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Mirage IIIO 1/32, Scratchbuild


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3 hours ago, dov said:

IN 2018 in Shizuoka we met the National Solid Model Federation. Some people had wonderful wood scale models displayed.

You may look:

https://www.facebook.com/japanesesolidmodel/

Happy modelling

Wow! Was unaware of that group. Let’s sit back and see how far short of their standards I fall! 😀

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2 hours ago, Nikola Topalov said:

You sir.... ARE INSANE! In the best possible way! :)

 

 

There are many who would agree with you (at least as far as the first exclamation mark) 🤪

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I’ve just had another look at those models above and can see I’ll have to move to Japan. I didn’t think clubs like that existed any more. 
 

Was just looking at that F104, they didn’t half make it whopping did they! 😀

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6 hours ago, RichieW said:

Wow, those wooden models are simply awe inspiring! 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah...

They’re OK I guess...

A bit rough in parts though.

You and I should head over to Japan some time and give them some pointers. 🤪

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On 3/31/2021 at 4:15 PM, Bandsaw Steve said:

there's just madness in my method

I don't think that's in any doubt, Steve!

 

What a great project. A simply gorgeous aeroplane, a complete contrast to your Avro 504 and another opportunity for us to discover some interesting modelling techniques. What's not to like? 

 

Jon

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22 hours ago, Nikola Topalov said:

You sir.... ARE INSANE! In the best possible way! :)

He is but he fits in almost seamlessly on BM.

6 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

No. I was thinking something attractive. 
 

😱

Evil wretch! Get ye to Specsavers! :whip:

 

Outraged of Mars 👽

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How have I missed this?

Anyway, regardless of how I did, I have now found it and caught up. Like others I had difficulty seeing where you were going with the two separate fuselage pieces but once put together it's bleedin' obvious! I will never build anything in wood, despite my hometown being traditionally a furniture making town, but I like the thought processes that go into deciding how to do it. Very similar in a way to building a vacform kit and figuring out how best to put it all together and make it stay together. Especially when you're crazy enough to cut up said vacform and reshape it all!

 

I'll be following this one!

 

 

Ian

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  • 3 weeks later...

Nose-cone

 

Wow - it's been a while since I posted anything substantive on this project . Sorry about that folks. Suffice to say that  progress on this continues but work, family and all that 'life stuff' keeps getting in the way of me updating these posts.

 

This one is going to focus solely on the nose-cone.

 

Start with a bit of good quality dowelling of a diameter slightly larger than the final nose-cone.  I think this is Tasmanian Oak but am not sure. 

j77gH5y.jpg

 

Put some spray-on adhesive onto a small sheet of lithoplate aluminum (great stuff lithoplate- I think you will see quite a bit more of this stuff in this thread in future) and stick a profile of the nose-cone onto it. 

bagzH49.jpg

 

Now you have a rigid pattern to work to that will guide all of the work to follow.

8H61WD9.jpg

 

I am fortunate enough to own a small woodturning lathe. This makes the process of making something like this much quicker and more precise than when I used to carve such items by hand.

0Ld7vNA.jpg

 

Just lathe away really... There's not much to it.  Slowly work to form and streamline the cone. Check from time to time that it is shaping up OK.

lSDwxEc.jpg

 

One of the great pleasures in using a lathe is when you get to use a pencil on the spinning job. Here I'm marking up the aft end of the nose cone. It's a very satisfying moment when the instant the pencil lead touches the job it creates a perfectly even, perfectly straight stripe.

LEDxlpt.jpg

 

At this point the cone is still a bit too wide, so gently trim a bit more width off it...

zA3qiIO.jpg

 

A few minutes later  check again - we are getting very close now.  At this point...

3LS1m6l.jpg

 

Switch over to coarse sandpaper. Sandpaper can be used to shape the piece but will work slower than a lathe-chisel, so use it to make the last fine adjustments to the final profile.

OexqHJP.jpg

 

Ahhhh.... Now we are getting somewhere!

I2KA76u.jpg

 

Check it against the fuselage - looking OK at this point. (Note that the surplus dowelling aft of the nose-cone is still present, it's just hidden from view in this shot).

xG01p4C.jpg

 

Put the nose cone back in the lathe and start finishing the surface with some 800 grit sandpaper.

dSY56Yn.jpg

 

Inspect and fill any surface blemishes.  Here I'm using Vallejo's plastic model filler, which remains my preferred filler for any fine surface work.

xMKf0lu.jpg

 

Spin it once more and continue sanding with 800 grit paper.  This work is very satisfying as you see and feel the job smoothing out almost magically. I can see why people take up woodturning for a hobby.

ShoRCIp.jpg

 

We then polish with a 6000 grit micomesh sanding / polishing pad until the surface is essentially flawless. 

macOoD4.jpg

 

Mark the position of the two prominent panel lines on the pattern.

pFs1c64.jpg

 

Transfer their positions onto the piece, spin up the lathe again and use a razor-saw to scribe them onto the cone.  You just need to finely touch the saw to the job to get the incisions needed.

7Jrr2Fi.jpg

 

It leaves something like this.  The whole thing looks a bit like a 50 Caliber round at this point.

oQHkvre.jpg

 

Overall, it's not looking too bad.  The wooden cone might a be a touch too rotund, but that also might be a parallax effect in this photo.  Overall, I'm happy with this.

JC3mCS5.jpg

 

So let's hit it with some primer...

ALf7J0S.jpg

 

then saw off the finished piece.

RyIZ4ZO.jpg

 

Ta-Dah!

RhOvexi.jpg

 

And after all of that. Here's the result.  Starting to look a little bit like an aeroplane, especially since there's also some vestige of wings present. 

VCikFpU.jpg

 

Despite the photo above, at this point I've made more progress on the tail than the wings. The tail will be the subject of the next post.

 

Best Regards,

Bandsaw Steve

 

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Gidday Steve, yeah I thought it looked like a .50cal round also. I was rather surprised that you cut the nose cone from the surplus dowel the way you did. I probably couldn't have cut it off squarely. Would spinning the dowel in the lathe while cutting in with the saw blade have worked? Admittedly I don't know a lot about lathes. Regards, Jeff.

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1 hour ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Would spinning the dowel in the lathe while cutting in with the saw blade have worked?

Yes and that’s exactly what I did to get the cut started, but after cutting about 3mm deep the jewellers-saw blade broke (it might have got too hot?) so I just finished the cut by hand.

If you look closely at the cut face in the second-to-last photo you can just make out the ‘tree-ring’ effect where the first stage of cutting stopped and the hand sawing began.

 

Regards,

Steve

 

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Gidday Steve, actually I did notice the tree ring effect but it didn't twig (no pun intended 🙂) that was what you did. So obviously great minds think alike. (And others like mine jump aboard for a free ride. 😁

    She's shaping up well, particularly with the wings. Regards, Jeff.

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