All,
Well...she's as done as she can be. I went kind of heavy on the extra detail since this is a detail oriented site! I made the engine from drinking straws, some aluminum tubing, balsa and bits of plastic. The exhaust is balsa. Because the geometry of the model is a bit off in the nose as represented on the kit, I needed to fudge a few things like...you'll see that the 6th cylinder doesn't have an exhaust portion attached. I tried, but it looked dumb and at an odd angle so I left it off and won't tell anyone (other than you folks).
The radiator tubing is some melted and bent sprue with the straight parts being uncooked pasta. It appeared to be the perfect thickness so there you go...I added tape at the junctions which approximates hose clamps areas etc. I made sure this engine was high compression with a red line on the first cylinder. This guy will need all the help he can get.
Machine guns are made from plastic straws perforated with a small screw driver with bits of plastic for the flash suppressors and balsa breaches. She glides nicely as is but we'll see what happens under power. I will post a link to a (hopefully) successful flying video soon. Keep your fingers crossed.
Thanks to Dave for running this and, of course, all of the contributors as there have been some SWEET models here. Des would have enjoyed this immensely! A fitting tribute I must say...
Cheers,
Dan
