Scratch build Boeing F4B-4

[Skyediamonds]

When everything was done, I carefully looked over the finish. The lower wing, masking tapes & wax paper were all removed. You can see the results.

By using the wax paper taped tightly over the wing, it helped to give the fillet a nice tight fit.

At this point, I'm not too concerned about the leading edges of the lower wing near the fuselage. If you zoom up on the last picture you can see the leading edges look a bit rough. It will be covered over with a # 600 sandpaper to look like a rough-textured wing walk.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Next came the pilot's headrest & life raft storage behind it. Carefully reviewing the scale plans & other reference sources revealed that the rear end of the headrest blends in with the vertical fin.

I carefully (Oh, ever so carefully to not disturb or crack the finish) I slowly cut out the rear portion, dry fitted the headrest to the vertical fin held temporarily in place , cut out a bit more, dry fitted & so on until I was satisfied with the results. I knew I was going to use a rounded file, followed by a # 400 sandpaper rolled up, so I made a small allowance for that extra clearance.

 

[Skyediamonds]

The Westburg drawings (& photos) shows the lid over the pilot's headrest to have hinges. The areas where the hinges will be placed were cut out using a # 11 X-Acto blade.

 

[Skyediamonds]

I obtained these hinges from MicroMark. They can also be obtained from local arts & crafts stores that sell accessories for doll houses.

They were assembled & temporarily checked for fitting in the cut outs.

 

[Skyediamonds]

The drawings illustrate the emergency T-handle to be used in case of ditching into the water (my guess).

So I cut that area out, painted the interior a light green to simulate zinc chromate & temporarily fitted a plastic T-handle.

I'm guessing about the zinc chromate color as all references on this particular area are in b+w or if there are colored photos, I haven't been able to find any that focuses on this part.

I'm also guessing if zinc chromate was even used during this time period. So we can call it "artistic license."

I then painted the T/ handle red. It just seems to make sense to me.

 

[Skyediamonds]

The hinges & T-handle were removed & the headrest was glued in place, using the vertical fin as reference as to how far rearward I was to place it.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Just as with the lower wing fillet, once again I used Milliput for the headrest. I figured if it works on the wing fillet it should work equally well with the headrest.

Why stop a good thing?

 

[Skyediamonds]

With the masking tapes in place for protection, I started with a # 320 sandpaper & finished with a # 400.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Spackling compound diluted in water, followed by sanding.

 

[Skyediamonds]

More primer & sanding. This time I used a # 2000 sandpaper to get a more smoother finish.