F7F-3N

[thug626]

Thank you Bullardino! You may yet break into those conversion builds. I am curious. What do you have in your stash as far a conversions?

Thank you as well Andy! As long as the nose isn't your own. You won't like what I'd have to do.

More to come gentlemen.

Dave

[bullardino]

I have the F/a 18 C cockpit and the F86 cockpit, both in 1/72 and both require extensive cuts and fills.

[bbd468]

Some great Nose fixit work right there! Seen worse than that on old rich actresses. Keep it comin thug.

Gary

[fightnjoe]

the nose is coming along fine. at least it looks that way from here.




joe

[thug626]

Hello Luigi,
Maybe you could work on them bit by bit? Set it aside and work on something else for a spell.

Hello Gary,
Thank you for the compliment. LMAO about the actresses. Several come to mind.

Hello Joe,
It's getting there. Thank you

Things got idled for a bit. Had to take the boy the the children's hospital north of us on Wednesday evening. We should be heading home tomorrow. I'm off Sunday night so I foresee some therapeutic bench time then.

Dave

[Leon]

Dave,good to see this back on the bench.Hope your boy is doing ok.

[thug626]

Hello Leon,
He's doing better. It hurry up and wait for tomorrow. Looking forward to getting him home and some bench time.
Dave

[deafpanzer]

Good to see you back my friend! Am always firm believer that family comes first... hope your boy is doing much better.

Don't forget I am coming to Portland in June.

[thug626]

Hello Andy,
It's good to be back! The boy is doing better. I was off all last week. He had a delayed reaction to the infusion. Gotta go back up this week for the second and hopefully last one. I have not forgotten about June my friend. Bob is stoked about it.

Hello DickyF,
Thank you. The fuselage is now set aside with the nose blended.

The fuselage is off to the side now. There are still some details to be taken care of....centerline hard point...access panels to be rescribed....etc. I am now on to the wings and nacelles for a change of pace. THe first pic shows the wing inlets with molded in screens. Wretched. All the reference pics show them open and presumably ducted. Well, for me it was get rid of the wretched detail and figure out later how to duct them convincingly. .

Here they are after grinding them out and finishing up with a file.

Improved but, again, I've no idea how I'm going to duct them at this point. No worries, it'll get sorted out before the end.

I've dry fitted the nacelle to get an idea of how things may play out here. Hmmmm.....More scratch building to be done here as well. I know shocking, isn't it? The detail on the side walls will most likely be ground off and built back up from scratch. There are a couple of tanks and lots of associated plumbing in each nacelle to be done.


Cheers gentlemen
Dave

[Leon]

Looking good Dave.Sounds like some nice scratch work ahead for you.

[deafpanzer]

Man, it is really great having you back. Looking great!!!

Bought plane tix for Portland few days ago. I arrive June 3rd... we'll work it out via FaceBook.

[bullardino]

I was sure you wouldn't leave the nacelles OOB Wheel bays and engines are the first place a wingie builder looks at

Very happy to see you back at the bench and, most of all, that the boy is doing better

[wbill76]

Nice to see the latest progress on this one Dave. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun playing around with those ducts and nacelle bays. So much opportunity there!

[thug626]

Good morning Leon,
Thank you very much. It'll also be an opportunity for me to brush up on my master copy and resin casting skill set. I am not going to scratch two of every thing.

Good morning Andy,
Thank you my friend. Getting caught up on posts here with my morning java......then off to the bench. I'll keep a weather eye for updates.

Good morning Luigi,
Thank you for the well wishes and the compliment. We go back to Portland this week for what is the second and last infusion. They'll keep us there for 23 hours for observation, as he had a couple of reactions last time. I am certain at this point that I lack the capacity to leave the nacelles "as is" at this point.

Good morning Bill,
Thank you for the compliment good sir. There is A LOT of opportunity in those nacelles for a multi-media detailing spree. One of the things that caught my eye on the reference pics was the rubber hose couplings with the requisite hose clamps. Already working on ideas for that area.

Cheers gentlemen

Dave

[thug626]

Here is the inlet prototype that has shown the most promise thus far.  There were a few that didn't even make it off the "brain board"....a few that did jump off the brain board and, shortly thereafter right into the bin.    
This is made up of 0.005" styrene sheet stock with some radii set into it.  The thought is to leave the tube proud of the actual inlet and, sand it flush with the external parts.  Hopefully giving it a flush appearance and, I can seal up any small holes in the process.


The aft end of the tube was beveled and glued to a styrene tube that was cut lengthwise. To give the impression that it is actually going somewhere.     Not terribly pretty on the outside but, it is a prototype.  

Here are the tools of the trade for this project. 

1. Rolling set
2. 0.052" brass rod to tighten up radii
3. My trusty razor saw.

Dave

[deafpanzer]

Great work there! That's nice tool set... do you remember where you got it? That's something I need to add to my tools box.

[thug626]

Hello Andy,
Thank you. The tool set is from Small Shop. Every year at the McMinville show the folks from Small Shop are there, as they are based out of Washington. The best part is there stuff is usually on sale there. But you don't have to wait until then......here's their web site. thesmallshop.com
No, I have no affiliations with them and, this is not a paid endorsement.   They are nice people making really great products.

[fightnjoe]

very nice work on the inlet. may have to see about getting that tool set. my attempts always have a crimp in them.




joe

[M1Carbine]

Dave - good to see Jimmy Durante is back getting worked on. Your working the majic bro.

Bob

[thug626]

Hello Joe,
Thank you for the comment. I have had really very good luck with this rolling set. The underside has a pad that you can finish rolling out your part if you need to make a PE tube or just simply tighten up a radius on a part without having to make the whole part with a uniform radius.

Good morning Bob,
Yes! For me is is morning.. being a darksider and all. Oh man I have got to get of this nightshift gig. 17 years is too much. . It was nice to get JD's nose blended. Now planning the job on the nacelles and main gear. Lots of bits and pieces to go into that. When I come up, you need to show me the blending trick you have for putty. I've got a few Eduard Bf-110's in the stash that are just begging to be built and, I have heard the the nacelle to wing fit can be a bit wonky.

Dave

[deafpanzer]

This is great! This is where I ordered the Small Bug from... thank you so much! Owe you a beer...

[bullardino]

Great job, after careful filling and sanding it'll be perfect

[thug626]

I'll gladly take you up on that beer Andy!

Hello Luigi,
I'm still working out the kinks on the intakes.

In taking a break from the intakes, I started on the walls of the nacelles.
Before:

After grinding:

The sides are not still this rough. I wet sanded them with 220, 320 and 400 grit sand paper. This left the sides smoother but, with enough "tooth" for parts to glue easily. This will all get a shot of primer before and color is laid down.

And now the madness begins....well....ummmm......err.....actually it's continuing. Here are the first set of ribs for the nacelles. With these four down I've only twenty more to go.


Dave

[wbill76]

Madness is a journey of a thousand steps Dave, so you've only got 20 to go on this one! Looking forward to seeing all that detail come to life once you're done with the nacelles.

[deafpanzer]

20 more to go... am afraid you will have lost your mind by time you are done with it. BUT it will be a masterpiece at the end!

[venom1]

Magnificent job thus far Dave!

Can't say I envy you with all those ribs to do!!!!

Mmmmmm..... riiiiiibs....

(Sorry)

Cheers,

Sam

[Leon]

Ditto what Andy said Dave.It will be all worth it in the end results.

[bullardino]

You're totally rebuilding the plane, and you're doing it so well...

[thug626]

Oh my goodness Bill! If that is indeed the case, then I am skipping merrily through the forrest! . I am very much looking forward to building up the nacelles. I was getting frustrated with the lack of reference pics or schematics in this area but, I figured it was time to fish or cut bait. Thank you for your comments.

Hello Andy, See the comment above about the "journey of a thousand steps". Another analogy is this....my cheese and cracker may have already started to part ways. Thank you as always for your support and comments.

Hello Sam, I had thought that the building of the ribs was going to make me snatch myself bald but, I am actually enjoying it. Absolutely NO worries about the "riiiiibs" comment. That does indeed sound good. I may have to BBQ some baby back ribs this weekend. Gaaaahhhhhh.........drooooooooollllll.


Hello Leon, Thank you very much.

Hello Luigi, Phrased that way......yeah! You would be correct. I saw a couple more spots on the fuselage that will need reworking. One being the arrester hook. THat would have been much easier when the fuselage was still open. Oh well. I will look better for it anyway.

Dave

[M1Carbine]

Dave - wayto tear that styrene apart bro. progress looking fantastic so far.

Bob