World War II: Japan
Aircraft of Japan in WWII.
Hosted by Rowan Baylis
1/48 Hasegawa Ki 43 Hayabusa build
rdt1953
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 06:48 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Richard,
I've used the Squadron Falcon canopies from time to time and as you've seen, they're on the soft side. The Rob Taurus vac canopy looks absolutely perfect.

Joel



Joel - I think the Rob Taurus is the way to go . Thanks to your tip on filling with BluTac in my vac canopies post I made a good job of it first time around . I may experiment with the Squadron units by filling with Durhams' Water Putty as a really rigid base for cutting.
Richard
Joel_W
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 06:54 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Richard,
I've used the Squadron Falcon canopies from time to time and as you've seen, they're on the soft side. The Rob Taurus vac canopy looks absolutely perfect.

Joel



Joel - I think the Rob Taurus is the way to go . Thanks to your tip on filling with BluTac in my vac canopies post I made a good job of it first time around . I may experiment with the Squadron units by filling with Durhams' Water Putty as a really rigid base for cutting.
Richard



Richard,
How will you keep the putty from sticking to the canopy?
Joel
rdt1953
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 06:56 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I just started getting the Rob Taurus canopies . And the are far better then what squadron has . Looking forward on seeing this turns out .




Terri



Terri - Thanks for looking in - I think the Rob Taurus Canopy is the way to go.
Do you mind me asking where you get yours ? I sourced mine on e bay but they had to come across the pond from England . Very reasonable shipping and great service though all things considered.
Cheers ! Richard
rdt1953
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 07:03 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Richard,
I've used the Squadron Falcon canopies from time to time and as you've seen, they're on the soft side. The Rob Taurus vac canopy looks absolutely perfect.

Joel



Joel - I think the Rob Taurus is the way to go . Thanks to your tip on filling with BluTac in my vac canopies post I made a good job of it first time around . I may experiment with the Squadron units by filling with Durhams' Water Putty as a really rigid base for cutting.
Richard



Richard,
How will you keep the putty from sticking to the canopy?
Joel



Joel - It never sticks to the plastic containers I mix it in . The possibility of damage to the canopy exists of course but as I have three more of the Squadron units it's worth a shot - I'll post the results when I try it.
Richard
thegirl
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 07:47 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

I just started getting the Rob Taurus canopies . And the are far better then what squadron has . Looking forward on seeing this turns out .




Terri



Terri - Thanks for looking in - I think the Rob Taurus Canopy is the way to go.
Do you mind me asking where you get yours ? I sourced mine on e bay but they had to come across the pond from England . Very reasonable shipping and great service though all things considered.
Cheers ! Richard




Hi Chris , I get arcoss the pond as well . Canadian hobby shops suck , no seems to carry aftermarket so I have to get all form over seas . I do 90% of my buying from Hannants
pnance26
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 09:49 PM UTC
Richard,

I am a formerly car guy then built my first armor diorama last year and now venturing into an aircraft diorama.

Your skills are amazing and your ability to correct flaws with machining are to be envied.

I will be keeping an eye on this as it seems pretty amazing to know so much about so many aircraft!

Pleased to make your acquaintance!
rdt1953
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Posted: Thursday, January 26, 2017 - 12:16 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Richard,

I am a formerly car guy then built my first armor diorama last year and now venturing into an aircraft diorama.

Your skills are amazing and your ability to correct flaws with machining are to be envied.

I will be keeping an eye on this as it seems pretty amazing to know so much about so many aircraft!

Pleased to make your acquaintance!



Patrick - Likewise! Welcome aboard! Richard
rdt1953
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Posted: Saturday, February 04, 2017 - 04:51 AM UTC
I've been inching forward with the oil cooler. This is a very prominent
" in-your-face" feature in the cowl opening and so I wanted to try and improve upon the molded plastic kit part.

Here is what we're after-



I bought a spool of 30 ga. magnet wire . It came with a laquer or enamel insulation coating that had to be stripped off. A soak in brake fluid then acetone then fine steel wool did the trick. When stripped the wire measured .009 " - this scales out to be 7/16 ' in 1/48 so probably a little large but I could not find any smaller without breaking the bank so I hope it will do.
The Ki -43 -I cooler has 3 concentric rings while the - II Kou has 4.
I began by measuring the O.D. and I.D of the kit part and then turned three mandrels out of aluminum rod to produce three rings of wound copper wire - one each to match the O.D. and I.D. of the kit part after allowing .018" for the wire and one to produce a ring centered
equidistant between the outer and inner ring.





A small amount of flux was brushed on the wire and solder was drawn across a file and the filings then brushed on to the wire-



then torched -



Here are the three mandrels and the three rings - I had to bore out the ends of the mandrels because in their solid state they had too much thermal mass and were acting like a heat sink preventing the copper from getting hot enough - suffice it to say that I had a few bond failures before I figured this out !



The prototype cooler rings are sweated together radialy with webs at 22.5 degree intervals with brass junction blocks 180 degrees apart at the top and bottom - As these engines are dry sump I believe the oil feeds into the cooler from the sump at the bottom of the crankcase and then circulates through the cooler before returning to the oil tank from the top juntion block.

Joining the three rings I have made and keeping them concentric is going to be the difficult part I believe . I have turned up an aluminum hub and marked out the divisions for the spacers using the rotary table. I hope to saw slits through these divisions to hold drawn copper wire for the spacers and two brass pieces to represent the junction blocks. I did some testing with my different solders and I believe the electronics solder has a sufficiently lower melting temp so the soldered rings won't be affected-
Fingers crossed !

Here is the hub being marked out -



and here we have the mandrels, hub, the rings placed together concentrically and the kit plastic cooler -



More to follow and wish me luck - a lot of potential for heartache here !

Thanks for looking and as always, ALL input welcome !

Cheers - Richard
c4willy
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Posted: Saturday, February 04, 2017 - 11:29 AM UTC
Well that's just stunning work Richard. And I envy your lathe and mill arrangement, I've been thinking about investing in a 3D printer as I believe I can manufacture a good many parts that I couldn't fabricate easily myself. However the price tag has rendered it out of reach for now. But they're slowly reducing and one it shall be mine! I hadn't realised just what the structure of the oil cooler was till I saw that pic, the kit part gives it a solid look.
Antilles
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Posted: Saturday, February 04, 2017 - 02:40 PM UTC
Wow, this really awesome! I will not wonder if Your plane really flies. Great Skill!

Oliver
Joel_W
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Posted: Sunday, February 05, 2017 - 12:11 AM UTC
Richard,
for some reason the notification option here on Aeroscale works for some threads and not other threads for me, you're in the not working group so I check almost daily as my schedule permits.

I'm amazed, speechless, in complete awe & shock at your talent scratching out those turned parts as a base for the those concentric cooling copper grills. That my friend is IPMS world class stuff

Now being a mere mortal, with no miniature modeling machines, I'd have taken the easy way out and using a UMM scriber, deepened the spaces between each of the coil rows at least enough so that a black wash would prevent the viewer from seeing the bottom of the recess, and thus creating a false impression of completely separate copper tubing rings.

Keep it coming Richard.

Joel
rdt1953
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Posted: Sunday, February 05, 2017 - 04:29 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Well that's just stunning work Richard. And I envy your lathe and mill arrangement, I've been thinking about investing in a 3D printer as I believe I can manufacture a good many parts that I couldn't fabricate easily myself. However the price tag has rendered it out of reach for now. But they're slowly reducing and one it shall be mine! I hadn't realised just what the structure of the oil cooler was till I saw that pic, the kit part gives it a solid look.



Chris - thanks for looking and the kind words - the 3D printing thing is amazing-
It is going to eliminate drafting , pattern making , casting and machining in the industrial world - maybe in my lifetime. I'm particularly impressed by the figures - I wish ReedOak would do some Japanese WW II stuff - I've been watching your builds as well - Great stuff !
Cheers - Richard
rdt1953
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Posted: Sunday, February 05, 2017 - 04:32 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Wow, this really awesome! I will not wonder if Your plane really flies. Great Skill!

Oliver



Thanks Oliver ! I like your Mohawk as well !

Richard
rdt1953
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Posted: Sunday, February 05, 2017 - 04:39 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Richard,
for some reason the notification option here on Aeroscale works for some threads and not other threads for me, you're in the not working group so I check almost daily as my schedule permits.

I'm amazed, speechless, in complete awe & shock at your talent scratching out those turned parts as a base for the those concentric cooling copper grills. That my friend is IPMS world class stuff

Now being a mere mortal, with no miniature modeling machines, I'd have taken the easy way out and using a UMM scriber, deepened the spaces between each of the coil rows at least enough so that a black wash would prevent the viewer from seeing the bottom of the recess, and thus creating a false impression of completely separate copper tubing rings.

Keep it coming Richard.

Joel


Joel-
Thanks for looking in and the flattery- I thought of doing exactly as you described with the kit part- even considered turning it down and adding copper to the inside and outside - could still come to that as I'm not out of the woods yet with the joining of the rings - we'll see. Countdown to Mosquitocon- 2 Mos ? Looking forward to it !
Richard
Joel_W
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Posted: Sunday, February 05, 2017 - 09:15 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Richard,
for some reason the notification option here on Aeroscale works for some threads and not other threads for me, you're in the not working group so I check almost daily as my schedule permits.

I'm amazed, speechless, in complete awe & shock at your talent scratching out those turned parts as a base for the those concentric cooling copper grills. That my friend is IPMS world class stuff

Now being a mere mortal, with no miniature modeling machines, I'd have taken the easy way out and using a UMM scriber, deepened the spaces between each of the coil rows at least enough so that a black wash would prevent the viewer from seeing the bottom of the recess, and thus creating a false impression of completely separate copper tubing rings.

Keep it coming Richard.

Joel


Joel-
Thanks for looking in and the flattery- I thought of doing exactly as you described with the kit part- even considered turning it down and adding copper to the inside and outside - could still come to that as I'm not out of the woods yet with the joining of the rings - we'll see. Countdown to Mosquitocon- 2 Mos ? Looking forward to it !
Richard



Richard,
I'm also looking forward to the Mosquito com and meeting you and Brian. I had hoped to have the Wildcat done by then, but it's looking like a no for it.

Joel
rdt1953
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Posted: Thursday, February 09, 2017 - 06:43 AM UTC
Just a quickie here -

A little more progress on the oil cooler -

here is the start of one of the two junction blocks - three notches sawn into a piece of brass strip to straddle the three copper rings -



and here are the rings in the hub fixture with the copper wire spacers and the junction blocks all dry fitted -



this will now be disassembled and fastidiously cleaned, tiny amounts of flux and solder dust applied at the joins as it is reassembled and after a few pleas and sacrifices to the modeling gods sweated together with the torch - gulp !

Thanks for looking in ! Richard
Scrodes
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Posted: Thursday, February 09, 2017 - 06:49 AM UTC
Wow, really cool fabrication.
c4willy
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Posted: Thursday, February 09, 2017 - 06:52 AM UTC
Awesome work Richard it'll look simply stunning when completed! It'll lift the look of the whole model.
Joel_W
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Posted: Thursday, February 09, 2017 - 08:52 PM UTC
Richard,
I'm just speechless at your scratch building with copper.

Joel
rdt1953
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Posted: Friday, February 10, 2017 - 01:57 AM UTC
Matt , Chris & Joel -

Thanks Gents !

Richard
thegirl
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Posted: Friday, February 10, 2017 - 05:06 AM UTC
Truly amazing what a guy can do with a few tools at hand .
Looking forward to the next phase , most excellent far !



Terri
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Posted: Friday, February 10, 2017 - 05:46 AM UTC
No freakin' way! Metal cooler rings!

This is incredible work!

What Joel said! I'm amazed, speechless, in complete awe & shock at your talent.
rdt1953
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Posted: Friday, February 10, 2017 - 10:15 PM UTC
Terri & Frederick -

Thank you both for the compliments !

Happy modeling to you both -Richard
rdt1953
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Posted: Friday, February 10, 2017 - 10:28 PM UTC
The soldering was successful for the most part - one spacer at the 5 o'clock position did not take but fortunately this is one of the mounting clamp locations so it will be covered.





here is the engine dry fitted with the kit part-



and a couple of shots with the scratch cooler dry fitted -





The mounting pegs on the crankcase front will need to be trimmed to allow the new cooler to sit properly. I also elected to leave out the remaining webs because I felt it would be too difficult to make them fine enough and I didn't want to spoil the airy look of the new cooler.

Thanks for looking - Richard
Joel_W
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Posted: Friday, February 10, 2017 - 11:08 PM UTC
Ricard,
Your fabrication is at a skill level beyond what the rest of us can possibly comprehend. Needless to say the oil cooler placed on the engine looks a million times better then the plastic cast part. Well done my friend, very well done.

Joel