Yes indeed, more
metal parts. When I build models for clients I always use two kits. These photos
show how I revised the kits "chain gun." I made the spring by tightly
wrapping fine diameter brass wire around a "hard" round diameter metal
rod. (You can use copper wire, if desired). I compress the wire coils together
as I wrap the wire around the rod. When I have enough so called
"wraps," I hold one end of the coiled wire, while it's still on the
rod, then gently pull on the other end. It will start to separate, as you pull
on it. When I have the proper separation, I remove it from the rod. I attach one
end to the new kit rod, then cut the rest of the surplus coiled wire off the
other end, and attach it. I use super glue for this application. I used either
.004" diameter, and/or .006" diameter wire. I buy the .006"
diameter wire at my local hobby shop. Years ago, I took apart one of my
grandson's broken "slot cars." The tiny motor in these cars have very
fine copper wire. I have some .003" and .004" diameter wire. GO FOR
IT!
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The gun barrel was
had crafted, using copper and stainless steel tubing. I just drilled in tiny
holes in the end of the muzzle section, then elongated them into an oval shape.
To acquire the oval shape, I ground off the back side of a pointed #11 blade,
until it would fit in the tiny holes. I just cut some copper off of each side of
the holes. I then used my "Jewelers" four inch long #4 and #6 cut
needle files to finish the job. Please don't email me and ask?: "How big
were the holes you drilled into the muzzle?" I don't remember, and I can't
measure them, as I do not have the model. I could say that the holes were about
.010" to .016" in diameter. ( You can see these files when you access
"Large Scale Planes" web site. Just look for "My Tools"
under Tips & Techniques category).
I use round styrene
tubing for the rocket tubes, and revised the pylons. I drilled out the holes on
both ends of the kit rocket tubes, and attached them to my new styrene tubes. I
made all the rockets, and painted the front ends gloss blue.
When I fit the
windscreen to the fuselage, I noted that it was a bit to wide. I checked my
second kit, and it had the same problem. I selected to add styrene to the
fuselage, rather than thin down the clear plastic.
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Other revisions were
made to the front section of the model. Please take note when looking at this
side fuselage photo. Since it is not an extreme "close-up" shot, it
represents how fine the screen is, which I attached to the thinned down plastic
on the inside of the oval frame work. I hand crafted the clear, red and
blue navigation lights.
The pitot tubes were
made using stainless steel tubing. I have no idea what this "gold"
looking round thing is. I used very thin flat brass sheet stock, (maybe
.004" to .010" thick) and scribed in the cross sections. It was wet
sanded down to 2000 grit, then polished with "Blue Magic" metal
polishing cream, then dipped into "Future Floor Wax" a few times. The
last photos shows it installed on the model. Part four, which concludes this
story, will show several close up photos of the finished model.
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Rodney
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