Jolley Roger

Agreed!🙂

Agreed!🙂

Another short stabilizer update...
 
The left one seems to have gone down ok....

You can see where it split around the trim tab actuator but that's an easy touch up....
 
I went ahead and put on the right side....

Still has to finish drying but it looks like it is conforming to the surface fine, you can also see where they got the angle a slight bit off, not worth screwing with...
 
They have gone down fine, I don't know what the problem with the fuselage main stripe was but it doesn't look like it's effecting the rest of the sheet.... (which is good, the stars and bars are pre-cut for the speed brakes, I sure would hate losing those... I would have to cut the Print-Scale ones manually, ouch)
 
So, what I'm going to do is continue to put the rest of them on except for those that have to go over the stripe... They will have to wait for painting....

Short update..
 
The second largest decal the left side vertical stabilizer decal.... 

Waiting for it to shrink from the Micro Sol.... Seems like it went on ok.... When it dries completely, I'll do the right side and see what I get...

Thanks Jav!!!
 
This afternoon, the sun came out.... So I took the wing out to back porch to get some natural sunlight shots to confirm what I think I have...
 
Direct reflection...

Now she should start turning bluish silver as the aspect changes....


I think I've found the secret to doing this finish.... That is perfect coloration which changes as the light conditions and angle changes....
 
YAY TEAM!!!!
 
When I do the fuselage I will spell out the steps to getting this effect...
 
It looks even more stunning in real life.... Looks real...
 
I'm pleased with it....

Second RnB coat applied to the upper wing surfaces....

Looks good from here, consistent aluminum sheen with slightly darker splotches in streaks, I can't wait to get this out in some real sunshine...
 
With high flash to show the reflectivity....

The slightly darker streaks wash out in heavy light... It literally glows!!!  Yea Team! that is exactly the effect I was looking for....
 
Real sunlight will tell the tale.... Got to get the second coat on the bottom and then on to the fuselage and empennages....
 
I think it's going to turn out nice..

This was an all metal bird as you well know, and flying surfaces were built out of the same stuff they sheeted the fuselage and wings with, .030 T-80 aluminum... So the flying surfaces are the same color as the main structures... The only places they used a different material was the gun ports which were made of a stainless steel casting and functioned as the the barrel end support to keep them from vibrating around when fired... It had to be stout, and at the tail they had a 16 gauge pressed steel ring connected to the main longerons to act as a tailpipe support... Since it made direct physical contact to the engine tailpipe and frame of the aircraft it had to be stronger and able to withstand the heat transfer from the tailpipe... 
 
I will be using pewter coloration for both as in certain light conditions you don't notice them but in others they stand out like neon signs... So I'm going for a little show without overpowering the aluminum surrounding them...
 
The look I'm going for....

They both show on the outside of the aircraft and were polished like the aluminum was... the only place we get heat discoloration is the inside of the tailpipe fairing itself, it took on that blackish brown heat cycle color, but you will hardly see it as the kit provides the red FOD cover for the exhaust as well as the nose... All you will see is a little brownish ring on the inside under the tail for the exhaust...
 
They were very clean aircraft, and they took pride in keeping them that way...

Tamiya Thin Grey...  it's the best thin primer available...
 
Something else, she is now dry, and very reflective... I saw something I didn't see when she was in bare plastic....
 

Talk about detail? look at those wing panels and the subtle details that come out when shiny!!! Astounding!

You don't see that while working in bare plastic during building.... I can see why the old reviews rave about this kit now, it was called a revolution in molding tech......
 
I was wondering what made this kit so special in their eyes, I can see why now...

Ammo Bay installed....
 
Hole cut..

Installed....

Now the door doesn't fit perfectly, it's a few tenths of a mm off, but that was expected.... Besides it will be open functioning as the initial step into the aircraft and no one will see it...
 
That went a lot easier than I though it was going to....
 
Almost ready to assemble the fuselage....
 
Onwards....
 
 

All the best with the upcoming procedure Egilman.
Absolute stunning work, don't think I have ever seen anybody in the aircraft modelling community do something similar, so looking forward to the printed prototype.
If you ever make this available to buy, i'm first in line🙂, i've got a Wolfpack F-86(basically a reboxed Kinetic) in the stash and a proper engine will make it so much better!

Ok brothers... About ready to get back at this... With some sad news...

As predicted, the resin frame isn't strong enough to hold the weight of the engine...
 
That's only five days sitting on the shelf...
 
I'm gonna have to either scratch build it and figure out a way to reinforce the frame, or a different stand... Probably a 1/8th plastic tube with a 1/16th brass rod inside..
 
Didn't even make it a week... Anyway, still need a few days recuperation, but I'll be getting back to it either this or the airframe in the near future...
 
Thanks for following and the likes...
 
More later
 
EG

Yesterday I stumbled across a card model site that is new to me, called Kartonowki. As the name suggests, it's a Polish site, and there is no option for viewing it in English (unless your web browser can do so). I have always said that the Poles must have a gene that makes them natural-born card model masters, and this site's gallery (nearly 5000 entries) supports my theory. Check it out if you have time -- you'll be amazed!

And an update....
 
When I last updated I had just finished the forward mount and managed to get it to stay up holding the forward compressor frame long enough to get a shot...

Since I have finished the aft mount with the Aft Compressor Frame mounted, it's a bit more secure than the forward one is....

Next step was to get everything glued and painted up and see how it all works together....
 
I'll let the images speak for themselves.... Now on to detailing the engine...
 
EG

I think your selling yourself short Lou, trust me if I can do this anyone can... It's just copying pictures and drawings onto a screen and having the software turn them into 3D... it really is just that simple... I mean the software takes a bit to learn but the process, once you understand it, is relatively simple...
 
As far as being a masterpiece? Thank you for the complement, but being a masterpiece remains to be seen, I still have to detail and reprint the engine yet, long way to go and I'm still learning the process... The complements are encouraging, and I thank you and everyone for them, but the final adjudication is yet to be seen...
 
We are getting there, slowly but surely....

Looks fine on a 17" screen blown up. I can't think that it would have any issues holding the engine, (Unless you intend to play with it like I would have done as a kid). In addition most of it would disappear under the engine.
 
In my case, as it appears that I am totally unable to even grasp the computer skills required to 3D print, I would have had to make it from brass tubing, sheet and rod. A skill I do still possess thankfully. But it would have been a cart without an engine as I could never have made the engine! The real masterpiece. Congratulations.

My pleasure my friend... and I've been at this long enough to know there s always a solution or workaround...  Indulge in strong drink? Always...
 
Well I assembled what I have, what do you think? (all opinions are welcome)

The support frames are only placed, not glued yet...
 
It passes, but is not the greatest thing I've done...

Hi Mark, The plan is to build it as a set upon piece, if I glue them together then the supports will have to take all the weight of the engine when it is moved around, by making it a separate piece I can design some tolerance into it so the supports will not have to control the weight of the engine, it will have some give to it...
 
The challenge is the front support, the aft support is already a drop in with a cap on the real thing, the forward one is bolted on angle plates...
The aft is handled by the simple expedient of making a hole through the aft compressor frame centered on the side engine mounts t accept a 1/16th brass rod that will drop into the mounts on the dolly... 
 
Can't do that with the front mount as it would look completely wrong so what I'm thinking is a pin on the plates that will fit into the middle of the mount on the forward compressor frame.. What would result is like a drop in cartridge, angle the forward end down and slip it over the front mount then drop the aft end into it's slot mount... Mechanically it's a sound design, the issue is can it be done in plastic or should I invest in some .015" brass or copper sheet to make the supports... (figuring out how to solder them is going to be a trip) 
 
Anyway still working out the details.... Playing with the resin version right now to see how it's going to look...

And yes the tow bar is moveable although the wheels probably won't rotate and the yoke locked itself in place as soon as I inserted it....
 
This may turn out fairly passable as long as the engine supports are strong enough...
 
Anyway, that is the current direction I'm taking... Engine separate from the dolly.....
 
EG
 
 

As Promised.... The reprint...
 

It came out much better, but still not good...  as can be seen the yoke didn't print well and the forward engine frame didn't either...


The frame isn't warped but has some issues of incomplete printing but on the bottom at the crossmembers where it really won't be seen... I suppose this is right on the edge of printability or I just don't have the experience to know for sure yet... But getting closer... What does successfully print, prints very well, the parts fit together tight and smooth so the printer is dimensionally very accurate.... (allowing a thou or so for clearance in the design, except for the holes, they need to be drilled out to fit the axels)
 
So going forward,
1. I have the tires printed well and are solid so I don't need to scratch them...
2. The yoke will have to be scratched, it just doesn't want to print...
3. I guess the frame is something I'm going to have to decide on, it will depend on if I can get the already built yoke to fit the neck and see if the axel holes survive the drilling out fitting process...

I guess that answers that question...
 
4. The frame supports look good, I'll probably save them and try to fit them to the scratch frame...
5. The engine supports are way too fragile to support the weight of the engine, they will have to be scratch just for the strength alone...
 
But it is nice to see that the printer can support that level of fine detail printing...

Yeah, they aren't the strongest thing when really thin, they do reproduce fine details well, but as a finish thing, not something to be built on... So we adjust the design to incorporate this... I replaced the drawbar in the plastic yoke with the resin one it fits beautifully and the wheel that came out is absolutely gorgeous, so I got the idea of another shot, at least get another couple of wheels out of it since they are so gorgeous....

 
I did another print of the dolly, I think it came out much better... The supports are way to weak to hold the bulk of the engine, but I'm going to try to assemble it anyway as an exemplar of what 3D printing can actually do... (all the parts are there and not deformed) I think it's a good test for comparing the results against my scratch building techniques... It does have to hold a relatively  massive engine even in scale....
 
It's fresh out of the bath and drying right now... Will post in a few when I get the parts cleaned of supports and then after I paint & assemble it... If I don't screw it up, it will validate the design even if it can't support the engine.... Still learning what works here....

Well since I don't have much else I went ahead and redrew a few things and tried to 3D print the Dolly..... It did fail on the plate, but most of it printed...
 
Here is the results....

You can see on the frame where it didn't completely print right where the tube bends towards the hitch.... And of course they are so thin just looking at them causes them to crack... Much less cleaning them... I got one wheel, (the other two were lost before printing finished) the drawbar which should be useable, the rest are not worth saving... the Steering yoke didn't make it past support removal it broke in half...
 
The parts are just too thin for resin and this is uncured resin, imagine what they would be like if they were cured first...
 
Conclusion, scratch building this is the way to go....

Hi Egilman,
Your dolly sure looks the part! Is there any reason why you are not printing it instead of scratching it? Just curious as i'm no expert on 3d printing.
One other thing, as per pic below, I notice there is a 'plate' between the compressor section and the combustion chambers, assume it was to mount the engine correctly in the fuselage?

I can smell Jet-A1 just by looking at that picture🙂

Brilliant!

Fascinating stuff EGM! Hats of to the engineers of the time that laid the foundation for the modern jet engine and to you for educating us. Just love it!

Hi Egilman,
Your dolly sure looks the part! Is there any reason why you are not printing it instead of scratching it? Just curious as i'm no expert on 3d printing.
One other thing, as per pic below, I notice there is a 'plate' between the compressor section and the combustion chambers, assume it was to mount the engine correctly in the fuselage?