Itchn' for Scratch - Rebuilding an F9F Wing Tip Tank

So halfa' wing tank fans, here's the wind down, and I apologize for the fuzzy photos, my camera's macro is a bit warped:

Still a bit fat but barely

Note the blunt nose and flt sides

Fairly close

See hoe 'round' the original is...lol....

those little divets near my thumb seemed to fill in all by themselves....

Note the mold on the box top......oh, and the flat bastage files....lol....

So here's the kit I bought from a guy in France.....

Aw...ain't they cute......that piece of flint is my rendition of an arrowhead....lol....

yeah, sorry for the fuzz, but as you can see it will do fine once blued-out.

I'll update when I get the entire kit glued-up.

Just to re-iterate....that's the first kit I ever built, back in 1962, so that's why, or as the French would say...mon raison d'etre.......more mould, please!...lol...

Thanks for looking, I'm available to sign autograph copies in the lobby......lol....

So I'm grindin' down to 800 grit, and it's lookin' good.

Aurora stole the profile for this F9F from Comet, way back afore sumyuz' born....lol....

The tip tanks were not round in cross section, more like hexagonal.

i accounted for that, and I'ma tyred o' sandin.

so, I'll post the pre-and-final results.

I'm going to glue those suckers on that well-past-its-day kit.

This will be OOB, sparkling styrene, make a late 50's kid eyes light up like 50 cent pieces! -no paint!

Many thanks to those who contributed to this now world-wide-famous thread.....we have to beat them back with bats...lol.....just gotta match that white with a pen-of-equal-colour.......lol....

Tell you what Hawkeye;

Send me your proposed P&D on the PM and I'll look it over.

My only concern is that vac parts may be a bit too big, but I'm happy to listen.

FYI, you probably have seen already, this kit supplies two vac canopy parts:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1-48-Fonderie-Miniature-F-84F-Thunderstreak-/320784351108?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab03cbf84

Thanks

For a fair fee I can make three copies of the F-84F canopy for you if you wish.

I have been using a clear material called PETG from K & S plastics .015" thick, stock #1304.

Thanks for the heads up guys.....need those F-84 canopies bad, and this solution is looking good.

Any thoughts on PVC vs STY is appreciated.

I have used sheets with no holes with success, the trick is to use a large binder clip to hold the two pieces of the frame together while swinging from heat side to mold side.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/75-Clear-Sheets-Vintage-MATTEL-VAC-U-FORM-Bonus-/360393650992?pt=Slot_Cars&hash=item53e922b330

This guy you posted is my source for clear sheets...  I tried the other guy (the ones without the holes in them) and they were next to worthless...  "Not needing the pre-drilled holes" is baloney... Betcher A you need 'em...

"RPC119" is a great guy to deal with... I once bought a set of the sheets from him some months back, and after two months, none had arrived (I'd bought from him several times prior without any issues at all).. I emailed him through Ebay, told him what the deal was, and he sent out a replacement order, no questions asked, that I received in three days..

Bockscar

Sprue;

Maybe you saw these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mattel-Vac-U-Form-PVC-Sheets-CLEAR-50-Only-1-50-Ship-/180736685590?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a14bef616

or

http://www.ebay.com/itm/75-Clear-Sheets-Vintage-MATTEL-VAC-U-FORM-Bonus-/360393650992?pt=Slot_Cars&hash=item53e922b330

This would make a nice Christmas stocking stuffer....

Thanks !

Gonna hafta talk to Santa

Sprue;

Maybe you saw these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mattel-Vac-U-Form-PVC-Sheets-CLEAR-50-Only-1-50-Ship-/180736685590?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a14bef616

or

http://www.ebay.com/itm/75-Clear-Sheets-Vintage-MATTEL-VAC-U-FORM-Bonus-/360393650992?pt=Slot_Cars&hash=item53e922b330

This would make a nice Christmas stocking stuffer....

I've used a Vac-U-Form mostly for seats, cowling parts and canopies- though not lately due to a lack of clear plastic.

It can be very useful for some items.

Thanks Hammer, I think that's a great tool, and probably would make alot of sense especially for canopies.

I think I'll pick one up. I was a mold-maker a long while back. This vac process has to account for the tolerances added by the thickness of the plastic sheet, and I realized that if I used the old drop tank part, the outer diameter of the original part would become the inner diameter of the vac-formed part, ie the new part would be a bit oversize.

I'm almost done shaping the drop-tank, the original has some subtle, or not-so-subtle, shapes to it that I'll try to sculpt with 400 grit this Saturday. If I chase it down about 40 thou undersize, I could sell spare drop tank halves on Ebay with the help of the Mattel unit...lol....

I need 3 Mongram 1/48 F-84 canopies, at least one Hawk 1/48 Starfighter canopy, an Aurora 1/48 F-9F  nose gear half (maybe the next 'scratch) and could use a few extra 'nukes that came with the F-84 and Monogram 1/48 B-58.

Yeah, that's a great tool for every 'scratch builder...once I get mine going I'll wonder how I went so long without it.

Oh yeah, I've got that big 1/32 scale vac-formed Voodoo to build......

As m' dear, sweet, Swedish Mother would say, "Uff-da!", Bocksy...

Great work, and if there's no ther alternative, well-done!

However, an alternative does exist..

Three words... Mattel Vacuform, Ebay...

Bombs, drop/tip-tanks, canopies (outstanding machine for that last, BTW.. Will cost you about two bucks for a crystal-clear canopy and windscreen for about any single-seat fighter you can name in 1/48th and almost any 1/32 scale one)... Great for turning those thick, one-piece old canopies into beautifully thin-to-scale multi-piece canopies... That super tip-tank job of yours woulda been a ten-minute job with one, with five of those minutes being the pre-heat...

There're about six on Ebay right now, along with upgrade and repair parts-kits, and plenty of plastic for 'em to be had at great low prices...  I've had one since 1978  and won't part with it, not no way, not no how... 

Thanks Sprue, appreciated

Yeah, that was the very first plasti-kit I ever got, 1962.

I have the Aurora '90, is it asymmetrical or what, made by "Joe in the machine-shop," gotta love it.

I bought a complete knapping outfit a couple of years back, I can now destroy 10 pounds of chert to make an arrow-head blank. Hertzian theory is still just theory, in my case...lol...I've even destroyed a medium copper-top billet.....i hate being a beginner these days......lol....

Thanks for the link...I have about 5 old Aurora kits, but all the second releases...now I'm trying to pull the old Comet kits.

Sparrow Hyperion convinced me to buy a Big A'**d Aurora B-58....I am in love all over again....lol....

So now I have to get the Aurora tolerances on the tank. ie it is not round, and the nose section is triangular in two dimensions....shisssh.....still easier than flint......

Very nice looking work on duplicating the drop tank half.

I used to have that AURORA kit in the early 1970s.

LOL......unlike the old AURORA XF-90 , at least the air intakes looked symmetrical.

Do you have a leather leg protector ,an antler billet and copper tipped pressure flaking tools for your flintknapping projects?

BTW........here's a link to some old AURORA kits, including a photo of the decal sheet if you need to duplicate the set.

http://www.philsaeronauticalstuff.com/oldmodels/aurora_models/Aurora_models.html

Here's the work to shape the tank half:

I used a flat bastage file to round out the shape....lol......

Yeah, the bastage file comes in handy:

Checking the shape, like dry fitting....

Other way 'round for perspective....

More filing, and now the 200 grit paper to start the final grind.....

Hmmm....reminds me of something.......

So the outline/profile is coming along nicely......

It's still a bit fat, but as we get to finer paper....the tolerances need to suck up the next level of grind....

Holy cow........we are now at Aurora Quality tolerances....lol.......

So, i always cut stock too close, man, I really do love putty after all......lol......

Yeah......so we are now in the 400 grit range......

Getting close to 400 grit range on the tolerances here......

Hmmmm....yeah....that's it....Marine Land!......lol.....

Okay, so you can see the outline is a few thou' off, but I will fix that with 800-1200 grit.......

Oh yeah, that nice piece of flint is from a Master Knapper in Ohio.....I'm still trying to get the hang of that....lol....

hawkeye2an_L-Bird_fan

Looks like you're getting the job done just fine.

If I were to do this I'd use the half you have as a mold to heat-form a new part.

Looks like you're getting the job done just fine.

If I were to do this I'd use the half you have as a mold to heat-form a new part.

So, spelling error corrected, parameter errors introduced...lol....

So, cut out the slot for the first part...

Drilled and ready for the second part.....

Tools of the trade....

Didn't go through the second part.....just scooped it out....

Stacked them up......see the depth....

put the original on just to test the theory....

So that's where we are headed....

That's what it supposed to look like....

That's what our 1st part looks like impaled....

And that's what it looks like with 1st and 2nd part in-situ....

Yeah, and the last third part to have a look...

Now I've glued and clamped 1st & 2nd parts together...

sposed to look like that...

http://cyberspaceage.com/images/549_IMG_7869.JPG

So, that's it for now, as you can see, whittling the rest is now a snap.........lol.....