The F-18 turned out to my liking so much so that I will do an additional five for good measure. All pieces required are in the fourth photo.
Step one is to draw out the template outline on 20mm wood. This works out to a 1" board by North American standards. Once done I cut out the pieces rough. Next step will be to remove as much wood as possible using my bandsaw. Jigsaws and scroll saws will do the same or just use a knife. More to come once I have gone this far.
Lou
I love the way your staff lay things out in the hangar Lou ! they really are a dedicated crew.
Barry.
Barry, if you look close two are laying on the job and will be disciplined. I can't let them go as I can't afford to loose the manpower.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lou
Everyone is back hard at work. All parts have been cut out close to the template lines and now await final cut using a blade and some sand paper. That new band saw was a time saver in that department. The fuselages are 20mm, outer engine nacelles 8mm and the remaining start of at 4mm. The stabilizers will be reduced to 2mm with sanding. The F-18 has a weird undercarriage, so some thought will have to be put to making that unless you want to place it on a stand.
So that's what happened to Elvis!!!!!. A lot of mass production today. Regards Paul J.
The selection of plastic or wooden engine nozzle attachment will require to shorten the engine nacelle as per the photos below. The pieces are then glued to the fuselage. Note the 1/8 inch underhang at the front lower end and a match with the top at the rear. If you wish to just carve the nozzle as part of the engine fuselage, don't cut it off and glue with the elnght of the nozzle extending beyond the fuselage.
Lou
Sand the wings and lex to 4mm thickness and square off the edges. I do mine on a sheet of medium grit paper that I have pinned to my bench. At this point we are test fitting the wings to the fuselage and using a line 2mm below the wing we will bevel the nacelle to achieve the necessary anhedral. Next we will shape the wing to get that twist so the wing tip stores point downwards. It is a good idea to keep checking with the templates.
Lou
The wing area is bevelled (Photo 1) as well as the end of the wings (Photo 2)to provide a closer fit. Once bevelled the wing attachment area can be left for now.
Lou
I could not find my intake guide so I had to make another. The grid is in cm. I traced the outline of the intakes by laying the upper flat against the fuselage. The lower point is 5mm inboard. You will note that the intakes are slightly lower than the fuselage where the intake area meets the bottom fuselage. We will sort that out next time.
Lou
Just love all of the hands on workshop pictures Lou,a scan of your workbench reveals a P-51N under construction as well as your Air Toons.
Barry.
Mustang Mk I to be exact or P-51A in 1/144 scale using the USN ID model drawings from SMM. Just a little something to keep me active while I think about my next move on the AirToon.
Lou
Fill the area between the nacelles and cut a V notch in the forward end and round off to mate the intake trunks to the fuselage.
Thanks for the update Lou, there's a lot to follow on this one.Regards Paul J.
No rush Paul. I will not delete any info.
You can also cut a V shape front to rear and enlarge the V shape at the rear. Place the engine nozzles and remove more material so that the centre of the fuselage will come close to the size of the nozzles. Since I had many spare plastic nozzles I used them. A second photo of nozzles shows using the top from a Testor glue tube to work quite as well. Look around the house and you will be surprised what will fit i.e. toothpaste tube cover, ointment tubes etc.
Lou
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10004/normal_DSCF7669.JPG)
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10004/normal_DSCF7670.JPG)
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10004/normal_DSCF7673.JPG)
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10004/normal_DSCF7674.JPG)
Mark off an area of the intake trunk 1cm from the front edge and place lines 5mm on the bottom and side of the forward fuselage. I always find it easier to mark off what materiel one wants to remove. Do a vertical cut at the intake face and remove the materiel between the side and bottom lines. Notch the inside of the intake to fuselage to make a smooth transition between the intake and fuselage. Remove the materiel from the intake trunk between the 1cm line and the face of the intake outline we did earlier.
Building the twist in the wing is next. Start by drawing lines to the forward lower tip to where the lex will merge with the wing. Draw another line from the forard lower to the rear upper tip. Remove the material as per the shaded area. Draw a line where the wing meets the fuselage and make a vertival cut at the rear wing root.
Lou
Remove the materiel from the bottom of the wing as per the photo. The bottom front leading edge is done in a similar fashion (darker area). The degree of twist is determined by the thickness of the wing tip so do whatever looks good to you. I often exaggerate these features.
Lou
The first is the template for the nose area, canopy and rear upper fuselage. I do only half and flip for the second side. I temporarily glued the wings in place and marked lines for shaping the canopy, nose and upper fuselage. Do vertical and horizon cuts until the materiel is removed. Final shaping using coarse sandpaper will bring the shape out of the wood.
Lou
Shape the canopy by removing the materiel between the lines seen a few pictures back. Once shaped, round off the nose section and the upper rear fuselage. The parts are just tacked on for display at this pint. On checking against the templates I need to do some fine tuning so that is all for now.
Lou
Should you not have any plastic engine nozzles, dowels will do fine.
Thanks Lou,Regards Paul.
In keeping with solid wood construction, a dowel of the approx diameter is used and a line draw 2mm from the edge. Remove the materiel between the line and the forward edge of the nozzle and there you go. Intake boundary layer fence is made by soaking some thinned out wood approx 1mm thick. More on this later once the wood has dried a bit.
Lou
To hold the vertical stabs until gluing toothpicks are used. The horizontal stabs will get the same treatment, but due to there limited thickness straight pins will be used. The lex is sanded to fit at the same angle as the wings. The shade part is rounded off and then glued in place. Check both sides. They don't have to be in the exact position, but they should be in relation to each other.
Lou
Once a good sanding is giving, the fuselage wing assembly is sanded as well as the stabs. All the major components may be sealed and readied for primer at this point.
Lou
While the dust is settling from all this activity the engine nacelles are glued to the remaining fuselage. Armament in in the what if and what can I do stage. The arrester hook, two crossed round toothpicks and the arrestor hook attachment pieces are also being manufactured at this point. I had sufficient Sidewinders to do all 5 models, but decided to go with wood. It takes a bit more time but gives greater satisfaction.
Lou
Thanks for the update Lou, I'll have to stock up on toothpicks my stock is getting low.Regards Paul.
One cannot survive without round toothpicks!!!!!!!!
Lou
The engine nozzles are a bit to small so I found a larger dowel and will be redoing them. The arrestor hook and attaching hardware is in rough form but will be sanded today. The armament is coming along nicely and should work out. I still need a Sidewinder rail launcher and some pylons. I also experimented with an undercarriage but !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The intake boundary layer fences are cut and soaking to make them more pliable.
Lou
Not quite to scale but it give an idea how the undercarriage is being approached. The orange and purple parts are my faithful round toothpicks. The nose gear is straight forward with two wheels glued to a dowel and inserted in the bottom of the fuselage. Photos to follow. Bingo again tonight, so no more work today.
Lou
Looking good Lou, looking at photos the main legs do kick out at an angle, dowels are the one thing I am not short of, they sell them in bags of 100 at the craft store. Don't take too long counting your winnings,there's modelling to do.Regards Paul J.
I won the 50/50 this time. $19.50 goes into my new camera fund. I had a chance to tinker with the undercarriage this morning and it appears to work. With the main gear wheels so far back there are no problems with balancing on its tricycle undercarriage. Picture by this evening..
Lou
The arrestor hooks are ready for final shaping and the undercarriage pieces are cut and now require drilling and gluing. The gear looks about right for an AirToon but will be approx 3mm shorter than the prototype. Bombs are complete for Hornet # 1 and the missiles are getting there slowly as each fin needs to be glue in place before I add another.
Lou
The Undercarriage turned out well, and sits balanced. I take it your old camera's days are numbered? Regards Paul J.
I moved the undercarriage another cm forward and it still balances. The location of the Sparrow missiles will determine the exact place so that the gear clears the fins. The first two Sparrows are glued and will get some sanding and painting this weekend. By looking at the photo it is easy to see focus problems.
Lou
Three sets of main undercarriage and five nose gear sets have been completed. Two Sparrow and Two Sidewinders are ready for painting and the others are in various state of building. Nothing worth photographing today. Won "High Score" prize of $17.50 in dart tournament yesterday afternoon. May get that camera this year yet.
Lou
If you keep on winning at this rate you will.Regards Paul J.
The 'Air Toons' are growing at a fast rate ! you are having a lot of fun there Lou.
Barry.
Busy busy with small parts.
Lou
Great job Lou!!!!!!
Gera
That workbench says a happy builder ! love the pots and things pressed into service,I cannot throw a pot out without thinking of a use for it.
Barry.
Gera, have not seen you in ages. Welcome back.
Barry, sometimes I keep to much.
Lou
Yoghurt pots for mixing colours and de-cantering adhesives ,Ice cream containers for keeping small parts together while you are working on them,Coffee jars for storing sawdust for use on model railway layout,metal food trays for making small parts like seats,always look out for cigar boxes on car boot sales as they can provide lovely wood for propllers etc,coffee stirers for mixing two part adhesives and stirring paint,cereal box card for making templates,pick up bits and pieces in the street you will be surprised what you can use,as you can see I am a natural magpie and cannot resist throwing things away that may be useful.
Barry.
Most of the bits and pieces have been assembled and await the main fuselage and wing assembly to finish with the painting. I experienced some bleed on the bottom fuselage false canopy that needs to be rectified before going on. The undercarriage doors are still milling around in my head as to how far to go with them. Decals are also being thought through and should be completed this evening. The Sparrow missiles needed some adjustment to the fin locations to clear the main undercarriage. The painted one is the correct configuration being used. Since it was decided later in the project to use undercarriage, the placement of the fins were not an issue, however once fitted with the undercarriage in place it would have to sit either far forward or far to the rear of the main gear and it did not look right. I had to remove the fins from 10 missisle and reattach.
Lou
looking good Lou, can you do a pic of the boundary layer doors, I believe the last pic was them soaking in water? Regards Paul J.
I have heard them referred to as boundary layer fences or vanes. They take away the turbulent air close to the fuselage so the engine can have smooth airflow. The camera is not very good these days but here goes. I tried to get them to lay flat against the fuselage, but they popped out at the bottom so I left them as they were at least matched. The AirToon is upside down.
Lou
Thanks for that lou, much appreciated.Regards Paul J.
The first of five F-18 AirToon has been rolled out of the production line and is ready to join the fleet. The following photos recorded the event.
Lou
P.S. My sincere apologies for photo quality.
The band was playing in the background. Honest!!
I love a parade.
Busy bottom with
Sidewinders = 20 pieces
Sparrow = 18 pieces
Iron Bombs = 28 pieces
Undercarriage = 42 pieces
Arrestor Hook 3 pieces
Fuselage/Wings = 11 pieces
Inter service visit! Nice to drop by.
Lou
Very nice Lou, I think your dioramas are great. I,ve made some templates for this one.Regards Paul J.
I need to rework some of the templates and add better dimension references. Thanks for the pat on the back.
Lou
Very nice indeed Lou. But, of course, if McKay sees it he'll buy it. Which is always nice in itself. For if you have a ready market, even if you have to throw in the hangar, you have at least some bargaining power ;).
Cliff.
Thank you Cliff. McKay will not buy this one. It does not cost enough to hide the reaL cost.
Lou
:) ;D
Cliff.
Just look at these little beauties in those realistic settings ! good work as always,really good settings in those blister hangars.
Barry.
Production line is in full swing with AirToon growing everywhere. Great life!!
Photo 1 & 2 Boundary layer fences installed.
Photo 3 Comparing single to dual.
Photo 4 Wings attached on two, vertical fins just sitting on fuse using round toothpics. Exhaust nozzle completed.
Lou
Your like the Skunk Works of the solid modeling world. Pretty soon you're going to have more aircraft than the RCAF ;)
Peter
Nice going Lou, I don't know whether to do a single or double seater, I might do one of each.Regards Paul J.
Peter I do have more aircraft than the RCAF.
Paul, I used http://www.flickr.com/photos/31186322@N06/6006878804/in/photostream as a guide to the two seater canopy.
Lou
thanks for the pointer Lou, regards Paul J.
Wings are attached and sanded. Vertical tail is pegged in with round toothpicks. Next the lex and putty. Undercarriage is complete.
A sneak peek at the RAAF F-18 hiding in its bunker. Close ups will be provided when the remaining three are done.
Do you have the right security clearances for taking photos of secret bases? You should try photos in black and white or sepia. It would give them that surveillance spy look.
Peter
It could be from Google street view Peter!.Regards Paul J.
Very clever Lou,nice scenery work.
Barry.
Coffee cans, poster board, scrap book paper and a wild imagination. Never thought of the black and white effect. Thanks for the idea. RCAF version nearing completion. All major decals printed, now just time to get them in place.
Lou
Need some clouds in the way????
Here's the latest c/s for you to try Lou, regards Paul J. http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=43586
Just a little out off my league. Thanks for the reference.
Lou
I like the black and white. I can here the drone circling snapping photos. Scramble! Oops that's the war gamer in me coming out....
Peter
If I ever get my UAV off the ground, the images could look somewhat like this. Here we have left to right:
RAF Buccaneer, RAAF F-18 and RCAF F-18. The Balkan Rat F-18 is temporarily on the bench to be used as a guide for the next two coming off the line.
Lou
Lou thats amazing ! you are taking these little gems to a new dimension,do we have the making of a new stealth concept that the military would be interested in ? if they can fly a remote electric powered delta across the atlantic and land it the other end then why not a Air Toons sized replica fitted with micro equipment onboard ! you would certainly never see it and detection would be difficult,you may be onto something here.
Barry.
That's awesome Lou! Nice to know I'm not the only big kid around here.
Peter
Thanks guys. I too am a kid at heart with all these magnificent toys and all I need is a block of would to make any dream craft come to life. Retirement is grand!!!!
Lou
The Swiss F-18 has been rolled out and placed under security in its bunker. She is uploaded with two Sidewinders, two Sparrows and two long range drop tanks. The last one to come is on the bench waiting for its weapons sub-assemblies to dry a bit before installing. That should happen sometime tomorrow.Then many close ups.
Lou
PS Left to right: Bucc, Australian, Canadian and Swiss under wraps. Out front is the Balkan Rat, back after having some intake and warning labels decals put in place.
Looking forward to the rollout Lou.Regards Paul J.
The Spanish F-18 has rolled out. Note that the Australian and Spanish birds do not have launch bars. The Canadian Forces removed some and found that it caused nose wheel shimmy so they put them back on. Overall a neat little project in mass production. Parts as follows:
Sidewinders X 14 = 56 forward fins, 56 main fins and 14 bodies
Sparrows X 12 = 48 forward fins, 48 rear fins and 12 bodies
Harpoon X 2 = 8 forward fins, 8 rear fins and 2 bodies
Drop tanks X 2 = 2 bodies
500lb Mk 82 X 4 = 16 fins, 4 primer pins and 4 bodies
Main wings X 10 = 5 left wings, 5 left lex, 5 right wings and right 5 lex
Fuselage X 5 = 5 center fuselage and 10 engine nacelles
Tail feathers X 5 = 10 vertical and 10 horizontal fins
Engine exhaust X 10 = 10 bodies
Arrestor hooks X 5 = 5 housings, 5 bodies and 5 hooks
Undercarriage main X 5 = 10 vertical struts, 5 left horizontal struts, 5 right horizontal struts, 10 retraction actuators, 10 wheels, 10 wheel hubs and 10 axles
Undercarriage nose X 5 = 10 wheels, 5 actuators, 3 launch bars(2 piece), 5 axles
Undercarriage doors X 5 = 40 pieces
In all 480 pieces all fitting together to make my little multinational F-18 fleet.
Lou
PS Close ups on my "Project Board" as soon as I can sort them out
Detailed inventory there Lou.
Barry.
Thanks Barry. I messed up in forgetting that the Australian Hornet has SRAAM instead of Sidewinders on the tips, hence 4 fewer pieces, but them I negleted to add the pylons for the fuel tanks (2), the Harpoon (2) and the Bombs (2), Sparrows (4) and Sidewinders (4) so I was shy by 10 pieces.
Lou