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Howard Morey's Pennco Flyer (JN-4D "Jenny")


billn53

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Great job on the engine Bill, I'm also amazed at how quickly this is all coming together!

One thing I regret not doing on mine: strengthening the lower wing joints with some short stubs of wire or similar. I was too late to do so when it actually occurred to me, and subsequently I found the moulded tab didn't make for a particularly strong joint (I found myself re-glueing the lower wings on more than one occasion when trying to fit the upper wing).

Just a thought!

Edited by clive_t
Added bad experience!
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4 hours ago, clive_t said:

… I'm also amazed at how quickly this is all coming together!One thing I regret not doing on mine: strengthening the lower wing joints with some short stubs of wire or similar.

It’s gonna slow to a glacial pace when I get to the rigging, believe me!

Thanks for the heads up about the wing joint. Maybe I can add some shim where the tab fits in the fuselage to ensure the fit is tight. Another idea along your line of thought is to drill up through the bottom of the fuselage and through the tab, and insert plastic or brass rod to secure the wing. 
We’ll cross that road when we get to it. 
- Bill
 

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I was really pumped about how the engine detailing turned out, so went right back to work on the fuselage.

 

I pre-drilled holes where the rigging and control lines will go. On the actual aircraft, the holes where the control lines exit the fuselage are reinforced with rings:

51500550335_a4458bd47b_c.jpg 

 

To replicate this, I sliced thin sections from some plastic tubing, glued them in position, and sanded them down until they were nearly flush with the fuselage:

51500284832_393bf25f5b_c.jpg 

 

(The camera makes them look taller than they actually are)

 

Next, I scratched up some seats (thanks, Clive, for your tips on this). I added a layer of Milliput to simulate the padding on the seats:

51502004970_a548984638_z.jpg 

 

Here they are, painted up and with HGW's fabric seatbelts added:

51501079821_313a53d667_z.jpg 

 

Yes, the seatbelts are very wide! But, that was the norm for the time:

51502153125_79664f75ea_c.jpg

 

I next added wood platforms for the seats to sit on. On the actual aircraft, these were individual planks of wood, but since they'd be hidden under the seat, I took a shortcut.

51501303788_0d4a06a48a_c.jpg 

 

I also added a bulkhead at the front of the cockpit, representing the rear of the fuel tank:

51501793319_62535c7c9e_z.jpg 

 

Time to close up the fuselage! This took a lot of care, as I had so many items attached on one side of the fuselage that had to fit in their proper place on the other side -- the floor pan with the rudder bars and control sticks, two instrument panels, two seat platforms, and the fake fuel tank. Oh yes, I almost forgot... there's also a small bulkhead behind the rear seat, at the front of the turtleback (sorry, no photos of that). Eventually, with a lot of verbal encouragement ( :wink: ) everything came together:

 

51501079941_af4421c74e_c.jpg 

 

Not unexpected, there are long seams running down the back and belly of the fuselage that will have to be filled and sanded:

 

51501079946_e55c798b0d_c.jpg 

 

51502005070_1789e45239_c.jpg 

 

But, in this hobby, complaining about seams is like complaining about the weather . . . .

 

Now, for the bad news!

 

The two control sticks are in the wrong places. So wrong, that if this were a real airplane it would be unflyable.

 

The forward stick is jammed against the seat platform:

51502005015_a53122c76a_z.jpg 

 

and the rear stick is jammed against the instrument panel:

51501079606_0540b1ac8f_z.jpg 
 

And, since the sticks are connected, the pilot wouldn't be able to push the stick forward or back, meaning he couldn't control the elevator!

 

One more problem! I test fitted the engine and found that the cowling cover wouldn't sit properly. The valve actuators I added interfere with the cover:

51502004850_43760328ba_z.jpg 

 

I fixed this through a combination of lowering the engine (i.e., filing down the engine mounts in the fuselage) and doing some minor re-shaping of the opening in the cowling cover:

51500284637_26a9ceb0da_z.jpg 

 

A distasteful solution, I admit. But, one sometimes must make compromises in order to move forward.

 

That's it for today! I'll next take care of the seams on the fuselage, and then begin work on the wings.

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This is just a short progress update.

 

I sprue-glooped the fuselage seams, then did some work to enhance the fuselage's surface details. I mentioned at the start of this build that Lindburg included a fair amount of details on the fuselage, but they are "soft". Probably because the molds are so old.

 

I used a scriber to sharpen up the cooling vents on the nose, and deepen the kit's faint panel lines. I made the small access doors behind the vents from 0.1mm thick plasticard:

51507392425_6715837869_c.jpg 

 

I chiseled out the step on the left side of the fuselage, and used self-adhesive metallic tape to replicate the metal frame of the actual aircraft:

51505662192_da1f93a305_z.jpg 

 

I also used the metallic tape to re-create the edging along the bottom of the cockpit area and turtleback. On the actual aircraft, the top of the cockpit is made from formed metal, and the turtleback behind the cockpit is a removeable section made from wood and stringers.

51507392365_29afcb3dbd_c.jpg 

 

That's all for now. See, I told you this would be short!

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Apologies for mentioning it, as you might not be intent on doing this (or maybe I missed it and you've already done so) - but, returning to the engine for a moment, will you be drilling out the ends of the exhausts to give them a more 'tubular' look? Possibly you have some other cunning plan?

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41 minutes ago, clive_t said:

Apologies for mentioning it, as you might not be intent on doing this (or maybe I missed it and you've already done so) - but, returning to the engine for a moment, will you be drilling out the ends of the exhausts to give them a more 'tubular' look? Possibly you have some other cunning plan?

That's a great question, Clive. 

 

My first thought was that I would have to modify the exhaust to add a downward curve, like the one here:

51425462452_d6c9cb8b25_c.jpg 

 

But looking closer at the (fuzzy) photo of the actual aircraft, it's not clear that the downward curve is there.

51426456388_a328df1599_o.jpg 

 

Bottom line is, I may (or may not) attempt to add the downward curving exhaust. Either way, the ends will need to be drilled out as you noted.

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Ah, I knew you'd have it covered! :D

I found it interesting, looking at reference photos for Canucks, that the arrangement of exhaust pipes almost seemed to vary from aircraft to aircraft!

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19 minutes ago, clive_t said:

Ah, I knew you'd have it covered! :D

 

I found it interesting, looking at reference photos for Canucks, that the arrangement of exhaust pipes almost seemed to vary from aircraft to aircraft!

 

I found the same thing when I built my Ford TriMotor!

 

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Somehow this one got by me until now.  That cockpit is phenomenal!  I really am impressed with the realism.  As a proud owner of a 1/48 Lindberg Jenny, I have to say what you've done is outstanding.  Mine was a gift from my girlfriend (now wife) when we were in college and judging by the box artwork it might have been from the '50's.  It was lurid yellow and I just slapped it together and dull coated it (didn't even paint it! 🙄).  I mention this because it is in pieces in a box, the victim of a cat attack.  I've thought about repairing it, but never get around to it.  Watching what you've done here has inspired me to maybe dig it out and actually "build it right"! So... I will be following this with interest.

 

Love the subject too!  It's going to be a lot of fun on the shelf with the adverts on the sides and tail! :)  

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I was at Morey Airport today to take some more photos of the Pennco Flyer hanging from the ceiling, and took the opportunity to ask Rich Morey a few questions about his grandfather's Jenny and the model.

 

The short story is, the model was built from an RC airplane kit for his father, Field Morey. Field gave the model to Rich and Rich did the research to add the markings on the plane. As only black & white photos were available, the color is a "guesstimate" presuming the plane was finished with clear doped linen, and not painted.

 

Rich did tell me that the roundels on the model's wings should not be there... they were put on by the kit builder before the Pennco markings were added.

 

The exhausts, wheels, etc. were what came with the kit and not necessarily correct for the actual aircraft.

 

Based on my photos and the discussion with Rich, I've drafted up the decals I'll need:

 

51509688959_fd8d77449b_o.jpg

 

My apologies for any blurries in the above photo -- they are not in my original artwork.

 

----------------

 

P.S. - The "There IS a Difference" was apparently the PENNCO advertising slogan and was on the trailing edges of the lower wings. (It is also visible on the side of the hanger that Spirit of St. Louis occupied when Lindbergh visited Madison). I couldn't see it when I took my first set of photos. I first noticed it in the B&W photo of the original plane but couldn't make out the text -- That's why I went to Morey today for more pics (using my selfie stick to get above the wing):

 

51508774981_08b1fe410f_z.jpg

 

And, that's Rich Morey's desk under the model.

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A bit more progress to show today. I'm still working on enhancing the kit fuselage's details, most recently the turtleback behind the cockpit.

 

This photo gives a good idea of how the turtleback is constructed:

51510995847_d92479e225_c.jpg 

 

Note the numerous wood stringers, which were covered with fabric. On the actual aircraft, the stringers could be seen beneath the fabric:

51510979907_b7268f6967_c.jpg 

 

That is what I want to replicate. To do so, I'm trying a technique that's new to me, so no promises on how successful it will be!

 

First, I glued 0.3mm styrene rods along the stringers' locations:

51511808821_c771273516_c.jpg

 

I then sanded them down until they were barely above the surface, and applied Mr Surfacer 100 to the stringers and gaps in between. After it had dried, I sanded until the plastic stringers became visible. This took multiple attempts until I was (mostly) satisfied:

51512742970_1746e580b1_c.jpg 

 

The proof will be in how it looks after paint is applied.... Stay tuned!

 

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Interesting technique on the turtle deck.  It looks promising.  I wondered how you were going to approach that since a big 'ol seam ran right down the length of it. 

 

My B-10 had a similar issue and I had to let the seam be since I couldn't see how to sand it without destroying the ribbing.

 

*actually, now that I think about it, the Lindberg didn't have ribs molded in to begin with, did it?  I'll have to go back and check.

Edited by opus999
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22 minutes ago, opus999 said:

 

… now that I think about it, the Lindberg didn't have ribs molded in to begin with, did it? 

Actually, it did. But like most of the surface detail on my kit, they were very faint, and the ones along the centerline disappeared when I dealt with the seam. 

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This will be my last post for a while, tomorrow I leave for a trip and won't be back until next week. Here's what I've been up to today....

 

Got the base colors on the fuselage: TruColor Paint's Yellow Doped Linen and AK Interactive's XTreme Metal Steel:

 

51516991236_18a77e31bc_c.jpg 

 

I debated what color to paint the metal shell around the cockpit openings. Often it is black on Jenny's in clear doped linen. But, that's obviously not the case for the Pennco Flyer, based on the B&W photo I have. I ultimately decided to go with bare metal, as I've seen it a couple of times on actual Jennys and it better matches my photo.

 

51516188017_d12d19ded1_c.jpg 

 

The yellow linen color is nice, but I'm planning to enhance the fabric appearance using oils, as Clive did. I really liked how his Jenny turned out.

 

I was curious to see how the turtleback would look under a coat of paint. To be honest, my ribbing work turned out, well, just "okay". I think the technique is sound, but more practice is needed. Hopefully, I'll be better at it when I get around to building my B-10.

 

51517220533_315d1b3dde_c.jpg 

 

I also painted the flying surfaces in preparation for simulating the translucent characteristics of CDL. White on the upper surfaces, and brown beneath:

51517220628_84a547e1c5_b.jpg 

 

While I was waiting for paint to dry, I added some grime, etc. to my engine. To my eye, it was looking much too clean and shiny. Here are some "before" and "after" photos:

 

51495055290_d8b8859a5b.jpg  51516903433_a801cf6235.jpg

 

51494130171_969bfa7908.jpg 51516673791_783d02e782.jpg

 

51494839119_3819e4f5ab.jpg 51517389934_21ac24bb45.jpg

   

 

That's where I am, two weeks into this project. When I return, I'll begin working on the wings in earnest.

 

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Wow!  I love the paint!  It's amazing how much more real a model looks when it's not bright yellow! 😆

 

From where I'm sitting the ribbing on the turtleback looks pretty good, but I understand how things can look different in real life.

 

Which B-10 have you got in the stash?  Is it the old Williams bros., or the new one (I forget the manufacturer)?  I did the Williams bros. one and it was a little challenging but not as terrible as I've seen some make it out to be.

 

Have a good trip!

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1 hour ago, opus999 said:

Wow!  I love the paint!  It's amazing how much more real a model looks when it's not bright yellow! 😆

 

From where I'm sitting the ribbing on the turtleback looks pretty good, but I understand how things can look different in real life.

 

Which B-10 have you got in the stash?  Is it the old Williams bros., or the new one (I forget the manufacturer)?  I did the Williams bros. one and it was a little challenging but not as terrible as I've seen some make it out to be.

 

Have a good trip!


On my turtleback attempt, the “grooves” between the stringers are not uniform depth, otherwise I’d be totally happy. 
I built the Williams Bros B-10 when it first came out long ago.  I have one of theirs in my stash and also one of the newer offerings. I’ll likely build the new one when I get around to my planned B-10 project. 

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