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

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
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Nothing visually to report on. After all that mess from the polishing, I REALLY needed to clean up the shop... and the rest of the house. Think of this like painting. The particulates are SO FINE that the moving air just carries the residue everywhere. So things are clean and I started to move back to the model.

The next step is to remove any residual polish from the parts. The compound has a greasy binder so you need to wipe it off for a more even shine. Any household de-greasing cleaner will do but go back to the soft paper towels to prevent further scratching. A good kitchen cleaner will do as well as a citrus-based cleaner. Clean each part until the paper towel no longer turns red. I'll continue this process this evening and I hope to prep for paint work.
 

willsonman

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Spent time last night cleaning up the remaining parts. The fuselage looks really good. While the shine is quite striking it really lacks depth, as I've previously implied would be an issue. Adding rivets will certainly help but you can now really see why I spent the effort on deepening the cockpit.
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With the surfaces clean, I moved on to prepping for paint. Masks from Callie are going down and brown masking paper gift wraps each part so that paint does not get onto the rest of the part. You can see under the brown paper that the cowl also has the mask for the crown. This, along with the "silver Lady" text, are painted in two stages. There is a base and a highlight. The base being yellow. I'll finish up the fuselage tonight and work on paint over the weekend.
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Now that its all buffed n smooth maybe look into Mothers chrome polish. Bikers use it, car buffs use it, i used it on my guitar chrome as well as drums and cymbols.

Far less messy then what you described and will probably wear less on the metal over time.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
But it's not chrome. It's aluminum. The cut into the metal needs to be right. Your solution may be good for chrome that has previously been polished but this has not been at all. I've extensively researched this and tried an automotive polish cream. It did next to nothing because it did not have the cutting power of the polish compound I used.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
Paint is essentially done. I have one section on the hatch that needs to be done but I need the cowl mounted in order to mark off where it needs to be masked. It should take less than an hour to complete that so I'm going to move into other things. So here's the update:

I used a white, self-etching, primer for the roundels and fuselage parts. The red I had on-hand was just a tad on the bright side so I opted to go with my dark grey primer. Primer shot in the garage and allowed to cure for about 24 hours before I rubbed it down with a paper towel to remove some over spray.
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The cowl had the most colors so I started with the red there. Once cured, I peeled off the masking and re-masked for the green on the top. The stock green was a bit on the blue side for my liking so I just shot my green over top of that. Then it was again re-masked for the crown. The crown has two masks. One for the base yellow, and another for a highlight layer. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
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I then moved onto the wings and fuselage. White was shot on all the roundels for the wings and fuselage. The star and bars mask was then applied over top. I attacked the "Silver Lady" script next. I prefer to move from lighter colors to darker ones so that I can save a bit of time from excessive masking. Base yellow there as well as the darker highlight and then covered to apply the blue. Blue went down fast as that paint flows very well. The roundels and script were masked off and the black lettering was then applied. I let it all sit for a few hours before I started to peel off all the masking.
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So, the paper was easy to remove. The vinyl masks, not as much. The wings were fine. For some reason, the fuselage gave me some serious fits. The vinyl left some of it's adhesive behind on the metal. Acetone is a NO-GO there as it will remove the paint as well. The order of the day was WD-40 on a paper towel. It took a bit of elbow grease but it came of alright. I knew better than to use my de-greaser cleaner to remove the WD-40 so I used window cleaner sever times to clean it up. Some more will be needed but it is good enough for now.

So what's next? In a word, rivets. Thousands of them. This will take pretty much all week. The corsair took 9 hours in total to do all of them and I'd expect this to be a little less since I'm not working with a cumbersome soldering iron. We shall see. More on that process later.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
So, you all have just come to expect me to post and you are speechless or I do a fairly good job of explaining what I'm doing that you do not have questions. Or, this has become a boring build. Either way, thanks for the likes fellas. I'm pretty sure that in the coming days I'll be posting pictures of progress on the rivets. I've decided I'm not going to do a larger shot until the airplane is done. That way I'll leave you all in suspense for how the project will turn out.
 

BS projects inc.

Elite member
So, you all have just come to expect me to post and you are speechless or I do a fairly good job of explaining what I'm doing that you do not have questions. Or, this has become a boring build. Either way, thanks for the likes fellas. I'm pretty sure that in the coming days I'll be posting pictures of progress on the rivets. I've decided I'm not going to do a larger shot until the airplane is done. That way I'll leave you all in suspense for how the project will turn out.
I think that in summary the only thing left to say is whats been said so far many many times. Great work, I can't wait to see this fly, and it looks better everyday. It's not that it's not interesting, because it is, it's just that it's the same reaction every time I get on hear. That's not to say that this isn't an impressive build however. There are only two threads that I am watching and this is one of them. Your craftsmanship and intricacy baffle me and I am truly impressed by the time, skill, and planning that has gone into this. Great luck with this one I really hope to see it fly!
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
Well, thank you. It's humbling to know that others watch what I do. Again, I love to inspire others and see what comes out of their workshops as well. Sometimes it gets hard posting to worklogs like this when there is very little feedback. You sometimes just feel alone. I have a long road to go to become a "great" builder but I'm getting better with each build. Maybe one day. I suppose I'll measure that aspiration by getting an invitation to Top Gun... and then promptly turning it down because I have no interest in competition. Until then, I'll keep the models coming out of my shop and having all of you, my friends, along for the ride as we learn together.
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
I will echo what was just said. Fantastic work, and I really enjoy seeing this incredible model progress! The amount of detail you have incorporated is simply incredible! Even more so, is the documentation. It takes sooo much time to document and photograph, and make videos to show us all exactly the how-what-why of what you are doing. Thanks for all the work you’ve put in, that documentation has really helped me in one of my projects. Have been re-finishing the 2m LX B-25 in aluminum tape, to be painted as Miss Mitchell of the MN CAF Wing, where I volunteered for about 6 years. All the hard parts are done, just have the big surfaces left!

Also, a quick thought on scale competitions. While I have no interest in competing in top gun or anything crazy, don’t discount any local scale competitions. I did not want to compete until 2 years ago I met our district AMA rep and he invited me to come and observe the event. It was and still is one of my favorite local events to go to, because of the people who are involved. There were entries varying from master builder, to out of the box UMX planes, and everyone had a great time. The flying and the planes were just a convenient excuse for us all to get together and share a love of building and flying. So, if you have the chance, go! If it’s anything like what I’ve gone to, it’s a blast.
 

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willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
Very cool B-25! I do enjoy going to warbird events and see what others are up to. Last year I went to two of them that were local and it was a good time at each. No competition but lots of shop talk. That's my favorite.

I should clarify that I was not looking for a pat on the back or a stroke to my ego. In re-reading that I can see how someone may take it that way. Please do not misunderstand. In every respect, I try to follow the FT ways of educating, elevating, and entertaining. I really love to share the work I do and get such a thrill from the interaction with others. Again, the PEOPLE in this hobby are what make it great. You all are very kind to give such praise but believe me when I say it, there are others far better out there. When I see them, I still feel like I'm coloring with crayons. It was odd but rewarding to attend a swap meet a while ago and have someone walk up to me and thank me for my YT content as they explained how much they got out of it. I'm just a guy who loves to build. Enough rambling...

Rivet application has commenced. I've completed the H-stab, elevators, rudder, and the top of both flaps. The rudder required a bit more pressure due to the paint. I neglected to get a picture of the tools I'm using so I'll try to grab that during work tonight so I can explain what they are and how to use them. For now, just enjoy the pictures.
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jaredstrees

Well-known member
Amazing work sir! Been super busy lately and haven't been around much, but this is one of the first threads I looked at. I can't wait to see this aircraft finished!
 

wilmracer

I build things that fly (sometimes)
Mentor
Just like you've been saying... the rivets really add a depth to the surface and make the subtle panel lines feel real. I know you have some final assembly to do and once that's done I can't wait to see how the rivets show the curves and shape to the fuse. I'm hoping we get a few pretty sunsets/evenings at SEFF so we can get some detail shots of this in the golden hour at interesting angles. I'm also really interested to hear what the Horizon guys have to say when they see it :)
 

Wildthing

Legendary member
Very cool B-25! I do enjoy going to warbird events and see what others are up to. Last year I went to two of them that were local and it was a good time at each. No competition but lots of shop talk. That's my favorite.

I should clarify that I was not looking for a pat on the back or a stroke to my ego. In re-reading that I can see how someone may take it that way. Please do not misunderstand. In every respect, I try to follow the FT ways of educating, elevating, and entertaining. I really love to share the work I do and get such a thrill from the interaction with others. Again, the PEOPLE in this hobby are what make it great. You all are very kind to give such praise but believe me when I say it, there are others far better out there. When I see them, I still feel like I'm coloring with crayons. It was odd but rewarding to attend a swap meet a while ago and have someone walk up to me and thank me for my YT content as they explained how much they got out of it. I'm just a guy who loves to build. Enough rambling...

Rivet application has commenced. I've completed the H-stab, elevators, rudder, and the top of both flaps. The rudder required a bit more pressure due to the paint. I neglected to get a picture of the tools I'm using so I'll try to grab that during work tonight so I can explain what they are and how to use them. For now, just enjoy the pictures.
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I think your work is fantastic and all your build instructions leave nothing to ask other then do you ever sleep?
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
I think your work is fantastic and all your build instructions leave nothing to ask other then do you ever sleep?
I do... perhaps less than most. I'm an early-riser. Always have been. I normally go to bed between 9 and 10PM and get up around 4. I'm at work by 5 and home by 2:30-3pm. This allows me to spend time with the kids, help with homework, dinner, after school activities, and you guessed it: build. I usually get a couple of hours at most each day. Enough to get my fill. We each have our own individual lives that we live out and I believe in making what makes me happy is a priority. Since it is, I carve out time for it. Weekends are full of cleaning, activities, and movies still, but I try to fly at least once each weekend. This helps my stick chops stay fresh.

I do think my instructions could use some work in a way that is a bit more entertaining. That is a HARD nut to crack though.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
LOL, thanks guys... good to know I'm not alone in the "special" corner of the classroom. :p

Just one update picture and I'll move onto how I apply these rivets. Flaps and ailerons are done and I've moved onto the bottom of one wing.
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There are essentially 5 main tools that I'm using here.
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The basics are a ruler and a vinyl measuring tape. The tape is the kind you can get at the fabric store for garment construction. It's soft and will not scratch the surface of the metal and can be easily cleaned with whatever. I'm using a strip from a rivet application kit I picked up years ago. Really it is for creating raised rivets but the spacing is what I'm after. While my last build (Corsair) was entirely done free-hand, I wanted this to be all that much more special and have better spacing on the rivets. Curved areas are still free-hand. The maker can be picked up at this link. It has a water-based ink which beads on the surface of the metal but I'm just using it as reference marks. It cleans up easily with window cleaner but the real reason for it is in the tip. Again, we are dealing with a SOFT metal. A fine-tipped sharpie will leave marks or lines once the ink is removed. The tip is so feather soft that you can BARELY feel the marker touch the surface. It is essentially a watercolor marker. You can see in the images how soft the tip is and the pool of ink it leaves as well as a lack of marking in the test panel.
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The last item is a thin metal tube. The ID is 0.7mm with an OD of about 0.9mm. Before you get all excited, there is technique involved with using this tool. You cannot simply press the tube into the surface. You risk puncturing the foil and if you don't the mark will likely bend the foil on the periphery. What I do is place the tip on the surface, apply light pressure, rotate the top end around, and you are left with a nice donut on the surface. The idea is to not just create a circle. You need to create an outer ring and an inner ring. Try to zoom into some of the pictures I've previously posted. Lighting is tricky on the reflective surface but once you find one you will clearly see what I'm talking about. There is an impression of a ring where the center bulges a bit where it is basically flush with the rest of the surface. This takes practice but you can quickly get into a rhythm and get these knocked out in less than a second for each one.

Let's do some math. Assume 20K rivets applied at a rate of approximately 1 every 1 second (on average). (
20000 rivets / 1 second) * (60 seconds / 1 minute) * (60 minutes / 1 hour) = about 5.6 hours.
This does not include time to measure and mark reference lines and re-positioning yourself or the part for a better angle, and stretching your hand to keep it from cramping. Figure double that amount of time for the process at least. Given that I've put in about 4 hours in total to all of the control surfaces, this seems about right.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
Both wing bottoms were completed last night. I've included a close-up picture showing essentially 3 different rivets. The standard ones on the aluminum and the ones on the paint. Note the slight differences in how the aluminum bends on the periphery of the rivet. There are also larger fasteners that were made with a larger ID tube. I need to go back and add a line in them with a small screwdriver but that is minr and should take just a few minutes as there are so few of them.

Family activity this evening so limited time but I do plan to have the rivets done this weekend.
 

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wilmracer

I build things that fly (sometimes)
Mentor
Its funny. I know we're all accustomed to seeing Joshua churn out gorgeous models, but I have to admit I'm still grinning ear to ear with how this one is turning out. I KNEW it would look great with Joshua's attention to detail, but I'm still surprised at how REAL it looks. I'm determined to sneak over to the Air and Space museum once the Inlaws depart this weekend so I can get some up-close shots of the P-47 they have there. There are only small giveaways that this is a model and not the real thing.

Fantastic work brother!
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
Thanks buddy. You all know I'm a crazy stickler for the small stuff because it all adds up fast. I knew it would be a lot of work but that's sort of the point with this project. All the model building was done. That leaves me the ability to focus on these details, which I absolutely love.