SSW R 1 1/72

[ondra]

I will be following this build with great interest and collect learnings from an experienced fellow scratchbuilder!

What a unique subject you have selected for your build. This will be a complex project and I am sure you will turn it into another masterpiece.

Cheers

Ondra

[lone modeller]

Evening All,

Thank you Ian and Ondra for the positive comments.

I have been away over the holiday break visiting relatives but this is where I had got to before I left. I had joined the lower wing sections and added the ribs to the wings, ailerons and horizontal tail surfaces from 10 x 20 thou strip. The centre rib was missing from the tail surface when the photo was taken - that is now in place.



While I was away I decided to take a small box of tools and bits with me so that I could make some parts for this build in the evenings when the relative i visit has gone to bed. This was an experiment which I will now repeat as I was able to make the small wheel discs for the rear wheels and the gearbox housings where the drive shafts from the engines are connected to the propellor shafts. These were small tasks that did not require large amounts of materials or time but kept me happy! The image shows the housings which were made from sprue, and the wheel discs made from 30 thou card with one of the main wheels which I have also completed. The tyres for the small wheels will be made from 30 thou rod wound around a thin paintbrush handle and dipped into hot water. The main wheel was made in this way from 80 thou card shaped with a file and 80 thou rod for the tyre.



Thanks for looking.

Stephen.

[IanB]

Nice work on those wheels, not the most fun task in modelling......

Ian

[Des]

Very nice work with the wings and the wheels, this model is shaping up really well.

Des.

[Manni]

Looks great, you are really brave to do this monster.
Manni

[TobyCoulson]

I'd never heard of the plane before so I'm following this with great interest. Fantastic work so far.

[lone modeller]

Evening All,

Thanks to Ian, Des, Manni and Toby for your kind remarks. Such comments from modellers with your skills are much appreciated.   

I have finished making the wheels. For those who have not seen my method before here is a short explanation of how I make them. I start by marking out a circle the diameter of which is the wheel minus the tyre on a piece of card of suitable thickness: because these are large wheels I laminated two pieces of 40 thou card. I cut out a square of card with the circle on it and trim and file the disc using the groove as a guide for when to stop. I file the edge of one face of the disc to represent the wheel cover, the other side is left flat. Then I take a piece of rod, in this case 80 thou, to match the size of the tyre and wind this round a paintbrush handle or piece of dowel. The diameter of the handle or dowel needs to be slightly smaller than the wheel disc so that the tyre will cling on to the disc. Hold the rod tightly on the handle before plunging the rod and handle into boiling water for a few seconds. Withdraw the rod from the water and either plunge it into cold water or simply wait for it to cool, still holding it tightly while doing so. Slide the rod from the handle and you will have a plastic coil from which you can measure and cut lengths which can then be placed around the edge of the disc. You will need to bend the rod gently to make the two ends join properly before wrapping around the disc. Secure the rod tyre with liquid glue and if necessary apply a little filler to any small gaps.



I moulded the chin piece below the nose using the standard plunge moulding technique. This was a small piece so I added a handle to the male mould. When the piece had been cut and trimmed I was able to cut the small vent holes using a very small drill and tip of a new scalpel blade and then cemented it to the underside of the nose. At the same time I shaped a mould for the cover above the engines and cut this out ready to fit later.
 


Thanks for looking.

Stephen.

[malaula]

Nice work,Stephen!I'm looking forward to how you'll do the fuselage!

[ondra]

Great job, Stephen, many thanks for sharing your scratchbuilding skills!

Cheers

Ondra

[TobyCoulson]

Excellent tip on building the wheels and tyres. Keep it up.

[IanB]

That nose piece looks great, not easy to do accurately!
Well done!

Ian

[steveb]

Yes, very cool work here. I'll be watching for updates!

Steve

[RAGIII]

Outstanding updates! Like others have said the wheel making tutorial and the shaping of the nose piece ae excellent!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

Evening All,

Thanks to Malaula, Ondra, Edgar, Toby, Ian, Steve and Rick for your kind remarks. Yes Malaula the fuselage is going to present a challenge but then there is no point in building something unless there is a challenge somewhere along the line!

I have been working on the rear fuselage and slab sides of the centre section. However the first priority was to join the halves of the top wing as this will be needed to help to hold the sides in place when I want to attach the nose and rear sections. I drilled 2 holes in each wing half and inserted small metal pins cut from a paper clip. I do not have any brass rod - the metal in the clips is rigid enough so these were CA'd into place and then the wing joined with cement and CA. The circular hole is where the upper gun position will go later.



On to the rear fuselage. This consisted of two triangular sections mounted one above the other. The upper section was slightly smaller than the lower one. These were made from 20 thou card for the sides and 30 thou card for the top and bottom. I made small bulkheads from scrap card to help support the sides. Unfortunately I somehow got the dimensions wrong on the first attempt so I had to make a second pair. The top rear of the upper section was left off as the horizontal stabilizer will need to be fixed there later. Holes were drilled in the apex of each triangle to allow for a piece of wire to be inserted later to represent a bracing strut - the photos show what I mean.



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I now made the triangular side sections which fill the gap between the rear sections of fuselage and the slab sided centre section. The drawings show these to be flat but the shadows on photographs show that they were divided into three surfaces at a small angle to each other. To get the correct size I cut out a card template and bent this gently to make sure that this was the correct size. When I had got this right I cut two pieces of 20 thou card and scored and bent these to shape. Finally I cut and shaped two bulkheads which will help to join the front ends of the rear fuselage triangles and hold the side pieces in place.



Now I could assemble the rear triangular sections. I did this by inserting the wire into the holes in the apexes and CA'd that in place while at the same time cementing the front of the triangular sections where they met.



The bulkheads were then fixed to the front end of the rear fuselage sub-assembly.



Finally I added the sides and filled any small gaps. The next stage will be to put the sides on to the top wing and then join the rear fuselage and nose assemblies: more on that later when I have got that far.



Thanks for looking.

Stephen.

[IanB]

Beautifully done Stephen. This really is going to be an outstanding, and very different, addition to your collection!

Ian