A bit more done, after a significant piece of time. RC has been dropping in priority over the last few years, due to a number of reasons, as anyone still following this thread can see. But, I am still interested. I do want to finish what I started. I did get some time, recently, to make some progress.
- Belly pan rough fit to fuse/wing center section completed. I've settled on means to mount this, using a couple screws at either end - two at angles through blocks in the belly pan, into the backside of the firewall, and another two in same manner at the rear of the pan. Not the 'blind mount' that I'd like, but need to keep moving, this will be 'good enough' and will still allow quick access to the wing mounting bolts without too much trouble. If anyone has a better idea, let me know.
- Fuel, air, electrical access panel - well underway. Just need to mount to fuse and complete fit/finish. Wanted offset hinges for a blind hinge mount, and these work great when the materials one is working with are thin, like a sheet of plastic or fiberglass. On 1/8" sheet, not so easy. In order to get a small hinge gap, I recessed some 1/32" ply pieces in the balsa exterior surface, then hollowed out the back side of the sheet to recess the hinges, trying to get them as close to the sheet's exterior surface as possible. In addition, I'll have to due some edge work, creating a concave surface on the hatch edge, and a matching convex edge on the fixed edge. Not the simplest design, but I'm well into it. IFF (IF and only iF) this doesn't work satisfactorily, I will at least have some nice surfaces made up that I can use for laying up some fiberglass for a thin hatch cover.
I want to complete the hatch assembly and then one last fitment of balsa sheet will have the fuse closed up. Then, I need to fit the cowling. I have a Don Smith cowling - the profile at its back doesn't fit the the shape of the Ziroli (reduce to 1/6) firewall, as I've mentioned before. Also, the Top Flight 1/6 Hellcat cowling, from pictures, appears to have the same profile as the Don Smith cowling. I don't have an cross-section view from an actual Hellcat, but from the drawings and pics that I do have, I'm starting to believe that maybe the firewall on my 1/6 Ziroli is wrong, that its "tending toward tear drop shape" is wrong and that it should be more like the Don Smith/Top Flight designs (and what I remember from the Byron).
Rather than cutup a purchased cowling, I'm probably better off adding some edge work to the firewall to have it match the off the shelf cowlings. Cowlings get damaged - if I need to replace one, I'd like to paint it and throw it on, and not have to cut it, reshape, ......
Before finishing my access hatch, by writing this post, I think I just changed my plans..... I need to get the firewall and cowling fit first as this will alter the shape of my access hatch. Thankfully, it's balsa and can be reformed - can use what I've got, no need to start over.
View of hatch assembly's interior side:
Holding hatch assembly into place by hand:
