Fairey Albacore Fleet Air Arm biplane

[Balsabasher]

The first bit of solid model building in months,after getting my strength back again following the poisons that they prescribed me and gritted determination it was time to start creating something as the sun was shining and I could work outside,thus are evolving a brace of Fairey Albacore's which are being built from an 'Hobbies Weekly' period drawing as supplied with the magazine,the model's are being built as is as  historic replicas honouring these wonderful old plans.
I used to get the 'Hobbies Weekly' every week building the various pipe racks and ornate fretted picture frames from the patterns within,then the odd sailing ship and vintage car would appear,I could not afford the wood packs that you could purchase so raided the geeen grocery shops for thin wood that came with the strawberry cartons,tedious removal of the staples provided me with the necessary laths of wood,also local woodworkers employed by the council would discard timber into skips,I raided them and took the wood home for projects,my tools were simple a fretwork set which came as a Christmas present,an archemedian drill and a discarded tenon saw that my father had used and seen better days,but there were enough teeth in it for me to hack away with !
My modern day model is being built from packing case timber which I season outside in my wood storage racks,it gets the rain and snow,the heat from the sun and eventually a well weathered piece gets selected and used as in this case,its fun building from scrap as most of my models are,and so I spent a pleasant afternoon cutting,whittling and shaping.
Barry.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/ALBACORE_CARVE_1.JPG

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/ALBACORE_PLAN.JPG

[lastvautour]

Glad to see you back at it.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

The engine cowls were made up and fitted today on the brace of Fairey Albacore's,also the oil cooler and spinners were fabricated.
Barry.



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_ENGINES_ADDED_3.JPG



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_ENGINES_ADDED_1.JPG

[buccfan]

Looking great Barry, glad to hear your'e up and running again.I always fancied having a go at wood turning,but I don't have the room really.Keep up the good work.Regards Paul J.

[Balsabasher]

Thanks Paul,for years now I have been turning parts with a Black & Decker drill,this is fine but it is so restricted,as there are so many round bits and pieces on our models I thought that a small lathe would be the answer,unfortunately the small lathe did not last long as the motor burnt out after three tries and after returning it to the manufacturers they said that it could not be repaired ! in fact they had a warehouse full of similar faulty lathes,so the supplier fixed me up with another lathe but this was far from a small bench one,you can turn complete chair legs on it ! so you just have to whittle down from a large block to the smaller size that you need.
Space is normally the problem but as I work from an old airfield fire station it makes for a super workshop,but you do need space for equipment.
Next task is to attempt to make some small wheels,not sure how I am going to tackle them but I will find a way.
Barry.

[Balsabasher]

The undercarriage on the full sized aircraft is a massive affair and needs careful consideration as it is part of the inboard leading edge of the lower wing where it is positioned,so because of this it needs fitting now at this stage so that the wing fixing can be worked out,the legs are bent up from dural which was epoxied to the lower fuselage,next balsa fairings were added and shaped to streamlined section.
The tail parts have been made and carefully fitted,some upper tail fairings need making up,also the alloy tailwheel forks were cut from scrap and formed into shape.
Barry.



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_UC_ON_2.JPG



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_UC_ON_5.JPG

[lastvautour]

Very nice work. I like the cowlings.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

When you build biplanes you need wings,and lots of them ! so todays concentrated efforts revolved around these,firstly I needed some quarter inch timber from which to fabricae them and nothing stood out in my wood stash,so a trip to the local DIY store produced a bundle of pine floorboards at a bargain price,the only problem was there had to be a gamble on knots as they were plastic wrapped and out of the ten panels only two proved of real use on inspection later,so avoiding the knots on areas like the leading and trailing edges I carefully used my card template to select the best working areas,the other wood will not be wasted as it can be used on smaller projects.
The wings were cut out and fettled,then the job of aerofoiling them took some concentration,the wings are bi-convex on the Albacore so firstly I worked on the upper camber which is more pronounced then bringing the lower surfaces of the wings in line,what knots were there did not give me any problems but just for good measure I flooded these areas with thin cyno effectively locking the small knots so no surprises at a later date,in effect an advanced knotting technique.
A final sand sitting outside in the sun sipping a can of Red Bull proved a pleasant way to enjoy the lovely weather we are having and finally a pair of wings were ready.
As the more suitable materials are difficult to get these days I always try to use what is available locally in the way of commercial products,sometimes I use car fillers but today I decided to see what the local old fashioned hardware store had in the way of stopping,the one that I always used to use was called 'Brummer stopping' the lady behind the counter said sorry we do not stock this because there are so many similar materials on the market and we do not wish to duplicate things,that was fair comment in these times of economy so I was open to suggestion ? she pointed out a similar stopper at some extortionate price but despite this I went for it,now this is where there is an interesting twist to this story,some years ago a product called plastic wood was popular,it consisted of fine wod dust soaked in cellulose solution,to my dismay when I purchased a tube last year it had changed formulae ? instead of being cellulose based it was an admixture of fine dust and polyvinyl acetate,the outcome being that it would not sand properly like the older product did,so imagine my pleasant surprise on opening the new tin of stopper it was cellulose with that wonderful smell associated with these products that Europe is trying to ban all of them,a quick test showed that yes it does sand well and is more akin to the good old plastic wood mentioned previously.
Another good thing about this product sold for antique furniture renovation is that it sticks well,something that PVA based products do not do well.
Next job is to work out the complex lower wing fixing that goes through the undercarriage fairing at the front,we have the technology and it will be done.
Barry.



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_ALBACORE_WINGS_1.JPG

[Boomerang]

    Always a pleasure to watch your progress with a project Barry.

   Cheers

   Gordon

[Balsabasher]

Thank you Gordon for your kind comments,I think it also helps others see how our models evolve from the ground up as the raw pieces of wood get shaped and fashioned into what we want,there is so much hidden into a complex shaped model once it is assembled and I like to explain things as I go along,it is the natural teaching instinct in me ! after all it is a step by step record of what goes on.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

Finding materiel can be an adventure these days. My regular supplier of pine board no longer stocks them due to lack of sales for the more expensive clear cuts. A good looking project. Keep them photos coming.

Lou

[Ken Pugh]

Better buy up some of that stuff before the bureaucrats realize a product escaped their attention.

Ken Pugh

[Balsabasher]

The solution to the upper and lower wing attachment was found by way of compromise,the lower wing slots in the usual way into the fuselage with a cut out to clear the undercarriage fairing,the void will be faired in with balsa block suitably shaped to fair in with the undercarriage legs,I have not encountered this set up like this on any aeroplane that I have made previously ? the upper wings are bolted fullsize to the cabin frame former in a similar fashion to the Westland Lysander,to replicate this I removed a centre portion of the upper wing leaving a membrane of wood that slots into a suitable slot on top of the cockpit cabin,I did this because not being keen to simply glue the individual wing panels on a ledge by way of very little support,by keeping the wing in one piece it is more manageable,the logistics of problem solving with a model subject is half the battle to make for ease of assembly and realism.
The essential dihedral breaks were first pre cut with a fine saw then the joint was eased apart and wedges glued into place and allowed to dry before a good clean up with abrasive paper.
The tailwheel brackets were fabricated from thin dural then suitably formed and epoxied into place following being roughened with abrasive paper to ensure a good joint.
The belt and braces look of the Albacore is coming through nicely in the model,remember the Albacore was intended as a replacement for the venerable Swordfish but in fact the Swordfish outlived it in service !
Finally today I spun up some low pressure tyre type wheels learning how to do this myself with the useful lathe,these can be cut apart and suitable card hub discs added.
Barry.



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_UPPER_WING_DIHEDRAL.JPG





http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_TAILWHEEL_BRACKETS.JPG




http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_CUTTING_SLOTS_FOR_UPPER_WING.JPG





http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_TURNING_UP_THE_WHEELS_4.JPG

[Balsabasher]

After a good sanding the initial primer coat was added to show up any flaws that need attention,the upper wing has not been attached yet so that it will make it easier to sand.
The picture shows my first attempt at making wheels on the lathe,I am quite pleased with the result and thinking of ways to improve them.
Barry.



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_PRIMER_1.JPG



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_WHEELS.JPG



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_PRIMER_5.JPG

[lastvautour]

Thanks for the updates. This is a nice project.

Lou