I missed the Christmas toy drive last year with the A-10 Warthog, so thought I'd better start earlier this year.
Have started a couple of F8 Crusader based models for this year's toy drive. Scale is 1:48. The wood is pine. I've modified the wing to eliminate the leading edge step (don't want any sharp edges or points) and of course made the wings, tail and elevators much thicker than the scale thickness. Since the wing is mounted on top of the fuselage, I am going to try a fancy lap joint which covers the full width of the fuselage to minimize any chance of breakage. As usual, I have incorporated the tang at the front end of the fuselage for holding it in the clamping vice during shaping. It will be removed once the model is near completion.
After the model is finished, I'll post a copy of the plans for those who may be interested in building one. For some reason, I've always been fascinated with this plane. Maybe it's the front end air scoop combined with the sleek fuselage and delta wings. In any event, once I have the toys complete, I may start a proper scaled model while I have all the templates out.
Going to be a good one.
Lou
Looking forward to progress reports Ken, regards Paul J.
Not sure how good it will be, but I will keep the progress postings going. As always, it's a chance to improve my skills.
Cut the fancy lap joint for the wings tonight using the bandsaw. If the plane was to be painted, I would create a simple lap joint for the wing joint and then glue them to the fuselage. However, since the plane will have a natural finish I wanted to have the visible split where the wing sections joint in the middle of the fuselage. This caused me to come up with a 3 level lap joint where the two bottom layers cross the full width of the fuselage and the top layers meet in the middle of the fuselage. The wing joint is currently roughed out. I'll fine tune the fit up once the fuselage is shaped and the slot for the wings cut in.
Wing dihedral were also rough cut on the bandsaw
Ken,
Watching with interest.
Cheers
Gordon
Looking good.
Lou
Dado for wing insert into fuselage started by creating a series of thin strips using the bandsaw. The strips were then broken by hand and the root of the dado smoothed using a chisel.
The horizontal stabilizers have a dihedral, so I put together a jig sloped at the appropriate angle to facilitate drilling the slots at the correct angle. The bottom profile previously cut from the blank was taped to the fuselage to assist in drilling the horizontal and vertical stabilizer.
Great progress Ken, thanks for the update and pics. Regards Paul J
I need to try that method of adding stabs to fuselage. Thanks for the tip.
Lou
Love watching these.
Gordon
Have started to perform the rough shaping of the fuselage and final wing fit up. I don't have the "Mark X Eagle Eye" of the more experience members so I try to shape two or three stations along the fuselage using the templates and then use these to blend in the other stations, checking their template fits as well. This helps me to establish the stream lines along the fuselage.
Used the Microplane for the first time. Although they make a version for wood, I couldn't find it, so I settle on the food version. I bought it at a local kitchen utensil store. It cuts great although the cut is on the pull stroke rather than the push stroke. But it doesn't take long to adjust to this and I found I had great control. It really sliced through the pine. Much faster than using files and because it generates shavings, there is much less dust. Also it doesn't seem to be affected by the grain pattern. It's probably too large and course for the smaller scales, but it's great for 1:48 and larger scales. After the rough shaping using the Microplane, I went over the profile with a file to smooth the surface. This combination worked great.
I am please with the lap joint of the wings. The joint seems very strong in an unglued state and the grain patterns are almost a mirror of each other. I hadn't anticipated the sap streaks as the uncut top surface of the board did not display any. However, that's the joy of pine. Will have to wait and see how it looks when the natural finish is applied.
Excellent update as usual Ken, the Microplane looks a useful tool. Thanks for posting. Regards Paul J.
The Microplane is certainly a great tool! It's what I always wished the Stanley surform rasp would cut like but never did, even with a new blade.
Ran into some problems with the wings. Upon blending the wing into the fuselage, I discovered the wing lap joint was too wide and became exposed. As well, the sap kept bleeding out of the wood which wouldn't make for a great toy. So I opted to start from scratch and cut 2 new sets of wings. The best laid plans of mice and men .......
I've shown the fixture which I used to hold the wing while cutting the double lap joint sections. A digital vernier was used to assist in defining the cut lines. The fitted joint on one wing set was a little sloppy but a little extra glue filled up the gaps. But the second wing set joints were very tight. I guess practice makes perfect. Cutting and fitting were performed using a razor saw, file and sanding block.
The wing dihedral was shaped using a couple of low angle block planes. A heavy one for the rough shaping and a lighter one for the final shaping. The wing edges were shaped using the micoplane and sanding block.
Most of the fuselage has been shaped and sanded. The wings and stabilizers are dry fitted to check for symmetry, etc. The microplane was used for most of the fuselage shaping. It worked like a charm creating shaving rather than dust like a file does. The shavings clean up quickly.
Magnificent workmanship.
Lou
In a word WOW !
Cheers
Gordon
Excellent progress Ken. Regards Paul J.
Both planes have been primarily shaped and rough sanded up to the front part of the cock pit.
I am a little nervous about shaping the front air scoop. I believe I have a game plan on the approach. Once I have the air scoops shaped, I'll glue everything together and commence the blending of the wing to fuselage. If I don't get the air scoop correct, I can quickly shape another fuselage and fit the other components.
Ken,
Love it when a plan comes together.
Cheers
Gordon
Both planes assembled and glued. Front air scoop seems to be shaped reasonably well. Both planes are ready for final sanding. Once the final sanding is complete, I'll cut off the tang and complete the shaping of the nose.
Excellent progress Ken, Regards Paul J.
Real beauties.
Lou
Stunning !
Gordon
Thanks Gordon and Lou for the feedback.
Have started the finishing process. One of the "joys" of pine is sap bleed, especially through acrylic paint. I have opted to add some paint details, so have masked the areas to be painted. First step is a couple of coats of shellac. The shellac seals the pine and acts as a good primer for the paint to adhere to.
Painted details have been completed and coated with two coats of gloss water based varnish and one coat if semi gloss, although it still seems to be pretty glossy. I'll wait for the completion and may recoat with a matt varnish.
Next step is to add the Tried and True varnish which will hopefully highlight the grain.
I envy the receiver of this gift.
Lou
So do I.
Gordon
I also hope someone enjoys these. Not sure if they can compete with the electronic items these days. In any event it's a hobby which I enjoy and hopefully someone will enjoy the results of. Maybe they will spark the imagination of a future pilot.
Finished one of the models. I wanted to finish one before completing the second so I could assess some trial approaches. This time I applied more paint to highlight specific areas than on the A10 from last year. I also scored the control surfaces and highlighted with colored pencil rather than using the wood burning tool. It seems to provide a more uniform highlight than wood burning which can locally overheat an area if the travel pace is not constant. Once the scores had been highlighted with the coloured pencil, I placed two heavy coats of varnish in the score line to seal the pencil outlines.
I wasn't able to obtain a plastic label in time, so I opted to use a photograph label. I mocked up the nameplates and saved in JPEG format. Took the file to Walmart and had a photo printed for 11 cents. I was able to place 8 labels on a 4" x 6" photo, so I had several copies just in case I made a mistake in mounting.
On to completing the second one.
I think it looks just right. Well Done!
Gordon
Thanks Gordon.
Thought I'd better post the photo of the second plane so it makes the 2018 poster.
The A-10 warthog was a hold over from last year (2017). But thought it would look nice in the picture with the two Crusaders.
Perfect !
Gordon