Official FMS 1500mm P-47D Razorback Thread

[davegee]

Davegee,
Let me check my bag of P-47 parts. I usually keep everything I make with each plane.
Rex

Thanks, Rex. Even if you can just give me an approximate idea of dimensions, that would work too, if you have them installed on your plane already. A pic would be wonderful if you could post it.

Best,

Dave

[Eagle15]

I have completed the top section of the starboard wing! Took a while, but I got it done. I’m not sure if the very front section, kinda the leading edge of the wing had any rivets… some photos show they do and some don’t. Any of you guys know?

[jetfool]

Eagle 15,
Looks good. Keep posting progress.

Davegee,
Here are photos of my ail..
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Those look very good, Rex. So, I have a few ways to go here. I have cut out six blanks out of basswood to try carving to shape. I’ll give that a try.

if that doesn’t work out, I’ll ask Dan if he can make up an STL that I can print up several and glue onto the ailerons.

Thanks for the pics, they’re helpful.

cheers

davegee

[jetfool]

Davegee,
I will send my measurements on this. I made one blister then stuck in clay and poured epoxy in the clay. I made about 8 to get the best ones. After epoxy cured just dug them out of the clay. All are equal, easy peasy.
If you want I can send my little balsa mold if you want to go this route.
Best Regards, Rex

[vrosi1963]

Re hand scribing all the frame detail again with an Exacto after sanding and polishing the canopy and the outer for the masses to have accurate reference point to cut ,is everyone liking the orange fools tariffs that are impacting the Chinese fms retail costs . the American public is being screwed while he and the gop bottom feeders are getting rich .worst choice EVER .just paid $170 extra to import a motorcycle gas tank from india . fn BS

[jetfool]

Canopy is looking great. Costs have risen on everything, even domestic food. We always plant a garden which helps our budget.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Davegee,
I will send my measurements on this. I made one blister then stuck in clay and poured epoxy in the clay. I made about 8 to get the best ones. After epoxy cured just dug them out of the clay. All are equal, easy peasy.
If you want I can send my little balsa mold if you want to go this route.
Best Regards, Rex

Excellent! Let me get a reply from Dan first if he is able/willing to make an STL for me where I could print to my heart's content as many as I need or want. I think that would be the easiest for me, and least hassle for you. Dan is getting to be quite the guy designing things like the Cheyenne turret on my B-17, so this should be a snap for him if he's up to the challenge.

Could you give me the Length/Width/ Height dimensions you used your aileron counterbalance covers? I used a 1/48 scale plastic model of the P-47 with a caliper and high power closeup glasses, but that leaves some to be desired as far as accuracy. I'm hoping your dimensions and what I took from a Tamiya model are approximately the same.

PS: I have a new home set for my B-17! It is going to be hung from the atrium of the Choice Aviation terminal at the Cody airport. I"m having a nice plaque made up by a local shop to explain the model and the people like my father in law who flew it in combat in WWII. I got to meet and get to know several of his crew 40 years after the war ended. They're all gone now, Fred (my father in law) was the "last of the Mohicans" for the crew, passing away last March. Will post pics and details as we get the model hung up in the next week or two.

Thanks!

Dave

[davegee]

Re hand scribing all the frame detail again with an Exacto after sanding and polishing the canopy and the outer for the masses to have accurate reference point to cut ,is everyone liking the orange fools tariffs that are impacting the Chinese fms retail costs . the American public is being screwed while he and the gop bottom feeders are getting rich .worst choice EVER .just paid $170 extra to import a motorcycle gas tank from india . fn BS

Canopy/windscreen coming along Great, James! Can't wait to get the whole smash back in my shop to complete it for flying late/spring or summer!

Cheers

davegee

[Elbee]

Re hand scribing all the frame detail again with an Exacto after sanding and polishing the canopy and the outer for the masses to have accurate reference point to cut ,is everyone liking the orange fools tariffs that are impacting the Chinese fms retail costs . the American public is being screwed while he and the gop bottom feeders are getting rich .worst choice EVER .just paid $170 extra to import a motorcycle gas tank from india . fn BS

vrosi,

No political speak, please.

We are all in this for better or worse.

No one cares one way or another how members voted or might run the country differently.

This forum is about modeling, no more, no less.

No reply is necessary, you understand the rules.

Respectfully, LB

[jetfool]

Davegee,
I will get the measurements tonight and post. Not hard to make.
Fantastic news about your B-17, sad it never flew after mods but understand it can be viewed by future generations. Just watched the story of the 8th Air Force on tv. They all are hero's in my opinion.

Elbee,
Agree with you. This forum is why I enjoy posting. Modeling, plain and simple.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Davegee,
I will get the measurements tonight and post. Not hard to make.
Fantastic news about your B-17, sad it never flew after mods but understand it can be viewed by future generations. Just watched the story of the 8th Air Force on tv. They all are hero's in my opinion.

Elbee,
Agree with you. This forum is why I enjoy posting. Modeling, plain and simple.
Best Regards, Rex

Thanks, Rex. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a disappointment for the model not to fly. But it had a bunch of major problems with the wiring to the motors, totally out of scale landing gear (which I took some efforts to try to correct a little bit) and a company that produced it in China that was really second-rate, in my opinion, to most others offering model kits. I don't think I"ll buy anything from them again. I wish Flightline still had their B-17 available, but I came late to the game with electric rc foamie planes, so I missed out. One of the main reasons for doing this project was a promise to my late father in law that I would make a replica of one of the several aircraft that he flew his 35 combat missions, with him at my side when I flew it. That never happened, but I'm glad it will go in a terminal and flight training center so many can be reminded of what these brave men did in WWII. Over 26,000 from the 8th USAAF alone were killed, more than all the Marines in all the horrific island campaigns in the Pacific. A nice plaque is being made up to go on the wall adjacent to the airplane to explain it.

Rex,also besides the measurements for your covers for the lower ailerons, if you could tell me how to do this mold process step by step, that would be much appreciated. I have carved out a single cover out of basswood, and glued it to a stick. I need to know more about the clay setup, for instance, can you cast more than one of these parts out of the same clay, or do you need to use new clay for each one? Do you need to coat the inside of the clay with a mold release of any sort to remove the part from the clay? things like that.

It is still possible that Dan and I will come up with a 3D printed part that can be used as well. We'll see.

Cheers

davegee

[jetfool]

Davegee,
Still looking for my bag of parts. I know it's in here just haven't found it yet. I use those rectangle blocks of clay at Walmart, crayon dept, comes in different colors. I break off a piece and roll it in my hands until its workable. put on my workbench and roll it into a flat strip about1 /2'-3/4" thick. Wax the mold. Stick your mold in till the base is even with the top of clay. gently wiggle the stick and the mold should come out easy. I make about 8-10 mold impressions in the strip of clay. Once they look good pour in your epoxy, let dry then pick them out. There is some clay that sticks to the epoxy, but I wash the part in soap and water removing clay that has stayed on the part. When done just roll up the clay and put back with you other clay. I keep my clay in a zip-lock bag, and it lasts several years. For small parts this is how I do it. Simple and easy or cheap way for me. I made my wheel covers for 6" tire/wheel on my 1/4 scale Boeing F4B-4 that I need to finish. Same process only laid up the cover with 3/4 oz fiberglass cloth and epoxy in the clay. Worked great.
Hopefully I find the mold soon tonight.
Best Regards, Rex

[jetfool]

Davegee,
Finally found the mold and 2 spares. I used Bondo body putty instead of epoxy. The measurements you requested. I did use spot putty to fill some air bubbles but final sanding maade them look good befor gluing on the ailerons. Hope this helps. Let me know and I can make some up for you.
Best Regards, Rex

[f4u ausie]

Some good old fashioned thinking and modelling.. awesome job Rex. Could apply that to many things.. other clever d??s 3 d print. I have enuf trouble Posting pics

[davegee]

Hi Rex: thanks so much for the great explanation about the molds for the aileron covers. The only question is what do you use for the wax for the clay impressions from pressing the shaped wood parts to easily remove them from the clay? Otherwise, I think I’ll be ready to go after a trip to Walmart!

If you wouldn’t mine making up maybe six of these parts the way you are comfortable doing it and sending to me, I’d like to study and use yours along with the ones I will make and possibly if Dan can make a STL of them so I can print some up to see how they all look when finished. I’m going to put all these on my four P-47s to learn more about this technique. I did do some machine gun belts for the wings of an earlier P-47 that came out pretty well but that was over 20 years ago and had mostly forgotten how I did that!

Your dimensions and mine were very close, almost “dead nuts on” between yours and my dimensions

Thenks again!

Dave

[Grossman56]

Got the dimension pic and I'll tinker around with it this morning.
Cool project!

Dan

[jetfool]

Davegee,
Good ole car Turtle wax. I'm cheap
I will make some up and send to you.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Davegee,
Good ole car Turtle wax. I'm cheap
I will make some up and send to you.
Best Regards, Rex

Thanks, Rex. Dan just emailed me the STL for these parts. I printed them up and I don't think I could improve on them! I still would like the exercise of making these the "old school" way that you did and that I will attempt from my end on the part I carved last night. I still think some uses of the this method are a good way to go for certain parts. I know this technique has been around for a Long time...

Thanks again!

I'll post some pics of what Dan made up on my Hairless Joe.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Thanks, Rex. Dan just emailed me the STL for these parts. I printed them up and I don't think I could improve on them! I still would like the exercise of making these the "old school" way that you did and that I will attempt from my end on the part I carved last night. I still think some uses of the this method are a good way to go for certain parts. I know this technique has been around for a Long time...

Thanks again!

I'll post some pics of what Dan made up on my Hairless Joe.

Cheers

Davegee

Hi Rex: Dan just sent over the STL and I printed a bunch to use on at least one of my airplanes. I will still experiment with the "old school" way of using the clay molds and epoxy, which I think are still good to use in certain cases when 3D printing doesn't work out for some parts. I think it's good to keep a skill like this alive for some parts.

I'll attach a couple pics I took of the covers on one of the wings. One of the pics has a 1/48 scale Tamiya P-47M model to use as a gauge for placing the pieces on the larger airplane.

Thanks for your help. I can barely remember doing this method over 20 years ago with the P-47M that I was working with about 2004 or so.

Cheers

Davegee