Swine!

[Stoneboat]

Thanks for the kind comments fellas.

I haven gotten much work done lately, we were out of town for 10 days. I've started the interior, beginning with the seats. The cabin has a total of nine seats, seven of which are attached to the cabin sidewall at the top of the cabin heater duct that runs down either side. Three seats on the left and four on the right. The two remaining seats are attached to the bulkhead at the rear of the cabin. All seats fold upward leaving the floor area free for carrying freight. The Otter will carry a ton, and it you're lucky it won't be made up of 55-gallon gas barrels. Oh me aching back!

The seats are made similar to the cockpit ones, just smaller. And lower. Here's how I make 'em. Cut the metal the same as the cockpit, and bend accordingly.

For this a jiglet is required to get the seat back rake and the legs all the same length.

Once the backs are bent, on to the legs. Take a length of 24-gauge wire and bend it into a U-channel with a pair of pliers, like so:

Bend both wires 90 degrees, like so, to create the legs.

Clip off the excess wire and glue the legs to the bottom of the seat pan.

There is a method in the madness. The width of that jiglet corresponds to the length of the seat legs:

Here's what the heater duct looks like along the cabin sidewall. The seat will be attached to the top of the duct. There are fittings with hinge points on the real McCoy, but I shall simply glue the suckers in place. The duct is simply a length of scrap aluminum, cut and bent to shape and glued in place.

And there ya go, one bare seat minus cushions, seat belt and the seat back pocket, dry fitted in place. I added a tiny bit of wire insulation to the end of each leg to represent the ferrule that holds the seat leg to the floor, and a short length of wire as the N-brace between the front and rear leg.

I've begun work on the prop, and also more work on the interior. I'll probably post more pics tomorrow.

 

[phantom II]

Very nice update as usual

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[Captain Cook]

Your interiors are always so detailed. It's a shame they are only visible thru such tiny windows... almost criminal to cover it all up!

Nice use of jiglets!
I have to print this thread out and keep it with my kit, so in 100 years when I get to building it, I'll remember all these tid-bits of build wisdom!

 

[moon puppy]

Outstanding update!

 

[chrispisme]

Very nice work James, sooooo much detail in there! I guess the prototype aircraft for this project doesn’t have those horrible seats that are supposed to seat 2 on one side and 1 on the other, with no room for the aisle in complete discomfort.
You’re an artist with these models that’s for sure!

 

[Stoneboat]

Thanks for the kind words fellas.

I guess the prototype aircraft for this project doesn’t have those horrible seats that are supposed to seat 2 on one side and 1 on the other, with no room for the aisle in complete discomfort.

No, nay, never. Harbour Air operated that abortion, didn't they? Those seats had to have been designed for skinny people. No normal butt would ever fit in there.

Anyway, on to the propeller, which I have finished. I drilled out the spinner to accept a length of 1/16" aluminum tube for the prop shaft.

Once that was done I sawed the spinner off the pour stub and glued the shaft in place, then turned it on the trusty Black & Decker lathe until it was the shape I wanted. Then I lined up the spinner with the engine front. I had to remove some material from the nose section to get things to match up, overall not a big job. I added a 1/8" backing plate at the rear of the spinner to make it match the diameter of the engine front, which of course meant removing 1/8" from the tip of the spinner, but more work with the B&D lathe corrected that. I'm more than satisfied with the results.

Then I made a major error. I drilled out the holes for the exhaust stubs too far aft on the nose, so I enlarged the holes a little more, filled them with a couple of plugs pounded out with a Micro Mark punch...

...Then drilled new holes.

While I was there I sawed off a couple lengths of 3/16" aluminum tubing for the exhaust stubs. The ends of the exhausts are flattened a little, and since the exhausts Chris supplied are resin, therefore flatten-proof, I opted for aluminum. This is simply a how-gozit effort on my part, just to have some idea how this thing will look when completed.

I cut the prop blades off the pour stubs and carefully - make that very carefully - drilled out a hole 1/8" deep in the blade butt using a #78 drill, to accept a short length of 24-gauge wire to hold the blade in the spinner. One blade had a few pin holes in it that required correcting, but otherwise... This is a hefty prop, it's 106" in diameter, which is near enough to nine feet as makes no odds. I narrowed the blades using a fingernail sanding stick, then shot a few coats of primer to make sure everything was copacetic, then dry-fitted the thing together. On some PT-6 engine/propeller combinations the propeller will go to the feathered position on engine shutdown, but that is not the case with this particular aircraft. The prop is in flat pitch when stopped, so that is where I put it.

I then took everything apart, painted the blades satin black and when that was dry added the white tips and the Hartzell propeller decals. I painted the spinner using Rustoleum chrome from a rattle can, and when it was all dry shot a coat of Future on it all. When that was dry I assembled the whole shebang. Spiffy.

I've begun work 'covering' the cabin seats. The seat cushions are brown, with a contrasting band of colour down the middle. I have to say they look pretty good, but getting the band down the middle straight occasioned a couple of "What are you swearing at up there" comments from Her Indoors. I must learn to swear quietly.
Also, I want to leave the left hand seats folded up. The engineering department is working on a solution, it will probably take a few cold beverages.

 

[moon puppy]

I bet that prop is balanced also. Amazing work!!

 

[chrispisme]

Beautiful work James !

 

[lupanzer]

Fantastic, as always...really a great job

Luiz.

 

[uros]

Looking good Jim!

 

[Stoneboat]

Thanks fellas.
Pup I spun the prop a few times and it stops in a different position every time. Balance "R Us.

The interior is coming along. I have the cabin headliner and the sheet metal in the baggage compartment installed, and the non-foldup seats are completed. J-Bot is making the decals as I write, some NO STEP placards for the skis, Turn & Push placards for the doors, and the JET A placards for the fuel filler caps, as well as the registration marks. Speaking of J-BOT, Jim had a stroke late in May, but he's doing ok now. This was on top of an earlier computer crash where he lost all his pictures. Fortunately his artwork was on a separate HD. He'd taken down his website while all this was going on, but he's back in business again. Wish him well.

 

[Stoneboat]

First off, Happy 4th all y'all.

Work on the interior proceeds apace. The cargo compartment I sheathed in bare aluminum. Cut a piece of masking tape to the outline of what you need, and apply it to a piece of beverage can, then take an out of focus picture.

Trim the metal to fit and glue in place, taking another out of focus picture.

There is a half-bulkhead between the cargo compartment and the cabin. I cut two pieces of metal to fit and added the vertical support to the inboard edge. The vertical member also sits in a hole I drilled in the cabin floor, for added rigidity. All that was needed was a lick of paint...

...And dry fitting in place.

I cobbled a couple of rear seats from scrap aluminum and wire, and then did the cushions from several layers of wet tissue, painted the appropriate colour, with seat belts from masking tape and the buckles pounded out with a Micro Mark punch. The contrasting insets are short lengths of masking tape, again painted the appropriate colour...

...And dry fitted in place.

There's another fire extinguisher in the aft cabin, mounted on the right hand wall. I used a round toothpick, turned in the trusty B&D lathe for the extinguisher, after first spearing an olive from a see through libation.

I decided to fold up the three seats on the left side of the cabin. It took some thought on how to do this, but after a cold beverage or six the engineering department came through. First, make the seat legs the same way as those on the other side...

...But fold them a second time against themselves. This will be the seat leg, that actually attaches to the floor when the seat in in the down position.

Make the seat pan the same way as the other side again, but fold the seat back forward upon the seat bottom, then glue he new folded legs to the bottom, add a couple of cross braces and a lick of paint...

...And for appearances sake, stick a bit of 'seat cushion' in the gap between the seat back and seat bottom. This will represent the back cushion, the bottom cushion having been removed and pitched back in the cargo compartment.

And there ya have it, one folded seat dry fitted. Repeat twice.

 

[chrispisme]

great work! loving it...I'ts going to be scale weight too right?

 

[jknaus]

Awesome work. I love seeing how the build is done step by step. Really cool
James

 

[Paulw]

Neat stuff there, Stoney.

 

[Stoneboat]

Thanks for the kind comments fellas.

I'ts going to be scale weight too right?

Yep. I've secured a week's production of # 4 bird shot from Remington for weight.

 

[lupanzer]

Very nice details!

Luiz.

 

[moon puppy]

First off, Happy 4th all y'all.

Work on the interior proceeds apace. The cargo compartment I sheathed in bare aluminum. Cut a piece of masking tape to the outline of what you need, and apply it to a piece of beverage can, then take an out of focus picture.

Trim the metal to fit and glue in place, taking another out of focus picture.

There is a half-bulkhead between the cargo compartment and the cabin. I cut two pieces of metal to fit and added the vertical support to the inboard edge. The vertical member also sits in a hole I drilled in the cabin floor, for added rigidity. All that was needed was a lick of paint...

...And dry fitting in place.

I cobbled a couple of rear seats from scrap aluminum and wire, and then did the cushions from several layers of wet tissue, painted the appropriate colour, with seat belts from masking tape and the buckles pounded out with a Micro Mark punch. The contrasting insets are short lengths of masking tape, again painted the appropriate colour...

...And dry fitted in place.

There's another fire extinguisher in the aft cabin, mounted on the right hand wall. I used a round toothpick, turned in the trusty B&D lathe for the extinguisher, after first spearing an olive from a see through libation.

I decided to fold up the three seats on the left side of the cabin. It took some thought on how to do this, but after a cold beverage or six the engineering department came through. First, make the seat legs the same way as those on the other side...

...But fold them a second time against themselves. This will be the seat leg, that actually attaches to the floor when the seat in in the down position.

Make the seat pan the same way as the other side again, but fold the seat back forward upon the seat bottom, then glue he new folded legs to the bottom, add a couple of cross braces and a lick of paint...

...And for appearances sake, stick a bit of 'seat cushion' in the gap between the seat back and seat bottom. This will represent the back cushion, the bottom cushion having been removed and pitched back in the cargo compartment.

And there ya have it, one folded seat dry fitted. Repeat twice.

Outstanding

 

[Captain Cook]

Looking great.
You need to print all this out like a technical data package, and send it with the plane, so the owner can really appreciate all the finer details!

 

[Stoneboat]

Thank you. fellas.

You need to print all this out like a technical data package, and send it with the plane, so the owner can really appreciate all the finer details!

I'll leave that up to Rich, the guy for whom I'm building the thing. He lurks here. (To keep me honest.)

Well, I'm calling the interior completed. Actually I made a kind of bag, to represent the one that holds the wing covers and engine tent, that I'll glue into the cargo compartment later, and maybe a ration kit and a couple of sleeping bags. It is a winterized machine, after all. Here's what the right hand...

...And the left hand seats look like permanently installed. That little thingy up in the upper corner of the cockpit is an instrument spotlight. I made two - one a side - from wire insulation, with a bit of fishing leader as a wire.

In the first shot you can see the first aid kit on the right cabin bulkhead, and the No Smoking and Fasten Seat Belts on the left side. The first aid kit is a lump of styrene with a red cross decal - thoughtfully supplied by J-Bot - on it. The ordinance signs are from a HO scale locomotive decal sheet, it probably says shovel coal here, or something, but it looks good. (You can also see a red burn mark on my thump where a pan of fried fish slid down over it, eliciting another "What are you swearing at up there?" moment.

I have glued the cabin assembly into the RH fuselage half, the fit was pretty good.

This airplane has a skylight where the cabin roof escape hatch used to be. It probably still functions as an escape hatch since common sense calls for a way to get out, should the airplane go through the ice. A rare occurrence, but still not unheard of.

LH fuselage half dry fitted. You can see a fair amount of the interior via the cargo door.

The value of an escape hatch becomes readily apparent in this situation.

I've glued both fuselage halves together, and I shall allow the glue to cure for 24 hours before any more work goes on. In the meantime, I have started work on the tail feathers. The elevators are the wrong shape out at the trailing edge tips, so that must be corrected. The left hand elevator trim tap must also be replaced, since the kit tab is too small. I shall cobble one together along with an actuator rod from some scrap material. Once that is completed, I will move to the gear. The kit skis are rudimentary, so I shall build new ones from real metal, and cobble together a set of actuators. Care had to be taken when landing on full skis. The parking brake would have to be set after the airplane came to a stop, otherwise the intrepid pilot could find himself flat on his back in the snow by stepping onto the top of the wheel, which was free to rotate otherwise. It is something you'll only do once. Ask me how I know, sometime. ldguy