Most of these cowls were hammered to shape over a buck. Polishing, engine turning, sanding squiggles, primer and paint were all ways to remove the pounding marks in the metal. Many times it would be a board mechanic trying to make points or mech. of someone important dressing the cowl up to make it better than stock.

The two theories seem to be that it was either done for aesthetic reasons or that these finishing techniques gave the metal some beneficial quality. I guess for us modelers it doesn't really matter.

i'm still working on the landing gear and instrumentation. at 1/6 scale this stuff is real small to work on. my fingers are to big for the size so i have to use a couple of pair of hemostates as my fingers. here are some pics of the progress so far. almost every thing is fabricated out of brass and soldered together.

I really love your "outside the box" building style and always look forward to every post. The undercarriage is looking very good.

Two comments: 1) You will almost certainly need functional cross-bracing on the undercarriage "V-structure" so you need to think about where you will attach the wires and 2) while the brass pulleys on the wing warping arm look great I think that really needs to be a second arm instead of pulleys. That is, there are pulleys on the top pylon for the closed-loop system but the wing warping wires are attached to an arm on the bottom.

i appreciate your input. as for the cross bracing there is brackets for this, i guess you cant see them and this is a proctor plan the warping system is theres, aside from the cockpit detail i'm building this plane according to there plans, exactly. proctor has been selling this plane for 30 some odd years so it must work. so i'm not really thinking outside the box just scratch building there kit and just modifying the cockpit. ive posted some pics of the protor plans, rigging and pulley system.

Well then I can see why people think the Proctor kits are so nice. And you're doing a great job on this model.

i finally got the LG done with about 40% of the rigging, still miles to go before i sleep. you'll notice on the pics the cockpit is also completed with the dummy fuel tank. my biggest dread is once it's all together i'll have to disassemble it so i can cover it then reassemble, not looking foward to this part of it maybe at 1/4 scale it wouldn't be such a chore but at 1/6 getting all those tiny bolts and washers together is pure frustration somtimes. i'm going to work on the tail skid next then finish the rest of the rigging then maybe, just maybe i can start the elevator and rudder. here are some pics of the build so far.

Masterful!

i really appreciate all the support abufletcher, thank you. i built the rudder today and covered it. i was going to use laminations for the rudder and elevator but decided to use aluminum tube. it's a little trickier to work with but looks better. before i cover any thing metalic i use some balsarite mixed 50/50 with acetone on the metal it keeps the covering in place when you go to shrink it with a heat gun. here are some pics of the rudder. BTW my hands and fingers are really beat up and worn down, split and every other darn thing so have mercy on the close ups of my fingers. i think if i went to a manicurist they would run out of the room screaming.

I agree, but you know I found working with the aluminum much easier than making up laminated edges (which I've always found to be a royal pain). The rudder frame on my DrI only weighs 8 grams including the scale brass hinges! It won't stand up to bad landings, but I plan to make it easily replaceable.

In the past, I've just used simple white glue smeared on the tubing to get it some "bite." BTW, what kind of covering would you be using that needs a heat gun??? [:-]

for the rudder i'm useing nelson litefab/ natural because it has to be painted whiteanywayfor the rest of the plane i'll be useing solartex. this two fabrics are very similar. i'm having trouble posting pics for some odd reason there posting huge and i'm not doing anything different than i normally do.

I was curious because using a heat gun with solartex is a bit of a no-no. It tightens up for sure but then later gets wrinkles.

That happens sometimes. Just try uploading later.

ive always used a heat gun on solartex, i mean i dont cook it, just enough to relieve the small wrinkles and make it smooth and taught. never had a problem with it bagging out after, you just have to be careful. sometimes even if your real good with a iron you may get a small wrinkle or crease around a curve and a sealing iron just wont work where as a heat gun will if you use it right that wrinkle just disappears. this is a very interesting subject and would like to see more people chime in on this and let usknow what there tecniques are. i'd like to add that i don't use a heat gun on every surface of a build only when needed.

I use a combination of both. Starting with the iron to secure the edges on the long sides first and at last the curves at the wingtip working from the center to both outsides. I achieve this way a wrickle free tip and almost smooth surface. To complete the finish I use the heatgun at the lowest temperatures possible.

woah..very impressive.

ive built 3 eindekkers..1/6th, 1/5th and 1/12th.

fantastic subject.

ive also just got me a avro mkiv tripe that ive been looking for brass parts for..and you've given up the link!..thanks!

the work you are doing is masterful..and i note another jedi knight commenting in the thread...you guys are gods!

i have to say abufletcher that your white glue method on aluminum and other metals to get the covering to bite works really well, better than what i was useing. thanks for the tip.

i know i havn't posted in awhile, just been busy with work and building this contraption.i'm just about finished with the fuse and then it's onto the wings. for me this is not an easy plane to scratch build and it's probably the most complicated ive done.along withthe wing warping and the front and rear suspension, whew! and at 1/6 scale with all if not more detail than a quarter scale i almost lost my mind a few times. here are some pics.

here are a few more. i havn't figured out what i'm going to make the cowl out of, it's either vacuform or fiberglass.

no offence but alot of people might suggest that you already have with the detail you're putting into this thing..

its down right amazing.

Is there no way you can find an aluminum pot in this size? What diameter does it need to be?

i'm going to start looking around tommorrow for a pot, that's a great idea. who knows maybe i'll find the exact size i need, i guess that would be hitting the jackpot. thanks again.

Aluminum pots can be hard to find in the US. Let me know what diameter you need and maybe I can find one for you. 18cm and 20cm aluminum pots are readily available here. Smaller is also possible but I'd have to look around a bit.

off the plan it looks to be between 6 and 7/8 inches which is a real oddball size.

6 7/8 (6.875") inch would be 17.46cm so the 18cm pot would be about 5mm over this diameter (so a bit over 2mm on the edge, which may or may not be a problem on your model). Actually, since I know I'm going to be want to use a metal cowl I usually look around for the pot first and then slightly modify the firewall to suit the pot.

DC, what a nice build of a rather complex airplane. I completly get where you're coming from with reducing this model to 1/6th, I'm just now in the finishing stages of my Proctor E-III. At 1/4 scale, it's a bit tricky!! I can't imagine doing one smaller while retaining the internal detail. Well done.

You can also check local thrift stores for aluminum cookware. If the diameter is off a little bit, the partial cowl configuration on the E-III will allow some fudging.

Again, good work.

John