Darius at Home Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Finally started!!! The fuslage is very large - about 39 inches or 1 metre long - and so I cut it into thirds to make it manageable. I started with the forward fuselage halves using the traditional sanding method. Using photos and drawings as a gude I made the cockpit floor and bulkheads using thick cardboard - a cheaper alternative to heavy gauge plasticard. Finer details will be added later using plasticard stock etc. Darius
Darius at Home Posted June 14, 2009 Author Posted June 14, 2009 (edited) Made the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer and navigator seats from plastic card (vac-form offcuts plus some thin card stock). The yoke shafts were laminated from plasti card and thin wire used for the yokes themselves. Separate cushions and armrests will be made from card and painted before being added. Darius Edited June 14, 2009 by Darius at Home
regulus Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I believe at one time, it was the largest 1/48 vacuform model kit ever produced. Will be following this project closely; it certainly offers a huge canvas for (several) bare-metal finishing techniques. And pardon Anthony's attire in the image above.
ollieholmes Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I believe at one time, it was the largest 1/48 vacuform model kit ever produced. Whats the largest kit then? I seen to remember reading somewhere someone made a Spruce Goose but i cant remember what scale that was.
Toe Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Amazing already, will join the build soon (I hope!) but won't be able to hold a candle against your work, even at this early stage, is there a emoticon for jealousy?!!
Spazman Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 Neat project Darius! I will certainly be watching your build!! Re: the Spruce Goose. It's 1/72, but don't let the scale fool you! I held my BV 222 fuselage up to the Goose fuselage and it's only about a third of the size, if that! Can't wait to see some more progress Darius. I've always liked the Cargomaster! Ted
Spad57 Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 Darius, Man that thing is HUGE,you're going to need a special hanger for it.Excellent work my friend. Regards, Gregory Jouette
Darius at Home Posted June 20, 2009 Author Posted June 20, 2009 More progress on the cockpit today. I painted the interior using Humbrol enamels and added plastic card cushions and headrests to the seats. I cheated on the instrument panels by using reduced images of photos of the actual panels printed onto paper. Not as good as photoetch but probably OK given the limited view into the cockpit once all is closed in. Darius
Darius at Home Posted June 21, 2009 Author Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) I worked on the central fuselage today, cutting out the main gear doors from the sponsons and boxing out the main gear wells using thick cardboard stock. I detailed the fuselage centre interior using more card stock and plastic card. The plan is to make a box above this that will hold the wing spars and have the wings removeable for storage!!! The sponson gear "boxes" are a snug fit to the central interior rather than glued so as to allow fine adjustment of the fit to each sponson when the fuselage halves are eventually joined together. Darius Edited June 22, 2009 by Darius at Home
Darius at Home Posted June 22, 2009 Author Posted June 22, 2009 Starboard fuselage windows marked, drilled and opened up with small files. Following the example of some recent 1:48 helicopter kits I decied to add interior ribbing/stringer detail by making seperate lining sheets. Plasticard strip stringers were cemented to a thin sheet of plastic that was cut to fit the starboard interior forward of the wing. Plasticard strips were cemented to the fuleage interior to which the lining would be cemented. The interior lining was cemented in place and then thicker plasticard ribs were cemented in place. Seems to have worked out OK. Darius
Spad57 Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 Darius, Fanstastic built to date.Your scratch building efforts are truely impressive. Regards, Gregory Jouette
JosephLalor Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 That's a mighty project, Darius. I shall follow this with interest, given that I have the Welsh Models vacform. I doubt I'll go as far as fitting out its interior. Best of luck. Joseph
Mike Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 I like the ribbing there Darius... I'm using a similar technique for riveting on a master I'm doing at the moment
Darius at Home Posted June 28, 2009 Author Posted June 28, 2009 Work recommenced today with the sanding down of the rear starboard fuselage and its attachment to the rest of the fuselage. I marked the positions of the rear cargo door/ramp and cut them out. This is going to be a C-133A, the B-model had side opening clamshell rear doors. The interior stringers and ribbing were made as per the rest of the fuselage. This is much easier than applying them directly to the inside of the fuselage. Darius
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted June 29, 2009 Posted June 29, 2009 That is great work Darius. I was wondering how much of it would be seen, but withthe ramp open you should see a bit. I am working on the Anigrand 1/72 C-17 and planned a similar route to add interior detail to that kit. Your effort looks very effective so it looks like I will follow your lead and go down that path.
Howard of Effingham Posted June 29, 2009 Posted June 29, 2009 that ribbing is... well you must have LOTS of patience! hmm, hope to see this one for real when it is done.
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