scratch 1/32 Horatio Phillips Multiplane WIP *Updated 8/22*

This should be interesting. Welcome to the 'Friendly side' btw LOL.

...Guy

Luftwoller wrote:

Welcome to the 'Friendly side' btw LOL.

A very ambitious project, and one I have never heard of.  I look forward to your progress on this one.

Thanks for droppin' in and for the welcome, Luftwoller and Daywalker!!!

Anyways, I had time on my hands today and the wood was soft enough to bend today. So......I made the jig to get the curvature in the two main "planks" of the frame. I will have to leave  the wood in the jig untill the wood dries, which is about the same time the wood was in the water, so about 24 hours. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

oh sweet

That's awsome!

But drying in the same time as it was in the water? Hmm... I threw my jacket into a pit of water once.. I took it up just right away... It took itself 24 hours to dry...  Get your facts straight!!

But really.. Awsome project!!  Wish I had you skills...

But how did you ensure the jig gives the same angels on both pieces of wood??

Thanks for checkin' out my build, Huxy!!

And to answer your question, " how to ensure the jig gives the same angles on both pieces of wood?" The answer, find the the center of the board and hammer in a nail. Then take a second nail and hammer it in on the end of the base at a point where their will be a slight curve. Put the board in. Then figure out how curved the board has to be(by test bending) and hammer in a third nail, that gets the desirable curve. If the curve not to your liking simply remove the nails and re-start. Then for the other board, look at the board you just jiged and mirror the positions of the nails. That should get you curves that mirror each other. Hope this explained it.

philo426 wrote:

Will the planks retain their shape after the wood dries out?And will it remain stable over the long haul?

Yes, the wood "planks" do retain their shape once their dry. Before I sumberged these two "planks" you see in the pic, I tested a scrap "plank" in water a few weeks ago. I curved that one with my hands just by applying pressure, which gave it a slight curve and it actually still retains it's curve perfectly. It's just as stable as any other wood, and it will retain it's stability. That is unless your not carfull and splash water on it, which can warp the board. However warping won't occur here, since the wood was all equally submerged. I hope this explains it to you clearly, philo426.

tankerbuilder- Thanks for lookin' in on my build!! Not to mention thanks for tip about putting vinegar in with the water(never knew that), I gotta try it out some time.

jeaton01- Thanks for checkin' out my build! Hmmm.....never knew ammonia has that effect on wood. I might try that out some time, but right now the woods bent perfectly, whew! So at least I don't have to worry about wood curving for now.

Hmmm, this should be rather interesting!  Don't see off the wall stuff like this very often, so should be a nice change of pace!

Brian

Hello

I am a fan of Horatio Phillips' work. Best of luck with your project.

I hate to throw you a curve ball about what you're modelling, but the various drawings made of the 1893 multiplane are not wholly accurate. That includes the one in the Enzo Angelucci book.

Here is a contemporary photo of the multiplane:

Note the large wings positioned top-and-bottom of the multiplane stack. Below is an engraving done of the multiplane, this appeared in the Engineering journal for May 5th, 1893. At first appearance, it looks as though all of the wings are of uniform size, but the two larger wings are actually there, its just that they are hard to make out given the perspective. I suspect people have misinterpreted those two wings as just being part of the wooden framework that supports the multiplanes.

Also, at this URL, you'll find a 1/72nd (!) model of another Horatio Phillips' multiplane:
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal6/5201-5300/gal5289_HoratioPhilips_Stern/00.shtm

Cheers,
Paul 

multiplane- First of all, to the forums! Secondly, thanks for that contemporary photo of the multiplane. It gives me a much better perspective/angle of what I'm building. Never knew their were large wings on the top and bottom of the wing frame......oh well, I'll react and build accordingly. Thanks again for the photo, never seen that one when I was researching my build.

sfcmac- Thanks for lookin' in on my build!!

It was just about perfect outside today. 70's, sunny, and with a slight hint of humidty here in the Chicagoland. Thus this meant I finally was able to go outside to do some sawing of support "planks" for the main frame.

To get the final positioning of the two main "planks" I had to do some simple mathematics....what fun. Basically done by doing some measurements of the wing frame and eyeing it. Since there are no dimensions out there of the positioning of the two main "planks." But the overall result I believe was not that bad. (Had to tape down the frame so I wouldn't lose the positioning I wanted.)

To cut the support truss for the main frame, you'll need a miter box and a saw(almost any saw should suffice.) For the support "planks" I used the same wood and same size, 0.20 X 0.30. (In order to save time I cut this piece at the same time I was cutting the wood that I would later use for the two main pieces.)

To make sure you don't get too much splintering of the edges or cracking, you should slightly notch all the sides of the wood you'll be cutting with a razor blade.

Here's all the support "planks" for the main frame cut to about the needed size. (Yeah, I know it looks more like a ship then a plane currently.) Make sure your cuts are a bit bigger then you need. I made sure of that, since I still need to sand down the edges to have a slight curve, in order to fit perfectly in between the two main "planks."

Now I have to get out some sanding paper, might use an electric sander if need be, to get all the support planks to fit. All comments, question, and suggestions welcome!

Nice start on this build. I will be keeping an eye on this one.

Thanks for the welcome. Am looking forward to seeing the model come together! 

Cheers,
Paul

vetteman42- Thanks for checkin' out my build!

multiplane- Again thanks for that photo........replied to your PM.

After sanding and timming down the support "planks" to fit in between the two main "planks", I was finally able to get out the glue.(Had to trim the edeges of some pieces to have a curve.) I used Elmer's Probond Interior Wood Glue, it's easy to wash and wipe off if you make a mistake before it dries. I guess you could use Elmer's White Glue, but I wasn't gonna take the chance since the two main "planks" are pretty tense and want to pull away.

Here's a pic of the finished frame! It's suprisingly sturdy, and the glue holds perfectly. After gluing, I sanded down the areas where a bit of excess glue dried and sanded down some areas in the wood that were not perfectly flat.

Now it's one to the axles and wheels in scratching. The wheels look like their gonna have to be scratched, since the parts I planned to use(gears from a computer CPU) were too small. The axles shouldn't be too much of a problem though. Then I have to figure out the wheel supports that connect the axle to the frame. Might use stretched sprue if wood doesn't work well. Oh well, trial and error I guess. Thanks for looking.

sfcmac wrote:

Looking good MG!  That wood working stuff you are pulling of is very cool. Looks like a lot of work but your results are stunning!

Thanks so much for the kind words, sfcmac, it encourages me to go the extra mile when scratching parts. 

So here's my pile of random parts that will be goin' to making the wheels, support truss, and axle. Porbably don't see how or what the parts are gonna be used for, so let me explain. The gears(from a computer CPU) will go to makin' the three wheels. The stainless steel rod(also from a computer CPU) will go to makin' the rear axle. The white plastic rods(from an old lego set) will be used for the axle support truss holder. The clear green rod(also from an old lego set) will be used for the axle support truss itself since it's the same radius as the steel axle.  

To make the part that connects the support truss coming from the wood frame to the axle I took the end of one of the white plastic rods. Snipped off the round ends, then enlarged the hole on one side, and drilled out the other side in order to slide the steel axle in. It's a perfect fit and probably no glue will be needed. 

Then I made some measurements to how high I want the wood frame off the ground. After getting the height I wanted I put a glob of silly putty on each side of the frame where the axle will be. Then I pushed the axle into the silly putty to get the correct height. Then it was just a matter of taking the green clear rod and snipping it too a much smaller size. Then the work of cutting and sanding to fit the support rods has begun. By the way, I'm still not done yet on that green rod you see in the pic.

All comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!!

I finally got around to cutting and trimming all the axle support braces(aka the clear green plastic). After a bit more sanding the clear green pieces will be glued down to the dark green stryene pieces(you see one of them on the build below), that way the axle support truss looks like it's attached to a small steel plate(will look like steel after painting) on the wood.

Here's a better pic of what I'm actually using to model the support metal plates on the wood, simply the part identification numbers cut off a sprue. Since their the perfect size, just a bit of sanding is needed and your done.

As always, all comments and questions welcome!!