Marklo Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 (edited) ok[/URL] Not a big fan of modern jets, but I find the early ones fascinating, I have a heinkel 178 and a gloster in my stash, so I've decided to build the four earliest jets( he 280 would be no four) I may add an XP 59 and even the Russian first jets later. So for no particular reason I'm kicking off with the Caproni. Starting with a set of plans , the cutting commences. Going to vac form the fuselage, but I'll probably make the wings and tail from a balsa core and skin them with thin plastic card. Edited November 23, 2019 by Marklo 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted November 25, 2019 Author Share Posted November 25, 2019 More bits and a start on assembly. The fuselage will be a number of pieces, first off the nose and tailpipe will be separate to ensure I get a circular profile. I've split the cockpit transversely as this will make building the interior and molding the canopy easier. The rest of the fuselage will be split vertically but I may end up splitting the parts as my I don't think my vacuum box is big enough to mold the fuselage in 1 go. I suppose I could make a custom vacuum box, but that might be a lot more work than just splitting the fuselage, hmmm 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted November 26, 2019 Author Share Posted November 26, 2019 Started to assemble the formers. Attached the first layer of Balsa on the wing blanks. Plan is to put a layer each side, bevel the end to the correct diehedral angle, shape the balsa and then sheet it with 10 thou plastic card. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey-1980 Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Fantastic start so far! Very impressed with your scratch building too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 2, 2019 Author Share Posted December 2, 2019 Started shaping the wings and adding some more formers to the fuselage. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Looks like a challenging shape with all those curves and fillets. Looking forward to this! Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 2, 2019 Author Share Posted December 2, 2019 It’s mostly a fairly cylindrical tube with tapered ends. It gets complex where the wings join the fuselage and around the horizontal stabs. Next step will be to infill the fuselage with bass wood then carve it out should be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 My you do work quickly Mark. Excellent start on a completely new type for me: and I am very interested in your methods of construction so will be following carefully. P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Just found this and will be tagging along for sure. Looking very good so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 4, 2019 Author Share Posted December 4, 2019 (edited) I’m afraid I’m all fits and starts. I think I have about 12 wips at the moment, at the moment the walrus, caproni, mustang and some me 262 butchery ( I’m more or less making a 262 HG III for our what if 2 go) are getting the attention, but that could change on a whim. The caproni is a bit of weirdness, it’s not a true jet but a motor jet, a piston engine driving a ducted impeller. It flew for the first time one year to the day of the Hienkel 178 which had been kept secret, and was announced as the first jet flight until the details of the H178 were retrospectively revealed, mr Caproni and Campini must have felt pretty aggrieved at that! Edited December 4, 2019 by Marklo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kushan_Farsight Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Always thought this was a most unusual design, probably closer to the first ducted fan plane than a true 'Jet'. Good work so far, looking forwards to the vacuum process! Will you plan to have the tail section removable on your scale model? This shot always looked good if you were going for a diorama recreation! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 4, 2019 Author Share Posted December 4, 2019 (edited) No will probably keep it on, just like I never do pilots I’m not a big fan of cutaways. Wouldn’t be the same without the flames. Actually I like the carving phase since I discovered bass wood. Hopefully I’ll get it infilled and make a start over the weekend. The moulding may be a little tricky as the fuselage is a bit bigger than my larger vacuum box. Torn between splitting it( more filling) and making a larger box( for a one off a lot of extra work). That said there is some pretty complex geometry around the tail so a split might be needed anyway. Edited December 4, 2019 by Marklo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaotic Mike Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Of course, once you've made a bigger box you can make bigger models... Just sayin '... ☺️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 An easy shape to plunge mould, Marklo. Also just saying. Watching your build process with interest. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 5, 2019 Author Share Posted December 5, 2019 It’s mostly a cylinder it gets a little complex at the wing and tail roots and I might just try the fuselage as a plunge mold and vac the nose, tail and canopy. Although I generally find that vac forming is much easier than plunge moulding and give slightly sharper edges. Hmm I’m arguing myself in circles 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 5, 2019 Author Share Posted December 5, 2019 (edited) Started on the infill. I'm using some balsa as core material and then I'll sheet it with basswood, this is mostly because I'm low on bass wood and I want to stretch my stock out a bit. It carves and molds way better than balsa with little or no grain evident once it's sanded smooth, whereas Balsa is easier to work it needs grain filling. Edited December 5, 2019 by Marklo 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 A large composite block of not entirely unlike a Caproni wood. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 10, 2019 Author Share Posted December 10, 2019 now a slightly more Caproni shaped block, and only sliced my fingers twice so far. The more I carve the more I think this will be a mix of moldings and sheeted wood. The nose, canopy and tail are definitely going to be molded, but mostly owing to it's size I may sheet over the form for the rest of the fuselage. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted December 10, 2019 Share Posted December 10, 2019 Looking rustic at this stage, but she’s going to clean up nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 10, 2019 Author Share Posted December 10, 2019 Thank you Steve. Wood will be there or thereabouts contemplating isopon as a filler. Especially if I’m going to use the middle bit in the finished model. Or I could go for milliput, might be a bit less toxic. Next time I won’t be so miserly with the basswood. Still barely managed to stretch my current pieces to get this far, and bass wood is hard to find over here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kushan_Farsight Posted December 10, 2019 Share Posted December 10, 2019 Sorry if ive missed it earlier in the thread but what scale are you building this to? Looks like its beginning to take shape Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 10, 2019 Author Share Posted December 10, 2019 1/48 which is my preferred scale these days, but it's a big bus compared to my other builds. The FW is the only one that comes near although I am working on a Junkers JI which may be bigger. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted December 11, 2019 Author Share Posted December 11, 2019 A bit closer. A it more carving, then sanding then filler. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 Great collection. All scratchbuilt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 On 12/4/2019 at 6:51 AM, Kushan_Farsight said: probably closer to the first ducted fan plane than a true 'Jet'. In the same field, but there where other ducted-fans before: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235046190-caproni-stipa-scratchbuilt-172nd/ https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235046220-mattioni-botte-volante-scratchbuilt-172nd/ https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235052905-coanda-jet-scracthbuilt-172/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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