Fozzy Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) Good afternoon everyone I haven't been on this forum for a good few months as I have been visiting family and friends in the States and I just got back home to my office before all the lock downs due to Coronavirus!.....what a terrible state of affairs for all of us and I do hope that you all are staying safe in your self isolation! The only positive I can think of whilst isolating for us modellers is of course hopefully more bench time! I am in the process of scratch building a 1:20 scale B17G but I really needed a break from it ....so I thought I would have a go at the F-80C. Just love the lines of the F-80 and I'm interested in jet aircraft of this era...early 50s! I wanted to see if I could build it in 1:48 scale out of the usual materials I build in ...which is balsa wood /card/wire....well anything which looks useful I guess...and as usual I am building this the old school of modeling way...ie no C.A.D ,special tools...just look at photos of the real thing and try to use the materials I have to replicate an aircraft the best I can. I have actually finished this build but thought I would show you some photos I took whilst building it....so it's not in real time (hence the quick photo upload!) So lets start..................... First up....I searched for some decent scale plans of the Shooting Star and re scaled them to 1:48 I started on the fuselage...... Formers were glued into place and the cockpit and front wheel well area were prepared.... Mustn't forget the lead weight in the nose as she will sit tail heavy....something I always forget to do!!! Next up I filled the gaps between the stringers with scrap balsa....something I always do so that I can sand down to the stringers and get a good shape of the fuselage. Here is the fuselage sanded down and the tail unit (made from balsa wood) and the wing roots and fillets prepared.... Balsa wood wings were then shaped from a block and fitted to the wing roots.... It was time to build up a basic cockpit...I say basic as I wanted to display this F-80 with the canopy closed....(the aircraft looks better that way in my opinion!) so actually you wouldn't see much of the detail anyway...... I wanted to try something completely different than how I normally skin my scratch built aircraft and that was to cut each panel separately from a sheet of sticky back silver paper. This took me a few days I have to say but I was pleasantly surprised with the end result. As I cut each panel out I made the rivet markings with a pin as I went along...as hopefully you might see!! The air intakes on either side were a nightmare I might add!! I am about half way through the photos now so I will have a break and get back to the completion of this F-80 either later or tomorrow! Thanks for looking in ....and please stay safe out there! Cheers Fozzy Edited April 1, 2020 by Fozzy 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crusty one Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) Great to see you back mate always an absolute pleasure watching your work 👍 Edited April 1, 2020 by The Crusty one 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 Sweet! I am very interested in that skinning method! 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matti64 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 Great to see. A return to First Principles and then some! I really like your fundemental approach and will enjoy following your progress. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSH Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 A very interesting thread to watch, I'll certainly bookmark this for future reference I have several things I'd like to apply the same methodology to, great work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzy Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 (edited) Afternoon to you all! Thanks for the replies to yesterdays post.....and here are the remaining photos I took whilst tackling this build! I left off yesterday starting to skin the fuselage and wings with sticky back silver paper and here is the end result!... The main undercarriage wheel wells were next...odd bits of plastic was used for this..... Here are the 6 x 12.7mm machine guns in place in the nose.I drilled out the holes and glued wire insulation that represented the barrels.... ....and the tail pipe was made by a wrapped piece of paper pushed through another hole that I drilled out!.... Now came the hardest part! Of course I had to get together my own markings for this F-80C.The national insignia was taken from my stash of kit decals I collected over the years and unfortunately I had to hand paint the rest. The way I do it is hand paint the markings on a piece of baking foil (nice and thin)... and when dry .....simply glue them in place!....actually it wasn't that simple!....this is why I chose this particular F-80.....F9696...as it was easier to replicate the markings! Here are some of the markings cut out from the foil..... So the next 6 photos are of all the markings in place...... The two tip tanks were made from a couple of old kit bombs that I had to cut and shape up a bit!... The main wheels made from balsa wood....... The nose wheel was stolen from an old kit and attached to the scratch built undercarriage leg.... Here is a shot of the reflector gun site...or a bunch of pieces of scrap plastic glued together!! The last 3 photos are of the undercarriage ..... So ...that's it! I forgot to take a photo of the canopy that I vac formed....but you can see it in this very last photo of this post. I don't normally scratch build jets as I find them difficult to do....I find prop jobs easier for some reason....but I really wanted to give it a try......not sure if I would do another one....just yet! I am going to post some completed shots in RFI in a bit.......but for now...thanks for your interest in this build! Stay safe everyone and cheers! Fozzy Edited April 2, 2020 by Fozzy 15 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Wow! What can I say? That is old-school model building! Reminds me of the old Monogram Spedee-Bilt balsa/plastic kits, of which I built several. Yours is 'way better, though. Thanks for sharing your WIP with the rest of us unworthies! Well done, sir! You and yours stay safe and well, too. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Awesome build, but I wouldn't t expect anything less from a master builder like yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malpaso Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Lovely job! Did you use sanding sealer or anything like that to harden the balsa before the skinning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 That’s fantastic! Lots of useful ideas there. Baking foil markings! Who woulda thunked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSH Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Excellent build and very inspirational, I for one would like to see more like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruskin Air Services Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 I must try building something this way. I do build both balsa flying models and plastic kits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzy Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 4 hours ago, 72modeler said: Wow! What can I say? That is old-school model building! Reminds me of the old Monogram Spedee-Bilt balsa/plastic kits, of which I built several. Yours is 'way better, though. Thanks for sharing your WIP with the rest of us unworthies! Well done, sir! You and yours stay safe and well, too. Mike Hey Mike...I was doing the river walk in San Antonio and visiting The Alamo less than a month ago!....Great City you live in!...thanks for your remarks! 4 hours ago, malpaso said: Lovely job! Did you use sanding sealer or anything like that to harden the balsa before the skinning? Hi there...yes I sealed the balsa with Cellulose dope! Thanks guys for your input! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Welcome back, Fozzy, and with a bang too! Nice to see how it's done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzy Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 51 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said: Welcome back, Fozzy, and with a bang too! Nice to see how it's done. Howdy Pete!😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 Oh yeah back with a bang indeed Fozzy B word lovely mate Outstanding, keep safe yourself 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzy Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 3 hours ago, perdu said: Oh yeah back with a bang indeed Fozzy B word lovely mate Outstanding, keep safe yourself Hi there Bill....cheers mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 Fozzy, awesome build--since you seem to be the guy to ask, are there any good P/F-80 references you would recommend? Apologize if I missed any callouts earlier in your thread. I found the scrap balsa in between the stringers to be a great technique that I will leverage in the future--thank you for sharing! Best, Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Most Impressive build Ive seen in awhile ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Nice to see all the building process! Very impressive model! Look forward to see your next build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 (edited) Really lovely work. I notice rivets how did you do them? I’m currently building a Caproni Campini and it’s similar bare metal I was going to scribe and paint it but your method of foiling by panel lines would be perfect and much easier. What foil did you use? I have aluminium and chrome baremetal and a large roll of Bostic plumbers foil( this looks like the best candidate) Edited April 5, 2020 by Marklo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Bonkers. Completely, utterly, eccentrically, impressively bonkers. Great to see the ‘old-school’ approach to creating a model, rather than building from a kit. Great result. Jon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzy Posted April 5, 2020 Author Share Posted April 5, 2020 10 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said: Fozzy, awesome build--since you seem to be the guy to ask, are there any good P/F-80 references you would recommend? Apologize if I missed any callouts earlier in your thread. I found the scrap balsa in between the stringers to be a great technique that I will leverage in the future--thank you for sharing! Best, Erwin Thanks a lot!......there is quite a bit of reference material for the P/F-80 on the internet.....for example.... http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/awa01/201-300/awa280-F-80/00.shtm http://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/t-33/f-80b_walk.shtml......this is the sort of thing I was looking at...hope it helps! 7 minutes ago, Marklo said: Really lovely work. I notice rivets how did you do them? I’m currently building a Caproni Campini and it’s similar bare metal I was going to scribe and paint it but your method of foiling by panel lines would be perfect and much easier. What foil did you use? I have aluminium and chrome baremetal and a large roll of Bostic plumbers foil( this looks like the best candidate) Hi Marklo I used a sheet of sticky back silver card sheet to skin this F-80...I can't remember where I got it from as I have had it lying round for a few years but think that most Art/hobby stores will have it...if only they were open at the moment!! If I tell you how I make the rivets ...then I would have to kill you!.....😉........ Turn the panel of foil you are going to use to the glue side and simply use a pin to make an indentation....simples!....making sure the next panels rivets line up....laborious but worth while in the end....good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Awesome Fozzy & thank you—again, awesome build—best Erwin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Great buld Fozzy !! Congratulations !! Sincerely. CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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