Evening All,
Thank you Zac for your vote of confidence - I have needed that lately!
Frank: a laser cutter is cheating in my book - and anyway that would be both too expensive and far too complicated for me to master. Remember I am but a simple modeller...... anything more complicated that a craft knife, file or paintbrush stretches my abilities - I have only just learned to solder!
I was unhappy with my first attempt to make the engine cylinders because they seemed to be too small, so I made a second larger set. They were too large for the engine block! When I checked (again) the size of the engine block I found that it was too short....so I had to make another one. Still the new cylinders did not look right, so I did what I should have done long before - I got out the resin kit and looked closely at the parts only to find that the first set of cylinders were the correct size!!! Well I fitted 4 on one side of the block and all seemed to be well:
Then I had to put on the bolts which were fixed via cruciform brackets on the cylinder head to the engine block. They were external to the cylinders and very thin - but I could not decide what material to use to represent them. I tried some guitar wire but that was too thick. Then I lost motivation.....
Later I found some fuse wire which I had completely forgotten about and of course that was the correct size - but I baulked at the idea of fixing it in the small gaps between the cylinders. Another delay. When I came to fit the wire it was not really a problem after all!
Fitting the cylinders and bolts on the other side was then relatively easy:
I know that some bolts on the inside of the engine are not quite straight but they will be hardly visible when the inlet pipes are in place so I am not going to keep circling trying to get them perfect. For the moment I am setting the engine aside because I need to add tiny details such as spark plugs and inlet valve springs and push rods on the inside of the cylinders, and exhaust valves and push rods on the top. These will be easily and inevitably damaged if I put them on now - I will wait until the engine is mounted on the fuselage before I attempt them. I will also add the inlet and exhaust pipes at a later stage.
While I was struggling with the engine and in an attempt to revive my motivation I decided to mould the covered wing blanks. I carved moulds for the upper and lower surfaces from basswood: both ends have wing tips because I intend to represent the port lower and starboard upper wings covered. The wing plans were marked on the wood and the corners cut off. By making the moulds longer than a wing half I can use one set of moulds to make both wing halves. I cut a simple card template to measure the curvature of the surface and then proceeded to file the moulds to shape:
I was pleasantly surprised when I managed to get 4 moulds from the first 4 attempts. I have learned something from making large moudings in the past!
I am making no promises about when the next posting will be - Easter is looming which means family visit but I am hoping that I will be able to solder the lower wing spars to the fuselage frame and then finish the fuselage structure with plastic strip. After that I can start to make and install the cockpit parts. Well that is the plan!
Thanks for looking.
Stephen.
