Outstanding Dan! I will try to-do him justice at the show. Win or Lose I think he will be the best pilot there. He is a handsome cuss, probably have to beat the ladies off from trampling my plane to see him.
Dave I will look on RCSB forum and try to find a tutorial but here is how I have centered my flying edges. I use my old Du-Bro center finder and a pencil. then slit the line and slide the g10 in. Hope this helps.
Best Regards, Rex
Just came up for air!
He's 99% finished, just a couple of minor touch ups and some gloss on the eyes, goggles and mouth and he's ready
Again, it's hard to get a descent pic, but remember, he's only about 4" tall in real life!
God, took me a couple of hours just to paint the harness! Good thing I like doing it!
Now, Rex, get in there and win one for the gipper!!
vrosi1963,
Thank you for the information. I have the Flight Line Spitfire mirror but will file the STL for future use. Glad to have you with us in helping convert this model. Join in with your thoughts and idea's so I can steal them. LOL
Dave, you just slit the center line with an x-acto or razor blade, slide in the g10 and glue w/thin ca. then you can sand a uniform trailing edge. Easy Peasy
On my P-47 3 view the panel lines around the front of the canopy are different than my Razorback.
Best Regards, Rex
I have a few extra flight control surfaces that I could practice on. Do you have a link that would take me directly to what you recommend me using to get a nice trailing edge on the surfaces?
vrosi1963,
Thank you for the information. I have the Flight Line Spitfire mirror but will file the STL for future use. Glad to have you with us in helping convert this model. Join in with your thoughts and idea's so I can steal them. LOL
Dave, you just slit the center line with an x-acto or razor blade, slide in the g10 and glue w/thin ca. then you can sand a uniform trailing edge. Easy Peasy
On my P-47 3 view the panel lines around the front of the canopy are different than my Razorback.
Best Regards, Rex
we will see what i get in return for stl files in the future
vrosi1963,
Thank you for the information. I have the Flight Line Spitfire mirror but will file the STL for future use. Glad to have you with us in helping convert this model. Join in with your thoughts and idea's so I can steal them. LOL
Dave, you just slit the center line with an x-acto or razor blade, slide in the g10 and glue w/thin ca. then you can sand a uniform trailing edge. Easy Peasy
On my P-47M 3 view the panel lines around the front of the canopy are different than my Razorback.
Davegee,
Elbee's description is correct. You can buy strips in .005", .010" up to 1/4" thick from McMaster-Carr. Used a lot in 1/4 scale models, ding proof and lite weight in the smaller thicknesses. Thinking of doing this on the Phantom if I have time. I would use about 1/2" wide .005" strip and poly acrylic a 1-2" 3/4oz fiberglass cloth around the trailing edges. This process doesn't build much weight and blends in with the poly coating process. Just a thought that would set the model apart from a foamy. What do you think Elbee?
The black if right shade of black would be Ok, like you said certain lighting makes a black look a little blue.
Look up Garolite in the McMaster-Carr specs.
Best Regards, Rex
Snow and wind chill 2' today so I'll just have to spend it in the Skunk Works
Davegee,
Thanks for the pics. I like the mirror that you cut the base off, think that's how I will do mine.
Dark blue is my favorite color and P-47M of Capt. Lanowski would be my choice. I have an old Jemco kit of the P-47D Razorback but I ordered Jemco's plans for the bubble top and retract plans at that time (mid 80s). It's 54" ws but would run like a bat otta _ell if I installed the motor and prop from FMS P-47. Hoping your conversion goes well as I like the way my FMS flys. A pic. of Johnson in Lucky, the front canopy, bullet glass and framing details show up
Dan,
Just for fun but here is the pic. of Bob Johnson and his buddies doing their walk. Would be a show winner if they walked in front of my P-47 by r/c control. LOL
Best Regards, Rex
Hi Rex: Lanny Lanowski's M model as in your picture would be a good one. Be aware that the colors of the 61st FS and their M's was matte black. Some say it was blue, but I have good color photos and descriptions from pilots and mechanics of the 61st that said it was matte black, and that was all. In some lights, it may appear to be some other hue of black.
My late Spitfire was painted up in one of Lanny Lanowski's planes when he was flying with the RAF. I know his son, Krys, who lives in England.
Won't do this to Lucky but have you thought of using thin g10 strip and making the ail., flaps, and tail feather trailing edges a sharp edge. I think if you slit the center line, installed strip of g10, sanded foam and used poly acrylic to harden the surface it would hold up flying and be more scale. Just a thought.
Rex
I have actually thought of that often. The thick trailing edge has always bugged me. What is "g10" I have not heard that term before? I might like to experiment with making sharp trailing edges to wings, tail, etc., if it doesn't add a lot of weight or is a total hassle to do. We should talk more about this.
Won't do this to Lucky but have you thought of using thin g10 strip and making the ail., flaps, and tail feather trailing edges a sharp edge. I think if you slit the center line, installed strip of g10, sanded foam and used poly acrylic to harden the surface it would hold up flying and be more scale. Just a thought.
Rex
Davegee,
Thanks for the pics. I like the mirror that you cut the base off, think that's how I will do mine.
Dark blue is my favorite color and P-47M of Capt. Lanowski would be my choice. I have an old Jemco kit of the P-47D Razorback but I ordered Jemco's plans for the bubble top and retract plans at that time (mid 80s). It's 54" ws but would run like a bat otta _ell if I installed the motor and prop from FMS P-47. Hoping your conversion goes well as I like the way my FMS flys. A pic. of Johnson in Lucky, the front canopy, bullet glass and framing details show up
Dan,
Just for fun but here is the pic. of Bob Johnson and his buddies doing their walk. Would be a show winner if they walked in front of my P-47 by r/c control. LOL
Best Regards, Rex
No, this was part of the plastic canopy kit that comes with each Spitfire. I just used those as I didn't have an STL for it. They were inexpensive and were reasonably close to what I needed for my razorback P-47s.
I am hoping it will come out well as a bubbletop. I will be shipping the fuse out early next week. It will take him about a month or so to get it done, and then ship back to me. That will just be the beginning of the project.
You can judge from photos and my comments if you want to try one for an M model or something. I'll keep you posted with pics how it goes when I can get them. I would guess that would be in March sometime.
Regarding the Spitfire rear view mirror, I did a couple of different techniques. One plane I used the whole mirror base and glued the stand to the wind screen top glass. The other one I cut off the base mounting part from the mirror and just glued it on directly to the same place on the top of the windcreen. I'll include a couple of pics. This thing is REALLY easy to knock off transporting the airplane to/from the field! Stays on flying but getting it to/from the field intact is dicey, sometimes!
Woo Hoo Davegee,
Getting the popcorn ready to enjoy this conversion. If your happy with the conversion parts I'd like to convert one to a P-47M also, after I finish my other projects.
Dave, How did you mount the Spitfire mirror on the canopy? Did you glue a small mount under the glass? Any close-up pictures?
Best Regards, Rex
I am hoping it will come out well as a bubbletop. I will be shipping the fuse out early next week. It will take him about a month or so to get it done, and then ship back to me. That will just be the beginning of the project.
You can judge from photos and my comments if you want to try one for an M model or something. I'll keep you posted with pics how it goes when I can get them. I would guess that would be in March sometime.
Regarding the Spitfire rear view mirror, I did a couple of different techniques. One plane I used the whole mirror base and glued the stand to the wind screen top glass. The other one I cut off the base mounting part from the mirror and just glued it on directly to the same place on the top of the windcreen. I'll include a couple of pics. This thing is REALLY easy to knock off transporting the airplane to/from the field! Stays on flying but getting it to/from the field intact is dicey, sometimes!
Woo Hoo Davegee,
Getting the popcorn ready to enjoy this conversion. If your happy with the conversion parts I'd like to convert one to a P-47M also, after I finish my other projects.
Dave, How did you mount the Spitfire mirror on the canopy? Did you glue a small mount under the glass? Any close-up pictures?
Best Regards, Rex
I'm starting on a new project, taking a stock FMS P-47D razorback and converting it to a specific bubbletop aircraft that is fully detailed much like my other jugs that I fly. Specifically, it will be a foamie version of one of my favorite rc aircraft of all time, an old Aerotech 1/6 scale carbon fiber kit of Hairless Joe, flown by Col. David Schilling of the 56th Fighter Group during WWII. It competed in several shows, turns out it wasn't all that great of a flyer due to its weight, but it looked great, and won some awards on the contest circuit. That model was retired years ago to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo where it rests under a special domed cover today.
But this proposed foamie model will be a flyer and I look to finishing it sometime maybe this summer. So, this is the first step. I have a FMS P-47 fuselage that has been kept as a spare for a few years now. I am sending it to vrosi1963 in California where he will do the cut down on the fuselage to a bubbletop, and include a bubbletop canopy and windscreen for the project.
Below is a photo of the experimental FMS fuse before I ship it for the modification to a bubbletop, a photo of the real airplane in England in 1944, and my Aerotech model on the old runway at Boxted England in 2004 where the real one had flown from exactly 60 years before.
If I can make a go of it, I'll post more pics, maybe a separate build thread for this particular endeavor. If it comes out well, maybe others who love jugs will want to have him do a similar conversion to their models. It is a reasonable price for him to do this work, I think.
Dave was over today and saw him, he was impressed that I actually got him to resemble Bob Johnson which is high praise!
I think what we are going to do is package everything up in one Big Beautiful Box and ship it all together. The pilot should be done in a few days if everything goes well. The hard work is over, painting the body is just a matter of layering, which you can see, I've got a good start on.
Just to pass it on, the best way to imitate leather that I've found is to start with a black base and use Vallejo leather and Mahogany, leather first, fairly thin, spread it on and wipe it off with a paper towel, dry and repeat then do the same with the Mahogany. When I spray it with a clear coat to seal it in, it leaves just enough shine to imitate leather, any more and it looks like rubber.
As you can see from the pic. Now tomorrow will be bringing out the highlights and possibly some wear do look like its distressed.
I have a lot of heads now to practice on as Dave dropped me off another load.
What a great hobby!
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