Topic: Clives Strutter Build

Oops,

In my previous post I said "stain the struts" I should of said paint the struts with PC10

Clive

Today s update.

Today was one of those when a lot of work got done but there isn't much to show for it.

I started by drilling the 8 holes to take the 3mm csk screws. This took some time as I had to do it using a pin vice.

I then sanded the struts to profile and applied two coats of sanding sealer. I'll paint them PC10 later tonight and refit them in the morning.

Clive

OK Today's update.

Once the sanding sealer had properly dried on the struts I lightly sanded them and applied two coats of Spectrum PC10 and left it over night to dry.

I then fitted them back on the airframe.

Clive

The next job was to fit the brackets to the fuselage for the rigging to the front and rear struts.

The rear ones screw into the longerons, however, the front brackets fit to the side of the fuselage which means that the lower of the two mounting holes ends up going into balsa. To give me more confidence in the security of the mounts I decided to cut out a small section of the balsa and replace it with hard wood.

Clive

Finally for today I bent the brackets and fitted them to the fuselage. For the moment these are just screwed on with some of Micks 00 screws but I'll change them tomorrow for machine screws with nuts on the inside.

Tomorrow I'll make up the rigging wires and fit them and then remove the jig  .

Clive

Right then, today's update.

I started by swapping out the small cross head screws I used to hold the front rigging points in place for machine screws with nuts on the back, much more secure.

I then sat down and made up the four adjustable rigging wires.

The wire and fork ends all come from Mick and are included in the kit. Once the correct length for each wire was cut I then, with a slitting saw cut a small slot in the end of the screw on each fork end where the wire gets silver soldered (brazed) too. I'm not sure the slot is entirely necessary but it makes me feel better and have more confidence in the joint .

I'm not sure what to tackle next so I'll ponder on that over this weekend. I'm currently thinking I might cut and fit the top sheeting around the cockpit.

Clive

Very nice Clive.

You obviously appreciate a good calendar too

Alan

Thanks Alan, and yes I cant resist the OW calender. I keep them at the end of the year take of the date bit then just have the photos on the wall .

OK, so there I was sitting in the workshop pondering the angle of the rigging on the Strutter when suddenly my phone and credit card lept into my hand shouting "you need some therapy from building biplanes" So I ordered a 1/3rd scale plan and parts for one of these

Chilton DW1a. I love this scheme so will probably do this one. Kit should be here in 3 weeks

So I ordered a 1/3rd scale plan and parts for one of these Chilton DW1a.

Oh no!    Another favourite of mine.   I love the DW1A (and the Arrow Active and the  ............. Lysander ................. Mossie ....................... Hunter ................. Spit .............................)

Let me know when the plans turn up.   I might need to take a look.

Now what we need is a 1/3 scale Chilton Racing Team.   
What do you reckon Stuey?

Alan

Will do Alan, your very welcome to have a look The more opinions I get the better

Clive

Clive
I've been following this thread with envy, never be able to do this myself.

Just one quick question, the rod ends used on the bracing wires, i'me sure there not normal clevises, could you post a close up pic please, also what size are they and finally where do you get them from

Clive
I've been following this thread with envy, never be able to do this myself.

Just one quick question, the rod ends used on the bracing wires, i'me sure there not normal clevises, could you post a close up pic please, also what size are they and finally where do you get them from
(Attachment Link)

They look like Mick Reeves fork ends to me

But I haven't got my glasses on 

They look like Mick Reeves fork ends to me

But I haven't got my glasses on 

I have and they are

Hi Gary,

Yes, they are Micks fork ends and you can get them from him via his web site at

http://www.mickreevesmodels.co.uk/~mickreev/Bipes/p2bipe.html

If you scroll down the "Sopwiths" page to about  2/3rds they are there in close up including a short tutorial from Mick on how to use them etc.

If this doesn't answer your question then please let me know and I'll talk you thorough how I use them etc.

Thank you for the positive comments re the Strutter build.

Clive

Thanks for the info

His tutorial and youtube video explains it all

Gary,

I cant remember if Mick has dimensions on his site. If not this should help.

Latest update,

Having decided to move onto the ply cockpit surround I realised (just in time) that I had yet to fit the rear mount for the Vickers machine gun . Trying to fit it after I had fitted the ply surround would be difficult to say the least .

So, I spent yesterday putting the gun together and today building and fitting the rear mount.

Tomorrow I'll build the front mount, paint the gun and have a stab at building and fitting the pilots screen.

Clive

OK, today's update.

I started by building the front mount for the Vickers gun. The plan doesn't show how to do this (not a problem) so I just glued in a piece of spruce across the fuselage. I used spruce as I will also use it as a mount for the on board glow battery.

Once the glue had set I made up the vertical wooden support with a small piece of brass epoxied into the top.

Next I cut a slit in the underside of the gun and then put a 3mm machine screw through.

Here's the result.

The next job is to make up and fit the pilots screen. I made a start by making the frame out of thin ply as shown on the plan.

It took me a few hours to make the frame and it still needs cleaning up and staining. so that's as far as I got today.

Tomorrow, hopefully I'll get the screen finished and fitted then move on to detailing and painting the gun.

Clive

I started today by making up the two brackets that hold the screen to the back of the Vickers gun. I made them from thin aluminium from an old florescent light reflector. I used four 8ba screws and nuts to hold the brackets to the frame.

Clive

Once I'd mounted the basic frame on the gun I cut the outer rim from thin ply and added this to the frame using cyno glue. The rim is there to take the leather covered crash cushion (tomorrows job). The very small piece of ply on the inside of the main rim is there to give the joint a bit more strength.

Clive

Finally for today I painted the whole thing satin black and fixed the glazing in place. The white substance you can see in the last image is canopy glue to hold the glazing. Once dry overnight this will go clear (at least that's what it says on the bottle ). I also started some detailing on the gun by cutting the trigger mechanism and re fixing it at the correct angle and I also cut off the plastic grip and replaced it with a balsa one which  then stained.

Clive

That's some patience you have there Clive and as always looking very good.

Chilton DW1a. I love this scheme so will probably do this one. Kit should be here in 3 weeks

(Attachment Link)

YAY Chilton'o'clock....... This is 30% on an MVVS26

]

I like the Chilton Stueysheep (or should I call you Stuart?) What does it weigh? and does the 26cc MVVS drag it around OK?

Clive

That's some patience you have there Clive

Thanks Shaun.

OK, first job of the day was to check that the canopy glue that I used to fix the glazing into the screen had dried clear - and it did .


Next up was the fitting of the leather surround.

To achieve the correct rounded shape I used the insulation from some cable which I split along end to end with a scalpel blade, removed the cable and pushed it over the edge of the ply. Here's the result

Clive

The next job was to cover it with leather.

I use some imitation stuff that I get from the local dress making store. The problem with this is that when you cut it it leaves the edge white so I needed to colour it in. A quick raid on my daughters art box (shhh don't tell her ) and I found an exact match .

Clive

Hi Clive,
I've been following your build from the start and congratulate you on your superlative craftsmanship. It really is of top quality and should probably be in the Science Museum in a display cabinet. Sometime, when I have about three years to spare, I want to have a go at a Mick Reeves 1/4 scale Camel and seeing your work on the Strutter is an inspiration.
At present, I am working on a 1/4 DB Pup, but it will only make 'stand way off' standard, but it is a good way to practice with techniques and details for future projects.
I have been watching your progress with the gun mounting and the screen attached and will try to do something similar with my Pup. Will you be able to post some details of the method of padding of the screen surround? Also any method you use to get a good finish on the Vickers gun.
I will eagerly await to see your future progress.
All the best and congratulations on a fantastic job.
Regards,
Tentpeg.

I then used contact adhesive to fix it in place being very careful not to get any glue on the screen.

When I did some reserch, I noticed that there were three different ways of holding the leather in place on the full size. Some are fixed with button head nails (like on a Victorian seat) some were just glued in place and others had a cord pulled all the way around.

I choose the last option, just because I had the correct colour and size cord in stock and also because I think it adds interest.

The final job for the day was to paint the gun gunmetal black. I mixed this up from two different shades. I started with standard gunmetal which is along way towards being silver and added matt black till I got a shade that looked like the real thing at Old Warden.

The colour doesn't show up well with flash so I took some shots without flash so they are a bit fuzzy.

Clive

Will you be able to post some details of the method of padding of the screen surround? Also any method you use to get a good finish on the Vickers gun.

Tentpeg.

Many thanks for the very kind comments The info on the method of padding is a couple of posts back. I think we "crossed in the mail" so to speak but let me know if I haven't made it clear and I will attempt to shed more light 

Clive

Many thanks for the explanation.
The end product is very convincing.
Regards,
Tentpeg. 

Also any method you use to get a good finish on the Vickers gun.

Sorry Tentpeg, I missed answering the last part of your question re finishing the gun.

Basically it's just the same as building the small plastic kits (Airfix, Revell etc) of which I built hundreds in my youth.

Use liquid poly (sparingly) to put it together then file down and fill the joins. Then paint it a suitable shade of dark grey / black to simulate the colour of gun metal. Most of the enamel paint manufactures have gun metal in there paint range. Make the finish fairly flat, I get this by mixing matt black with silver gun metal (Humbrol enamels) and brush it on (spraying makes it look to smooth IMO).

I tend to try and get a finish that's not to uniform. Remember the gun was stuck out front in all weather, got coated in castor oil from the engine not to mention the waste material  that came out the barrel when it was fired! (unless you want an ex works finish of course)

Just my way of doing it, I guess others will have there own methods.

Hope that's of use. Let me know if anything is unclear.

Clive
 

I haven't made much progress today but what I did get done was to cut and fit the hard wood to the top of the longaron at the front that takes the small screws that retain the aluminium side and top panels. I also cut and fitted all of the balsa glueing strips to the longerons that give more surface area for the top ply decking around the cockpit and behind the gunners position.

Clive

In the kit, the top ply decking is supplied. Unfortunately the larger of the two in my kit is to short. So this has held me up for today. Tomorrow I will take a trip to the local model shop (14 miles away) and buy some more thin ply and cut a new one.

PS sorry about the blurred shot.

Clive

Tomorrow I'm also going to spend some time getting ready for a possible flying session on Thursday so I need to do a start of season "service" on my BE2e and Chipmunk.

Clive

One of the many delights of this whole forum is the diversity of fabulous photographs of quite brilliant models. I've just set the BE2 photo as my desktop background 

Hi Paul,

Your very welcome, Here are some more for you, you can set them up as a slide show on your desk top They were all taken on the third flight of the day, I did the maiden and second flight then got a mate to fly her so I could get the photos.

Clive

Very nice Clive, love all that rigging 

Steve