Posts: 1589
Joined: 9/1/2002 From: West Chester, OH, USA Status: offline
cockpit/canopy (cont)
pic 1/2: I used the RC-56 glue to hold the front and two sides in. The glue will probably take overnight before it is hard, and clear.
pic 3/4: Gettin' George ready! CA'ed his goggles and helmet on to insure they don't vibrate off. I think no 'amputations' will be necessary to get 'em in the cockpit.
< Message edited by samparfitt -- 2/7/2007 10:54:53 PM >
Posts: 1589
Joined: 9/1/2002 From: West Chester, OH, USA Status: offline
cockpit/canopy (cont)
pic 1: George is happy!
pic 2/3: The 'control stick' is home made: just some brass tubing and some carved balsa. All gauges, save one, are clear: that last one should clear up. A lot of the RC-56 is still 'white' along the bottom of the cockpit where I put a thick layer to hold the sides to the cockpit 'tub'. Even on the canopy, there's still some 'white': I'm assuming the glue is taking a while to dry since air has difficulty getting between the clear plastic and the fiberglass. Note: he has all his appendages!
pic 4: Four screws hold George in the cockpit. I epoxied and screwed 3/8" thick balsa to the bottom of the pilot's 'seat'. I then screwed the seat, along with George, to the bottom of the cockpit 'tub'. It was easiest for me to securely fasten George to the seat OUTSIDE of the cockpit and then just screw the whole thing in from the bottom. Also, this way I can easily remove George for any future 'maintenance'. The white blob is epoxy holding the control stick to the cockpit tub.
pic 5: I used a combination of a razor saw and 'curved' tin snips to cut the canopy in half. I cut the top curved part of the canopy with the razor saw and used the tin snips on the sides. Contrary to logic, the curved tin snips work great on cutting 'straight' lines. The curved tin snips allows you to keep the bulk of the snips below the cutting surface so no binding occurs. Sears or HD/Lowes probaby has the curved tin snips: I believe 'red' handle snips are curving left, 'yellow' handle curves right and 'green' handles are straight. The 'green' ones may be 'blue' : not going out to the zero degree shop to check! I may also have those red and yellows backwards but you get the 'picture'.
pic 6: Still lots to do!
Engine:
pic 7: I put 2X56 ball sockets on the throttle and choke (along with some loctite).
< Message edited by samparfitt -- 2/8/2007 3:33:35 PM >
Posts: 1934
Joined: 1/24/2002 From: centre, QC, CANADA Status: online
Very nice work Sam!
BTW, your George looks a lot like my Doc Miller > I think to look the part his clothes should be "pre-washed" so he doesn't look like he's been on Giligan's Island on vacation instead of sweatting bulets in a dogfight .... is that called weathering the pilot or what?
Posts: 1589
Joined: 9/1/2002 From: West Chester, OH, USA Status: offline
A little 'weathering' would make him look better! At my age, I've already got plenty of 'weathering': actually, it's not the 'age', it's the 'miles'! (pic 6: my 62 chevy has fewer miles than me...and looks better too!)
cockpit/canopy (cont)
pic 1: Here's the brass bracket I cut out of some brass sheeting. The front quarter inch of the bracket is bent horizontally to hold the front ball socket. The back socket goes straight into the brass bracket. Putting the bottom edge level and even with the front 'stationary' part of the canopy 'told' me where to put the ball socket holes. Brass bracket in the 'closed' position.
pic 2: Brass bracket in the 'open' position. You can better see the front horizontal tab with the ball socket in this picture.
pic 3: Here's the brass brackets attached to the canopy. The back ball socket holds the canopy to the bracket but one of those #0X3/16" screws holds the canopy to the front of the bracket. The picture shows the back of the canopy in the foreground.
pic 4: Canopy closed.
pic 5: Canopy open. Still needs some fine tuning but she looks pretty cool to me! (George likes it too: now he can open the canopy up on those hot summer days!).
< Message edited by samparfitt -- 2/8/2007 9:17:52 PM >
Posts: 1589
Joined: 9/1/2002 From: West Chester, OH, USA Status: offline
SBD Dauntless
pic 1: Wow, my SBD cowl just came in. That was quick. Jerry Bates seems to be very customer oriented: He has answered all my emails quickly and lets me knows what's happening on merchandise. Looks like his supplier in Tenn is back to making parts (I read on another thread about some problems from this supplier). Looks like I can put my backup F4U cowl away: The only difference between the two are the two gun 'grooves' on the SBD cowl.
< Message edited by samparfitt -- 2/8/2007 11:33:32 PM >
great job Sam !!! , I used some railroad black dust from the model train show , appears and works like lead pencil . So simple to apply with you finger and simply rub on the interior for the worn look .
Posts: 61
Joined: 5/12/2002 From: Los Angeles,
CA, USA Status: offline
Hey Sam Is this the Impala thread, Anyways I build two of the Yellow p-40s when they first came out. But i ran into a little proplem with the landing gear mounting plate in the wing.
The plate leading edge glued to the wings bolsa leading edge, and when the gears are down all the weight is on the leading edge of the mounting plate. And with a hard landing the plate pushed through the foam and wing skin, what a nightmare.
When i build the second plane i cut away the leading edge about 1" pass the mounting plate on both sides and expose about 1/4 " of the mounting plate maybe less, made a ply sub leading edge that had a slot the width and length of the mounting plate cut into it, Made sure that the gear would still mount with no problem, glued the ply plate over the mounting plate front lip and then replaced the bolsa leading edge, sanded to shape and glassed as usual. And thats all i have to say about that. I can't find the pictures of the p-40 but will post as soon as i find them. Impala hope to be done by summer. Body of frame resturation i must be crazy.
peace
scottdog
< Message edited by scottdog -- 2/9/2007 9:15:50 AM >
Posts: 1589
Joined: 9/1/2002 From: West Chester, OH, USA Status: offline
I've probably got some of that charcoal down stairs in the basement. Love those 'bow ties': I learned how to drive on a '62: 'three on the tree' (driving with a clutch is probably a lost art...at least on the younger generation!).
cockpit/canopy (cont)
pic 1/2: There was some binding on the sliding canopy. Found that the back rail was slightly tilted downward due to a small ridge right where the rail was resting so I sanded that down.
pic 3: I also had a slight twist in the front rails due to where I screwed them onto the top of the fuse. Moving the back of the rails in and re-drilling the hole fixed that.
engine (cont)
pic 4: I put some 1/8" ply on the nose of the fuse and front of the engine cowl. Don't know if this is needed but I figured it won't hurt.
pic 5: Rockler carries 2'X4' sheets of 1/8" (3 ply), 1/4" (5 ply) and 3/8" (7 ply) (and larger) thick. I got mine when they had it on sale at only about eight bucks each. The 1/8" is only 3 ply but it's good enough for stuff like the front of the fuse.
pic 6: Drilled holes in the fire wall for 'air circulation' to the carb, choke, throttle and fuel lines.
pic 7: engine back on the fire wall. Holes for choke and throttle. Emailed DA on mounting choke/throttle servos to the front on the engine box and they said 'no problem'. I've done this on glow and magneto engines but never electronic ignition. There's not a lot of room for the linkages running to the back of the engine box with the fuel tank in the engine box. Not sure how I'm going to set it up yet but this gives me viable options. (hey scottdog: how'd you do you linkages with the tank in the engine box?)
pic 8: hole for 'air circulation' to carb.
< Message edited by samparfitt -- 2/9/2007 9:33:05 PM >
Printable Version
All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> RC Warbirds and Warplanes >> RE: Yellow P-40 build thread 
RE: Yellow P-40 build thread - 
> I think to look the part his clothes should be "pre-washed" so he doesn't look like he's been on Giligan's Island on vacation instead of sweatting bulets in a dogfight 
.... is that called weathering the pilot or what? 
