Adding pieces is a way of life for modellers as Mark mentioned. Check out the Hampden nacelles. Using a pre-processed piece of wood is great if you have the piece on hand. I am always on the look out for thin pieces such paint stir sticks from your local hardware/paint store. Canadain Tire even had basswood sticks with straight grain at just over 1/8 inch thick. They make ideal pieces for wings on smaller 1/144 scale models. Check out the Small Gem build on my board. I also use re-cycled baseboards for the majority of my 1/350 scale ships.

Lou

Quote from: lastvautour on November 12, 2013, 04:58:45 PM
Adding pieces is a way of life for modellers as Mark mentioned. Check out the Hampden nacelles. Using a pre-processed piece of wood is great if you have the piece on hand. I am always on the look out for thin pieces such paint stir sticks from your local hardware/paint store. Canadain Tire even had basswood sticks with straight grain at just over 1/8 inch thick. They make ideal pieces for wings on smaller 1/144 scale models. Check out the Small Gem build on my board. I also use re-cycled baseboards for the majority of my 1/350 scale ships.

Lou

Thanks for the advice Mark and Lou. I took pictures this afternoon of last night's work, but am currently at the office and will have to post later. I have the right thickness for for the fuselage block, but need to chisel off some of the height. I am a bit wide on the wing.

Before proceeding any further, I think the next order of business will be to build a bench hook and see if that makes it easier for me to use the chisel.

Indeed, bench hooks are an essential tool nobody should be without. I struggled for years until I saw one done on the site.

Lou

I should probably wait to post until I have something to show...but dude...that bench hook makes chiseling ALOT easier.

Congratulations  Jeremy! I think your the first person to use the word "dude" on SMM! I agree the bench hook makes life easier. I thinking of making a longer one for larger models in the future.

Peter

Making the horizontal tail plane requires to thin the wood down to approx. 2mm. Cut out the shape leaving the trailing edge scallops alone for now. Mark the center line of the edge face and sand to shape as per the photo. I preferred holding the stab half way over the bench paper sheet for this. Keep checking frequently as you go along.

Lou

PS ignore the photo title. A moment of senility.

I somehow did not get a photo of rounding off the leading and trailing edges. Here is the stab inserted to the rear fuselage. Note the shape of the stab. The leading edge is just rounded off using fine sand paper and the trailing edge is sanded from about the center point of the stab to the trailing edge using a gentle slope.

Lou

Progress has been slow...between work, small kids and a wife in school, I've only been able to snatch a few hours hear and there.

Pictures in this post were taken November 12 of work done late at night on Nov. 11. I attempted to chisel the wings and fuselage without the benefit of a bench hook. Things ended up pretty rough. I had chiseled too much off the size of the fuselage and so laminated a thin (1/16 inch) piece to make it a bit wider. This experienced convinced me to build a bench hook, which I did a few days later and had an easier time with it.

The bench hook is a quick and dirty build from wood I had laying around. Someday, I'd like to build something larger and a bit nice, but for now, it does the job.

On November 16, I smoothed out the sides with 150 grit sandpaper and the chisel/bench hook. The fuselage isn't perfect, but I thought I could proceed. The wing was rather chewed up. The plan is to smooth it out to under 3/16 inch and then laminate a 1/16 inch piece of basswood to bring it back to the right thickness. I could always carve out a completely new wing, but I'm trying to be careful with the amount of wood I am using, since I don't have an easy source of basswood. For now, I've put the wing aside to focus on the fuselage. 

The last bit of work took place Nov. 20 and 21.

I traced the outline of the templates with a mechanical pencil onto the wood. It's a close fit and one side is rougher than I want it to be...but I figure that paint and wood filler will help hide some of my mistakes and I should give myself some grace considering that this is the first solid scale model I've ever built.

At this point, using a chisel to create a smooth surface has been the most challenging aspect of the build and an area where I can use more practice.

I put the fuselage into my vice and cut out the slot for the stabilizer with a coping saw and a miniature flat hobby file. I do have an old hacksaw that I inherited which will need a new blade and I should go ahead and get one before my next model. I had some issues with the cut and part of it on one side is not as straight as I would like. I did test fit a 1/16 piece of basswood and it does fit. 

Using a chisel and my wood carving hobby knife, I have shaped the two ends. The last picture is the current status.

Lou, I've been reducing these pictures to 500px wide. If you'd like the pictures to be a bit bigger, let me know.

Jeremy

The bench hook is fine. Mine are also scrap wood that was of no use for carving. The fuselage block is looking good. I recommend a sheet of 80 grit sandpaper for use on your bench. Tack in the corners to hold it in place. I bent mine over the end and used pins to hold it down. Place your wing and sand at an angle to get it to the proper thickness.
I am currently uploading a few videos on shaping the wing but they will not be ready until tomorrow.

Lou
PS Disregard the fuselage as I just want to show you the sheet of sandpaper.

Next we round off the fuselage to shape. Look at the attached drawing of the cross section. This is the Mosquito but the principle is the same. Take you cross section at its widest and make off the triangular section as shown. Run lines down the length of the fuselage as per the attached photo.

Lou

Remove the triangular shape created by the lines.

Lou

Now subdivide the flat area created and the area between the center line of the fuselage and the edge of the new flat area. From now on we are working strictly with the top of the fuselage only.

Lou

Note that the two new lines form a triangular shape. I used a blue marker to illustrate the material to be removed.

Lou