1/32 BE2c

[RAGIII]

Although this seems Tedious to Me I am sure you will persevere and come up with a terrific finished wing 
RAGIII

[RichieW]

Thanks Rick, it is tedious to me too! I am missing cutting pieces off a sprue and contemplating a red DR1 kit next for a bit of light relief!

Richie

[lone modeller]

Making ribs that way is certainly the best solution Richie. I filed all of mine individually and it was a tedious job and rather time consuming. At least you do not have to drill and cut all of the lightening holes!

Stephen.

[RichieW]

Making ribs that way is certainly the best solution Richie. I filed all of mine individually and it was a tedious job and rather time consuming. At least you do not have to drill and cut all of the lightening holes!

Stephen.

Thanks Stephen, I did think about the complexity of the ribs you needed for your build. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief about your superhuman resilience.
 
I really think 3d printing parts like these would be a very good idea. If this set of wings fails I will ask a friend to print the ribs for me.

Richie

[KiwiZac]

It may not be tremendously exciting to some, but it's vital progress and very interesting. To me, at least!

[Borsos]

I am keen on seeing how you work on with them. So you cover the ribs with thin plastic sheet?
Andreas

[RichieW]

It may not be tremendously exciting to some, but it's vital progress and very interesting. To me, at least!

It's definitely not exciting but as you say a vital step. Your enthusiasm is hugely mojo enhancing though and I hope to finish this stage soon.
.

I am keen on seeing how you work on with them. So you cover the ribs with thin plastic sheet?
Andreas

Hi Andreas, yes the idea is to cover the wings with Tamiya 0.1mm styrene pla paper and have natural translucent wings. Unfortunately it means no priming or filling so I will have to take great care. Hopefully I will have something to show you in a week or so.

Richie

[KiwiZac]

Your enthusiasm is hugely mojo enhancing though

I like to think it helps mask my own conspicuous lack of bench work!

[RichieW]

Hi everybody, just a bit of a micro update on the wing construction. Making all the ribs was a bit of an arduous business but I got there in the end and have made a start on the wings construction. This is the start of the starboard lower wing.

 

BE2c wing construction by Richard Williams, on Flickr

 

The ribs were threaded onto 1mm brass tubing which has a wall thickness of 0.1mm. This was chosen because at the tips I needed to cut a notch to take the styrene strip and squash it flat to hold the edge strip in place before gluing. The leading edge is 1mm quarter round styrene rod which was glued to the ribs with cellulose thinners. This is good stuff for thin styrene as it is far less aggressive than Plasweld or Tamiya Extra Thin. It is a good deal cheaper too. I was in the process of boxing in the main main spars with 1.5mm styrene  channel but have to wait for some more to be delivered, at least it shows the construction process. Boxing the brass tube in will hopefully enable me to easily drill holes for wing struts and rigging lines. My only other scratch build had wooden wing cores so this is all very new to me so I am praying that it will work.

 Top wing centre section by Richard Williams, on Flickr

 

The top wing centre section has been skinned (but not trimmed) with Tamiya 0.1mm Pla Paper (styrene sheet) which will hopefully give me the translucent effect.I will worry about exactly how to tackle  the ailerons once I have the whole wing outline made.

 

Thanks for reading and following along, hopefully the stores will be replenished soon so I can finish the wings. Have a great weekend!

 

Richie

[RAGIII]

That was Way faster than I expected Richie! The results look outstanding. I envy your skill and determination!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

It looks to be a very practical and physically strong solution to the translucent wing problem. With the brass tube and plastic covering the spars will certainly be strong enough to hold the struts and rigging, and they will not sag with time. Much better than solid wood cores.

Stephen.

[RichieW]

That was Way faster than I expected Richie! The results look outstanding. I envy your skill and determination!
RAGIII

Thanks Rick, making the brass templates sped things along a bit. Don't be too impressed by my skills though, there are loads of mistakes hidden away. Some may come back to haunt me when it's time to mount the wings!

It looks to be a very practical and physically strong solution to the translucent wing problem. With the brass tube and plastic covering the spars will certainly be strong enough to hold the struts and rigging, and they will not sag with time. Much better than solid wood cores.

Stephen.

People make
Thanks Stephen, I found the wooden core method beyond me. I struggled for symmetry and alignment. With all the structure in place I'm hoping that the final assembly will be simpler to get right. We'll find out in week or two!

Richie

[Rookie]

I just blinked my eyes twice and you managed to solve the engine cover problem and make a beautiful skeletal wing in no time at all! It’s just a pity that so little of your scratched engine is visible…

Great idea to use cellulose thinner for gluing small thin parts. I use Revell Contacta but I suspect it is as aggressive as Plasweld and Tamiya Extra Thin. There were some very small styrene parts I had to glue, but I couldn’t get a sharp edge and the parts were at a 90 degree angle, but the joint stayed soft and the two parts weren’t really fixed. The joint felt rubbery. So I’m going to try the cellulose thinner method.

The ribs are looking excellent and you managed to make exact duplicates. Clever idea to use the brass rod to keep them aligned and then to wrap those with styrene. This wing is beautifully made Richie, hats off!

Cheers,
Willem

B.t.w.: I respectfully disagree with the comments saying a cluttered desk keeps the focus sharp.
I would go berserk if my working area looked like that!

[RichieW]

Thanks Willem, if only all I had to do was blink twice to nake the engine cover and wing structure!

I like cellulose thinners for skinning with thin styrene. Revell Contacta caused problems with pitting the skin and warping the structure. Plasweld is great but I am fearful of it possibly causing similar problems.

I suspect if you worked as messily as me you would end up in big trouble with Mrs Rookie for ruining the kitchen table!

Thanks for the kind feedback Willem, I promise to make a fully visible engine for the next project. Spoiler alert...it will be a Wolseley Viper. 

Richie

[Boch]

This is probably the highest level of modeling. Im very impressed.

Regards
Lukasz