1:1 Spitfire K9817 Cockpit Build (1 Viewer)

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With all here...bloody good job Darryl!

..And Plheure...don't believe Terry, he's just pulling your leg with that ol' Aussie humour of his! He's really from Buggerup, NSW and drinks four-X like the rest of us good blokes (his favourite aircraft is the Grumman Wildcat too!)
 
Thank you all, I appreciate the enthusiasm.

Hope to have some good pictures of the outside etc after this coming weekend.


Terry, had a word to my printer mate and can get some. The trick is that if they get "dinged" they will be hard to straighten out whilst attached. The plastic is looking a better and better option, subject to paint tests.



Darryl
 
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Good point about 'battle damage' Darryl - could easily happen after a few bevvies!!
If the plastic doesn't work out, then you could skin with glass fibre mats and resin maybe? That'd be fairly light, and as tough as my ex-wife's roast beef!!
 
Starting to be a bit worried you will get yours finished before ours
Great work mate.Thin bendeable ply might be an option for skinning,or balsa.Worked for those bleedin Mawsqeeto aircraft.Waste of a good Merlin that could go into another Spit those things...
Thought something looked a tad awkard,the compass mount should be offset to the right a bit.
Door isn,t too hard,hinges were a pain but you should manage them.Roll a bit of thin alli around a bit of quarter inch OD plpe and it,s the ducks guts.Just remember to do the cutouts from the right side..DOH!!
 

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NFN,

Thanks mate, yes, I suppose I could but will just be for me and mates. Too much hard work to let in the "great unwashed"!!


Terry,

I think I've settled on the plastic for the skin, we'll see.If it doesn't work out I may have to learn fibreglassing!




Thanks Wayne,

if you are ever in the wild west, look me up for a test flight.


Spits


*%$^%^%#$^% I should have twigged to the compass being offset...I never noticed it but NOW I look again EVERY picture shows it!!! Bu3r!!!

I would have found it when I tried to fit the fuel tap!! Thanks for the heads up, I'll change it over this weekend.

The skin I have settled on is a polyethylene 1.5mm sheet which is quite a bit stronger than the test sheet (and twice as thick). The paining preparation will have to be very carefully performed and the etch primer was twice the cost of any other primer but, C'est la vie!

The hinges I think I will cheat on and use a couple of small door hinges that I have lying around. Attached from the outside they won't be seen from sitting in the cockpit. You have twigged my concience though and I might have to reconsider and try your method.

I was having nightmares about the door lock but I have hopefully got one lined up if I EVER get to post the real comapss and TBG off in trade!


Well, hope to get at least one full day out of this weekend on the pit.


thanks guys


Darryl
 
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Sounds good mate. The 1:1 glass fibre replica I told you about used a piano hinge, rececessed on each mounting face, for the door. Worked well, and didn't protrude on the outside.
You,ve got me thinking now though - always fancied building a Bf109E. The shape is straightforward, just need somewhere to put it!!!
 
Airframes said:
You,ve got me thinking now though - always fancied building a Bf109E. The shape is straightforward, just need somewhere to put it!!!
Click to expand...


Somewhere to put it IS a big factor. There are a few more I would love to build but will never be able to...no more space.

If you do decide to have a go at a 109, I know where you can get an easy set of plans....certainly a better option than "creating" a Spitfire from the ground up, I assure you.


Darryl
 
Thanks mate. Yep, I can easily see why an 'Emil' would be easier than a Spit - it's virtually all rectangles, including the windscreen and canopy. Must make life a lot easier!
 
Airframes said:
Thanks mate. Yep, I can easily see why an 'Emil' would be easier than a Spit - it's virtually all rectangles, including the windscreen and canopy. Must make life a lot easier!
Click to expand...

Now I'm depressed...wished i'd known about that earlier !!!!!

Darryl, thats coming along really sweetly, respect mate !.

Gimme another year or two and when I've finished my '51 to the same standard as your Spittie and finally connected to a PC (one that works !!!) we should get together on the 'net and have a sorie (or two or three !).

Keep the updates coming. Who knows, we may even get some of our esteemed colleagues on this-here forum to start some other fiull size builds....any takers ?
 
I am seriously coinsidering the 'Emil'(or an F2), just as a staic exhibit though, but maybe with full fuselage. I looked at this years ago, when I lived at a place with plenty of space and land, and somewhere under cover to build it. Now, I have a grotty 'back yard' (divorce!), but I'm thinking of having a word with a farmer I know......
 
Thanks GeeDee that sounds great. Merlin Maddness!!

I shifted the compass over the weekend, necissitatesd making a new bracket but that was OK. then I got sidetracked onto the Fuelcock. That took a bit of making but hasn'tturned out too bad. as soon as the faceplate is laser cut I will post some pictures of it. To allow for the proper "throw" I had to build spacers into the structure and move the hinge point well back behind the panel. It actually is based around an old landing gear lever with electric switches but some electrical conduit, sprinkler caps and a pond pump fitting have turned it into quite an acceptable looking mock up of a physical valve. As I say, when I get my mate to laser cut the faceplate photos will follow.

A slight change of plan from here...I have sourced a decent colour for the cockpit green and will now paint the structure before I skin it. That will leave me with just the skin to paint. Before I can do the structure though I have to build a few aluminium crosspieces which will hold things like the IFF Destruction panel etc. That is next weekend's job.

Terry, still working on my divorce. 22 years and she still won't get the hint!!
 

Hey, Darryl, I'd be interested in getting a hold of those 109 plans as a reference when I build my 109 models, scratching the interiors. Could you please steer me in the right direction?

Your Spit cockpit is the bees' knees, guy! Keep up the excellent work.

Pete L.
 
Darryl,
VERY impressed with the Spit - can't wait to see it finished! Are you thinking about posting a set of plans so people might follow in your awesome footsteps? I mean, shoot - I've got to convince the boys in the museum woodshop to build me one now!!

=JB=
 
Thanks guys!

Pete, the plans are for the shell only and don't have any of the cockpit layout type items. The guy may have further details though, that you could use. I'll PM you his contact details.


JB, unfortunately I am a "look at it, rough it out, cut it out" sort of a guy. I don't draw detailed plans or anything approaching it. The outer shape is off a profile plan that I bought (which is for a replica, not the original) The interior dimensions were "eyed up" and then drawn on the board, rubbed out and redrawn until I was happy with the "feel" of it. If there is smeone with the right CAD skills etc to do a plan, I will happily take detailed measurements

I also referenced a lot of GA drawings but had to make ammendments as the top curve of the cockpit is a little more shallow than the real thing. This meant "squashing" some of the panel instruments and fittings into a smaller space...something that is not actually noticable when everything is set up.

All in all, I got it right, there are only a few little places where the appliances have had to be moved slightly and I seem to have run out of room on the left lower for a map box if I want the radiator shutter control. I also can't fit the Type 35 Controller where I wanted it as the throttle grip conflicts with it at "closed" position. I will probably put the Type 35 high on the right and call it a "squadron modification"

It has been a bitr of a compromise...but sitting in it the other day with the temporary skin on and most fitting placed, it certainly felt like it should.


regards


Darryl
 
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