I've had a rethink on the rear fuselage,  rather than build it up with filler, I'll assemble the rear fuselage of the 290 and remove enough plastic from it so that it fits over the 390.  It should work, I think there's enough space and if it goes wrong then it shouldn't matter as that bit of the 290 is redundant anyway.

I've done the cuts to the 290 and it will work, there is a step on top but fairing it in will be correct, as the top decking rises to meet the tailplane.

The 290 section is also wider. The contrail fuselage starts tapering in way too soon, so it fixes another problem.  However, it does mean that the fuselage needs to be assembled before I can worry about the rear end.  So I need to sort out the wings first.

Actually, I cut out the section for the canopy.  It fits at the back but will need filling around the nose.

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Looks a bit more like a viable model rather than a collection of bits.  Also shows just how much filler I'll be needing and the resultant sanding.  Although if the weather is nice, I can just sit in the sun and sand all the P38 back fuelled by several rum n cokes.  Large ones.

Today, I been working on the wings.  The starboard centre section is done. And this is how.

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The outer wing has been removed to get the dihedral right.  The uppers have had some minor surgery and are a bit more flexible.

Then I added that collection of bits.  The undercarriage leg butt joins to a ledge on a bulkhead.  There's some supports which attach to the forward spar.  The rear gear bay bulkhead ties into the main spar, with a third rear spar.  All of these make it nice and sturdy as the plastic is about .5mm thick.

The eagle eyed will have noticed, if they could be bothered to read the thread, that the above is for the port wing.  So here's one I did earlier.

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I've only cut out the inner gear bay, there's some rescribing to do, as there are photos of the 390 sitting parked on just the inner gears and I only have one set of main gears to use.  I am not paying the extortionate price SAC want for their white metal copies of kit parts (sex, travel and their mothers springs to mind).

The ledge may be a tad deep - I did measure it but mistakes do happen - but I can add a spacer later if need be. I'm really pleased with this solution and it's a lot sturdier than what Revell give the modeller in their 290.

The next challenge is to fix the leading edge.

That's quite a bit of progress Lee. I take it that you are going to make copies of that good engine front to replace those other "engine fronts". I do use that term loosely.

Gondor

I'm swerving the issue entirely and using some resin BMW 801 TJ cowlings from several Toad Ju 388s.  At least four have the fan moulded integral.

The good one above is a spare BMW 132 from the Revell civil Condor that just happened to be the right diameter to use as a bulkhead. I did a pair of those, albeit unfinished, with BMW 801s so the engines were left over.

Today was spent getting the port wing to the same stage, then I started getting the cockpit internals cleaned up. 

I also cleaned up the other undercarriage parts and did a trial fit.  The rear brace is too far forward as some knacka put a main spar through the wing that tied into the bulkhead where the back end of the brace fits on the Revell kit.  This attachment point is higher up, outside the main gear bay an up inside the wing itself, so I spent a good 30 minutes cutting a channel in said wing spar to get the brace to fit.  The whole undercarriage fits properly and it should be sturdier than I'd planned too - the back of the brace is a square panel and the channel cut is just a bit bigger than it but not the full depth of the spar itself, so the top of the brace glued into the main spar.

At least I discovered it now rather than when it's all together and impossible to fix apart from chopping the rear brace down.

The other snag to fix was the ledge installed in the fuselage that the cockpit sits on - it's too low.  To fix it, I've just jacked up the cockpit up by a couple of mm by adding some plastic card offcuts.

One step forward and five steps back.  Very frustrating, but then I knew it would be.

Quote from: The Wooksta! on May 16, 2024, 04:23:48 PMOne step forward and five steps back.  Very frustrating, but then I knew it would be.

Yup, but it's going to be a piece of work when it's finished   

I admire your perseverance mate 

A Ju 390 is one of this year's key builds* The Planet one is a disappointment but this is a chance to really stretch my skills.

*The Silbervogel is done and the Hanneubu has stalled.  I'll pick it up when I get a bit further with either of the Ju 390s.

Work stopped play yesterday and consequently I did sod all.

Today, wing spar placement and I straight away run into the whole knacka internal spar situation.  I can't run a main spar where it should be as it interferes with the undercarriage brace bars, so I moved it back.

In addition, I've a pair of false spars that tie into the front and rear internal spars an help locate the wing.

They look like this

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The balsa one is the main spar.  I used the port wing lower for all the measurements and everything seems to line up.  Still lots of fettling but it means I can do this

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Really very happy now.  Next stage is to sort out the dihedral and I'm not looking forward to that.

You seam to pick all the fun build Lee 

Gondor

Tbh, it's been sitting in the loft for 25 years and if I don't do it now it'll never get done.

And given how crude this one is, it should make tackling any other vacform easy by comparison.

Anyhoo, time for a rum n coke.

Sorting out the dihedral wasn't as bad as I'd feared.  It's quite subtle and comparing the bits with the plan is a waste of time.

That's not to say that the plans are useless, they did reveal after some measuring that the wing rises 2mm in every 35mm.  I don't possess a protractor, but some careful measurement managed to come up with these.

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There's about an inch that fixes to the inner spar on the leading edge.  The outer wing is bent up and then just lowered onto the outer spar.

This shows the spar in situ.

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And yes, I'm aware of that gap but that's largely down to the fact that upper and lower halves are just taped together.

With that stage reached, there's nothing to do with the wings but begin trying to sort out the leading edge. The eagle eyed may have spotted that the Port wing has had it cut back. Tomorrow, it's out with the P38.

Very happy as I seem to have made real progress today.  The next step is likely to be adding the fuselage bulkheads and some locating strips.  I may go all the way along as I know there's a great deal of filling to do and I want some support. That plastic is quite flimsy in a few places.

That looks good. off the top of my head, that's a rise of 1mm for every 17.5mm length which is far easier to measure.

Gondor

I may not be a fan of the plane but the amount and quality of work being done on this model is amazing... much respect! 

Bulkheads and strengthening plates in place. The lower ones are wider as I know there's more filling to do there.  The bulkheads needed a bit of fettling to allow the fuselage to close better.

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Back to the wings tomorrow.  I know I need to paint the interior, but my RLM 66 is on the other side of the city.  Still, it's progressing better than I'd hoped yesterday.