Kevin

day 5 bow and stern blanks
 
the bow and stern blanks were put on and allowed to dry
But your on yr own from there on, a couple of photos in the instruction only show which way to fair from, no guides no templates, its totally up to your self how you wanrt to mess it up
so another request would be to provide a simple template in wood or card for bow and stern to be used as a guide
day 6 main deck planking
at this scale i decided against simulating deck joints and nails, and went for straight runs, the .6*5mm sycamore is ok to use and went down ok, i stained it with a medium oak spirit based stain


day 8 bulwarks
the gun port lids are removed , and kept to one side, i was very short of Yellow occre paint from the indy build, and tried several colours, the yellow desert at time of fitting don't seam right
moan time, the forward laser cut bulkheads  need soaking, but why do they make  them so the grain is vertical, yep i snapped one and then became a pain to sort out, the other side went on ok with 5 mins in hot water
also when fitting the after template they line up with the deck tabs, where as the forward ones do not and also to long by about 5mm which means the bowsprit opening is overlapped,, easy to sort though
 

 
 

I can now look at assembling some of this heavy metal, as well as looking at how it'll be powered and displayed.
 
A substantial electric motor is hidden in plain view on this model, in the ancillary equipment which sits on the outside of the low pressure housing. Here you see the motor being fitted into that. You'll see the gearing too. I do pack this out with some model grease which isn't shown in the photos as it's fairly gunky.
 








One thing that doesn't need to be assembled is the control unit. This is a self-contained unit which has a shiny button on the left for engine sound, and a toggle on the right for simple engine on/off. In the middle is the working throttle. This is connected to the unit I just built to test that all is working. I left this for a minute or two to properly bed in.

The engine test cradle is now put together and the control unit bolted into position.




 
The engine needs to be built up before it can be mounted. The forward low pressure rings are now bolted together with a mix of both locking nuts and regular nuts with thread-lock applied.

 
 
Enter the large low pressure fan I built at the beginning. This is now slid into position and a high pressure rotor bolted into place from the rear.


 
More rotors now slid into position.


 
 
The electric motor needs to have a gearing system in place which turns the rotation through 90 degrees towards the main fan shaft. This little unit is now built and greased and then inserted into the intermediate green casing which will be seen in the next and last update.


...to be continued.

day 5 bow and stern blanks
 
the bow and stern blanks were put on and allowed to dry
But your on yr own from there on, a couple of photos in the instruction only show which way to fair from, no guides no templates, its totally up to your self how you wanrt to mess it up
so another request would be to provide a simple template in wood or card for bow and stern to be used as a guide
day 6 main deck planking
at this scale i decided against simulating deck joints and nails, and went for straight runs, the .6*5mm sycamore is ok to use and went down ok, i stained it with a medium oak spirit based stain


day 8 bulwarks
the gun port lids are removed , and kept to one side, i was very short of Yellow occre paint from the indy build, and tried several colours, the yellow desert at time of fitting don't seam right
moan time, the forward laser cut bulkheads  need soaking, but why do they make  them so the grain is vertical, yep i snapped one and then became a pain to sort out, the other side went on ok with 5 mins in hot water
also when fitting the after template they line up with the deck tabs, where as the forward ones do not and also to long by about 5mm which means the bowsprit opening is overlapped,, easy to sort though
 

 
 

day 5 bow and stern blanks
 
the bow and stern blanks were put on and allowed to dry
But your on yr own from there on, a couple of photos in the instruction only show which way to fair from, no guides no templates, its totally up to your self how you wanrt to mess it up
so another request would be to provide a simple template in wood or card for bow and stern to be used as a guide
day 6 main deck planking
at this scale i decided against simulating deck joints and nails, and went for straight runs, the .6*5mm sycamore is ok to use and went down ok, i stained it with a medium oak spirit based stain


day 8 bulwarks
the gun port lids are removed , and kept to one side, i was very short of Yellow occre paint from the indy build, and tried several colours, the yellow desert at time of fitting don't seam right
moan time, the forward laser cut bulkheads  need soaking, but why do they make  them so the grain is vertical, yep i snapped one and then became a pain to sort out, the other side went on ok with 5 mins in hot water
also when fitting the after template they line up with the deck tabs, where as the forward ones do not and also to long by about 5mm which means the bowsprit opening is overlapped,, easy to sort though
 

 
 

day 5 bow and stern blanks
 
the bow and stern blanks were put on and allowed to dry
But your on yr own from there on, a couple of photos in the instruction only show which way to fair from, no guides no templates, its totally up to your self how you wanrt to mess it up
so another request would be to provide a simple template in wood or card for bow and stern to be used as a guide
day 6 main deck planking
at this scale i decided against simulating deck joints and nails, and went for straight runs, the .6*5mm sycamore is ok to use and went down ok, i stained it with a medium oak spirit based stain


day 8 bulwarks
the gun port lids are removed , and kept to one side, i was very short of Yellow occre paint from the indy build, and tried several colours, the yellow desert at time of fitting don't seam right
moan time, the forward laser cut bulkheads  need soaking, but why do they make  them so the grain is vertical, yep i snapped one and then became a pain to sort out, the other side went on ok with 5 mins in hot water
also when fitting the after template they line up with the deck tabs, where as the forward ones do not and also to long by about 5mm which means the bowsprit opening is overlapped,, easy to sort though
 

 
 

day 5 bow and stern blanks
 
the bow and stern blanks were put on and allowed to dry
But your on yr own from there on, a couple of photos in the instruction only show which way to fair from, no guides no templates, its totally up to your self how you wanrt to mess it up
so another request would be to provide a simple template in wood or card for bow and stern to be used as a guide
day 6 main deck planking
at this scale i decided against simulating deck joints and nails, and went for straight runs, the .6*5mm sycamore is ok to use and went down ok, i stained it with a medium oak spirit based stain


day 8 bulwarks
the gun port lids are removed , and kept to one side, i was very short of Yellow occre paint from the indy build, and tried several colours, the yellow desert at time of fitting don't seam right
moan time, the forward laser cut bulkheads  need soaking, but why do they make  them so the grain is vertical, yep i snapped one and then became a pain to sort out, the other side went on ok with 5 mins in hot water
also when fitting the after template they line up with the deck tabs, where as the forward ones do not and also to long by about 5mm which means the bowsprit opening is overlapped,, easy to sort though
 

 
 

day 5 bow and stern blanks
 
the bow and stern blanks were put on and allowed to dry
But your on yr own from there on, a couple of photos in the instruction only show which way to fair from, no guides no templates, its totally up to your self how you wanrt to mess it up
so another request would be to provide a simple template in wood or card for bow and stern to be used as a guide
day 6 main deck planking
at this scale i decided against simulating deck joints and nails, and went for straight runs, the .6*5mm sycamore is ok to use and went down ok, i stained it with a medium oak spirit based stain


day 8 bulwarks
the gun port lids are removed , and kept to one side, i was very short of Yellow occre paint from the indy build, and tried several colours, the yellow desert at time of fitting don't seam right
moan time, the forward laser cut bulkheads  need soaking, but why do they make  them so the grain is vertical, yep i snapped one and then became a pain to sort out, the other side went on ok with 5 mins in hot water
also when fitting the after template they line up with the deck tabs, where as the forward ones do not and also to long by about 5mm which means the bowsprit opening is overlapped,, easy to sort though
 

 
 

i need one under my backside to get some projects moving, great review @James H

Assembling the high pressure compressor
The previous two assemblies cab now be fitted together. Whilst one of these rotates within the other, there's no need to add any lubrication as the centre assembly will rotate on the main drive shaft and is clear of the outside casing. 
 

Combustion chamber
The first assembly also has a cutaway window so the modeller can see the interior parts while the engine is running. 




A few small external details are now added to the completed chamber, namely the fuel branch pipes and distribution ring. 

 
High pressure turbine rotor
You'll start to see a pattern of seemingly similar items being built. The assembly of these is very, very similar, even if the completed units are physically different. 






 
 
Low pressure turbine case
As before, this has another viewing window and there are more stator blade elements that sit within. These are held in place by a black ring which sits atop them and is secured by four screws from the outside of the casing.


 
 
The various stator parts can now be fitted in conjunction with the rotary units

 
Now a large section of the case is fitted onto this unit, trapping the rotors and stators within. All of these circular assemblies are first secured with a small number of bolts and locking nuts. When everything is guaranteed to be central, the remainder of the bolts are fitted with regular nuts. Again, all are thread-locked.

 
 
This unit is now fitted out with cooling pipes and their connection units. Extra clips are fitted over these which hold the pipes into the correct position to each other. The pipes are also numbered so you get them in the correct sequence, starting with the largest diameter ones. As with much of this engine, this assembly is quite heavy.


 
....to be continued.

the comments with regards to camber and copper ta[e/tiles is just my opinion,

i need one under my backside to get some projects moving, great review @James H

Work begins!
 
Fan and main shaft
We are immediately thrown into the main event on this kit, namely the engine's driveshaft and the intake fan (first low pressure rotor). The driveshaft is first bolted to the fan drum. Whilst you see a lock washer here, I have used thread-lock throughout this build to protect bolts from rotating parts, coming adrift, and also static bolts which could be affected by vibration. Oil bearings are lightly oiled and modelling grease compound has been added where appropriate. 
 



 
 
All of the fan blades are perfectly created so they are balanced. You'd have a real problem if the main fan was unbalanced. All of these blades are slotted into the drum. There is a little 'play' in these, as there is in the numerous other fans. This is perfectly normal. 


 
 
The blades are now fixed in situ with these fastenings which sit between the blades and are screwed from the rear of the fan drum. 

 
 
There is still a little unevenness in the position of the last parts, but this is entirely removed when the fan spinner is screwed into place. Note the spiral which is a safety feature of the real thing. 

 
 
This is already a heavy and substantial subassembly. I put this to one side while I worked on the rest, making sure I didn't rest it on its fan blades. 


 
Second Low Pressure Rotor
We all know thatches engines have various high and low pressure rotors/compression, and this assembly is the rotor which will sit to the rear of the main fan. The parts to build this are seen here, with the separate blades. The two turntable parts are first bolted together and then the blades slotted between them in the correct orientation. Finally, a stopper is fitted to complete the turntable and prevent the blades from escaping. 
 
 



 
 
Second stage low pressure rotor
This assembly is built in exactly the same way as the one above. The only difference being the blade angles and the turntable drum shapes. 
 

 
 
First low pressure stator
Whereas the previous assemblies were moving items, this one is static and will sit between the others. This consists of a static low voltage connector ring in which a set of stator blades are slotted into an internal recess in the ring. These seem a little loose until the securing ring is tightened up onto the blades and they form a complete circle which droops from the ring. EngineDIY sent me a set of replacement parts for these as the original ones  and their customer service was super fast. No complaints whatsoever. 



 
 
High Pressure Lower stator Case
We now turn attention to a part of the engine's outer case. This will sit just to the rear of the main fan casing and consists of two nicely machined halves into which clear viewing windows are inserted. Inside these sit two more rows of static stators, seen here in black. These are simply pushed into place and will move about, so it's a case of making sure they stay still until the halves are eventually bolted together.


 
 
High Pressure Rotor
Inside that housing sits a high pressure rotor assembly. This is essentially a set of drums and rotors which are bolted together into a single unit. These are all slotted onto three rods which are then secured at each end of the drum. 




 
....to be continued.

i need one under my backside to get some projects moving, great review @James H

the comments with regards to camber and copper ta[e/tiles is just my opinion,

1/72 - Consolidated PBY-3/4 & 5 Catalina by Wolfpack Design (plastic Academy) - PBY-3 & 5 released - new PBY-4 boxing in February 2024 - The Rumourmonger - Britmodeller.com

i need one under my backside to get some projects moving, great review @James H

Time for another update as I'm finally finishing that manifold area, something I hadn't even thought possible apart from the very start of this model. 
 
I was waiting for yellow paint to arrive, so I continued with the dreaded last line on the booster-heater system. The line ran below the rest, then came up, turned over to finally arrive at the discharge. Quite a puzzle of mounting, fitting, adjusting etc. 

 
Then the yellow paint arrived, so I could finish the vapour lines on the manifold, fix them in place and start working on that last crucial Inert Gas line. 

 
Below was my initially bent pipe, bent around 10 years ago without really having anything else apart from the plan. You can see what I mean with having the distances between the lines symmetrical and having the pipes themselves parallel. This line clearly needed some adjustment, but bending it from one piece and matching all criteria is quite impossible. 

 
After clipping the longitudinal part and adjusting its length:

 
And overview of the manifold. Vapour lines and IG line are also connected to the longitudinal pipes in the pipe rack. 
I left a little distance between the booster system and the High Pressure line, since the High Pressure line is on the hatch, while the booster system is on the vessel. In order to avoid damage, I've noticed that you can't quite make good joints, so leaving a little distance between should prevent some collisions between parts while opening the hatch. The small gap will probably be hardly visible since there will be a piece of catwalk above it after all. 

 
You can also see the instrumentation boxes behind the HP line. It took me a while to line them up as 2 feet are on the vessel, while the box itself is connected to 2 feet on the hatch. 

 
I haven't removed the hatch for quite a while, it's time to do that now since I need to fix the supports of the aft catwalk from the piping downward. I expect some adjustments to be made to avoid collisions during opening/closing of the hatch. 
 
In the last two pics you can also see the shape of the cargo pump upper parts. They'll be covered in the green tarpaulin, like the booster pump motors, so they are just roughly shapes, while the tarp will be glued over them with some small ropes to hold it (like the real thing). I think I'll use a light coloured sewing thread for that. 

i need one under my backside to get some projects moving, great review @James H

i need one under my backside to get some projects moving, great review @James H

1/72 - Consolidated PBY-3/4 & 5 Catalina by Wolfpack Design (plastic Academy) - PBY-3 & 5 released - new PBY-4 boxing in February 2024 - The Rumourmonger - Britmodeller.com

Cheers
 
We need to figure the best way to print them, to minimise breakages when in transit. The sitting figure may have the bottom half attached to the chair.

Changes to figures made, I said keep the epaulettes as they are shown on the source pictures my carver used.

the comments with regards to camber and copper ta[e/tiles is just my opinion,

James she looks fantastic

Thank-you Gil