Crimea_River
Marshal
Looking good.
1:32 Trumpeter TBM Avenger Build
- Thread starter Builder 2010
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #22
Builder 2010
Staff Sergeant
Did some plastering on the mountain, and while it was setting got back to work on the radial. First up was attaching the four parts of the exhaust collector. I had painted it Tamiya Dark Iron off the model, and then touched up the missed spots when one. I attached the parts using solvent glue, then reinforced with thin CA. There are two large pieces and two small ones that tie into the sides of the large output end. While solvent glue started this joint, medium CA filled the gap and made it look like it was welded in place.
Still needed is a little weathering powder to give it some more life.
Next was the ignition ring. I wasn't looking forward to this step for a couple of reasons; the fineness of PE, and my experience with Eduard where the metal breaks too darn easy. It was the second worry that did show its ugly head.
To start, I used some tape to hold the ring in place for attaching the wires. The Eduard parts consist of a short set (#10) for the front banks, and a long set (#5) for the rear. I marked the positions on the ring where these two pieces go.
All 14 went on pretty well. So far so good!
I CA'd the ring in position on the engine. And then the troubles began. The "wires" being PE don't behave like real wire. They tended to become misshapen very quickly, and then three broke off at the base, and I'm not done yet. I had to stop for dinner. I may scrap this entirely and go with small gauge copper conductor. We'll see...
You can see the remants of two of the wires that are not longer attached. I was being very careful, but Eduard is brittle. You can anneal it, but that creates its own problems which I discovered in the building the Yankee Lady. Also, all the yellow paint was peeling off the wires as I was manipulating them into position. All in all, not too happy about the results.
Still needed is a little weathering powder to give it some more life.
Next was the ignition ring. I wasn't looking forward to this step for a couple of reasons; the fineness of PE, and my experience with Eduard where the metal breaks too darn easy. It was the second worry that did show its ugly head.
To start, I used some tape to hold the ring in place for attaching the wires. The Eduard parts consist of a short set (#10) for the front banks, and a long set (#5) for the rear. I marked the positions on the ring where these two pieces go.
All 14 went on pretty well. So far so good!
I CA'd the ring in position on the engine. And then the troubles began. The "wires" being PE don't behave like real wire. They tended to become misshapen very quickly, and then three broke off at the base, and I'm not done yet. I had to stop for dinner. I may scrap this entirely and go with small gauge copper conductor. We'll see...
You can see the remants of two of the wires that are not longer attached. I was being very careful, but Eduard is brittle. You can anneal it, but that creates its own problems which I discovered in the building the Yankee Lady. Also, all the yellow paint was peeling off the wires as I was manipulating them into position. All in all, not too happy about the results.
Looks great so far!
Crimea_River
Marshal
Nice work. If you decide to replace the wires, I have found that solder or lead wire is the easiest to work with. I had trouble finding solder at small gauges but lead wire can be found here
- Thread starter
- #26
Builder 2010
Staff Sergeant
Yesterday's plaster was not dry enough paint so the whole work session went to the ABM. Finished the engine by repairing the errant ignition wires. Two sets were replaced with the additional Eduard parts, but I had to make two more sets from scratch using conductors scavanged from some hook up wire. Actually, I wish I would have done this for all the leads. The hook up wire's diameter was almost a perfect match for the Eduard etchings so you really can't which is which except for the lack of the simulated clip between the two leads.
First step was to clip off the little plastic nubs on the ignitiion harness ring, file a little flat spot, make a prick mark with the pointy end of a divider and then drill with a #80 drill. I did break a couple of the new skinny carbide drills. The wires were CA'd into the holes and then clipped to a similar length of the Eduard PE ones. After getting all the wires in I repainted them black and repainted the copper-colored ring to Tamiya gold since you see engines with brass rings. The arrow points out the copper conductor used for the new wires
The engine needed the propellor governor and the oil sump pressure module. The instructions call for these two parts added much later in the assembly, but I wanted to make sure that they were installed correctly AND painted.
There's a little tiny pulley that attaches to the governor, and of course, it pop out of existence in this dimension from the tweezers. So I machined another one on the Taig Lathe. This was CA'd into place.
After installation I painted these two parts. I also added some rusty brown weathering powders to the exhaust collector to ton down the brown. With that, the radial was complete. In this picture, the engine was not glued to the baffle plate. I also added an alcohol/India Ink wash on the cylindes to kill some of the shine.
Before mounting the firewall, the engine needed to be glued to the baffle (and the motor mount on the other side). I painted the baffle's face Vallejo Dark Sea Blue. Before doing so, I masked the center circle where the engine will glue. Trial fittings showed interference between the exhaust outlets and the relief notches in the baffle. I used the Dremel with a small mill to remove enough material so the engine sat flat against the baffle. I used solvent cement first and clamp it together. After it set I reinforced this critical joint with thin CA.
The engine mounts:
Instructions were ambiguous as to whether they should be glued to the firewall first and then the motor mount or vice versa. I chose incorrectly. I glued all four to the firewall and attempted, unsuccessfully, to glue all eight contact points into the motor mount. There was tension of them, and I get seven pins in and #8 would pop out. I'd get #8 in and 3 and 5 would pop out and so on. As usually happens when things start going south, applying more pressure did not help and eventually two thing happened; pins broke off in the motor mount and parts were coming off the firewall.
After gluing everything back together, I airbrushed the firewall interior green.
Time for some drastic action! I realized that the mount struts should be glue firmly into the engine mount first and then the firewall. To do this I added some 0.032" brass wire and drilled the broken off stubs to receive the brass. I CA'd all four struts into the mount and when set, I solvent cemented and CA'd the firewall to the struts. This time, everything was square and intact. I had to touch up paint several areas, but it's ready for some additional Eduard details. Notice too that I added, the oil drain pipe that will get some more details before disappearing into the depths.
Here's the assembled engine and mounts.
Hopefully, tomorrow the plaster on the mountain will be able to be painted. If not, I'll be doing more ABM work.
And one more thing: My Eduard glazing masks arrived this weekend so that won't hold me up. I've also ordered one of the those ultra-thin razor saws from MicroMark that will help me cut the access panels with very small saw kerfs.
First step was to clip off the little plastic nubs on the ignitiion harness ring, file a little flat spot, make a prick mark with the pointy end of a divider and then drill with a #80 drill. I did break a couple of the new skinny carbide drills. The wires were CA'd into the holes and then clipped to a similar length of the Eduard PE ones. After getting all the wires in I repainted them black and repainted the copper-colored ring to Tamiya gold since you see engines with brass rings. The arrow points out the copper conductor used for the new wires
The engine needed the propellor governor and the oil sump pressure module. The instructions call for these two parts added much later in the assembly, but I wanted to make sure that they were installed correctly AND painted.
There's a little tiny pulley that attaches to the governor, and of course, it pop out of existence in this dimension from the tweezers. So I machined another one on the Taig Lathe. This was CA'd into place.
After installation I painted these two parts. I also added some rusty brown weathering powders to the exhaust collector to ton down the brown. With that, the radial was complete. In this picture, the engine was not glued to the baffle plate. I also added an alcohol/India Ink wash on the cylindes to kill some of the shine.
Before mounting the firewall, the engine needed to be glued to the baffle (and the motor mount on the other side). I painted the baffle's face Vallejo Dark Sea Blue. Before doing so, I masked the center circle where the engine will glue. Trial fittings showed interference between the exhaust outlets and the relief notches in the baffle. I used the Dremel with a small mill to remove enough material so the engine sat flat against the baffle. I used solvent cement first and clamp it together. After it set I reinforced this critical joint with thin CA.
The engine mounts:
Instructions were ambiguous as to whether they should be glued to the firewall first and then the motor mount or vice versa. I chose incorrectly. I glued all four to the firewall and attempted, unsuccessfully, to glue all eight contact points into the motor mount. There was tension of them, and I get seven pins in and #8 would pop out. I'd get #8 in and 3 and 5 would pop out and so on. As usually happens when things start going south, applying more pressure did not help and eventually two thing happened; pins broke off in the motor mount and parts were coming off the firewall.
After gluing everything back together, I airbrushed the firewall interior green.
Time for some drastic action! I realized that the mount struts should be glue firmly into the engine mount first and then the firewall. To do this I added some 0.032" brass wire and drilled the broken off stubs to receive the brass. I CA'd all four struts into the mount and when set, I solvent cemented and CA'd the firewall to the struts. This time, everything was square and intact. I had to touch up paint several areas, but it's ready for some additional Eduard details. Notice too that I added, the oil drain pipe that will get some more details before disappearing into the depths.
Here's the assembled engine and mounts.
Hopefully, tomorrow the plaster on the mountain will be able to be painted. If not, I'll be doing more ABM work.
And one more thing: My Eduard glazing masks arrived this weekend so that won't hold me up. I've also ordered one of the those ultra-thin razor saws from MicroMark that will help me cut the access panels with very small saw kerfs.
Great work so far!
- Thread starter
- #29
Builder 2010
Staff Sergeant
Didn't do much TBM work. The grandkids were here (with their parents) and we ran trains and had lots of fun. I got everything running well before they arrived. My older granddaughter Anna (11) is a tech savvy, budding photograher and she took 300 pictures and some videos. Here're two examples.
The reason why I'm posting is I was introduced to a company Albion Alloys from the U.K. They make precision metal shapes like K-S and Special Shapes, only much, much finer. I was introduced by a thread where a fellow was building a 1/32 Helldiver. He was able to hydraulic and brake line fittings that were terrific. It is the perfect material to use on engine ignition rings to hold the spark plug wires.
I bought two packs of the telescoping sampler from Sprue Brothers which has Albion's whole line in stock. These are 0.4, 6, 8 and 1mm. The small one's so small you can barely discern the hole. They have a much thinner wall thickness than K-S which is my big complaint about K-S small diameter tubes. These are spectacular.
Price wasn't out of sight a $6.00 a pack. It's an object that I didn't know existed unless you went into the world of stainless capiliary tubes. It also saves not having to use hypo needles for this purpose.
The reason why I'm posting is I was introduced to a company Albion Alloys from the U.K. They make precision metal shapes like K-S and Special Shapes, only much, much finer. I was introduced by a thread where a fellow was building a 1/32 Helldiver. He was able to hydraulic and brake line fittings that were terrific. It is the perfect material to use on engine ignition rings to hold the spark plug wires.
I bought two packs of the telescoping sampler from Sprue Brothers which has Albion's whole line in stock. These are 0.4, 6, 8 and 1mm. The small one's so small you can barely discern the hole. They have a much thinner wall thickness than K-S which is my big complaint about K-S small diameter tubes. These are spectacular.
Price wasn't out of sight a $6.00 a pack. It's an object that I didn't know existed unless you went into the world of stainless capiliary tubes. It also saves not having to use hypo needles for this purpose.
Crimea_River
Marshal
Yep, got me a few tubes of those. Handy for pitot tubes and Luftwaffe radar antennas.
Lovely shots!
- Thread starter
- #33
Builder 2010
Staff Sergeant
Thanks folks!
Just got a few minutes to do one little thing; put the first Eduard PE "wiring" into the engine mount area behind the engine. I've been working full-tilt on finishing up plastering on the train layout and haven't done much ABM building. I have another intense week of railroad work and then they'll be a break for more TBM work.
As usual, Eduard wiring is tricky since it's not round, but flat and behaves as such. I also cut the next piece off the fret and was attempting to install it on the other side, but it was time to quit, I was hungry and my hands were even more unsteady then normal so I put the part aside and went upstairs. In my mature status, I hope I've learned that when you try and do that "just one more thing" is usually when all hell breaks loose.
That box and wires should be painted some color or another. There's also a little folded PE box glued to the firewall on the left.
Just got a few minutes to do one little thing; put the first Eduard PE "wiring" into the engine mount area behind the engine. I've been working full-tilt on finishing up plastering on the train layout and haven't done much ABM building. I have another intense week of railroad work and then they'll be a break for more TBM work.
As usual, Eduard wiring is tricky since it's not round, but flat and behaves as such. I also cut the next piece off the fret and was attempting to install it on the other side, but it was time to quit, I was hungry and my hands were even more unsteady then normal so I put the part aside and went upstairs. In my mature status, I hope I've learned that when you try and do that "just one more thing" is usually when all hell breaks loose.
That box and wires should be painted some color or another. There's also a little folded PE box glued to the firewall on the left.
Looks great so far!
Crimea_River
Marshal
Very nice looking engine details.
- Thread starter
- #37
Builder 2010
Staff Sergeant
Back again for a bit of work. Meanwhile the mountain project is moving apace and will be finished sometime next week. I do have other railroad projects comiing up that could be topics for FSM too.
I tried to use the Eduard wiring harness for the port side, but as usual, the wires broke off when handling them so I went back to using small gauge copper strands with some wine-bottle foil strapping. It's not as elegant, but it works. After installation I painted them zinc chromate yellow based on some images that I saw.
After installing this I needed to find a way to terminate the oil line from the oil tank. I cobbled together something with a piece of styrene tube, styrene rod and a piece of hi-tech toothpick. The line was a piece of shrink tubing with a big i.d. so I need something that would spill the space without a lot of hassle, ergo the toothpick.
Here's what that pipe looks like with the painting on the starboard side.
And the port side painted.
The bomb bay floor had a large amount of deep ejection pin marks. I usually don't bother with fixing these, but I wanted to try usng my new Tamiya putty. It worked, sort of, since I probably have to use a second coat to make them dead flat, but I probaly won't. In reality, and let's get real here people, the only way to see those pin marks would be to pick up the model, turn it upside down and stare at the bomb bay, ignoring all the other parts on top of it, and focus on the bomb bay roof to see those divots. A) most people don't do that, and B) I wouldn't want anyone picking up the model for any reason, let alone to find ejection pin marks. I think this is an example of AMS (Advanced Modeler's Syndrome). While there's still more stuff that could be crammed into this firewall area, I'm going to cut it off at this point. The other details would be a nest of fuel lines and manifolds, but the big baffle plate makes access very difficult. On the TBF version, that area is all open, but not the TBM.
The last thing I did yesterday was add some sort of PE detail to the front of the floor. I don't know what this detail is, but it was two parts and five folds.
As an update, here's the current status of the mountain.
Another view showing the waterfall outlet at the fascia board. Next week I will pour liquid epoxy bar-top coating down the falls and it will (hopefull) look like a real spring-fed stream coming out of the mountain. The "waterfalls" are made from clear silicone caulk.
I tried to use the Eduard wiring harness for the port side, but as usual, the wires broke off when handling them so I went back to using small gauge copper strands with some wine-bottle foil strapping. It's not as elegant, but it works. After installation I painted them zinc chromate yellow based on some images that I saw.
After installing this I needed to find a way to terminate the oil line from the oil tank. I cobbled together something with a piece of styrene tube, styrene rod and a piece of hi-tech toothpick. The line was a piece of shrink tubing with a big i.d. so I need something that would spill the space without a lot of hassle, ergo the toothpick.
Here's what that pipe looks like with the painting on the starboard side.
And the port side painted.
The bomb bay floor had a large amount of deep ejection pin marks. I usually don't bother with fixing these, but I wanted to try usng my new Tamiya putty. It worked, sort of, since I probably have to use a second coat to make them dead flat, but I probaly won't. In reality, and let's get real here people, the only way to see those pin marks would be to pick up the model, turn it upside down and stare at the bomb bay, ignoring all the other parts on top of it, and focus on the bomb bay roof to see those divots. A) most people don't do that, and B) I wouldn't want anyone picking up the model for any reason, let alone to find ejection pin marks. I think this is an example of AMS (Advanced Modeler's Syndrome). While there's still more stuff that could be crammed into this firewall area, I'm going to cut it off at this point. The other details would be a nest of fuel lines and manifolds, but the big baffle plate makes access very difficult. On the TBF version, that area is all open, but not the TBM.
The last thing I did yesterday was add some sort of PE detail to the front of the floor. I don't know what this detail is, but it was two parts and five folds.
As an update, here's the current status of the mountain.
Another view showing the waterfall outlet at the fascia board. Next week I will pour liquid epoxy bar-top coating down the falls and it will (hopefull) look like a real spring-fed stream coming out of the mountain. The "waterfalls" are made from clear silicone caulk.
fubar57
General
Looking good
Lovely work so far!
