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Post by mstokes on Feb 28, 2012 21:40:30 GMT 12
By the way, the cowl in the shot above is blu tacked on, I should have mentioned that as otherwise it alludes that BOF had a major gap between it and the nose ;D I also forgot to add the photos of the flap actuators I have done to replace the out of scale and bulbous plastic attempts. These were built up in 4 brass parts and then a hinge was added from some metal detail car parts I had in the stash. Only did two at a time as my eyes were fairly done by then ;D A knocked up shot of what they should look like when together
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Post by mstokes on Feb 28, 2012 21:25:19 GMT 12
Just a quick update on my progress. Fitting etch is a fiddly process so it is going a bit slow with superglue fingers and all. Not too much text, just some pics to keep some interest up... Some of the 'assorted' straps and strengtheners. Bof had a 950 hopper in her so there were some individual panels and strengtheners unique to her that were best represented in this medium Underneath, still working here. Now have the correct panels attached as well as some I had missed earlier. The wing strap (where the dihedral is) looks much better here than before (where it was plastic strip that was not very straight!) The cowls will look pretty awesome when done. I etched the panel with 'half of a hinge' attached, Simply cut some .04mm tube and then bend the 'comb' part around the tube. The cowls on the real BOF were not exactly streamlined, they sat a little bit proud of the aircraft so I will replicate this. The hinged detail also details the nose nicely.
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Post by mstokes on Feb 17, 2012 14:10:51 GMT 12
Lovely work, the models look very authentic. Really impressive paint job as well.
Cheers Mike
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Post by mstokes on Feb 13, 2012 18:24:15 GMT 12
It has been a while since I updated this thread... as in the quest for ever more detail I have decided to try and do some basic 'photo etch' for my model ;D. This meant learning how to use my CAD program , learning the techniques for etching from those in the electronics hobby and learning how to etch . A few failures along the way, many months going over and over drawings but I finally have the final product. Most of the products I used were actually quite affordable and easy to access. Everything except the etching tank I sourced from Jaycar. The technique I used is explained quite well at this website www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/fh_pe.htm . Rather than using the UV exposure method to create the 'protective screen' for the brass etching, I used Mylar paper to do the toner transfer method. Following the details in that site exactly, I was able to get quite nice results on my third attempt. This picture shows a copy of the design and then the print onto the Mylar transfer paper. This design is printed as a mirror image so that when it is pressed onto the brass it be be correct. Then having cleaned some brass sheets very heavily and lightly scoring the surface, the transfer paper is taped onto the brass before it is passed through a laminator The laminator provides heat and pressure on a very even level. The toner is 'melted' from the transfer onto the face of the brass. I let this go through the laminator quite a few times. While watching the black caps having a bash around, I would just keep feeding it back through at the end of each over. I didn't get any photos of the etching process, however my tank is a very skinny acrylic fish tank with an agitator and a glass heater. I got mine from wiltronics for $100. I used Ammonium Persulfate from jaycar as the etchant which was set at 55 degrees to allow the etchant to eat the uncovered brass away most efficiently. Although not as volatile as Ferric Chloride, it pays to wear rubber gloves, goggles and a mask while etching. In this photo, the sheet on the right has been etched and cleaned with Acetone. The one on the left is as it comes out. The back of the sheet I paint with red acrylic and cover with scotch tape, as recommended by the starship article. The back must be covered to stop the back of the brass from being eaten away! The final cleaned etchings are next. Not all the parts came out. The fuel tank straps are too fragile and I will need to do these again. Some of the other parts have also had some undercutting or did not form properly. I have made lots of duplicate parts as well to cover this. Well, hopefully now back to modelling and getting some of these things onto poor old BOF so I can give some progress shots.
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Post by mstokes on Jan 6, 2012 14:15:36 GMT 12
The F-14 was strictly a 'pilot only' flight control system. Unlike Top Gun where Maverick is seen both flying and cursing whilst he also targets the weapon (leaving poor Goose to sound like a whingy passenger consistently yelling that they have bogeys on their tail etc...), the RIO would be in charge of the targeting and firing of the weapon. The Tomcat was considered a bit of a loathsome close in dogfighter, so chances are that rather than Maverick getting 'too close for missiles and switching to guns', Goose would have probably dispatched a missile (probably several as there were never any successful phoenix kills in US service)beyond visual range and taken out the bogey long before he saw it. The pilot is I suppose more of an aircraft operator (bus driver) while the guy in the back is overloaded with radar data trying to dicipher which threats should be taken out etc...
Protect the carrier is the main priority.
The radar system on the F-14 is powerful enough that the Iranian use it as an AWACs platform, pretty handy in that it can defend itself at the same time.
Still, Top Gun remains a guilty pleasure... even if Maverick does make it 160 miles out to the final dogfight in a little under two minutes!
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Post by mstokes on Jan 5, 2012 22:05:03 GMT 12
It looks like a Messerschmitt Bf 110 that ran up the back of an Avro Anson... and in the process lost all of it's armament.
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Post by mstokes on Dec 9, 2011 22:51:15 GMT 12
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Post by mstokes on Jul 13, 2011 15:28:20 GMT 12
I would take your response as beign correct Curtiss. I was going off an old CAC brochure from 1957 which I took my response from. When it came to production they might have found the direct drive modification negligable to performance and profit. Anyway would be handy to know that it was geared for those rivet counting ag plane model builders out there... like me
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Post by mstokes on Jul 12, 2011 17:59:04 GMT 12
I wish this thread was locked. As a general warning, I am aware of one person who has been dismissed for commenting online about this and it is on the Sydney side of the ditch. There are many rumours circulating on many airlines in this region and we are all aware of some of the pronounced issues that some are having, but this continual argument (for what is now irrelevant as far as I am concerned) is surely only trying to stir the pot. As for the internet, well there are reasons that universities weight these references with much lower weight than others. Here is one website also making statements, but I doubt their truth and accuracy. www.elvis-is-alive.com/Please make this thread as gone as that bloody ashcloud...
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Post by mstokes on Jul 12, 2011 17:27:58 GMT 12
The Wasp engine in the Ceres were all converted direct drive motors. This was done as it gave 50% more static thrust over the Wirraway. The additional power is always welcome on a ag scene .
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Post by mstokes on Jul 2, 2011 0:32:50 GMT 12
I should make an offer, might actually finish that fletcher!
On mine I am tied up with doing some etched brass... learning the modelling curves in an effort for Fletcher perfection. Have spent the last 3 weeks on CAD designing the parts (fuel tank straps, dihedral wing straps, cowls with hinges etc).
I remember having that balsa model when I was young. They were popular around the time that the Southern Cross replica visited as well, I think you could get the die cut balsa models free from ANZ branches.
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Post by mstokes on Jul 2, 2011 0:18:43 GMT 12
Found this one on Youtube. Doesn't appear to be a talkie but I love chase choppers with gyro cams doing their work. Could watch this all day ;D
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Post by mstokes on Jun 29, 2011 20:27:59 GMT 12
Dick Smith was drawing comparisons between the volcanic ash and sand/dust storms in some of his media comments this week (referred to as 'Suspended Particle Matter'). I suppose this is a question for the Gulf based guys (as they would encounter it more often I would suspect), but is their an avoidance procedure for dust storms? I remember that the Sydney storm of 2009 closed the airport in the morning but normal operations resumed after 6 hours or so.
I also flew into Hong Kong in the tail of a dust storm in 2008 and into a dust storm in cairo in 2010.
Our work has also just initiated an Emirates/Air New Zealand only policy on booking trans-tasman travel at the moment. It's not directed at any airline for anything personal, just we have to get doctors and other medical personnel over to Christchurch and back.
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Post by mstokes on Jun 21, 2011 19:08:15 GMT 12
Looks interesting, pay tv in Aussie has both Ice Pilots Season 2 and Alaska Wing Men on at the moment. Hopefully this series will also find it's way onto the schedule. Max Lacey was the pilot featured on 'Into Africa'. I remember as a kid watching it with Max taking the Thrush down an irrigation canal 'water skiing'. Anthony Hopkins dry narration of it almost made it funny... 'water skiing inches off the ground with a machine worth a quater of a million pounds may seem risky, however it is a challenge and therefore they do it...' A chopper pilot in Aussie performing a different type of waterskiing with a helicopter in the Northern Territory is about to be prosecuted... as the event was featured on telelvsion. Probably won't get to many people fessing up with blatant honesty like Max did on any documentary anymore I think my brother has a copy of that documentary.
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Post by mstokes on Jun 2, 2011 17:41:42 GMT 12
On an Egyptair flight last year I had placed my seat back (I was sitting by myself at the rear of the plane) and promptly fallen into a nap when a fellow passenger decided to move to the back (the row behind me) and sit in the window seat behind me. His idea of telling me to put my seat up was to reach over and push my head away from the head rest and then signal for me to put my seat up while poking at me. I felt like giving him a bit of a touch up, but given I was over Saudi Arabia and on my way to Cairo I thought better of it... Besides within half an hour of landing in Cairo, I had learnt that he had almost been civil
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Post by mstokes on Jun 2, 2011 17:32:45 GMT 12
As a Shitney resident myself, I have used this service about 4 times now and am booked on it for the world cup. I have found it brilliant, but that is because it is very convenient for me. The benefit of not having to travel through Auckland is also attractive to me.
It has always been pretty full in September or around Christmas when I usually travel, so maybe it is a bit of a Spring/Summer high demand route.
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Post by mstokes on Apr 28, 2011 20:29:13 GMT 12
What is happening with LTQ now? I heard she has been replaced in Taupo by an Air Tractor.
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Post by mstokes on Apr 28, 2011 20:27:31 GMT 12
Wow, nice work.
Always productive. I don't find it easy to make boxes, panels and vents at all but you seem to churn many plumb and scale examples out overnight!
Looking forward to the next update.
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Post by mstokes on Apr 28, 2011 20:19:54 GMT 12
Thanks for the comments, they are inspiring when modellers block looks to fill out a development application in your creative headspot ;D. Anthony I haven't forgotten, I am trying to gear myself up so I can cast resin. as I believe that will be the best way to copy the masters without wasting lots of plastic sheet. I will endeavour to keep you more updated through PM's in future. A little bit more today, I took the opportunity to use a rainy day at work to complete the drilling of the wheels and to ensure the fit is square (the wheels may look like they are drilled off centre, however this is the inside of the wheel and will be covered by the brake assembly). This weekend I will have to get some paint onto the wheels and their hubs, then a bit of weathering might be in order. The callipers have holes pre-drilled into them so I can fit coloured wire into them (this is to represent the brake line) and then this will be feeded through the loop on the top of the oleo. From there it will follow the underneath of the wing to the drilled holes under the fuselage. I am also working on the fuel drain for under the tanks, I will add that at the end when the straps go on over the tank. I have also reworked the nose wheel assembly, it is now much more realistic. I will look to add an update on this also. A little bit more cleaning up is required on these pieces also Cheers Mike
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Post by mstokes on Apr 26, 2011 16:02:03 GMT 12
Working on the mainwheels and the disc brakes at the moment. The wheels have taken me a while as I have never really 'scratched' or modified wheels before. The Fletcher mainwheels are quite unique in a modelling sense so it was always going to be difficult to get anything close off the shelf, so I decided to have a go at making some wheels. I was originally going to use small R/C wheels, however they just looked a bit to skinny and tall. When measuring them they would look a bit balloonish and also affected the stance of the model. When I tried to improve the lack of hub detail, the expoxy and tire had a reaction and it just started to look bad. Looking at modelling articles, I saw a way to modify tyres. I bought a plain set of True Details resin mainwheels and skinned these with thin plastic sheeting until I got them to the right height. Then to ensure they were wide enough, I just needed to add a thin smear of milliputt and then sand to shape. Sanding and shaping curves takes a long time and tried my patience, but I got to a point where I am happy. I have also added the flat spot where the tyre bulges whilst on the ground. The 'disc brakes' are just washers with 3 fine sheets of plastic attached in the shape of the calliper. The callipers have been drilled to allow the fitting of 'bolts' later and also so the brake line (coloured wire) can be inserted into the calliper at the end. Fletchers can look quite plain, so I am trying to ensure that the dangly bits such as the undercarriage and hopper are all done to as true a scale as possible as they will be more noticeable with no missiles and drop tanks in the way .
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