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Colonel Robert
L. Scott's P-40E "Flying Tiger"; Part Five
by Rodney Williams
Did you find my mistake with
the oil/water coolers in Part-4?
They are radiators, and you should not be able to see through
them. I did not discover this until final assembly. I should
have inserted something in the coolers so you could not see
all the way through. There's no such thing as a "perfect"
model, and my P-40E proves the point ! (Sorry Mr. Client)
The black and white photo shows the tail wheel doors, with the
folding brackets, the canvas boot, the strut and part of the
tail wheel. Like the photos in Part-4, had I knew how to scan
photos back in 1996, I could have enlarged my photos, so I could
see what I am about to build.
I built the doors by using flat styrene stock, then put a little
curve in each one. The folding rods and brackets were made from
brass-rod stock, and .005" thick aluminum cola cans. As
usuall, the penny show the sizes of these "hand-made"
parts.
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A plate was made to fit in the
tail wheel opening, with a hole in it for the tail wheel shaft.
The canvas boot was made, using facial tissue. I cut a thin
section from an aluminum tube, then placed it on the strut,
minus the tail wheel axle. The strut was inserted into the base
plate. The tissue was added, then carefully, it was coated with
thin super-glue. I removed the boot, then glued in the base
plate. The boot was painted, and would be installed on final
assembly. The last photo was taken while the model was on a
mirror and shows the tial wheel assembly installed.
The tail wheel curved shaft and axle was made from brass stock.
I revised the kit's tail wheel. This section of the assembly
was designed and built so when it was inserted into the strut
shaft, it could be rotated 360 degrees.
These parts on the penny are for the rudder assembly. The one
part which has the rods attached did not work, so I made the
other one. Look close at the verticle photo of the back of the
fuselage and fin....you will see the correct part installed.
The aluminum tubing cross bar which is horizontal is for the
elevators installation.
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close-up photo shows the top bracket for the rudder. It was placed
on a pre-installed rod. I dry-fitted the rudder in place to make
sure all was ok, and that I could move the rudder left and right.
The bracked was super-glued in place. The small brass front bracket
was inserted into the leading edge of the fin and glued in place.
The antenna wire will be attached to the hole on final assembly.
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These 3-views
show the rudder in all its' glory, including all the parts
I made.
This is a nice
close-up of one of the stablizer-elevators, showing the re-scribed
panel lines and some rivet replacement. Note the little brass
trim tab hinge.
This photo shows
the tail plane complete. You can see the aluminum cross bar
installed into each elevator. The elongated styrene bart has
a "slip-fit" arrangement. It slips into a pre-made
hole, and fits perfect into the rear of the fuselage.
A side view blow-up,
gives a better view of the trim tab hinges. By the way, all
the flying surfaces do move, including the trim tabs.
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All of these items were pre-fit
to the model. When everything is painted, I know I will not
have any problem putting everything together on final assembly.
What's in store for Part-6? (I'm not telling...but it's good).
Go to part
six
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Rodney Williams 2002 |
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