F7F-3N

[BezoulaBuilds]

this is truly modeling craftsmanship on this. great move on the gear fix and always like medical advice on clearing your head cold.

one of these days I am going to pull all the stops and detail the crap out of a build with styrene and scratch building. meanwhile, I will watch talent like you inspire me.

[thug626]

Hello Luigi,
Thank you for the compliment. Yeah, it is not one of the more simplistic designs. With what few schematics I do have, you can see the function of the gear. It really is amazing. It's also amazing that during carrier quals , that it was the wing that broke. Not the landing gear.

Hello Bezoulabuilds,
Thank you for the compliment. How I started with the scratch building was to detail some small area that wouldn't show very much. That way I could learn as I went and, if I bodgered it then, I would not worry too much about having to redo it. Instead, I'd learn from it. One of the items I use is the Testors glue in the triangular black container. It has a stainless steel applicator. This works well but, for my applications, it still flows too much too fast. What I ended up doing was soldering a piece of stainless steel hypodermic tubing to the inside of the stock piece of stainless steel tubing. THe piece I used has and inside diameter of 0.010". This will truly put down just a "dab" of glue. You can see the difference with the diameters. The modified one is on the left. Stock on the right.


I am currently working on the engine accessories, along with all of the other bits and bobs that are to go into the nacelles.

Dave

[thug626]

I got the engine bearers built....well, at least for one nacelle. To do the upper bearers, I built them up with the nacelle dry fitted to the wing to get the best possible fit as, they will fit to the underside of the wing.


A view one will not see when finally assembled. As you can see, I have added a few more ribs forward along with some longerons. The semi-circular piece at the forward opening of the wheel well was to be a PE part. Figuring that I still had a lot of dry fitting to go and handling of the parts, I opted to use the PE part as a template and build it out of styrene. This will hold up better to repeated handling. I wish I had done this with the bulkheads at the aft end. I had noticed the other day that one of them had gone missing. . I scratched up a replacement. The AWOL PE part was found three days later.


Here is the dry fit to the wing.


Dave

[deafpanzer]

Ditto!! It keeps getting better...

[wbill76]

Super work as usual there Dave, very nice. Keep at it! I hear you about the AWOL PE piece turning up after scratching a replacement, it's like an unwritten law of the universe for that to happen at least once in a build project.

[Deleted]

Incredible!!!

[thug626]

DickyF, Thank you very much! :)It went off easier than I had thought.

Andy, Thank you very much ditto!

Bill, There are some constants in the cosmos. The PE pinging off to the hinterlands is one of them. Lest I forget my manners.....thank you for the compliment.

Bruce, Thank you very much as well.

I had a lovely shipment arrive Friday. It was some Quickboost landing gear doors. The kit doors were passable but, the main gear doors were going to need a complete rework on the interior. (puke)Then I chanced upon QB doors. There was also some Lifecolor paint for the exterior of the 'Cat. It's FS 15045. I did a test patch on some sheet styrene. It's gloss and the dark blue is amazing. I'm getting excited to start laying down some color. The pièce de résistance was the new Sherman book by Ampersand that just came out! Oh hot dignity! There are some Shermans in the stash that started crying out when I cracked that book!

Dave

[adampolo13-Email Not Valid]

Some great work going on here!

[Leon]

Doing a great job Dave.Keep it coming.

[venom1]

Hi Dave,

Just wanted to say fantastic work mate! I have been lurking in the background watching the progress, but haven't been posting. Thought it was about time I did! You really are doing some beautiful work here mate, it is a joy to behold! Especially for a wingyist like me!!

I look forward to seeing how great this all looks once the paint starts to flow....

Cheers,

Sam

[bullardino]

I agree with dicky, cool scratch work there

I agree with you, the design of the undercarriage struts make them look weak. I would have never thought that it was the wing that failed...

[thug626]

Hello Adampolo13. Thank you for the compliment.

Hello Leon, Thank you and, I will.

Hello Sam, Thank you for chiming in and the compliment. This is point where I have to keep myself in check. The color is amazing and, I'm really wanting to get some color down. However, at first glance it is close to getting color laid down. Realistically, there is a myriad of access panels,lines, and certain external details on the fuselage that need to be tended to before any primer is laid down. One of the external details is the centerline hard point. The kit one will be coming off. The actual hard point is not a solid slab.

Hello Luigi, Thank you kindly for the compliment. I would not have either. The pics of the wing failures are pretty spectacular. At the wing root, the wing has rotated 90º with the leading edge pointing up.

[bullardino]

Wow, the main strut was strong enough but the lift was too much for the leading edge to remain at its place...

[thug626]

Actually Luigi, it wasn't so much the lift as it was the shock load, transmitted to the main spar in the wing, by way of the landing gear upon landing (i.e. the barely controlled crash of a carrier landing). The main spar just simply wasn't up to the task of that kind of a load. The idea was kicked around of strengthening the wing but, the engineers realized that the weight penalty would be detrimental to performance. Hence, land based operations.

Dave

[bullardino]

Ok, probably the attachment of the main gear struts was too forward for the spar, the leverage effect added too much load and it failed...

[thug626]

Hello Luigi, Whatever the forces that acted upon the A/C, the results were pretty spectacular! Sheared the bloody wing off at the root.

A bit of progress today. The alcohol tanks and "other tanks" were completed today. I'm not sure of the purpose of the "other tanks". The actual A/C tanks has large hoses and lines running into and out of them. Any ideas?

The alcohol tanks were made up of large styrene stock glued together. The shape was roughed out with a coarse grit sanding stick. The brackets at the top of the tank were done up with channel stock with a radius filed into the sides, allowing the tank to nestle right into them. The retaining straps were glued at one end and, allowed to dry for a bit. This was then draped over the tank and glued at the free end.


The nacelle dry fitted with the landing gear to make for a proper fit of the tank.


The tank now glued with the trusty Ambroid.


"The other tank" completed. The retention strap ends were made up of angle stock, drilled out to allow for a Grandt Line bolt...pretty much like the real thing....at least as close as I can get it.


Dry fitted in the nacelle. It will have and assortment of large lines running out of it.


Dave

[deafpanzer]

The force is STRONG with this one.... you are the master! Probably a Jedi too!

[thug626]

LMAO! Thank you for the compliment and the humor. However, there are more than a few at work who would think of me more as a Sith Lord than a Jedi.

Dave

[bbd468]

Yes Dave! Strong, is tha force with you. Awesome, is tha work you have done.   Damn fine Scratchatizing Dave!

[Rick]

Dave, awesome extras you are pouring into this kit. I pulled mine out of the stash the other day thinking I'd take a crack at it. I kept thinking of all the work it needs and decided the time was not right yet. Thought I'd better wait and keep checking on your build to see what else it needed! I don't suppose just sending it to you for all the updates it needs is an option . . . I thought I heard you laughing just now At any rate, this big kitty is going to be a show stopper when you get her done.

Rick

[Deleted]

Jul 29, 2013 13:28:39 GMT -5 @dickyf said:

You're gonna HAVE to display this in an imgainative upside down scenario to display this work to best effect Dave or on second thoughts go for the mirrored base!!!

This is really first class work and sme of the best AC detailling I've come across - SOUP-HERB!

Heck,I'm doin' it agin!!!..Agreeing with Dicky!! ....Nice work Dave...and I seem to remember Waaaaay back when,when you started this fella,I had this same kit in the stash,and didn't think it was too bad!!! (Mines gone to the great wingy graveyard!!!)

[Deleted]

YUP!!!!

[thug626]

Hello BBD468, Thank you very much. "Scratchatizing"........LMAO.

Hello Rick, Thank you as well. That's the beauty of this kit. You can go OOB or as far as you want with it. You're right.....I am laughing....only a little......ok....A LOT!!!! I may need to do something simple after this to cleanse the palate...as it were.

Hello DickyF, Hot dang! Thank you for the good words. Shortly after getting started on the nacelles I was leaning toward a mirrored base. Perhaps some LEDs fashioned like work light shining up into the nacelles?

Hello Cee Bee, Thank you. It has been going for a while. Eh? It really is a nice kit. Why for did yours go the wingy graveyard? DickyF isn't doing the Jedi "mind-trick" on you is he?

Dave

[wbill76]

Always neat to see what magic you produce next Dave, those tanks are awesome.

[thug626]

Thank you Bill. Those tanks the closest I'm going to get to an armor kit for a bit. We'll see what piques my interest at the end of this build. Armor vs Wingy thingy.

Dave

[macmcconnell.]

Dave great detail work this is looking mint

Mac

[thug626]

Hello Mac,
Thank you kindly for the compliment.

Dave

[thug626]

Jul 31, 2013 14:17:00 GMT -5 @dickyf said:

I only do the Jedi Mind-Thick...... It's worked on CB for a good few years trouble is I reckoned it's back-fired a fair bit too....

. My family is giving me the look. Jedi Mind-Thick!!!! A couple of em though it was funny as heck. The rest…still giving me the look.
Oh well.

I got one of the wings together this evening. Leading edge intakes are in as are a couple more detail parts. I realized that to make this happen I was going to have to lay down some primer and color as, there would be no nice way to get the color on later. I'll get some pics up later when I have access to the camera and a proper computer.

Dave

[thug626]

I got access to the camera and computer a lot faster than I thought I would.
Here's the color. I forgot to write down which paints I used.....specific colors that is. The primer was Vallejo. It was the first time I ever worked with it. I went on beautifully. The tank color is Lifecolor Zinc chromate and the rest is a Polly Scale color from the railroad section of the LHS...the name escapes me at the moment.


You can see the three lines that run parallel to each other from the tank to the fire wall. This is the detail that prompted me to lay down the color and assemble the wing sooner than I had thought I was going to. The aft end of these lines are glued to the step ahead of the tank and, then come up and, over extending toward the fire wall. It's the coming up and over that made the assembly needing to happen now. Where they are first glued it on the upper wing and. The majority of what you see is on the lower wing part. It came off rather smoothly. The hose connection for the tank is painted in Vallejo Dark rubber and, the hose clamps are painted on using the same brand, Oily Steel.


The dry fit.


Dave

P.S. Weathering to follow.....after the other wing is done.

[deafpanzer]

Nice colors!!! I like Vallejo primer too but struggled with black... maybe because it was just much heavier than others.