regevmo Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Hi, one of the things that make a good modeler is the ability to criticize his own work and fix things and you made that during this build several times. The work on the new wing seems like a lot of work but the result is superb Waiting for new updates. Regev. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skyking Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 HI-ya Guy and Rev, thanks for the comments. Guy your Mudhen's burner cans look like the real thing. How you and Pete pull them off is amazing. I guess it's one of the reasons I shy away from jets, as I don't think I could replicate that part of the airplane. I'm afraid they would look like painted plastic, not weathered and high temp metal. Rev your Viper is fun to watch also. I think after this, and one other project I have in mind, I'll be switching to larger scales. The old eye sight demands it.. :lol: The last couple of days I've got some color on it, and the fuselage decaled. The tail feathers and half of the fin are Lemon Yellow for the 6th Section of the Flight. Being the lead ship, it will have a full Lemon Yellow Cowl, or in this case, the face plate on the engine. It will also have a Lemon Yellow Chevron on the Chrome Yellow upper wing,pinstriped in black for contrast. I have to do some more research on VTS-9 to see if they had a squadron Emblem. Neither my Monogram book or my Squadron Signal give any indication. I'm not even sure where VTS-9 was based. I've seen a photo of another VTS-9 ship with wheels instead of floats, so it makes it even more of a mystery. This will be modeled for the period of about 1931 or 32. The US Navy on the aft fuselage is the later 45 degree block lettering. It's a bit hypothetical, as the photo I am working from shows the pre-1930 lettering, but seeing as those decals are not available, and I'm not good enough of an artist to create them, I'll use the later style and leave it at that. The good thing about prewar US Navy is that even though there were standards, you really can't assume they were followed or enforced. I have a lot of pictures of aircraft in the same unit with a mishmash of styles to the lettering and insignia even. The aircraft were re-lettered and updated only at maintenance intervals, so it there could be quite an overlap in the time frames. The white on the rudder will be covered by a decal for the red / white / blue stripes. I will be forced to use decals as the lettering "Martin T4M-1" is lettered across all three fields, with the lettering in the red and blue fields being white, and the lettering in the white being black. I hope my decal making skills are up to the task. I had to pull the masking off the center cockpit after I heard a disconcerting rattle in the fuselage when I was working on it. I was prepared for the worst, but fortunately it was just the control column popped loose from the cross shaft, an easy fix. I think I will be very relieved when this bird is done. It seems to be fighting me every inch of the way.. :lol:. Thanks for looking, and as always positive and constructive critique are welcome. Cheers Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marcin_S Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Excellent work Skyking !!! :lol: :lol: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ron Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 You are a master! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Straka Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Great job!!! :) I really appreciate your type of work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geedubelyer Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 That's the ticket Mike That colour combination really "zings" I'm so glad that you've persevered with this build because you seem to be making terrific headway now. The floats look lovely beneath the fuselage. The proportions are very pleasing with them in place. I've been thinking,.......in the spirit of friendship I'd like to offer to help you out if necessary. When this build is complete I'll look after it for you in case the porthole issue bugs you too much! Just package it up and send it straight to me. You know the old saying....."out of sight, out of mind" :D ;) :D :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skyking Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 Marcin, Ron, Pete and Guy thank you for the comments. I appreciate the feedback. I've been thinking,.......in the spirit of friendship I'd like to offer to help you out if necessary. When this build is complete I'll look after it for you in case the porthole issue bugs you too much! Just package it up and send it straight to me. You know the old saying....."out of sight, out of mind" Wow whatta pal Guy... If it gets tot hat point you will be the first to know... however I wouldn't hold your breath. I don't think blue is your color. Well sonoffagun it looks like an airplane... sorta, if you can ignore the scaffolding around it. I transfered the airframe over to the first jig for wing alignment and to get the struts cut to length. While it was trussed up in the jig I installed the tail feathers, struts and rigging wires. I am going to deviate from my normal mono filament/elastic thread for this one and use .010 stainless steel wire for the rigging. It's not flat in cross section as it should be, but the smallest flat stainless wire I could find online was .025, almost an inch and a half scales up. I needed something in the .010 range. In this scale the roundness of the wire really isn't noticeable, and the stainless has a nice scale like reflectance to it that I couldn't duplicate with paint. All the wings are ready for paint. Tomorrow night I'll paint them, set them aside to dry and maybe... just maybe, this next weekend coming I can set it in the other jig for the float and float strut installation. Here's an overhead view with a 12 inch / 600mm scale for a size reference. As I said in the very first post in this thread, this turkey was big for a single engine airplane. It was affectionately refereed to as The Truck for it's size. Rear 3/4 view. What's everyone's opinion of the gloss? Should I tone it down a bit after assembly, or leave it alone? I'm afraid it might look "toy like" if it's too shiny, even though Naval aircraft of this era were well maintained and very clean and shine. Any input is appreciated. Shot of the rear tail-plane struts and rigging wires. I've also added the control horns for the rudder and elevator push rods. I have yet to do the red white blue stripes for the rudder. Another tail shot, showing the wires to good effect. I think the stainless is definitely the way to go. As always, thanks for looking. Cheers Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gambler Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Looking good Mike, She is really taking shape now. Cheers, Jeff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skyking Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 (edited) Thanks Jeff, appreciate the comments. I am headed down into the cave now to give my home made decals a shot for the rudder stripes. I'll post my success later for everyone to oohhahhh at, or failure to laugh and point at..lol Cheers Mike Edited February 12, 2008 by Skyking Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skyking Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 What a difference some color makes. I'll never claim to be a decal expert, but I'm happy with the results. I scanned some actual color samples I sprayed with Insignia Red, White and Blue onto the white primer I sprayed the Rudder with. That gave me the RGB values for my artwork. I used Word to make my artwork, and found the correct 45 degree fonts at a free download site. I then printed them out onto white coated decal paper to get the white lettering in the red and blue fields, overcoated them with clear lacquer and applied them. They look pretty good. Because I scanned my actual paint samples I was able to touch up some nits where the decal tore on me on some of the sharp corners and it blended pretty well. Once overcoated I think they will all but dissapear. Cheers Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Timmy! Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Mike, Looking good. I'm sure it's a great feeling to get the big pieces together so she starts to look like the airplane you had in your mind for so long. BTW the gloss looks good from the photos you posted. I have read and heard opinons that gloss can enhance scale effect. Basically the smaller the model the less gloss it should have. You'll have to decide, I say if it looks right to you, it's right. Timmy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PapaSmurf630 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 According to my course teacher, things that are glossy at a 1:1 scale should be more of a satin at about 1:100 scale...personally I think yours looks just about right. There's not a huge amount of light being reflected off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Looking good there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skyking Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 (edited) Thanks for the comments everyone. They are appreciated. With the Forums being down for almost a week I actually had time to get some modeling done. I've got the top wing painted (Got Sunglasses?) and all struts are cut and fitted. The lower wing is secured in place, along with the lower cabane struts and rigging wires. I am using .010 stainless wire for my rigging on this one, rather than mono or elastic thread. The two front windscreens are done, I just have to make one more for the rear, and the porthole windows are in place. I've moved it from the wing fixture to the float fixture to begin cutting float struts. I have to make some minor changes to the float jig first though. Up until now I did not have a good reference for the float spacing, as all my photos are of either a 3/4 view or side view, and there are no drawings that I was able to locate. Rich Dann was kind enough to send me a direct head on shot that clearly shows the spacing, and I've found that my "ejimicated guess" is about 2 scale feet to narrow. No biggie. I'll just cut new dados for the floats and get them to the correct spacing. Once I get the float struts cut, I'll begin final assembly and get all the other little fiddly bits added. The top wing is temporarily held in place by rubber bands (and a prayer) so I can get everything lined up. I'll make new cradels for the wing tips to hold everything in place while I fit the float struts. I have the 3 view pinned down so I can use my small square and triangles to line everything up and keep everything square. Side view shows why I am happy with the progress so far. All my struts line up and are square, no leaning or un-parralel struts. This is where laying out the holes with a rule and square before hand pays big dividends. 3/4 rear view. Happily the cockpit and rear observers post are still quite visible, through the front cockpit, rear cockpit, and portholes. I Futured the portholes and they are very clear, so all the detail I stuffed in there isn't lost from sight. With any luck I might have this one finished in a week or two, just in time for a show coming up in Buffalo. As always comments and critique welcome. Thanks for looking. Cheers Mike Edited February 18, 2008 by Skyking Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jeff briner Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 All I can say is YELLOW WINGS ROCK!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 All I can say is YELLOW WINGS ROCK!!!! They certainly do, Sir! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I am glad I went deep into the listings here, Mr. King, and saw this! It is come together beautifully, and I am very glad to see you definitely on the down-hill side of this splendid project! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Wow! Didn't realize how cute this plane looks until I saw this pic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mbittner Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Awesome, Mike. Simply stunning. Maybe next time move to a USAAC machine? ;-) Still yellow wings, you know... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skyking Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 (edited) Thanks for the comments guys. I have no pictures, but the float jigs are redone to the correct spacing and I am commencing to do the float struts next. I'll post some shots later on when they are in place. Maybe next time move to a USAAC machine? ;-) Still yellow wings, you know... Thanks for the comments and stay tuned Matt. I just "happen" to have a set of drawings for a Keystone Bomber. Cheers Mike Edited February 22, 2008 by Skyking Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pete "Pig" Fleischmann Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Looking gor-gee-ose Mike! The finish is beautiful..simply beautiful. How big is this lady? I get the feeling that it's a pretty good sized model.. I'm at a loss for words, as usual. Fantastic work as always Mike! Regards, Pig Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skyking Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 Hey Pete. How big is this lady? I get the feeling that it's a pretty good sized model.. Wingspan is a smidge short of 13 inches Pete. It'll stand about 5 inches from the base to the top wing, once it's mounted on the beaching dolly. I am thinking of standing a figure next to it for a size reference. Yes it was quite a large airplane at the time. I haven't had much of a chance to work on it the last couple of weeks. Our car was picked as the weapon of choice for a suicidal deer a couple of weeks ago, so between car shopping, work and the crappy winter weather that seems to refuse to go away, my modeling time has been short. I have managed to geth a few things done though. Three hours, a couple of lengths of Contrail Strut material, copper wire and a beer, I have half the required amount of float struts cut. :blink: Egad these things are a pain. I have barely enough room to work underneath as it's rubber banded to the cradel. I don't want it to move as I fit the struts, so I have to cut them to a roughly right length, then trim and sand a hair at a time until they fit. I hope to have them done this weekend so I can paint the floats and get them mounted to the airplane. After that it's mount the top wing, make the base, and a few other fiddley bits. I'll be cutting it close for BUFCON but I think I can pull it off. I cut my beaching dolly from some left over cherry I had. First the V-Groove was cut using my table saw set to a 15 degree angle. Two passes, one in each direction and flipped left a nice groove. Then I ripped them to width, set up a fence on my band saw and cut the lower angle, then cut them to 1/8" widths. The main beam is one piece of cherry. I glued and pin nailed these together to make one for each float. There will be spreader bars going between them once the floats are set into place. The dolly wheels are some 48th scale Russian Creepy-Crawlie thingy road wheels that I mooched off of a club member, and the mounts are .040 plastic cut to shape. I'll paint them seperate, then shellac the cradels. It should be painted gray, but I want it to look nice, rather than part of the model. Thanks for looking Cheers Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Menden Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Mike Outstanding work cant wait to see the finished result Menden Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skyking Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 Thanks for the comments Mendon. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I post too much and too often about this thing... just build it and then put up pictures, but so far all of it has been positive feedback. This particular era of aircraft is one that doesn't have a huge following like WW2, Luftwaffe or modern jets, so I hope I'm not boring anyone. If I am just let me know. I'm a big boy and it won't get under my skin. The float struts are finished... thank heavens. As we are getting another sassafrassin rassin ritcin 12 inches of snow, wifey told me this morning "It's good modeling weather. You should be able to get a lot of work done on your model today". Gotta love an understanding wife.. :blink: These things were a pain. Not so much making them, but just getting my fat fingers underneath the fuselage and wings to measure and trim them to length. Looking back in retrospect I should have left the outter wing panels, and tail feathers off. They got in my way so many times I lost count. Now it's time to tear it all out of the cradle and paint the floats and struts. These were the last tedious part of fabrication and assembly to do. Everything else from here on is just fiddling around adding details, and putting it together. A tail on view. I'm very pleased with how they turned out. They all look nice and straight and even. I notice my fin/rudder has a slight "lean" to the right. I'll have to fix that, but the struts for the floats look really good. Yeehaw. Here's a look from the front. It's hard to believe such a large airplane, with all these drag producing struts and huge floats slung underneath, could fly on 600 HP and a single engine, but the airplane flew very well according to some pilot reports I read. Although there was only a 15 MPH difference between cruise speed and maximum speed of 115 MPH, it landed at a very docile 50 mph. It had a huge amount of wing area, and was relatively light at just 6700 pounds fully loaded. I still admire the pilots that flew the aircraft of this era. Open cockpits, no heaters, no creature comforts of any kind, and they took off and landed aboard a carrier. Pretty courageous stuff even without someone shooting at you. Cheers Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marine4 ever Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 how'd i miss this thread!!! this isn't modeling!!! this is art!!!! stellar work! Semper Fi Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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