Hand Carved Wooden Props

[lcarroll]

You make it look easy. I might give it a try..though I make things difficult.....

Pepperman,

If anyone can make things difficult the champion is sitting in my chair as I type this. (I could provide examples but would be embarrassed to disclose most!)The first few will not be perfect however it's a quickly learned technique. Give it a shot.........
Cheers,
Lance

[lcarroll]

   A very short and sweet Part 5. I had hoped to have the two 'candidates" at least stained but thought I'd get this thread caught up to the actual progress on the props.
   Both props were given a long dose of hand sanding with progressively smoother grit sand paper after final carving / shaping with a very sharp #11 Blade used very sparingly.
    Although I really like the laminations in the following one the shape appears slightly "out" to my eye. I took a bit too much off the latter half (towards the tip) and believe it is too narrow to match the correct profile.

     This one has a great lamination pattern and closely matches the Neindorf front profile thus it will probably be the one chosen.


    This last photo will illustrate the narrower blade dimension of the second choice however it doesn't show this graphically on the spinner shot prior.

   Both props will be stained, sealed with several coats of clear varnish with sanding between coats and finally darkened with, in this instance, Tamiya Clear Orange, and then one will be chosen. Photos of this to follow in the last/Part 6.
Cheers,
Lance
 
















   

[Whiteknuckles]

Outstanding Lance, great tutorial. Thankyou very much

Also, this may help others as well, in relation to the web page has expired bogey you mentioned: on another forum I'm on, when the page 'expires' and you have apparently lost your reply, etc, log back in then immediately use the back button of the web browser to get back to the post/reply you were constructing then hit 'Post'.....your post should then be posted!! You can then modify it and what not - should work on this forum.
Alternatively, when you login, you can login for keeps, etc. Hope this may be of help??

Andrew

[phs Paddy]

Not only a great tutorial but an inspiration to jump in and give it a go. Really very nice work Lance, top drawer. 

Thanks again,
Paddy

P.S. One of today's projects is to make space on the workbench to be ready to make the attempt. 

[lcarroll]

Andrew, Paddy,
   Thank you both for the kind words. I've enjoyed the experience and am glad to be able to contribute. Perhaps re-payment for all the great info I've gleaned from others since becoming active in the hobby once again about three years back. I learned the basics of pre-shading, "hairspray chipping", wood graining, and great new rigging techniques to name only a few from other members. It's all about sharing and this site, along with the other I "haunt' in the Early Aviation Section, is a fine example of a bunch of folks who share info, encouragement, and mutual enjoyment of a great hobby to everyone's benefit. Thanks to Des for getting us up and running.
    I'll finish this off with some staining and final finishing touches shortly.
Cheers,
Lance

[pepperman42]

Your choice number one is perfect but I do like the lamination pattern of option two. They both, however, are excellent examples of the process. Thanx again!!!

Steve

[lcarroll]

Not only a great tutorial but an inspiration to jump in and give it a go. Really very nice work Lance, top drawer. 

Thanks again,
Paddy

P.S. One of today's projects is to make space on the workbench to be ready to make the attempt. 

Paddy,
   Good on you, give it a shot and don't give up if the first few are less then ideal..."practice makes better" Let us know how it works out and if you have questions just ask....................
Cheers,
Lance

[phs Paddy]

Thanks Lance.

Got the bench setup and even located my stash of plywood from my RC days. That's got to be some old wood well aged.    

Paddy 

[lcarroll]

So here's Part 6, it'll be short and followed by the final Part 7 shortly.(Had it all but done last night and "Bing" it disappeared!) I believe I've got a problem with my computer as I had lots of "login" time remaining. Thus I'll stick to shorter posts to hopefully avoid the problem.
    At the end of Part 5 the props were sanded and ready to stain. I used Minwax "Provincial" colour which is a rich medium golden brown.
    Here are the results, first two views of number one and a single of the other:


And the spare/second choice:

     They are very pale at this stage however note how nicely they darkened up with a few coats of varnish (Minwax Polyurethane Clear gloss) This also got rid of the reddish tones. I leave them to dry overnight for the stain and succesive coats of urethane.

     Last step required is a light touch up with very fine emery paper and a final very light coat of urethane. Final Part 7 on the way..........
Cheers,
Lance

[lcarroll]

Part 7 and "wrap up".
The final sanding was done with a Flexigrit Model Sand sheets. I used #300 and #400, the really fine Red and beige sheets respectively. It's an excellent product, I'm not sure if it's still available though. This was followed by a thinned coat of urethane and once dried overnight they were done.
Two views of each, first my first choice:


And the spare/#2 choice:


    All that remains is to trim the back "hub" portion that will be inside the spinner to allow for the spinner mounting plate. I'm leaving that until it's ready to mount on the shaft once the engine is installed on the WNW DV it's destined for. I said ealier that it's a one and one-half hour job; closer to 2 hours is more accurate. In closing I decided to not overcoat with Tamiya Clear Orange or Yellow as the results on these were dark enough. The DV is in a mostly black finish so I wanted a bit of contrast.
    I believe this technique will suit any scale, the secret is to thin the layers of veneer for the smaller scales.
Here's a few shots of my very first on a 1;48 (close to but slightly oversized) Monogram/Revell Fokker DVII built over 10 years ago. The hub is definitely oversized, not my best effort for sure.


    I have not attempted a 4 blade prop as yet however it would be just a matter of careful joining of two standard two blade props (he said in a bout of overconfidence!)
   In conclusion, a relatively simple technique which gives good results. I must repeat from earlier that some of the "pencilled" varieties I've seen here recently look a lot better to me, the choice should be driven by what you can produce for sure. I really enjoyed doing this thread; small payback for the invaluable advice and tutellage I've recieved on-line from many of you. (Hey Kornbeef, that's a compliment from one old AMS devotee to another!)
   Hope you give it a try, and if I've missed anything just post a question.
Cheers,
Lance

[GAJouette]

 Lance,
Just wanted to thank you again for this excellent tutoial my friend. I'm planning on putting this thread to use making a prop for OKGB Nieuport 28 c-1. The veneer is supplied as part of the kit so I figure why not,if it goes south there's alway the supplied resin prop as backup.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[pepperman42]

Wow!!1 Like you say. They start out pretty red but then the clear gloss brings it to the right colour.  Thanks for the great tutorial. Off to Home depot!!!!

Steve

[phs Paddy]

Well done Lance! The tutorial and finished prop are top drawer. Thank you sir.

Paddy

[Pete Nottingham]

Hi Lance,
Excellent tutorial my friend, I don't know whether you've tried it, but many, many, many moons ago I tried my hand at flying scale models and for the static display you had to show a scale prop on the plane and the way they showed you how to make one, now these were different, they were made from Balsa wood, but you cut strips of Balsa, just as you do the laminations, then you put a hole through the dead centre of the strips, you glued the strips with PVA glue, then put a small nut, bolt and washers through the hole and gently tightened them up, finally you slightly fanned out the strips of Balsa and this gave you the natural wash of the prop, when the glue was dry you then finished sanding the prop to shape, I was wondering whether the same method would work with the laminations?

Cheers

Pete.

[lcarroll]

Hi Lance,
Excellent tutorial my friend, I don't know whether you've tried it, but many, many, many moons ago I tried my hand at flying scale models and for the static display you had to show a scale prop on the plane and the way they showed you how to make one, now these were different, they were made from Balsa wood, but you cut strips of Balsa, just as you do the laminations, then you put a hole through the dead centre of the strips, you glued the strips with PVA glue, then put a small nut, bolt and washers through the hole and gently tightened them up, finally you slightly fanned out the strips of Balsa and this gave you the natural wash of the prop, when the glue was dry you then finished sanding the prop to shape, I was wondering whether the same method would work with the laminations?

Cheers

Pete.

Pete,
  I don't see why it wouldn't work, especially if the strips of balsa were alternately light and dark stained. Balsa being so soft it would be much easier and faster to shape, I'm not sure about the "open" grain however.
   Flying Scale, now those were the days! (and a long, long way back for me as well). I never competed but recall seeing photos of the models with their "posed" scale props In "Model Airplane News" and another called, I think, "Flying Models". All my efforts were in "Control Line" as basic (in those days) RC equipment was well beyond my reach. I always maintained an active plastic scale hobby however this diversion into flying models went on for years until I went off into the Airforce at the tender age of 18. I'm afraid all my projects died on the field of honour; the last a huge (Span of at least 36 inches) F4U "Birdcage" Corsair crashed spectacularly on it's maiden flight due to a failed control mount. At that point I became a firm fan of Plastic Scale and Airfix et al had their stock increase in value!
Thanks for bringing back the memories.
Cheers,
Lance