1/32 BE2c

[RichieW]

It’s a pity to cover up that fantastic engine!
Andreas

That's tempting me out of making the covers!
 Richie

[FAf]

The engine in situ looks absolutely gorgeous! Do you want to cover it?
/Fredrik

[RichieW]

The engine in situ looks absolutely gorgeous! Do you want to cover it?
/Fredrik

Thanks Fredrik, yes I simplified it very heavily because I was going to cover it up. You and Andreas have got me thinking now. I was so looking forward to making the hinges too...

Richie

[RAGIII]

Brilliant work! The Engine is Pure Artwork! Even with the cover one will be able to see just enough to be gobsmacked 
RAGIII

[RichieW]

Brilliant work! The Engine is Pure Artwork! Even with the cover one will be able to see just enough to be gobsmacked 
RAGIII

Hi Rick,many thanks for your generosity, hope you are well.

Very Obsessed Member

Well the intimidating engine covers put up a bit of a fight, I don't think I can claim a victory but possibly a forced down out of control.

 

The top cover needed to be bent to a constant width along the bottom. I spent many hours playing with paper templates before I  had a real eureka moment. I just cut and annealed a piece of sheet aluminium to the right length, 15mm wide tapering down to 13mm. With the centre line marked I started the bend over a pencil and finished it in my proxxon vice which has a nice ledge in each jaw I could get a flat base from.

20230428_162337 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

 


 

4 hours thinking, head scratching and experimenting time, 5 minutes making time!

 

After priming, adding a lip with lead wire and riveting;

 

20230429_211531 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

 

The 4 separate covers on each were infuriating and needed careful measuring, test fitting and fettling. When it came time to glue them in place it all went a bit pear shaped but I wrestled them onto the model. The two copper exhaust at the front of the engine are 1mm copper tube.

 
20230501_215251 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

You can still see as much of the engine as I wanted visible, not very much!

20230501_215322 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Not the neatest work I've ever done but there will be a big exhaust pipe directly in front of the cylinder tops so I'm not too bothered.



I was thinking there is only one more big hurdle. The making of the wings, I'm going to have to completely clear my bench before starting them. I seem to have made rather a mess, I'm not sure which is bigger hurdle!

20230424_205803 by Richard Williams, on Flickr


Many thanks for reading, all the wonderful advice and encouragement from this terrific community has been a major factor in me getting to this point.



Richie

 

[KiwiZac]

I'm glad to see your progress Richie, that engine is looking darned good...if that's "simplified" my mind boggles at what a "proper" job would be!

ZK-CBE, TVAL's reproduction of this machine, was flying this weekend and I will post some photos in this thread for inspiration 

[Tim Mixon]

That is some Grade A scratch building Richie!  Very creative solution to the engine covers.
Looks like you and I have the same organization skills when it comes to the model workbench. 


All the best,
Tim

[Borsos]

Fantastic engine covers! You have found a wonderful solution.

And a German bonmot says like “May ordinary people need constant tidying, only the genius dominates the chaos”

Andreas

[RichieW]

Thanks Zac, a proper job boggles my mind too. I've seen it done though! Loved yourxTVAL airshow album.

Cheers Tim,  it's food to hear I'm not the only messy modeller!

Thanks Andreas, I love that saying. I haven't dominated the chaos but I scraped my way through it.  I'm more a smarty pants than a genius! 

Richie

[lone modeller]

I have been away for the weekend Richie, so I am late to the party (nothing new there!) The engine looks fabulous - such a shame to cover it up. I am not surprised that the engine cover was less difficult than you imagined - solutions to problems are usually much simpler than we tend to think. I just wish now that I had thought of it for my BE 2a because I would have liked to have put the cover on mine too. However your work is, as usual, quite exceptional and enough of the engine will be visible to admire.

Looking forward to seeing how you deal with the wings - I am certain that they will be equally stunning when you get around the mess to making them.

Stephen.

[KiwiZac]

Thanks Zac, a proper job boggles my mind too. I've seen it done though! Loved yourxTVAL airshow album.

I have full confidence in you! And all the photos can be seen here, should you wish to dredge through!

[RAGIII]

My Gob is Duly Smacked Richie! Engine and covers are beautiful in Situ! As for your bench I must say it is pretty clean compared to My Normal. I have therefore adopted the saying posted by Andreas 
RAGIII

[RichieW]

I have been away for the weekend Richie, so I am late to the party (nothing new there!) The engine looks fabulous - such a shame to cover it up. I am not surprised that the engine cover was less difficult than you imagined - solutions to problems are usually much simpler than we tend to think. I just wish now that I had thought of it for my BE 2a because I would have liked to have put the cover on mine too. However your work is, as usual, quite exceptional and enough of the engine will be visible to admire.

Looking forward to seeing how you deal with the wings - I am certain that they will be equally stunning when you get around the mess to making them.

Stephen.

Many thanks Stephen, you have often told me solutions are often simpler than they at first seem. You were so right in this case!

I won't have much time for wing making for a week or so but I am looming forward to them.

Thanks Zac, a proper job boggles my mind too. I've seen it done though! Loved yourxTVAL airshow album.

I have full confidence in you! And all the photos can be seen [urlhttps://flic.kr/s/aHBqjABEYp]here[/url], should you wish to dredge through!

I already had a good look through the whole album Zac. I am of course deeply jealous! I'm researching the Wolseley Viper for my next project, perhaps we will see a proper job left uncovered then. If not more aluminium sheet bending beckons.

My Gob is Duly Smacked Richie! Engine and covers are beautiful in Situ! As for your bench I must say it is pretty clean compared to My Normal. I have therefore adopted the saying posted by Andreas 
RAGIII

Thanks so much Rick, I am delighted to hear your bench is messier than mine. You are clearly a true genius by Andreas's quote.

I learned a lesson today, I cleared my bench and cleaned my airbrush. End result? One entire bottle of MRP lacquer black spilled on over my new jeans. Never clear your bench, trying to dominate the chaos makes us focus better!

Richie

[DaveB]

Clever solution for your engine cover, Richie -

I also feel your pain spilling paint on your new jeans ............

Regards

Dave

[RichieW]

Clever solution for your engine cover, Richie -

I also feel your pain spilling paint on your new jeans ............

Regards

Dave

Thanks Dave, the engine cover looks OK but the black paint on the jeans look like I've suffered from bladder trouble!

I'm busy making many wing ribs at the moment. There isn't much to show but the process involves brass templates, the drilling of many holes and plenty of filing, scraping and sanding. The DSPIAE sanding pen has proved to be very useful!

1/32 BE2c wing ribs by Richard Williams, on Flickr

With the holes drilled the blanks is sandwiched between the brass templates and pinned with brass rods. This is then mounted to a pre drilled wooden base to allow accurate drilling of the two holes for the minor spars.

1/32 BE2c wing ribs by Richard Williams, on Flickr



The dividers are great for accurately positioning the holes that need drilling and using a pair of brass templates makes producing pretty much identical ribs quite straightforward.

1/32 BE2c wing ribs by Richard Williams, on Flickr





I have another 20 to make which will take a couple of hours. I tried making them in batches of 5 but quickly found that it was not accurate enough so am making them individually. These will then be pinned together in a block before further sanding and further refining. Not the most exciting update for such a lot of work. I hope to have some wing frames to show you soon.

Thanks for reading
Richie