Lancer512 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 (edited) Ok. Here we go again... I had the idea of making a Cessna 550 or 560 out of the Revell Cessna 500 a few years back, but I did not care enough to press on with a project. See here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=43089&st=0&p=346264entry346264 Today, I actually started cutting up the fuselage and wings. BTW: I never did such a large conversion. If I screw up, that's just experience. I've got two more kits in my stash . The Kit: The 1/48 scale Revell reboxing of the Hasegawa Cessna 500 Citation I, which was released around 1980, is in fact an early "Citation 500". Early Citations had a shorter wing. When the Citation I was introduced in 1976 (called Cessna 500 "Citation I", and Cessna 501 "Citation I/SP" for single pilot operation), it featured a wingtip extension, adding 36" to the wingspan. The kit can be converted into a Citation I or I/SP easily with some scratchbuilding of the wing and adding thrust revesers. I've noticed a few things with the kit that are not correct, even for an old 500: - The kit includes a clear smoke tinted sprue. However, only the cabin windows should be tinted, the cockpit side windows and the windshield should be non-tinted. - The handles for cabin door and emergency exit, as well as latches for the three baggage compartments are molded onto the surface. They should be flush with the skins. - On the RH aileron, a trim tab is visible, this should be removed. There is no trim tab on the RH aileron. - Scribing on the bottom forward of the flaps is completely imaginary. It is best if reference photos are used to accurately model the lower surface of the wing. Citation I vs. Citation II: The Citation II is basically speaking a stretched Cessna 500. Fuselage plugs and two additional windows were added to the 500 fuselage. A six inch plug was inserted in front of the cabin door, a 22" segment with a window aft of the cabin door, and a 12" and 4" fuselage plug just forward and aft of the aft pressure bulkhead. Another window cutout was added above the wing. As explained above, the wing has a 18" extension between the wing tips and the ailerons, as well as a 36" stub wing, which is actually part of the fuselage. The Citation I wing attaches to mounting lugs on that stub wing. While the engines of the 500 are JT15D-1, or -1A engines, the 550 had JT15D-4B, and the Bravo had PW530A engines, which all look different. The -1 could go for a -4 however, but the 530A engine on the Bravo has a much bulkier nacelle. Adding thrust reversers is the final step for the conversion. For some reason, the are also Citation IIs without reversers. <_</>/> If you decide to build a Citation Bravo, some scratchbuilding skills are needed there. Because the Bravo has a trailing link gear, the main landing gear needs to be built from scratch and some modifications the wheel well and gear doors are neccesary. I will write the build-log as I proceed in this thread. Edited October 4, 2013 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 I started with modifying the wings. I've cut off the wingtips just outboard of the ailerons. The wingtips were set aside to be glued on again later. Oh, and I've cut off that ventral fin, wich is only present on Cessna 500s. If done properly, a single rib will be left over at the bottom of the wing, which can be used as a large surface to apply glue later on. The wing halves... On the Hasegawa wing, there was slight burr on the edges (see arrows), which had to be deburred before glueing the wings together. I made a 9.7 mm (3/8") wingtip extension out of 3mm (1/8") thick styrene to fit between the wing and the wingtip. After the extension was dry, I aligned the wingtip with the leading and trailing edge with the wing and sanded everything to match the wing contour. The yellow tape is leader card splicing tape, which prevented me from sanding into the surface of the wing. I filled any visible gaps with streched sprue. At this point you'll have the correct wing for late Citation Is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 (edited) As the wing was drying, I started on the fuselage: I decided to insert the first fuselage plug just aft of the cockpit side windows. The fuselage was held together with tape, and I scribed the location of the cut into the fuselage. The damage is done: The cockpit was separated from the fuselage. I used my Dremel to remove the molded interior armrests and stowable tables from the inside of the fuselage halves. A final sanding with wet 320 grit paper was sufficient to blend everything out. The fuselage is void of any disturbing interior furnishings, prepared for some more cuts. Edited August 9, 2011 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 (edited) The first plug glued to the fuselage and dry fitted to the cockpit section. Edited August 9, 2011 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Lancer, WHOA !! I am gonna enjoy ts so much...Love it... Quick progress.. Neat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
streetstream Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Very brave of you to do such a massive conversion. I hope to do one one day. Just a little point of 'critique', if you can even call it that, but in the second to last photo, it seems the vertical stabilizer is crooked. I think you might want to consider using some hot water to bend it back. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 Nope, It's not crooked, it's just the perspective. I had to shoot the picture at a slight angle, because of camera focus. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PMG Offramp Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Woaw, that's some "male" conversion work going on here ! I will follow this with most interest as I'm a big fan of Hasegawa/Revell's 1:48 biz jet kits ! They're plain lovely, beautifully moulded as usual with Hasegawa, and correctly detailed. Congratulations on your work ! Cheers, Steven Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 Thanks for the heads up! It would be no fun if it was easy. This is a photoshopped image of where I have planned to place the cuts on the fuselage. There has to be one more cut because of the position of wing's trailing edge and the engine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Cool project Dennis. Not that you have any experience on this huh? And I'm sure a few emails to John will help also. Nice work so far. -Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 Cool project Dennis. Not that you have any experience on this huh? And I'm sure a few emails to John will help also. Nice work so far. -Jeff Hey Jeff! Well, this stuff is smaller than I am used to work with. The good thing is, I don't have to sign it off when I'm done. All I needed was the Maintenance Manual and the Structural Repair Manual. And lots of time calculating and comparing those fuselage stations to find the locations and sizes of the required plugs! I'm still waiting for his answer to my last PM about that project. LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 I'm still waiting for his answer to my last PM about that project. LOL We talked about it tonight at dinner. He mentioned he owed you a reply, but has been real busy working on his house. I'll keep on him. -Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pttaa Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 WOW, amazing work so far! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 (edited) The second plug had to be planned carefully because of the close vicinity of the door frame, which I did not intent to damage. Three cuts are needed to separate the fuselage. I always tape the fuselage halves together and scribe a line to check for the correct placement and as a guide for the saw blade. The first cut was placed in the middle of the first and second window all the way around the upper fuselage, ending about 1 mm (3/64") below the cabin windows. I've marked the scribed lines with a pencil for better visibility. The 2nd cut was from the bottom fuselage centerline measured exactly 2.0 mm (5/64") from the aft of the visible panel line up towards the lower forward window corner. I stoped the cut about 1 mm (3/64") beolow the window to match the first cut. I connected the two cuts with another horizontal cut with a #11 blade. The two fuselage sections came apart easily. Edited August 11, 2011 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dragan_mig31 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 This is some heavy duty surgery... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 (edited) While the second fuselage was drying, I was tempted and temporarily attached the modified wings and engines to the not yet cut up 500 fuselage. This is how a Citation I or Citation I/SP should look like: Edited August 11, 2011 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 (edited) I've marked the cuts for the fuselage plugs on the second fuselage. While doing this, I wondered why the hell I've glued the fuselage together. Shouldn't have done that, since I wanted to keep the aft fuselage halves as long as possible for interior detailing. I've measured the distances from the aft of the cockpit to the center between the windows and transferred the measurements to the seam on the top of the fuselage to get a straight cut. I am using the inside of the fuselage as a reference for the plugs. Therefore, I've cut slightly deeper below the windows than before, so I've got some plastic left over just in case the cut on the first fuselage was messed up. Luckily the pieces fell apart after cutting, because the glue joint was not my best These two sections are 21.5" on the real jet. Edited August 11, 2011 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 (edited) Quick update: I've found a way of how to make sure the plugs will be straight and true when inserting them. I glued 1/16" Evergreen angles into the aft fuselage. The plugs will rest on these angles. When the plugs have been sanded down to the correct size, the angles will be glued to the forward fuselage, making everything rigid before I finally insert the plugs. I can sand off the angles easily after I am done with all the plugs. Dry fitting of the second plug. Count the windows! Edited August 11, 2011 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 First, I've sanded off the plug on the bottom to fit in horizontally. There is a panelline above the windows, which helped me in aligning it. The second step was to sand the aft side of the plug to match the pitch of the windowspacing of the remaining two windows. When that was done and looked good, I glued the plug to the aft fuselage and point-glued the longerons, which I've made earlier out of Evergreen angle, to the plug. Plug inserted and held tight with tape. Detail shot of the longerons, which hopefully will help to make the fuselage more rigid. You can also make out that panel line above the windows, which should not be disturbed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 (edited) The result: Edited August 12, 2011 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 14, 2011 Author Share Posted August 14, 2011 Not much happened during the weekend due to family commitments. I've joined the fuselage again. The longerons didn't help much for a true and straight fit for the plug. As you can see, the additional window panel has a slight angle on the top of the fuselage. I'll have to reconsider on how to make sure that the fuselage parts are in the same position with the plug inserted as before the cut. I've got something in my mind already, but I'll need to see if I have the required resources available and if the fit is tight enough. However, the longerons DID help in making the fuselage rigid. I first wanted to put in the lower fuselage skin before I started with the aft plug, but as it seems, I can continue straight away with cutting the fuselage for the aft plug. That will also help with the modifying the wing-to-fuselage fairing when I finally get the stub wing finished. While I was doing some more research, I found out that there have been three different wingtip shapes for the Cessna 500, and a fourth version one came with a third party improvement (Sierra Industries Longwing Modification). The Citation II, however has the wingtips of the Citation I (after 1977). Looks like I'm going to remodel the wingtips with putty. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 OK. A new day and more ideas! While I was trying to find the required cuts for the last plug, I realized that I could have saved some work by making better use of the second kit. I've made the first plug out of sheet styrene: this could have been easier if I've made a straight vertical cut 3.2mm (1/8") aft of the cockpit on the second fuselage. That would have saved me one glue seam, too. Also, I could have used the whole aft fuselage of the seond kit, if I hadn't glued the fueseage halves on that one together, yet. I want to open up the ACM intake (air conditioning) in the dorsal fin. To do that, I need two fuselage halves, which is not possible anymore with a glued up fuselage. The cuts required to make space for the last fuselage plug. If I hadn't glued up the second fuselage, I could have made the first cut between the last windows. That would have saved me a lot of work with aligning that last window. Oh well! Experience is the sum of all mistakes. The bottom of the fuselage. It seems complicated, but this is the only way to have the cuts still within the cylindrical shape of the fuselage. If you compare the two pictures, you will see that I've reconsidered the location of the cut around the bottom of the fuselage. I am aware that the new wing does not match the remaining wing root, but I need it as a reference to install the wing later on. Before I cut the fuselage apart, I am going to install some alignment fixtures into the fuselage halves. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 (edited) Back to the wings: The wingtip in the kit is the one of the first 213 Citations. This one is beveled on the bottom, and has a rather large radius in the front. The 550 has a different wingtip (from the Citation I). It should follow the wing's contour, and just the edges of the wingtip are rounded. I used my favourite putty to build up some material, which was then sanded into the correct shape. Edited August 15, 2011 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancer512 Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 (edited) Dang! I wasn't waiting long enough before I've cut the fuselage. I've glued these orange R/C model pushrod guide tubes into the fuselage, which will be cut apart with the fuselage. The two halves will be connected with a brass tube that fits exactly in each of the plastic tubes. That would have given me a perfect alignment and I would have been able to slide the fuselage back and forth, like a telescopic thingimaging. But... The gue on the plastic pushrod tubes was not really dry, and two out of the four tubes I had installed, broke off while I was cutting. I am going to press on with just two guides remaining. It should be OK. The fuselage has been cut through with several surgical cuts for the last plug: Yes, that is SIX windows! Oh boy.... I'll wait until tomorrow before I try to sand anything on there. I don't want to lose any more of the guide tubes. A size comparison with the remainder of the second kit and the streched fuselage. 10.8 inches vs. 12 inches. If you scale that up, it is pretty close to the real thing. Edited August 15, 2011 by Lancer512 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Lancer512 OUCH !!!...I feel your pain as you now rebuild the fuselage... So sorry that this happened as you were going on strong and doing a brilliant job.. HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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