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Hello folks,

Well, now that I've finally got everything I need... we're going to be starting. I'll be doing some cutting of the fuselage to bring her down to size, using the Eduard set specifically for this Kinetic bird, and hoping to make her look like the RCN Bird on the monument outside 17 Wing Winnipeg. Well... it'll be done to look like the Tracker as best as possible (like the Mitchell build I did last year).

Pictures to follow soon!

Cheers,

Mark.

Edited by Kostucha
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Morning Folks,

Well, here's a shot of the kit:

DSC06809.jpg

All in all not bad!! There are some areas that could be improved, one of which being the engines - given that they are going to be as exposed as they will be:

DSC06827.jpg

However, rather than complain till the cows come home (and really, it isn't a bad engine at all, just a bit soft), it is an 1820... all be it a later model, but I'll be using a couple of the QB 1820's for the B-17 I have left over with the right mods to make 'em work:

DSC06595.jpg

The clear pieces are superb, and where the actual windows are, they offer very little distortion:

DSC06831.jpg

I can't imagine how nice they'll look once they're dipped in Future.

And last but certainly not least, the saving grace for the cockpit, the PE sheet made by Eduard for this Kinetic kit:

DSC06818.jpg

As for the subject, please excuse the over exposed images, it was new camera day, and I botched it:

The little man and 551:

DSC06562.jpg

DSC06565.jpg

DSC06558.jpg

DSC06555.jpg

So yes, this Kinetic Tracker will be made into 551, not on the monument, but just a clean, unweathered, glossy bird the way she would have looked right before being set up on her stand.

Cheers!

Mark.

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Looking forward to it! Always loved the look of the tracker and with your skills this will be beyond amazing.

On a very interesting and relevant side note, I was informed that the CWHM has got an anonymous donor and they plan to get the Tracker back in the air, late next, or early the year after!!

Sean

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Sean,

Thank you very much! If thats the case, AES Ops are going to be coming out of the woodwork to get a flight on 'er! Hahahaha... no, seriously!

As a quick note, I'm using the great info provided from Mike Belchers 'Belcher Bits Blog' to help me in this one, along with a whole bag full of ref pics from 551. Here's the link to the blog:

http://belcherbitsblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/kinetic-tracker-fuselage-modifications.html#comment-form

Thanks again,

Cheers,

Mark.

Edited by Kostucha
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Thanks Neo,

-The Fort is an ongoing struggle build

-1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Vb is waiting for the dry transfer stencils from HobbyDecal, then weathering and it's complete

-2 Sea Kings on the go, almost done (for a couple guys I work with).

This Tracker is going to be more of a fun build. Just about time to start choppin the fuselage!

Cheers!

Mark.

Edited by Kostucha
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Well folks,

Spent the day with a new model builder. Daughter of a good friend, and we both had a blast today around 1551 snapping (please no laughing) over 300 pictures for reference. After a DD for me, and a smoothie for her, it was back to the humble work bench... First cuts were made using the reference from the link above, removing about 0.3" from the front, and 0.27" from the back end, with the step... not easy, I'm not going to deny that. But, the first half of the fuselage is done.

(I just want to hit on something, in that although the 0.29" removed from the front certanily is to make it an RCN Tracker which was shorter in the front end, the 0.29" from the rear was a correction combining both the 4" extention (1:1) and the note that was made in the link, that the fuselage was made slightly too long in 1/48. So it really was hitting two birds with one stone on the back end. Reason for placing the two cuts in the back where I did was to allow for as little modification to the shape of the rear fuselage as possible. Hope that makes sense.)

DSC07026.jpg

DSC07017.jpg

My God, what an ugly fuselage...

From here, it's going to be cutting the second half of the fuselage tomorrow to match up it's cuts, and then carry on with joining the halves together. I'm going to do my best to make a nice flush transition between the sections, which wont be too hard, but once the joint is strong enough from inside, I'll be working on the exterior later on, once the interior is complete and the fuselage is ready to move onto the next step.

Thanks for lookin,

Mark.

Edited by Kostucha
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HAAA-HAAA-Ha-hahahahaha...ha... ha... ...dang.

Here I thought this was going to be as simple as a chop here and there on the fuselage and *poof* (or rather *stoof*), I've got a CS2F 1 or 2... ya, right.

Scrap 551 from Winnipeg, I'll use it as a guide. Me thinks I'm going to go with 'Lucky Number 7' (1507) pictured on the deck of the Bonnie, without the bulged side windows in the front end... all else can be done no problem.

Vintage Wings has a great shot of here found here:

http://www.vintagewings.ca/Portals/0/Vintage_Stories/ArchivedStories/MaggieMoments38.jpg

And here's another:

http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/EwingBill/7615L.jpg

Anywho, pictures just a few hours away of some of the work done last night.

Cheers,

Mark.

Edited by Kostucha
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Good afternoon folks,

So, work on the CS2F-1 last night ended up working on 2 areas - the fuselage and cockpit. The cut was made to both halves to seperate the cockpit from the fuselage, in order to make sure it was together, solid, and squared up. After brushpainting (for the sake of fun), a darker gray than would have been applied on the actual aircraft (to match up with the colour PE set from Eduard), and the seats were done up, belts mounted, the whole thing was glued together:

DSC07035.jpg

There are a couple of small things, like the bulkhead door way being square and not rounded like the real deal. Am I going to overlook this? Most certainly. The big effort is going to be focused on the exterior. So, small things such as the nose need to be changed back to an earlier CS2F-1 rather than the later S-2F/E/G,E-I-E-I-O models:

DSC07038.jpg

DSC07039.jpg

(the small hole needs to be moved from the Starboard side).

Work went into the wheel well too - but as I want to make this one look brand spankin' new, I wasn't too happy with the wheel well. I'm going to clean it out and go just for shadow next time:

DSC07036.jpg

Work then went to the fuselage. Two halves glued and dried, and sanded smooth to give it a fluid transition from mid to aft piece:

DSC07040.jpg

DSC07041.jpg

DSC07045.jpg

DSC07046.jpg

Next up will be the Starboard half, and then the guts, followed by the rejoining of the cockpit to the fuselage, and that there should do for the mod from the later STOOF to the earlier CS2F-1 Tracker (minus a few minor details).

Thanks for looking!

Mark.

Edited by Kostucha
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Morning folks,

Work continued onto the starboard side of the chopped fuselage, starting with the tail. It was cut down, cleaned up along the cut, and mounted to the port side:

DSC07056.jpg

The RADAR dome, which ideally mounts between the fuselage half pieces in either the extended or retracted position on a couple of molded in arms needs to be modified. Due to narrowing of the fuselage tough, the opening still works but is a bit smaller due to the new fuselage shape. It's not much, the RADAR dome still fits, but, I ended up cutting the mounting points back to the point where later on in construction I can drop it through the opening and glue it in place, rather than paint it, and put it in right now:

DSC07057.jpg

So, with that beind done, the remainder of the fuselage parts was glued into place, and the whole area sanded smooth:

DSC07058.jpg

DSC07059.jpg

Next step was to crop back the bomb/weapons bay, as you can see here, it is much to long, but if you plan on keeping your bomb/weapons bay closed like I am, it's not a big deal, its just a matter of cutting it from the front, and gluing it in:

DSC07071.jpg

From there, the interior was painted flat black, and the two side windows glued into place. The front end was also glued on, using the bulges at the top end and it's subsequent joint with the flatter portion of the fuselage lower down as a guide. There's going to be a pretty fair amount of sanding down being done, but the clear canopy piece is going to be glued in first:

DSC07085.jpg

DSC07086.jpg

DSC07087.jpg

She really is an ugly looking fuselage...

And, the clear canopy piece. The entire framework wasn't painted, but just what would be most noticeable from the oustide. The upper control parts from Eduards PE set were glued to the kit piece and placed inside. From here, it's just a few levers and handles to be put in, and the canopy glued to the fuselage:

DSC07083.jpg

Anywho, thanks for looking!

Cheers,

Mark.

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Thanks Guys!

Still a lot of smaller details to take care of once the sanding/shaping around the cockpit/fuselage joint is done. For one, I thought the small little "hole" in the nose was the only thing to worry about... NOPE! That small hole I refer to is the Heater Combustion Air Inlet. It needs to be moved from where it is, to just starboard of the Taxi Light. The Cabin Air Inlet needs to be filled in and redone just below the center of the nose. Not sure about the Heater Compartment Vent just below and port of the taxi light. Trying to get some more pics of 1507.

Once that's done, than it's filling in the gaps around the nose wheel well, same for the tail hook, and then rescribing the panel lines. Sounds like a lot, but it really isn't too much. Thankfully they're all straight lines, no curves to worry about. Once that's all said and done, then it'll be the wings... YAY!!!

In all honesty, even with the hack & slash, it's going fairly quickly. What's concerning me, is the aft of both of the engine nacelles... I can already see that being a whole lot of... fun.

As for the efforts to make it a CS2F-1, going further than just the fuselage... well, as mentioned, she'll be done nice and clean. Oddly enough, it's a hard thing for me to do... I almost had to hide the silver paint and old brushes from the urge to add paint chips and dry brush something... the hope is that once done, this one will join the models in the display case. I am a bit tempted to fold the wings though... not sure yet. We'll see how the rest of the build goes. If those nacelles don't take too much, than I just might.

Anyway, ya, thanks again Guys!

Cheers,

Mark.

Edited by Kostucha
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Looks real good. I have been waiting for someone to do a WIP build, a lot of people were so excited by the announcement of this kit, I figured there would be many WIP builds. I guess I was wrong. Glad to see you are doing one.

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Looking good. Thanks for helpfully spelling RADAR all in caps too, I think your message went through loud and clear. I suggest you stuff as much weight as possible into the small opening that remains between the cockpit floor and the front landing gear well. This kit needs all the nose weight it can get.

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Hahahahaha... RADAR - it's an acronym... shouldn't it be all capitals? Wouldn't want it to be confused with the clerk from MASH.

Weight was stuffed under the cockpit floor as much as possible, (but as you point out, it wont be near enough), the door on the starboard side will be left open until just prior to painting the exterior. Plan is to stuff the required weight behind the cockpit bulkhead and engine nacelles forward of the MLG with weight as well (so as to relieve all the extra weight from being on the nose wheel alone). Just like with the 1/48 Mitchell, I'll find a way.

Thanks for the tip though!

Cheers,

Mark.

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Thanks Guys!

Still a lot of smaller details to take care of once the sanding/shaping around the cockpit/fuselage joint is done. For one, I thought the small little "hole" in the nose was the only thing to worry about... NOPE! That small hole I refer to is the Heater Combustion Air Inlet. It needs to be moved from where it is, to just starboard of the Taxi Light. The Cabin Air Inlet needs to be filled in and redone just below the center of the nose. Not sure about the Heater Compartment Vent just below and port of the taxi light. Trying to get some more pics of 1507.

Cheers,

Mark.

Picture = 1,000 words. Sorry that I can't help with the heater compartment vent. I don't know why it isn't always present.

S-2NoseIllustration.jpg

More stuff at My blog; Type S2F in the search box at the top left of the page for other entries.

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Afternoon folks.

Face Palm Moment No. 1 - (And I appreciate those who knew about this, not making me look like a fool) - So, in my quest for making the Kinetic kit into a CS2F-1, there was the issue with the nose... WELL... as I parooozed through the part trees this morning looking for one thing, I found something else... the nose cap for an early Stoof is in there... the same one that T shows in the diagram a couple posts above...

Needless to say, the old one must have had an explosive charge under it cause it came flying off. Spots cleaned up and the new (earlier style) nose cap is on and drying right now. Go figure! Needless to say I searched through the rest of the trees to see if anything will make my life easier in this one. Nothing.

None the less, a good update will be coming by the end of the weekend.

Thanks for lookin!

Mark.

Edit: Here's a some pictures of 1551's nose as a reference:

DSC06885.jpg

DSC06884.jpg

DSC06883.jpg

DSC06882.jpg

Edited by Kostucha
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So,the fuselage is nicely sanded down. All that is left is to clean up the area around the canopy mount, and wait until the future is dry. Once it is, than the hood will be painted flat black, and the canopy mounted in and super glued into place. Once dry, the top of it will be sanded smooth to match the fuselage. Here's the body, all as one piece:

DSC07089.jpg

And the new nose:

DSC07093.jpg

While it's getting ready, I started on the starboard inner wing. I must say, the whole thing came together VERY nicely! Here's a shot of the side profile with the nacelle together:

DSC07095.jpg

The reference pictures I'm using are ones I took from 1551, as you can see, there is no rise of the aft nacelle around the trailing edge of the wing, and it's a fairly aggressive cut line that will have to be done (in comparison of the later aft nacelles of the Trackers):

(By all means, feel free to use these for your own reference)

DSC06997.jpg

DSC06995.jpg

DSC06996.jpg

DSC06977.jpg

DSC06918.jpg

This, in combination with the great schematics that T (Tailspin Turtle) so graciously provided to me, this is what I've got (roughly drawn):

DSC07096.jpg

The area forward of the trailing edge will be flattened (the hashed line area), smooth with the top of the wing, and everything aft and above the thick black line will be removed.

So, guess I know what I'm doing this week, eh?

Cheers,

Mark.

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With some sawing, cleaning, and a 1mm thick piece of evergreen, work wasn't too difficult at all! A whole heck of a lot easier than the fuselage, that's for sure:

DSC07100.jpg

DSC07097.jpg

DSC07098.jpg

DSC07099.jpg

One down... one to go!

Cheers,

Mark.

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Wow looking great so far.

I don't see many WIPs for Canuck Trackers let alone any Trackers, so I am following with interest.

Great job on the cockpit and your chop job on the fuselage is very well done. I could never get it back together as well as you have.

The same goes for the engines. I would have just left it alone but you did a great job correcting the aft section of the engine nacelles.

I'm just curious, I am no experct on the Tracker but what was so different between 551 and 507 that you had to change A/C?

Can't wait to see more.

-Denis

Edited by EX_Birdgunner
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Thank you very much! Greatly appreciate the compliments.

The Trackers for the RCN started with S/N 1500, a purchased a/c from the US (ex USN S/N 136519, S-2A) for testing and evaluation. All subsequent Trackers were built in Canada under licence, and the work was done by De Havilland Canada, starting with S/N 1501 being the first Canadian build CS2F-1 Tracker. 507 (1507) was the first batch of these CS2F-1's, which is what I wanted to make (due to no blown side windows on the canopy later on, so, no need to do anything with the kit canopy).

The CS2F-1's continued until S/N 1543, with 1544 being the first production of CS2F-2's (later to be modified to the -3's as well). So, I wanted something below 1543. As for 1507... having a big single digit "7" on the nose looked pretty unique.

Hope this answers any questions, and again, thanks for looking,

Mark.

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