles from styrene, and four end cap with fairing profiles for the boxy parts. I tacked these all together to get the profile of the curves identical, then split them up to start creating some structures. I began with gluing the tank profiles to the inner walls to give the underside of the tank something to stick to, and then boxed in the end fairings, leaving the rear one open until near the end so I could do the sloped section. I reinforced all the joins with square-sectioned styrene rod, cut a spine into the top of the assembly, and used my engineers' squares to get everything perpendicular, and the desk to get all the side surfaces lined up. The flatish tank sides were added with a bit of an overhang to later shape to match the roof profile, which you can see almost done in the pics below. I'm not bothering with having opening rear doors, as I really can't see the mileage in portraying the pumping gear for the T-Stoff when it's just being used to tow a 262 The form is rough as a bear's bum-bum at the moment, but once I'm happy with the shape it'll be smoothed on and the details added such as the louvers on the panels, the tool drawers, the top filler cap and that sort of thing. Then I've also got to decide how it's attached to the existing ladder chassis of the truck, which I think will involve removal of the existing risers that are there to support the truck-bed. There are a couple of cross-beams under the open tank area, which shouldn't be too difficult to replicate, but as you can imagine, it's usually pretty dark under there in the pictures. For that reason I'll also have to figure out how to retro-fit the kit rear fenders to the new tank, as although they're the same shape, their fitting points are now no-longer approrpriate, so will have to be removed and the correct fixtures divined and scratch-built. As you can imagine, there's been no sign of the HGW seatbelts yet 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 18, 2018 Share Posted May 18, 2018 Thought someone on the 1/48 forum might know of an obscure resin tanker kit.....But it looks like you are doing just fine without one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 there's some pretty nice scratch building work going on there! Have you done a search for images of the truck in question? There maybe some good detailed stuff out there. Doing the frame and then wrapping it in thin plastic sheet sounds like the way to go as well. Will be interesting to see how it all turns out........theirs always the Kettenkraftrad if it all goes badly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffreyK Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 Looking very good!!! But what's wring with the SBS one? https://sbsmodel.com/model/SBS-48033/kfz.385-opel-blitz-t-soff-conversion-set-for-italeri-kit Cheers J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 19, 2018 Author Share Posted May 19, 2018 2 hours ago, JeffreyK said: Looking very good!!! But what's wring with the SBS one? https://sbsmodel.com/model/SBS-48033/kfz.385-opel-blitz-t-soff-conversion-set-for-italeri-kit Bum... bum, bum and bum! It's designed for the Italeri kit, but I've asked them if it'll fit the Tamiya one too. I might have to avail myself of that if so, as it looks rather nice :tasty: Meantime, here's the progress I'd made before finding out the above Planking: I used a whole pack of 2.5mm2 strip during the building, and after the planks set up overnight, I skinned the top and bottom of the tank. It's pretty rough at the moment, so I'll prime it and do any filling/sanding to get it looking a little less rustic, then decide whether to shelve it or fork out some readies for the set, providing it'll fit 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 very nice indeed!! Skinning was the way to do it, now you just need to make a silicon mould of it and you're done! Now what's your postal address as I have some stuff for you to do as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 19, 2018 Author Share Posted May 19, 2018 51 minutes ago, trickyrich said: Now what's your postal address as I have some stuff for you to do as well! On yer bike Rich! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azureglo Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 Looking at the ease with which you did this master, you weren't one of the "Mikes" in Two Mikes resins by any chance? A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 19, 2018 Author Share Posted May 19, 2018 Posting a few pictures of it in progress can make anything seem easy - I was winging it all the way. I had to exercise my braincell to figure out how to make up the three different shapes, but nothing too taxing as it's nothing more than three shapes that have a common top profile. That's the tricky bit. All the rest was just getting things square Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Geeze these Hobby Boss 262s look pretty good. I was on the fence about buying some but I think I will now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 11 hours ago, Brad said: Geeze these Hobby Boss 262s look pretty good. I was on the fence about buying some but I think I will now. They're pretty good OOB, and make the old Dragon/Trimaster ones look positively amateurish Squirted a bit of primer on the bodyshell after some basic filler work, which exposed a few seams that need filling, but overall not too bad looking. I think the transition to the roof might need softening a bit, but I've got an SBS conversion coming shortly to compare my handywork with, so I'll probably slow down for a few days on this effort. It's patterned on the Italeri kit, so I'm kind of trialling it for them in a way, but unless Italeri or Tamiya have seriously diverged on the length of the thing, I think we should be good to go. Here's the tank shell as it stood today: Who knows what happens next? Hopefully some seatbelts on Monday 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 While I'm in a bit of a limbo period with both elements of this build, I thought I might as well slap together a few bits of styrene to busy up the BA's position, so using @Mottlemaster's handy pics that he delivered to my thread on the first page Probably not to scale, or anything, but they look ok, and once I've got them painted they should just add just enough visual interest to the area 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 21, 2018 Author Share Posted May 21, 2018 I did a bit of detail painting today, after adding all the wiring I'd oiriginally intended to do, but subsequently forgot. It all turned out ok in the end, and now I just need to pick out some of the pilot's controls in the appropriate colours before I can finish it off. I've also got to fit the gunsight, even if it may not have been installed in an unarmed airframe :shrug: Here are the fuselage sides: A quick squint at the cockpit (I need to touch-in the top of the IP) and bomb-aimer's station: ...and finally the superb Eduard resin wheels. Why not? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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