Steve's Models

Sailor Steve · 06-23-13, 11:28 AM

I don't either. It just happens.

Red October1984 · 06-23-13, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I don't either. It just happens.

Well, keep it up. When I get back at the end of this week I expect to be amazed.

I'm sure you won't disappoint since what you have already is awesome.

Jimbuna · 06-23-13, 02:51 PM

Looking good Steve

Sailor Steve · 06-23-13, 07:37 PM

I got the pilot and observer painted and installed this morning, then mounted the upper wing. That was a nightmare that lasted more than four hours. They provide nice little mounting holes for the struts. It isn't until you get them glued in that you discover that the nice little mounting holes are all in the wrong place! The inner struts are supposed to butt right up against the body, not stand a scale six inches away from it! I kept looking at photographs of the real machine, and looking at proper 3-view drawings - the ones that come with the kit aren't even right.

The resin struts seem kind of delicate, and I was preparing myself for another few hours ripping them out and starting over again with brass wire, but once the cross-pieces were in it's really quite rigid.

Tomorrow comes the rear open frame for the tail section, and maybe the wheels.

Sailor Steve · 06-24-13, 09:24 PM

It only took about two hours of fiddling, fidgeting and fighting to get the tail boom straight. I made the booms out of square brass rod and the tailplane attachement pieces out of a thin brass strip. The forward struts are from some plastic aerofoil stock I puchased decades ago. The after struts are spare plastic cut to shape. Oddly, the lower boom mounts to the bottom of the big tailplane attachment, but the upper boom doesn't mount to the top. Instead it mounts to the tailplane itself, leaving the top of the attachment to be braced by a rigging wire. There are other small support struts that go from the bottom wing to the lower boom, but those will come tomorrow.

Sailor Steve · 06-25-13, 09:32 PM

The main assembly is done. All that remains are the wheels and rigging and some touch-up. It's hard to see, but one of the finest pieces of detail work I've ever done is on this model. They give you a pair of nice little resin pieces for the wheel supports, with replica coil springs and all. Once they were glued to the top of the lower skid I started to worry about how easily they could break off. I looked at a bunch of photographs and found that while the real ones were bolted to the skid, they were also supported by a thin rope running over and under the axles, three times each. That gave me the idea to do the same with the thin monofilament line I use for rigging. It wasn't really all that hard, and it adds strength to the axle support as well as to the appearance. There's no way they're gong to break off now, and they look cool. Tomorrow's first job will be to paint them white to match the rope in the photos. Also invisible are the many holes I drilled for the rigging wires. Very visible is the tube for mounting the model to the stand. I'll paint it to match the linen when I do the final touch-up.

Buddahaid · 06-27-13, 09:53 AM

I love those old aeroplanes and what a nice comfy seat for the observer. What is that scale anyway 1/144th?

06-23-13, 11:28 AM	#1
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	I don't either. It just happens. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

06-23-13, 02:51 PM	#3
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,584 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Looking good Steve __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

06-23-13, 07:37 PM	#4
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	I got the pilot and observer painted and installed this morning, then mounted the upper wing. That was a nightmare that lasted more than four hours. They provide nice little mounting holes for the struts. It isn't until you get them glued in that you discover that the nice little mounting holes are all in the wrong place! The inner struts are supposed to butt right up against the body, not stand a scale six inches away from it! I kept looking at photographs of the real machine, and looking at proper 3-view drawings - the ones that come with the kit aren't even right. The resin struts seem kind of delicate, and I was preparing myself for another few hours ripping them out and starting over again with brass wire, but once the cross-pieces were in it's really quite rigid. Tomorrow comes the rear open frame for the tail section, and maybe the wheels. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

06-24-13, 09:24 PM	#5
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	It only took about two hours of fiddling, fidgeting and fighting to get the tail boom straight. I made the booms out of square brass rod and the tailplane attachement pieces out of a thin brass strip. The forward struts are from some plastic aerofoil stock I puchased decades ago. The after struts are spare plastic cut to shape. Oddly, the lower boom mounts to the bottom of the big tailplane attachment, but the upper boom doesn't mount to the top. Instead it mounts to the tailplane itself, leaving the top of the attachment to be braced by a rigging wire. There are other small support struts that go from the bottom wing to the lower boom, but those will come tomorrow. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

06-25-13, 09:32 PM	#6
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	The main assembly is done. All that remains are the wheels and rigging and some touch-up. It's hard to see, but one of the finest pieces of detail work I've ever done is on this model. They give you a pair of nice little resin pieces for the wheel supports, with replica coil springs and all. Once they were glued to the top of the lower skid I started to worry about how easily they could break off. I looked at a bunch of photographs and found that while the real ones were bolted to the skid, they were also supported by a thin rope running over and under the axles, three times each. That gave me the idea to do the same with the thin monofilament line I use for rigging. It wasn't really all that hard, and it adds strength to the axle support as well as to the appearance. There's no way they're gong to break off now, and they look cool. Tomorrow's first job will be to paint them white to match the rope in the photos. Also invisible are the many holes I drilled for the rigging wires. Very visible is the tube for mounting the model to the stand. I'll paint it to match the linen when I do the final touch-up. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

06-27-13, 09:53 AM	#7
Buddahaid Shark above Space Chicken Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 9,325 Downloads: 162 Uploads: 0	I love those old aeroplanes and what a nice comfy seat for the observer. What is that scale anyway 1/144th? __________________ "However vast the darkness, we must provide our own light." Stanley Kubrick "Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming." David Bowie