Dave Swindell Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 I found this little gem in a mainly RC model shop whilst killing time in Singapore before flying home last month. With a club meeting tomorrow evening and Southwell show on Sunday and no new models to put on the table I thought I ought to get my finger out and build something. So 4 oclock this afternoon I sat down at the kitchen table and spread this out:- One sheet of heavy gauge etched brass, 3 white metal castings and a screw is the sum total of the parts, Various tweezers and knives, superglue and a needle in a pin vise to apply it. Steel rule and hold and fold at the ready in case they were needed, cutting mat and a set of instructions, all I though I would need at the ready. Stage 1 is actually a small trial piece to test cutting and folding the brass, neat idea, and really useful to get a feel for how it will handle because the first real piece to cut and fold up is quite complex. The small test piece is at the top under the 5 on the rule, cut out and a couple of ribs twisted into position. Right in the centre is the white metal nacelle body with etch machine gun fitted. Above this is the main piece of brass folding up into the lower wing, fuselage and undercarriage, all secured wit ah couple of half etch tabs folded over in a couple of slots. The wing ribs are then twisted 90 degrees ensuring the slots for the spars are uppermost. Time elapsed so far - 22 minutes 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted October 11, 2018 Author Share Posted October 11, 2018 Next up was joining the white metal nacelle to the fuselage centre section. I tried the superglue, but wasn't having much success, so mixed up a dollop of 5 minute epoxy and used that instead. Having trouble getting focus here, but you get the idea... The instructions move on to fitting front and rear spars, interplane struts and rigging at this point, but to let the epoxy cure a bit I jumped over to the top wing, which was much simpler to do than the lower one... And as the unused epoxy was still tacky I carried on with the complete tail section, three parts here, the tail struts in one part folded into a V, the tailplane slots over 4 half etched tags which fold down to secure it, the the fin/rudder hooks over the front of the tailplane and is secured with a tag on the bottom of the rudder post. To give the model a little animation I drooped the elevators and bent the rudder to starboard slightly Time elapsed so far - 50 minutes 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted October 11, 2018 Author Share Posted October 11, 2018 The epoxy had set up nicely by now, so step back to fitting spars, struts and rigging. Only 2 pieces (plus those already assembled) but the potential for disaster here seemed high. Both wings at this point were quite flexible, and gingerly putting the rear part in position over the fuselage and along the wing showed there was quite a bit of jiggle room. All that holds it is 4 etch tags that fold over the lower framework (you can see the 4 tags to secure the upper wing sticking up in the photo below), once the part was in position though, the tags could be bent half way one at a time to ensure the part was held in the right position, then folded right over to secure the join. With the aft frame in position, it was a fairly simple job to repeat the process with the forward frame Then the top wing was offered up into position and secured by folding the tags over a bit at a time again. Gentle pressure between finger and thumb pushed both wings firmly into the slots and the tags were squeezed tight with a pair of needle nosed tweezers. The final assembly is surprisingly rigid. Time elapsed 1hr 15 minutes. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted October 11, 2018 Author Share Posted October 11, 2018 Next up were the engine and propeller, these were both cut from the fret and the propeller blades each given a twist to give them some pitch. The engine and prop are secured with the screw supplied through a hole in the back of the fuselage section. An etchd tool is supplied on the fret to use as a screwdriver but I'd recommend using a jewellers screwdriver for this as (a) it's easier to line up and screw it in, and (b) the tool was a bit too soft to get the screw thread started, it bent before I could get any "bite" on the screw, once started it was fine though. With the prop and engine in place the rear tail assembly could be offered up, one side was slid into place and a tag at each boom end bent over to secure it, then the other side could be located and secured. Time elapsed 1hr 37 minutes 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted October 11, 2018 Author Share Posted October 11, 2018 (edited) This left only the two white metal wheels to clean up and fit, a little flash round the rim needed cleaning off and the holes in the centre opening up slightly so that they could be pushed over the axles and secured by bending over a tag at each end. And there it was, basic airframe completed. Total build time - 1 hour 48 minutes And a shot with a rule up close, it's around 2" long! The etch fret supplies an relief etched name plate, this was sprayed and put to dry whilst dinner was prepared and consumed, and camera battery recharged for RFI pictures Edited October 12, 2018 by Dave Swindell Link to RFI added 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 Very Impressive 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUB-SAM Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Nicely done, these are interesting little kits. I've considered buying some to give me various pieces of 'frame' PE for scratching in 1/144. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Lovely work. but oh so tiny. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 You, sir, are a braver man than I! Wonderful work, truly. My only query... How about the rigging? 😵 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted October 12, 2018 Author Share Posted October 12, 2018 Thanks for your support & kind comments, guys! 10 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Very Impressive 👍 I like it too! 2 hours ago, SUB-SAM said: Nicely done, these are interesting little kits. I've considered buying some to give me various pieces of 'frame' PE for scratching in 1/144. That might work, but they're not exactly cheap 54 minutes ago, Marklo said: Lovely work. but oh so tiny. Yes, I had my optivisor working overtime! 49 minutes ago, John D.C. Masters said: You, sir, are a braver man than I! Wonderful work, truly. My only query... How about the rigging? 😵 Most of the rigging is included in the etch, and is grossly overscale, but then these are more of an impression than an attempt at 100% accuracy (and I'm not going to add the missing bits of rigging either!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Somehow I missed this. This is really impressive, and quick! Hat off to you for tackling something so small and to such a high standard. P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Utterly charming! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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