Wing mounted/aligned, tail wheel cut-out and retract installed - my 1/6 Ziroli Hellcat stands on its own!
I used the cut-out leftover from my Byron to set the initial shape and position. The Byron Originals didn't use a Robart tail-wheel retract - it used a D&B retract, which was smaller. So, the opening I made with the cut-out was undersized, but useful. When my D&B retract developed a leak, I replaced it with a Robart and had to enlarge the opening on the Byron. So, here too, the opening I started with must be enlarged.
I disassembled the retract and installed the aluminum mounting bracket. From this, I could see how much wider I needed to make the opening at the front for the gray retract arms to pass through and attach to the aluminum bracket. With the retract mounted and air cylinder piston disconnected, I raised it (lowered, in the pics as its upside down!) to see where the wheel would hit the bottom of the fuse as the Robart #160 retract is longer than the D&B (the #160 is also for a 1/5 scale - stuffing it into a 1/6 scale is a stretch, but it worked fine on the Byron and will do fine here). I held a triangle against the back of the wheel and marked the fuse then placed another mark 1/8" further toward the tail. This last mark, is where I backed my cut-out to, marking the radius in pencil, using my Byron template. I then drew tangent lines on each side of this half circle to the front that I had widened earlier.
Straight edge and X-acto knife to cut the new sides of the wider opening, and a Dremel rotary drum to open up the radial part. Finished the retract installation by connecting the air cylinder piston, and there, it's done!
The opening does look a bit big for a 1/6 scale airplane - maybe I'll make a removable filler piece to cover the mounting bracket/bolts at the front...
Wheels down, locked in the last two pictures. Glad I only sheeted enough of the fuse to stiffen it up - its been useful to have the sides open for all this work.
