AIRCRAFT - "Prototypes and Paper Projects" Group Build - Still Open.

QUOTE: Originally posted by matrixone

There had been a spate of thefts at the airfield of late.

Despite Hans standing guard over his 190, the thief struck again, this time making off with a cockpit canopy, and the props from a 335!

Matrixone, couldn't resist that mate.

Karl

yeah, they even took the wheels off the Pfeil..! No respect anymore!

Major construction on the wing is finished! Woo hoo! The plastic has been glued over the outside, and from the major dry fits I've done, the only major issue I still need to deal with it the hole for the spar. (As of now, it forces things out of alignment a bit.) It's not perfect by any means, but with enough putty and sandpaper, I can turn it into something truly acceptable.

Matrixone- The Fw 190 and Do 335 look great! It is a shame, though that someone had to steal the props, canopy, and wheels.

Karl- Thanks for the tip. I may have to use that, later...

DJ- Hmm... If it's still around, I may have to join that other GB, as soon as I get some supplies and a little extra cash. Oh, yeah, and some shelf space!

Karl,
That's what happens when the Germans send all the airfield security guards to the eastern front!!!

DJ,
Looking forward to Mad Komet Day, sounds like fun. I will try and get that Academy Me 163 kit, if that fails the Heller kit is my second choice. I have read that both are good kits.
In my kit stash I already have the Dragon 1/48 scale Me 163 S trainer, but that would be the worst possible choice of kits for Mad Komet Day!

Lucien,
Sounds like you have made great progress on your Ju 290Z, the rest of it should be easy to construct.
Thanks for the kind words about the 335 and 190, I planned on getting the Do 335 done last weekend but I had to go to the Dentist for oral surgery and was not very productive in getting much modeling done after that. This next weekend should be pain free and far more productive.

Matrixone

Matrixone, hope your face stops hurting soon, so you can get back to some modelling.

Lucien, good to hear that you are making progress on the 290Z, that's a ajor project you've got on your hands there.

Karl

Progress on the Zwilling continues. I didn't get back home last night until 8:00 last night, so not much work could get done. Right now I am trying to get the clear nose piece (used on A-7 versions and onward) from anyone who has the old vac kit of the Ju 290, and will try to make two of them using it (if I'm able to find someone who's willing to give it up). The Revell kit makes this nice, as the nose piece has a convenient break right under the front of the windscreen. (No razor saw. Thank God.) If I do get one (fingers crossed) we'll have to dig back up the methods of home vac forming.

That's what's new on my front.

(Just answer me one question- why do I insist on making this project harder than it should be at every single chance I get? I know I'm going to regret it one of these days...)

Lucien, you're just a guy who loves a challenge!

QUOTE: Originally posted by djmodels1999 Lucien, you're just a guy who loves a challenge!

Either that or insane!

Progress on the Ta183 has been slow this week. The bulk of the camo colours are now on. I tried spraying a little RLM02 over the the RM74/75 camo on the fuselage and managed to overdo matters. So I'll be going back to correct that.

I did manage to build a set of new front landing gear doors, as the originals look more like aplique armour than aluminium!!!!

I'll probably not get much done this weekend, as it's my eldest's 8th birthday, but you never know, I met get time to at least sort out that RM02!

Karl

I did another mockup of the Zwilling last night, one where I can take better photos of it. I should get a pic tonight. Two engines, including props, are dry fitted on the two innermost nallaces. I know they won't hit!

The search also continues for someone willing to at the very least let me borrow a clear nose from that elusive vac kit. I know at least one person who thinks he has the right one. He just hasn't gotten back to me yet. I know it exists, becuase I found this on the internet-

[image]http://internetmodeler.com/2001/january/first-looks/planet_ju290-finished.jpg[/image]

The nose shapes at the break probably won't be the same, but it's nothing a little putty can't fix. Besides, I'm going to end up having to vac form at least one new one, so I might alter something when I do that, just to get it to fit.

I keep my fingers crossed for you, Mike..!

I'm having troubles deciding on a colour scheme for my Floh... Any sensible suggestions???

My stupid image hosting site won't let me upload the pics for my latest update.

Oh, well. Sometimes it does that. I try again this weekend.

I'm really happy, though, with how the wing goes together. Sure, the alignment isn't perfect, but it's pretty darn close! The spar is good news, too. I was a little worried about strengh, but it's actually stronger than my B-36. The fact I won't need to add any nose weight helps immensely. Yes, I do belive the worst is over.

hiya, folks !
i was hoping 2 b able 2 post some updated pix of the 229 4 u all...
unfortunately i had a few little problems:
the kit canopy was pretty thick, i was trying 2 heat form a new canopy
from thinner plastic sheet & managed 2 melt the kit part...
luckily i had a 2nd kit, so i can use the canopy from that one...
(like Karl, i am finding these PM kits 2 b fun builds in a
'blank canvas' kind of way, LOL !)
had 2 remove instrument panel, radar & radio details & file 'em down
just a bit so the kit canopy will fit over them...
i'm adding some scratchbuilt detail to the landing gear & wheel bays
w/ thin styrene rod & strip...
hopefully i'll have some pix 2 post next week !

matrixone: tell ur pilots 2 stop parking in those rough neighborhoods...
wait until they try 2 start the engine & find out someone's lifted the battery !

Karl:
Happy Birthday 2 ur son ! is he going 2 get some kits 2 build 4 his presents ?

frosty

Hi Everyone.....I'm Baaaaaaack!!!

looks like there's been a lot going on around here!

Our big move went fine, still got a few boxes stashed in the spare room. We finally got our phone line sorted out last night too....mmmmmm......internet...mmmmm........

The models have been unpacked, and I'm going to make time this Sunday to carry on with the Do 335

Woohoo!

Yippeeeee!!!!

frosty,
Sorry to hear of your heat forming canopy woes, it sounds as if you used too thick of a clear plastic sheet in your heat forming attempt.

norite,
Good to have you back, I thought you might have been lost to the group build when you found out how much fun flying R/C really is. How is your R/C Komet project coming along?


Two more pics of the looted aircraft.


The missing aircraft parts have been recovered and will be installed Sunday!

Matrixone

I actually had a pic go through when I uploaded it. Here it be-

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/000_0469.jpg[/image]

I'll see right now if I can get one more to upload.

..............

No dice. This'll have to do for now. I hope you like it. I should get the form for the motors in the mail pretty soon. I need to get paint first, though.

Wait-

Whaddya know. It DID go through. Here's another angle-

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/000_0466.jpg[/image]

You can see on the first pic that the wings on the outside droop a bit. Hopefully this will be corrected when the lower wing will be added, or when the landing gear is added. We'll see.

In other news, just for future reference, what is the preferred method for vac-forming parts at home? And not ruining the master parts?

Mike, that's just mind-blowing!!!! Where are you going to keep that monster??!

Wow, Lucien, that zwilling looks fantastic!

Matrixone: The R/C Komet project is coming along slowly - nothing done these past few weeks due to the move. I did spend an hour on it last night though..
I have the transmitter, micro servos and micro receiver all hooked up and working; had to modify the model somewhat to make it fit. The elevons work a treat - I have a transmitter that can mix them. Unfortunately, our digital camera has gone walkies in the move, so no pictures until we find it!

My rockets also arrived - they were waiting for me at the old house when we went to collect our post

i just need to build the tail section and cover it the whole frame; I now have all the materials to finish it. I'm not sure that it will fly though!; the 4 AAA batteries weigh 11 grams each, and with everything all in, it does feel a bit on the weighty side. I can probably get round this by using lightweight Li-poly batteries, but they are really scary things to use, as they have a tendency to burn down your house if they develop a fault while charging!
No matter, if it is too heavy, it can easily be reconverted to free flight! I'm not intending to fly it straight away, just try a few short test glides in the park or on a slope without r/c to see how it handles

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting the Dornier 335 out this Sunday! And my Bf-109 zwilling!

Lucien,
Good job on the build so far, it looks as if it will be quite a challenge to paint though.

When vac-forming parts at home it is very important to have the right thickness and quality of plastic sheet. If the plastic is too thick it requires more heat to soften it and when it makes contact with the original part it could melt or distort it.
Years ago I heat formed a new canopy from a kit part with no melting effect at all, but it did take four tries to get it right.
If you try heat forming new parts it would be a good idea to try it on older unwanted kit parts first to avoid any costly errors on your new models.

Matrixone

The center wing section, wing spar, and the two wing trays are now one part. I glued them last night with patience and liberal amounts of super glue! I was a little worried about alignment when I dry fitted everything before, but after it went together everything shaped up nicely. The true test was passed- all four bulges that will eventually house the main landing gear touch the ground.

I'm glad that's over! Hopefully one of my main concerns may help out the project- it's flexibility. The way it's set up now, even if things aren't lined up exactly, they may just settle into place when it's finished. It also may take out the hassle of making all ten wheels (four main wheels on each fuselage, and two tailwheels) stay on the ground!

An interesing feature of the kit I forgot to mention- every single wheel is designed to be able to roll, and without an apparent detriment to detail.

The way the engines are set up, and the fact I want to put motors in, wing contruction will have to be a little unorthidox. Right now I need to assemble the engines, glue them to the lower wing halves, line up and wire the motors, then slip the upper wing surfaces over all this and into the upper halves of the engines. It's unweildy, but the only way to insure the electronics are lined up. This is also the reason I need to assemble the whole wing, paint it, then connect it to the two pre-painted fuselages.

And that sums up what I've been doing in the last few days.

builds look great matrix, lucien. they are coming along nicely. karl nice job on the dfs. i am almost done painting the natter. i need some advice on the camo. i have painted it rlm 79 sand over 78 lt blue. what color blotch do yall suggest. i want it to appear as if it operated in north africa area. over all this thing is tiny. only 5 in tall. and the tower is over 12

Obviously some dark green (Humbrol 30), I'd think... Your Natter looks great!

Lucian, good to hear that things are moving forward smoothly for you. This is going to be one big bird!

Frosty, he might be getting some kits later, this weekend was all Lego and Beyblades. He did spend a lot of time building Lego models of flying wings though!!! I kid you not.

Josh, glad you like the DFS. That Natter is coming along nicely. I would have thought any RLM green would do for camo, especially as would probably have been field applied!

I actually managed to get more done than I thought this weekend. I re-touched the camo, removing alot of the RLM02, sprayed in the black base coat for the bare metal areas around the engine exhaust, and a sparyed the nose intake RLM23 red. I also enlarged the cockpit opening, so that it looks more like the AMTech kit.

I'm hoping to get all the little bits, like wheels, and the new front wheelbay doors painted this week, ready for a gloss coat and decals at the weekend.

I'll post some pictures later this week.

Karl

Ok, after a few days of thinking, I've airbrushed a bit of pale blue on the underside of the wings and horizontal stabilizers of my little Floh.

I hope that I'll have time tomorrow to start the upper scheme.

We are getting there!

Nothing much new for me. Because there isn't much more I can do without paint and/or a regulator, I'm looking for ways to kill time. I may start the long ardous process of sanding the underside to an acceptable finish.

Which brings to my question of the day- what is the best putty/filler (compared to cost)? My only experiece with putty was not a good one. I got some testors crap in a tube, and, well.... I'd rather not speak of it.

(P.S. Just as a reminder to those of you who have been AWOL for a while, a badge for this GB has been made. For anyone interested in getting it, just right click on the one in my sig, or anyone elses', and highlight the address. Then just put it between the image bars like a normal graphic, and poof! There you go.)

ghettochild,

That Natter is looking good so far, in answer to your question about the color of the mottle for a desert camouflage paint job, RLM 80 Olivegreen would be a good choice.
Also U.S. olive drab would look good as well.

Matrixone

Mike, I just about only use Milliput, but you need a strong joint between the parts, because Milliput does not melt the plastic to create a 'continuous' medium.

Mike, I use Humbrol filler in a tube.

I usually mix it with a little solvent to make it slightly smoother then, apply with a spatula. This sets solid in around 12 hours, and has the benefit of bonding with the surface that it is applied to.

Karl

QUOTE: Originally posted by KJ200 Frosty, he might be getting some kits later, this weekend was all Lego and Beyblades. He did spend a lot of time building Lego models of flying wings though!!! I kid you not. Karl

LOL...that's proof he's a man of good taste & a chip off the old block !!!
last time i was up visiting w/ my grandparents, i finished a large Lego
Sopwith Camel that my cousin had started & couldn't finish
(he used the wrong length piece 4 the prop & then the piece 4 the axles
wasn't long enough... luckily i didn't have 2 disassemble it too much
2 correct the mistake... he & my gps were thrilled 2 see it finally
completed !) & now besides my thing 4 the flying wing, i'm really
getting interested in wwi planes...
too many subjects, too little time !

frosty

QUOTE: Originally posted by matrixone When vac-forming parts at home it is very important to have the right thickness and quality of plastic sheet. If the plastic is too thick it requires more heat to soften it and when it makes contact with the original part it could melt or distort it. Years ago I heat formed a new canopy from a kit part with no melting effect at all, but it did take four tries to get it right. If you try heat forming new parts it would be a good idea to try it on older unwanted kit parts first to avoid any costly errors on your new models.

& don't use a heat gun that puts out 850 degrees like i did...
i'll use the hair dryer insead of the paint stripper next time !!!

frosty

At least you learned something, Frosty!!

Well, as promised, the Floh got its upper side base camo colour, red-brown. Tomorrow, I may airbrush the green..! I'm trying something different with this biplane, painting/varnishing/decalling/sealing the major sub-assemblies before I attach the wings to the fuselage. That's what I normally do with airliners but because this thing is so small, I feel it will ease the painting of the camo.

Maybe pics tomorrow, then!