Malc2 Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 Hi Putty, No problem. The fuz coolers are for the engine oil system. There are some interesting articles in Flight magazine February 1928 (which sadly is no longer online) which also say the wings were covered in the water coolers and which "have a perfectly smooth exterior". Malc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 Thanks Malc that is really useful! I will sand the wing detail down later until there is just a ghost of the lines showing through the silver paint. Over the past week or so I've been having a go at getting the main assemblies lined up. The floats were set up on a jig and jacked up until they were at the right angle. The front of the floats are each resting on a blob of 2-part automotive putty that conforms nicely to the contours of their undersides. To ensure the floats didn't stick, I used some of my own slightly disgusting release agent (touch a finger to my forehead and rub a little of the oil along the floats). It's gross, I know. But it works really well... 🥴 Some styrene pieces then trapped the wing in the right place. It is really interesting to note that the fuselage of the S.5 was placed slightly to the left of the centreline of the floats to help counteract the torque of the engine. I nearly missed this on the drawings, but you can see it below: The offset is only about .5mm in 1/144 but it makes quite a difference. It will also probably ensure that if I took it to a show, well meaning people will be rushing to tell me that my struts aren't even. The struts are fiddly little things. Only about 8mm long and very hard to reach when the model is sitting in the jig. I'm making them from some sterling silver wire that I flattened out and shaped into an aerofoil cross section. Getting their position and length was tricky and I was flailing about and repeatedly dropping them on the floor. Eventually I had the idea of soldering a stub of .4mm tube into the top ends to aid location. That made things a lot easier. The struts have a sort of streamlined boot around each end, so I put some thin tape over each float to protect it then generously superglued the strut in place. Once dry I found I could remove the strut and shape the ends. There is still a lot to do here but the shots below hopefully give you an idea. More to follow! 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 Most impressive work on this beautiful racer, I have difficulties grasping how small it actually is. Very nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc2 Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 (edited) Yes I agree with Jörgen, your work is really clean and neat. Even more so when I realise how small it is. Edited May 8, 2021 by Malc2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieW Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 Fantastic, love your strut making technique. It must be so hard to get them right in this scale but yours look absolutely perfect. Tremendous skills you have! Richie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 Astonishing! Again! Seriously, though, this is absolutely exquisite model making - eagerly anticipating the next instalment Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 That’s pure dead brilliant as they over in the West! Great work on a lovely subject. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 Cheers guys. It's still coming along. I've got the struts finished and ready to assemble. I'm looking forward to that. In the meantime there's still a lot of small details to add. Plus a few revisions that became necessary after studying period photos a bit more closely. I'm going for N220 as it appeared in 1927 and the other aircraft each have some subtle changes to their various vents around the nose. I think I've got them sorted now, so I will add some shots of those soon. I also sanded the wings surfaces down until the lines are barely visible. They are still there when seen under a very light coat of primer, but the light needs to be just-so in order to see them. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXANTOMCAT Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 For my penn'orth Mr Animal has the best Forum name ever - it makes me laugh each time his name comes up! TT 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TempestV Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 This looks stunning! What material are you going to use for the seat belts and buckles 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 33 minutes ago, TempestV said: This looks stunning! What material are you going to use for the seat belts and buckles Painted cigarette paper usually. Although I’m not sure they would be visible on this one. I’ll have to check 🤔 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 9 hours ago, TEXANTOMCAT said: For my penn'orth Mr Animal has the best Forum name ever - it makes me laugh each time his name comes up! TT I’m almost embarrassed to admit that all this time I’ve been reading it as Putty Admiral 🥴 AW 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 On 18/05/2021 at 10:02, Andwil said: I’m almost embarrassed to admit that all this time I’ve been reading it as Putty Admiral 🥴 I rather like that. Maybe I can get a promotion 🐳 Opened the throttle a bit this weekend and made some more progress. The wings and tailplanes got stuck on, and over the course of a couple of evenings these were flushed in with miniscule quantities of filler. As always, I thinned the Tamiya white putty down to a slurry and used a size-00 brush to apply it. The wing root was the most difficult, as the radiator panels are right next door and the engine nacelles overhang the seam too. I also had the struts to contend with. These were fiendishly difficult to repeatedly test fit and adjust. Location lugs didn't really cut it. Eventually I found that keeping them a fraction long and cutting recesses for them into the lower wing was much more user friendly. One handy tip I found when test fitting fiddly pieces: touch each end in a drop of water and let capillary action assist with temporarily holding it in place. After that things got a whiff of black primer. Contrary to the grainy iphone pic, it came out quite smooth. However I'll buff it out a bit more before doing the top coat so I get a good finish on the silver. Observant race goers will notice I filled the exhaust ports on the starboard side as N220 seems to have had these blanked off. Got the Fairey Reed propeller done too. The one on the S.5 looks so short to my eye. I spent a lot of time checking references and squinting at photos. It appears to be correct, but still... it looks like it would be more at home on a Cessna 152 So there we are for now. The next bit is figuring out how to attach the floats. I'm contemplating using the jig to attach the lower end of the struts to the floats first. Then leaving the fuselage joints separate until all the painting and decaling is done. Masking and painting with the struts in place could be asking for trouble. More soon! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I am a bit late to the party, sorry, wowee what amazing workmanship, you have created a Beautiful replica of this wonderful machine in under 50 mm . My gob is truly smacked and I am in awe of your skill. Great work Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc2 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Fantastic stuff, good spot on the exhaust ports! The centre head had the intake ports on the RHS. Some photos on the internet have been reversed leading to confusion. The exhaust ports and prop rotation are a good way to check the photo is the right way round if numbers or letters are not visible. Malc. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 Thanks Malc, good advice! I was wondering what was going on and if some early versions had exhaust ports on both sides. I was looking at a shot of N221 and noticed there was a dark panel on the right side with what appeared to be four very thin openings peeping out from its lower edge. Are these the centre head intake ports you are referring to? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 6 hours ago, Malc2 said: The centre head had the intake ports on the RHS. Not sure what you're referring to here Malc? The intakes for the engine are under the fuselage just behind the wing leading edge, the centre bank is between the forward float struts, port and starboard banks are jut outboard of the float struts. Ref the photo you posted on page 1 https://ibb.co/2McMhVs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobinsonh Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Superb work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc2 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Dave Swindell said: Not sure what you're referring to here Malc? The intakes for the engine are under the fuselage just behind the wing leading edge, the centre bank is between the forward float struts, port and starboard banks are jut outboard of the float struts. Ref the photo you posted on page 1 https://ibb.co/2McMhVs Hi Dave, You are right, but the air has to get from the holes on the underside to the side of the head! Above I am referring to the intake ports on the side of the cylinder head. Sorry for the confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc2 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) 8 hours ago, Putty Animal said: Thanks Malc, good advice! I was wondering what was going on and if some early versions had exhaust ports on both sides. I was looking at a shot of N221 and noticed there was a dark panel on the right side with what appeared to be four very thin openings peeping out from its lower edge. Are these the centre head intake ports you are referring to? Sorry, I seem to be spreading confusion faster than helping! I think the thin lines you are looking are tubes for a removable long wire locating pin that holds the cowling between the vee of the heads. This was/is quite a common way of attaching panels to aircraft and vintage cars as the wire pin can be removed quickly for access. Here is a view of the engine with the special cam covers that formed the outer skin of the aircraft and showing the unique intake manifold integrated with the cyl head for the S5 and the 'tubes' for the wire pin. PS I am loving the leopard spot pattern on his flame proof jumper - wonder if he got it for Christmas! Malc. Edited May 23, 2021 by Malc2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 7 minutes ago, Malc2 said: Here is a view of the engine with the special cam covers that formed the outer surface of the aircraft and showing the unique intake manifold integrated with the cyl head for the S5. You just beat me to it posting that image Malc! The centre bank manifold is very evident there, note it tapers front to back, the outside hinged cover isn't parallel to the cylinder bank centreline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc2 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) Hi Dave, Thats right, the integrated manifold is tapered from the back to the front as air is consumed by each port it passes until it gets to the front and final port. As an aside, integrated exhaust manifolds are only just becoming common on road cars, they speed up engine warm up time and allow the cat to be placed closer to the head for faster light off time. Here is a pic of the 4 view in Flight Magazine confirming the taper, shame they are not available online anymore. Malc. Edited May 23, 2021 by Malc2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Crazy small... Crazy good! 👍👍👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 I didn't know that the engine camshaft covers formed the outer skin. And I didn't know that you were allowed to fly in patterned pullovers like that in the 1920s! (I note that it's already been "spotted" by @Malc2) Fantastic work. Looking forward to more. Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 On 5/23/2021 at 10:31 AM, Putty Animal said: Thanks Malc, good advice! I was wondering what was going on and if some early versions had exhaust ports on both sides. I was looking at a shot of N221 and noticed there was a dark panel on the right side with what appeared to be four very thin openings peeping out from its lower edge. Are these the centre head intake ports you are referring to? Such a great image Putty, there is a lot of reference material here. I'll boomark it for help refining my beaching trolley and ladder. I have a feeling this was during the high speed runs at Calshot, and Kirkhead was sadly killed shortly after when 221 dove into the water and completely broke up on impact. I'm not sure if these are a help or hinderance, but good views of the S5 with the engine cowls off. A clever idea, having the rocker covers of the Napier exposed, but flush with the engine cowlings. I got in a muddle with the exhaust ports too! Beaching trolley reference by Mike, on Flickr Groundcrew of the RAF High Speed Flight act as ballast while the Napier Lion engine in S5 N221 is tested prior to Sam Kinkhead's fatal attempt on the world air speed record. Haynes S6B book Beaching trolley reference by Mike, on Flickr Napier engineers work on the engine of S5, N221, prior to an attempt on the world air speed record in 1928 Haynes S6B book 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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