That looks like an interesting build. I never heard of the Williams Brothers Model Co. It seems like they make large scale models like your kit and parts for  RC airplanes. Here is their website: http://www.wmbros.com

I'll be watching Don!  Mine's in the closet currently.

JohnnyK

That looks like an interesting build. I never heard of the Williams Brothers Model Co. It seems like they make large scale models like your kit and parts for  RC airplanes. Here is their website: http://www.wmbros.com

 

They also made airplane kits.  One specialty I really liked were racing planes.  I see so many available now that the new owners must be repopping those too.  They were/are 1:32 scale, which is nice because those racing planes were pretty small.

Hi Don

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this

In the meantime, I like your bench--very businesslike. I also appreciate clearing the decks before starting a new project. I do that as well, and often just after a session, or even in the middle, so I have a clean slate. 

cheers

-J

Mea Culpa!  I had remembered (gee it had been a long time since I built that first kit) as a Wasp Jr.  It isn't- it is the big Wasp, the 1340.

Okay got  some more work done.  Front case glued to crankcase, and intake manifold halves glued together, seams filled, and primed.

The manifold was a bear!  It warped easily, and I had to glue the halves together in two operations to maintain decent alignment.  A lot of flash made cleaning the holes where the intake pipes fit.  Some areas were so bad I had to make plastic "washers" to make the hole circular and fit the pipes.  Above you see the pipes ready for priming.

Oh wow Don that bench is waaaaaaayyyyyyy too clean- gives me a headache to look at it!!! 

Good to see you with a new project to get it messy again! 

Looks good so far. Seems like it'll be some work getting everything aligned proper and straight. 

Hey Don, sorry I missed this. I have the WB Cyclone.

I'll be watching. 

Looks really nice Don

Gamera

Oh wow Don that bench is waaaaaaayyyyyyy too clean- gives me a headache to look at it!!! 

Good to see you with a new project to get it messy again! 

Looks good so far. Seems like it'll be some work getting everything aligned proper and straight. 

 

I just pushed everything aside to clear a little area in the front of the bench to take the picture.  It is messy again already.  The reason the surface is so clean is that I refinish the surface each couple of models with contact paper.  My bench becomes really bad with glue gobs and paint drips and spills, and  I needed a fast way to refinish it.

And Steve, I'd love to do the Wright!  I had already done one Wasp, and wrote them encouraging them to repop the Wright.  But when the Wasp came out first, I took a look at mine and determined I could use the skills I had obtained in the 20+ years since then to do a better Wasp.  Really looking forward to the repop of the Wright.- why don't those of you want the Wright also write WB, the more emails and letters they get, the better

Got the crankcase assembly painted, and all of the cylinders cleaned up and ready for painting.

Got the lower section of the cylinders painted, and they look great.  I am now contemplating painting whole cylinder that color of blued steel, instead of the aluminun color I had originally planned.  I see so many color combinations of Wasp cylinders!  I wish I knew what metals were used in which areas of the cylinder, and what process was used to get that color.  I am sure the lower part of the cylinder was blued or other chemical treatment, but do not know what were used on various others in the upper cylinder and head area.  Having a tough time finding the info.  And I assume many of the engine pictures I see these days are overhauled/re-manufactured engines with processes that didn't exist back in days when engine was manufactured.

Oh, I  never thought of them being blued. What would you use, gunmetal? I'm intrested in seeing what you do with them. 

Oh cool !! I wanna hear it run.

BK

Looking forward for you to add some fuel to it to start her up sir!

modelcrazy

Oh, I  never thought of them being blued. What would you use, gunmetal? I'm intrested in seeing what you do with them. 

 

I mixed up a concoction, a mixture of Testors Gunmetal and gloss blue.  The gunmetal is dead flat, and no color to it at all.  I wanted a touch of blue in it, and a bit of a sheen.  I took the full (new) bottle of gunmetal, which was full up to the neck (square bottle).  I then poured in the gloss blue until it reached halfway up the neck.  This was a first cut, and it worked beautifully.  Picture maybe tomorrow.

Also, I learned yesterday that while the cylinder is one piece steel, the big cooling fins on the top part, and for the head are an aluminum "muff".  The top of the cylinder is threaded, as is the inside of the muff, and they are screwed together.  So I decided to do the top areas of the cylinder in alclad.  I masked off the bottom section with the blued steel and applied Alclad directly over the black plastic.  Worked great!

Been working on the cylinders, now that the crankcase is ready to receive them.  Got them all painted now.

Detailing the cylinders is becoming a lot of work!  Every time I think I've got them ready to put into the crankcase I find another widget I have to add.  But one cylinder is now, I am sure, completely finished and ready to mount, though I want to finish them all before gluing them in.

Oh wow, those look really great Don. 

Wow looking really nice Don.  Hoping for cliff notes on colors from you so I can do mine as nice ;)

keavdog

Wow looking really nice Don.  Hoping for cliff notes on colors from you so I can do mine as nice ;)

 

 

On cylinders, bottom part is Testors gunmetal plus Steel.  I started with full bottle of gunmetal, which was full right up to neck. I then added steel halfway up neck.  Mixed well and then thinned for airbrush.  I use a suction feed airbrush so poured fom Testors bottle and thinned in airbrush jar.  Upper part of cylinder is Alclad aluminum, applied directly over kit black plastic.  Rocker box covers are painted gloss black, then Alclad Polished aluminum applied very lightly.  Crankcase is Testors Gray, engine accessories (mags, starter and carburetor) are new Testors semi-matt black.  Handpainting nuts and screws with the gunmetal/steel mix.

Don, I have to say again, they look great. You are really making me want to break out the Cyclone.

Got all the cylinders on the crankcase now, and some of the accessories on the rear.  First view is the front of engine, sitting on its mount (not screwed down yet).

Next is a shot of the rear, on a mount to hold it (board of mdf with hole drilled for propshaft.

I had finally lost one of the (18) rocker box covers, taking it out of my paint dryer box.  Could not find it.  Made a simple one-piece mold of clay, using one of the others, and cast it in resin.  Matches pretty good after Alclad, huh?

Wow, that's looking great.

I think you need to wire those bolts on the bearing cover. But seriously, that looks real. I have no idea which rocker cover is the new one.

A very nice project.

GMorrison

I think you need to wire those bolts on the bearing cover. But seriously, that looks real. I have no idea which rocker cover is the new one.

A very nice project.

 

Good idea!  I think I can handle that.

Got the engine mounted to the engine mount.  A few tips for anyone building this kit.  Do not put on either the starter or the carburetor before mounting the engine to the mount. If you mount the starter first, you will have trouble getting the mount around the assembly. If you mount the carburetor first, and try to screw in a machine screw to mount the mount to the intake manifold, the carburetor prevents getting a socket type wrench on the screw (see below).  Good luck finding a 0-80 open end wrench that will fit.

A great tip- you can make a great socket wrench for a 0-80 hex head machine screw from a length of 1/8 in (od) aluminum tubing.  Drill a 1/16 inch hole in a block of something- I used a piece of MDF.  Insert the body of the screw into the hole.  Place the piece of tubing centered over the screw head, and tap in it with a small modeler's hammer. The tube will deform over the head, forming a handy wrench.  I wrapped some masking tape over the other end to give a bit more purchase for my fingers.  If you drill a hole in plastic with the normal tap drill, the screw can act as a self-tapping screw.  I used that type of wrench to screw the screw through the mount and into the intake manifold with no problems.  Easy turning, and four or five screws hold the mount tight to the engine (or vis versa).

Been meaning to take more photos, but things are changing rapidly now, and finish is in sight.  However, a warning to anyone else building this kit.  I had already glued the wiring loom into place before I began the ignition wiring- a mistake!  It is almost impossible to get the wires inserted into the loom once the loom is fastened to the crankcase- at least for the top five cylinders!  In trying, I loosened two of the lugs holding the loom to the crankcase, and was then able to break loose the other two.  I found it easy then to cut the two wires that go on the five front openings on the loom, and fasten it back in place on the engine. I will now proceed to wire these to the plugs. 

I recommend this procedure rather than trying to wrestle the loom end of the wires into the loom when it is in place on the engine!

The four lower cylinders go to wires fastened to the ends of the loom and this looks like it will work okay with the loom on the engine.  Display stand is already finished.  More pics in a day or so.

All the pushrod tubes are in place and I have cylinder 1 wired- both plugs.  The wiring is every bit as difficult as I feared.  Working with soft vinyl is not fun, and the hole in the plug connector fitting for the plug end is way undersize, you have to push it down hard on the plug till it yields.  But, it is coming.  Here is a shot of the engine front, with one cylinder wired, a couple more connectors in place, and some of the wiring visible behind the cylinders.

That's looking fantastic Don