The Tommy

[RLWP]

I don't understand why you get wrinkles away from the former. The plastic should just suck down flat

How are your air holes distributed?

Richard

[kensar]

They're not.  Maybe that's the problem.  I have one hole about 25mm diam in the middle of the table and the table is covered with fine wire mesh, as is used for filtering materials.  The vacuum should probably be distributed out more evenly.

Anyway, new update.
Some internal structure is visible through the cockpit opening - the longerons running on the bottom of the fuse, so...





The hard part is getting them reasonably straight.



After painting.  Didn't bother trying to get 100% coverage on the bottom surfaces as that won't be seen.
It looks realistically busy now.







The vacuum formed bottom will be covering this structure.  It doesn't fit flush together, but I don't think it will be noticeable.

Thanks for looking and following along.

[William Adair]

That looks fantastic.  The extra stringer detail really adds a lot of depth.

[Dave Brewer]

Spectacular progress Ken,great work.

Dave.

[Alexis]

Just getting caught up on your latest progress and I must say that she is coming along very well Ken , shame that most of the detail will be covered .


Terri

[RAGIII]

Gorgeous work on the interior details and stringers!
RAGIII

[kensar]

Another update - turtle deck and tail surfaces.

I fully expected to have to vacuum form the turtle deck, but was pleasantly surprised to see it was not a complex curve shape, but a simple curve.  This makes things easier, as I don't have to vacuum form.  I will skin it with 0.010" styrene with embossed longeron impressions.

I first made a paper pattern to get the shape, then cut out the shape in 0.010" styrene and embossed the longerons in it ala Woodman.  Then glued one edge on the fuse frame.  When dried, I applied more glue and wrapped it around the top of the fuse and used rubber bands to hold it to the frame.  I use Testors Model Master glue sparingly when using 0.010" sheet, as Tamiya liquid glue is far too 'hot' for such a thin sheet.  Anyway, a couple of pictures.





I'm also working on hinging the tail surfaces.  The Tommy has a long hinge pin holding the moving surfaces to the stationary ones.  The hinge pin goes through strap hinges.  I couldn't figure out how to secure such small strap hinges to the plastic surfaces to my satisfaction, so I am making eyelets, like used for rigging and gluing them into the edges of the tail surfaces.  The hinge pin goes through the eyelets, holding the surfaces together, and they are functioning hinges (which I may regret later).





Thanks for looking in!

[RAGIII]

The upper decking looks excellent. The operating hinges are a nice addition to this beautiful build!
RAGIII

[kensar]

Thanks, Rick.  I would rather have poseable tail surfaces than operating ones when it comes time to rig it.

[Alexis]

Really haven't been following along , but I have a look see every once and while and I must say Ken ...Really nice work all around , well so far 

Is there a a lot of play with in the hinge from using the eyelets ? Should be interesting once you start with the rigging .


Terri

[kensar]

Thanks for stopping by, Terri.  I know this forum doesn't get the traffic the Under Construction forum does, and that's okay.  There's absolutely no play in the hinges, in fact they bind up slightly, which keeps the surfaces from flopping around so much.  I may have to glue the hinges together in order rig the tail, just to keep the two sides of the elevator even.  There is no connection between the two sides.

[Bughunter]

Ken, you made a great progess!

Just for interest, no critics (my be I have overlooked your explanation): the frame looks a bit on the thick side, compared to your drawing.
Is this due to the robustness of plastic?
In 1/48 thin evergreen is not robust enough, so brass or real wood would be a solution in the smaller scale?

Cheers,
Frank

[kensar]

Hello Frank,
The frame is about 150% thicker than it should be in scale due to the lack of stiffness in styrene at 0.040" thick.  It may be possible to construct a frame using 0.040" styrene, but I have not attempted one yet, this being only the second scratchbuild I have made that needed a frame.  I opted to go with a robust frame, since little of it is actually visible and I think it avoids a lot of problems with dimensional stability (lack of stiffness).  Even the real aircraft needed wire bracing throughout to improve stiffness.
That being said, metal or some types of wood may be a good alternative material for frames in these models.  One would then have to deal with joining different materials when constructing a model, as styrene would still be used for some parts that would be attached to the frame.  (The engineer in me is coming out!).  A possible way around this is to trap the frame within a styrene skin, as I did on my first scratchbuild, the Fokker v.23 - there is a build thread in the scratchbuild subforum.

Thanks for commenting, Frank.  I enjoy these discussions.

[RLWP]

Hello Frank,
The frame is about 150% thicker than it should be in scale due to the lack of stiffness in styrene at 0.040" thick.  It may be possible to construct a frame using 0.040" styrene, but I have not attempted one yet,

I'm not sure what you are saying here, Ken. If it helps, I've built models using 0.010" sheet and 0.040" square framing. I have usually stuck the square frame to the sheet while it was still flat, then made up a box

Richard

[kensar]

Hi Richard,
My approach for this model was to build the frame first, then add the details inside it as access was easy, then skin it.  Since the frame was built first, separate from the skin, I felt it needed to be sturdy enough for handling, dropping on the floor, etc.  In my previous scratchbuild, the Hanriot, I built it as you mentioned, attaching the frame sides to the skin sides, then adding the interior details through the upper and lower fuse after the two sides were joined.  This created some difficulties accessing the interior spaces to install the details.  It was for this reason I took a different approach on this model.  I will likely take another approach on the next build to address the oversize frame issue.  I don't know what the approach will be yet - I'm still figuring things out. 
Do you have a favored way to put a fuse together?