Month: July 2017

Two weeks ago we added a wing-tip to the new starboard wing of the model, added the skin to the leading edge of the other wing and added a door into the rear fuselage.

Over the last two weeks we’ve been working on two of the engine mounts, the tail wheel, the fourth engine, and the second vertical stabiliser, rudder and elevator.

As always here are all of the parts for the diary’s work laid out together.

The first task that was attacked was the assembly of the major parts of the two outboard engine mounts and their nacelles.

These were then set aside until they could be painted.

Next the tailwheel and the two outboard engine oil tanks were assembled (I hadn’t noticed at this point that the hubs of the tail wheel should be black).

Following the smaller parts, the emphasis moved on to the larger assemblies.

First, removing the parts from their frets.

Before assembling them into their various structures.

And adding the stringers and sanding them into shape, it was at this point that I noticed that the outboard trailing edge flap had been built the wrong way around.  To date the replacement parts have not arrived, hopefully they will by next week.

Next, I rivet marked the “skin” of the elevator.

Before removing a section of the frame of the tail section to allow the tail wheel to be installed.  At the same time I returned to the door which was installed last week and modified the position of the latch-hold and the shape of the surrounding door-frame to allow the door to open.  Unfortunately the shape of the hinges seem to prevent the door from opening smoothly.

At this stage it was possible to paint everything in green and black (with a little silver).

Before beginning the final assembly by installing the tail wheel.

Followed by assembling engine four.

With these two assemblies complete, our attention turned to the engine mounts, first drilling holes into the bulkheads, and into the skin of the underside of the port wing.

Then, the electrical boards were added to the two bulkheads, along with the frame for the engine nacelle.

Before priming and painting the area within and around the nacelle.

And adding the oil tank and the last bits of the nacelle framework.

The rear end of the nacelle done, we next added the beginning of a wiring harness to the engine mounts.

Before attaching them to the bulkhead, and installing the engines.

With the big jobs done, we finished off by adding the arched piece to the head of the cockpit, and two frame formers to the mid-upper turret mount.

Attached the only outboard flap to the relevant wing (the missing skin panel behind the flap was replaced after installation).

The skin and some small details were added to the elevator.

More skin was added to the wing main-spar section.

And a small, silver cable was added to the interior of the starboard vertical stabiliser.

Bringing us to the conclusion of this build diary.

Next week we will be adding the other two engine mounts to the wing main spar, adding many of the remaining cockpit instruments and adding the remaining skin panels to the two wings.

Last week we installed the second set of undercarriage into the wing mid-section.

This week we worked on building the door to go in the rear fuselage, finishing off the starboard wing, and adding some skin panels to the port wing.

We started (as ever) by laying out the parts for this week.

The first thing to work on was the wing-tip, so the parts were extracted from the fret, and smoothed off.

Before using some of them to extend the frame on the wingtip to hold the two plate-like pieces.

Then the two wing-tip sheets were attached to the frame and to each other with a set of clamps to hold them at the right curvature until the glue had dried.

Whilst the glue was drying we started on the door.  Taking the outer skin panel and the fret with the door frame.

Cutting the pieces out of the fret.

And using the door’s skin as a template for assembling them.

Once both the door-frame and the wing had dried we then added stringers to provide a surface to work with, and added filler around the edges of the wing-tip to seal any gaps.

As the filler was setting we added the engine mount to the wing.

Once the filler had completely set the wingtip was sanded into a smooth curve.

Before being set aside to be painted.

Next, we took the other wing and used masking tape to position the new skin panels in the right places, applying marks where rivets needed to be imitated.

And then did exactly that before setting all of the pieces aside to be painted (on the inside at least).

It was at this point that we painted everything in either green or black.

Before we began to assemble the door.  First, the frame was glued to the outer panel.

Before adding the casing around the door handle (having first filed it down so that it actually fit).

And finally adding the other plate, the door-handle and latch-bar (which had to be glued to each other but not the door), and the two hinges.

This assembly was fitted into place along with a latch-hold into the aft fuselage.  Unfortunately, the door-frame in the fuselage angles inwards, precluding the door from actually opening, but this could be solved with some modification.

Next, the outer and intermediate fuel tanks assembled a few weeks ago were glued into the starboard wing.  Completing this assembly for now.

Finally, the five pieces of “skin” were attached to the port wing, and filler applied along the edges.

Leading us to this week’s conclusion.

Next week I will be on holiday, so the week after I will post two weeks work, including the last engine, starting on the engine mountings, the second elevator, vertical stabiliser and rudder, and a few other smaller pieces of the build.

Again, I have to apologise to everyone for a (slightly) late build diary.  I’ll explain why this instalment was late so soon after the previous one later, but suffice to say it involved a set of small but essential parts being missing.  Without further ado let’s continue with the build diary.

Last week we finished off the ammunition feeds, built a wing, and added some hydraulics to the mid-upper turret section of fuselage.

This week we spent the entire time adding the port undercarriage to the model.  These were the parts to be involved in the process.

The first thing to do was to take the forward and aft bulkheads of the undercarriage bay and mark them up for rivet marking (including a gap for a frame to be attached).

These lines were then followed with a pin-wheel.

And the bulkheads, along with many of the other pieces were set aside to be covered with primer and then painted black.

Following this the forwards arms were painted green, and the unnecessary paint and primer was removed by sanding it off.  We also assembled the wheel at the same time.

At this point some of the small, valve style objects were added to the cabling around the port-side airduct to match the starboard side.

And then others were added to the interior of the undercarriage bay along with the two bulkheads.

This allowed some of the “hydraulics” to be installed before the undercarriage legs which simplified the process somewhat.

The forward pivots were also added to the frame at this stage.  As you can see the wing leading edge frames were removed to give a bit more space to work in.

Next, a set of “bolt heads” small circular pieces of metal were added to the parts of the undercarriage legs.

Before a few extra details were added to the main support structure for the wheel.

Then, finally, we could begin assembling the undercarriage, starting with the two legs which slot into the aft-bulkhead.

Which we then installed.

Before finishing off the “hydraulic” cabling.

As we then moved on to add the rest of the under carriage legs it was discovered that four screws and their attendant nuts were not included in the parts which had been provided.  This lead to a two day delay whilst another bag of parts was obtained.

With the screws now available the undercarriage could be finished off by adding the shock absorber struts, which in the real aircraft would be filled with oil and air to the pressure of 1000 pounds per square inch (here we just get a couple of small springs).

And connecting the upper legs to them.

Finally, the shock absorber struts could be swung into place and connected to the two forwards pivot points.

With the main structure of the under carriage now in place, the frame parts and engine mount could be reinstalled.

Before the springs were put into the legs and the wheel installed.

Giving the wing centre section two wheels.

Bringing us to this week’s conclusion.

Next week we will be finishing off the structure of the starboard wing, and adding the leading and trailing edge skin to the other wing.