Winter Build 2018/19: Hangar 9 P-47D Razorback

Personally I am not too keen on the shiny metal on the motor. Most of the pics I've seen of the R2800 engine show them in black, while the engine itself in (more or less) dirty aluminium color.
 

willsonman

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Yes. That is the direction I am going. I plan to go pretty much all black on this one. I was thinking maybe yellow wires for the spark plugs just for some contrast.
 

BS projects inc.

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I don't have nearly as much patience as you! If i tried to do this I would get into hour 10 and go "I WaNnA FlY A pLaNe NoW!!!" and throw the plane up even if it had 2 workable channels
 

willsonman

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I like building more than I like flying. Simple as that. Nothing wrong with wanting to fly more but I very much enjoy putting the details in and making things right.
 

willsonman

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I quickly got the spark plug distributor ring printed. It pops out in two halves that you glue together and drill out holes for the wires. I looked at yellow and thought it was too "in your face" so I went with blue. Wires cut and inserted with a drop of CA. Picture shows some dry fitting mockup.
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Drafted up a part for the dome and had a couple of successful prints. The two outer canisters to be specific from the attached photos. Need to draw up the thingie in the middle. These will dress things up just a touch.
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During prints I cut segments of balsa to dress out the rear of the cockpit. The look is much better and gives far more depth than before. No templates made, just eyeballing it. Some dressing up of the cockpit area will hide the scars so I'm not too worried about looks on the back.
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Pretty much wrapped on the fuselage. If anything glaring comes at me I'll come back to it but It may finally be time to move onto the wings. Lots to do there and in duplicate no less. Stay tuned.
 

willsonman

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Got the wires installed permanently and mounted the ESC while I was at it.
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For the chin scoop, I took some LE balsa I had in my bin and cut segments to install on the inner lip of the cowl to mount the printed part. I coated the part in foil and removed portions where glue would go. While not permanently mounted, I do like the look and the blue selected for the wires is a good subtle look. There is plenty of depth in this area and it is much more interesting to look at now with all the details.
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So, what's a little more detail then? There are a few more parts on the nose of the crankcase that I assume are for the hydraulic prop blade pitch adjustment. The first prints were a bit too small but these look much better and the print itself is much better to print but does require a bit of sanding. I used a dremel to hollow out the bottom and then sand enough to get the mount angle right. I love the added detail here but there is one more part I got printed but not mounted...
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The piece that is intended for the middle was being hollowed out a bit when the bit to my dremel slipped and ran up into the fingernail root of my left index finger. Lots of blood. I got the dremel turned off and applied pressure. Ran upstairs and put the finger under cold water for several minutes. Another reason I like winter builds is for the naturally very cold water from the weather outside. When it was so cold I could not stand it, I applied a paper towel and put it under pressure for several minutes. The bleeding had stopped and I applied some antibiotic ointment and a bandaid tightly wrapped. After my finger hurt from the pressure of the bandaid, I removed it and let it dry out. You can barely tell anything happened at this point but it still really hurts. Every project I've done draws blood but you never think about this when you start a project. I was super tired and my left hand was cramping from holding this small part from sanding it smooth. I should have walked away when I got the charlie horse in my thumb. I'm not a morbid person so I did not get and will not post pics of the injury. I understand that some are curious and others are squeamish so yeah... I got hurt... leave it at that.
 

willsonman

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So, I was being a good dad this past weekend and ended up with a broken ankle. Really bad. Needs surgery. I'm on meds and can't drive at all. Gonna be a bit before I get back on this project.
 

rockyboy

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So, I was being a good dad this past weekend and ended up with a broken ankle. Really bad. Needs surgery. I'm on meds and can't drive at all. Gonna be a bit before I get back on this project.

Here's hoping for your quick recovery! A couple decades ago when I lived in Gaithersburg I broke an ankle and the folks at Shady Grove hospital & their outsourced physical therapists were great. Full recovery takes a while, but regular movement and a normal level of activity is just a matter of time and effort. Even running a 5k now, it's my knees that are the weak link, not the ankle. Just watch out for stairs while you're on crutches - they can give you a balance scare real quick!
 

jaredstrees

Well-known member
Aw man, sorry to hear that. Get better and do the physical therapy they tell you to do! Looking forward to you getting better and back at it!
 

willsonman

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Laying in bed today while I await surgery. The hubs for the wheels that Robart supply are ok but I think we can do a bit better. The inner hubs are as pictured below. The outer ones have a disc brake so I am going to attempt to model that out as well.
 

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willsonman

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Interesting. I made my internal structure based on the reference cutaway images I had. It also worked well with the lines on the canopy so I did not argue. Perhaps that is not a -D model?

Moving along... I got new ABS in for the printer so I dusted it off and got the wheel parts churned out. Again, These parts are sized for the Robart 4" scale wheels. You should be able to scale these a bit bigger if you go with any other size for this or any other build. Smaller may be problematic but possible with a smaller nozzle size. You can see the additional detail on the inner hubs around the edge of the rim. I've slightly UNDERsized this piece on purpose. I've never had much luck with the stock hubs staying on. My plan is just a few dabs of canopy glue to keep them in place. It should be enough to do so but allow me to service the wheels... eventually when they will require it.
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For the outer hubs, A little bit of material had to be removed with a dremel. Robart does not included covers for this side so it protrudes a bit. A cutoff wheel did the trick and cleanup with a #11 blade.
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With the outer cap installed, you can see that I am able to clock the cap so that the spokes align with the ribs of the Robart hub to hide it more. The Robart spacers for the axle are installed before assembly and then the brake caliper is installed. This will get glued to the oleo in a fixed position. A bit of aluminum tape and scuffing and the brake rotor will look perfect. Some additional paint highlights on the caliper and a hydraulic line and this will look quite the part.
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willsonman

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Let's project a little into the future and make a game plan.

The wings are all that needs to be modified... other than additional cockpit panels. Let's make a to-do list for the wings:
1: Functional, retractable, landing light in ONE wing.
2: Wingtip nav lights. New light lens covers to modify the ones from the kit and blend the clear covers into the balsa.
3: Inner gear doors: Pretty simple... size according to the stock oleo covers and a couple of servos. Glass work involved but nothing major.
4: Complete balsa skin on the bottom. For some reason there are a few open segments. I'll do this, probably last, so that I have easier access to run wires and such. I'll line with some balsa stock and apply sheeting to that. Blend with sanding and spackle as needed.
5: Once it's all done I need to glass the wings. Pretty easy with the sanding sealer but The epoxy is messy and takes 24Hrs to fully cure out.