Planet Models 1:48 XF10F-1 Jaguar

[LorenSharp]

After a LOT of trimming and sanding and juggling parts to eye ball  the shape of the curve and match as closely as possible.

I got them relatively in the ball park. getting the proper dihedral of the wings was the trickiest. I should have sanded the wing edge more concavely to match the contour more precisely

but I considered it a win just getting angles in 2 directions right on 2 different wings. Not going to press my luck,.

I didn't have the brass rod I wanted to use so I've gone with a substitute that is probably better and stronger in the long run.

I cut 3p finishing nails to use for the holding pins.

Going by the the centerline of the height of the wing I set 2 marks for pin placement and used that as a templet to mark on the fuselage.

holding the wing at about the right dihedral I used a pin vise to drill straight in. Then drilling the holes in the fuselage perpendicular  to the airframe being level, not in the same angle as the wing. This way when I attach the wing the angle should be where I want it.

 

[LorenSharp]

And it worked just as I had hoped. Proper mirrored angle on both sides.

There is a small gap at the wing join but I'll accept that because of the concave on the wing face not deep enough. That's an easy fix.

But I do have to be careful filling the gap as I don't want to obliterate the panel lines for the mechanism opening.

 

[LorenSharp]

Then do the same for the Tail surface, but this time I just need 1 pin to hold in place.

And there you are . It's starting to look like a REAL aircraft. Heavy as you know what, but Real looking.

I'll get the wing roots tidied up then I can start laying paint down. So until next time Everyone have an Excellent day!

[LorenSharp]

Since my seam mending finished up faster than I expected I'll update this and start the masking and painting tomorrow.  When last we looked in I had gotten the wings and tail added but the resin and the planes overall design left gaps at the wing roots.

So I took some thin rod to fill most of the gap up. then masked off only the area that needed filler. This way I can limit the amount used and when I sand the filler down it won't damage the resin surface. I know most of you use this trick all the time but for me something new. and the way it turned out will be my SOP from now on.

To be honest I wasn't sure what to expect, but I figured as long as I didn't mess up the resin it was a win.

Under the wings worried me the most because of how close everything was. Kinda tight to try and sand on.

Now starts the process of masking and covering bits up so I can pre-shade(not sure if it will work with Dark Sea Blue) and apply the gloss black lacquer for the aluminum surfaces.s aways, if you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions shout them out.

And as always, Stay safe, Stay healthy and model on.

[LorenSharp]

A little update since its been a while from my last post.

After getting the wings and tail attached solidly, I studied the main gear bays and they looked for want of a better word sparse. Checking some my research material I found an image of the bay while still being assembled and someextra dodads I could get away with adding. Had to print them out though, as this was easier with parts this small.

[

It's mostly bracing from the engine duct and some of the hydraulic/electrical lines.

So O made some perforated beams and heavier bracing for the landing gear.

And some navigation light spares form a build I just finished that turned out to be just the right size on this build too.

Also found out that though there were many different colour paint jobs for the bays, the primary was just aluminum. had it made it to active duty, the bays would have probably been painted the same colour as the jet. Then eventually white. Hence the colour switch over from white to black as I'll use that as the primer base for my aluminum paint.

Once dried, a coat of Alclad Aluminum

 

 

 

[LorenSharp]

Did the same for the bay doors.

Gave the  added the bracing for the leading edge slats and a coat of white in prep for a coat of red.

Started the masking process for the Wing fold area and leading edges which are all aluminum. A lot of masking. Some of which I'll have to do in stages and carefully as some of the Alclad colours don't like masking and definitely don't like clear coats.

Before starting that paint project I  painted all the little bits that make up any doors, speed brakes or landing gear.

 

[LorenSharp]

The nose gear bay and the leading edges came out pretty good.

I do have to do some paint repair as the masking removed some of the blue paint. wan't expecting it, but not that unusual with a resin project. but I'll fix those when I finish all the aluminum painting.

[dnl42]

Great work on this. I'll be sure to reference this when I get around to mine.

 

Where did you find the photo of the prototype in Plant 5? Are more shots available?

 

BTW, Plant 5 was a key site for the F-14. The huge electron beam welding system that created F-14's titanium wing box was there. Aircraft assembly was in Calverton.

[LorenSharp]

13 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

Great work on this. I'll be sure to reference this when I get around to mine.

 

Where did you find the photo of the prototype in Plant 5? Are more shots available?

 

BTW, Plant 5 was a key site for the F-14. The huge electron beam welding system that created F-14's titanium wing box was there. Aircraft assembly was in Calverton.

I did a search for images  and found this site

https://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2012/06/xf10f-pictures.html

 It has some information that wasn't in the Ginter book.

[LorenSharp]

I know that during testing the Air Force was doing their own "swing Wing" with the Bell X-5 which was the updated version of the Messerschmitt P.1011. The difference was their aircraft could select one of 3 different  wing positions , 20, 40, 60 degrees, in flight as opposed to the P.1011 having to set the  positions manually on the ground before takeoff And was much more complicated than the Jaguar's.. Ironically the Air Force dropped their project about the same time as Grumman's Jaguar, But The swing wing part of the Jaguar was the only real success of the whole project. The Jaguar had the same problem as everyone else's jet at the time. Lousy ,underpowered ,gas guzzling  engines. The Westinghouse J40 engine was a dog of the first caliber. It was supposed to get 11,000 ibs of thrust, instead never got more than 6,800 lbs of thrust. The poor jet could barely get out of its own way. The high T Tail configuration was ment to help alleviate some nasty spin characteristics, but for what ever reason was free-floating and controlled by the little delta in front of the tail, which made it very sluggish. It has been thought that if the project went along longer that would have been changed over to a flying tail design.  But the Navy shut everything down never to visit the swing wing idea until the F-111B(oops)then the F-14( finally got it right)

[PeterB]

Yes,

 

T.T.'s "Tailhook" site has a lot of useful info on USN aircraft - always worth a look as he authored several of Steve Ginter's Naval Fighters books.

 

Pete

[LorenSharp]

That make sense..

[AdrianMF]

Great work ! Really enjoying it coming together. The resin certainly doesn’t seem to be helping you. Wasn’t there something about later swing wing designs having more outboard pivot points that made more sense? I guess it allowed your centres of lift/gravity to remain more stable through the different  configurations?

 

Regards,

Adrian

[LorenSharp]

 

On 4/18/2021 at 4:33 PM, AdrianMF said:

Great work ! Really enjoying it coming together. The resin certainly doesn’t seem to be helping you. Wasn’t there something about later swing wing designs having more outboard pivot points that made more sense? I guess it allowed your centres of lift/gravity to remain more stable through the different  configurations?

 

Regards,

Adrian

Yeah, that's what they did with the F-14 having learned the lessons from the F-111 and F10F. Putting the pivot points as far as possible from the centerline made the aircraft more stable in relation to the CG while sweeping the wing fore and aft.

There's a really good explanation on Air and Space :

https://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/swing-wings-9189621/

and makes more sense on the F-14's design. I would guess the same thing is applicable with the Panavia Tornado

[PeterB]

Hi Loren,

 

In case you were unaware Tommy is actually on this forum as "Tailspin Turtle" and I have always found him very helpful.

 

Pete

[LorenSharp]

13 minutes ago, PeterB said:

Hi Loren,

 

In case you were unaware Tommy is actually on this forum as "Tailspin Turtle" and I have always found him very helpful.

 

Pete

Thanks Peter. I didn't know that. But I will keep that note for the future. As I'm always scrambling for any and all reference I can find.

[LorenSharp]

Almost down to the last on this build. Added the rudder and thought something was wrong as there was a gap between the top of the rudder and the bottom of the tail plane. But it turns out that depending on what part of the testing was occurring, there was an actual gap. Sometimes the area was faired over , but in any case there was a visible linkage of some type. Unfortunately, none of the images I have or have been able to find are very clear so I cobbled together what seems to be a reasonable facsimile of the area.

Its hard to see here but its properly painted up.

Added the bumper wheel and tailhook.

 

[LorenSharp]

Added the landing gear. nose wheel was an easy add..

The main gear, very fiddly and delicate. did manage to add some brake lines. and paint portions of the gear the fuselage color. Again sometimes bare metal, sometimes the fuselage colour.

The wheels' rims are actually a tad too small. Scale wise should be about 10cm (4in)wider but since  painted them blue you don't notice it against the tire black.

Add the front windscreen. I'll have to do some more smoothing. I didn't notice until I processed my pictures. But nothing major.

I may be able to get to it this evening when I get home but I'll be out most of the day helping a friend get to her Dr. Appts. But from there it will be adding the last of the fiddly bits, Gear doors, speed brakes, etc. then finally the decals then another one done. So until next time stay safe, stay healthy peoples.

[LorenSharp]

One thing about the decals for the Jaguar, they are VERY thin. Dip in water for 2 sec. they are sliding off before you can pull from the water. And stick instantly. almost no chance to adjust and if you try be prepared for the decal to rip. And this was before applying 2 coats of clear lacquer as a precaution. On the left side the Navy banner is 2mm to far from the intake edge, but  before I could do anything it set solid I did rip it in a couple of spots but I was able to touch up the areas with white paint. but because of its placement I couldn't use the foothold markers as Navy would have covered them.  On the bright side you don't need any setting solution they snuggle down like they were painted on.

Once the decals were on I finished up adding the little bits.

Fuselage Speed brakes, Wing Speed Brakes, 

Nose Pitot tube

Which is the biggest thickest probe I've ever seen, I though it was too big until I looked in my references to see that it was actually that size.

[LorenSharp]

And there we have it This went together alot better than I thought it would, There were a few rough spots but with resin thats part and parcel in working in this medium.

Thanks for following along with this different kinda build and all the suggestions and comments and general craziness. You kind find the RFI here

 

I've got another build I toss into the ring here in a day or two as soon as the decals arrive. Vacuform this time. So we'll see how much I can punish myself  and everyone with.😜

So until next time Stay safe, Stay healthy and Model on....

 

[dnl42]

Excellent! I love it! 

[bianfuxia]

Amazing build, well done! I'd never heard of that plane at all.

 

*goes to wikipedia to read about it*

 

nice work!

[Mjwomack]

It's an absolute beast 😂. Love it 😊

[LorenSharp]

9 hours ago, dnl42 said:

Excellent! I love it! 

Thanks Its a different sort of kit.

9 hours ago, bianfuxia said:

Amazing build, well done! I'd never heard of that plane at all.

 

*goes to wikipedia to read about it*

 

nice work!

Think of it as Grummans first attempt at an F-14.Before they sent it off to the gym to work out and get in shape.

3 hours ago, Mjwomack said:

It's an absolute beast 😂. Love it 😊

Glad you liked it.

[TonyW]

A very absorbing read from start to finish.

That's one of those 'truth is stranger than fiction' type aircraft. Very odd but very eye catching with it. Your attention to detail is top notch.