Italian Stuka - From the Hasegawa kit in 1:32.

[Crimea_River]

Looks good Alberto. No info on the wheels from me either.

 

[Wayne Little]

Damn fine effort Alberto!

 

[Lucky13]

Beautiful work Alberto!

 

[al49]

As I mentioned before, I have the issue with the canopy that needs to be modified in order to be positioned in open position.
So I did two things, more-less in the same time.
I found that Jerry Rutman still had one of his vacu-form canopies and I sent him an order.
I tried to modify the Hase one following indications given by Terry.

Neither worked.
Jerry eventually was unable to send it and, surely due to my poor craftsmanship, also the modification didn't worked.

So I'm left with only one solution: try to vacu-form a new canopy (just the central piece) using kit part as mould.
Because I don't want to damage the kit part, I protected the inside with a plastic film, tapped sides with thin plasticard (that can be easily removed afterwords) and filled with resin.
Now my question to the experts: how could I protect the outside, that will be in contact with the transparent sheet during forming? May be with a little of mineral oil?
As I mentioned I would like to preserve kit part intact because if the vacuform doesn't work, I will still have the possibility to try something else.
Thanks in advance for any suggestion.
Cheers
Alberto

 

[hawkeye2an]

I have always just vacu-formed directly over the original, never had a problem with it sticking or marring the finish in any way. For the inside I just pack it with modeling clay, the type that doesn't dry. I have been using the same ball of clay for this and to hold parts in position for over 10 years.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Beautiful work! I could not fnd anything about wheels either.

 

[zaxos345]

Great work so far Al!!!!

John

 

[Wurger]

I also have a question for Luftwaffe experts: I did something wrong with main landing wheel and, before trying the repair them, I bought the Aires kit. But this kit is for "G" version while I'm building a "D" and I suspect this is the reason why these wheels are 1 mm smaller, both in diameter and in thickness, could someone confirm that "G" wheel were smaller in reality? I was unable to find this info in my books.

The B-2 variant had main wheels of 815x290mm dimension. The D version had them of 840x300mm and the tail one of 380x150mm. The reason for using a little bigger wheels was an increase of the Stuka bomber weight. The G variant was assembling based on D type. D-3 was for G-1 and the D-5 for G-2. According to a few references I went through , both G variants weighted a little bit less than both D types. So there was no need to change these wheels. And I don't think these G wheels were smaller than those used for D version.

To sume up, for the 1/32 scale yours main wheels should be of 26,25x9,375mm and the tail one of 11,875x4,6875mm or so. The "so" can be 26x9mm or 26x9,5mm for the main tyres and 12x5mm or 11,5x4,5mm for the tail wheel.

 

[Wurger]

Because I don't want to damage the kit part, I protected the inside with a plastic film, tapped sides with thin plasticard (that can be easily removed afterwords) and filled with resin.
Now my question to the experts: how could I protect the outside, that will be in contact with the transparent sheet during forming? May be with a little of mineral oil?

I think you did it in a wrong way totally. I would suggest making the former for the vacu conopy by stamping it in a cube of plasticine or using plaster for the mould. In the case you should protect front and rear part of the conopy ( it could be some of masking tape ) against going the plaster inside the part.
The outsides of the cockpit conopy should be greased with some of margarine for instance. Having the mould done you should fill it with epoxy. ALso you can put into the epoxy a wooden stick for handling. Some of additional work on getting the former surface smooth ( sanding, filling of small holes that are traces of air bliters, etc... ) , can be needed. And then you have the conopy former. Now it is enough to remove the pieces of masking tape and wash the kit part with warm water and soap for regaining it without any damages etc..

 

[al49]

I think you did it in a wrong way totally. I would suggest making the former for the vacu conopy by stamping it in a cube of plasticine or using plaster for the mould. In the case you should protect front and rear part of the conopy ( it could be some of masking tape ) against going the plaster inside the part.
The outsides of the cockpit conopy should be greased with some of margarine for instance. Having the mould done you should fill it with epoxy. ALso you can put into the epoxy a wooden stick for handling. Some of additional work on getting the former surface smooth ( sanding, filling of small holes that are traces of air bliters, etc... ) , can be needed. And then you have the conopy former. Now it is enough to remove the pieces of masking tape and wash the kit part with warm water and soap for regaining it without any damages etc..

Many thanks to you and all others for your answers.
It's a matter of trying to see if the desired result is achieved or not.
My goal is to get a new canopy slightly larger then the original one and this is what I hope to get. Today I will try and let everybody to know.
Also many thanks for wheel dimensions: kit's ones are correct, funny that aftermaket's ones aren't.
Alberto

 

[Wurger]

Many thanks to you and all others for your answers.
Also many thanks for wheel dimensions: kit's ones are correct, funny that aftermaket's ones aren't.
Alberto

You'r welcome.

My goal is to get a new canopy slightly larger then the original one and this is what I hope to get. Today I will try and let everybody to know.

Therefore I suggested making the part with the way. The epoxy former will be of the outer dimension of the kit part. Adding to that the thickness of the new conopy you will get it a little bit bigger, right?

 

[al49]

First vacu-form canopy made: width and shape are correct but isn't tall enough, I need to start again.

By the way, this project of mine I think could be enlisted within "Aircraft in foreign service Group build", may be.
Besides I'm not so new for this forum, I'm not sure what "Group Build" means, could someone be so kind to explain.
Many thanks
Alberto

 

[Airframes]

Alberto, a 'Group Build' is where members of the forum each build a model to match the theme of each particular build, such as "Aircraft in foreign Service". The rules, and the photo requirements for each build, are shown in the Group Build section of Modelling, and there is also a list of all GBs, past and future.

 

[Wurger]

Yep.... just check and join it.

 

[al49]

Hi,
here following are the pictures of my vacu-form canopy.

Not too bad, I think, but there are still some areas that should be improved, so in the coming days I will try to make an other one that, I hope, should be much better.
In the mean time I modified my vacu-form chamber: I added a funnel inside, in order to improve suction and replaced the wooden top grill with a metal one.
Cheers
Alberto

 

[Crimea_River]

That's impressive Alberto. Can you post a picture of your vac-forming set up? I've never done it and am keen to try it. What kind of plastic do you use and do you heat it?

 

[Airframes]

Excellent Alberto, it looks very authentic.

 

[Wayne Little]

Nicely done Alberto!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Good stuff Alberto and I'm with Andy........How?

 

[vikingBerserker]

I agree!