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Colonel Robert
L. Scott's P-40E "Flying Tiger"; Part Four
by Rodney Williams
Remember Part-3?
Now the secret is out, so lets get on with the oil and water
coolers, plus a few other minor items.
The question is: How big, how long, to many how, how, how!!!
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With
a "cut-away" drawing, one black and white, and one color
photo of the coolers to look at I say to myself......where in
the hell do I begin? I have also inclosed a color photo of the
brackets, which holds the center-line drop tank, and my rough-drawing
of the lower cowl-flaps.
I make the bracket to hold the 3-coolers, and fashion the coolers
from round styrene and aluminum tubing. Screens are attached on
both ends. Once finished, they are inserted into the bracket,
and temporaraly attached to one side of the fuselage. When I placed
on the other half of the fuselage, I can't see anything!
I got the bright idea to glue the front section of the fuselage
together, then cut it off the model. With the section removed,
I cut it in half, on one of the horizontal panel lines. "NOW"
"I can see what I am working on."
I have marked the cut-lines on one of the photos. The rest of
the photos show everything at different angles. Look real good
at the coolers, What's is wrong with them? (If you did not find
it, I'll point it out in Part-5 !)
This close-up photo shows the front of the air-intake for the
oil and water coolers. I have made notes on the photo. I had to
bend the top cover plate so it would match up with the front of
the inlet. No easy job!
The top section of the front fuselage was removed and I installed
a round aluminum tube for the air-intake to the carburator. The
front of the tube was bent to a "more-or-less" oval
shape, so it would fit inside the front opening. I cut a "V"
section out of the back, then bent it to 90 degrees, and super-glued
it together. Why do this you may ask? The inside of the intake
must be painted! When you air-brush into a tube, which has no
rear opening, the air and the paint has no where to go but in
a little ways, then back out. Using this method, one can get a
good paint application, as the air and paint flow through the
tube.
Why the 90degree angle? When you look into the intake, you do
not want to see the firewall.....so the angle solves that problem.
I also painted the inside of the 90 degree section of the tube. |
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photo shows the end results, with the spinner attached. When everything
was finished to my satisfaction, I re-assembled all 4-sections
back together, with "micro-dots" of super-glue. The
front section was temporaraly installed to the rear section of
the fuselage. It fit to perfection!. I removed the front section,
then finished the gluing. |
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I discovered
this trick a long time ago!! On final assembly, say one prop blade
will be pointing down, then mark it, and glue the spinner on in
that position with a dab of white glue. Wait a day or so for the
glue to dry. Start your sanding, and sand down to #600 grit with
wet/dry sandpaper. Don't worry about the water.....most times
it will not disolve the glue. When you are finished, your spinned
will match up perfectly with the front of the fuselage. At times,
my spinner has come loose....just re-glue it and start over. Or!
when you get good at using super-glue, tack it with no more than
4-micro-dots of super glue. To do this, I use a .006" diameter
brass rod. I bend one end into a "U" shape, not to exceed
1/64" wide. "How to remove the spinner." Just tap
the spinner, using your thumb and index finger a couple of times.
You can use your middle finger and thumb if desired !
Never used super glue before...no problem! Attach the spinner
with Future Floor Wax.....wait a couple of days and sand all you
want. The water will not dissolve the Future. Use the thumb/finger
trick above......if that doesn't work.....then apply "Denatured
Alcohol" around the spinner every couple of minutes. It will
come off.
The spinner was removed, and a .010", or maybe a .015"
thick round disk was sliped over the prop shaft, and re-attached
to the front of the fuselage. This disk gives you the seperation
between the spinner and the fuselage. I estimated this seperation
to be about 1/2". In 1/32 scale, .015" equals that 1/2".
Now comes some more easy parts to make.....humbug!!! Placing these
lower cowl flaps and the "A" frame bracket on the American
Penny shows their size.
I wrote some information on the black and white photo, showing
these flaps! My original photos were no bigger than a post-card;(
4" x 6"). The first "A" frame was too big,
while my second one was too small. The third one worked out just
fine, so I wrote down the measurements in red on my rough-drawing.
Since the "Journal Editor;" never published my first
eight drawings, I never finished the rest of the drawings for
the P-40E, let alone for the P-51D-5-NA; (THE DUCK).
The cowl flaps were attached to a curved section of injected mold
plastic. This complete section was temporaraly taped to the back
of the lower front fuselage section. The "A" frame bracket
had to move, so I built in the "pin-hinge" system, using
brass rod. I flattened both ends, then filed/sanded them to shape.
I drilled .011.5" diameter holes in the ends and in the base
brackets. I inserted .010" diameter round styrene rods. Once
everything fit, the rods were cut to lenght and "mushroomed"
over on each end. When it was compleated and temporaraly attached
to the rear section of the fuselage, I found more work to do.
I took my pen light and looked up inside! I could see the carburator
air-inlet tube. I had not planned on installing the engine, but
knew I had to do it. This side view photo shows the engine with
the mounting brackets. I slapped the engine together, including
the engine mounts and installed it for a "look-see."
I could only see the engine oil pan and parts of the engine mounting
brackets. I removed the engine and painted it and painted the
installed brackets. After re-assembly, I looked up inside and
said it's........ OK ! |
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real easy to make roun |
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the running lights using |
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How was I going to install the
exhaust stacks on final assembly? Before I glued all the front
sections of the fuselage together, I boxed-in the exhaust area,
then drilled in the exhaust holes in their proper locations.
The unpainted exhausts were dry-fitted in place. I could move
them "up - down - forward - backwards" for alignment.
They were removed and painted, then installed with white glue
on final assembly. Roy Sutherland, d.b.a. Cooper Details did
an excellent job on casting my exhaust stacks from my one and
only "master." Thanks again Roy for a good job well
done.
That's it for now! There's more to come in Part-5, and Part-6.
So until then, look at my oil and water coolers......and find
my mistake!!
P.S. To say the least, building this model was no easy task.
This was my first super-detailed P-40E, and the last!
Go to part
five
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| ©
Rodney Williams 2002 |
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