AIR RACER GROUP BUILD BECAUSE WE FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED

Hey Guys!

I just wanted to check in because I haven't been around much lately. I haven't forgotten about my little Howard Pete. It will get built, I'm sure.  

Hope you all have a happy and safe New Year and hopefully I can get another racer done in 2010.

Johnny can't wait to see some pics when you are able!!!!!!! Sounds intuhlestink!!!!!!

Jonny Roscoe Hey looks like you beat that detail into submission there, cant wait for the finished pics. After looking at this picture though I have to ask how you got the putty, milliput and the resin model parts all the same shade of white. And how hard was it to mask that dotted line in red or is that a decal. Seriously though I hope you can beg, borrow, or steal a camera for your finished pictures, sorry to read about the demise of your camera, mine is on its last leg too I am afraid.

ok so my camera has seen its last day due to ill health and A LOT of abuse and countless times of dropoing her. So I decided to give you a txt/drawing update. This is the plan I drew up of what she looks like right now.

1. Here I scribed the area where I wanted to cut out a little. After I scribed off the outline I then started to use my #16 X-acto blade to scrape off little by little the resin to the correct shape and depth. I then added a sheet of styrene in there for the door vent thing a ma jig.

2. This area I widened and used a sheet of styrene to cover the hole. I then applied a S*** load of putty over and over and over and over again , so I can make it the same shape and height as the resin piece.

3. this area is where I was bogged down. I tried several ways to go about making the NACA type scoop. This was my final idea and worked out fairely good. I used milliput to cover the bottom area. I then let it dry and after it dried I made a template to draw out the area I was going to cut out. After I drew my line I again took my #16 X-acto blade and carved/scraped the shape of the scoop and started to take out the excess clay. After I got the shape down after one dry thank goodness, I applied putty and sanded it down to a smooth finish.

4. I haven't done these next two step but they will be coming shortly after all the scratches are out and primered. Im going to drill a hole here and put in a small a** tube.

5. Last but not least I will be scribing this access panel after it is primered.

So this is where I am at right now. The wings are down and ready to be primered, then pit will be getting installed 2mmarrow along with the wings I hope. then primered later 2marrow night I hope. If all goes right and no more DAMN sanding UGH then it will all be primered and then by the 31st it should have its first coat of paint on it . Not to mention I still have the scoop and canopy to vacuform!!!!

Bret

The shop made more progress today. 

-First coat of white primer dry, and decorative metallic red markings applied to fuselage, wings, and tail. 

-R-2800, now fully tested and run-in (with modifications in place, it almost destroyed the test stand in the shop- the stand not built to handle anything over roughly 2500 hp ), was installed in the fuselage, and the cowling installed over it.  Work continues on the prop and spinner- they are awating paint and polish. 

-Landing Gear replacements progress- the originals are being replaced by a carbon fiber alloy/compound that is stronger and lighter than the originals.

-Canopy in the works. 

My kudos to the guys in the shop who are helping me and my crew get this birdy ready for Reno.

Cheers,

-Chris Thulien

Chris she sounds GREAT!!!! Can't wait to see some pics soon, Hope you get your software issues sorted!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!

Whew...long time since I been here, but I'm still game! 

Great work, everyone!  This will be some tough competition...

In absence of a working camera (new sofware giving me trouble), I'll just give a written update on the shop's progress on the P-47R Mod.1. 

-Finished building prop spinner from bomb casings. 

-Cockpit painted and installed, with scratchbuilt left side. 

-Injector fairings (for Alcohol/ water boost system) installed on upper cowling.

-Modified NACA-tip wings mated to fuselage along with tail planes. 

-Main fuselage assembly complete.  The turbo outlets were minimized and streamlined (no parasitic drag- the turbo was also replaced by a newer, smaller, more efficient model).

-First coat of white primer applied to fuselage. 

-Restoring of the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 (modified for race) continues. 

Cheers, and see you all in the air!

-Chris Thulien 

Jonny Roscoe Sorry it took so long to get back to you with my idea, silly season strikes again. Anyway heres the simpliest idea I could come up with for ya. I am not the best when it comes to making a sketch but here it is for ya hope it helps. Any questions you may have feel free to ask them or laff your tail off at me Hopefully some of the other guys will chime in with a better idea for you.

Daddy1 Thanks for the advise, I had forgotten about the sketch site and will check them there too. I do think the wingtips are very close to what you did on the F82 and was planning on using your how too to make them. I hope they are the same on the older version of Miss America as I do like the older art on the tail. I am about to the point of clipping the wings so I had better figure out what I am going to do.

vetteman42

Thought about the steps involved to create the 92 wingtips , realized I had a couple steps in the wrong order. After cutting the wingtips with an undercut, sand or grind the concave shape in the open end ,then contour the upper edge into the curved shape. Then glue the end cap and trim flush.

 I do believe the Miss America from the early 70s had stock wingtips but can't say for sure. She's been around for awhile. I had a Cox control line flying Miss America back then. I would get to dizzy trying to fly one of those now.

Howard

Randy 

 The top image has wing tips very similar to what I've done on the twin 'Stang , but the top edge stays flush till towards the trailing edge . I think I sketched the shape in my 'how to' where the top line of the tip runs flush with the crown of the wing profile ,then straight back to the trailing tip.

It looks as if the spinner is a little pointier in the top image.

The bottom image shows tips that are undercut some ,then a slight concave end cap over the wing tip. It also appears the top edge of the wing tip has a bit of a curved line while the bottom is straight. Use the top surface to establish your wingspan . Make an undercut when clipping the wings then sand the correct profile to the top edge, wrap sandpaper around  a paint brush handle or similar to help sand a concave  curve to the undercut. Using thin plastic sheet, glue a slightly oversized piece to the open tip pressing down into the undercut. Trim flush when dry. The Taichi drawings have some nice four views that may be of help.

 Miss America has always been my fave at Reno. The paint scheme and the one on Spirit of Texas are both going to have an influence on the scheme I choose for the '82 and the Texan. Maybe not in the colors but definitely in the graphics .

Howard

 P.S. Just checked the Taichi drawings at the begining of this GB. They will be of great help in shaping the tips , especially the 92 bird.

Daddy1 I gotta tell you I have been following your Lib build and its amazing, cant wait to see it finished.

The pictures I have of Miss America are from 2005, and they do show the trick wingtips. I cant tell thought for sure bit it looks like to me the wing tips are wider than stock in cord. I do have a few eariler  pictures but they dont show the wingtips, I do like the older paint job on the tail also. Anyway here are 2 of the pictures I do have, maybe you can let me know what you think, I do wanna get this build right.

With the push on to get Witchcraft finished, it's been a couple weeks since I've spent much time at this thread. But, I have been keeping track of goings on and I see some great work.

Borg R3-MC0  Very nice work! I like the stance of the landing gear. Looks right.

I also agree that rigging can be a pain at times , but one of those details that can make a difference. You pulled it off wonderfully.

Jonny Roscoe  Love the IP work. That is going to be one beautiful Fury. Having spent a number of years growing up in Ft.Worth TX, the aircraft has much appeal to me .  The paint scheme on Spirit of Texas is awesome and may influence the paint scheme on my F-82 when I get to that stage. 

 BTW , try to stay safe and bring your can back in one piece. My thoughts and prayers go with you . I may be old Air Force ,but for you, Hoorahh,Semper Fi!!!

 The rest of you guys, some of you have been following my Lib build and are aware I'm in the closing stages of that project. The twin Mustang hasn't  been entirely on hold. I have started fitting the cockpit floor and bulkheads , started cutting down an F-16 seat , and have the base IP  cut to shape.

 It's just, with the Lib being so big at this point , it really fills the work desk. Another reason to get it finished in the next few weeks. After that I'll be able to focus on getting the F-82 into full swing again as well as start on Little Miss Magic.

 The F-82 will being a one seater , won't take very long to work up the pit . The only real challenge I think will be the NACA scoops for the radiators , the radiators, and underbellies. The T-6 will be OOB except for ignition wires and I may raid the my car parts box for something I can use as a chrome prop spinner.

 Heck, after the Lib and F-82 , I'll be ready for a few OOB  models.

Randy-  Without looking at any pics of Miss America , my memory  seems to recall she had Mustang shaped wing tips. If that's the case, you could try taking  the proper sized section out after gluing the wing halves together .Keep your cuts straight, first where the tip meets the aileron ,then at an appropriate amount from the aileron side. Then reattach the wing tip. Line up the leading edge of the tip and wing and trim the trailing edge to match up, or you may be able to split the difference between leading and trailing edges. Something to think about.

 Have a Merry Christmas fellow winged speed seekers.

Howard

Jonny Roscoe I think I have an idea for ya PM inbound to you

OK so this is the rutt Im in....I've got to come up with a way to convert the normal exaughst panel of the original sea fury to this....

another view...you can see the diff. between the two. the spirit of texas does not have the fairing thats on the original fury. Sorry no pics of the orig. fury..just google it :P

Jonny Roscoe Maybe you should post some pics of your problem here, someone may have an idea that will help you out of that rutt

thanks guys! well I was gonna post a few more pics but Im stuck in a rut right now!! I have no clue on how to modify a certain area on the model so it might be a little while lol.

Johnny Roscoe that office is looking great!!!!!

Borg - I like your little racer! The P-26 never looked so good!     Where did you say you got the decals from?

Jonny R  - That instrument panel looks great... nice work! 

Jonny Roscoe very nice work on that IP. I dont know how you guys manage to capture so much detail on them. Ohhh more pics this evening ??? I will be waiting for them

Heres some pics I took last night of the finished IP. I got the pit painted and Im happy with the outcome of it! All that needs to be done now is the seats and then she is ready to be installed.


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I'll have some more pics soon tonight if my camera battery doesnt crap out on me AGAIN!

Thanks for the positive feedback. I am happy with the layout and look.

Jeaton01: From sone angels it does look a bit italian but from others it looks more like a I-16.

Vetteman42: I used nylon tread for the rigging. Second attempt at using this method, it wokrs ok but I am still no fan of doing rigging.

Nice job, Borg.  It has a sort of Italian look to it.  See you around the pylons, look for the guy ahead of you in the Meteor!

Borg I have to admit, at first, I thought how could you and what are you doing???? However, I see the finished product and went, WOW that looks really really nice!!!!! WELL DONE MATE!!!!!

Borg R3-MCO glad to see you got your camera issue solved, because now we get to see your very nice build. I really like it, and think it turned out great ! What did you use for rigging ? After seeing all the golden age racers in this group I am thinking a flight line of 6 or 8 of them parked on a tarmac would be really cool. Your build will be on the front page shortly, again very well done.

Jonny Roscoe Its the least I can do for one of our service men, so take the time you need to complete the build and do come back safe Sir.

Bigfoot01 I will continue the build with this kit, have to beat it ya know, and besides I already have plans for the better kits. Just wanted to let others know this is not a very good kit. I got most of the filling done and have more sanding to do, then will tackle the wingtips. That should be interesting.

OK, I solved the camera problem and I finished the build!

Here are two more in rpogress shots:

And now the finished article:

Not my best build quality wise, but I like the way it turned out.

Randy,

That would be awesome if you could do that. But its gonna take a long time though and my deployment could be extended, which I really hope doesn't happen but there's that possibility. I took the cowling off and Im scratch building the entire engine compartment and with limited resources out there on this bird its gonna take a while for me to finish her. probably wont finish her in 2010 but who knows I might come along someone that has a lot of pictures of what I need. As for the Fury, its Fishers 1/32 Sea Fury. Thanks bro!!

Semper Fi,

Bret

Jonny Roscoe Can you give me the details of your build so I can post it on the front page ? Kit manufacturer and scale.

 Also Bret I wish to thank you for what you do for us and our country, you take care and return safely. I wish I could shake your hand personally.  If you are gone for 8 months you will be getting back very close to the end date of this group. So if you wish to finish Strega for the group I will include it in the group and be honered to do so after the end date.

Thanks Randy..I should be painting the wheel wells and pit later today after it warms up a bit here. Yeah Im in the USMC.

Semper Fi,

Bret

vetteman42

Borg R3-MCO are you teasin us with no pictures yet ????

I hope I get the battery problems solved this weekend. Then I wil post some pics.

Here some more teasing: I have put the decals on, large orange lightnings on the side with race number 6.

Jonny Roscoe Lookin good there !! Cant wait to see more of that Sea Fury. Do I have it listed on the front page ? I will have to check that. You are in the service Jonny ?

Borg R3-MCO are you teasin us with no pictures yet ????