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Thanks Denis,

Tonight I hope to get the other nacell done. It's not to say this one's complete yet - it's as close to flush as possilble, but once I get the dihedral of the wings finished, than it'll be the last bit of touch ups on those nacells. But, yes, the hope is to get the other one done, and the cropped (or shorter) earlier wing tips/outer wing halves.

After that, it's going to be the horizontal and vertical surfaces on the tail - shaping the stabs and elevator/rudder to the earlier shape - and once all that is said and done, it's a fun time of rescribing the panel lines, adding any final details like lights, etc... and assembling the whole thing.

Cheers!

Mark.

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Thanks Wayne!

So, life got a little bit difficult, and also a little easier at the same time in researching the paint scheme & markings for 1507 in the time period of about 1957 when she would have just had "7" on the nose (vice "O7" or "507").

The easy stuff - looking at these pictures, both from the Bonnie, found what's under the wings... just "NAVY" and there was no "HMCS BONAVENTURE" on the outer side of the engine nacelles during this time period either. So there is no need for doing the individual decal letters for the Bonnie...

First picture shows the Banjo trials on the Bonnie September 1957, with a Tracker (wings folded) showing now number on the port wing:

http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/v2/equip/resrc/images/hst/l-g/bansheea66.jpg

The second link to a picture show's 1512 with just the "12" with no number under the port wing either, nor does she carry the "HMCS BONAVENTURE" on the nacelle, but does show the nice two-tone alumium on the prop blades:

http://home.wxs.nl/~roden171/fotos/caf23.jpg

So, the PITA... I can't find the right style of red rescue arrows with white letters available (all these problems would be solved with the CanMilAir CS2F/CP-141 Tracker Decal Sheet, which breaks my heart, as the quality of those decals (if like any other I've ordered from him) would have been superb. Sure hope he's going to be alright). None the less, the plan is to make the red stencils, paint the arrows on with the good ole trusty airbrush, and then once dried, use some leftover white stencil lettering and write in the word Rescue.

Anywho, nacelles tonight, and wing tips! Yay!

Cheers,

Mark.

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Thanks!

Oh, we most certainly did. In a nutshell, right after WWII we had the 3rd largest Navy in the world, complete with flat tops and all. Slowly it started to become smaller and smaller. After the Maggie (HMCS Magnificent), we had the Bonnie (HMCS Bonaventure). Final nail in the coffin for our flat tops was the amalgamation of our forces, budget cuts, excuses, etc... etc... etc...

Cheers!

Mark.

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Not much to show tonight, aside from wing tips.

The second engine nacelle is drying right now - Superglue for filler. In all honesty, taking aside the changes to make a CS2F-1 (S-2A), which really aren't a slam on this kit at all, I have to say, this is one VERY enjoyable kit to work with. If an S-2A comes out from Kinetic, I'll be buying 2 more of those (CS2F-2 and a late -3), if not, I'll likely just get 2 more of these and back-date them again. A truly fun kit, very well made.

Okay, yes, the wing tips... new one on the left, old one on the right top side view:

DSC07103.jpg

Bottom side:

DSC07104.jpg

What the side of the starboard one looks like:

DSC07111.jpg

And both done, one top side, one bottom side:

DSC07115.jpg

Once the other nacelle is done, than it's the vertical & horizontal stabs, elevators/rudder. As I really don't enjoy scribing, once all the major parts are done, than I'll go and scribe/rescribe all the lines and rivets in one night and get on with it. After that's done, than some minor details added to make 'er an RCN CS2F-1, and than assembly of everything. The QB engines after that, clean up, canopy on, and off to the paint booth... hmmmm... doesn't seem like much...

Thanks for looking!

Mark.

Edit: Here's some pictures of 1551's Port Wingtip for reference:

DSC06843.jpg

DSC07012.jpg

You can see the small circular opening inside the landing light, and the very prominent light bulb housing as well

DSC06844.jpg

Note that the landing light goes as far back into the wing as the forward edge of the second (aft) deicer boot, as well as some of the circular panels mounted on top of the skin. The larger oval shaped 'patch' is the mounting point for the AN/UPD-501 mentioned in post No. 37.

Edited by Kostucha
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Thanks!

Oh, we most certainly did. In a nutshell, right after WWII we had the 3rd largest Navy in the world, complete with flat tops and all. Slowly it started to become smaller and smaller. After the Maggie (HMCS Magnificent), we had the Bonnie (HMCS Bonaventure). Final nail in the coffin for our flat tops was the amalgamation of our forces, budget cuts, excuses, etc... etc... etc...

Cheers!

Mark.

Don't forget about our first carrier, HMCS Warrior.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warrior_(R31)

-Denis

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Absolutely! The Warrior... man alive, if there was ever a flight deck that took a beating from mishaps with Seafires and Fireflies, she was it!

Thanks for all the comments! Greatly appreciate them. As for the wings Neo, "7" will have them fully extended. Down the road the -2 and -3 will have them folded (picture fully extended CS2F-1, being flanked from behind by a -2 and -3 with folded wings.

This kit is too much fun not to get another. But I'm hoping by the time the Sea Kings and my B-17 build are complete, that there's going to be more (good) news about an earlier Tracker and make life a whole lot more easier.

Cheers!

Mark.

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Found something very interesting... looking through the picture's of "7" I found something I wasn't expecting to find - well, at least not that early on.

Take a look at the picture from the Vintage Airwings site, looking at the wing tip:

MaggieMoments38.jpg

1507 has the AN/UPD-501 Antenna, while 1506 (right behind) and the last tracker with folded wings do not.

More specifically:

1507_2.jpg

Circled in red here on 1507, you see the two AN/UPD-501 Antenna, paint line splits midway, matching the rest of the aircraft.

So, some may ask, what the heck is that Campbells Soup Can looking thing on each wing doing? What's it for? Well, my initial thoughts the first time I seen them was the cigarette butt cans for the AES Ops... but what we've got hangin' on the wing tips are AN/UPD-501 Antenna (used as a Radar D/F Receiver - the only ECM (Electronic Counter Measures) ever carried by the Canadian Trackers):

upd501_multi_ant.jpg

This sketch, from the RCN, shows some great detail, but compared to the images above,

it is a bit too narrow, or long.

So a bit more detail to add to the wings, but aside from adding the pipes for the mounting brackets, the AN/UPD-501 'soup cans' will stay off until after the painting is done.

Pictures worth a thousand words, right?

Thanks for looking,

Mark.

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Well, work continued with the plastic surgery. The first thing done here was the rudder. There wasn't much to do here as the vertical stab and rudder did not change from one version to another. However, the joint between port & starboard halves leaves a seam line that runs the height of the trailing edge of the rudder on the port side:

DSC07122.jpg

That was filled in appropriately to match the other side.

From there, it was the horizontal stabs and elevators. They needed to be trimmed quite a bit, going from 27'2 span (or 6.8" in 1/48) to 22'6 (5.6" in 1/48). As well, the elevator horns needed to be made. Here is the original port side:

DSC07127.jpg

From there, the outter 0.6" was cropped:

DSC07129.jpg

And the end was rounded and horn cut off the stab and placed onto the elevator:

DSC07133.jpg

DSC07131.jpg

A side by side comparison of the modified horizontal stab and elevator with the later (kit) pieces shows just how much of a change there is:

DSC07134.jpg

And both sides are complete here, with the long stabilization/anti-vibration counter weight placed back on the port side (1 mm inboard of the cut line with the horn):

DSC07139.jpg

And with that, all the major work for the components is complete!!

DSC07140.jpg

From here it'll be rescribing everything, and once that is complete, all the finer details put onto the various pieces where needed. There is one last thing to be done, and that is on the port wing, leading edge, about mid way, were the three different coloured approach lights. Those still need to be made and put in, but I'll wait until the rescribing is done.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,

Mark.

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Before I went into the rescribing, I decided to add a few parts to the nacelles, and at the same time, focus on getting the engines switched around.

The kit has a fairly simple and logical setup for the engines. The engines themselves are mounted on a cylinder, and the cowl itself slips overtop of the whole assembly. It's great, but as mentioned, the kit engines lacked in a bit of detail. Though there aren't any specific engines made (yet) for the Tracker, the Quick Boost set for the 1/48 B-17 works fine (or the Vector late 1820 radials would also, but I'm saving the ones I have for the actual B-17G I'm making). Aires also makes a great 1820 radial engine, but if you're looking for cost effective, the QB set is the way to go. Afterall, minus very few mods, they are ideally the same engines.

DSC07141.jpg

The kit Wright 1820 Cyclone on the on the left, and the Quick Boost Wright 1820 Cyclone on the right.

I strongly recommend doing one at a time, sizing the new one first with the original to get the proper depth in. I simply sawed off the old engine flush with the cylinder it's mounted on, and then mounted the QB engine on it:

DSC07142.jpg

Diameter wise, both engines are identical, however the cylinder heads on the QB need to be shaved down a bit to fit inside the cowl.

DSC07145.jpg

After many test fittings, you can see the small difference in the cylinder the engine is mounted onto. With the cylinder heads shaved down, and the mount shaved as well, the new setup fits perfect with the cowl overtop.

Just for comparison, the kit engine and cowl on the nacelle, and the bare bones QB engine (still needing push-rods and the ignition wiring put on):

DSC07143.jpg

DSC07144.jpg

15 minutes of work on and engine, and you've got a Wright 1820 that you'll be very happy with!

Thanks for looking,

Mark.

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Seeing as today was filled with the little man being himself, some outdoor work, etc... I didn't manage to get much done today. While he was napping though, I did get some work done on the upper control panel. I wasn't too happy with the two red D-Rings at the aft end, so using some thin solder, redid the handle portion to give it a bit more depth than the PE allows for:

DSC07150.jpg

DSC07148.jpg

DSC07147.jpg

The future is drying on the canopy halves right now, so tomorrow I'm hoping that I can get in there, glue the two halves together, install the upper control panel, and the work around the two upper sliding canopy pieces. I may open one up and show it in the position slid to the rear, but the closed ones need a bit of framing added around them and down the center under the sliding piece.

I'm a bit nervous right now, as one of the forward windscreen sections is a bit foggy. No matter what I would try (sanding down with as much as 60,000 grit wet sanding paper), the windows still foggy. Hopefully the Future helps. Crossing my fingers!

Once the thing is all done though, than I'll mount it into the fuselage, let the superglue dry, and then carry on with forming shape by sanding down the the canopy ridge that will be present at the back end of the joint between it and the fuselage.

I did have a change of heart though, all the smaller areas, such as the nose wheel bay, main landing gear bays, RADAR dome area, engines, inner engine cowling, etc... etc... etc... will all be done first, than the scribing will be done, than the components will be glued together, leaving all the attachments (antenna, air scoops on either side of the RADAR dome) for the very end just prior to painting.

Anywho, thanks again for looking,

Cheers,

Mark.

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Wayne,

Thank you very much! Things would have been moving along smoothly, but the canopy piece cracked down the middle of the blister on the Port side. While I figure out what I'm going to do with those pieces, I'm going to move onto the engines and wheel well areas, along with the spotlight as well.

Cheers,

Mark.

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*In the voice of the profesor from Futurama* Great News Everybody!

Managed to order a replacement set for the clear parts!

So, work is going on with the wheel bays and the engines. By the time the clear parts get here, hopefully all that will be left is them, along with the scribing of panel lines around there, and then final prep for painting.

Cheers!

Mark.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A bit of a delay, but such is life.

First and foremost, thanks to Ken (at Tiger Hobbies) for helping me out with the clear parts for the Tracker!

Work continued with the nose landing gear. I wasn't happy with the kit part at all, and so using some reference pictures I took, I went to work.

Here's a shot of the kit piece:

DSC07208.jpg

Using everything from some reworked kit parts on the lower portions, a few scrap pieces of plastic, thin copper wire, some brass and aluminum, and just a smidgen of solder, here's where the work lies right now:

DSC07337.jpg

DSC07339.jpg

This is where the general building is done, with some minor cleaning prior to painting and stenciling this part, along with some others that'll be worked on as well.

You'll notice that the scissors are pretty extended showing more of a lack of weight on wheels type of look... well they are. I'll show some pictures of what I found with our Trackers in looking through pictures... go figure, most (lacking stores/fuel/crew/etc), looked like the nose wheels were about to fall off due to the strut being so extended.

Cheers, and thanks for looking,

Mark.

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Thank you Sir!

It's not a big update, but certainly a huge bit of work done tonight. The most difficult part was that nose landing gear strut. But, it's almost done. Some of the major parts were shot with the grey colour, and the landing gear strut had some slightly darker grey pastel chalk (60%) applied around key areas, like the spring assembly near the back (aft) of the strut. After that, gloss coat was shot on top, and the Tamiya tape from the nicely chromed piece removed.

Here's some of the parts in grey:

DSC07343.jpg

The strut was mentioned before as to what was done. Aside from that, the openings in the rims of the nose wheels were drilled open, the rest are stock pieces.

Here's the strut:

DSC07345.jpg

All that's left is stencils, the anchor points, the silver parts (bolts, nuts, etc) being painted, and then we move on!

Thanks for looking,

Mark.

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Once again, you are able to recreate a kit into the ac you want. Good job all around. It is a shame about missing out on all that lovely weathering, but as you say there's more Trackers to come.wink.gif

goggleson.gif

The pilot doing the preflight check in you first pictures looks familiar-perhaps I've seen his picture in one of my referance books (Young Flyers of the RCAF and RCN by Mark ?somebody?)

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Steve,

Thanks again. The grey was a bit too blue and too dark for my liking, so it's been resprayed with something a little lighter. I'm hoping to have all 3 legs completed tonight and posted up.

As for that young pilot you mentioned, if memory serves me right, it's Captain Poopy-Pants... or some silly name like that! Hahaha, thanks for the good laugh though, and for the comments.

Cheers,

Mark.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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