Leroy Gardner

Thanks Steve, I think the paint will be the frosting on the cake on this one.

Jim your a war bird guy, maybe these rivets are in your future sometime, they would look good on a P-47 in 1/4 scale.

Leroy

VincentJ

Awesome job Leroy! That Spacewalker has a lot of "Bling"...

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Beautiful job on the rivets and Dzus fasteners!

raptureboy

Thats too funny, we just adopted a dog named Talle. His full name is Tallahasse, and my wife wants to change it, but I said he already knows his name. He's a wheaten terrier/lab mix and I think he would try to catch my airplanes if given the chance. I always thought the Bravo was a real nice looking plane.

Jim Branaum

My Feedback: (3)

Maybe so, but I have a P-40, a Spitfire, a P-51, and a Corsair. With 14 giant scale kits in the attic, it is getting a bit late to add to that collection. So the question becomes which...

Leroy Gardner

I've heard that term before, can't remember what it means and it's not in the dictionary, must be good coming from you and I finished the rivets today. I don't expect them to become the next big thing, this is the hardest way to get the most real results on earth and I'm glad you told me of them and glad I did it,"phew"

Leroy.

Leroy Gardner

Thanks Flyer in OKC, they are done and boy am I glad.

Leroy

Leroy Gardner

I have always liked the fighter planes of WW11 and Korea. The mustang was my favorite and after I built it I wanted to do the P-47 but my hands are shot and the detail work really hurts so I chose the sport planes which dont require the intense details, well, then I did the rivets on my SW which is about as bad. Anyway what ever one is next I'm sure it will be a good one, they all are good builds.

Leroy

VincentJ

Leroy your right about those rivets, they're not for everybody, but if you're willing to put in the time you will be rewarded with the most realistic looking rivets in my opinion. Congratulations! Looking back at what you made this Spacewalker into you made the right decision...it's a one of a kind plane that will turn heads at any flying field, both on the ground and in the air!

BTW: Bling is a good thing and means to dress or adorn in a flashy way!

stevegauth30

I fully agree with VJ. You've turned a really nice airplane into a one of a kind work of art. I enjoyed every minute of it so far and will continue to enjoy your work as long as you are willing to share it with us. I would love to watch you scale out a warbird, but i also understand your last post, they are a lot more work in the scale and finish department. I'm really looking forward to seeing the colors go on. Thanks for taking the time to share your work with us.

TomCrump

I have to respectfully disagree.

A civilian scale model can be every bit as complex as a warbird, in every phase of construction. Detailing and weathering a civilian airframe requires the same talent, skills and ingenuity.

Both are worthy of our efforts. It just comes down to personal preferance as to what we build.

stevegauth30

Your absolutely right tom. Don't really know why I said that, because I totally agree.but it would be cool to watch any of you great builders do a warbird.

TomCrump

We get caught up in the moment. LOL

Watching the detailing and weathering of a warbird is a sight to behold. I'm with you. I like to watch a master at his craft.

Leroy Gardner

The skill in building a war bird to scale requires alot more skill than building any other plane out there, all you have to do is look at a few Top Gun planes to know that. Most war planes I see built in this country are built with the perception of being some what scale and most dirty ones don't even look like the real dirty real ones. While there are those that do a good job in replacating a bird that looks like it's been in a war, they are far and few of them anymore.

Leroy Gardner

At long last there is a glimmer of light in my tunnel. With the rivets done I primered all the riveted parts white after a good wash down, not one rivet came lose. Primer creats the depth of color and the white is closer to the covering color so there shouldn't be a difference in the tone when I paint it. It may have some kind of red on it but it will not be the main color, this is no longer a SW in general terms so neither will the paint job.

I got a nice looking exhaust header after pondering that, it adds balance to the side of cowl, it will be painted with hammered bronze for a more real look. Cowling pannel lines and the details will be next followed with wing coverings and stitches and tapeing. Still to do is the gear and wheel pants and of course the cockpit details. Need to break in the engine, probably after it's painted. Might have it done the end of march.

Leroy

TomCrump

To me, this is your OPINION, not fact.

Have you built a scale civilian model ? What do you base your statement on ?


Having built both, I find them equally challenging.The challenges may be different, but they are there.

Personal preference is one thing. There's nothing wrong with that. But personal preference should not cloud an individual's appreciation for what is involved in other genres of the scale community.

Melchizedek

Impressive Leroy. Just love the dummy engine.
Hate to call it a dummy engine. It looks quite smart.

I know you went with wing tubes for wing break down, was wondering what way did you used to secure the outboard wings tight to the inboard . Also do the outboard slide under a thin skin of the inboard to cover the joint or is it a but joint.

Thanks,

Kevin

Leroy Gardner

Tom don't ever start something you can't finish, and to save you the embarressment of what you don't know I'll simply state that my experience comes from working on both civilian and military planes as well as EAA planes, not from boxes of balsa and pictures. Arn't you the one who said, if it looks scale it must be scale and bedamed the measurements, not my way, it's your way. Maybe you should leave well enough alone.

Leroy

Leroy Gardner

Thank you Kevin, that engine is made in 1/3rd scale also, might look as good on yours also. Another thought is some 3/32" rivets would set off the metal parts of your plane much the same way their doing to mine. I love rivets, they really add to the scale of these planes.

There has been a few guys that have had problems with the containment system on that wing, personally I think the whole thing could have been designed better. My 1/4 scale wing is stronger than the 1/3 size useing the tubes and a tab system for containment is alot better than set screws that jamb the bar and do strip out. My tabs are screwed into T-nuts and I reccomend two ea. side to be on the safe side. They are made up of aircraft plywood and epoxied in place before they are drilled for perfect alignment, I used a minila file folder for spacing to allow for covering thickness, T-nuts and screws are 6-32. I also used 2 dowel alignment pins, one behind leading edge and one trailing. they add alot of stability to the joint.

Leroy

raptureboy

Gentleman, lets agree to disagree and keep this thread on track and not allow it to turn into a **ssing match now, all the participants do is get is wet and smelly.

Melchizedek

Thanks, Leroy

Your wing joint looks bullet proof.
I had read a few places about the sig joiner stripping out over time. I might go for some backup insurance for that.
I am thinking about putting Merlin locks as back up on my wing.
If I do them I will detail it on my thread. One of the great builder on RCSB named Merlin came up with them.

Kevin

acerc

Where's the fun in that?? Nothing like a long distance pissing contest to invigorate a thread!! NOT!!!!!

stevegauth30

leroy, I think you'd be hard pressed to get that wing to fail in flight,( not that you'd want it to.) I'm fixin to try the rivets soon as I finally got the chance to shoot the primer today. I've been punching rivets out like a maniac. id guess I have a couple thou. need more.

TomCrump

...

Leroy Gardner

I'm not familiar with Merlin locks but if they are the washers that lock and prevent rotation they only work on metal that allows the bolt /screw to be torqued to a certain value to maintain a constant pre load, plywood and balsa will crush under those conditions. I think they are called Nor-locks and if there is something else out there I and alot of others would sure like to know. Will keep my eye on your build to see what you come up with.

Leroy