Mcdonall Douglas KC-11 et all

[NARSES2]

the nut may even have been my maternal grandfathers.

Gondor

I really am going to have to give my mind a thorough cleaning 

[Gondor]

the nut may even have been my maternal grandfathers.

Gondor

I really am going to have to give my mind a thorough cleaning 

OK.... I should have said..... "that wing-nut may have been from my maternal grandfathers shed"

before some other wing-nut come up with any more ...... "ideas" 

Gondor

[Gondor]

Went into my local Hobbycraft shop today as it opened during the week. Several Airfix and Revell kits were on sale of which there were none that really took my fancy.

Came out with a large 40 litre storage box for £2.62 which will be used for transporting the finished build or its derivatives as well as sundry other builds of mine both past, present and future.

Might buy another couple next week.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Not as much modelling done this weekend as I had hoped. Only added some tabs to the inside of each fuselage half just as if I were to build a vac-form model which is not likely. The length of the fuselage made the choice of this method as I was unsure about the ability of the fuselage half's to match up completely over the entire length so forming either steps or gaps which I don't want.

I had intended to get the fingers to alternate along the complete length of the fuselage but some how I failed to achieve that goal around the rear of the aircraft 







Hopefully the fingers will do their job when I get around to applying the glue, probably going to use tube glue as the longer drying time will allow me to repair any gaps or steps easily.

Gondor

[Gondor]

A bit more done tonight. Started glueing the fuselage half's together.



Only glued the fuselage in a few places so that I can move and adjust the half's to get a better joint so saving work removing any step from a mismatch.

I should make more progress soon.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Only a little progress today. I ran Liquid Poly into the upper seam after doing my best to make as good a joint as I could to reduce sanding and filling later.
Really finding my Berna Multiclamp to be invaluable with the curvature of the fuselage.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Only advancement today that is easily visible is my starting work on the radome which will be positioned forward of the weapon bay.



I always appear to have problems with my OLFA cutter, no idea why  it took two attempts to get it to cut at all and the disc size had to be reduced slightly to help so the scanner will be about 7'3" diameter as the disc wasn't the 8' diameter I was after 

Gondor

[Gondor]

Again very little work has been done. I have added a third disc of plastic card to the other two seen in the last post. Next I am planning to start shaping the discs into the underbelly search radome.



The circle seen on the surface of the plastic disc sandwich is the almost smooth centre of the radome and has been marked out so that I don't file, carve or sand away too much plastic.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Work is slow, very slow. Only today managed to finish glueing the fuselage half's together. I was taking my time in the hope that I could minimise any steps between the fuselage half's. Tomorrow I will be adding the windscreen and starting to smooth the seams.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Some progress

I have finally decided on the hight of the tail fin and the position of the locating pins Remember that the markings show the hight of the fin with the engine, the smaller fin is what I am making. Lots of lines and angles to help make sure that the top of the fin will end up horizontal and parallel with the top of the fuselage, the rear of the fuselage does taper towards it's end though which doesn't help  I measured the taper as 4^o which is part of the reason I have all the lines ........ measure at least twice and cut once ...... at least that's the theory



Blank shape for the extension of the fin which is to replace the engine and yes I know the fin is not going to be as tall as it was, it doesn't need to be that tall any more.




The paper shape of the fin on top of the extension.



The paper "shape" held in position against the airframe to show roughly what it will look like when I finish.



The five pieces of plastic card that will be used to make the extensions to the fin with the rough shape marked on them.




The almost final shape including the small fillet for the forward edge of the fin which is in keeping with previous Douglas aircraft



Hopefully by the start of next week the fin will be all but ready to fit onto the fuselage so I had better get some work done on that or it won't be ready !

Gondor

[Gondor]

More work on the fin

Here the metal support pins have been attached to one of the card inserts which was grooved to help the pins locate.



Measure twice and cut once ............




.....except this time I measured once and ended up having to cut twice. The problem being that the length of the pins that went into the fuselage were too long 




Here you can see what the fin looks like in position although nothing is glued into place yet .......... opinions please on how well it looks if at all 



A little advice on how to make the curved front at the base of the fin please




And from the front which shows that some work is defiantly needed 





Gondor

[NARSES2]

Definately looks pee'd off from the front  Nice work with the fin Alistair - your'e a braver man then me

[PR19_Kit]

Remind me if that's the Airfix or the Revell nose/cockpit you're using please Alastair?

[Gondor]

Remind me if that's the Airfix or the Revell nose/cockpit you're using please Alastair?

It's all Revell which as I was told was the better of the two makes me shudder in horror at what the Airfix kit may have been like  

Probably better if I remove the glazing and then 'adjust' the opening to suit.

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

I think it was me who recommended the Revell Ten. The Airfix might fit a bit better but has loads of niggling errors.

How about PSRing the cockpit glazing and using a decal windscreen?