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When 3 Become 1 - Converting an Italeri Ju52/3m to a Ju52/1m *** COMPLETED ***


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I managed to finish the top hatch exterior corrugation:

 

tpV7xFG.jpg

 

Then it was time to look at something that's been bothering me for quite a while - the canopy! Like, where the :swear: am I going to get one with this wacky geometry, as if someone had built an entire aircraft behind a dilapidated lean-to greenhouse just to see what it would look like. :christmas:

 

Well yesterday afternoon I came up with a germ of an idea, but first I had to trim the front of the fuselage where it would eventually sit:

 

3wo4Yf4.jpg

 

The front canopy appears to be one of those areas which evolved somewhat even over this short production run, but in the end I went for something that I at least had a couple of reasonable reference photos. Initially I tried making it from bits of clear acetate sheeting from a blister pack, but I found it very difficult to get the right shape. Instead, I resorted to using offcuts of 0.5mm styrene sheet. The main advantages were firstly I could make the panels separately and glue them to the desired shape; secondly, I could mark the various components in pencil before cutting them out:

 

lCmjXDC.jpg

 

When offered up to the modified canopy, it looked like this:

 

BSHLasp.jpg

 

Not a million miles off, to be fair! There was a bit of faffing around with trimming bits off here and there, to allow for the roof which in the model has a noticeable 'hump' to it just behind the canopy, something that the real 1m seems to lack. However, once done it looked quite acceptable:

 

g4yliJo.jpg

 

As you can see, I included the nose assembly to see how the whole lot fits together. I had this idea that now I have the basic shape of all the separate panels, I can break it apart and use each piece as a template from which to cut (or possibly fold) the acetate pieces into the right geometry. Alternatively I could cut out the apertures and leave the styrene as the framework against which I can apply some acetate panes to glaze it!

 

The gap between the roof and the canopy will be closed using more styrene sheet, as indeed will the gap between the canopy and the nose. That's for another time, though; I'm off for a lie down in a darkened room!

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17 hours ago, Richard502 said:

Sir, 

you are a very courageous, persistent, knowledgable and oh so precise modeler. A most admirable build!

Richard

Thank you Richard, that is most kind of you. Not entirely sure I am deserving of such accolades, but I'll take them! :)

 

Well, this morning I decided to bite the bullet and try to make a one piece canopy from a piece of acetate sheet, using my mock-up as a template:

 

pPTfHDl.jpg

 

Trust me, this hurt much more than it should have! But at least I was able to arrange the parts so that I stood a chance of getting a single piece out of it.

 

I first covered the acetate with some masking tape and arranged the template pieces on top, secured with small blobs of Blu-Tak. You can probably just about make out that I marked each corner, and each fold point, with a needle:

 

UnyAaqB.jpg

 

Once that was done, the template's work was complete. I removed the bits of styrene, and played my own personal game of 'join the dots' :)

 

AlIjLGR.jpg

 

The shape was then cut out, and the intended fold lines were scored on the reverse side with a panel line scriber:

 

D8M0Wtz.jpg

 

With the masking tape peeled off, and the shape all folded up, it looked like this:

 

mf6F20a.jpg

 

Not at all shabby, I'm thinking! Go me!!! :thumbsup:

 

Still to do is the final gluing of the edges, and the application of the framework. I am still experimenting with what glue to use for this, so stay tuned!

 

 

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The framework is now applied:

 

52LvM2H.jpg

 

In place, not too bad:

 

MZxPFJc.jpg

 

A bit of a tidy up needed in places, but I am otherwise very happy with that!

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21 hours ago, dogsbody said:

Dang! That canopy looks awesome! Nice work.

 

 

Chris

Thanks, Chris, much appreciated.

18 hours ago, Orso said:

Impressive

Thanks Björn, very kind of you to say so.

 

A small update today - the rear bulkhead. This is another area where the kit differed with the 1m reference photos, and in quite a fundamental way - necessitating yet more styrene sheet:

 

bHKKdKv.jpg

 

I made another sliver of corrugated plastic from my mould, and used the results to cover the new bulkhead as per the reference photo:

 

rnZD2I3.jpg

 

I still need to make a small hatch door to go in the hole in the middle, but that will be for another time.

 

There you go! Thanks for stopping by :)

 

 

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Another update, well several small updates really...

 

The rear section access door is now made:

 

AFlBIJZ.jpg


I didn't corrugate the other side as the door will be fixed in the open position:

 

cnVj7XT.jpg

 

I decided I am going to be making a new bulkhead for the cockpit - to that end, I removed the front end of the roof section:

 

tGDpjd5.jpg

 

Finally for today, I made a start on the interior detailing, filling where necessary and marking main the spars of the interior framework:

 

x0psx9D.jpg

 

I was fortunate enough to have received some very useful documentation at the beginning of this venture - a promotional brochure produced by Junkers - which contains images of the internal framework prior to 'skinning'. To be honest, I regret not looking at these more closely sooner, as if I had done so I might have positioned the fuselage window flaps more accurately. Still, the anomaly won't be too obvious, I hope!

 

So thanks again to @Orso for that information.

 

Lastly I made a start on corrugating the exterior of the starboard side:

 

BIIvHWe.jpg

 

Hopefully I will complete this external bit over the weekend.

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External corrugations completed:

 

DMgPPWH.jpg

 

From another look at the brochure images of the internal framework, I could see that it would benefit my quest to build the cockpit IP if I could include the engine compartment bulkhead at the front of the nose:

 

Nj8IvLJ.jpg

 

However, to do that and be able to fit the nose to the fuselage (when the time comes!) I needed to remove the pre-moulded nose completely:

 

BhlzoFU.jpg

 

Finally, just because I felt confident enough to do so, I made a start on this:

 

j5CcINc.jpg

 

Yes folks, we are foiling proper, starting with the starboard wing :)

 

Thanks for watching! :thumbsup2:

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2 hours ago, Courageous said:

Great progress Clive, she's looking great. Canopy was ingenious work too.

 

Stuart

Thanks Stuart, much appreciated.

 

Today's little update - I embarked on applying some interior details to the starboard fuselage:

 

KGJGkj8.jpg

 

A fair way still to go, but I'm pleased with how it's looking right now.

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On 7/29/2019 at 9:51 AM, SafetyDad said:

Excellent stuff! Ingenious problem-solving and careful, clean work.

 

Keep going Clive!

 

SD 

Cheers, Mr SafetyDad!

On 7/29/2019 at 3:52 PM, Marklo said:

Excellent work. Making me start to feel brave enough to take on a JI .......

Thanks Mr Marklo, for your kind comment! You should totally have a go!

 

More progress over the past few days. Having studied the few cockpit photos I have, I noticed that there was a kind of a step down into the area where the foot-pedals come up. So, I decided to try and emulate that:

 

wta0Vq1.jpg

 

I also finished off the internal corrugations on the fuselage:

 

lXTewQq.jpg

 

I still need to do a similar thing to the roof section as it will be visible through the open doors.

 

Finally, I completed my flight deck bulkhead:

 

BPnT3WT.jpg

 

nCM4Vl4.jpg

 

I'm going to use the door supplied with the kit.

 

That's all for now, thanks as ever for watching and of course your comments :)

 

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A small update - starboard wing completely foiled, save for a small area which should be doable once the wing and the fuselage are joined:

 

qm56GrR.jpg

 

 

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1 hour ago, Courageous said:

That looks rather nice. Good work.

 

Stuart

Thanks Stuart!

 

I think I am going to have to look again at suitable decals for this project. The two potential sources on page 1 of this thread both seem to be not taking on any orders. I could possibly try printing my own on some decal paper I have.

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21 minutes ago, Marklo said:

Looking lovely. What are you using for the foil?

Thank you sir, most kind. The foil is simply plumber's aluminium tape, available from most DIY outlets.

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Another small step today - the tail fin. It needs to be bigger, and as alluded to in previous posts, I will be doing the 'swept back' version of the tail and rudder, given that I have at least one reference photo with the aircraft having it and skis (the other attribute I will be opting for in my finished model, hopefully). I decided it would be better to part the two tail sections from their respective fuselage halves, then join them together to form a separate tail fin, to which I can then add my required mods:

 

ZMLIjEY.jpg

 

I then made up a shim of thick styrene, and glued that to the front of the existing fin piece:

 

mz9PZGj.jpg

 

I see much filling, sanding and corrugating in my immediate future!

 

Thanks as ever for watching :)

 

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I needed to trim the trailing edge of the fin part from the kit to make the geometry make sense with the rather large rudder - the same reason I had to cut off the small bit of the end of the fuselage where the tail wheel would be sited -  but this is how it would look:

 

UtaElYj.jpg

 

Early days yet, and of course there is still the question of applying the corrugations, but I am quietly pleased with how similar that looks to the reference photos.

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On 8/4/2019 at 1:02 PM, Martian Hale said:

This is styrene worrying of the finest order, very impressed.

 

Martian 👽

Thank you Your Other-Worldliness, I am indeed honoured to read that from one such as yourself.

On 8/4/2019 at 6:16 PM, Courageous said:

Bare feet in the cave, not a good move, ask me how I know.

 

Stuart

Sage advice indeed, sir! I had to look several times at the photo, but eventually I did see what you were referring to - I was photo-bombed by my own foot :D

 

More progress over the past few days - the fuselage 'roof' interior is now done, including ribs that will be visible around the open roof hatch:

 

mN4qdxH.jpg

 

I also fitted ribs on the inside of the fuselage sides. The reference photos I have show some kind of rods threaded through these ribs at a height up to the bottom of the 'window' panels, so I used some thin craft wire to represent that:

 

BjGBMoR.jpg

 

Just the port side done at the moment, but it won't take me long to do the starboard side.

 

The other progress was in the area of decals - I decided I would try sending a message to Mika at Arctic Decals to sound him out as to his current availability. He very promptly replied with the news that he should be able to do some around September. Apparently he was expecting an email from me, on account of he was (and hopefully still is :) ) following this thread! Well, that's good enough for me. I am trying to get it ready for a club competition in January, so I should be all done and ready by then - fingers crossed and all that!

 

 

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