Winter gear, had to look up that old John Wayne movie, "Island in the Sky". Great movie about a downed C47 and the search and rescue up in the great white north. I'm betting you've seen it Stony..
Looks great so far!
Looks great so far!
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Swine!
- Thread starter Stoneboat
- Start date
Paulw
Well-known member
Thank you. fellas.
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.
He must have left th cabin heater on all night and melted through
Thanks for the kind comments fellas.
Pup, the movie Island In The Sky was filmed in the Sierra Madre Mountains in CA, but the events that took place occurred about 250 miles NW of here. Lake O'Connor does not exist any more, it became part of the reservoir behind one of the dams on the James Bay hydroelectric project. The first airplane to land on skis on the lake was a Barkley-Grow, from Canadian Airways. I've forgotten the pilot's name, but his engineer was Pete Midlege, who was the chief engineer at the corporate flight department of the company I joined in 1973.
On to the tail feathers, and the modification thereof. The kit elevators:
...Cut away a square of material at the tip and replace it wit a bit o' scrap, and take an out of focus pic of it...
...A bit of firkytootling with various grades of sanding sticks and Viola! the correct shape. The kit elevator balances are also too wide - or too narrow depending which panel line you use - so I corrected them when I cut the elevator off the horizontal stab.
This is what I call a door sandwich. The kit door is a plain, unadorned slab of plastic that bears improvement. The inside of the cabin doors on this airplane are faced with bare metal. It's kind of crinkly - for want of a better word - but I don't do crinkly, so plain metal it is. I cut a bit of scrap .020 aluminum the size of the door and glued it into place with Gorilla CA glue, cut out the window opening, then added the outside door 'skin' from beverage can. The outer skin must be cut about a half millimeter larger than the door itself, to keep the door from falling into the cabin when it's wrestled into place. Here's what the whole thing looks like:
The cockpit doors are different in that they have a map pocket. The pocket is fabric of some kind, nylon or something and I got no nylon and ne'er does Wal Mart, so I took a bit of license and made the map pockets the same as those on the Norseman, i.e. no fabric, with the pocket built into the door itself.
Take one cockpit door, cut a hole in it about the size of a map pocket and bevel the top edge. (So's yer map will slide in nicely.)
Cut a rectangular hole in a piece of scrap aluminum smaller than the map pocket hole, but of equal length. This will become the opening for the pocket.
Glue the piece of metal in place, taking care to line up yer holes, and when the glue is dry, trim off the excess. Next, add the door outer skin the same as the cabin doors and cut out the cockpit window opening...
...Trim off the excess metal and Viola! one recessed map pocket a la Noorduyn Norseman.
I added an inner and outer windshield center post using chukw tape, and glued a tiny bit of black wire insulation to the inner post to represent the whiskey compass.
Gentlemen, I present the proboscis. I had to use some body filler on the joints, and I'm not finished yet, but I'm pleased how it went. I used more filler than Chris did, by the looks of it, but then again on this model I cut off some resin material to accommodate the cabin floor. She's looking pretty spiffy, although Anteater would seem to be a better handle than Swine.
Pup, the movie Island In The Sky was filmed in the Sierra Madre Mountains in CA, but the events that took place occurred about 250 miles NW of here. Lake O'Connor does not exist any more, it became part of the reservoir behind one of the dams on the James Bay hydroelectric project. The first airplane to land on skis on the lake was a Barkley-Grow, from Canadian Airways. I've forgotten the pilot's name, but his engineer was Pete Midlege, who was the chief engineer at the corporate flight department of the company I joined in 1973.
On to the tail feathers, and the modification thereof. The kit elevators:
...Cut away a square of material at the tip and replace it wit a bit o' scrap, and take an out of focus pic of it...
...A bit of firkytootling with various grades of sanding sticks and Viola! the correct shape. The kit elevator balances are also too wide - or too narrow depending which panel line you use - so I corrected them when I cut the elevator off the horizontal stab.
This is what I call a door sandwich. The kit door is a plain, unadorned slab of plastic that bears improvement. The inside of the cabin doors on this airplane are faced with bare metal. It's kind of crinkly - for want of a better word - but I don't do crinkly, so plain metal it is. I cut a bit of scrap .020 aluminum the size of the door and glued it into place with Gorilla CA glue, cut out the window opening, then added the outside door 'skin' from beverage can. The outer skin must be cut about a half millimeter larger than the door itself, to keep the door from falling into the cabin when it's wrestled into place. Here's what the whole thing looks like:
The cockpit doors are different in that they have a map pocket. The pocket is fabric of some kind, nylon or something and I got no nylon and ne'er does Wal Mart, so I took a bit of license and made the map pockets the same as those on the Norseman, i.e. no fabric, with the pocket built into the door itself.
Take one cockpit door, cut a hole in it about the size of a map pocket and bevel the top edge. (So's yer map will slide in nicely.)
Cut a rectangular hole in a piece of scrap aluminum smaller than the map pocket hole, but of equal length. This will become the opening for the pocket.
Glue the piece of metal in place, taking care to line up yer holes, and when the glue is dry, trim off the excess. Next, add the door outer skin the same as the cabin doors and cut out the cockpit window opening...
...Trim off the excess metal and Viola! one recessed map pocket a la Noorduyn Norseman.
I added an inner and outer windshield center post using chukw tape, and glued a tiny bit of black wire insulation to the inner post to represent the whiskey compass.
Gentlemen, I present the proboscis. I had to use some body filler on the joints, and I'm not finished yet, but I'm pleased how it went. I used more filler than Chris did, by the looks of it, but then again on this model I cut off some resin material to accommodate the cabin floor. She's looking pretty spiffy, although Anteater would seem to be a better handle than Swine.
Paulw
Well-known member
Thanks for the kind comments fellas.
Pup, the movie Island In The Sky was filmed in the Sierra Madre Mountains in CA, but the events that took place occurred about 250 miles NW of here. Lake O'Connor does not exist any more, it became part of the reservoir behind one of the dams on the James Bay hydroelectric project. The first airplane to land on skis on the lake was a Barkley-Grow, from Canadian Airways. I've forgotten the pilot's name, but his engineer was Pete Midlege, who was the chief engineer at the corporate flight department of the company I joined in 1973.
On to the tail feathers, and the modification thereof. The kit elevators:
...Cut away a square of material at the tip and replace it wit a bit o' scrap, and take an out of focus pic of it...
...A bit of firkytootling with various grades of sanding sticks and Viola! the correct shape. The kit elevator balances are also too wide - or too narrow depending which panel line you use - so I corrected them when I cut the elevator off the horizontal stab.
This is what I call a door sandwich. The kit door is a plain, unadorned slab of plastic that bears improvement. The inside of the cabin doors on this airplane are faced with bare metal. It's kind of crinkly - for want of a better word - but I don't do crinkly, so plain metal it is. I cut a bit of scrap .020 aluminum the size of the door and glued it into place with Gorilla CA glue, cut out the window opening, then added the outside door 'skin' from beverage can. The outer skin must be cut about a half millimeter larger than the door itself, to keep the door from falling into the cabin when it's wrestled into place. Here's what the whole thing looks like:
The cockpit doors are different in that they have a map pocket. The pocket is fabric of some kind, nylon or something and I got no nylon and ne'er does Wal Mart, so I took a bit of license and made the map pockets the same as those on the Norseman, i.e. no fabric, with the pocket built into the door itself.
Take one cockpit door, cut a hole in it about the size of a map pocket and bevel the top edge. (So's yer map will slide in nicely.)
Cut a rectangular hole in a piece of scrap aluminum smaller than the map pocket hole, but of equal length. This will become the opening for the pocket.
Glue the piece of metal in place, taking care to line up yer holes, and when the glue is dry, trim off the excess. Next, add the door outer skin the same as the cabin doors and cut out the cockpit window opening...
...Trim off the excess metal and Viola! one recessed map pocket a la Noorduyn Norseman.
I added an inner and outer windshield center post using chukw tape, and glued a tiny bit of black wire insulation to the inner post to represent the whiskey compass.
Gentlemen, I present the proboscis. I had to use some body filler on the joints, and I'm not finished yet, but I'm pleased how it went. I used more filler than Chris did, by the looks of it, but then again on this model I cut off some resin material to accommodate the cabin floor. She's looking pretty spiffy, although Anteater would seem to be a better handle than Swine.
Ah cha cha cha cha
Outstanding, thanks for the info on the movie. 
Paulw
Well-known member
sharkman
Master at Arms
Stoney, those doors look fantastic! Very clever execution!
I still think these turbo prop conversions look a little silly over the old radials.
ldguy
one other thought, what do you use to cut the old beverage cans and other metal??? I've seen you do your magic with these materials for years now and they all come out perfect!
I still think these turbo prop conversions look a little silly over the old radials.
ldguyone other thought, what do you use to cut the old beverage cans and other metal??? I've seen you do your magic with these materials for years now and they all come out perfect!
Duke Maddog
Well-known member
Stunning work Stony! Man, I am always overwhelmed by your quality every time I stop in here.
Thanks for the kind comments guys.
Sharky. I cut both ends off a pop/beer can about a half inch from the end, using a boning knife. A box cutter would work also. Then I use scissors to cut the material lengthwise to make an irregular sheet. Then I use a box cutter and a straight edge and cut off the irregular edges of the sheet, making an aluminum rectangle about 5 inches by 4 inches. Just score it a few times with the blade, wiggle it a bit and it'll snap right off. Be extremely careful, that stuff is sharp.
Sharky. I cut both ends off a pop/beer can about a half inch from the end, using a boning knife. A box cutter would work also. Then I use scissors to cut the material lengthwise to make an irregular sheet. Then I use a box cutter and a straight edge and cut off the irregular edges of the sheet, making an aluminum rectangle about 5 inches by 4 inches. Just score it a few times with the blade, wiggle it a bit and it'll snap right off. Be extremely careful, that stuff is sharp.
Sherman 18
Master at Arms
Fantastic work
Thank you Sherman.
Hadn't much time to work on the beast recently, what with visitors etc.
Got some colour on the thing. I used Tamiya acrylics, white, lemon yellow with a couple of drops of orange in it, and their orange, shot with the trusty Testors airbrush from Wally's.
The cabin roof, showing the skylight...
I enlarged the indents for the fuel filler caps using a needle file and a drill, and made the caps from tiny bits of wire insulation. J-Bot included some nifty little decals showing the fuel type.
There are three steps to get up on the roof if required. They are just aft to the cockpit doors, on a line with the cabin to cockpit bulkhead. I used bits of wire with the ends bent upward and flattened, so's your foot wont slip off and the earth rise up and smite you.
On to the gear. The kit tail ski looks like this...
...The tailwheel like this...
...And combined they look like this. To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes "Rudimentary, my dear Watson."
So I cobbled together a new tailwheel fork using the lower half of the existing unit, and with a bit of firkytoodling a new upper half to go with it.
To make a tail wheel I pounded out a circle of scrap metal using the Micro Mark punch...
Then cut out a segment of the circle large enough to accommodate the tailwheel fork, glued it in place and added a lick of paint.
I cut a new tail ski from some scrap metal and glued and pinned a rail on either side of the opening for the tailwheel, and drilled a hole in either rail for the axle...
...And Viola!, a new tailwheel/tail ski unit.
(And yes, I know there's an error there.)
I've begun work on the new main gear assembly. It involves new strut work and new metal skis, with all the retraction hardware.
Hadn't much time to work on the beast recently, what with visitors etc.
Got some colour on the thing. I used Tamiya acrylics, white, lemon yellow with a couple of drops of orange in it, and their orange, shot with the trusty Testors airbrush from Wally's.
The cabin roof, showing the skylight...
I enlarged the indents for the fuel filler caps using a needle file and a drill, and made the caps from tiny bits of wire insulation. J-Bot included some nifty little decals showing the fuel type.
There are three steps to get up on the roof if required. They are just aft to the cockpit doors, on a line with the cabin to cockpit bulkhead. I used bits of wire with the ends bent upward and flattened, so's your foot wont slip off and the earth rise up and smite you.
On to the gear. The kit tail ski looks like this...
...The tailwheel like this...
...And combined they look like this. To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes "Rudimentary, my dear Watson."
So I cobbled together a new tailwheel fork using the lower half of the existing unit, and with a bit of firkytoodling a new upper half to go with it.
To make a tail wheel I pounded out a circle of scrap metal using the Micro Mark punch...
Then cut out a segment of the circle large enough to accommodate the tailwheel fork, glued it in place and added a lick of paint.
I cut a new tail ski from some scrap metal and glued and pinned a rail on either side of the opening for the tailwheel, and drilled a hole in either rail for the axle...
...And Viola!, a new tailwheel/tail ski unit.
(And yes, I know there's an error there.)
I've begun work on the new main gear assembly. It involves new strut work and new metal skis, with all the retraction hardware.
Thanks for the kind comments fellas.
I hadn't been able to work much on this thing over the summer. Got lazy, and had visitors. I finally got the gear built and installed - with the exception of the ski check cables. Here's a shot of how the skis are attached. It's a busy place down there on the ground. That hydraulic cylinder controls the position of the skis, when the piston is extended, the skis are up, and when it's retracted the skis are down. There's a pre-charge of nitrogen that blows the ski down, but you have to manually pump the suckers back up via that Armstrong pump in the cockpit.
I started with the pivots, those triangular thingies that actually move the skis up and down.
I used the kit skis as a template and cobbled another set together using scrap metal and basswood. I had some pics of the procedure, but they became severely lost when somebody accidentally formatted the camera card. The hydraulic cylinders are from concentric sizes of aluminum tubing, glued inside one another, and the attach fittings are from aluminum roofing nails, turned to proper size in the B&D lathe. Suffice to say, after all the bits and bobs were assembled, they looked like this:
The shock strut on the Otter is the main strut one climbs to the cockpit. The oleo is at the top, so when I made new struts I turned some aluminum fittings on the mighty Black & Decker lathe to represent the oleo strut and fitting. There is an eye in the bolt where the forward ski check cable is attached, so I squose a bit of wire and drilled a small hole in the flat part to represent the bolt head. The steps on the strut are more flattened wire.
And here she is, everything - with the exception of the ski trimmers - dry fitted together.
The ski trimmers keep the ski at the proper angle. You can adjust them manually so the ski
'flies', I seem to remember it was a couple of degrees nose down. The thing will fail safe, in that should it give up the ghost the check cable will prevent the ski from flapping around in the breeze and digging in on landing. Hopefully. They are made from rubber with spacers between the rubber blocks, so I made two from 1/16" aluminum tube and some wire rings.
And here she is, permanently on her pins. External view, with the nifty 'NO STEP' placards from J-Bot...
...Internal view...
...And the all important tail ski, showing all the bungee cords and check cables that keep it properly rigged. You would not want that thing to get away from you on touchdown and dig in. It would rip the tail up pretty badly.
I couldn't resist dry fitting the prop and a set of temporary exhaust stubs, just to see what it looks like.
And there she stands at the mo. I have the wings glued together, but both were warped. I was able to straighten the right one, but the left one has resisted both dry heat and the hot water bath so far. It's better, but still not up to snuff. I have a couple of Otter kits, so it looks like one may have to become a donor.
Makes it easy for Search & Rescue to find the crash site.
I hadn't been able to work much on this thing over the summer. Got lazy, and had visitors. I finally got the gear built and installed - with the exception of the ski check cables. Here's a shot of how the skis are attached. It's a busy place down there on the ground. That hydraulic cylinder controls the position of the skis, when the piston is extended, the skis are up, and when it's retracted the skis are down. There's a pre-charge of nitrogen that blows the ski down, but you have to manually pump the suckers back up via that Armstrong pump in the cockpit.
I started with the pivots, those triangular thingies that actually move the skis up and down.
I used the kit skis as a template and cobbled another set together using scrap metal and basswood. I had some pics of the procedure, but they became severely lost when somebody accidentally formatted the camera card. The hydraulic cylinders are from concentric sizes of aluminum tubing, glued inside one another, and the attach fittings are from aluminum roofing nails, turned to proper size in the B&D lathe. Suffice to say, after all the bits and bobs were assembled, they looked like this:
The shock strut on the Otter is the main strut one climbs to the cockpit. The oleo is at the top, so when I made new struts I turned some aluminum fittings on the mighty Black & Decker lathe to represent the oleo strut and fitting. There is an eye in the bolt where the forward ski check cable is attached, so I squose a bit of wire and drilled a small hole in the flat part to represent the bolt head. The steps on the strut are more flattened wire.
And here she is, everything - with the exception of the ski trimmers - dry fitted together.
The ski trimmers keep the ski at the proper angle. You can adjust them manually so the ski
'flies', I seem to remember it was a couple of degrees nose down. The thing will fail safe, in that should it give up the ghost the check cable will prevent the ski from flapping around in the breeze and digging in on landing. Hopefully. They are made from rubber with spacers between the rubber blocks, so I made two from 1/16" aluminum tube and some wire rings.
And here she is, permanently on her pins. External view, with the nifty 'NO STEP' placards from J-Bot...
...Internal view...
...And the all important tail ski, showing all the bungee cords and check cables that keep it properly rigged. You would not want that thing to get away from you on touchdown and dig in. It would rip the tail up pretty badly.
I couldn't resist dry fitting the prop and a set of temporary exhaust stubs, just to see what it looks like.
And there she stands at the mo. I have the wings glued together, but both were warped. I was able to straighten the right one, but the left one has resisted both dry heat and the hot water bath so far. It's better, but still not up to snuff. I have a couple of Otter kits, so it looks like one may have to become a donor.
phantom II
Master at Arms
Impressive work
Cheers, Christian B)
Cheers, Christian B)
